Bluebeard (2)
The mansion was turned upside down.
Evan Alcarte.
Second son of the ducal house.
A man so rarely seen outside his room that people called him the Hermit.
And now that very Evan had announced he would be spending the night—no, more than a full day—away from home!
“Y-Young Master!”
Thud!
Dolf dropped to one knee before Evan, his face a mask of pure shock. Lapis, crunching away on a carrot, tilted her head in confusion.
What’s wrong with him?
“Please reconsider!”
“……Reconsider what, exactly?”
“Spending more than a day away from home……!”
Dolf’s voice cracked with tears.
“If something goes wrong, you could be seriously hurt!”
“……I won’t go far. Just a few days of overnight stays.”
“A f-few days!”
Gasp!
Dolf made a strangled sound, as if Evan were marching off to his death.
“I-It’s dangerous! Your personal physician isn’t even here right now……!”
Evan had once had a personal priest assigned to him. Past tense. The man had grown too old and retired, and a replacement had yet to be appointed.
Hmm. Still, I’m packing recovery potions.
Fifty high-grade recovery potions. A golem would store them. Injection, even on-the-spot brewing—all possible. He’d even diluted them so daily use wouldn’t be a problem.
……But that won’t convince him, will it?
Of course recovery potions weren’t omnipotent. If something killed him in one blow? Potion or no potion—he’d just drop dead. Game over.
The thought of dying sent a faint chill down his spine. Wasn’t that exactly why he was doing all this—because he didn’t want to die? What if this trip turned out to be the shortest path to the grave instead?
Ugh! Absolutely not.
But backing out now felt wrong. His pride was a little stung, too. He wasn’t some coward. Was he really going to retreat just because he was scared of meeting one person? There weren’t even any real dangers. No reason to pull back.
At least, not for Evan—the man among men. He would simply prepare more thoroughly!
……But can I prepare any more thoroughly than this?
His secret weapon, Unit 2, and potions galore. He would wear the living golem without fail. Everything he normally left behind would come with him this time.
And above all—
“……I have Lapis, don’t I?”
“Nngh?”
Evan stroked Lapis’s hair. She offered her head as meekly as a gentle herbivore.
“Lapis will protect me.”
“Hehe.”
Lapis beamed and spread both arms. Magic threads. Pure-white strands spun into existence and glittered.
“Yes! I’ll protect you!”
……She seemed even faster than before.
“Hehe. I’ve gotten a lot better, too.”
Whoosh!
Lapis gathered the threads she had released and played cat’s cradle. A fly that happened to pass by went splat and became a tiny smear of blood on the silk.
……I haven’t raised a monster, have I?
“……Ahem. In any case, this trip will be safe.”
“B-But still! At least Sir Feroc…….”
“He is a busy man. It would hardly be proper to have him leave his post for several days on my account, would it?”
“That’s…… true, but…….”
“Please don’t worry too much.”
Evan continued calmly.
“I’ll go quietly and return safely.”
“R-Right……?”
“Yes. Of course.”
Evan declared it firmly.
“Absolutely nothing will happen.”
Please!
Evan’s desperate inner cry. Dolf nodded with a gloomy expression.
“……Understood.”
“I should see my brother before I leave.”
Normally a report to his father would have been enough, but the Duke was currently away. He had no choice but to report to the eldest son, the leading heir candidate.
His stepmother? He really didn’t want to deal with her……. Not that he particularly wanted to deal with the eldest son either, but—
Still, this is better.
Reporting to the eldest son could be read politically as well. It carried the subtext that he acknowledged who stood closest to the succession!
Yeah. No other choice.
He would finish this like a man—quickly—and come back.
“Did you hear? Young Master Evan is going out.”
“Really? The weather is gorgeous today!”
“No. He’s going to meet a friend, apparently.”
“What? Young Master has a friend?!”
“That’s what they say. And he’s even staying overnight!”
“Whoa, to see a friend?”
Two maids whispered in a corner. Both had worked in the mansion long enough to know a little about its rumors—including the fact that Evan had neither a fiancée nor friends.
“Doesn’t sound like a friend…… Maybe he’s secretly going to pick up experimental subjects?”
“Gasp.”
