Lecture Observation (4)
What method would make a creature who endured countless tortures simply give up?
The simplest way to break Chimera's will in one blow—the will that had made both torturers and Inquisitors give up—was obvious.
"You failed Selena’s orders, so you’ll have to at least feed them false information. Right?"
"Wh-what? How did you figure that out?"
"I have my ways."
It was my memories from my previous life.
The power of information was a more fearsome thing than any blade.
To explain, I needed to go back briefly to my previous life.
During the battle in which the Empire's fortunes were steadily declining, I heard Selena's dying words as I killed her—one of the Four Great Demons.
'...If I have created an opening with this, then I am satisfied. It is our victory, human.'
Selena was one of the Demons who had mastered alchemy using Demonic Energy, and countless knights had fallen before her.
At the time, I could not understand the act of proclaiming victory when she had been thoroughly trampled beneath my hands.
At the time, I could not grasp precisely what that meant.
I was imprisoned, so there was no way for me to know what had happened outside.
Still poisoned by Selena’s Demonic Energy, I continued fighting Baltaros.
As the situation deteriorated through the long fight, I finally realized what that opening was.
'They were targeting the void left by my disappearance.'
It was time to piece together all the information I had worked so hard to gather.
"From now on, I'll piece together your plan one step at a time."
"Shut your mouth...."
In front of Chimera, furious that I had exposed a plan only it should have known, I fitted the pieces together one by one.
"First. You trigger the academy golem rampage to divert attention."
"...."
"Second. While attention is elsewhere, you use seeds infused with Demonic Energy to create Demonized Humans in the poorly guarded slums."
"...."
"Third. You gradually scatter seeds throughout the Empire and use Clones to cause chaos elsewhere. What comes next is obvious, isn’t it?"
In my previous life, the Demons had moved with meticulous precision the moment they confirmed I had rejected the Empire's bargain.
The attack on the academy and the Clone attacks.
Those were deceptions meant to conceal the Empire's true strength and intentions.
Naturally, I was the only person in the entire Empire capable of seeing through that flimsy scheme.
Around that time, Flora had been lying low, trying to hold together an organization that had lost its center.
Alcyone had done little more than run the Magic Device Shop to gather information and raise funds for the organization.
"The key was making sure no one ever discovered the Demonized Humans. And with me locked in prison, who was left to notice?"
"Heh heh, you crazy bastard...."
Chimera gave a short, hollow laugh and met my eyes.
Its eyes, filled with madness, flashed.
"I'm curious how much you know. Keep talking."
"I wonder. Why should I tell you?"
From here on, I had little information I could firmly hold, so I redirected my answer in another direction.
Chimera giggled, staggered, and stepped toward me.
"Why? Where did that confident look of yours go?"
"My main body is probably watching this, so I’d better keep the rest to myself."
"...You know me far too well."
Its gaze sharpened as it glared at me, apparently determined not to lose the battle of nerves.
"Because I’m the one who killed your Clone."
"Ha. So it vanished without a trace, and you were the culprit?"
"So tell your main body to keep hiding."
Without the slightest change of expression, I drew out my pocket watch.
Five minutes remained.
I had not yet obtained conclusive information.
I had to drag out the single hidden move Chimera was still concealing.
The only thing I had to work with was what Flora had told me before.
'According to Alcyone's report, there was a high chance a Demon had infiltrated the Order.'
With only that clue, I had to wage an unplanned psychological battle against Chimera.
I considered carefully whether I could afford to gamble on information I wasn’t sure of.
If Chimera leaked false information, confusion could arise, so I had to approach even more cautiously.
First, I sorted through what I possessed.
A cardinal had used an Inquisitor for personal reasons to keep me under surveillance.
That meant he had a rough guess of who I was.
Very few people knew my true identity aside from the Intelligence Bureau, the Imperial Court, the chancellor, and the Magic Tower Master.
The Imperial Court and the Order were constantly at odds, so either side would certainly weaponize any weakness they found in the other.
'Then there’s no way the Imperial Court would cover for the cardinal.'
The Imperial officials might keep me in check to protect their own positions, but they did not have the nerve to do anything truly dangerous.
Therefore.
The cardinal had received information from someone and acted on his own authority.
He might even have been instigated.
