Chapter 5
Chapter 5:
"Well—"
"So what do we need to do first…?"
Lucy was quick to read situations, but when it came to forming a plan, her mind was a little lacking. Then again, if she had been capable of that too, she wouldn't have been stuck running a mere outskirts branch.
The biggest reason she had likely made it to Branch Head was probably her high level of attainment—mid-level Sword Expert.
"We've got hold of a tail, so we'll have to follow it."
"Like a hunter?"
"A hunter…."
The word "hunter" brought Serin to mind, and I pressed my fingers against my temples. Lucy, seeming to realize her slip of the tongue, snapped her mouth shut.
If she hadn't shut it, I would have assumed she did it on purpose and been ready to hit her first.
"Well, it's not wrong. Let's head out now."
"What? Am I—am I going personally…? I have, well, work piling up…."
"Can't you normally just send someone else?"
"…Didn't you knock all of them out, Hero?"
How did she know? I had merely tapped the chins of the ones who didn't know their place and knocked them out.
"I suppose you didn't injure them too severely since there's no sound from them… but still, this is a Scales of Ash branch."
The Scales of Ash certainly wasn't an organization to be dismissed anywhere you went. Tracing back to its origins, it had a storied history stretching all the way from a massive guild 200 years ago.
"…This is the last time I indulge you."
I lightly raised my palm face-up and extended it forward.
"Holy Sanctuary."
A benevolent golden light softly enveloped the entire building. The office at its center looked as if every wall had been wallpapered in gold.
Leon's body wasn't quite at the level of Airen back in her Saint days, but as a chosen Hero, he was considerably proficient in Holy Arts as well.
'The more I think about it, the more absurdly overpowered this body is.'
"Hm…?"
"Ugh… Branch Head! An intruder—there's an intru—aaah!"
The woman who had been standing just outside Lucy's office regained consciousness and stumbled in. Catching sight of me and recoiling in shock, she landed flat on her backside—that was a bonus.
"Mi—Mirna! What happened?!"
"I turned the entire building into a sanctuary for a moment. It's nowhere near as powerful as an actual sanctuary, but everyone I knocked out should be coming around now."
"…Are you familiar with the concept of waste?"
"Getting a little cheeky, aren't you?"
"Mirna! Sorry—it looks like I'll be stepping out for a bit. Could you handle things as acting Branch Head while I'm gone?"
The woman called Mirna looked around with uncertain eyes, clearly struggling to follow what was happening. Then her gaze lingered on my face for a moment before her mouth fell open as if she'd just figured it out.
"H—Her—"
"Shh! Shhhh!"
If Lucy's instincts had been even slightly slower, my fist was going to fly again. I felt satisfied she'd been stopped in time—and just a little disappointed, at the same moment.
Having used Holy Sanctuary, a good beating right now would heal up in no time.
"Contractus."
I shook off the stray thoughts, withdrew the Holy Art, and activated the spell. A parchment burning with violet flame rose and floated in the air.
"Swear that everything witnessed in this room will be kept in complete secrecy—that it will not be communicated through speech, writing, coded signal, or any other means whatsoever."
The parchment burned away entirely, and the remaining ashes sparkled as they clung to me, Lucy, and Mirna.
"You agree?"
The 2 exchanged glances before nodding. Having gone so far as to set up a binding oath as a safeguard, I felt reassured enough that I found myself nodding along with them without thinking.
"Good—let's move out."
***
Late at night.
Serin and Vincent were not in the grand lodgings provided by the Empire, but lying in the back room of a small inn on the outskirts of the Capital City.
It had all been Vincent's idea. Serin had objected, but he had persuaded her by telling her it was a place that held memories for him.
The 2 lay there breathing roughly, looking at each other. The air mingling between them made it immediately clear what had just been happening.
"I'm happy… Vincent. I'm so glad I met you, I really am."
"…Me too, Serin. But… didn't Serin like Leon?"
At his words, Serin bit her lip and her eyes took on a briefly sorrowful look.
"I didn't mean to make you sad. Truly."
