20. The Root of All Evil
20. The Root of All Evil
"So, that is where Schoene is to go."
"Y-yes."
Finance Officer Marcus prided himself on having seen every kind of work imaginable while holding a finance post for over a decade with nothing but a 1st Rank body, but this was his first time seeing an 8th Rank up this close.
An 8th Rank of the Empire, no less, and a Surveyor at that—a figure who almost never ventured outside the Empire.
With the exception of the Guardian Dragon and the Honorary Emperor, the Empire's 8th Ranks freely moved within and beyond its borders. That fact was a point of pride for a hegemonic state: the certainty that even when its 8th Ranks went abroad, they would never truly leave the Empire.
Had not the Archmage himself attended Grandis Academy's charity ball, after all? But unlike the Guardian Dragon, who must remain in the Imperial capital, or the Honorary Emperor, who simply refused to go anywhere, there were two talents the Empire was genuinely unwilling to let slip away.
The Surveyor and the Sculptor.
Among the twenty-some 8th Ranks on the continent, they were the most alien and bizarre—abilities no one else could even begin to approach, talents the Empire handled with exceptional caution. And unlike the somewhat freewheeling Sculptor, the Surveyor—by his very disposition—had never felt the need to leave the Empire at all.
"It is but Schoene's humble skill. Still, I will strive to bring a result that satisfies the Elder."
"You need not bow your head to me! At once, let us have Count Anton—"
"With any other Elder, it would be no trouble. My measurements place him in the lord's castle, and I cannot make an Elder stir his steps on Schoene's account. It will not take long in any case."
"Very well..."
An 8th Rank nearing a century in age, yet he kept bowing and referring to himself as Schoene.
It was not that he failed to grasp his own worth or station. Like a lifelong verbal tic, the Surveyor addressed everyone as "Elder" and stooped to everyone.
Because of that temperament, the Surveyor was famous for almost never leaving the western gates of the Empire. What, then, had brought him out into the Kingdom now?
Marcus, who had learned a little about royal affairs in the course of his duties, pieced it together at once.
'So the Empire means to meddle in the Delphia Kingdom after all.'
His Majesty wished to intervene in the Delphia Kingdom's impending civil war to expand territory and secure all manner of profit. The Empire, for its part, evidently shared the intent—so much so that it had dispatched a heavyweight like the Surveyor to assess the kingdom's internal state.
The Kingdom would be the one physically committing troops, but the Empire was clearly going to reap substantial practical gains. As the continent's hegemon, directly intervening in a civil war would be awkward, so the Empire would work through the Kingdom.
But politics aside, the Surveyor had come to assist with this sudden crisis.
Setting aside his worries about the war for a moment, Finance Officer Marcus led the Surveyor toward the collapsed rock salt mine.
"Hm, this is..."
"Down here, Grandis Academy's Finance Director and a student fell."
"Pray wait a moment, Elder."
Pluck.
The Surveyor picked up a nearby branch and thrust it straight into the ground.
Immediately, he drew line after line. At a glance it looked haphazard, but standing right next to him, Finance Officer Marcus could not stop the cold sweat.
'A structural diagram of the mine...!!'
The rock salt mine was a tangled web of Main Shaft 1, Main Shaft 2, Main Shaft 3, and countless side tunnels. And he was mapping the entire underground complex with nothing but a single branch.
Marcus could only acknowledge the ambition of King Aken Delminos, who had admitted a Surveyor into the Kingdom. If merely a casual glance sufficed to grasp the mine's convoluted layout, how much had he already seen on his way to the royal castle?
Mountain ranges, river courses, the presence of shortcuts, underground voids, the capital's roads and sewers, even the castle's own internal structure.
The Surveyor would have discerned it all simply by passing through. King Aken Delminos had risked exposing that information in exchange for the Surveyor's help.
For if the Surveyor turned his gaze deliberately, he could even "survey" the military position or combat status of the distant Delphia Kingdom.
An 8th Rank whose godlike power was confined to the truly ambiguous domain of "surveying."
That was the Surveyor.
"Found them."
"Already...? What is their condition?!"
