I'm Talking About the Knight of Embers, Scarlet.
I'm Talking About the Knight of Embers, Scarlet.
Early that morning, Gwangya convened for a mid-point briefing.
"Hmm!"
The Third Imperial Princess, Yushia, had absorbed a staggering volume of information in a short span. Papers were spread across her desk in countless stacks, and she examined each one meticulously.
"Confirmed. Next."
One of the operatives immediately began his report.
"I'll present next, Your Highness."
"Yes. Please speak."
"I have conducted an intensive investigation into the childhood of the Knight of Embers—Scarlett Yudit."
Gwangya operated with the Third Princess Yushia as its patron, granting it access to far more intelligence than any ordinary organization. Naturally, that "far more intelligence" included classified material.
"Her early swordsmanship was, unexpectedly, quite poor. Not only according to subjective assessments, but the objective records bear it out as well."
"...Hmm, that is peculiar. Scarlett should have possessed the makings of a prodigy."
"The anomalies only grow stranger. Will you examine this, Your Highness?"
Yushia accepted the respectfully proffered documents.
A moment later, she nodded.
"Ah... these are materials on Sir Plan, are they not?"
The volume was enormous, but the contents straightforward. Assessments of Plan from those around him during his boyhood. Performance records. Little more.
"Yes. Correct, Your Highness."
"I know Sir Plan possesses fine swordsmanship—I witnessed it myself... Ah. That is not why you handed me this, is it?"
Yushia's eyes went suddenly round. The operative nodded.
"I focused on the timing. Coincidentally, Scarlett's performance began to rise sharply after Plan set aside the sword."
"Hmm..."
The Third Princess sank into thought. This was not a detail that could be easily dismissed as coincidence.
"Ah, and we also received a commission."
"A commission? Gwangya does not accept commissions."
As a precaution against exposure, Yushia maintained the fiction that Gwangya was a mundane organization that took on paid work.
But the fiction was only a fiction. She had not the slightest intention of actually carrying out any commission. The moment she thought that—
"...?"
Yushia's eyes flew wide.
"Oh, is this one also regarding Sir Plan?"
"Indeed. But please look at the sum."
"The sum...? Three thousand—?!"
Three thousand. And that was merely the down payment.
[Investigate everything about Plan Yudit. Advance payment: 3000 gold coins. Triple upon completion.]
"This is likely..."
Very few people could offer such a quantity of gold so casually from the outset.
And the sentences themselves—utterly disjointed, written with almost no consistency. From these clues, Yushia could guess at the sender without much difficulty.
"...A Blood Demon, or a Maine? It seems so, doesn't it?"
"It appears that way indeed. The fact that he draws interest from every direction suggests there truly is something about Plan."
The operative nodded and continued.
"Perhaps he really isn't the biological son."
Yushia shook her head.
"No. That, I think, is not the case."
She cut him off decisively, her golden eyes sinking into profound thought.
"If anything, I suspect... the Ember side is the one that warrants a closer look."
◈
...In the end, I never managed to spend all my points.
The three Magic Department representatives had agonized over how to use them, never spent a single one, and the gambling hall incident concluded with three knight squads burning through their own reserves.
To have amassed this many points before the Subjugation Festival even began by exploiting the exception clause—the Ghost of Mist Cliff—and then to multiply that total further: it was a staggering achievement.
"Wow..."
After we assembled in the plaza according to the announcement, Becky let out an involuntary sigh of wonder.
The representatives' staging area was left as a clear square, while the space around it seethed with a packed crowd. Reporters, residents, officials... the composition was varied.
"Look this way, please!"
"Wave! Give us a wave!"
"—!"
"Sis! Catch lots of demon beasts!"
A clamor unlike anything the Girl had experienced her whole life. The sensation that a portion of that uproar was directed at her felt nothing short of alien.
"Well, for the residents, the Subjugation Festival is a festival..."
Multiple squads clearing out demon beasts from their home region—who wouldn't be happy about that?
"Even so, the scale of this thing really is something."
Becky unconsciously clicked her tongue. Seeing the festival's pomp with her own eyes made it hit home.
And this was only the people who had gathered on-site. Factor in the reporters relaying the situation via crystal orbs, and the number of people watching the festival at this very moment was bound to be far, far larger.
"Hm..."
But at present, Becky had something weighing on her mind even more heavily than that. She fiddled with the tip of her pointed hat, lost in thought.
"I'm sure he coughed blood."
The image of Plan spitting blood kept surfacing.
"Why, though."
Becky turned it over with absolute seriousness. The subject was none other than Plan; she couldn't have brushed it off if she tried.