'Instigated? Wait a moment....'
The words spoken by the demon I had killed in the slums earlier surfaced.
The question of whether my imprisonment was a lie.
Of all people, it had run into the Apostate.
It was within the bounds of reason that they had realized I had refused the Empire's bargain in my past life and moved accordingly.
But an insignificant Demon had heard my name and immediately realized its judgment had been wrong.
I sensed that something was amiss.
Rapidly, I lined up the tangled pieces in sequence.
If there was a traitor inside the Empire—
then for some reason, they must have made contact with the Demons and begun colluding with them.
And what if that traitor was a cardinal who served the Goddess Calde?
"Ha. This is absurd."
A cardinal who leaked internal intelligence in exchange for payment.
Demons who surveilled me based on that information to further their plans.
The Empire was thoroughly rotten.
To think the Order would collapse first.
No. There might be one in the Imperial Court as well.
Someone might have slipped in during the gap left by my disappearance.
I questioned Chimera, which still seemed relaxed, as though it believed I would never figure it out.
"When did you plant someone inside the Order?"
"I don’t know what you’re talking about?"
Chimera drew out its words and tilted its head.
"You made contact with a cardinal and turned him into a tool to surveil me."
"Isn't that the obvious thing to do, seeing how you behave?"
"No. A cardinal would try not to give the Imperial Court any leverage, even while doing something shady."
I declared checkmate with complete confidence.
"But what if the Imperial Court is already watching him?"
At that moment, Chimera's expression darkened.
It bit its lip until it bled, suppressing its rage.
"...So this shoddy body couldn’t even manage that much without getting caught."
After muttering something to itself for a moment,
"Well, it's fine! The festival will begin soon anyway!"
Chimera grinned so widely its mouth looked ready to split.
At the same time, it thrashed violently, rattling the chains.
"Doing something pointless."
I knew what Chimera meant by the “festival.”
The plan was already exposed, so it meant they intended to leave damage behind by turning the cardinal into a Demonized Human or a Demon.
"Cough, hack! Do your... best.... He’ll reach... at least Level 7. Ha... hah...."
Chimera vomited bright-red blood onto the floor, gave a hateful grin, and lowered its head.
At that instant, the door burst open and knights stormed in.
"What on earth has happened here?"
"A grave matter has occurred at the Order."
"Pardon? At the Order, you say?"
I swiftly laid out the full account of the incident to the knights.
Several of them reacted with disbelief.
But then the personnel who had been listening to the conversation through the magic installed within the room testified that there had not been a single falsehood.
That was enough to trigger an emergency order to arrest or kill the cardinal who had manipulated an Inquisitor, but—
"A Demon has appeared inside the Order! Cardinal Dominicus has transformed into a Demon!"
A knight, contacted urgently through a Magic Device, reported that the situation was rapidly deteriorating.
Just after all forces had departed for the Order.
As I watched Chimera's body grow cold, I remembered how the Demon in the slums had disposed of its own body.
I instinctively cast Defensive Magic.
Whoosh!
Tremendous flames erupted and voraciously devoured the surroundings.
Had a single defenseless person been present, they would have burned in agony until death.
At any rate.
There was something I had to obtain before leaving this place.
I addressed the man lingering outside, frightened by the flames.
"It is time for you to keep your promise."
"Are you all right?"
"Yes. If you want, I can keep the Defensive Magic up for you."
"Ah, no. That will not be necessary."
Welton glanced around the charred-black interrogation chamber, then stepped inside with relief.
In his hands, he held a small box adorned with costly ornamentation.
Inside the box would be whatever controlled the artifact.
"I extracted more than enough of the intelligence the Empire desired, so I shall take it."
"Yes. Even the higher-ups were stunned that you rooted out the traitor in under seven minutes."
I accepted the box from Welton and checked its contents.
Nestled within a shock-absorbing, soft material was a small potion bottle.
Inside was a clear liquid, not hazardous, and a substance I had never seen before.
"They say drinking the potion permanently weakens the force exerted by the artifact."
"Then if the Imperial Court has a few more, I suppose I can just take them."
"I would annul the bargain if you did!"
"I have no intention of doing so. It appears to be the only one of its kind, after all."
"Haha, I find such jokes chilling...."
