140. Information Warfare (4)
140. Information Warfare (4)
- 1 -
"Ah..."
The sunset glow seeping through the window softly dyed the room. There was no clock, but Mikaela roughly guessed it was around dinnertime.
Ordinarily, this would be the hour when she'd be flaunting her elegant figure at a glamorous Fate Hall or social party.
But now she was sprawled on the bed clutching her stomach.
Kkoo-ook...
"Ugh. I have no dignity... what a plight..."
At first, having passed out and then awakened, she hadn't even felt hunger.
She'd had no time to feel it.
In truth, however, she had woken after an entire week, and all she had eaten while unconscious was thin gruel, which Elena or Maria had thoughtfully poured down her throat.
Even that had been given only once a day, literally just enough 'not to die.'
Kkoo-ook...
Once she heard that sound and grasped her situation, it was inevitable that hunger would come rushing back.
'At this rate, my stomach might really stick to my back and kill me...!'
"Save me..."
That a noble daughter of a Margrave should suffer such a lowborn plight.
Extreme starvation was steadily gnawing away at her aristocratic pride.
Tok-tok.
"Hello. Mikaela."
- Hello!
"Thank you!"
The moment the door opened, words of gratitude burst from her mouth involuntarily, driven by her extreme circumstances.
Two figures who appeared to be noblewomen, and several maids.
The instant she saw food in the hand of one of the visitors, the composure required for etiquette or decorum instantly evaporated.
Before this hunger, the first agony she had ever experienced in her life, neither her noble status nor her elegant manners held any meaning.
Just as everyone collapses before unbearable torture.
"... You must have been very hungry. Give her the meal first."
"Yes."
"I truly thank you! I thank you from the bottom of my heart!"
Kkoo-ook...
She was vaguely aware of the pity in the gazes fixed upon her, but at that moment Mikaela couldn't spare even the attention to care.
Her brain, which normally would have assessed the situation with pride and dignity while sizing up those who entered, was now completely paralyzed.
Only instinct remained in that state.
'I messed up. I should have noticed sooner...!'
Once her stomach was somewhat filled and her mind had cleared, it was inevitable that Mikaela would have such thoughts.
Because she concluded that this hunger was a scheme orchestrated by the woman before her—whom she assumed was a 'rival within this household.'
'But it's fine. As long as I pull myself together now...'
And when she raised her head, thinking that.
'I lost again!'
Seeing one of the women, Mikaela could only despair.
'What in the world is this beauty...!'
She was small in stature, but that fact didn't even register.
It was because of that overwhelmingly commanding presence.
A posture without the slightest waver, an undeniable elegance and refinement that could not be concealed.
That small woman possessed a beauty and grace that effortlessly overwhelmed Mikaela herself, who, as the daughter of a Margrave, had grown up receiving all manner of care and elixirs since childhood.
Even the one who seemed to be her friend, while not quite to the same degree, still possessed beauty at its peak.
"Are you alright? Mikaela."
"Ah... yes. Tha-Thank you for your consideration. So... the young lady?"
"Libertas. You may call me Lady Libertas."
"Yes..."
Mikaela's spirits sank.
Because the hope that this woman might be the young lady of this mansion was crushed.
"Pfft. Rita is small for a noblewoman."
"Don't speak of others, Serica."
"What?"
'She called her lady...? Then it's over completely!'
Because she had believed that this woman, who presided over a strange dungeon beneath the mansion, was either its master or at least his wife.
No matter how she thought about it, she didn't think she could surpass the lady before her to become the official wife, and if this woman was the master, then there was no possibility at all.
Nevertheless, she straightened her back as much as possible and tried to maintain an aristocratic posture.
'Perhaps he brought me here because he felt attracted to me anyway?'
She soon thought that, despite the presence of such a beauty, there must be a reason she herself had been the target of a bride-kidnapping.
Because she still hadn't realized she was trapped in her own delusion.
And Libertas had no reason to deliberately leave intact a delusion that was obvious at a single glance.
"Welcome to my dungeon, Mikaela."
"Yes. So it's a dungeon... A dungeon?"
Mikaela's reaction was fairly quick-witted.
"「Fireball」 - 「Continuous Casting」!"
As if to prove she had learned at least something, Mikaela immediately rose from her spot and summoned flames in all directions.
