You Were the Objective
"So it was you all along."
Birang Brenis. The Cloud Envoy Duke, one of the Six Swords of the Empire.
She was the disciple of the Spirit Deity Duke—the same duke who stood as Leo's teacher and held a contract with Naphras, the Wind Spirit King.
If Birang had come here on the Spirit Deity Duke's side, word would have reached me somehow. After the whole affair with the Grand Demon Duke Karia, the Spirit Deity Duke and I had maintained a cordial relationship, and someone like her would never have hidden Birang's enrollment from me.
And yet Birang had opened the invitation under an NPC identity, without a single word of notice.
Then she had solved a problem that should have been unsolvable and passed the entrance trial.
Too extreme for something a Spirit King or the Spirit Deity Duke could have arranged.
The ability to pierce through barriers and rewrite what lay beyond was simply not something granted to spirits. Only a vanishingly small handful could wield such power.
"......."
And that handful belonged to just two races—both of which I knew intimately.
"You don't intend to explain?"
"......."
"If you have nothing to say, you're welcome to leave. I won't deny your enrollment, at any rate."
"No—that isn't it."
Birang hesitated, choosing her words with care. Then, as if she had settled on what to say, she opened her mouth slowly.
"First, allow me to correct a misunderstanding."
"Misunderstanding?"
"I am not aligned with the former Imperial Sword Karia, nor with Duke Loberian. From the past until this very moment, I have owed everything to Lady Arne's grace, and not once has that loyalty wavered."
However—
"I will admit that I am here on Duke Loberian's direct orders."
"And what orders were those?"
"To enter your academy, Lady Lily, and uncover what purpose lies behind all of this. Duke Loberian holds a position equal to His Majesty the Emperor himself. When he gives an order, refusal is not an option."
"So the Sun-Heat Duke gave the command."
"He did."
That much, at least, explained things. Tampering with and reshaping restrictions was a specialty of the demon race far more than the celestial. Karia, who had once manipulated mana and magic—the twin pillars of demonic power—freely, would have had no trouble tearing through the academy's safeguards and protections.
Karia might have been reduced to an empty-headed husk now, but the talent itself remained. Restoring a lost ability would hardly be beyond her.
Still, something didn't sit right.
"Why assign this task to you, specifically?"
"Because I am the only one capable of passing the trial while simultaneously handling any variables that arise. Duke Kasar of Battle Blood is strong, but he lacks the wits for it, and none of the other Swords are suited to this mission."
"Is that the whole of it?"
"Of course there's more. As you know, ever since Grand Demon Duke Karia fell, the Empire has reorganized into a two-pillar structure. The balance of power shrank from three to two. Sending me—a member of Lady Arne's faction—also serves as a way of keeping you in check."
Birang answered without a hitch, her tone proud and composed. She was clearly as confident in her own abilities as her rank suggested. Understandable enough—she was one of the strongest on the continent, practically Arne's right hand.
But I turned my mind instead to the Sun-Heat Duke's recent movements.
A mutant who, despite being one of those wretched 'celestials,' thought nothing like one. More cautious than expected, and utterly devoid of the arrogance so characteristic of his kind.
"I wonder about that."
"...Pardon?"
"He sent one of his mere six Great Dukes simply to find out what I'm doing? A major figure from a rival faction, no less?"
"But I'm the only one who could—"
"There are twenty-seven others. Rare, perhaps, but hardly scarce."
The only ones barred from entering were NPCs. Players with sufficient talent could enroll easily enough, and those twenty-seven were living proof of it.
The Empire could simply have recruited a few of them, planting ears and tongues within the academy.
Leo at Rank 1 and Sword God at Rank 2 were already exactly that.
Birang's expression darkened.
"Th... that can't be."
"What exactly did the Sun-Heat Duke say when he sent you?"
"...'Lily has built something called an academy. I will arrange the conditions for you to go. Approach her and find out what she intends.' Those were his words."
"......"
Duke Loberian.
Of celestials and demons—both vanished from the world thousands of years ago, leaving only remnants behind—he was the sole celestial who remained. He stood at the very peak of a great empire ruling seventy percent of the continent, the apex of all existence.
And that existence, who had won every war he'd ever fought, suffered his first defeat because of me.
The Holy Maiden restored what was broken, but his arm had been severed regardless. He lost two of his vaunted Imperial Swords, and enemy hands even seized his own territory.
If he were an ordinary celestial, such a course of retaliation would be only natural, but—
"Ah. Of course."
He was not an ordinary celestial.
"?"
"You were the objective all along."
The puzzle pieces clicked into place.
And with them came a surge of disgust. Even a mutant is still a celestial at heart, it seems.
"Birang Brenis. Getting close to me—that, in itself, was the Sun-Heat Duke's goal."
"...What are you saying?"
Birang still could not grasp the meaning of my words. Leaving her frozen at the lectern, I rose from my seat.
It was nearly time for class to begin.
Lily Elbrit.
The one who had struck down the Empress of the Empire like a falling star and severed the arm of the great Son of Heaven.