"Now that I think about it... is it weirder that he's even fine?"
She realized she had grown far too accustomed to Plan's seemingly unshakeable composure. Considering everything he had done one by one, it was a wonder his body hadn't given out entirely.
Had Plan hidden something important from Becky?
No—even if it wasn't important, she still wanted to know.
What had happened to make Plan cough blood? What had caused that pallid, drained complexion?
The sight alone had been a grave matter in Becky's eyes.
"You."
"Eep?"
Trixie's voice came out of nowhere, and Becky jumped. Trixie narrowed her eyes at the noisy display.
"Why have you been wearing that stupid expression for the last while?"
"Ah, I was just mulling over something important."
"Ha."
Trixie gave a derisive snort.
"I'm sure once you say it out loud, it won't be important at all."
That, Becky could not let slide!
"It is important!"
"It's not."
"I'm telling you, it is!"
"It's not."
...Becky spilled the whole story.
"What are you trying to say. That he's terminally ill?"
Trixie murmured quietly once she'd heard the account. The moment those words came out—words Becky hadn't dared articulate—Becky broke into a cold sweat.
"T-T-Terminally? No way."
"You said he spit blood. And his recent behavior looks suspicious if you think about it. Last time, he suddenly started using the word 'we,' of all things."
Louis, who had been listening quietly, chimed in.
"Now that you mention it... he's always saying he's short on time. Then again, he could just be saying that because he's industrious by nature."
If Plan were terminally ill, a lot of things would fall into place. The shift in his demeanor. The constant sense of urgency.
If his lifespan had a set limit, then it was entirely plausible...
"Oh, come on, this is still way too much of a stretch. I shouldn't have brought it up."
In the end, Becky was the one who reined in the conversation. She simply couldn't bear to entertain the idea of Plan being terminally ill.
"Are there still greenhorns here who haven't set out?"
A regular knight with a thick, unkempt beard appeared before them as they stood in their squad lines.
"The moment you leave this plaza, it's live combat. Drill that into your heads. From now on, what you'll be facing are real demon beasts."
Not a single representative remained ignorant of the festival's rules at this point.
From now on, the representatives would explore Berkel. With its terrain transformed, the region teemed with dangers, demon beasts chief among them.
Everyone here had to survive for a week and earn points.
Defeating demon beasts granted basic points.
This was handled by an artifact in bracelet form detecting the thought-residue released when a demon beast died, so there was no need to worry about errors.
Alliances were also permitted, and points could be transferred.
"There are regular knights stationed throughout the area, but in the end, your safety is your own responsibility. Inside zones designated as 'danger regions,' you'll find neither reporters nor regular knights."
The regular knight's expression turned deeply grave.
"Does everyone understand? No matter how badly you need points, avoid the danger regions if at all possible. Nobody can guarantee your safety in there. The terrain shifts in real time—remember that."
He went on to emphasize the danger regions three more times in his briefing, and not a single representative dismissed it as overblown dramatics.
A danger region was exactly the kind of place that warranted that many warnings. Statistically, nine out of ten fatalities during past Subjugation Festivals had occurred inside one.
"That concludes the briefing. You should all get moving shortly."
Faces tight with tension, everyone began checking their own readiness. The Magic Department was no exception.
Plan rejoined them around then.
He showed up carrying a single briefcase, and the other three knew immediately what it was.
"A Distortion Bag?"
"It is a Distortion Bag."
There was no way they wouldn't recognize it.
What Plan held in his hand was exactly the item the three of them had considered buying at the shop before giving up.
An artifact that allowed one to partly escape spatial constraints and carry a great deal of luggage. A Distortion Bag.
Becky blinked.
"Plan, you bought a Distortion Bag? Was that all you got?"
"No. I also purchased a Phantom Map."
"Oh—a Phantom Map!"
Becky's eyes went wide. She let out a relieved sigh and continued.
"Ahh... thank goodness! I thought we were planning not to use the shop at all. But knowing we have a Distortion Bag and a Phantom Map, I feel so much more secure now."
Relief also surfaced on Trixie's and Louis's faces. They, too, had been thinking it would be difficult to get through the festival without any supplies at all.
Plan, however, replied matter-of-factly.
"We won't be using the Phantom Map."
"..."
Quiet hung for a moment.
Trixie asked again.
"...What?"
Three questioning gazes fixed on Plan.
It was then that Plan quietly snapped his fingers.
"...?"
Every pair of eyes caught on the empty air. Soon enough, all three of their faces went slack. They could only doubt their own vision.
"What... is that."
"A Ph-Phantom Map?"
"It's the Phantom Map!"
The Phantom Map.
