I'm Not the Culprit (3)
Why is this guy suddenly showing up here?
Evan suppressed the urge to scream.
An old man whose entire body was pure white, as if bleached of all color.
Innocence.
True to his name, he was white from head to toe, draped in white robes that gave him the air of an immortal sage.
"……I'm not the culprit."
A man who had abandoned even his own name, remaining only as a knight for the Kingdom of Demacia.
Facing him directly, the pressure was no joke—even though he was merely standing there with his hands clasped behind his back, staring.
Evan forced his mouth open.
"Nor am I the ringleader."
"Evan protected us! He's a hero!"
Lapis declared triumphantly.
Innocence fixed his gaze on Lapis. For just a brief moment, she flinched. That intense presence was more than a Sin that hadn't even awakened yet could bear.
"……A hero, is it."
Innocence muttered.
"Not yet. The time has not come. It is not yet time for a hero to arrive……."
"……."
Lines he would occasionally spout in the game as well.
—A hero has been born!
—Not yet, not yet is the time.
The only moment he ever acknowledged it was when Innocence's pure white robes were stained red.
—……So this was the time. You are my successor.
An intense final death. One of the game's most memorable scenes.
Evan shook off the thoughts. That wasn't what mattered right now.
"I am neither the culprit nor the ringleader. I was merely swept up in the situation by chance. Our identities will be guaranteed under the name of House Alcarte."
"……Alcarte."
Innocence's white eyes regarded Evan.
"So you are that man's blood."
"……Yes."
"You resemble him."
A brief observation. Innocence no longer paid any attention to that matter.
Looking at the split corpses, Innocence slowly closed his eyes.
"……You have disposed of a long-dormant nuisance for us."
His tone shifted slightly—like one praising a subordinate's achievement.
"Furthermore, for preventing a great catastrophe that nearly occurred at the Colosseum…… I express my gratitude."
Innocence opened his eyes.
"I shall reward you."
"Pardon?"
"Follow me."
Innocence said no more and turned away. He could have simply vanished without a word, yet he deliberately walked. Given that he was praising them for saving the country, he didn't seem to be an enemy. Innocence, at least, was not the sort of man who would harm those who served the nation.
He's not going to suddenly spin around and kill us, right?
……How much money do I have right now? Could this Colosseum even be rebuilt?
Not that he was scared—he just figured damage compensation would be the right thing to do…….
Then—
"A moment."
"……?"
The shrine maiden spoke. The night-sky veil that had been protecting the entire Colosseum was withdrawn, and sunlight poured down. Wiping the blood that trickled from the corner of her mouth, she said,
"I'll help the injured before I go."
Fortunately, Innocence said nothing about it. He simply nodded in acknowledgment and headed for the royal palace first.
Ah, right. Felix.
He'd almost left him behind. Evan collected Felix and immediately fed him two recovery potions. Demacia Kingdom had no priests, so relying on these was the best option. He'd improved them to boost the body's regenerative capacity itself rather than providing immediate effects—optimal for Felix, who was currently a knight.
"Ugh……."
"Are you all right?"
About ten minutes later, Felix groaned and woke up.
"I have no…… sensation in my arm."
"It's just been compressed for a while. It'll return with time. The nerves aren't damaged, so don't worry."
"Nerves? What?"
"I mean the important parts aren't damaged."
Evan answered roughly. Felix roughly understood.
The shrine maiden was kindly helping the remaining injured. A gentle encouragement not to despair and keep moving forward—since she could read fortunes—was a bonus.
"Aegis. Are you all right?"
Aegis had been staring blankly at the spot where Innocence had left. When Evan shot her a look asking why she was like that, she gave a bitter smile.
"……Innocence. I was just thinking he truly has the dignity befitting a king."
Ah.
He roughly understood. Aegis was a princess who had fled in search of freedom. A princess, simply put, was a king's daughter. From the perspective of someone who had seen much, various emotions must have been stirring anew—especially since her kingdom no longer even existed. It had completely lost its former name and fallen to become just one of the Empire's subordinate noble houses.
