Interrogation
"It looked like she still hadn't healed from the wounds she took at the shrine, either."
So we'd caught Berna while she was weakened. That was enough to finish this.
"Ah, I see. As expected of my daughter. You really did well. And where is Berna?"
"Right here."
I showed him the bound Berna.
"What a wretched state she's in."
Her face was indeed a bloody mess. Celia must have smashed her skull in properly.
"Yes. We roughed her up a bit."
"I'd like nothing more than to kill this bitch on the spot."
"You should take her to Ashtar first. The people of Ashtar would be pleased, wouldn't they? And we'll need the Hero's help to cut down a Four Heavenly King with the Holy Sword. We also need information."
The people of Ashtar, who revered Eldacrad as sacred, would certainly feel that way.
"So what you're saying is... we withdraw from here?"
"We've achieved our objective and captured Berna. It would be best to retreat now. Reclaiming Crad Castle to this extent is already a victory."
If we advanced any further, even without Berna, we could suffer heavy losses just as Eldacrad once had.
"Calling that a reclamation is a bit of a stretch."
I glanced toward Crad. Between the meteor and the battle, it had been completely shattered—a city of the dead, nothing more.
But the current Crad had been rebuilt by Berna, so we had no choice but to destroy it. It couldn't be helped.
"It doesn't matter. We can rebuild the castle. Still, shouldn't we interrogate her?"
Of course we should. But looking at the Duke and his men, if anyone other than me interrogated her, Berna would probably die. I couldn't entrust the interrogation to them when I didn't know what would happen if a Four Heavenly King died. And if I used Berna's mental state... I could use it.
"About that, Father. I have a request."
"What is it?"
"Have I earned any merit?"
"You raised the Ashtar soldiers' morale, prevented Berna from joining the Third Legion's support, and captured Berna herself. Yes, you have."
Then let's make a deal. With that much merit, the Duke would leave Berna to me.
"Then would you entrust this Berna entirely to your daughter?"
"Berna?"
"Yes. There are a few things I need to interrogate her about."
The Duke frowned.
"Very well. I'll leave Berna to you. However—you must never release that woman."
"I understand."
I took charge of Berna's interrogation.
The Ashtar army withdrew a short distance.
Dragged before the Ashtar forces and forced to her knees, Berna carefully opened her eyes.
"...In the end, the Lord's prophecy was right. He said his descendants would stop me."
Lord, was it. The way she didn't distinguish between fake and real meant she understood now—that she had been wrong.
"Regretting it now?"
"My only crime was loving the Lord. The one who betrayed that love was the Lord himself!"
Still, even now?
"Keep talking."
"I never even knew my parents. I grew up in an orphanage. When I got older, they sold me to the Holy Kingdom because of budget shortages. Through brutal torture and training, I became a Saint. The Lord was that kind of person to me. I even helped him become the wise ruler of Ashtar!"
From the memories, it was true—without Bernoa's help, Eldacrad would never have risen beyond a mere provincial lord. In other words, he hadn't repaid the value of her aid.
"I didn't even hope to be his official wife. If not a concubine, then at least let me stay by his side. Don't ignore my goodwill. I would have been satisfied with that much. The reason I went over to the Demon King... if you look at it closely, it's the Lord's fault for giving affection to a woman named Bernoa when he never intended to take her!"
"Don't you think betraying him and killing Lord Eldacrad was going too far?"
"That..."
"You know it yourself, don't you? That you were the one in the wrong."
Even now, she was just spouting whatever came to mind. She had simply been swept up in her emotions. Otherwise she wouldn't be weeping so pitifully.
"Hic... sob. So what? You're not here to sort out right and wrong at this point, are you?"
"What happens if I kill you instead of the Hero?"
"What do you mean?"
Exactly what I said. Capturing her with the Hero's Holy Sword was a good method, but could a guy who couldn't even properly wield the Holy Sword's power really take Berna down?
"Your Authority."
"Why should I tell you that? Even if you're His descendant, I'm still a Four Heavenly King of the Demon King's army. I have no reason to talk."
Was this her final spite? Or was she testing my resolve?
"Because I inherited Eldacrad's will."
"What?"
"Lord Eldacrad passed everything on to me before he left. Berna—no, Bernoa. The feelings with which he valued you... I hold them intact."
I had all the memories. Eldacrad had never hated Bernoa. Not even in the moment of his death.
"He never valued me!"
"He did. If you couldn't turn your heart back even during that expedition—if you couldn't set love aside—then he had thought of taking you as a concubine at least."
If that misfortune hadn't happened, Eldacrad would still be alive, looking upon the Ashtar the Duke now ruled.
"Huh?"
"Even in his final moments, Lord Eldacrad worried about you. The reason he said he would kill you was because he hoped you wouldn't leave a stain on history as the Fallen Saint."
Pretending to be Eldacrad's reincarnation and keeping this woman under me was one option. I had actually considered it. But the existence of the Demon King made using her that way difficult. She had come too far to be saved.
"Ah... uugh... sob..."
It was time to wake from the nightmare. Enough. At the very least, she should do something useful at the end.
"Tell me now. If you die, what happens to the Authority?"
"I don't know for certain."
What kind of vague answer was that?
"You were the greatest Saint of Eldacrad's era. You must know something."
"The Authority passes to the one who kills the Four Heavenly King."
"So you become another Four Heavenly King?"
