The Die Is Cast
Four hours after the success of Operation Pig Hunt,
"Then, as of tomorrow, the royal edict will arrive."
I spoke up from within the conference room of the Southern Border Immigration Office.
"Accordingly, I will now explain what must be done from this point forward."
The Five Senses Officers and my personal aide nodded with tense faces.
"Yes, sir."
"Understood."
With the pig hunt operation behind us, it was time to focus everything on the trial. Once everyone had answered, I glanced to the side and continued.
"There are a few things the Saintess herself must do for this trial. Please listen carefully."
"Of course."
Erzena Selaphe. She answered while fidgeting with the hem of her sleeve, seeming slightly out of place being here at all.
It had been, all told, four hours since the Saintess had returned to being human. She was wearing clothes hastily borrowed from the Hearing Officer — because as a pig, she had worn nothing at all, and the moment she transformed back, she reverted to exactly that state.
I still remember it. That blindingly, devastatingly beautiful bare figure. The glimpses of sky-blue hair cascading down in full bloom—
No. That is not the point.
I quickly reined my thoughts back in. What an impure imagination. Not that I could have lent her my clothes.
An outer coat might have been forgivable, but handing over the clothes off one's back is a grave breach of propriety. Besides, with a rumor-hungry world out there, who knew what stories would spread if she were caught wearing a strange man's garments?
Because of that, things had been rather awkward for a while right after she returned to human form. After all, how often does one find oneself alone in a sealed room with a woman wearing nothing but an overcoat?
And yet, something about her had changed. Most obvious of all: the golden mist and halo that had always lingered behind her were gone. I couldn't say precisely what that meant, but I could guess at least what it felt like.
Something in her heart must have shifted.
When I asked if she was all right, the Saintess had answered with perfect composure.
'It doesn't matter if it's gone. For now.'
Instead, she had made a strange request of me.
'Please hold my hand. Just for a moment.'
And so, when I took her slender hand in mine, a faint warmth of divine power had flowed out yet again.
What on earth is going on here...
No matter how I asked what was wrong, the Saintess only smiled and shook her head.
'This is my trial. You needn't concern yourself, Central Officer.'
She had kept up this attitude ever since. Actively trying to help me — the feeling of an enemy turning ally. It was reassuring, and yet somehow unsettling.
But that wasn't all there was to it.
"Very well. Then the Saintess will—"
"Please call me Erzena."
"...I beg your pardon?"
"Erzena."
I blinked, thrown off balance. What on earth was this woman saying? Calling someone by their bare name is only permitted in private, or between people who are close. And the gap between the Saintess and me began at our station in life and only widened from there.
She picks the one phrase guaranteed to be misunderstood by anyone who overhears it.
Perhaps she was a bit tired.
"S-Saintess. This is a serious moment, so for now, if you would just..."
"I am being serious."
"..."
An awkward silence followed. This woman had been badly off ever since turning human again. The distance between us had all but vanished — or perhaps the instincts and senses she'd had as an animal were still lingering.
I forced myself to ignore it and returned to the matter at hand.
"First, the Saintess will—"
"Er. Ze. Na."
The Saintess was relentless.
"..."
"Erzena."
"Fine, then... Er-Erzena... dignitary?"
"Drop the honorific."
The Saintess took a single step closer. Fierce will blazed from her golden eyes — the absolute determination to make her own name leave my mouth. The Five Senses Officers' gazes darted back and forth between us.
In the end, it was my side that surrendered first.
"...Erzena."
"Yes, Central Officer?"
Only then, satisfied, did she turn back to face the table. At the sight, the Smell Officer and the Taste Officer slowly tilted their heads toward each other and began whispering.
"...She actually did it."
"This is definitely... even back home, calling each other by name in an official setting like that practically means they're lovers..."
"I saw it all with my own two eyes, you know. Her, riding on top of the Central Officer and whimpering—"
The Hearing Officer, with her sharp ears, had caught every word of our exchange with uncanny precision, and now she looked at me.
