Broken Wings (2)

Radiel, who had collapsed in front of the wooden doll, whirled around at once.

"F-Forgive me, my lord. I didn't even hear you come in—!"

Never had she imagined he would come looking for her himself. No—perhaps she had been avoiding exactly that. Avoiding Karsein. Avoiding the boy he had once been. She was the one who had scarred him, after all, with a wound that could never be erased.

And yet, she had to pull herself together in an instant. She could not receive her lord while looking like this. Still turned away, Radiel straightened her buckled legs and rose to her feet, wiping the tear tracks from her face with quick strokes of her hand. She even steadied her throat so that no hitch of sobbing could be heard. Then she turned her body to face him squarely, and reclaimed her usual self.

"It's rather late... What brings you to see me, my lord?"

Karsein, who had been watching her, let a short silence stretch on. She had clearly been crying. She had been slumped over in despair. And yet, the moment she laid eyes on him, within mere seconds she was smiling warmly again—as if nothing had happened at all. As if everything he'd just witnessed were a trick of the light.

"Why don't we go inside and talk for a bit? Ah, don't mind the fact that I was training at this hour. It's nothing. I just felt a little stiff, that's all."

Then she tried to change the subject—so that he wouldn't remark on the state he'd found her in. So much so that she was now answering questions no one had asked. "Come in, quickly, my lord. It's been a while since I got to show off my skills for you." She made as if to roll up her sleeves. The conversation had drifted toward the point where he wondered if she was simply talking to herself.

If this were a normal conversation. If she were still the woman she used to be, she would have said something like—Karsein, trainee. What brings you here?

Outwardly she might have looked fine, but in truth she was flustered and scrambling. He, who had kept his mouth shut all this while, finally spoke.

"You heard everything, and this is how you treat me?"

"...I beg your pardon?"

"You heard all of it. Didn't you?"

At the weighty accusation, Radiel's lips faltered.

"W-well, of course I heard that my lord was coming. I thought you'd never come around again, so having you show up like this... it caught me rather off guard, that's all."

"..."

"Let's go inside first, my lord. Once we're in, I'll take a look at your form like old times."

And then, once more, Karsein leveled the weighty charge at her.

"How long are you going to keep pretending you don't know?"

She feigned innocence, but mid-motion she drew a ragged breath. That action was caught just as plainly by Karsein's eyes, and he seized on it without mercy.

"You know all about it. What kind of people put their hands on me again today."

"..."

After those words left his mouth, Radiel could not bring herself to lift her head; her gaze sank back to the floor. Before long, a damp sheen of moisture glistened across her face.

"You're right, my lord. I... knew all of it. I've known since the first day I came to the training grounds, when Mark told me everything."

Tears slid down from beneath her lowered lashes. Radiel's voice grew thick with moisture.

"It's true that young knights inflict cruel pranks on recruits as a rite of passage—but what happened to you was different. That was no prank, no mere custom. That was malice."

It was malice, plain and undeniable. Malice meant to drive him out of the training grounds yet again. Karsein himself had felt it keenly enough.

"I know."

Radiel's head snapped up.

"You... know? Then why... why do you not hold me accountable? The reputation you suffered in the 1st Knight Order—it was all my fault. It was because I failed to clear your name!"

"..."

"Then give me an order, at least! Order me to punish them severely—to cast them out for daring to commit such acts against House Bagrand!"

She cried out as if screaming. Even knowing it would be a wrongful command, driven by raw emotion. Even aware that, as captain, such an abuse of power was something she should never commit. Even if punishing a subordinate knight over old wounds was the very act that would shatter her honor.

"My arm can no longer condemn them with my own hands. But if I make use of a knight captain's authority, revenge is still well within reach, isn't it?"

She pleaded.

"Even if I have to bear the whole of it on my shoulders, I don't care. Someone with no fault at all—you—should be able to walk these grounds with your head held high. Please, grant me even that much of an indulgence...!"

Drive them out, she begged. Punish them sternly—the ones who smeared his name with false accusations. And then—

"Even if I burn like a final flame and can never stand in this place again—use me as a consumable, just once, so that I can have my revenge, can't you?"

Give the order, for the sake of vengeance.

"I beg you, my lord. Command the punishment of Theo Ramstair and the pack that follows him. This is my final wish!"

Before he knew it, Radiel was shouting with her face thoroughly soaked in tears.

The vicious false accusation that had once been pinned on Karsein. She had known the whole of it from beginning to end, and yet she had been unable to protect the young lord who protested his innocence—unable even to help him. Having done nothing at all, the only thing left to her now was to become a consumable in the present.

Karsein had listened to the end of her anguished outburst, his mouth pressed shut tight. And at last, he spoke.

"If that's the best nonsense you can come up with, then never step forward. Radiel Grupein."

It was because of the sub-episode, but from the very first moment he laid eyes on Radiel, her affinity box had been completely obscured. In its place, something else was displayed.

A notice that she harbored guilt. She was the only person in the entire order who felt guilt toward Karsein. As a result, her affinity box was white rather than gray. That she held goodwill toward him was a given—it was merely concealed for some reason.

The key to completing this sub-quest was finding Radiel; after that, it was simple. All he had to do was pick from the sub-episode-exclusive choices.

Exactly as they had appeared just now. All three choices shared a single consistent stance: telling Radiel not to intervene. Then, at the second-tier choice, the player was given an option—whether to merely tell her to stay out of it, or to rebuke her harshly and amplify her guilt. Or whether to persuade her first here, and handle ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the real business in the main episode.

