264. Obsession (1)
264. Obsession (1)
- 1 -
The night sky of Hylash visible through the window looked as though black ink had been spilled across it.
Within that darkness, Countess Philia Elskopf's office shone brightly, as if upon a stage.
I sat before the desk, facing two murderers.
"How is it that Areupina's melody emanates from you...?!"
The voice of the man in the red Fate (緣) robe, Armania, rang out.
As befitting one who had devoted a lifetime to music, even his fury and obsession possessed a peculiar melody.
Yet what lay within was nothing but frenzy.
Like the nature of that music, it was utterly ominous.
"Master."
Eve did not loosen her vigilance behind him, her blade still pressed close.
Outer plane magic and a murderer's frenzy.
Neither was something that could be dismissed as safe simply because it was restrained.
For now, Evangeline was suppressing him with the power of 'Stillness,' but should that seal be broken... there was no telling what frenzy he might unleash.
Of course.
"Do not worry."
I rose from my seat.
As long as Areupina's memories and power remained within me, whatever desperate struggle he put up would be utterly futile.
"You wish to know of Areupina's whereabouts."
At my words, his golden eyes flashed.
Within that gaze, a blend of frenzy and animosity, there ironically dwelled an artist's obsession.
"Hand her over... She is an irreplaceable muse, the like of which I shall never find again in my life...!"
A mass murderer serving as a killer's muse, was it...
Like the conductor of an empty stage, I tilted my head slightly and suppressed a sneer.
"If you answer dutifully, I might just tell you that much."
My gaze shifted to Ash, who was restraining Echo beside me.
The saintess's power was perfectly sealing Echo's temporal ability.
It was possible because Echo's power was a heterogenous mutation of necromancy.
"First, speak of this organization you belonged to, this 'Mosaic.'"
A twisted smile, like the specter of a masquerade, crept across Armania's lips.
"How did you come to know that name? There is no way she would have spoken of it..."
"Do you truly believe that."
At my words, his pale face drained of color entirely.
"You... no way."
His voice wavered for the first time.
His theatrical demeanor, which he had maintained even amidst frenzy and chaos, momentarily collapsed.
"I know everything she knew."
At my words, his golden eyes shook violently.
His frenzied gaze locked precisely onto my face.
"Areupina... where is she? Her melody... where has her beautiful tune gone?"
For the first time, desperation seeped into his voice.
That sound, a fusion of a killer's frenzy and an artist's obsession, might well have seemed beautiful to some listeners.
Not to me, however.
"That is a story for after you answer me dutifully."
I approached him slowly.
Behind me, I could feel Eve's breath gradually tensing.
Armania fell silent for a time.
Then, as if singing the aria of a tragedy, he opened his mouth.
"We... are the pioneers of a new world."
Speaking of things that drew nothing but scorn from me.
"Artists, working to create the perfect human."
Armania's eyes scattered before gathering together once more.
The blend of frenzy and elegance returned to his speech as well.
"We were masters gathered for an art that no one else could comprehend."
As I listened, I cross-referenced his words with Areupina's memories.
There were no lies.
For Areupina, too, had once lived in a time where she cloaked herself in such 'artistic ego.'
Only during her long imprisonment in the Demon Realm she had become so steeped in defeat and frenzy that she could no longer maintain that ego.
'Mere murderers, the lot of them.'
I swallowed the words.
Reasoning with madmen is the mark of an amateur.
If I could control them by force and make them listen to only my words anyway, what was the point of enduring such mental fatigue?
"An artist who serves a true god and strives to make that god's majesty known to the world."
But as if he had somehow heard my thoughts, he wore an elegant sneer upon his lips.
A sneer directed at the ignorant world.
"Areupina, and you who have inherited her memories. You would know this well, wouldn't you?"
At those words, I slowly nodded.
Of course, it was not an agreement, but merely confirmation of what I already knew.
There are always those who package their own artistry as sanctity, wherever you go.
"To think they left such characters to gather, seven of them. I cannot help but lament the indolence of this world."
"Even that much..."
"But that alone is not enough."
I stood before him and reached out my hand.
Toward his forehead.
"And so, your memories are also necessary."
"Wait... you don't mean."
The elegance that had filled Armania's face twisted once more.
This time, it was terror.
He tried to evade my touch even at the cost of Evangeline's blade, but he could not.
"How can you wield her power...?!"
Before his words could even finish, a light blending green and purple blossomed from my fingertips.
In that instant, his memories poured into me.
- 2 -
At the same hour, another conspiracy was being woven in the northern annex of the Kiza Kingdom's royal palace.
A night breeze swept between the buildings, which possessed an antique charm distinct from the main palace.
"Damn it... at last."
The voice of Cleiban Sen Kiza trembled roughly.
The sound of a nervously thrown goblet shattering echoed out, but he paid it no mind.
With the former king of Haisen overthrown and his spies purged from within the Kiza royal palace, the magic had vanished.
But its influence had lingered for a long time, rendering the royalty of Kiza little more than half-wits.
Now, completely freed from that magic's influence, he remembered with perfect clarity just how foolishly he had acted.
"To dare manipulate our minds with such filthy sorcery..."
His son Yulian ground his teeth as he gripped a sharp sword.
"Father. The moment they launch the northern expedition is our last chance."
"Yes."
Clayvan nodded.
The moment the tripartite government dispatched its army to the Hinness Duchy, they would begin their counterattack to reclaim the throne.
Even in the current government, there remained some who held loyalty to the royal family, and there were those who harbored grievances against it as well.
What was more, they had supporters.
"When did they say that support would arrive?"
"You mean the soldiers the information merchants promised to provide? They said they would come in a week's time."
