Chapter 78
Chapter 78
Episode 78
EP20 - KENDRAKE 2.0(2)
Battalion had been suffering lately.
Day after day, wherever he went, he felt the displeased gazes of the Kreutz bastards pouring down on him.
Gloomy, as an Illusionist, probably lived a life of lies anyway, so he seemed to ignore their stares.
Battalion, however, as a sniper, was already sensitive to others' gazes, and the constant scrutiny made him feel like he was on the verge of a nervous breakdown.
The better Hiaka did, the stronger those gazes would become, and yet...
Amidst all this, another unbelievable report came in: another Stigmata had descended.
“Are you serious right now!”
KABOOM!
Battalion slammed his desk. The table, unable to withstand the force, shattered.
“A Stigmata appeared on that damned tree, and now who is it! What kind of [Stigmata] is it?!”
“Th-that’s a [Stigmata] we’re having trouble identifying…”
“Find out. Immediately!”
At that moment, Battalion felt a very ominous premonition.
What was a [Stigmata]?
It was a blessing from the stars.
And as the changes in the Systematicity Ranking showed, it possessed immensely powerful strength.
Ranking!
That was the problem.
Originally, warriors of Grandmaster rank or higher in each country trained, fought monsters, and continued their research, shedding blood and tears, just to raise that single number.
Raising one’s rank by ten spots in a year was considered a decent achievement.
Everyone was obsessed with rankings like madmen.
He himself had struggled all year to raise his rank from 442nd last year to 415th this year, hadn't he?
However, if one obtained a [Stigmata], their rank would jump by 20 to 30 points on its own.
In a single blow! In an instant!
‘Something like that, twice in just two weeks…!!’
He felt like his eyes were going to pop out.
Just which lucky bastards were they?
‘Damn it!!’
The Hiaka he had discarded.
Suddenly started doing well.
‘Why is this happening…….’
But this was no time to stand idly by.
Using this situation as an excuse, various schemes were being attempted against Hiaka, and some of them had already been picked up by the intelligence networks of Kreutz’s top brass, including Battalion.
They had to be stopped.
Battalion urgently sought someone out.
The location was a bar filled with gambling tables.
A dark pub where alcohol, gambling, and debauchery were exchanged.
“Professor Bakien! May I have a moment of your time?”
“Huh? Who the… what brings you here?”
The professor, who looked like a loafer smoking a cigarette, turned to him.
Simultaneously, the gazes of those at the table shifted.
“Huh? What’s that guy? Is he really, you know, that?”
“Battalion… he looks like a scholar in person…”
Heh heh, laughter spread among the patrons.
Battalion closed his eyes. These insignificant insects dared… But even so, this was the only person he could entrust this task to.
Bakien, Senior Professor of [Alchemy] at Kreutz Academy. An expert in explosives manufacturing and deployment.
“Hey, hey. All of you, shut your mouths. He’s a Senior Professor.”
He said with a laugh to his friends.
Bakien was a former diplomatic specialist and White Path assassin for Kreutz. In his youth, he belonged to an assassination squad that roamed the continent and had extensive connections within the Empire.
Battalion explained the situation.
“That’s why I have no one else to turn to but you. Please handle it.”
“Hmm…”
Bakien chuckled and held up three fingers.
“Thirty million? Just make sure it’s successful. I’ll give you fifty million!”
Bakien’s eyes, visible through one of the holes in his mask, widened.
Was he surprised?
Fifty million Hica was an enormous sum.
As the location suggested, Bakien was fundamentally a gambling addict.
He was desperate for money. He had a rough temper, enjoyed drinking and playing, and had a large debt due to his love for gambling. However, thanks to that, his network of contacts within the Empire was also extensive.
“Alright. Hold on a sec. I’ll be back.”
After Bakien left.
Battalion clenched his jaw so hard his teeth threatened to break.
‘Just go bankrupt honestly, you worm-ridden country!’
He couldn’t stand to see Hiaka succeed, not as long as he drew breath.
But…
To do that, he needed to know.
Battalion needed to know who ‘Cain,’ the creator of that tree within the 『Mirage』 that Gloomy had spread out in a corner of his office, was.
He didn’t know. It was driving him mad.
