Chapter 122
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 122
Giselle's skills were superb. A tingling sensation spread from the extremities of my prosthetic body, and my senses sharpened.
Of course, maintenance and calibration weren't the reasons I'd called her here today.
I flexed my fingers, which now felt far more responsive than before, and spoke.
"You have access to the armory, don't you?"
Very few people had unrestricted access to the Custoria family armory. Giselle was one of them.
"I do. I'm in charge of it whenever Mother's away."
Giselle answered as she packed away her assortment of maintenance tools. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead—proof of just how much concentration the work had demanded.
"I want to stop by the armory for a bit."
"You're a member of the Custoria family, so there's no reason you can't. But I doubt you just want to sightsee. What are you after?"
Sometimes I wished Giselle were a little more of a fool. Then again, if she'd been that kind of woman, I wouldn't have been drawn to her in the first place.
"Do I have to tell you?"
"I'm getting sick of you acting all smug and keeping everything to yourself."
I shrugged.
"Even so, I can't tell you."
I didn't have the nerve to dump my tangled darkness onto her. Besides, Giselle wouldn't be able to bear it.
"...I suppose Father trusts you because you keep your mouth shut. Jupe could never manage what you do."
"Nikolaos could have. But Nikolaos is gone now."
In my own way, I felt a sense of duty to fill the space he'd left. Nikolaos's death had been a massive loss for the Custoria family.
Nikolaos was one of the few people capable of navigating the Empire's darkness.
The way he'd toyed with the heart of his superior, Bao Zakanan, proved he had the aptitude for it. But he'd lacked the power to shield himself from the Imperial Family's schemes. He died before he could obtain it. Perhaps that was precisely why he died.
Giselle stared at me blankly, then stood. Her silent frustration hung heavy in the air.
"Follow me, then, my esteemed Acting Family Head."
I sighed, grabbed my coat, and followed her out of the room.
The mansion was quiet as the night deepened. Stepping outside, I glanced up at Heilas's room.
Soft light spilled through the large window. The silhouettes of Heilas and Eva flickered into view. They were dancing, shoulders and cheeks pressed together with obvious affection.
They're deeply in love.
I knew a fair bit about noble society. Heilas and Eva got along remarkably well for a noble couple. Most simply produced heirs and then lived as strangers under the same roof.
"By the way, don't you think Anna's cute, even if she's a bit clumsy? She's surprisingly popular."
Giselle spoke without looking back, walking a step ahead of me.
"Well, I suppose some men go for that type," I answered indifferently, following her.
"So you're not one of them?"
"I prefer women with a bit of attitude."
"You've got strange taste."
"I think so too."
We weren't walking side by side, but one behind the other, keeping our distance.
Even so, I could tell Giselle was smiling. It wasn't some insight from Akies Victima—it was something I'd have known even without it.
"They say a daughter ends up liking men who resemble her father."
Giselle's pace slowed.
"Is that superstition? Or science?"
"No idea. I just heard it somewhere. Honestly, I used to think it was complete nonsense. But maybe it's not entirely wrong."
I let out a short, dry laugh. Giselle's shoulders shook a little too.
There are things in this world that willpower can't touch. Emotions are one of them.
The Custoria armory came into view ahead. Giselle stepped up to the door, and I waited behind her as the security clearance ran its course.
Click.
The lock disengaged, and the armory opened.
Creeeak.
Giselle pushed the door open and stepped inside. I followed. The lights within flickered on automatically.
Since it was essentially a museum, the interior looked exactly as it always had.
I came here under Giselle's guidance last time, too.
Same as now. Only the circumstances had changed. Back then it was day; now it was night. And the color of the emotions passing between us was different. Come to think of it, not just a little different—vastly so.
I let my eyes fall shut. Cutting off my sight, I focused on my hearing.
Click.
I clicked my tongue lightly. Having mapped out every corner of the armory, I opened my eyes. There was no one else here.
"What did you just do?" Giselle asked, puzzled by my behavior.
"Just had something on my tongue," I said vaguely, brushing it off as I walked deeper inside. Various pieces of equipment slid past like a backdrop, showcasing the history of the Custoria family.
Thud.
I stopped. As the lights lit up the deepest recess, a full-armor prosthetic—practically an antique—revealed its majestic form.
The Full-Armor Prosthetic, Scylla.
It was the full-armor prosthetic of the founder, Agatha Custoria. A single horn jutted from its helmet, and its right arm was longer and bulkier than the left.
Step, step.
I halted right in front of Scylla.
"Giselle, this is one of the first secrets I'm sharing with you. Even Father doesn't know about it. A secret that only you and I will ever hold."