It was an action meant to buy time with the continuous casting of a basic spell, then attempt to hurl a larger magic spell.
"She's doing something pointless."
Both Serica and Libertas understood her psychology.
Sweuk.
Libertas's movement in response to Mikaela's magic was extremely graceful.
Like a dance move, the act of lightly pointing a finger toward the air.
Tok.
There was neither a spell nor a magic circle.
It was simply touching a single point in the void.
But that one gesture was sufficient to erase all of Mikaela's countless calculations and spells.
Though the action was small, the phenomenon that followed was anything but light.
Hwoo-ook--!!
A single black dot was born at the tip of that finger.
Kwareureureuk!
In an instant, it devoured the surrounding mana and began to expand as if it were a living organism.
Peok! Peo-peo-peok!
Thus, the dozens of fireballs that had been floating around Mikaela were snuffed out like candle flames.
The energy of the grand spell that had been preparing in both her hands likewise lost its power and vanished into the void.
All that remained in that place was the smell of scorched air.
"What is this...?"
Before Mikaela's bewildered eyes, that black dot continued to grow.
Swollen to the size of a human head, it discharged violet lightning in all directions, looking as if it might explode at any moment...
Hook.
It quietly vanished into Libertas's palm.
「Feeding the Dark Sprite」.
Originally, it was a spell that would absorb the mana of an area and then explode, turning the vicinity into scorched earth.
But she had cast it wordlessly and, moreover, stopped and erased it partway through.
It was a technique several times more difficult than simply letting the cast spell run wild or detonating it through forced cancellation.
"How can you do it without a spell or magic circle..."
The surrounding mana, which had vanished as if under vacuum, slowly returned from her hand.
But having witnessed this scene, Mikaela lost any further intention of drawing up mana or attempting any other tricks.
To her, Libertas spoke lightly.
"It seems you haven't delved deeply into a single magic. For a spell to be this weakly bound when used in such an urgent moment."
"Weakly bound...! I have been recognized by the Guild as possessing Advanced Specialization...!"
"Do not all Elite-grade mages possess at least something of Special-grade?"
"...!"
At Libertas's words, spoken with a tilted head and pure sincerity, Mikaela was at a loss for words.
Shock, fear, and embarrassment spread across her face. Watching this, Libertas cleared her throat with a fake cough and hid her own sheepishness.
"Ehem... It seems that wasn't the case. I appear to have been mistaken."
"Hasn't your standard just become too high, Rita?"
At Serica's question, Libertas couldn't meet her eyes.
For her, 'Elite-grade' was a being that must possess at least one 'Special-grade Specialization' trait.
Perhaps it was inevitable.
Because she had raised all her summons and mercenaries that way.
'A talent that, even with all the support of a Margrave's child, can barely achieve a single Special-grade.'
Though it might sound unpleasant, it actually wasn't a wrong thought.
Because in reality, Mikaela was a mage slightly weaker than her peers.
"It seems you have nothing else you can do."
"You...! It's because you're a monster...!"
"Think that way. It's the truth. However."
Libertas was not disappointed.
She had merely tested her just in case.
And as expected, this woman held no particular value.
"You will now be making a contract with that monster."
"Ah...?"
Violet light swirled within Libertas's eyes.
The moment she faced it, Mikaela's reason grew hazy.
Now that she had judged this subject was not worth the effort, this Dungeon Lord did not wish to drag things out any longer.
"You are fortunate. You'll live a while longer now."
What was prepared before Mikaela was a contract with Libertas.
Fortunately for her, this Dungeon Lord happened to be in need of someone who could conduct themselves as a noblewoman.
"Send word to Talhan. Tell him something good has been prepared."
"I'm looking forward to it."
"Yes. Let us see, what will be caught."
Her purpose was bait.
Bait to play the role of Alexis's murderer and to check whether there was someone digging into his personal affairs.
- 2 -
The war with the three barons had ended, and a little over a week had passed.
During that time, I had restored the dungeon to perfect condition and also completed the reorganization of summons according to the newly risen dungeon level.
Now, after that inspection, it was time to aim for the next objective.
"Have all the damaged parts been confirmed?"
"They have, Your Lordship. Once the two golems are restored, the restoration of milord's personal battlefield will be complete."
