Seeing Is Believing
Having successfully assembled the word Confession, I went straight to my father.
After all, I needed to see exactly how the effect of Confession manifested itself.
"Confession."
Compells a confession of every act committed in violation of this world's laws.
The familiar information window. In a word, it meant that unless something was explicitly written into this world's laws, a confession forced through the word would mean nothing.
Then again, it made sense — breaking a rule the law had laid down was sin enough in itself.
"When I was nine, I stole a number of things from the imperial palace's warehouses and secretly sold them to black-market merchants."
My father, confessing every sin he had ever committed in his life.
He flinched — startled that his mouth was moving against his own will — and then, realizing he was recounting the rebellions of his boyhood in front of his own son, he wore no small measure of mortification on his face.
He went on to confess a few more sins after that, but I dutifully covered my ears and spared him the details.
As the time of confessions drew to a close, my father wiped away a cold sweat and spoke.
"But if Duke Alteir led this scheme alongside them, his punishment may prove difficult."
「 Why is that? 」
"Do you know what a magic stone is?"
「 Yes. 」
Magic stones — a kind of resource required for crafting artifacts. Their source was the Barren Lands, situated at the very center of the continent, harvested from the monsters born there.
"Deep within the Barren Lands lies the Demonic Tree. Every time a monster or demon perishes, that tree attempts to grow. Quite a long time has passed now, and the monster population remaining in the Barren Lands is slowly dwindling."
「 Don't tell me— 」
"So you've caught on, have you."
My father let out a sigh and continued his explanation.
"Once the Demonic Tree achieves complete maturity, it revives the demons and monsters that had perished. The army led by the Demon King returns to the world. And yet the First Emperor, who conquered the Barren Lands in his day, could not bring himself to destroy the tree."
「 Because of the artifacts. 」
"Precisely."
It was no exaggeration to say that the continent's civilization now ran entirely on artifacts. The civilization those artifacts had built was undeniably, impossibly convenient. Frankly speaking, even with a less advanced civilizational backdrop, the everyday comforts of life here fell barely short of my past life on Earth.
And once people had felt that progress and those blessings on their own skin, surely there had been resistance to purging their source. Caught in that conflict, the First Emperor had chosen — even knowing the Demon King would return in some future generation — to leave the Barren Lands unpurified, sustaining it so that the fruits of artifact civilization could be enjoyed.
「 Isn't that an insane thing to do? 」
"The very people who survived the depredations of the Demon King's monsters and demons were the ones who approved it."
I let out a sigh. It wasn't that I couldn't understand. Certainly, on the Earth of my past life, if every resource had been generated by killing monsters and demons, humanity would have repeated the same choice.
But even mighty empires and nations eventually decline and vanish into the folds of history. Just as surely, when the Demon King's army descended again, there was little chance humanity would conquer the Barren Lands a second time.
"If the legends are true, the scholars say this is most likely why the dragons ceased their play. They claim the dragons hid themselves away only after passing on their bloodline sufficiently for the humans of later generations to survive the Demon King's army."
「 Plausible enough. But what does that have to do with punishing Duke Alteir? 」
"He was once the Master of a Magic Tower. One of the empire's few Overlords."
The title of Overlord was bestowed upon those who stood at the very pinnacle of magistery that humanity could reach. Upon attaining it, one gained the right to petition the imperial family and erect a magic tower on whatever ground one desired.
"With opinions already circulating that the Demonic Tree will reach full maturity before long, we cannot dispose of such a powerful asset right now. Even if we forced the matter, it would cause an enormous uproar — and when safety is at stake, it's all too easy to whip the populace into a frenzy."
「 Is there no way? 」
At my words, my father smiled.
"It's not impossible. Embrace the Neutral Faction's nobility in their entirety, build up that strength, and press for his punishment... There's a chance it could be done."
「 In a word — whether or not I can cure his daughter. 」
"Yes. And the ones most likely to oppose his punishment would be the Neutral Faction itself."
I nodded at my father's words.
「 Then I'll go to the Asis Duchy with Mother. 」
"Are you certain of it?"
「 I brought my dead mother back to life. That much is beyond me now, but as long as someone isn't dead, I can cure any illness or wound there is. Though I must ask — once the board is set, can you see it through to the end? 」
At my question, my father smiled as if to say, worry not.
"Let me show you just how powerful a presence an emperor with a justification to act can be."
Three days later, I set out for the Asis Duchy, bringing my mother and a single knight my father had assigned to us.
"...You're heading into dangerous territory."
Inside the carriage, my mother looked at me with a worried expression. It was understandable — the Asis Duchy bordered the Barren Lands directly. The monster population had dwindled considerably, but they were far from extinct, and mercenaries who made their living hunting them still dwelt there.
And if artifacts made from magic stones were permanent, that would be one thing — but they were consumables, and demand for them was colossal. Once a person had grown accustomed to the convenience of artifacts in daily life, they could hardly live without them anymore. Nobles' luxuries aside, they had sunk deep into the lives of commoners too. If artifacts vanished, this world — no joke intended — would regress by a full measure.
"So it really is about that business, isn't it?"
「 Those who commit wrongs must be punished. 」
"Back then, all I wanted was to stay by that man's side. But if I had been thinking of you, I suppose I should have left the palace after all. I'm truly sorry."
Hearing my mother's words, I shook my head.
「 You did nothing wrong, Mother. The people who orchestrated all of this are the ones in the wrong. 」
One must never lose sight of the true problem. My mother had simply always been too gentle at heart — she had accepted every humiliation she suffered as only fitting for a commoner standing beside my father.
Frankly, watching that as her son infuriated me. I was tempted to tell her to reach for power for once... but then again, did she really need to change?