"……Though that's not what's important right now. Dead Bear! Let's go!"
Groooar.
Unit 5, now making bear-like growls, lumbered after Aegis. To lift the collapsed Colosseum debris, one could use alchemy, but the mana consumption was high. Using Unit 5 was more efficient.
I need to clear away these idle thoughts.
Aegis shook her head. She had long since abandoned being a princess. She had been furious at Dexter, but that was purely because he had violated her sense of good and evil. It was absolutely not because she couldn't let go of her identity as a princess.
"……."
Aegis wasn't the only one deep in thought after seeing Innocence.
Lapis. She, too, was lost in many thoughts after seeing him.
One of the strongest people…….
Unlike the Duke of Alcarte, who thoroughly concealed and controlled himself so that one couldn't accurately read his level, Innocence did not hide himself. Upon a pure white blank page, achievements piled high like a tower could be felt—the achievements he had built, and the path he would continue to build.
Before that, Lapis did not feel shabby. Because Lapis's tower had been born already complete. The power to accumulate, the achievements, the strength to advance—all of it was predetermined.
That didn't improve Lapis's mood. How could humans become so strong without being born like her?
That human is the same.
Lapis looked at the shrine maiden helping the people. The shrine maiden was instilling courage in a warrior who had lost an arm in the accident.
—You can go on to better places.
—Can I, can I really do that? But my arm…….
—Have it treated separately later.
Evan glanced over, then casually created a prosthetic arm and handed it over. The warrior wept tears.
Truly.
I don't…… like looking at this.
Lapis approached the shrine maiden. The shrine maiden smiled gently at Lapis, who had come toddling over. Traces of blood still faintly remained under both nostrils. It was clear her body had been under considerable strain. If she had maintained the barrier even a little longer, bloody tears would have flowed from both eyes.
"Why do you make such sacrifices?"
"?"
"You…… every time you use your power, a little of your body's lifespan is cut away. Isn't that right?"
"Well. Humans, from the moment they're born, are running toward death anyway."
"You make those sacrifices to show them a better path, but if those people don't follow it, doesn't that make you angry?"
Humans were the sort who, after being told something good, would interpret it however they pleased, go down strange paths, end up suffering every possible harm, and then get angry asking why you'd planted such strange hope in them. Lapis had experienced this firsthand, so the shrine maiden, who had lived far longer, must have felt it even more deeply.
In many ways, she couldn't understand it. Except for Evan, they were worthless lives—things inferior even to the vegetables and fruits Lapis liked.
"Not at all."
But then, why make such sacrifices? When all that came back was death?
"I merely hope. I…… am one who tends seeds. Hoping they grow into prettier flowers. That is why I read destinies and point them toward better directions."
"……Just hoping?"
"Yes."
"Isn't that just… stupid? Making every sacrifice there is, and then just hoping the results turn out well……"
"Because destiny is not absolute. It must not be absolute."
The shrine maiden slowly closed her eyes. A face that seemed free of any worry or care. It only made things more confusing.
"That…… just sounds like being a total sucker."
"Shouldn't there be at least one sucker in this world? I am content with a single seed."
Looking at this, Osera had called her the Flower of Destiny—a belief that someday, destiny would bloom like a beautiful flower.
"I simply always hold 'faith.' You've believed in something at least once in your life, haven't you?"
"……Faith."
Faith—that name. That single word, at least, didn't feel bad.
"Is your god… hope?"
Lapis's question. The shrine maiden instinctively felt this was the final question. As an adult, she should answer well—for this pitiful young child, born bearing a vast destiny.
"Well."
The shrine maiden had no faith. It would be more accurate to say it no longer held meaning. Ever since she learned Celestial magic, ever since the constellations unfolded before her two eyes. The sky and stars, the countless 'gazes' that looked down not only upon herself but upon this entire world. From that moment, for the shrine maiden, this world was a chessboard. All she could do was present the path ahead so that the chess pieces could move according to their own 'choices.'