The place where Ran said the war had been fought was the widest area in my dungeon.
That is, my 'Boss Room.'
Choosing another location would not have been as good as this one.
Because the stationed golems could be used as immediate fighting power, and even if I used grand magic in an emergency, there was less to be broken.
If my forces had been lacking, it wouldn't have been bad to fight a mobile guerrilla battle across the dungeon, but that wasn't the case either.
Thanks to that, the only dungeon facilities damaged were the pillars and golems in this Boss Room.
"You have worked hard, Ran."
"Those are words far too kind, milord."
Ran bowed her waist modestly, covering her chest. At the same time, the hair falling beside her ears gently slid down, exposing her side breast to my gaze.
It was an intentional gesture, but I didn't dislike it.
Because there was no intention to coerce my body or mind through that action.
When I smoothed her hair after she straightened up, a coquettish smile returned to her face, but I averted my gaze.
It couldn't be helped that I had already grown accustomed to it, as she had done it countless times lately.
"How is the unit reorganization?"
"We have filled the vacant personnel, and have also made a graveyard for those who can no longer be resurrected..."
"I see. Let us go."
The place we headed to afterward was the highest spot in the dungeon.
The dungeon space secured through construction went up to the 5th floor, and the place where the 'public cemetery' was located was a vast inner chamber near the summit of a mountain built above that.
Hook!
After I closed my eyes for an instant as darkness burst from the magic circle, then opened them, we were already standing in that place.
The 6th floor, where no walkable entrance had been deliberately placed, was meant for the 'Rest' of those who slept within.
- Dalkak.
- Tak!
The 'Gravekeeper' Skeletons and the monsters who had come looking for their comrades, now 'vanished beings,' bowed deeply.
The sound of the Skeletons' bone joints rubbing against each other echoed through the quiet space.
When I waved a hand at them, they all returned to their respective places.
- Ahh...
- ...
To me, who had gained a new sense, their cries now came through completely.
Because the summons of my dungeon often regained intelligence once they reached higher positions, and as a side effect of that, many also came to possess 'emotions.'
Fellowship, friendship, and even a sense of loss.
This graveyard was a space for those like them, and for the beings who had met their end.
Even if they were graves without bodies, one could say it was a welfare facility created so they could calmly let go of their attachments.
It might sound ridiculous to mourn a being that was undead, but at least their attachment was no lie.
"Here..."
"Thank you."
I accepted the white flower Shue handed me.
I placed it at the graves of the 'previous' summons that had received a 'Complete Annihilation' or 'Resurrection Impossible' judgment, and also did not forget to hold a brief moment of silent prayer before them.
"... It has filled up a lot, hasn't it."
"Yes..."
The previous fight may have been a battle of a crude level, not quite worthy to be called a 'war.'
But there could be no absence of casualties.
It was not simply this war alone.
In past battles as well, and in the future as well, these 'previous beings' who would undergo such 'Eternal Rest' would continue to appear.
Of course, the loss of fighting power for my dungeon was far smaller than when the living summons of other dungeons died.
Because, due to the nature of the undead, I could use their remnants as material to create other undead.
However, that summon was not the exact same being as before. Many things, from memory at minimum to talent or essence at maximum, become different.
No matter what anyone said, the end of a being was the end.
It was a fact I only came to truly feel after arriving in this world, something I hadn't known when I viewed it as a game.
'Like Lemia...'
'Mire' possesses Lemia's memories and recollections.
Of course, the more she recovers her strength and memories, the more she converges toward her.
But she cannot be viewed as the exact same being.
In the first place, the current Mire is several times more powerful than the living Lemia, and there also exist distorted parts even within those memories.
'Representatively, things about me, for instance...'
I intended to return what could be returned, but I had to accept what could not be helped.
Because I would continue to kill or use the 'enemy' going forward.
I had no intention of denying that having sympathy for those who were once enemies was the self-deception of someone who had gained breathing room.
What I was doing was deception toward those I had killed, an act that amounted to nothing more than self-satisfaction.
Including the possessive desire for the beings I had grown attached to.
"Let's go."
Having finished my final greeting as their master to the deceased beings, I turned around.
It was now nearly time for a meeting.
Time for the four queens to bring back the results of their first mission.