"My, my..."
The Hearing Officer flashed me a sly, unwholesome smile that suited an elf not at all.
"You scolded me for fooling around with a man, and yet here you are, landing the catch of the century~?"
"Ahem! Focus, everyone!"
I steered the conversation back on course before the ugly rumors could spread any further.
"Now that Erzena has chosen to stand with our side, we should expect fierce resistance."
The Saintess had agreed to testify on our behalf. But to do that, she would first have to declare her intent to attend the trial — and explain why she wished to attend. What consequences that declaration would bring was obvious.
The Saintess said it herself.
"They will try to block my attendance at the trial outright."
Correct. They would doubtless stop at nothing to bar her way.
I have to find a way through this.
A plan that could be strangled at the very first step was dangerous.
I need another move.
It was then that I recalled exactly how the Saintess had returned to the Crossline Kingdom.
Abduction.
And yet, strangely, the pilgrimage had been quiet about it.
"Does the pilgrimage know you were abducted?"
"...I don't believe so. Not enough time has passed."
She had definitely said she suffered for four days after I declared my refusal of entry.
Which means, until one day before the edict's arrival.
I ran the numbers. Even assuming she had attempted to cross the border immediately after being abducted, less than ten hours had passed since the kidnapping until now.
Ten hours...
By ordinary human reckoning that was a long time — but to the devout, it was something else entirely. Prayer to God, however long it took, never struck them as strange.
Besides, a Saintess famous for the depth of her faith could easily be assumed to be in the middle of a long communion with God.
Meditative prayer alone conventionally ate up a good five hours.
As if to endorse my reasoning, Erzena spoke.
"At the time, the shapeshifter spoke in my own voice, saying he wished to be alone. That's why Mohaim never noticed."
Then the arithmetic fit. The pilgrimage might, quite possibly, have no idea at all of Erzena's current situation.
"In that case..."
This meeting right now was extremely dangerous. Even if we revealed on our own that she had been abducted, it was fertile ground for misunderstanding.
The Saintess, who has already turned hostile, suddenly in our camp?
That would be a perfect pretext to attack me.
No matter how strained the justification.
They might even go so far as to claim we had kidnapped her — that we were holding her in detention.
Which meant...
I sank into thought for a moment. Then, slowly, I opened my mouth.
"Everyone, I am changing the plan."
"I'm sorry?"
"Saintess — return to the pilgrimage at once."
Startled, the Saintess cried out at the abruptness of it.
"What are you saying? You promised I would stand here as your witness, Central Officer!"
"That is precisely why."
I looked at her as I spoke.
"As of this moment, you were not abducted by the shapeshifter and rescued by this officer's people."
"What did you say?"
"Erzena came here of her own will, to persuade this officer."
That was a lie. She had never done any such thing.
"As one who bears the title of Saintess, you came to offer a final chance: repent, and open the border. And this officer refused."
That was a lie. A very plausible one.
"However, knowing such conduct would draw fierce backlash even from within the pilgrimage, you acted on your own authority — because your heart ached for the faithless."
Erase the abduction. In its place, make it appear that the Saintess had come secretly to grant me one last opportunity. That way, the pilgrimage could not so much as suspect that her heart had changed. And they would be robbed of any pretext to attack me.
Having grasped my meaning, the Saintess slowly spoke.
"...But the arrogant Central Officer, even so, clung to the laws of the secular world and refused me outright."
"Precisely."
"And so the enraged Saintess, at last, abandoned every attempt and returned to the pilgrimage."
The scenario clicked together, piece by piece. It was a move bordering on a gamble, but even if they grew suspicious of the abduction story, we need only say she left in haste. The Saintess's temperament had always been quick and impulsive, after all.
And with this chain of cause and effect established, her reason to despise me would be satisfied. Better still, I knew exactly the right person to put the Saintess's hatred and fury to use.
"The Pope will most likely come to you for help."
