A New Power
Serpina descended into the underground dungeon, her footsteps carrying her toward a confrontation with Ark, the central figure of the rebellion.
Ark had been a longtime friend of Leni, the man who once served as her personal guard. The two of them had served the Aingard Empire together since their youth, and so it was that Ark had some connection even to Serpina as a child.
This moment of facing the rebels had always been an ordeal for her.
It was the hour when she was forced to watch people who claimed to follow her spit entirely different words from their tongues and bare their hatred for her. Hatred born of evil deeds she had never even committed.
Of course, it had been her own decision to accept everything upon herself—but no one ever truly grows accustomed to being hated. Even an absolute ruler could not escape the crushing solitude of knowing that the people's hearts did not revere her.
And this time, she had been stabbed in the back by the very guard she had trusted so completely.
In the past, it would have been no surprise if she had crumbled alone under the weight of it all. But things were different now.
Serpina arrived at the cell with a relatively light step, lifted her chin, and looked down at him with a commanding tone.
"If you have something to say, say it, Ark. Tomorrow you won't be able to, even if you want to."
"…Princess Serpina."
"Who are you, exactly? Algot? Sidmid? There are plenty of fools besides you who chased after the coattails of the dead and threw their lives away."
"Princess."
Ark raised his head and looked Serpina straight in the eye.
"I speak for no one, Princess. What I sought to overthrow was the Aingard family… itself."
He slowly closed his eyes.
"From the moment I saw, up close, how countless victims were made for the sake of succession to the throne, Leni and I swore together. When the time came, we would drive out that sin-soaked house of Aingard. Since you had already killed the rest of them, from our perspective, removing you alone would have finished the matter. Thanks to that, our plans grew more concrete. Ironically enough."
Then he snapped his eyes open and glared at Serpina with fierce intensity.
"That kindhearted princess… Yes. Serpina. Watching even you stain your own hands with your brothers' blood made me realize it. The blood of House Aingard is a curse itself. Once you inherit that bloodline, you hungrily seek more blood!"
"…"
Serpina did not answer. Without revealing what she held in her heart, she simply listened to Ark's protest in silence.
"Why do you think we revealed ourselves as the masterminds in the first place, Princess? Because that was the promise between Leni and me. House Aingard no longer has the right to be the masters of this continent. After producing so many sacrifices, to keep playing at being emperor—even now, the thought of it is enough to make one's blood boil, is it not?"
"So you simply wanted to become the new emperor, then? Without a thought for the chaos that would plunge the continent into."
"Is this not already an age of chaos, Princess? Do you not know that two-thirds of the continent's people already live under banners other than Aingard's?"
"…What a tiresome story."
Serpina rose slowly and looked down at Ark with cold eyes.
"There is no need for me to listen any further to the noise of a man who would crumple under the weight if it were ever placed upon him, muttering and rambling to himself."
"Princess. As I said, I will not be the last. Out of old affection, allow me to offer a warning. If you wish to save your life even now, abdicate and live as quiet as a dead mouse. The empire is finished. You will never be able to stop the tide of a new age!"
"…If it were the old me, perhaps."
Having said that, Serpina slowly turned her body, leaving one final remark behind as she left the dungeon.
"But not now."
Yes. If it had been the old her, she would have been cowed, unable even to offer a proper retort to his words. Just as when Rahelbun had berated her, she would have spent the time lamenting a fate that had only ever been shoved along with nowhere to lean.
But not now.
I have that man… I have Swen.
With Swen at her side, she could rebuild the empire. With the power of his Mind's Eye, which always spoke the truth. As long as that gentle man who could wrap her in warmth stayed by her side and protected her, she was confident she could overcome even the loathsome karma of the imperial house.
The mere act of thinking of him was enough to keep her turbulent emotions from taking root in her heart; they simply fell away. Swen had become her psychological shield.
It was all right. Even if no one else in the world understood her—
As long as Swen understood her, and as long as Swen alone followed her to the end… Serpina feared nothing.
I will prove it. That I was right…!
And so, as time passed, more and more… the existence called Swen seeped, little by little, into every part of Serpina.
It was a current that neither Swen nor even Serpina herself could stop any longer.
The next day.
Every last rebel who had dared to aim for Serpina's neck vanished as dew upon the execution grounds. Ark, the ringleader, saw three generations of his line extinguished, and the soldiers who had actively taken part were likewise put to extreme punishment.
There had not been many survivors to begin with—largely because I had kept raining magic down in coordination with Reika.
And as for Reika herself, the one who had cast that magic—
"Ugh… I'm so sorry, Lord Swen. I need to get my strength back soon… and start training again…"
"No. You pushed yourself terribly hard on the battlefield, so for now, just rest properly."
Not long after using her magic, she had collapsed, and even after returning to the mansion she was still confined to bed.
This battle could fairly be called the first time she had used real magic—magic worthy of the name. Until now it had been less a matter of pouring out spells and more of practicing by floating small ones in her hand or tossing modest ones at scarecrows. This time she had scraped together every scrap of mana in her body, so of course the strain would show.
In the game that formed the foundation of this world, mages had cooldowns when they used magic—a balance measure for such powerful abilities. In this world, that seemed to manifest as "mana exhaustion," affecting Reika's body directly. Or rather, the reverse was probably true: since the physical toll could not be fully expressed in a game, they had simply slapped on a cooldown instead.