"I know—I just… I just don't think I've completely forgotten everything yet."
Serin, deep inside, was drawing Leon's face in her mind and feeling a pain in the depths of her heart. First love, and then a long unrequited love, and now a fond love she still hadn't fully let go of.
Of course, she knew Leon held affection for her as well. That was why she had been able to stay by his side, imagining that someday they would find their way to each other.
"I kept thinking—what if we'd never gone to the Battlefront… what if Leon hadn't been the Hero."
But life on the Battlefront had gradually changed everything. Leon, herself, even the Saint and the great mage.
Everyone was exhausted, and everyone went through the process of changing on the inside.
Strangely enough, the strongest feeling Serin had come to know on that field was jealousy.
The Hero and the Saint, who looked like a destined pair. The brilliant prodigy mage girl renowned across the continent. Compared to them, she felt like someone who had only joined the party through special treatment—leveraging his persuasion on the grounds that she was simply his childhood friend.
"…But I'm here beside you now. Don't think like that—from here on I'll give you a reality that's happier than anything you could imagine."
"…Yeah."
Serin buried herself against Vincent's chest and smiled softly.
The reason she had ended up sharing a bed with him came down to jealousy as well. She had known that Airen and Leon occasionally spent nights together—and that those nights fell on the dark moon. She also knew that a dark moon was coming not long after their return to the Capital City.
Every last bit of jealousy she had built up over all this time was roiling together inside her until she felt like she might go mad. So she had sought him out—Vincent, who had become a dependable presence for everyone in the party.
He was an exceptional man. He filled to the brim her need to be acknowledged.
In body, and in words.
"Speaking of which, Serin—do you have any idea what Leon's been up to lately?"
"No, I don't know either. There are just all sorts of rumors going around… Airen has gone back to the Holy Kingdom… and Tei probably doesn't know either."
"…I see. Alright. It's late—let's sleep."
Vincent had often asked Serin questions about Leon, even before all this. What he cared about most, what kind of temperament he had, what he disliked.
At first she had dodged answering, but as trust built up between them, there were more and more days when she would reply. There were even days when she told him things Leon had only ever shared with her—things like his trauma over failing to protect a child, or the next destination they had been headed for.
Recalling those memories, Serin sometimes realized that she and Vincent had been close for longer than she'd thought.
'For now… I still love Leon, but I'll try my best, Vincent.'
And so she drifted off to sleep, while Vincent carefully rose so as not to wake her.
Whenever he stayed with her, he always burned an incense that brought on a deep sleep. Vincent had long since completed the training to be unaffected by it, so he had no risk of falling asleep alongside her.
"She gets more and more foolish, that one."
A considerable talent with the bow. And the fact that she was the one closest to Leon as his childhood friend.
Vincent had approached her with only those 2 things in mind. That was his purpose, cultivated within the Dark Sorcerer guild—the Black Night.
"I wonder where the next meeting point will be~"
He stretched as if shaking off stiffness and walked toward the window. When moonlight fell upon the window, a demonic spirit would come flying to deliver orders.
The reason he had persuaded Serin to move their lodgings to the outskirts was entirely for the sake of smooth communication and movement. Moving around lodgings too close to the Imperial Palace came with all sorts of unsettling complications.
"Let's have a look— hm?"
The moment he opened the window with both hands, he froze.
The spirit was dead. And it was clutched in the Hero's hand.
On top of that, the Hero was hanging upside down from above the window, only his upper body visible.
"Hk—"
He recoiled in horror and tried to scream. But Leon's fist was far faster.
Thud—
Without so much as a sound, Vincent's body went limp and crumpled silently to the floor.
"…I thought it was strange there was no sound of a fight. Is this what you did to my people too?"
"Want to experience it yourself?"
"I want to learn from it. Truly impressive—is this what a Hero is?"
"Good grief."
Leon and Lucy climbed through the window and landed inside. The 2 of them had been listening to everything from the ceiling above Serin and Vincent's room from the very start.
"You said you were going to quietly tail that man—so why the fist…?"
"……."
In truth, Leon had planned to keep tailing Vincent.
