Erkia, City of Water – 07

"...It's quiet."

In the hushed room, Alex ran his fingers carefully along his own throat. There was no taking it back now. Everything would simply crumble. The work was already in motion.

He did not know what manner of ally Olivia had found — only that they had come from Elvenheim. And the fact that Lilith had arrived in the company of Titania of Elvenheim meant that Titania either already knew the truth, or, even if she did not, was almost certainly on Olivia's side.

However much arrogant prejudice a Hero might still carry, choosing between Alex and Olivia as an ally was not even worth the consideration — not if one thought about it in terms of morality.

In all but name, the king of the kingdom was Alex. King Cromwell was finished. Of the Four Great Noble Families, all save the Courtney Family were as good as his subordinates.

That did not mean there were no variables.

The first was the true Saintess. Velita was a counterfeit who had never received the Saintess Stigma — which, put another way, meant a genuine Saintess existed. And fate would see to it that the girl who bore that title was drawn, without fail, into the very center of the coming storm.

Whether by chance.

By ill fate.

By a fated encounter.

Or by inevitability.

He could not know which. Not that far.

The second was Olivia's ally. He had no idea who they were, and that made countering them exceedingly difficult.

"It's fine. I'm going to win."

Alex clutched at his chest. Beyond the window, people were moving. The mere act of opening it was enough to banish the hush that had suited this luxurious room, and the sounds of the street came flooding in — laughter, the cries of merchants, every kind of noise blending together into the ordinary spectacle of human life.

They look happy.

There were ordinary residents here, but this was a tourist city as well, and the visitors who had come to enjoy it all wore the same easy pleasure on their faces. Like a thirst that could never be quenched — no matter how much Alex drank, there were things he could never hold in his hands. And they possessed those very things as naturally as if they had been placed in their palms the moment they were born.

It had been a question of his for as long as consciousness itself had existed. Why did people feel joy when they saw laughter and happiness? Why could they not take pleasure in death and despair?

No — as stories, the latter would certainly find an audience. There were those who enjoyed watching a protagonist, or anyone at all, become broken, steeped in regret, writhing in agony. But in reality, no one smiled and felt happy watching someone they knew go through that. At least, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Alex had never seen such a person.

Humans are, for the most part, ambiguous creatures.

They became good depending on the situation, and evil depending on the situation. And every so often, fools were born who pursued goodness no matter the circumstance — and, conversely, those who grew wicked no matter the circumstance.

As a child, he had never been able to understand people who hesitated to hurt others. They even hesitated to steal food just to stay alive. Alex could not comprehend it. What in the world could be better than another person's tears? And a face streaming with blood, drowning in despair — what of that? The corruption of abandoning goodness in an extreme situation was rather delightful. When conviction and pride were stained with blood, that was surely evolution. A conviction and a pride that could not even protect a life vanished, and in their place a new conviction and pride of blood were born. If that was not evolution, then what else would one call it?

Humans are creatures that can prioritize malice over goodwill. That much is certain.

Otherwise, would it not be unfair? Therefore, he would win. The world needed an order made of chaos. And that was what Alex desired. If a being like the Evil God or the Demon King could bring that about, then so be it. If they could not, they were unnecessary — but if they could, he would offer up everything he had.

Alex let out a short breath and rose to his feet.

Time to meet Lilith.

However much she had arrived in Titania's company, Lilith was still a person of the kingdom — a woman of the Clyfford Family, at that. He needed to understand the situation from every angle, starting with why she had gone to Elvenheim. How much she knew was equally important. He also needed to find out why they were keeping the truth to themselves. He could guess at that last point well enough, but it would be better to meet her and hear it for himself.

"Goddess or Evil God — I don't care which. No more than I care whether it's humans or monsters."

He would see his purpose through. Alex finished his prayer. To whom had he prayed, if not the Goddess, if not the Evil God? In the truest sense, he must have been praying to a being called God. Praying to a god whose very existence was uncertain might not have suited him — and yet Alex was, in the truest meaning of the word, a believer. He had not believed as a child. Rather, one might say he had come to believe as he grew older.

Or perhaps God simply did ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not exist. Whether He did or not was of little importance to Alex. He dressed himself properly and opened the door.

"..."

"What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"I was thinking about the experiments."

