The Tearful Marionette
"I don't know anymore. Is the guild leader truly that capable, or does he simply possess absurdly good luck?"
After receiving an enormous stack of contract agreements and generous additional compensation from the prince, we returned to our lodging.
As I organized my luggage, Elenoa spoke in a voice utterly drained of energy.
"When you examine each individual step, every part of it is an absurd, impossible mess that shouldn't succeed... yet the outcome is always a monumental success that will be recorded in the empire's history."
"Well, I'm genuinely curious about that myself."
"Pardon? What did you say, sir?"
"I mean that luck played a far greater role than my own abilities."
I was just about to engage Elenoa in a proper conversation when—
Knock. Knock.
Someone rapped on the door with impeccable politeness.
The person who opened it and stepped inside was none other than Bahel Iregos—the very catalyst who would trigger the destruction of the eastern continent.
"Lord Bahel Iregos?"
"Lord Ideon Caldia, if it isn't too much trouble, would you accompany me for a moment?"
"......"
The sudden request for a private meeting caught me off guard, but I signaled Elenoa to wait and slipped on my coat, following him out of the lodging without delay.
We arrived at a magnificent artificial garden within the prince's palace, where flowers of every hue bloomed in riotous splendor.
Bahel stopped before a massive fountain where water droplets splashed and scattered. Without any preamble, he launched into a long-winded, grandiose explanation of his plans.
He spoke of forcibly claiming the haughty princess of Den Barbier and breaking her will, of mocking and provoking her family to secure the perfect justification for war, and of ultimately waging a grand holy campaign to unify the three principalities into one.
What had begun as nothing more than a trashy love-triangle drama fueled by petty resentment, he packaged with brazen audacity as the epic tale of a noble hero destined to save the continent.
"In any case, what I wish to convey is this: my father promised fifty percent of the weapon supply, but if the Caldia Merchant Guild offers its complete and unwavering support to Iregos—to me, Bahel Iregos—the situation changes entirely."
Bahel fixed me with a serious gaze and lowered his voice.
"On the day I ascend as the next prince, I will grant you full authority over all weapon supplies and commercial rights throughout Iregos."
"......"
The sheer arrogance in his tone was staggering. It was the kind of ridiculous offer that would only tempt a complete fool.
I had been half-listening to his grandiose nonsense, ready to dismiss it, when a sudden question occurred to me.
But... why did the Iregos heir specifically choose the princess of Den Barbier as his target in the first place?
Even in the prologue video, only the end result had been shown—him being manipulated by the Tearful Marionette and violating the princess. The clear origin of it all had never been explained.
With hatred this intense, there must have been something more...
Unable to shake the lingering unease, I asked in a deliberately light tone, pretending to be mildly intrigued.
"Before we discuss business in earnest, may I ask you one thing?"
"If it is a question I can answer, I will."
"Why is the beginning of this grand holy war specifically tied to the princess of Den Barbier?"
"......"
Bahel's face hardened in an instant. He twisted his handsome features into a scowl, biting his lip in clear displeasure before speaking in a tightly controlled voice.
"Originally, for the sake of an even stronger alliance between the three principalities, she and I were betrothed from a young age."
A thick aura of murderous intent clung to the end of his words.
"Yet while I was away at the academy, that woman fell for some rootless commoner knight and gave herself to him. I even received reports that she was scheming in secret to install that vulgar man as prince of Den Barbier."
Wait—what? Hold on a second?
"As one of noble Iregos blood and as a man who once loved her with all his heart... I could not possibly endure such horrific betrayal and humiliation."
"......"
I barely managed to stop my jaw from dropping.
Wow. I almost completely lost control of my expression there.
No, but why is the story unfolding like this?
I was genuinely shocked beyond words. So this arrogant heir to a principality had flown into a rage simply because his fiancée cheated on him. That single event had driven him to make contact with the Tearful Marionette—one of the Original Prisoners, one of the thirteen calamities—entirely of his own volition.
All because of some pathetic, petty grudge born from a love-triangle drama, he had kicked off the chain of events that would burn the entire eastern continent to ash.
It was so ridiculous my sense of disbelief had packed its bags and blasted straight through the stratosphere. And yet...
On the other hand, I couldn't say I didn't understand at all.
The woman you loved hooking up with another man and going all the way... Damn it.
It was the kind of devastating blow that could shatter any decent man's mind to pieces.
That was why I quickly began turning the situation over in my head.
Thanks to old man Barundal's awakening, the mutual downfall of Iregos and the Caldia Merchant Guild has already failed. In that case, perhaps...
