Chapter 106
Chapter 106
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 106
Chapter Title: Revelations in the Catacombs
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“…….”
The squad leader's eyes narrowed.
Elias glanced at him.
‘That reaction makes sense.’
His speech pattern had changed.
Since he had pinpointed Elias's background as the point to attack him, there was no way Elias could just let that slide.
‘I know I’m different, and I have no intention of hiding it.’
It was better than stubbornly insisting to the end, ‘I can understand you all.’
If he kept denying it, the attacks would continue to land effectively, but once the target admits their own nature, those attacks lose all value.
No one didn’t know he was a noble just because he denied it.
At that moment, the squad leader glared at Elias.
‘...He’s been deliberately excluding anything noble-related until now, and suddenly he pulls this?’
Was he trying to appeal to the bourgeois?
It might work outside, but there weren’t many bourgeois in the catacombs.
Those with wealth helped local petty nobles, put their names on distant relative lists, and openly avoided scrutiny.
Then Elias spoke again.
“So, let’s make one thing clear. I have no intention of claiming I understand your lives just because I’ve lived rejected by the Emperor.”
“…….”
“But my aspirations are the same as yours.”
At that instant, enraged shouts echoed from the plaza.
“That’s nonsense!”
“Kill him already instead of listening to this crap!”
Elias smiled as if he had anticipated it.
The squad leader channeled mana into his hand, forcing Elias back to the ground, and raised his voice.
“This is surprising. Now that you’re famous as the hero who catches Pleroma, you think sharing their hatred makes your ‘aspirations the same’?”
“…….”
“Pleroma are evil to you. But what’s your basis for that?”
“Isn’t slaughtering innocent people for profit evil?”
“That’s it. You lot, killing innocents like us without reason and extracting mana to store in the national treasury—that’s the root of evil to us. Pleroma might be your sole enemy, the incarnation of evil, but they’re not to us.”
‘Hm.’
So he planned to counter like this from the start.
Politicians on the surface are more vile than Pleroma; we don’t need to be swayed by the good-versus-evil logic they’ve drilled into us.
‘Not bad?’
The masses tend to divide everything into two camps or go mad...
With this logic, Pleroma would slowly slip from the standard of evil, replaced by surface nobles.
‘I hear Mueller has anti-Pleroma leanings too.’
To break me, he’s shelved his own views for now.
Good, it has to be at this level.
Elias now felt a certain refreshment as he listened to the squad leader.
“You fear sneak attacks from 100,000 Pleroma whose locations you can’t even track, but you have a system to catch them and 100 million subjects who mourn and rage on your behalf. Meanwhile, the empire’s entire 100 million population might as well be our secret police.”
“…….”
“So, it’s only natural we see you as greater evils than Pleroma. Can you still say our aspirations align?”
“No.”
The short, unhesitating reply rode the amplification spell across the entire plaza.
The plaza’s reactions stuttered amid the unpredictable exchange.
Someone bellowed.
“Are you kidding? Stop the wordplay and kill him quick!”
Ignoring the shout, Elias put strength into his expressionless voice.
“When did I say our aspirations align because of Pleroma? I’ve never said exterminating Pleroma is my ultimate goal.”
“What else could we share with you emotionally at this point? Don’t be ridiculous...”
“You’re mistaken. My enemies aren’t Pleroma—they’re His Majesty the Emperor and the Federal Committee.”
Elias cut off the squad leader. Now, a faint, chilling laugh laced his voice.
“…….”
The plaza fell silent as if doused with cold water.
Countless wide eyes turned to Elias’s face.
Looking down at the plaza, silent not even for breaths, Elias addressed the flustered squad leader.
“Why so surprised? With so many people here wishing for my death, isn’t that exactly why you’re dragging out this conversation with me?”
Elias continued with a smile.
“You plan to hand me over to the imperial family. My great-uncle, who’s just waiting for a chance to undermine me, will scrap the hardline policy on the catacombs and change his stance. So you can sell me off and gain legitimate safety. Right?”
“…….”
“Don’t think of weaseling out. I’m just repeating what your subordinate said to me.”
The plaza buzzed.
Not out of ethical concerns or opposition to handing Elias to the imperial family.
They still hadn’t grasped anything.
To quell the unrest, the squad leader raised his hand quickly and amplified his voice.
“You know well. Plans have changed. Elias Hohenzollern is the Emperor Friedrich’s greatest adversary, so handing him over serves the purpose of punishment far better than killing him here—and it secures the catacombs’ safety.”
The squad leader looked at Elias as he spoke.
“You’re delusional, bringing up irrelevant topics—it’s just tiring. We can’t stall forever. Now it’s time for Professor Marian Baum to testify about you.”
“…!”