Birang had heard plenty about her from Lady Arne and Lady Leo—her background, her exploits. She had never witnessed them herself, but she knew of the countless clashes with the Empire.
Armed as well with the intelligence Duke Loberian had provided, she had come here thoroughly prepared.
Lily was an enemy of the Empire, certainly—but not an enemy of Lady Arne.
The territory and sword Lily had taken belonged to the Grand Demon Duke Karia, and Leo, being immortal, was on remarkably close terms with Lily. It was said her bond with the woman ran deeper even than that of Yena, the otherworlder who had befriended her first of all. So there was truly nothing to worry about.
Even so, an enemy of the Empire was an enemy of the Empire, and Birang had maintained a measure of vigilance—
...I myself am the Sun-Heat Duke's objective?
The ripple Lily had stirred up had sent fresh waves rolling through Birang's already turbulent thoughts, and she sank into deep deliberation.
She had assumed the Sun-Heat Duke's goal was simple. Lily had inflicted grievous losses, so he was scheming to check her power—and, by extension, Lady Arne's as well.
It was a perfectly Sun-Heat Duke-like order, entirely in keeping with his temperament. He always moved his subordinates first, harvesting the gains, and only at the very last resort—when they could not resolve a matter themselves—did he step in personally.
But what if that wasn't it at all?
What if the goal had never involved checking anyone in the first place?
'Getting close'? Was the entire point to make me build a rapport with Lily?
But why? Why would he want that? If she grew friendly with Lily—an enemy of the Empire—it would only hinder any effort to restrain her.
"...I should go in for now."
She still had no idea what the Sun-Heat Duke was truly after, but there was exactly one thing she could do at the moment: proceed as planned, approach Lily, and attend the class.
Following the map displayed on her student ID, Birang stepped into Lily's lecture hall.
"So..."
"Oh..."
"......."
The crowd that had been chattering boisterously only moments before had gone quiet, and the immortals who had been waiting looked up at her.
...Those are not friendly looks.
"Lady Birang!"
"Ah, Lady Leo. You were here as well."
"Yep! Hehe. I can't wait to see what Professor Lily teaches us today!"
Birang took the seat beside Leo, the only person who had welcomed her warmly. An empty desk. So Lily hasn't arrived yet.
"Professor Lily... doesn't seem to be here yet, huh."
"Nope. But class starts soon, so I'm sure she'll show up."
"I see."
She nodded and surveyed the lecture hall once more. The exterior had been quite impressive on her way in, and the interior matched it. A grandeur that would hold its own against the Empire's own academies and great halls. It didn't look imitated from anything, either—it amazed her that someone could have conceived such architecture from scratch.
Still, though...
"You're rather hated, aren't you?"
"Huh?"
"Can't you feel it?"
There were perhaps eight people inside the hall. Aside from those seated at the front and Yena—who kept sneaking glances over her shoulder—every one of them was glaring at Birang with open hostility.
The reason was obvious.
"Because of the war, I take it?"
The Empire had waged war through the Siege Warfare system. Every kingdom except the angel guild Lily had been temporarily affiliated with had been trampled beneath the imperial banner, and the rankers had been the lords sworn to those kingdoms. Lily had won their lands back for them, but the memory of that helplessness surely lingered still.
Leo tilted her head, then scratched her cheek.
"But that was a fair fight, wasn't it?"
"Some may disagree. Those who have nothing have always envied those who have."
The Empire was the victor of the continent, and as such was destined to reign above all. Not that she was entirely pleased about the Sun-Heat Duke standing above even that.
Lady Arne is the very root of the Empire, after all!
In truth, half the Empire could be said to belong to Lady Arne.
"I've never envied anyone, actually."
Someone rose from her seat. A woman in an ornate white-and-gold uniform, carrying a magic tool of the same color scheme.
She'd been in the intelligence files too, that much was certain. Her name was... Gunner, was it?
"Why are you deciding that all on your own?"
"I don't quite understand why stating an obvious fact angers you so."
"Obvious, my ass."
Click-clack!
Mana surged into Gunner's magic tool—her magitech rifle. Blue mage-bullets loaded at blistering speed.
"Do you have any idea how many territories and kingdoms your master crushed? My own subjects were all swept up in it—wounded, killed."
"That was unavoidable collateral damage of war. You ought to count yourselves fortunate, if anything. His Majesty has a kind heart, and rarely resorts to taking lives unless pressed."
"'Unless pressed'? He wiped out plenty all the same."
"I helped wif that too~"
"Lady Leo, kindly stay out of this."
Leo's hand drooped back down.
"Everyone else here's the same, y'know? People who got run over by the Empire. You think they're gonna look at you kindly?"
"Compensation was paid in full. If anything, our leader of the continent extended his mercy—you should be the ones expressing gratitude."
"Ha?"
"What, is there a problem? Compared to the great Empire, you're not even a handful of—"
"You call that greatness?"
From the empty desk at the front, a wind of sand began to stir.