Terror
"The Day of Magic. We've obtained information that Roman von Bayern will be attending the event on this day."
Hurtlocker opened the file Eric handed him. It was the profile of Roman von Bayern, a three-star general in the Imperial Army.
"Is this information reliable?"
"It's solid. We acquired the event schedule, and Roman's speech is listed in it."
As Hurtlocker turned the pages, his expression grew increasingly grim. Roman was infamous for treating human lives as though they were worth less than those of flies. He had plundered and massacred every civilian village along his army's path and never spared a single prisoner. Yet beyond his cruelty, his tactical and strategic prowess had tormented the Kingdom forces throughout the war. His competence was such that he alone had predicted the Kingdom Army's winter offensive. From both a moral standpoint and that of national interest, Roman was a man who had to be eliminated by any means necessary.
"Shall I kill him?"
"No. You'll play a supporting role."
"What do you mean by that? Is there a more reliable method than if I handled it? Who the hell is doing it instead?"
Hurtlocker pressed the question, his voice edged with irritation. Though his name remained unknown because he operated in the shadows, he was undeniably the Kingdom Army's greatest asset. In one-on-one combat, he was confident of victory whether facing a mage or a knight. The idea that another agent would be assigned the assassination was simply incomprehensible.
"I will."
"......"
Hurtlocker was struck speechless, utterly dumbfounded. Eric had once been called the strongest operative in the intelligence bureau. Twenty years ago, at least.
"What are you saying? Director, how could you possibly—"
"I'll blow the entire venue sky-high. With explosive magic."
"......"
Hurtlocker's jaw dropped. This time his disbelief was of an entirely different nature. The Day of Magic was no small rural festival. It was a colossal annual event in the Empire, treated with the reverence of a national holiday. At its peak, over ten thousand people would flood the venue......
"Have you lost your mind?"
"It's a direct order from above. Don't take it out on me."
"Have the people above lost their minds? Please, at least ask them."
"Hurtlocker."
"Yes."
"Don't overstep your bounds."
"......"
Eric's face had hardened completely. The man who usually joked and bantered was gone. Only Hurtlocker's superior, the director of the intelligence bureau, remained.
"......My apologies."
"I understand how you feel. This isn't exactly a plan I relish either. Still, if I had been the one making the call, I probably would have issued the same order."
"......"
"It's Roman we're talking about. Not some insignificant nobody. Because of that one man, we nearly lost the war."
Roman had been stripped of his command for defying orders and refusing to conserve war materials in preparation for the Kingdom's winter offensive. In his absence, the Kingdom forces had reversed the tide and barely managed to stabilize the front once more. Had Roman remained in position the entire time, the Kingdom would likely have fallen long ago. Hurtlocker understood exactly what it meant to kill such a man.
"I know. I know, but......"
"This is the first time Roman has shown his face in public in ten years. It may be our last chance. So isn't it right to go with the most certain method?"
"......I will obey the order."
Hurtlocker ground his teeth and lowered his head. Watching him, Eric let out a sigh. He understood, but he clearly could not accept it. In the end, a soldier simply followed orders. A man virtuous enough to pick up an orphaned child on the battlefield and raise her as his sister could hardly be expected to favor such an operation. Yet the intelligence bureau had no room to indulge that virtue. And Hurtlocker was not soft-hearted enough to be broken by something like this.
"I'll handle the spell deployment. The other agents will focus on concealing and encrypting the spell while supplying mana."
"What will I do?"
"Your role is to guard me."
Only then did Hurtlocker realize why he had not been assigned to execute the magic. The one who would determine the operation's success or failure by protecting the caster's safety had to be stronger than anyone else. Eric had chosen to entrust his back to him. The only way to repay that trust was to ensure the mission succeeded.
"Hoo......"
Hurtlocker's hands were trembling. It seemed he was fated never to reach heaven, even in death.
"Hmm......"
I sat in the training room and let out a low groan. A map of the imperial capital lay spread across the floor.
"The event venue is this plaza. Roman's speech is scheduled to take place here as well......"
Roman von Bayern would attend the Day of Magic festival. And the intelligence bureau would come to kill him. One hundred percent certainty.
I marked an X with my pen on the spot where Roman would deliver his speech, then stepped back again. The Imperial Army was not made up of fools. Security around Roman would be dispersed everywhere. Mages would be stationed throughout the buildings, and knights ready to shield him with their bodies would stand at his side.
So where would Hurtlocker attempt the assassination......?
"Hm. No answer."
No matter how I looked at it, there was no viable path to success. No matter how many fireballs Hurtlocker hurled, the mages' barriers would block them instantly. Even if he charged like lightning, dozens of waiting knights would appear to stop him. The plaza's enclosed structure, surrounded by buildings on all sides, made an airtight defense possible.
The only way to break through would be to raze the entire venue.
"Raze it......?"
Wait a second. Raze it? The entire event venue......
"Crazy. This isn't an assassination—it's terrorism."
Now I finally understood what the intelligence bureau was thinking. These bastards had no intention of quietly assassinating Roman alone. The most certain method. They planned to blow the entire venue to dust.
Given that Roman was one of their highest-priority assassination targets, they wouldn't hesitate to commit something this extreme. They were that desperate.
"These insane bastards......"
Even so, they would slaughter civilians by the thousands? They had clearly lost their minds. First and foremost, Roman was an indispensable figure in the latter half of the story—a charismatic leader who would command the Imperial Army.
"He must be saved. By any means necessary."
I drew a large circle over the entire plaza. That would be the approximate range of an area-of-effect spell. The problem was how to stop these vermin......
Knock knock.