When he had played the game, he'd taken the notice that she felt guilt as nothing more than a hint, and chosen the options that amplified that guilt. Answering that way meant his range of activity within the knight order faced no restrictions, his conversation with Radiel simply ended there, and he could prepare for the episode without any penalties. All things considered, it was the easier route.

If he rebuked Radiel with harsh words, the exact same situation from the game would unfold. With Radiel dispatched and free time gained, this would be the perfect moment to go hunting for Memorials, but...

'That choice brings a Dead Flag. One that can never be avoided.'

Radiel's guilt would be amplified, and midway through the main episode she would take her own life. And enraged by Radiel's death, Mark would kill Karsein. In other words, the sub-episode—Radiel's death—was this episode's Dead Trigger.

The hints were the guilt, the false accusation Karsein had once carried, and revenge. The best path was to use these three keywords to stop Radiel from acting.

"If that's the best nonsense you can come up with, then never step forward. Radiel Grupein."

"...What do you mean by that, my lord?"

"I didn't return to this training ground to force revenge upon you."

She responded as though she simply could not accept it.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Do you not resent me, my lord? All of it—it was because of me! Then I too—!"

"That's exactly why I'm telling you to stop. In that state, you couldn't take proper revenge on them even if you tried."

"...Pardon?"

Radiel asked again, as if doubting what she had just heard. He told her plainly, once more.

"You stand back and watch. Those bastards—I'll crush them with my own hands. So thoroughly they'll never rise again."

"...!"

Their targets of revenge were the same, but Radiel's method was wrong. So he declared it firmly, here and now.

"It won't be you. I'll do it myself. So stay out of it. Radiel."

As Radiel watched him with a visibly eased expression, the sub-episode cleared. The point was to reduce Radiel's guilt. He had to lighten the guilt she would carry into the main episode now, or the plan could not proceed smoothly.

It was about time to head back. He'd been granted free action time, so he needed to find the Memorials. This free period was fairly tight. Since he also had to find a Memorial, failing to return in time risked running into Bruce or Theo's pack and inviting a real headache—he needed to move fast.

And so, the moment he turned his back—

"W-wait, just a moment, my lord!"

Radiel hurriedly blocked his path.

"I can help too! I can help, can't I?"

"What?"

"In this revenge of yours, there will surely be something you need me ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to do. Surely!"

After clearing this sub-episode, Karsein was supposed to return without any further conversation. Then the perspective would shift to the player's, free action would unlock, and... Radiel would follow him and block his path? He had never seen such a scene. It was like the skipped scenes of the main episode.

Variables beyond this point were dangerous. He had to stop it.

"You know full well how I'm treated in this duchy, and you've borne it in silence. Honestly, that alone spared me a great deal of harm. That's enough. More than enough reason for you never to step forward again."

"No, my lord. I... I—!"

...

...

'...What? Wait a moment!'

Nothing had warned him of a change this sudden. It was far too great a variable. The sub-episode was supposed to be nothing more than a mechanism for blocking the Dead Trigger. If it was suddenly elevated to a main episode, it became something he was obligated to complete—without any information whatsoever, no less.

A few words would have been enough. If he could just calm Radiel—that girl, loaded to the brim with Dead Triggers—the fire wouldn't spread any further. And yet his body refused to move. Red warning lights flickered to life, and the world's time seemed to freeze, just like back then.

'Dammit all!'

The moment he spat out that frustration in his mind—

Radiel's affinity box, once white, now showed its question marks gone—the word guilt rendered in stark, unmistakable brown.

And then—

The status window had presented him with a new objective. The long stretch of status window text vanished, and control of his body returned to him. He had to keep his wits razor-sharp. The words failure means death were plastered right there in bold. Now that he'd entered this branch and the episode was underway, there was no retreating.

He had to think. 'Where? Where did the branch go wrong?'

When an episode diverged like this, the most likely cause was that the conditions for progressing the sub-episode had been fulfilled differently.

"Even knowing your circumstances, my lord, I could do nothing. To carry this with me... will be a lifelong regret...!"

Dammit—her guilt had risen by another 2%. His heart began to race. What else could he bring to mind? 'Do I need to find something I did differently from before?'

The timeframe in question was, obviously, today. Arina, who had returned after felling that Bruce fellow, had been made to witness it. He'd obtained the warehouse key, met Radiel, and progressed the sub-episode. ...Something else? Where on earth was there anything else?

"This arm was the price of my complacency and my ignorance. So please, I beg you—please, I beg you!"

Another 2% rise. Rising in increments of 2%, that meant two chances remained. He had to stop it here.

"That's why I'm telling you to stop. You already made the best judgment you could. Didn't you?"

"...My lord."

"The ban on my entering the training grounds came down right after your arm was ruined like that. And yet here I am, standing in this place. In a way, I've been handed a second chance—and it's because you, who knew full well my innocence might never be proven, handled things correctly!"

And yet, once again—

Her guilt had climbed again. No. This wasn't it. This wasn't something that could be resolved with mere lip service. He had to convince her completely. This was the last chance. He churned through his thoughts within the span of a few seconds.

What had been different today, compared to when he'd played the game? Why was Radiel carrying this guilt all the way to the end? By what means could he bring her guilt down?

Just as his head was beginning to burn with fever—

He found one single difference.

"Emma Urnen."

"...!"

"Every knight moving on her hush money—they're all following the orders of Head Maid Emma."

It was another hidden truth of that incident—the one Radiel might well have already sensed. The existence of Emma.

"My lord... how did you know about that woman..."

Explaining it would not be difficult.

But—

Tap.

They had one more visitor.