Organization (5)

Línea headed to the reception room, wary of Edge Forys’s ulterior motives for summoning her instead of Lost.

And what she encountered there was a fatal dagger that would finish her the moment she faced it, no matter how prepared she might have been.

“I was wondering where our runaway youngest had gone, and here you really are?”

“Eck…… U-unnie? How did you get here? No, before that, right now……”

Celia Spirin, who had been drinking coffee like water, spotted Línea and smiled brightly.

“Do you know how worried I’ve been? I heard you’ve had a hard time among the trash in our family? I’ve smashed all those bastards to pieces, so you can come back anytime.”

“Ah, no. That’s not it……”

“Our little sister. I hear you’ve found someone you like now? Tell me all about it when we go to the room. You know your sister has never had such experiences because she’s been too busy with work.”

Celia Spirin, though moving languidly, firmly restrained Línea.

Her physical strength, developed from working at a frontline field hospital, was enough to make it difficult for Línea to easily break free.

“You’ve grown so much. Really…… you’ve grown so much. Our youngest.”

“W-wait?! Unnie! Where exactly are you touching right now?!”

“Indeed, the student has surpassed the master. You’ve long exceeded your sister.”

“What?!”

“Yes, yes. Let’s go talk, shall we? I suppose it would be embarrassing to conduct a physical examination in front of others.”

“What are you planning to do to me?! I’m going to scream!”

“I’m someone who has subdued countless patients like you.”

Celia Spirin dragged Línea to her room while fondling various parts of her body.

*     *      *

Línea had been captured. And it happened so quickly that by the time she noticed, it was already too late to respond.

“Don’t you think it’s quite a coincidence? That someone from the Spirin earldom would visit at such a time.”

“……You’ve really done it. Duke Forys. To think you’d bring in the Spirin earldom at this timing.”

Línea was now tied down by a guest from the Spirin earldom.

While it was entirely predictable that the Spirin earldom would send personnel in anticipation of war, the timing was just too perfect.

“Teleportation is convenient, isn’t it? You should know, having benefited from Princess Ilina’s abilities too.”

“Well now…… since I’ve already been caught, tell me. When did you notice?”

“Notice what?”

“That I had Línea following you.”

“You’re quite a vicious fellow.”

“No more than you, old man.”

Edge Forys put down his teacup quietly while making light of the situation.

I had thought he would use tactics to immobilize my companions, but I never expected him to target Línea so precisely.

And it wasn’t just anything—it was her family.

Once family is involved, Línea has no way to deal with it. That’s why she’s been captured with no way out.

Of course, having found a runaway sister, they’d scold her quite a bit. Moreover, since she had unknowingly traded on the family name, she wouldn’t be able to move freely for a while.

In the worst case, they might even drag Línea back to the Spirin earldom.

“I noticed from the first time we met. Her movements in response to my magic resembled those of an assassin.”

“No, you saw that too? For someone at death’s door, your eyesight is remarkably good.”

“Vision is a virtue for a magician. One must see well and understand to grasp principles, wouldn’t you agree?”

“For someone who has grasped principles so well, you’re awfully cavalier with your life.”

“How could it be cavalier? Just wait and see. I’ll show you how much I can make the opponent suffer with just one life.”

Losing his life was a premise.

That mindset was familiar. The only difference was in its direction.

“Do you know how many people have died at my gesture or a single word? That’s the position I occupy. A position where human lives are used as means. How could I hold my head up if I couldn’t use my own life as a means?”

“……Duke, you are a born noble.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment.”

This monster of the political world can use not only others’ lives but even his own as a chip.

That terrifying fairness is precisely why this man is called a monster.

“Now, Lady Línea is tied down by her family, and Lady Claire has declared neutrality in this matter. I wonder how many more cards you have left in your hand.”

“Tsk.”

Claire had declared that she wouldn’t take either my side or Edge Forys’s in this matter.

From the beginning, this wasn’t a battle between good and evil, but an underwater operation through conflicting opinions.

My opinion has merit, but so does Edge Forys’s.

The only one who could immediately stop his rash action is the Emperor.

This means that if one isn’t in a position to give orders, this old man can do as he pleases.

And it’s obvious that the Emperor would support Edge Forys’s plan.

In the current wartime situation, it would certainly be beneficial if Edge Forys, who maintained power comparable to the Emperor’s own, disappeared. Even if he had to sustain that massive scale alone, considering the future, he would definitely make such a choice.

Already, one of the two dukes, Wallace Hope, has been revealed as a demon.

In such a situation, if he could check Edge Forys, who held similar power, he would want to separate him from his camp even if Edge Forys were to betray and join Belial’s side.

It means he’s more uncomfortable as an ally than as an enemy.

And that reason also adds weight to Edge Forys’s current independent action.

“Necropolis won’t be able to hinder me from the start. After all, this act is precisely about erasing my regrets.”

Having previously interacted with Hecate, he understands her singular principle well.

“The Corruptor? I don’t know about him, but if he had intended to subdue me by force, he would have done so already.”

He doesn’t know much about Eremus, but based on his power, he has discerned that Eremus won’t act.

“So what means do you have left to move? Titan, the prince of Malachite? A new apostle from the Pantheon Temple whose name I don’t even know? Or perhaps the Princess of Arcanum? Or maybe even that unidentified squirrel you carry around.”

The cards I held. The cards I showed openly and those I kept hidden.

Edge Forys had figured out and countered all of them in this short time.

The immediately visible Línea and Claire, but also measures against the others, must have already been prepared.

That’s why he’s mentioning them openly like this. Or is he trying to make me think that way by mentioning them?

Either way, this is already over.

Even Ratatoskr’s hidden identity has been under his scrutiny, confirming my defeat.