"Do you truly believe so?"
"Yes."
I nodded.
"I only spoke with His Holiness briefly, but I know what kind of man he is."
He was a man of blind devotion — not to God, but to his goals. He wore tolerance and restraint on his face, yet the moment he tried to have me dealt with behind closed doors, his true nature showed itself.
A man blinded not by faith, but by ambition. He would want to use every tool at his disposal to grind me into the dirt at that trial.
"So when that moment comes — testify as a witness for the Queen's side."
That was the lever I intended to pull.
"Don't tell me—"
Only then did the Five Senses Officers grasp what this meant, their faces going pale with shock.
"Yes. That is correct."
I said it plainly.
"This officer intends to blow this trial apart from the inside."
If they meant to bore through me with every filthy trick and backroom alliance, then I would answer with its exact mirror image.
"We will block them thoroughly — with witnesses, with testimony, and with the law itself."
"But there's no reason to reveal every card in our hand before the game even starts, is there."
"The card that flips the board. That card, Erzena, is you."
And a card like that delivers its greatest impact only when played at the very, very end. The instant our opponent was certain of victory and began to run wild — that was the moment the Saintess would bare the truth of the pilgrimage before the entire world.
That was the aim.
"Wow..."
The Touch Officer, having heard my plan, couldn't close his mouth.
"So — we deceive the Pope, deceive the Knight Commander, deceive the entire Church, slip past absolutely everyone, and then testify on our side?"
"If this goes wrong, we're genuinely dead meat."
"If they catch us, it's over. No appeal."
I knew. This was a true gamble. But it was the only winning move I had.
I asked the Saintess.
"Can you do it?"
"..."
Erzena fell silent. To deceive the Church she had devoted her entire life to. Even granting that I had saved her life, it was far too much to ask — nothing less than a demand that she betray her own faith.
But she reached her decision before long.
"Yes."
It was the answer I had hoped least to hear.
At that moment, the Taste Officer raised his hand.
"Th-then what about His Majesty's royal edict?"
"..."
On this one point, I too had no countermeasure.
"As the Minister said, there is likely no stopping the pilgrimage's passage. A royal command cannot be defied."
The king's order was absolute. Nothing could twist it, bend it, or rationalize it away. There was nothing to do but obey.
The Saintess stepped forward urgently.
"I'll do something, anything—"
"No. This cannot be helped. It is the King's command."
We could give our all for everything else. Except this. Such was the nature of a royal edict.
In the end, even Erzena had no choice but to back down.
"...I'll do what I can from the pilgrimage's side."
"Your willingness alone is more thanks than I can offer, Erzena."
The fact that she had come to our side at all was already more than I deserved. When I sent her a grateful look, she returned a small smile of her own — and at the sight, the werewolf and the nomad girl began whispering yet again.
"How is that not 'lovers' but 'married couple' at this point?"
"I mean, we've already seen everything there is to see, haven't we?"
These lunatics are writing their own novels over there.
Diligently ignoring the pair, I addressed the Saintess.
"Now, go. There is no time. I am truly sorry, but I cannot see you out."
"I understand."
From this moment on, the performance began.
"I will open the gate a crack for you. Head that way."
The me whose last goodwill she had spurned — and the Saintess enraged by it. We had to show the world that our feelings toward each other had curdled into something deep and bitter.
Understanding this, Erzena hesitated a moment, then took my hand.
"...Stay safe."
It was warm.
Then I let go. The faint golden light guttered out.
And just as she turned to leave, my personal aide suddenly came scrambling up, clutching a sheet of paper.
"S-Saintess! If — if you happen to have a moment later, could I possibly trouble you for just one autograph?"
"...Now?"
He spoke with an expression torn between immense apology and sheer desperation.
Not now, man, the mood was finally just right.
"My wife is an enormous fan of yours, Saintess. Her one dream in life is to see you on stage even once, so I think even an autograph would make her wonderfully happy."
"Well then... of course I must."