From start to finish, it was the circumstances around her that tormented her which were wrong. My father and I had both loved her for her kindness and warmth, after all.
The answer was for me to become strong enough that my mother would never need to change.
And so, after ten days of travel, I arrived at the Asis Duchy. We could have rested at the territories along the way, but time was too precious to waste. As a result, the knight who had accompanied us — disguised as a coachman on my father's orders — drove the horses without a moment of sleep, seated the whole way on the driver's box. Honestly, if we hadn't sold and repurchased horses at each territory along the route, he would have died of exhaustion.
"Please don't concern yourself with me — go and pay your respects to Duke Asis."
Saying he would take a short rest in the meantime, the knight departed, and my mother and I made our way to Duke Asis's mansion.
"Might I ask what brings you here?"
"If you show this to Duke Asis, he will understand."
Stamped within the letter was the crest of the imperial family. Once the duke laid eyes on it, he would know we were guests from the imperial house — though more important, of course, was the letter's contents.
"Please wait a moment."
After seating my mother and me in the drawing room, the butler withdrew. Then, what felt like perhaps ten minutes later, Duke Asis opened the drawing room door and entered.
But the atmosphere radiating from him — his bearing, his presence — was anything but ordinary.
"...I will dispense with pleasantries. If the contents of that letter prove false, I will judge it as an attempt to deceive me, and you had best be prepared to pay the price."
"I— I beg your pardon?"
My mother knew nothing of the letter's contents. Only my father and I did. At the duke's frigid tone, she pulled me into her arms with a frightened look, as if something had gone terribly wrong.
I slipped off my coat, turned my head, and flashed her a bright smile. It meant: don't worry.
「 It's all right. Trust me and Father. 」
"Whatever could have brought you all the way to the Asis Duchy?"
"There is no time, so I will borrow His Highness the Prince for a moment. Lady Imperial Consort."
"...Yes."
Following Duke Asis, who clearly wished to speak with me alone, I moved to another room and faced him directly.
"I don't know by what theater you smuggled the Imperial Consort out of the palace... but if you mean to deceive me, know that I will expose that truth as well, down to the last detail."
"..."
"The letter states that Your Highness can cure my daughter's body, does it not?"
「 Yes. 」
At my calm demeanor, he laughed as if I'd said something absurd.
"The finest physicians all shook their heads. By what means, then, do you propose to?"
「 The world believes my mother was executed. Yet the woman beside me just now is, without question, my mother — Euphemia Paul Bertian. From the moment I deliberately made no effort to hide her, letting you discover her yourself, you should understand that I am not here as a joke. 」
"Good heavens..."
The sophistication of my phrasing, and the air I carried, seemed to fluster him for a brief moment.
「 That I can heal your daughter, Duke, is no idle boast. And in exchange for curing her, I intend to collect two prices from you. 」
"Then let us hear these prices of yours."
「 I won't tell you everything at once. For now, I'll tell you the first. 」
At my words, Duke Asis — rather than dismissing me as a mere child — listened with genuine, deliberate attention.
「 The traitors within the imperial palace will all be put to death soon. Among them is Duke Alteir, and I wish for the Neutral Faction's nobility to give their full consent to his punishment. 」
"Do you have evidence?"
「 More than enough. 」
"You may not be aware of this, Your Highness, but the Demonic Tree will reach complete maturity before long. Is there truly a need to kill Duke Alteir at such a time? Stripping his title and restoring it once he has earned merit later would be the wiser course, would it not?"
「 I'm aware. On that point, I'd like to tell you that I possess military value exceeding even Duke Alteir's. 」
Duke Asis heard me out, then took a sip of his tea. No doubt he was doubting whether he was truly speaking with a wet-behind-the-ears brat.
「 Hearing a thing a hundred times is no match for seeing it once, isn't that right? 」
Smiling, I rose from my seat, drew the dagger from inside my coat, and drew it slowly along my left arm.
A searing flash!
The pain was worse, in a different way, than when I had fallen straight down from the third floor — though back then, I had blacked out in an instant, which blunted the worst of it.
Drip.
Crimson blood welled up and poured down along the wound the dagger had carved.
Duke Asis shot to his feet, tea spilling, at my sudden act of self-harm.
"Have you lost your mind?!"
I hadn't, particularly — and pressing my trembling other hand into my own blood, I set the dagger down and wrote a word upon the air.
「 No. 」
The pain throbbed and ached. My breathing grew ragged, but I bore down hard and opened my mouth.
"Heal."
"Wait — you can speak the words?!"
So first, Duke Asis was stunned — right after my self-mutilation — that I could speak at all.
"No — the wound, it's gone—!"
And third, he was astonished that the long gash I had carved into my own arm had healed over, clean and flawless.
"Could it be... the Dragon Tongue?"
And fourth, he was staggered by the realization that the power I possessed resembled that of the empire's First Emperor.
So the legend — one hardly recorded even in official documents — was known to all who needed to know it, after all.
「 You believe me now, I trust? That I was never bluffing you, Duke. 」
"...I believe you."
Four heart-stopping shocks in a row left the duke collapsed back into his chair.
「 Duke, there is something I need from you immediately. 」
"Name it."
「 I need clothes. 」
I could hardly appear before my mother soaked in my own blood.
Then, wiping away the blood to reveal my arm — without so much as a single scar, perfectly restored — Duke Asis let out a faint breath of admiration and rose from his seat.
"One moment... please wait here."
Walking away with a faint, disbelieving chuckle, he looked for all the world like a man who had attained enlightenment.
So this much was enough to drain the vigor from body and mind? And here I'd heard from my father that Duke Asis was one of the empire's Aura Masters.