"Lu—"
Before Giselle could even finish my name, it was done.
Click, clack.
I twisted and bent Scylla's right thumb at a precise angle. A section of its right elbow slid open like a gun barrel, and a fingernail-sized chip popped out. A hidden mechanism.
Click.
Scylla's twisted thumb snapped back into place.
Clank!
The elbow shut as if it had never opened. The vent had likely been designed originally to discharge pressure and heat.
Agatha was telling the truth.
I snatched the falling chip out of the air. It was a type no longer in use anywhere today. A genuine antique. Well, that made sense—it was over two hundred years old.
This chip was a secret Agatha had whispered to me before she died. She'd told me there was one hidden inside Scylla.
"What did you just do? How did you know about something even I didn't...?" Giselle looked bewildered, her brow knitting.
"An elder of the Silver Moon Pavilion told me."
"But why would they tell you of all people? That makes no sense!"
"They probably decided I was trustworthy."
...Or they'd simply gone senile.
Giselle bit her lower lip. She had to be hurting too. She surely sensed that things were turning ominous around her. Yet no one would explain anything to her in detail. Myself included.
She gripped my clothes tight, bunching the fabric in her fist.
"Luka, can I really trust you?"
It was a foolish question.
If I meant to deceive her, I'd tell her to trust me. And if I truly cared for her, I'd tell her the same. Either way, the question yielded the exact same answer.
Giselle probably knew how silly it was to ask. Still, after careful thought, I answered.
"...I don't know if you should trust me either. But I trust you. If you told Father what you just saw, I wouldn't walk away unscathed."
Romantic feelings are volatile things. Odds are they won't even last a few years. Rationally, no one should stake their trust on something so fleeting.
I'd just done something foolish. And yet, I was certain I wouldn't regret it.
"All right. I'll trust you."
Giselle rose slightly onto her toes and kissed me. It wouldn't dissolve all her anxieties. But Giselle didn't demand impossible answers from me. She filled the hollow of her worry with trust.
* * *
Heilas and I boarded the aerial vehicle to return to the Imperial Guard.
I used to enjoy this ride. Chatting with Heilas about this and that made the time fly.
Of course, now it was just uncomfortable.
"Ah, Luka. I saw a record of you and Giselle entering the armory," Heilas said, reviewing documents on a hologram.
"I remembered the weapon the elder mentioned and went to take a look. It was quite the antique, just as I'd expected."
Nothing strange about it. After talking with the elder for so long, it was only natural I'd want to see a weapon from the past.
Heilas nodded, seemingly satisfied. He swiped the holographic document away. The next agenda item bloomed into dense text. It was about the Catacomb Mine.
"Last night, Eva praised you for the first time. Looks like you scored some points with her." Heilas pinched the bridge of his nose and tilted his head back.
"Saying it's the 'first time' means she's had nothing good to say about me until now."
"Well, the rolling stone's been gouging away fiercely at the one that was already embedded. Don't hate Eva too much. She's a good woman."
"I've never hated her. Truly."
"Then can I take it Eva's included among the people you feel you must protect?"
I nodded. Heilas let out a soft breath of relief and smiled.
Our aerial vehicle touched down at the Imperial Guard airfield. Instead of returning to my quarters, I headed straight for the Lower District.
Heilas vanished off to his own duties. We each set about doing what we had to do.
Since I'd started from the airfield, the checkpoint came into view quickly. A soldier who recognized me widened his eyes. As I passed, they began whispering as though they'd spotted a celebrity.
"Is that kid Lucaus Custoria? So it really is true—he comes through here a lot."
"Don't call him a kid unless you want to die. Watch your mouth. He's a walking murder weapon. He's got the Crown Prince's favor, so he could cut down a couple of low-ranking soldiers like us and walk away without a scratch."
"Well, considering he slices through nobles like butter..."
I can hear you. And I have no intention of killing you.
Past the checkpoint, I sighed and reached into my coat. My hand brushed against a palm-sized mask.
Hiss.
I put on the electronic mask, which covered everything below my eyes. I didn't like masks—they dulled my senses—but I had no choice.
Thanks to Fransek's erratic behavior, I couldn't walk the Lower District bare-faced.
Even passing through official checkpoints was risky, honestly. Somewhere out there, a noble was bound to be hunting me. I needed to erase my records and cover my tracks to stay safe. The problem was, I had no means to do it.
For once, I envy Kinuan's Watcher Authority.
Kinuan could neutralize every kind of imperial security device. No records left behind, no matter where he went.
Whirrrr.
The high-speed elevator I'd boarded plunged rapidly toward the Lower District.