“Now, how will you watch me? Do you think those who would be my hands, feet, eyes, and ears can monitor my movements when they’re all under my gaze?”

Ah, I understand now.

I’ve already been thoroughly defeated by Edge Forys as an individual.

Academic connections, regional connections, blood ties.

Under the power of the empire’s duke, who can utilize all of these.

*     *      *

Edge Forys finished dressing alone. Today is an important day.

It’s the day he would request a final meeting with his lifelong rival.

The timing would be before noon.

It was a time frame that twisted the expectation that people would sneak out at night.

Besides, how rude would it be to arrive at night when going to request a conversation?

“Oh, so you could read this much after all?”

However, Edge Forys, moving naturally and pretending to be normal, encountered a hindrance.

It was the priest who had seen through his intentions over the past few days and came to stop him.

“I didn’t read anything. Since Your Grace cut off all my hands and feet, I had to run around on my own.”

“You’ve been watching me without sleep? No wonder you’ve been quiet without trying to persuade me recently.”

The direct approach, completely opposite to the noble Edge Forys’s method.

It’s the desperate way of life for a commoner who has rolled in the dirt.

“Isn’t it time for you to give up?”

“Indeed, from my perspective, I should give up since I can’t break your will. Honestly, what I’ve done so far has already been excessive interference.”

“You understand well.”

“But having already interfered, I should at least make a minimal effort.”

Swoosh.

As Lost extended his hand, chains slithered down his wrist like snakes.

The pure white chains symbolizing Cielo.

“So shouldn’t I at least verify? Whether Your Grace can achieve your goal or not.”

“You dare to test me?”

“As Your Grace said, you have a longer history with Wallace Hope. You surely know what kind of person he is better than I do.”

Tzzzzt!

Light began to spread from beneath Lost’s feet.

Though it was already bright daylight, the soft yet brilliant light made Edge Forys feel as if the world was brightening.

“But I know more about the demon Belial. That cursed son of a bitch is not only petty and cunning but, above all, strong.”

A soft light that engulfed a space too vast to be fully visible.

And a single chain.

“This chain contains the life of the person I am. So breaking it would be equivalent to breaking me.”

“Hmm….. Impressive confidence. Seeing such confidence, that chain must indeed be solid.”

“Of course. After all, this chain contains the life lived by the Son of Man.”

“Quite an academic statement. But do I really need to indulge in such a troublesome process?”

“You must indulge. This is my minimal consideration.”

Swish!

As Lost finished speaking, the space where the two stood changed.

The two, who had been standing in front of the mansion on the domain, were suddenly standing in a wilderness.

Edge Forys could only blink at this strange phenomenon.

‘There’s no power in holy magic to move space. Then this is……?’

It’s not magic.

If it were magic, he would have noticed and blocked it.

So it’s certainly a type of holy magic, but……

“Indeed, it was that person’s power.”

“……”

Edge Forys spotted a human figure floating in the air and finally gave a bitter smile.

Bright wings spread as if melting into the sky.

He had heard about the new apostle of the Pantheon Temple, but he hadn’t thought that its symbol would be wings, and the power it contained would be spatial movement.

Though not as versatile as teleportation, the fact that it can’t be noticed in advance is quite remarkable.

“How about it? Didn’t I hide at least one card well?”

“Indeed. It seems I underestimated you too much. Well, you’re not the type to just take things lying down.”

“I’m glad you see it that way. Your Grace. No, Duke Edge Forys. Do you still intend to speak with the King of Darkness, Belial?”

“What a generous title for that petty fellow. Yes, I intend to speak with the bearer of that excessive title. That’s my job.”

“Then prove your strength.”

A single chain, about as thick as two fingers.

It rotates around Lost as if it has a will of its own.

“Even conversation requires minimal qualifications.”

“Hmm, indeed. That’s certainly hard to deny.”

A test of ability.

Edge Forys decided to accept Lost’s final admonition.

*     *      *

The time was slightly past noon.

After finishing the duel with Edge Forys, I was smoking tobacco.

“Phew……”

If I were to describe my current state simply, I’m embedded in a wall.

The flat wilderness was now filled with rocky mountains, and I was pinned to one of them.

“You deliberately lost, didn’t you?”

“I couldn’t fight to the death, could I? Still, I left some backup, so at least it won’t be a dog’s death.”

As I was smoking, Eve, who had been floating in the sky, drifted down in front of me.

Perhaps because the sky was so clear, her sky-blue hair looked particularly beautiful.

“Ah……”

When I absentmindedly touched her hair, Eve’s body flinched.

“Is it not allowed?”

“No…… It was just sudden.”

Eve, though fidgeting, slowly leaned her body toward me.

You talked about platonic love, but you actually like this. Funny.

“Even without my backup, it didn’t seem like he would die like a dog. Having confirmed that, there was no need for further fighting. If I were to waste my strength and die pathetically, what could be more foolish?”

“……My Cielo. Is it difficult for you?”

“It’s not difficult. I just feel a bit conflicted. I thought he was someone whose fate I had changed and saved, but now I have to let him go to his death, and that feels strange.”

Defeat doesn’t hurt.

I’m someone who can achieve one victory even after hundreds of defeats.

That’s why I can lose many times. I can endure humiliation many times.

But the moment I realized that someone I thought I had saved was stepping toward death again, and I could only watch.

I felt more powerless than I had expected.

Even if that person wasn’t particularly close to me.

“I see. That’s how it was. My Cielo. It’s okay to rest like this today. I’ll hold you tightly, so feel free to grieve as much as you want.”

“……Yes, Saintess.”

I fell asleep in Eve’s…… no, in the Saintess’s embrace after a long time.

Yes, in that warm embrace that had always cared for me when I had nightmares.