Even Like This, You Won't Come?
The thing we found at the resistance's safe house was the Marquess of Quelln's directive and the locations of three secret bases belonging to the Oz Independence Association.
Originally, three of the resistance members hiding in the safe house had planned to slip out at night and deliver letters, but unfortunately for them, they ran into me.
Thanks to this incident, it became clear that the Marquess of Quelln hadn't merely provided material support to the Oz Independence Association—he had been deeply involved at the highest levels.
Naturally, suspicion arose. Was he truly acting out of pure patriotism for the independence movement?
Publicly he gathered power as a royalist, while secretly serving as a high-ranking member of the Oz Independence Association. No matter how you looked at it, it reeked of plotting civil war.
During the interrogation, the man I met in person hadn't exactly struck me as overflowing with patriotic fervor.
Anyway, whether in spirit or in deed, the evidence that he was a traitor to the nation was overwhelming. Instead of immediately announcing this fact, however, I decided to grant a short grace period.
The reason was obvious: to wipe out the entire resistance network in one stroke.
Currently, two major resistance groups were active inside Oz. One was the Oz Independence Association, and the other was the Oz Youth League.
The former was an organization composed of nobles and patriots of various ages, while the latter, being made up mostly of young people, held far more radical ideas.
The Independence Association was larger in scale, but the Youth League was just as dangerous because of the terrorist acts it carried out.
It seemed that most of the young mages who had voluntarily been excommunicated belonged to the Oz Youth League.
"Hmm…"
"What are you so worried about?"
"Huh? It's nothing."
I answered Dorothea's sudden question from behind me and folded the letter I had been reading. Dorothea stared at me with suspicious eyes before abruptly saying,
"Ozma wants to see you for a moment."
"What? When?"
"She's right outside the door now. Go on, hurry up."
I nodded at Dorothea's words, tucked the letter into my desk drawer, and rushed out into the corridor outside the finance office.
"……"
But there was no one there.
Realizing I'd been tricked by Dorothea, I immediately returned to my desk—only to find her already reading the letter she had pulled out of the drawer on her own.
"Dorothea."
When I called her name, she glanced up at me, shrugged her shoulders, and held the letter out.
"It really wasn't anything important. So, when are we going to the party?"
She said it so casually even though she had clearly seen the name of a high-ranking member of the Oz Independence Association written in the letter. I played along, pretending not to notice.
"Probably in about two days."
"In that case, both Barnet and I have the day off. I'll go with you."
"You haven't even asked Barnet yet."
"That girl would do anything if you asked her."
It was terrifying because it was probably true. In a way, Barnet might be the one whose love weighed the heaviest among the women in our household. Just recently, she had chased after the Beautiful Girl Mask and only returned at dawn.
"Anyway, it's decided then. I'm heading home for the day."
After thanking Dorothea for helping with the special audit all week without complaint, I asked if there was anything she wanted. She made a thoughtful face, then smiled slyly and whispered in my ear.
"A baby that looks like you?"
…I knew it was a joke, but I had a feeling this weekend was going to be intense.
***
The long-awaited Friday.
It was the final day of the special audit period.
Perhaps because of the intense week we'd had, the underground prison beneath the Governor-General's office was packed with people. Seventy percent of all cells were in use—an unprecedented situation since the founding of the Oz Governor-General's office.
Most of those locked up were Marquess of Quelln's faction. Some had originally been arrested for insulting the Governor-General and later had their charges changed to treason, while others had been caught for their ties to resistance groups like the Oz Independence Association.
Whatever the case, they were all tumors within the current Oz.
And when a tumor grows inside the body, the usual treatment is to cut it out before it spreads.
I intended to do exactly that.
'The royalist purge plan is finally reaching its climax.'
Even now, all sorts of intelligence was pouring in from the informants I had scattered throughout Oz City.
Moreover, the spy I had personally planted had reached the very heart of the resistance organization.
As long as he didn't suddenly change his mind, this plan was guaranteed to succeed.
I was certain of it.
'The only remaining variable is how to deal with the Beautiful Girl Mask…'
Since her true identity was suspected to be the Hero, she had to be dealt with. Having become a double master in just two years since becoming the Hero, she was a talent the likes of which had never been seen before. If left alone, there was no telling how far she might rise.
If possible, recruiting her would be best. If not, she would have to be locked away in some bottomless abyss where no one could reach her.
While sitting in my office racking my brain for a way to lure out the Beautiful Girl Mask, my head started to hurt. I glanced out the window and spotted the guillotine in the southern plaza—the one that hadn't been used even once in the past two years.
"Oh."
A good idea came to me.
***
That evening, a single piece of breaking news spread throughout Oz City.
The special forces of the Security Bureau had raided three secret bases of the resistance.
A large number of resistance members hiding in the safe houses had been captured.
Although several casualties occurred because many of them resisted fiercely, the Security Bureau Chief gave an interview stating that they had done their best to exterminate the parasites feeding on the nation. The interview spread throughout the city.
This move was the complete opposite of the Governor-General's usual image-making through pro-citizen policies, and the intellectuals raged that the demons had finally shown their true colors.
However, there was one strange phrase in the article: the captured resistance members would all be executed in the southern plaza this coming Sunday without a separate trial, and if anyone wanted to stop it, the Beautiful Girl Mask should come to the execution site herself.
Oz City erupted with yet another topic of discussion.
Would the Beautiful Girl Mask accept the proposal? Or should they capture the Beautiful Girl Mask themselves and hand her over to the Governor-General's office to save their families?
Unlike the royalist nobles who had acted for personal gain, many members of the resistance were ordinary citizens who genuinely wanted to reclaim their country's sovereignty.
Their families hoped that the Beautiful Girl Mask—who they had never even met—would be captured in their place and that their loved ones would return.
It was selfish, but it was an unavoidable part of human nature.
After all, saving one's own family was far more important than the life of a criminal they had never seen before.
This news also reached the ears of Countess Sophia von Glorious, who had been recuperating at her mansion.
**
"Master, do you intend to go?"
At the question from Alfred, the elderly butler who supported her in every way, Sophia set down the newspaper she had been reading and replied.
"Alfred, would you prefer that I didn't go?"
The old butler nodded.
"This is a trap. It's clearly a scheme devised by the Governor-General and the Chief Financial Officer, who still hold a grudge from last time, to capture you."
"But if I don't go, all these people will die. I can't say they're innocent, but they were people who struggled desperately to reclaim their country's sovereignty."
"You have no obligation to save them, Master. They were prepared to die from the very beginning. Engaging in independence activities in this country is synonymous with suicide."
Sophia let out a small sigh.
"Alfred, I know you're saying things you don't mean because you're worried about me, but please don't cross that line. I might end up disappointed in you."
"…I apologize."
Sophia leaned back in her rocking chair.
"Just as you said, I have no obligation to save them. But if I don't, I'll lose my own sense of purpose. I'd become a hero who only saves the people she wants to save."
Those were the eyes of someone who had already prepared for death.
"If I get captured and die because of them, then it must be heaven's will. The Goddess of Courage will simply choose another hero. It would be sad, but I think I would accept it calmly."
Sophia closed her eyes as she spoke.
"But if I survive, that too must be heaven's will. I'm going to test it this time—my luck and my skills."
Alfred silently bowed his head at her words.
"I will obey."
"Thank you, Alfred. For indulging my stubbornness."
"It is only natural for a butler to do so. Please do not say such things."
Alfred bowed deeply, then quietly closed the door behind him, considerate of the tired-looking Sophia.
Two days remained until the day of the decisive battle.