"Both Elders are unharmed. They are not moving, so I believe they are resting. Other than that... Hm?"
"Is there a problem?"
The Surveyor kept sketching the mine's layout onto the earth, marking points that presumably represented the Finance Director and Rus.
Then, right beside one of them, deeper inside Main Shaft 2, his eyes widened slightly, and he stared hard at that spot.
"This... something is moving with a regular pulsation."
"Pardon? Do you mean there is another life-form down there?"
"Judging by its measured size and form, it is not human. Rather more like... a heart?"
"Excuse me?"
The answer was so utterly incongruous that Finance Officer Marcus reflexively asked again. At that moment, the Surveyor, who had been scrutinizing Main Shaft 2, suddenly lifted his head.
His gaze turned toward the clear, empty sky overhead.
But the Surveyor's expression was shifting in real time.
"Hrmm, it cannot be...!"
"Lord Surveyor?"
"Elder, do take care. The Great Elder is coming."
"Did you say... the Great Elder?"
"My master, Her Imperial Majesty, gave me this instruction: beware the Great Elder, she said. The Great Elder is not quite my master's equal, but she is truly worthy of the title Great Elder."
Shwaaaak───
A sound reached them.
Only then did Marcus register the anomaly spreading across the sky.
That sky—that vast, cloudless sky—
was tearing apart.
Tzzzzing!!!
"Ngh!?"
By the time he realized it was an optical illusion born of colossal Rigid Energy, Marcus was already on his knees, ears splitting from the tinnitus.
Rigid Energy, compressed so densely that it threatened to collapse under its own weight, could fracture the surrounding space itself.
A realm beyond Sword Aura and Rigid Energy, visible only when a Margrave fought monsters above the 7th Rank.
Not every 8th Rank could pull off such a feat. Only a handful among the 8th Ranks—those who had pushed the limits of a living organism to the extreme—were capable of this kind of common-sense-defying behavior.
It felt far away, but the arrival, accompanied by a sonic boom, was instantaneous.
Kraaaash!!!
"Hurk!?"
"It has been a while, Great Elder."
"...Still just as irritating a greeting as ever, Surveyor."
"Where are the other Elders who once accompanied you, Great Elder? I recall there were three: one who wielded a spear, one who wielded a sword, and..."
The Surveyor had been about to continue, but upon spotting the hat worn by the newly arrived figure—the Chairwoman—he stopped.
His manner was deeply careful, sorrowful.
"The Elder who owned that hat."
"That is an excessively pointless and excessively old story for a simple greeting. I am in a hurry, so let us get to the point."
"The two Elders are still alive. They are quite deep, but I believe the Great Elder's power will have no trouble with that. I could not presume to let the Great Elder's hands be dirtied by soil over such a matter, so I shall—"
"Move."
"Understood."
The Surveyor bowed and stepped back at once. The Chairwoman moved forward.
Bam!! Bam!!!
She did not bother to apply any finesse with Rigid Energy. She simply bored downward with overwhelming force.
That alone, however, was dozens of times faster than the reconstruction Count Anton had attempted. With every punch, meters of earth vanished, and deep holes were punched through in an instant.
The Surveyor watched the Chairwoman, who was single-handedly driving a new shaft into the mine.
"Hm."
"Lord Surveyor...? Why do you suddenly...?"
"Ah, Elder. It is nothing. Simply that something similar to the heart I measured in Main Shaft 2..."
"Something similar...?"
"...is moving toward the two Elders. Still, the Great Elder is fast, so I believe it will be fine."
At the Surveyor's easygoing words, Marcus's face went sheet-white.
KWA-KRASH!!!
The Chairwoman, as though begrudging even the time to speak, immediately accelerated.
*
Ah, I slept well.
"...Student Rus, how long was I asleep?"
"Not long. Maybe ten minutes."
"Is that so? It felt like the first deep sleep I've had in ages."
Truly, I'd slept well. I had no idea why drowsiness had suddenly washed over me, but apparently even ten minutes of sound sleep could wash all the fatigue away.
If I could sleep like this going forward, I could cut down my sleep hours and pour even more time into work.