"I do not believe in gods."
The shrine maiden whispered.
"I simply believe in hope."
This alone was the only struggle the shrine maiden could make.
The cleanup finished well. In many ways, it proved just how useful an alchemist was.
However…….
"What? Why use that kind of power for something you can do with strength?"
"You—are you from some heretical school?"
"Hahahaha! Injuries? Those are medals of honor!"
These absolute meatheads.
Evan looked at the Demacia knights with a gaze full of disgust. They called themselves knights and warriors, but they were just barbarians. Fortunately, his eyes didn't show emotion well. Otherwise, his true feelings would have been completely exposed.
……I should just do my own work.
Dexter and Don Quixote had been handed over. Their sentence was death. They would die. That was an unchanging fact. In this country, the lives of those who failed to possess warrior-like honor held no value.
So before they died, he'd asked if they knew anything about the missing persons.
—W-we don't know anything about that! K-kidnapping people here……! Who could even do such a thing!
—It would be impossible unless it was the king himself!
So they're not the culprits?
Then who? Was there anyone who could do it? It wasn't that there wasn't. Demacia Kingdom had rather poor public security. If you asked why, despite having so many knights—it was because there were even more retired knights, warriors, and mercenaries.
Were they the culprits? Something didn't fit…….
"Evan, Evan! We're here!"
Lapis carefully tugged his sleeve. This reaction after coughing up blood once more on the way due to the sandstorm. Adjusting his hold on Scor and Harty, who were asleep in his arms, Evan raised his head.
"Fortunately, it's open."
"He told us to come in earlier, after all."
Nodding at Lapis's words, he stepped through the main gate. Just in case, he sent Unit 5 ahead.
Whooosh—
A cool breeze brushed past his cheek. Inside the main gate, along with the sensation of crossing some kind of 'aura,' his field of vision changed.
It was a pure white castle. As if made of marble, a castle that permitted not even a speck of dirt. If Innocence became a castle, it would look like this.
The only space that wasn't white was the garden right in front.
The cold weapons Innocence had accumulated by defeating and destroying his enemies. Swords, axes, spears, bows, and more. Every type of weapon that fell under the category of cold arms was planted there without exception. Just by number, there seemed to be a few hundred. Selling even one of those would make a fortune.
Though that would be impossible.
The Garden of White Arms. This was Innocence's domain, and the weapons of comrades who had stood with Innocence were planted here as well. Who would have the guts to steal Innocence's weapons?
His epithet: King of a Hundred Arms. A knight who had reached the realm of Sword Master while wielding over a hundred weapons at a masterful level.
……Whoa.
Wouldn't touching these cut your hand?
Just as Evan unconsciously swallowed dryly—
"Is there a weapon that catches your fancy?"
A man in white robes walking slowly out from the castle. Innocence regarded Evan with white eyes.
"Choose. Anything you like."
"……Anything?"
"For a hero who saved the nation, this much reward is only natural. I shall give you anything."
From among all these?
Hmm.
What should he pick. A sword or spear? Cool, but he'd probably get hurt. A shield? Not bad. The safest choice. Or something with a strong single hit like a mace would be fine too.
Huh.
The moment he looked at a nearby sword, his body froze. Because he could see a skull the sword had pierced through. It looked like an ordinary skull. But Evan, being an alchemist, could tell.
This skull—hadn't been dead for long.
—Missing persons keep turning up.
Words floating up in his mind. He slowly scanned the surroundings. Not just one skull, but several. All of them hadn't been dead long. As if something had been excavated, even the crown of each skull had been neatly cut out.
"What is the matter?"
Evan slowly raised his head. The master of this garden. The one with the authority to invite guests. Innocence.
"If there is a problem, I would like to hear it."
He was still gazing at Evan with white eyes that showed no emotion whatsoever.