That actually made more sense. Supplying experimental subjects! An important matter, especially for someone as devoted to alchemy as Evan!
It was unfair to Evan, but there was nothing he could do. Public perception of him was already a complete mess. Using polite speech and acting serious hadn’t flipped that image overnight. Most people still feared him.
Experimental subjects, huh…….
The young man who had been eavesdropping on the maids’ gossip propped his chin on his hand. Leonardo Alcarte, eldest son of the Alcarte ducal house and currently the sole heir. He brushed back black hair that resembled the Duke’s.
So that was the goal, Evan?
Leonardo—Leo for short—recalled the Evan who had visited him just a short while ago.
Brother. I will be going out for a short while.
Evan had arrived accompanied by all manner of golems. An expressionless face, eyes that showed not a shred of emotion. It had felt as though he were saying refusal was not an option.
Arrogant bastard.
Leo twisted the corner of his mouth. Evan’s speech had been polite and respectful, the way one treated a superior. But Leo had seen it clearly—those two pupils. Golden eyes that shone even in the dark. Eyes that resembled their father’s more than anyone else’s, eyes that called the Duke to mind. The eyes of an arrogant man.
Looking at me with those eyes while pretending to be polite on the outside?
Evan and Leo’s positions were equal. Even if Leo stood closest to the succession, that didn’t change the fact that they shared the same blood. So of course he had nothing to fear. Outwardly, he had inherited the Duke’s blood more thickly than anyone.
The Empire’s necessary evil. The true power who effectively ruled the underworld that not only criminals but nobles themselves frequented. The man who held the Empire’s economy in his grip—Duke Alcarte. And this useless wastrel had inherited that giant’s likeness intact!
Making such a fuss about reviving that mother of his, and now he pretends he’s grown up?
Acting as though he’d suddenly matured. Of course he hadn’t truly matured. He’d just gotten a little smarter—smart enough to learn how to mock his enemies without throwing a tantrum himself.
Even the way he had personally announced his outing was the same. Father was away, so he would report to the brother closest to the succession instead?
Arrogant.
On the surface it looked like recognition of Leo’s position as heir. But this was that Evan Alcarte. Would he ever approach with pure intentions? Impossible. He was the vicious bastard who had made a name for himself in the underworld with only two activities. Absurd achievements accomplished mere months ago. Even now, most people in the underworld either feared or worshipped the name Evan Alcarte.
And that had been only the first trial before his coming-of-age ceremony. How magnificent would the second and third trials be? Perhaps this outing itself was preparation for those trials. Especially after what he had done to Theodore not long ago.
The Bluebeard Count, is it.
Bluebeard. A count rather famous in the east. And of a similar stripe to Evan—one of the few alchemists on the continent, and infamous for it.
They say he takes wives and turns them into experimental subjects.
This would be his sixth wife. He was holding a wedding soon, and had even had the gall to send an invitation to the ducal house. Not to the Duke himself—if he had, he would have been wiped out long ago. The letter had been addressed to Evan Alcarte. An invitation from one alchemist to another.
He had ignored it at first, and now he was going? He must have some wicked scheme.
Leo sat on the windowsill. Beyond the glass, a carriage was departing. Evan was inside. Security was relatively light. Feroc was away as well. Could he eliminate Evan right now?
Evan was not yet a true heavyweight. “Promising talent” still suited him better. But once he completed every trial of the coming-of-age ceremony and became a full adult? Would he really stay quiet even then? Wouldn’t he set his sights on the very heir’s seat Leo was aiming for?
“……Should I remove him even now.”
Just as Leo muttered that, something pure white glittered outside the window. He didn’t even have time to think huh?
Whoosh! Something yanked, the window slammed shut, and Leo was flung into the middle of the room.
Thud!
“Mmph!”
Before he could scream, his mouth was sealed. Red eyes stared down at him.
“I came because I had a bad feeling for a moment.”
White hair contrasting with crimson eyes. Lapis, both hands open and pouring out magic threads, twisted the corner of her mouth.
“Looks like I caught a big one.”
This brat is definitely that Evan bastard’s slave……!
“I can’t leave a dangerous element like you alone, but I mustn’t be discovered this time.”