Elias’s head snapped up.
Bringing in Baum was bad enough, but now he sensed a different mana flow than before.
The moment he sent mana to deploy a barrier, the surrounding mages simultaneously aimed their wands at Elias.
[Nunc est bibendum.]
“Guh…!”
His vision went pitch black for an instant, then returned.
Elias clutched his heart frantically. Red letters rapidly inscribed on the back of his hand, flashing brightly.
Catching his breath, Elias smirked at the sight.
‘The spell’s crap... fine, whatever. Tired from changing topics?’
No way it’s fatigue from that.
He noticed I was steering the crowd toward the conclusion they wanted.
Of course, this isn’t a red flag yet, so I can be generous.
“I’ll give you 5 minutes to apologize to the catacombs’ subjects.”
On the contrary, he expected the situation to turn in his favor.
‘The Emperor and Federal Committee, not Pleroma’—opposition paused at those words. The groundwork for focus was laid.
Everyone assumed Elias Hohenzollern sought public support and comfort like other noble mages—they never imagined rebellion.
‘It’s good, but one regrettable thing.’
My lifelong goal of chopping off Great-Uncle’s head isn’t getting this much publicity?
Anyway, he’s making excuses to silence me with a curse spell.
‘Guess he didn’t want to dismiss it outright.’
Thanks for the 5 minutes.
Elias struggled to his feet and spoke.
“What are your goals? To live on the surface without threat of death, like other subjects?”
“Could it end there? We’ll definitely be compensated for lost time.”
“Good attitude. Me too.”
The squad leader raised an eyebrow.
“After this, do as you wish. It’ll profit you greatly. The Imperial Gazette will flip from endorsing massacres to sympathizing with the catacombs overnight, and Nikolaus and I will inexplicably become the world’s most shameless bastards.”
Elias chuckled bitterly, lifting his head.
Sweat beaded on his hands.
“It’s true my options range from 5-pfel mud to 500,000-pfel wine. I won’t deny that. If I say knowing all those privileges are built on the people’s blood makes me feel guilty for everything I’ve said so far, does that ease your minds?”
“As if. What meaning would that have when you’re still enjoying all the wealth?”
“Then, if I were exiled from the imperial family and lived in the slums, matching your past and plight, would that comfort you a bit?”
“…….”
As if that would.
There were nobles everywhere who needed purging. No special feelings from one falling.
“No reason to relax over that. The root change is so distant that blinding yourselves, crushing what’s at hand, and mistaking it for justice—it’s laughable.”
“…….”
“Same here. Do you want to grovel to the Emperor who drove you underground for a few months of peace? Become Pleroma yourselves, surrender to a doomed method, just for a fleeting respite?”
The crowd’s murmurs no longer reached Elias’s ears. This wasn’t the time to listen.
“If that’s what you want, go ahead. But not me.”
“You have no right to dictate catacombs affairs. Whatever method we choose is beyond your...”
“I said I can’t understand you. The reverse is true too. I won’t dismiss your pursuit of higher material life as wholly wrong...”
Unlike his sweat-drenched face, Elias’s voice was steady.
“But if you’re telling others not to even dream of understanding them, shouldn’t you know you can’t make a single definitive statement about others either?”
“…….”
The squad leader looked down at Elias silently.
Words poured from Elias’s mouth like a machine gun.
“...I know how suffocating it is to face death due to something innate. From moments I can’t even remember, because of my mana, I’ve been seen as Great-Uncle’s rival. In a world where my protector tries to crush me, I’ve never once thought it operates rationally. How can you assert I can’t understand your situation at all? Aren’t you in the same boat?”
He couldn’t tell how the plaza’s mood was shifting.
Frankly, he wasn’t sure if sticking to this obnoxious tone was working.
Someone outside was still yelling, but now nothing reached his ears. The curse was eroding his core.
“Hiding my status wasn’t just for safety—it threatened your existence too. You knew that. The only reason I came despite knowing was one.”
Mueller would bring Pleroma soon.
Whether Luca guessed the same, it’d be weirder not to infer that after seeing the vigilantes’ blood.
Time was short anyway, so he spoke assuming he was right.
“With the Emperor planning to link this place to Pleroma and wipe it out, you still thinking of allying with them? What did you think Nikolaus and I came here for? You never once thought I might be on your side. I get it, but...”
This really was the end.
Elias mustered his full voice.
“I promise. I didn’t come to harm you. I came to stop the Emperor.”
At that moment, the vigilantes flanking him aimed their wands at the squad leader.
Elias’s half-lidded eyes widened.
Before he could grasp the situation, the light in his vision vanished.
* * *
“It worked.”
Lichtofen, who had deployed spatial magic before us, muttered.
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