"After the expedition departs. Perfect."
Clayvan wore a satisfied smile for a moment, before his expression turned grim once more.
"We must reclaim what is ours..."
It was Haisen's fault for controlling them with magic, not their own.
Their power had been stolen unjustly.
"This land. This nation. They are all mine."
The old king's eyes blazed, twisted by obsession.
- 3 -
[Kyaaaak...!!]
[What a beautiful scream. Finer sounds come from beautiful women, after all.]
Armania's family name was Mailtrom. The same name as Areupina's, but he was a bastard child.
A child born out of wedlock, much younger, sired while Areupina's mother struggled desperately to revive the family.
Areupina had killed everyone in the family, but she spared him alone.
It was because his existence fell outside the scope of her grudge, and also because she recognized his talent.
A talent for the same twisted outer plane power that she possessed.
He grew up just as she had expected.
As a splendid murderer, a pleasure killer, an artistic slayer.
[A noble sacrifice for the creation of the perfect human. So die.]
Echo was the young lady of a clockmaker family originating from the Norn Empire.
Her family had passed down a forbidden ritual known as 'Time's Sacrifice' for generations.
Magic that manipulated time by absorbing the life force of the living.
And that magic, combined with the talent for outer plane magic that Echo possessed, had become a new form of necromancy.
She believed that the self who had absorbed all the advantages of her other selves living on different world lines was the only true, complete self.
"Hoo."
I pressed my hand to my head against the surging pain.
It was enough to make me understand Areupina's frenzy of seeing and absorbing the memories of others.
"Are you alright?"
Shaking my head at Evangeline's concern, I looked down at Armania and Echo lying before me.
The powers of those who wielded this outer plane force were unpredictable and dangerous.
Thus, the more cautious ones, those who did not act impulsively, tended to be an even greater problem.
To counter that problem, I intended to make use of them to greater benefit instead of killing them.
"To take down a large quarry, you must use bait just as good."
My consul Eve silently bowed her head.
To swallow the remaining four at once, I could not afford to give them time to prepare.
- What do you intend to do with my brother...
I manipulated Areupina's spirit to project her face into Armania's mind, and showed Echo versions of herself from another world, planting seeds within each of them.
They had come here and discovered nothing; they would leave after accepting Areupina's disappearance and death.
Erasing their murderous predilections and madness for the outer planes was a task for later.
Rather than raising the possibility that these six, including them, might unite to remove the obstacle that was me, it was better to make them walk right into my jaws of their own accord.
- How are you any different from us...?!
Shutting the mouth of the clamoring Areupina, I raised my head.
"Dispose of these two in a suitable location. Somewhere uninhabited, if possible."
After Xue and Saya had bound the pair and carried them out, Ash brewed tea and brought it over.
It was not the usual espresso, but chrysanthemum tea.
"It is said to be good for headaches."
"It is a different kind of headache from what humans experience, so how could it possibly work?"
Though I said that, I drew a pleased arc on my lips at her sincerity and savored the scent.
The reason the headache subsided was not the effect of the tea, but simply because her devotion gladdened me.
Clack.
When I set down the cup, Ran opened her mouth with a worried expression.
"My lord. The power of the outer planes is a force that brings agony merely by knowing of it. Are you truly alright?"
Her concern was understandable.
Right now, I could wield Areupina's power, and I understood the powers of Armania and Echo. With time, I could likely acquire the powers of the other four as well.
Bizarre knowledge, enough to drive an ordinary being—even a demon—insane, was swirling within my head.
But I shook my head.
"I am fine. That is why I have entrusted the verification of my mind to Murre and all of you, is it not?"
Madness is something one cannot judge for oneself.
Comparative analysis against my former self must be conducted by borrowing the eyes and senses of many others.
"It is certain that you are fine as you are now, my lord, but..."
"Then, it should be fine. I trust your skill, Ran."
"My lord..."
Under the worried gazes of Eve, Ran, and Ash, I simply smiled calmly.
"So long as you are all with me, I will be fine."
Soothing them with a lighter tone than usual.
"At any rate, what became of that matter? The Kiza situation."
At my question, meant to change the subject, Evangeline wiped the worried look from her face, stepped forward, and handed over documents.
"Having heard that a compromise between Leophere and Haisen was progressing, they are concentrating their military strength in the north."
Her eyes, now returned to a cool tone, flashed.
"It seems they judged that the Hinness Duchy, which we recently attacked and devastated, would be something they could break through."
"And the justification?"
"There is a noble who holds rights to a portion of the Hinness Duchy's territory. A son born of the current duke of Hinnes's former wife. He was driven out to allow the new wife's son to inherit the territory, it is said."
A righteous war to restore the rights of an unfortunate, ousted child.
It was a very common tale.
And utter nonsense.
"You said there are no internal problems?"
At my question, Evangeline shook her head and handed over another document.
"It appears the remnants of the old royal family are plotting something."
Scanning the documents, I pieced together several fragments in my mind.
This was something that could simply be left alone.
"This should prove useful."
"What will you do?"
"If they fail in the initial stage, nothing will happen. Even if they succeed, the army that has gone north will not disappear. A civil war will begin."
And the fiercer the civil war became, the stronger the public opinion desiring peace would grow.
Either way, the Knight Commander and the royal representative would lose power.
The former, for having recklessly raised an army in a time of national crisis; the latter, because the people no longer wished for war.
"Just send a warning to the Chancellor. Though he likely knows already..."
I continued speaking, gazing at the growing darkness beyond the window.
"There's no harm in building a closer relationship with the new power."
"Understood."
Bowing her head, my consul exited the room first, and I drank the remaining tea.
The chaos of the human world was, in turn, my opportunity.