Lapis spoke in a soft, measured voice, as if imitating Evan’s.
“Mmph-mmph!”
“So I’ll only use a little strength, okay?”
“It won’t hurt too much.”
Lapis’s magic threads slithered closer. Leo screamed through his sealed mouth.
Two days later.
An unfamiliar landscape unfolded beyond the window. Blue walls. Literally. The walls looked as though they had been built of blue stone, so thoroughly blue were they.
Dolf marveled.
“Wow! Young Master! We’ve already arrived!”
“Is that so?”
Evan answered with a poor complexion. The reason was simple.
“……Then let’s slow the carriage a little.”
“Yes!”
Motion sickness. Evan rubbed his stomach. When he opened the carriage window, cool wind rushed in. Ah, that was better.
I really need to make an automobile golem soon…….
Evan’s golems had not yet reached automobile level. Horse golems or porter golems were the best he could manage for now.
“Good work, Unit 5.”
Nod.
Unit 5, pulling the carriage, nodded. A golem specialized in raw power. Naturally it excelled at drawing a carriage as well. It never tired, so they had traveled through the night. Perhaps thanks to that, they hadn’t even run into the bandits one usually met on the road.
Lucky.
Since they were here, better finish quickly. Evan looked up at the blue walls. The symbol of Bluebeard’s territory. There was a reason the count was called Bluebeard—he loved the color blue to an extreme degree. So the walls were blue, and every roof in the town was blue as well.
Why weren’t the house walls blue? Because of the residents’ protests. It ruined their appetites. People had actually started starving, so he’d been forced to change it.
And he did all of this with alchemy, huh?
The Bluebeard Count was a famous alchemist. A skilled one said to have transformed his entire domain through alchemy. Evan examined the walls carefully and nodded.
Hmm, not bad.
How many times had he used transmutation? For a range this size, once or twice should have been enough. Range wouldn’t have been the issue—mana would have been.
I’d need about three tries.
His mana capacity was simply insufficient; nothing to be done about that. Still, not bad—especially considering this guy never even appeared as an extra in the original.
I heard he’s rich, too.
He should at least have the materials Evan needed. They entered the city. Proving their identity was not difficult.
“Th-the Alcarte ducal house?! P-please enter!”
The moment they heard the name Alcarte, the gates opened at once. That was how excessively they feared it. Why, though? Evan and Lapis exchanged puzzled looks.
Before long they arrived at an inn where they could leave the carriage.
“Huh? The horses…….”
“Just store the carriage, please. Payment is here…….”
“Good heavens! Honored guests have arrived! Allow me to escort you!”
While Dolf handled the carriage, Evan pulled his hood down firmly. He had no desire for his face to be recognized.
Tsk, should I just wear a mask?
That might actually be better. Evan tapped the ground with his cane. Then he noticed people whispering. They seemed to have a lot to say. Evan quietly asked Lapis,
Lapis. Would you mind scouting for a moment?
Yes!
Lapis nodded, pulled her own hood down, and trotted over with a basket of vegetables—carrots and the like—in her arms. Then she thrust a carrot at the people.
“Carrots for sale.”
……That wasn’t what he’d told her to do. Selling carrots as a cover for the Sin of Wrath. Evan’s feelings grew complicated.
“Oh my, hello? What brings you here…….”
“I’m helping my older brother. Selling the vegetables I like.”
“Oh my…… what a good child.”
“But is something wrong? My brother and everyone else keep telling me to be careful today.”
The two wives exchanged glances. After a moment of silent communication they nodded and spoke carefully to Lapis.
“If you can, leave this territory.”
“Huh?? Why?”
“The count’s wife has gone missing again, so he’s remarried.”
Remarriage. Wasn’t that common in a fantasy world?
“Is that a bad thing?”
“Not in itself. But…….”
The woman’s voice dropped.
“Every time someone becomes his wife, she just…… disappears.”
“And this is only a rumor that circulates among us, but…….”
One of the wives whispered with extreme secrecy.
“They say the real reason he takes wives is to create experimental subjects to offer to an alchemist named ‘Evan Alcarte’…….”
“?”
A name that suddenly popped out. Evan blinked both eyes.
……Me?