Ding.
The moment the doors opened, my brow furrowed. The commotion echoing down the corridor pressed on me like a physical weight.
"Reveal the true culprit!"
"Punish the nobles who tried to harm the Crown Prince!"
"We cannot let this stand! Never!"
Protesters lined both walls of the checkpoint corridor, holding placards and screaming. Normally, such a thing would be unthinkable. But the current situation was anything but normal. Even well-dressed figures were scattered here and there through the crowd.
"Praise Dino Cracia! Long live His Majesty the Emperor! Long live His Highness Prince Fransek!"
They were supporters of the Imperial Family and the Crown Prince. From the bureaucrats' standpoint, breaking them up by force would be a delicate matter indeed.
"Bring the hammer down on the incompetent nobles!"
For a moment even I thought I'd misheard. Bold declarations like that were spilling out from within the crowd.
"Bring the hammer down!"
My gaze locked onto the center of the protesting mob.
Damn it...
A curse nearly slipped from my throat.
— The True Face of an Imperial Subject.
Above those words on a placard was a drawing of me. Crude, like a child's doodle—but unmistakably me.
And in the picture, I held someone's severed head. Blood dripped from the neck.
Luka, the killer of nobles.
Anyone could read the message.
Not long ago, such radical expressions would never have been tolerated in the Empire. What's more, this wasn't even the deep Lower District—it was a checkpoint right beneath the Upper District.
Fransek. Is this what you wanted?
The vortex of chaos was spinning faster and faster, gathering momentum. The Lower District was bound to be crawling with agitators Fransek had loosed.
New era, my ass—if this atmosphere kept up, bastards trying to kill me would come by the truckload. Like it or not, I was becoming the symbol of the Lower District.
I pulled my hood down tight and slipped through the throng of protesters. Their shouts still reached me long after I'd walked away.
In the back alleys, murals of Fransek and me appeared here and there. I paused. A long mural depicted me holding a bow, loosing arrows to slay nobles. Beneath it, "Noble Hunter" was scrawled in messy handwriting.
...This is driving me insane.
The situation was even worse than I'd feared.
I quickened my pace. My destination wasn't the gang hideout, but the G&G Workshop. It seemed they weren't open, given the ominous mood in the Lower District. Even the sign was dark.
I scanned my surroundings and rapped on the door a few times.
Click.
A small slot in the door slid open, revealing only Gilda's eyes.
"Who is it?"
"It's me, Gilda," I said, tugging my mask down slightly.
"Lu—Luka?"
Gilda's eyes went wide. A loud clatter of locks disengaging followed.
Creeak.
The door opened. As I stepped inside, I sensed another presence and sighed. Gilda wasn't alone.
Gabriel.
Gabriel was sitting in the workshop.
He'd been drinking beer and watching a combat match on the television. He looked up at me—and soon his ugly face twisted into an enormous scowl as he rose to his feet.
"Well, well, look who it is. If it isn't Young Master Lucaus Custoria! Oops—my hand slipped!"
The beer bottle Gabriel hurled sailed past me and shattered against the wall. Without so much as a blink, I tucked my mask back into my coat.
"Gabriel. Do you want to die? You already knew I was of high standing."
"Well, I didn't know you were this big a deal. Bet Martina Diva knew who you really were too, huh? Ah, whatever. What's it matter now? To you, I'm just a fun little toy anyway. Kill me, do whatever you want—I don't care."
Gabriel flicked the cap off a fresh beer with his finger and tipped it down his throat.
This was exactly why I hated running into Gabriel. What he wanted from me wasn't power or money. If ours had been a strictly business relationship, he wouldn't be sulking over something like this.
Right. Gabriel... had never really been my subordinate.
"I'm sorry, Gabriel," I said, dipping my head slightly.
Thud.
Gabriel dropped the bottle he was drinking from. He gaped at me, mouth hanging open.
"W-what did you just say?"
"Forget it, if you didn't catch it."
"Hey, hey! What did you just say?! Oh my god! Holy crap! Gilda, you heard that too, right?"
Gabriel grabbed my shoulders and shook me. Yeah—I couldn't take any more of this.
Thwack!
I struck Gabriel's chin lightly with the heel of my palm. His eyes rolled back, and he crumpled unconscious at my feet.
Watching the spectacle, Gilda pressed a hand to her mouth to stifle a laugh. I held out a chip to her—the one I'd taken from Scylla.
"I need a terminal or device compatible with this."
Gilda studied the chip closely, then gave an awkward smile. Yeah, I knew—hopelessly outdated. A total antique.
"...I'll see what I can do."