So that every eye in the plaza could see it as clear as day, Plan ostentatiously unfurled the Phantom Map in midair.
The very reason to amass points faster than any other squad at the start of the Subjugation Festival. The map that would serve as their lodestar throughout the week.
It was a newly produced marvel that meticulously depicted not only Berkel's terrain, reshaped with the new year, but also which demon beasts were distributed where.
And there it was, spread brazenly across the air for all to see.
—
Silence reigned as if time had stopped, lasting only a moment.
Then chaos spiraled through the plaza.
"What the hell are they doing...?"
"Shouldn't we check the regulations?!"
"The Magic Department's pulling another insane stunt...!"
Faced with the Magic Department's utterly unexpected act, a number of knights voiced their objections immediately.
Truthfully, calling it an act of the Magic Department was itself a stretch. It was purely Plan's unilateral decision.
"P-P-P-Plan...?"
"What on earth are you doing...?"
Thus even the other Magic Department representatives could only stare at Plan with saucer-wide eyes. They were just as unable to comprehend the situation.
Amidst all this, the Blue Cloud squad was the first to kick off the ground. The same knight squad Becky had encountered in the gambling hall.
"Confirmations are done. We're moving out!"
"Let's go!"
They hadn't understood Plan's action, but they meant to at least not let the opportunity slip. They sprinted toward the far side without so much as a backward glance.
"Ah..."
Ivan, the first-year Flash Knight, watched the Blue Cloud cadets' retreating figures with a dazed look.
She, too, kicked off the ground a beat later.
No—she meant to, but paused mid-step, drawing herself upright for an instant. She turned her head toward Plan and offered a bright smile.
"Sir Plan, I wish you fortune in battle."
With that radiant smile as her parting gesture, she, too, vanished from the plaza at a blistering speed.
Ting—
Janet, squad leader of Cheonchuk, began flipping a coin.
"...Well now. Defying expectations yet again."
The coin traced an unvaryingly precise arc, dancing between her thumb and the air with intricate motion.
She slowly turned her head and looked at Plan.
"You're interesting, Plan. Pulling a stunt like this."
Vexed, or amused. An inscrutable expression.
At the same moment, a knight wrapped head to toe in concealing robes muttered from a corner of the plaza, too softly for anyone to hear.
"The Phantom Map's meaningless now."
The knight began to walk, slowly.
From within the heavily obscured robe, a silk sword gleamed.
◈
The Subjugation Festival began in earnest, and now only the Magic Department representatives remained in the plaza.
I had unfurled the Phantom Map wide enough for anyone to see, so everyone would have settled on their own destinations by now.
Becky stared at it, mouth agape. After a moment, she looked at me as though her soul had vacated her body and asked.
"P-P-Plan? Why would you show that to everyone?"
Trixie's and Louis's reactions next to her weren't much different. Trixie narrowed her brow and parted her lips.
"...What on earth are you thinking."
She threw one glance in the direction the knights had charged off, then looked back at me with an expression of sheer disbelief.
"They've all gone to monopolize the Shadow Demon Beasts! We could have had them all to ourselves and it still might not have been enough..."
"Shadow Demon Beasts. Well, those aren't bad, certainly."
Wolves, feral dogs, human shapes... Shadow Demon Beasts were creatures that shifted form at will, exactly as their name implied. But their popularity owed to their sheer numbers.
Defeat many demon beasts, earn many points. For amassing points in the early stages, there was no finer target.
Trixie clicked her tongue.
"Not bad, nothing. They're the optimal play."
"Y-Yeah, Plan. I thought the second the festival started, we'd be hunting Shadow Demon Beasts nonstop too..."
Louis spoke up in the midst of it.
"Ah—wait."
As if he'd had a realization, Louis smacked his fist into his palm.
"Was the issue that we'd earned points beforehand? Did you decide we should forfeit because of that?"
"...!"
Dismay flickered across Trixie's and Becky's faces.
Trixie's lips worked soundlessly a few times, and Becky bounced like a frog tossed into a boiling pot.
"P-Plan! I can explain that part! What was I supposed to do—I tried to lose and still won, you know that! Poker's a game where luck decides the outcome in the first place... Mmph!"
I clamped her lips shut with telekinesis.
"Mmph... mmnph..."
Her freedom of speech revoked, Becky continued her explanation through gestures. I didn't bother watching.
"Scarlett."
I spoke instead.
Just three syllables, but those alone were enough to visibly stiffen the representatives' bodies.
"I'm talking about the Knight of Embers—Scarlett."
I went on, my voice flat.
"They say you can earn a monstrous number of points if you break that woman's pauldron."