After signing one last autograph for my personal aide, she left through the border.
I did not watch her go. I wanted to leave behind not even a sliver of anything suspect.
Behind me, the Smell Officer spoke quietly.
"...Do you really think this will work?"
"I don't know. But it's worth trying."
If the Saintess openly declared herself our witness, the Church would bar her no matter what reason we gave. And then, however much we wanted their cooperation, we would get none. Rather than that, deceiving our way in like this was the best available move.
"The die, in any case, has already been cast."
All that remained was to wait.
Morning arrived with brutal speed. The tension in the office was a living thing; again and again, anxious eyes flicked toward the door. Today was the day.
And the moment the clock struck eight precisely, my personal aide stepped inside the building and spoke.
"C-Central Officer. They've come."
"Who, may I ask?"
Before the aide could even answer, a massive shadow fell across the space behind him.
"I beg your leave."
A man of a build to rival even the werewolf Smell Officer pushed the door open and entered. He stood nearly two meters and twenty centimeters tall, and his face was hidden beneath a black veil.
Only when I saw the horns jutting out from beneath the veil did I understand he was a dragonewt. And the instant my eyes fell upon the badge on his stately uniform and the crest symbolizing the royal house, not only I but everyone in the office sucked in a breath.
As far as I knew, there was exactly one veiled dragonewt of the royal house.
The King's Proxy.
A being said to move only upon the King's direct command now stood towering before me.
So they sent someone of this caliber personally. Her Majesty has truly made up her mind.
"All present will maintain silence."
The dragonewt's characteristically low, resonant voice rolled through the room with solemn authority. Slowly, he drew a staff and a sealed document from within his breast and spoke.
"Nathan Kell, Central Officer and Immigration Officer of the Southern Border Immigration Office — come forward."
The inevitable had arrived. The Proxy slowly unfurled the royal edict.
"From this moment, I speak not as the dragonewt Incansus, but in the voice of His Majesty Leo Castor, King of the Crossline Kingdom."
Everyone sank to one knee and bowed their heads. I stepped one pace forward, observed every formality, and spoke with a trembling voice.
"Nathan Kell, humble vassal of the Crossline Kingdom. This servant awaits the command of His Most Reverent Majesty the King."
The Proxy held his silence for a moment. From behind the veil, I felt a wordless gaze upon me. It was, unmistakably, a dragonewt looking at me — and at the same time, it was the King himself looking down upon me.
The pressure was monstrous. I had known this was coming, and still the weight of the edict exceeded anything I had imagined.
The Proxy conveyed the King's will.
"You are hereby commanded to grant, this instant, entry to all three thousand three hundred and seventy-four members of the pilgrimage of the Holy Church — the Saintess and the First Knightly Order included."
As expected.
"Further, their belongings, equipment, and provisions alike shall be granted unconditional passage."
In other words: send their weapons and materiel of war through without so much as a murmur.
"At the same time, the Central Officer who, forgetting his office and his duty, refused entry to the pilgrimage out of private sentiment shall — the moment every member of the pilgrimage has been granted entry — present himself at the Royal Castle to stand trial for his diplomatic discourtesy."
At last, the contents of the edict — drenched from edge to edge in lies — came pouring down.
Behind me, the Smell Officer, evidently taking it very poorly, bristled from head to toe. The Taste Officer screwed his eyes shut and trembled violently. Thankfully, the Hearing Officer and the Touch Officer managed to keep their composure, showing nothing at all.
"Such is the command of King Leo Castor — the lawful sovereign of the Crossline Kingdom, master of every road, and ruler of the world's great crossroads."
I answered calmly.
"...This servant shall receive and obey the command."
"Then carry it out at once. Know that the slightest delay shall be construed as defiance of the royal command."
With those final words, the Proxy struck the floor twice with his staff.
Thud. Thud.
It meant one thing, and one thing only.
There was no turning back now.
I closed my eyes and murmured quietly, under my breath.
Please — let this work.