I left Welton, who had been startled by the idle jest, behind.
I drained every last drop of the potion.
I had expected it to taste like bitter herbal medicine, but—
It was like lightly sweetened water.
In an instant, I felt the sensation of my Mana Circuit being restored, the same as last time.
Since it would not be just one minute this time, I calmly channeled my mana into it.
And once I became Level 6, a new proposal to offer Welton came to mind.
"Would you care to hear a proposal?"
"What sort of proposal?"
When Welton reacted, I quickly laid out the terms.
"At a cardinal’s level, he should be somewhere between late Level 6 and Level 7. Even the Inquisitors would probably struggle against him."
"Mm, do go on."
"I will handle this for you. And I will also hand over materials you can use to pressure the Order."
"Truly?"
"When have I ever lied to you?"
He did not even know what I was going to offer yet.
Welton's eyes glittered at the thought of walking away with materials capable of pressuring the Order.
I seized the opportunity to name my additional price.
"You need only refrain from interfering with whatever I do for the next two weeks."
"The thing is... as I always tell you, I’m only a messenger...."
Just as Welton habitually squeezed his eyes shut and looked flustered.
"Very well. I shall personally guarantee it."
Sian Merkel appeared seemingly out of nowhere, dressed in his black uniform.
He slipped between Welton and me and smoothly joined the conversation.
Since an unexpected figure had abruptly stepped up to serve as guarantor, I asked again.
"This is no jest. Are you giving your word?"
"Yes. I shall guarantee it with a Knight’s Oath."
Right there, Sian Merkel drew his sword and swore a Knight’s Oath—a type of Pact—to make the guarantee binding.
It was a Pact that forced anyone who broke it to serve the other party as their liege for life.
A bright light shone from the blade, and a crest was etched into the steel.
My path to the White Night Mountain Range for the next two weeks was secured.
I conveyed the date by which he would receive the materials.
"A letter will reach the Intelligence Bureau within three days. The deadline will be one week from the day you receive it."
"Understood."
Leaving Sian Merkel, who had finished the Knight’s Oath, and Welton staring blankly behind,
I cast myself into the subspace.
* * *
The Order was in a state of emergency because of the cardinal who had suddenly run amok.
Once the evacuation was completed and the threat was identified as a near-Level-7 Demon, the Inquisitors were deployed.
For those who fought with Divine Power, Demonic Energy was a contest of strength—and if it overwhelmed them, it became as deadly as poison.
To make matters worse, the passage leading to the Holy Relics and weapons had been consumed by Demonic Energy, making it inaccessible.
The Inquisitors tried to draw the fight into a war of attrition while avoiding Demonic Energy Poisoning, but they were being pushed back.
"Tch. A Demon, of all things...."
Level 6 Inquisitor, Justina.
An Inquisitor serving Cardinal Elion, she ground her teeth as she remembered Karon, an outside instructor at the academy, taking the Holy Relic.
"If only we had the Holy Relic at a time like this...!"
When Chimera attacked the academy, Karon had handed the Holy Relic to Ayla, and it had ended up at the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower had sealed it under strict control and was in the process of returning it.
"Damn it. By tonight, we'll all be dead...."
But they had received word that it would arrive tonight, so they could not simply wait like fools.
"This world... The Goddess...."
The cardinal's chilling voice suddenly echoed through the Order before he turned to stare at Justina.
Realizing he was about to launch an attack on her, the priests gathered and pooled their divine power.
"You are our only hope!"
"We will buy time!"
Even so.
It was far from enough to block the attack.
They could not hold back demonic energy of this magnitude.
'It's already too late....'
Just as that thought crossed her mind.
"What on earth is this situation...?"
A man suddenly appeared before the wounded Justina.
Before the priests could even attempt to stop him, he stepped beyond the divine protective barrier and walked forward.
"He really did just barely reach the edge of Level 7."
For some reason, his words lodged clearly in her ears, one by one.
He lifted his chin just as he was and gazed up at the cardinal.
With a thoroughly indifferent expression, he raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
Snap.
For one instant, silence descended as if time itself had stopped.
A void of merely three seconds.
The moment the stained glass that adorned the front of the Order shattered to pieces, the cardinal's head spun through the air and dropped to the floor.