Everyone who held an Authority seemed to end up that way.
"I don't know about that. But... no one who held an Authority has ever escaped the yoke of the Four Heavenly Kings."
"Do the Four Heavenly Kings obey the Demon King absolutely?"
"Claniss and I do, but Pector only follows when it suits him. As for Seto... I have no idea what's going on in his head."
"I see."
In other words: Berna and Claniss were unconditional loyalty. Pector was an independent warlord who worked as needed. Seto was an unknown quantity. Pector could be negotiated with depending on the situation. That was why he hadn't shown up this time either. I didn't know why Seto hadn't come, but Claniss was the type who acted alone. That left only Claniss and Seto.
"Are you planning to kill me? To take my Authority?"
"I'm curious about how that Authority works, but... I don't particularly want to become a Four Heavenly King."
Honestly, if I could take it without any cost, I would. I was curious about the principle. Exploring magical knowledge was a natural duty for a mage.
"Pfft. What should I call you? Princess of Ashtar would be better, I suppose?"
"As you like."
"Princess of Ashtar. The moment you used Pector's Authority, you already crossed the line. You transcended humanity."
My body had already transcended the moment I fused with mana. Hearing that now didn't particularly move me.
"Do you really think so?"
"Yes. I don't know what special reason you have, but if you can freely wield Pector's, then mine would be the same."
"Hmm. Is that so. Can the Hero's Holy Sword kill you?"
If the Hero could kill her, that wouldn't be bad in its own way—but I was asking for a different reason.
"Unfortunately, the Hero's vessel can't cut down a Four Heavenly King with the Holy Sword."
Was that still all there was to it? In the end, would I have to deal with her myself to kill her?
"Then do you know why the records of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Demon King are blank? You couldn't have been the only Four Heavenly Kings."
"I don't know well. It seems there was a predecessor of mine, but... maybe Seto or someone else erased the records."
Even a Four Heavenly King didn't know. Ultimately, Seto was the mastermind behind everything. I had to catch Seto. Only by catching him would the long history of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Demon King end.
"So they just keep filling the four seats somehow."
If that was the case, didn't the Hero become meaningless? Even if the Hero managed to cut down Bernoa's Authority with the Holy Sword, if Seto simply appointed a new Four Heavenly King, it would be the same. Then killing Seto was the best option—but he was good at running. I couldn't search the entire continent for him. Keeping her alive and under me was a good method too. The Demon King was dead anyway.
"Is the Demon King definitely dead?"
"Well. Don't you know better than I do that the Demon King is dead?"
The problem was that it wasn't certain.
"Do you know whether the Demon King is 'that thing' or that existence?"
"I don't know. In my eyes, the Demon King was the Lord."
Then it wasn't so much a single lifeform as something that appeared differently to each person who looked upon it. If Seto was the one moving the Demon King from behind the scenes, Seto could be the true mastermind—or he might have used the Demon King's power as an intermediary to invade the kingdom.
"You still call him Demon King."
"Whatever else, he was the one I followed."
Mentally dominated, perhaps.
"Are all the Four Heavenly Kings like that?"
"Pector also called him Demon King, so maybe."
The way she stared at me while saying that was a little strange.
"Do you know how Four Heavenly Kings are made?"
"At least I don't. In my case, Seto brought me to the Demon King's side. After I received the Demon King, I received the Demon King's Authority."
So she received the Authority from the Demon King while falling. Meaning you had to submit to the Demon King and fall to obtain an Authority. It all matched my deductions perfectly. Now I was certain. Perhaps that being called the Demon King was a higher-tier specimen of the monsters that turn people into demons.
"Not very helpful."
"Are you going to kill me?"
If the question was kill or not... this had already gone past the stage where time could grant forgiveness. It had surpassed the possibility of righteous forgiveness like the heroes of history. Ashtar was already seething with rage.
"I'm going to drag you all the way to Ashtar Territory."
"Execution there, then. Not bad."
She didn't even argue about dying.
"I didn't expect you to speak so honestly."
"What are you talking about, my Lord. Following your words is only natural."
Was her state strange again? Because I was Eldacrad's descendant?
"I'm not the Lord."
"Of course not. But you inherited the Lord's blood. The blood of the Ruined Land and Ashtar. Isn't that right? And I can even sense the Demon King's aura."
"I can't tell anymore whether you're mocking me or being sincere."
"I don't know either."
She'd lost it. Eldacrad had simply given me all his memories because he felt wronged—that was all. Because I held Eldacrad's memories, because I held a fragment of the Demon King, she called me that. A Saint was still a Saint, I supposed, to have discerned that much. This conversation wasn't going to get through. Perhaps, from her encounter with me, Eldacrad had truly become the Demon King itself inside her.
Considering the risks of killing her, it was a little dangerous. If Seto planned to neatly create a new Four Heavenly King, it was better to keep this woman alive and leave the seat of the Four Heavenly Kings filled.
"If I spare you, what will you do?"
"Well. The Demon King is dead, and you've made me kneel so neatly. If you've inherited the Lord's will... I'll roll around as much as you want."
Dedicating herself to me. I didn't need that. What I wanted was Seto's head and the truth.
Execution? That wasn't punishment. Strictly speaking, it could be called salvation. Going to meet the man she had loved—that could be called salvation. I couldn't leave it at that. I couldn't grant her death so easily.
Hmm. A good idea came to mind.