"That disgusting experiment? I don't think you need to dwell on it."

"It's certainly foolish, inhumane, and unpleasant in any number of ways just to think about — but something about it still bothers me."

"What?"

"Why did they bother repeating it?"

"Huh?"

I could not shake the question no matter how I tried. When I had first heard from Velita that the experiment had been carried out all over again, the old pain had surged up so sharply that I had nearly gone dizzy on the spot. But now, thinking it through with a cooler head, I could not understand why they would have run it a second time. One could simply say that human greed knows no end — and perhaps that would suffice — but it felt as though there had been some other purpose behind it.

"The research was destroyed along with the laboratory in the explosion. There may have been a few remaining documents, but they would have been scarce, and restarting the experiments with that alone would have been unreasonable."

"So?"

"Heh, heh... What Lord Lois means to say is that there must have been a reason they took on that risk anyway, isn't it?"

"That's right."

"It had already failed once, the explosion killed most of the people involved, and the whole thing costs money and carries considerable danger. There wouldn't have been any need to do it, would there? Not unless there was some goal they wanted badly enough to spend that money and take that risk."

"I see."

Olivia stroked her chin.

"So it wasn't just about artificially increasing the number of Spiritists. There was another purpose?"

"Spiritists are certainly convenient in a number of ways, but honestly, I don't think it's a talent worth obtaining at that kind of risk."

"I-it works by implanting a Spirit Core into the body, so... high-ranking spirits might be one thing, but the great spirits above them might actually find it unpleasant."

In truth, the high-ranking spirits had shown me a certain fondness — but the Spirit of the World Tree and the Shrine Spirit, both of whom were great spirits, had never given any impression of being particularly well-disposed toward me. They had helped me for other reasons entirely, not because I carried a core or because my affinity with spirits was high.

"What's it actually feel like, having a Spirit Core in your body? I'm curious, now that I think about it."

"As if the body itself had become a part of nature, I suppose."

"Th-that's why I like places like forests. The richer the natural energy, the more at ease I feel."

"Come to think of it, you used to live in the forest, didn't you, Lois?"

"I only built a house there because I like quiet places. Though, well, it's true I find the woods more comfortable than a crowded city."

That had less to do with the Spirit Core and more to do with my original temperament. I had preferred being alone even before the core was put in my body.

"A-and I was the type whose healing ability was pushed to the extreme, so my combat ability itself isn't that high. I think I'd even be weaker than y-you, Lord Lois."

"Hmph. Why would they need a technique to forcibly create Spiritists like that? I don't particularly want to know — but they must have made it to use somewhere, right?"

"If it were just the Bright family acting on their own, we could write it off as greed. But if multiple families were involved, I suspect they were preparing something far more unsavory."

"Velita. Are the experiments still going on?"

"I-I was told there weren't any after they finished me. But that's only as far as I know. If they started again after I left with the Hero's party, I would have had no way of finding out."

"I see."

They had been trying to do something with an experiment that created artificial Spiritists. I could not say what that something was — but there was a wrongness to it that greed alone could not explain. That much was certain.

"You don't know anything else, Velita?"

"Even when I asked, they only ever said it was all for my sake... Even if there had been something going on behind it, I don't think they would have told me."

"That would figu— hey! Don't scratch that!"

"Ah."

I had been scratching at my wrist again, and Olivia caught my hand before I could stop myself. Blood welled along my forearm and vanished in an instant as the wound closed over. That was why no one ever made much of it, even if they saw me scratching. The injury itself disappeared so quickly that even watching me do it, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠they never saw a wound — and so they never treated it as anything serious.

"You need an education more than you need a scolding."

"I-if you mean higher education, I've r-received that."

"I mean an education in common sense."

"I have that, though..."

"If you did, you wouldn't be living like this."

"..."

"..."

I looked at her, startled, and Olivia tilted her head.

"What?"

"No, um... I just had a rather rude thought."

"Spit it out, you rude thing."

I hadn't even said it yet. Well — I had already been insulted, so I figured I might as well.

"I never imagined I'd live to see you lecture someone on common sense, Olivia."

"Lois."

"Yes?"

"At least say something I can actually argue with."

"..."

She didn't even say That's not true. I considered that a virtue. Knowing your own shortcomings is important, after all.