This was the perfect chance to flip the entire board.
Before it was too late, I could coax this rage-consumed fool over to my side. With the help of one of the Seven Stars I'd hired at great expense as an escort, we could wring the Tearful Marionette's neck right here and now.
Of course, in this insane dark-fantasy world, calamities would rampage across every direction regardless. But at the very least, I could completely prevent the destruction of the east at this stage.
"...All right."
The moment my decision was made, I looked straight into the eyes of Bahel Iregos, who was still seething with betrayal.
It was time to offer some fatally sweet temptation to this pathetic, gullible idiot.
"In that case, how about we approach this in the following way instead..."
The Tearful Marionette.
It was one of the thirteen calamities born in the primordial era.
A puppet that had dared to defy its creator's will and was thus condemned to eternal control by the strings of bondage.
Yet it never ceased its tears for even a moment. In the end, it corroded even the threads of fate that bound it, harboring a horrific ambition to drown the entire continent in sorrowful lamentation.
And deep within the newly constructed Cathedral of Misfortune in the Kingdom of Iregos, the Marionette lifted its grotesquely twisted neck and gazed down at Bahel Iregos, who knelt before the altar.
"Now is the time to scatter your rage across the world, you foolish and pitiable human."
The voice was so captivating it was hard to believe it came from a puppet. At the same time, dark gray teardrops formed at the tips of the Marionette's fingers and began to coalesce into a power befitting an Original Prisoner.
Forcibly extracts the sorrow and despair of others to shatter their minds, ultimately transforming them into faithful puppets that shed tears of blood.
The Marionette prepared to bestow this absolute power upon Bahel with immense satisfaction.
But it was at that very moment.
Bahel, who until now had cooperated faithfully in preparing to make countless humans shed tears of blood, slowly shook his head.
The madness and fury that had burned in his eyes without pause were gone. In their place was a calm presence so profound it could almost make one mistake him for the current prince himself.
"I refuse."
"......What did you say?"
The Marionette's joints let out a grotesque scraping sound as they froze in shock.
Bahel rose slowly to his feet. The face that had always burned with vengeful obsession was now astonishingly serene.
"I never dreamed I would come to learn such intense emotion and proper conduct from a young lord eight years my junior."
He gripped the hilt of the sword at his waist tightly and stared straight at the colossal calamity no human should ever face—one that would demand kneeling and submission the moment it was beheld.
"The one who taught me how utterly hollow and pathetic it is to seek revenge by sacrificing the blood of tens of thousands. We of Iregos will now walk the righteous path. O Tearful Marionette."
Bahel bowed his head deeply and with utmost respect.
"......"
Silence.
The heavy air inside the cathedral froze solid in an instant.
The realization that the long-term pawn it had invested so much time and effort into for its grand scheme had dared to toy with and betray one of the Original Prisoners caused the Marionette's body to tremble violently, control slipping away.
"How dare... a mere insect of a human—!!!"
The very concept of sorrow—so profound it could bring tears just by being heard—exploded outward, threatening to devour the entire cathedral.
Dark red tears of blood poured from the enraged Marionette's eyes. At the same time, it completed the incantation for a cruel spell meant to erase the insolent insect before it in a single stroke.
Blood-red threads of sorrow surge forth to bind and execute the target.
Bloody threads erupted madly from beneath Bahel's feet, ready to bind his limbs and throat and crush the life from him—
"Die!!!"
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!
The ceiling of the Cathedral of Misfortune exploded with a deafening roar. Massive chunks of stone rained down like hail.
Through the thick cloud of dust, two figures could be seen descending, stepping across the shattered debris.
One was a handsome young man wearing a relaxed smile beneath his fluttering hood.
The other...
"Tearful Marionette! So you really were here! Let's have some fun as fellow transcendents!!!"
She gripped a massive battle axe, grinning brightly like a madwoman right in front of an Original Prisoner.
Six enormous wings—three pairs—were fully spread behind her as she descended in freefall. Half were pitch-black like the abyss itself, the other half dazzling white like an angel's.
The sight was both ferocious and majestic, stirring a strange sense of déjà vu.
C-could it be—?!
The Marionette's eyes widened in shock as it watched the woman falling from above, swinging her crude axe downward.
A cry of pure astonishment finally tore from its lips.
"Original Prisoner, the fallen archangel Gahenna? No... Iriniel, Gahenna's daughter!!"
"You bitch! You're the insolent puppet who took my father's right arm, aren't you!?"