This time, to maximize the amplifying effect of my rapier, she had continuously created the largest spells she was capable of. It would take quite a while before she could wield her power as freely as before.
"I can't even help with the housework at all… and even when I try to gather mana again, it just won't come… Lord Swen, do you think I've broken somehow…? If I can't even use magic, I'm no different from some useless freeloader who just eats up food…"
"You're not. After pouring it out so thoroughly, a little more rest will bring your ability back. As your teacher, I guarantee it."
"Really…?"
I nodded. It was not a lie. Once she rested through what amounted to a "cooldown," she would gradually be able to use magic again, so I kept a confident expression.
That seemed to comfort her. Only then did she lightly cover her mouth with a pale hand and give a soft little laugh.
"If my teacher says so… then it should be all right, right? Hehe."
"And please don't talk about freeloaders and the like. Reika, you have so many talents. You bake wonderful bread and sweets, and you're gifted at housework. Even if you had no talents at all, I would take good care of you, so don't worry too much."
"Ah…"
At those words, Reika's face flushed deep red. This time she pulled the blanket all the way up, completely covering her face. Only her pink bangs peeked out from under the covers, looking strangely adorable.
"…Thang you…"
Buried under the blanket, the words did not come out clearly, but from the context it was surely "Thank you."
But I was the one who ought to be thanking her.
"I'm the one who should be grateful, Reika. I won't forget this debt."
No matter that my rapier served as a kind of amplifier—if Reika had not sacrificed her own body and stained her hands with blood to help me, I could never have avenged Lady Irene so cleanly, with so little damage.
The magic itself was an astonishing power, but the resolve that made her choose to use it for me felt even more precious right now.
And so, for the next few days while we remained at the mansion, I spent my time lightly nursing Reika.
One way or another, the person called Reika was seeping into my life little by little, the way clothes grow damp in a fine rain.
Time passed—
She had not fully recovered her mana and could not yet be sent into actual combat, but once Reika had regained a fair measure of her strength—
"Reika Nighthart, hear me."
In the center of the audience hall, Serpina extended her hand toward Reika, who knelt before her, and declared her will.
What was taking place here was a kind of commissioning ceremony. The ceremony that had been postponed when Reika collapsed was finally being held now.
In an age of chaos, people changing their allegiance were hardly rare, so it was uncommon for a grand commissioning ceremony to be held merely because a single officer had joined. Even Swen and Irene had slipped into the ranks of Serpina's army as quietly as a snake over a wall.
This ceremony was proof that Reika had been recognized by Serpina. It was the sovereign's way of saying she well understood that, without Reika, far more soldiers would have lost their lives putting down the recent rebellion.
"Reika. Do you swear that from this day forward you will devote your whole self, body and soul, to my service?"
Reika did not tremble as she usually did. With a remarkably composed expression… she carefully parted her lips.
"…Yes, I swear it!"
…Except that she bit her tongue, and what came out was a rather foolish-sounding answer—
The girl who had seemed so genuine a moment before instantly reverted to her usual shrinking mode, cold sweat pouring down her face.
"Ah… I, um… I-I'm so sorry. I'll die… I'll just die right this instant… so please, forgive me…"
"If you die, the meaning of forgiveness rather disappears, does it not?"
"Ah, now that you mention it, that does make sense. Then I'll just… separately, go somewhere my lord isn't and die alone on my own. I'm somehow very sorry…"
"…Huhu."
There were surely those who would have called Reika's behavior extremely disrespectful at a sacred commissioning ceremony.
Fortunately, Serpina was not the type of person who placed great weight on such protocol.
"Reika. I'm sorry, but I cannot grant that request. Having finally brought you to my side, I have no wish to lose the existence that is you."
"Lady Serpina…"
Reika slowly looked up at Serpina's face as the woman gazed down upon her.
In that moment, for the first time, she felt she understood the words Lady Irene had once used to describe her: My lord is a person like an absolute being.
"I understand your will well. From this day forward, I shall accept you as a member of our Serpina Army."
"…Y-yes…!! I-I will do my utmost…!"
This time, mercifully, she managed to answer without biting her tongue—
And so Reika Nighthart became an officer of the Serpina Army.
From this point on, she was no longer a civilian. As an officer formally enrolled in the service of a state, she had truly stepped onto the stage of this chaotic age.
All of it was according to Reika's own wish when she had said, "I want to be of some help too." To use her abilities smoothly on the battlefield going forward, her ambiguous status first had to be resolved. Reika herself well understood that Swen and Irene could not keep escorting her around separately forever.
And so the commissioning ceremony concluded without incident.
Among those present, the ones with sharp political instincts could sense it instinctively.
Swen, Irene, and Reika.
These three would, in time, become Serpina's true inner circle—a new power in every sense of the word.
And that, in a Serpina Army whose pool of talent had been drained dry by endless rebellions… there were few officers skilled enough to check the rise of these three.
Just as the appearance of a mage had opened a new age of warfare upon the continent—
Within the Serpina Army as well, a new power was rising, casting its light.
—A precarious power that looked ready to vanish like a mirage at any moment.