But watching him talk with Serin had made it impossible to hold back, and he had felt like he needed to hit him at least once to get it out of his system.
Lucy stared at Leon as he answered with silence, then sniffed and took in the smell of the room.
"Hm? This is a sleep incense. Probably a divine bow… ah—no, that bi—that woman won't be waking up for a while."
"Hmm. Is that so."
Leon paused briefly, impressed by how capable Lucy was turning out to be, then seemed to make up his mind as he opened his hand.
"Actually, that's not quite enough. Silence Field."
"—!! ?! !"
The quietest spell in the world.
A subtle white magical energy spread from his palm and all sound vanished from the room.
Lucy appeared to be yelling something in astonishment, but of course nothing could be heard.
'Right then—'
Leon grabbed the unconscious Vincent by the throat and forced him awake by injecting Divine Power.
"…? ?!"
He jolted upright in a panic, saw Leon's face, and opened his mouth as if he'd laid eyes on a ghost. He appeared to be screaming, but thanks to the spell working as intended, not a sound came through.
In that soundless air, Leon's fist flew.
Shoulder, hip, knee.
The bones in all 3 joints were literally shattered by the blows. At the same time, the Divine Power being pumped into him ensured that Vincent felt every bit of the pain without being able to lose consciousness.
Lucy was trembling as she watched.
With both arms and legs stripped of control, Vincent was hauled along in Leon's grip—dragged straight to the side of Serin, who lay sleeping soundly.
Leon tossed Vincent down beside her, then shook out his hand briefly as if preparing to get serious, and closed it into a fist.
"—!! —!!!!"
Vincent wept and shook his head over and over.
But Leon couldn't help it.
'My fist is already beyond my own control.'
His forehead split open. His chest caved inward. His thigh tore apart.
If Vincent hadn't been there, would this world's genre have turned out a little differently?
'Probably not. He was nothing more than an accelerant.'
Already having harbored all manner of thoughts—the Hero, Leon, had been worn down and was just a little broken.
Injury after injury followed, beyond counting or description. But the damned Divine Power wouldn't stand by and let Vincent fall unconscious.
And finally—
Vincent lost his manhood.
***
The Silence Field lifted, and Leon nodded as if satisfied.
"……."
"Why are you staring like that?"
"Because you're handsome…."
Lucy had never had any intention of resisting in the first place, but now she was almost on the verge of worshipping Leon as a god. It didn't come from admiration—it was a feeling born from fear so profound it had no bottom.
Leon ignored her and tidied up the scene with a cleaning spell and Healing Holy Arts. Vincent, who had been reduced to a pulp, returned to his original state as if nothing had happened.
"But—why heal him after all that, if you're not going to heal the last one?"
"Why would I do that for him?"
"…Fair enough."
The venting was done—now it was time to get to work.
Leon placed his hand on the unconscious Vincent's forehead and murmured.
"Marionette."
Magical energy bored into his skull in an unsettling manner—as if hundreds of needles were stabbing into his brain.
"…! That's…."
"It's not dark sorcery. …The inspiration came from it, though."
It was a spell of Leon's own creation, inspired by a dark art of the same name. It had the characteristic of kneading the brain however the caster desired—brainwashing personality and memory alike.
"…What a convenient spell."
"It's not exactly easy to use freely. The target has to be incapacitated and gripped by an overwhelming sense of terror toward me."
"Ah."
What Leon had implanted was simple. The self of a genuinely wholesome young man—Vincent as Leon had imagined him to be, before learning the truth.
"Why go to all this trouble instead of just killing him?"
"For now, I can't afford to draw attention."
'Just wait, Serin.'
I'll show you the finest revenge there is.
Leon picked up the piece of paper from the cold, dead spirit's body.
"Heh."
The meeting point for the dark sorcerers written on it was almost laughable.
"Let's go, Lucy. From here on, I'm Vincent and you're a slave."
"…Setting the premise aside—where are we going?"
Leon pulled up his hood and smiled as if amused.
"The underground of the old Imperial Palace."
Just how rotten does this world go?