"Hm?"
A sound came from the door. Someone was striking the barrier. Was it Emilia?
I folded the map, tucked it into its box, and approached the door.
Slide—
"What is it?"
"You have a visitor."
"We meet again, Schluss."
"......"
From behind Emilia, Iris suddenly appeared, wearing a bright, cheerful smile. My mood instantly soured. The single most difficult person to deal with had shown up while I was enjoying my precious personal time.
"What brings you here?"
"I wondered if you might need my help. No troubles of any kind?"
"......"
Iris offered a vivid smile. To anyone else it might have looked like a perfectly benevolent expression, but to me it was nothing short of a little devil's grin. Had she already seen the future in which I struggled alone to stop the terror?
No. That can't be.
It couldn't. I wasn't an idiot. I wouldn't move so obviously that Iris would notice while trying to prevent the attack. Which meant she didn't know exactly what I was doing. She must have seen a future in which I—who normally stayed shut inside the training room—disappeared for a long time and simply guessed that I had run into trouble. She had come to probe me and confirm that guess.
"Nothing."
"What? Ah, wait a moment—"
I slammed the door shut. Iris's urgent voice was cut off midway, blocked by the barrier.
Knock knock knock knock knock knock—
Only the relentless sound of her knocking against the barrier reached me, sending chills down my spine. As if she would keep it up until I opened the door. I wasn't about to. Talking with that slippery woman could easily lead to me accidentally revealing information.
I still could not trust Iris. Until I was certain she was truly on my side, I could never share any information about the Kingdom's intelligence bureau or the Ma-in.
Knock knock.
"Ha. This is actually driving me insane."
It had gone quiet, yet now she was knocking again. Was she really planning to continue until I let her in?
"Will you stop already?"
"Huh? Oh?"
When I opened the door, an unexpected figure stood there. Trie, looking flustered and hesitant.
"Sorry. That wasn't meant for you. What is it?"
"Um. You promised to teach me swordsmanship today."
"......"
I had told her to come at nine. Had it already gotten that late?
"Come in."
"Okay. Excuse me."
I let Trie inside as she kept glancing nervously behind her. Through the slowly closing gap in the door, I caught a glimpse of Iris's venomous glare.
Please just leave already. Being alone with you is exhausting enough to kill me.
'Huh?'
At that instant, a strange sensation washed over me. I felt a warm touch against the hand that should have been holding the door. I recognized it immediately. This was one of Schluss's memories. The Memory of the True Body had activated. The odd part was that no hologram-like image appeared—only the tactile sensation.
When I closed the door, the soft feeling of the hand clasping mine vanished. It seemed the ability had deactivated.
What memory had that been?
"Shall we begin......?"
"Let's."
I handed Trie a wooden practice sword. I didn't have a real blade on hand.
My mind had been scattered by idle thoughts. Nothing cleared the head quite like physical exertion.
"He's not here. Out somewhere?"
Second floor of the joint dormitory. In front of Iris's room, Erika tilted her head. No response even after knocking. It seemed she really had gone out.
"I came all this way. Should I wait?"
Erika pondered briefly, then shook her head and started down the hallway. Not knowing where Iris had gone or when she would return made waiting the most foolish option.
"I'm dying of curiosity, seriously......"
Erika recalled what had happened yesterday. In the classroom where the explosion artifact had detonated, Iris had definitely been hugging Schluss. The chances that she had simply caught him as he fell or done it by mistake were almost nonexistent. They had remained like that for quite some time.
Then what exactly was the relationship between Schluss and Iris? Or had they known each other from the beginning? Was she misunderstanding everything?
She had come looking for Iris to clear up all those questions.
"I'll ask her for sure next class."
Just as Erika was about to leave the dormitory building, having promised herself she would do exactly that, she spotted a woman with green hair. A strange woman carrying a silver sword at her waist.
"Huh?"
She wasn't an acquaintance. Erika didn't know a single person with green hair. What made her freeze, however, was the direction the woman's steps were taking.
The nameless woman was heading toward the single-occupancy dormitory rooms behind the main building—the very path that led to Schluss Heinkel's mansion.
"Who is she? Why is she going to see Schluss?"
Before she realized it, Erika was stealthily trailing the woman. Most nobles, steeped in supremacist ideology and inferiority complexes, would rather avoid Schluss entirely. What business could this woman possibly have with him?
It felt a little creepy to be stalking him, but her curiosity refused to be denied, so she kept following.
"Hmm......"
When the green-haired woman reached the main gate, a servant came out to greet her and guided her inside. The strange part was that she didn't enter the mansion itself but went around to the back. If Erika remembered correctly, there was a storage building or warehouse in that direction.
Was Schluss inside there right now too?
"Sigh...... What on earth am I doing?"
A sudden wave of clarity hit Erika and she let out a heavy sigh. No matter how curious she was, she could simply ask directly. Why was she behaving like this?
"No...... I can't ask......"
Recalling the embarrassment of her last visit to Schluss, Erika's cheeks burned red. She had accidentally spoken to him with polite speech and even bowed her head. Just thinking about it again made her face grow hot. She was afraid he might bring it up, so she didn't even want to speak to him. Therefore, she would stop caring about Schluss altogether.
Having reached that conclusion, Erika rose from the bushes. She brushed the leaves from her clothes and was about to leave when she saw someone emerging from the mansion. Fearing she might be spotted, she hurriedly hid herself again.
"I-Iris?"
The person walking out through the mansion's front gate was none other than Iris. Why on earth was Iris coming from there......?
As her ominous premonition steadily became reality, Erika's thoughts fell into complete chaos.