After a brief, gloomy-yet-practical thought, I immediately raised myself off Rus's chest.
Wait. Had I been sleeping like that? I hope I'm not going to get called out for harassment.
"Wasn't I heavy? My apologies."
"You were fine. Truly."
"Glad to hear it, but..."
I really hope I didn't snore or drool. Not that I could see much of her chest in the darkness anyway.
More importantly.
"Did I not say something before I fell asleep?"
"................"
"Something about how I, visiting this place for the first time, knew its layout. Isn't that right?"
Honestly, it wasn't until Rus pointed it out that I registered the sense of wrongness. I'd walked all the way to this stone chamber without a second thought, hadn't I? Thinking about it now, it really was absurd.
But Rus said nothing, remaining silent.
"...I'm not sure. I don't really know."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. More importantly, shouldn't we move again? We don't know when this place might collapse again."
"That is true enough."
"Let's go."
Something about her felt different... but there was nothing wrong with what Rus said.
Right now, putting profit first meant finding an exit, waiting for the Chairwoman's help, or identifying the cause of the mine's collapse—regardless of any misgivings.
Rus, who must have lit a fire at some point, rose first carrying the faintly lingering embers. I got up and followed.
"First, finding the source of the tremors takes priority."
"Huh?"
"Those tremors are likely what caused the mine to collapse. Didn't you say the same tremor trapped you and Finance Officer Marcus last time?"
"I did... yes."
"In that case, the tremor is the cause of the collapse. If we can identify it, it will be a great help to the academy's finances."
"What? What do you mean?"
Ah, come to think of it, I hadn't told Rus this part.
As long as I hide the fact that we're on the verge of bankruptcy, it's fine.
"The truth is, the Chairwoman made a futures trade on this rock salt mine."
".........."
"That trade went bust when the earlier tremor caused a collapse. It dealt a critical blow to our finances afterward, which is why I'm pulling all-nighters and working overtime on repeat."
".........The tremor."
"But thanks to your help, I've been managing somehow, Student R— Student Rus?"
Rus, who had been ready to set out at once, stopped dead the moment she heard my words. Why this reaction all of a sudden?
Was the idea of the Chairwoman engaging in futures trading really that shocking? Well, I suppose blowing up the budget on a futures trade was fairly shocking.
"The tremor... Dark Sword... me... because of...?"
"Student Rus? I can't quite hear you."
"Because of me, Adam...? All that suffering, the money-grubbing, the poverty—all of it...?"
"Student Rus?"
What in the world is she saying? A 1st Rank needs you to speak slowly if you want him to understand.
I stepped a little closer to Rus, who had started muttering to herself.
"Ad- Adam...."
"Student Rus, I'll say it again: using a staff member's first name so casually is—"
"I- it's all because of me."
"Pardon?"
"It's—because of me, Adam...!!"
What is going on?
Why is she acting like this?
Just as she suddenly accelerated into tears and I was about to ask what was wrong—
Thud.
"Hm?"
Huh? That sound just now from over there—
Thud!
"...Student Rus, Student Rus."
"I- I'm sorry, Adam. I never meant to...!!"
"We'll talk about that later! For now, look over there!"
"Huh...?"
Thud.
Beyond Main Shaft 2, visible by the faint glow of the embers.
Something was approaching, making noise. Rus belatedly registered the situation, hastily wiped her eyes, and drew her old sword. Was it just my imagination that my gaze was naturally drawn to that blade?
In any case, whatever it was, it was drawing nearer with steadily louder sounds.
'There's a 6th Rank here, so nothing to worry about—'
"Adam."
"Yes, Student Rus. I'll go sit quietly in the corner so I'm not in the way."
"Run."
"...Excuse me?"
"That thing...!!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!!
Only then did my eyes unmistakably register the source of the sound.
Rus was already running—heaving me onto her back and bolting back toward the entrance to Main Shaft 2 we had entered through.
The next instant.
CRUUUNCH!!!
A tide of salt crystals pulsing as though alive
surged in endlessly, crashing forward.
What the hell is that...!?