‘At that level, he’s definitely a [Challenger]…’
Battalion, as an assassin, knew quite a bit about [Illusion Magic].
That was a Challenger.
An upper-tier one, or perhaps higher.
And someone who could wield something so colossal… The person who came to mind was Agion from the Empire’s Hattengrad Academy.
Agion, the 「Bright Star of Light⁺₊⋆」. Currently ranked 20th in the world.
After Abraxas disappeared, he was called the pinnacle of human Illusionists, an [Illusion Magic Branch] mage and assassin who once created an entire capital city of an enemy nation using [Illusion Magic] to assassinate its king.
In fact, Agion had praised that tree through foreign media just the other day, but one could never be sure. What if he created it himself and then praised it himself?
‘…….’
But, what if it wasn’t him?
If it wasn’t…
‘…….’
It meant there was truly a monster in Hiaka.
A monster named ‘Cain,’ whose identity was unknown…
The moment he sat down next to her, Rebecca replied.
“Are you going to keep being creepy?”
Though she said that, her eyes couldn’t meet mine.
Perhaps she was feeling a slightly ‘different’ discomfort.
“If you do it, I’ll help you one more time.”
I made a practical offer.
Rebecca took a deep breath and let out a sigh from somewhere deep within her mantle.
“…Alright. I’ll join Gray’s expedition to the Empire. But I have conditions. Two of them.”
“I’m listening.”
“We’re going to conquer Star Gazing Mountain soon. Please be the team leader for the expedition party.”
“Star Gazing Mountain?”
“Yes. I need a place for real estate, and that location is suitable as a site.”
“Is that related to your [Curse]?”
“……”
Rebecca slowly raised her slender index finger and placed it vertically on her lips.
It meant… If you don’t stay quiet…
“…I heard there’s some kind of monster in the mountain’s graveyard. You just need to drive it out or kill it. The faculty is being rather lukewarm, so I intend to use external personnel. They’re rough individuals who don’t listen well, so someone like a professor needs to control them.”
“Why don’t you do it?”
“I have to play innocent in front of others.”
I thought for a moment.
About the unknown monster residing in that colossal [Error Space].
Ran had described it as ‘that which should have died, is alive.’
It could be a monster as formidable as Jinxite.
However, even if killing it was difficult, driving it out should be possible.
“I’ll accept that for now. What’s the second condition?”
“You mentioned applying for an advisor position before, didn’t you?”
That’s right. I had left a message just before applying. That I would put Gray, Elise, and Balmung into the assassination squad.
It was a move to push Rebecca out of the Hidden Dragon Society.
“Please include Kendrake in that assassination squad.”
“……”
What was this about now?
“Kendreke has been acting strange lately and hasn’t left his room.”
“What happened?”
“I’m not sure, but it seems related to his family’s ruin. He’s become truly strange.”
And then she said he had become truly, truly strange.
“Is that my decision to make? If Kendrake himself refuses, I have no way.”
“…Then I suppose there’s nothing to be done. Please at least try.”
“Understood. I’ll proceed after visiting the studio.”
Rebecca nodded.
Her Veil fluttered.
“So, whose blood is that?”
To my question, Rebecca looked at the mirror. Trying to find the black stain on her cheek.
It was blood.
Someone else’s.
“…It was the Bishop of the Temple of the Holy Mother in Sector 5.”
“Why did you kill him?”
“He said I wasn’t qualified to be a Bishop.”
I thought for a moment.
“Do you want to be a Bishop?”
“A Bishop is a transit point.”
“And the destination?”
“A Saintess.”
“A Saintess of the Holy Mother. Isn’t there already one? A girl from the Empire.”
“I’ll kill her.”
“…Bold words.”
A strange silence fell between us.
At its end, Rebecca spoke.
“Have I ever told you about my dream, Professor?”
“No.”
Could it be about assassinating the Emperor?
It wasn’t.
Rebecca’s dream lay far beyond that.
“I will make Hiaka into an Empire.”
“……”
“The current Empire of Hattengrad will fall. Hiaka must take its place. And I must become the Empress.”
This was truly an unrealistic statement.
Yet, in Rebecca’s red eyes, there was no trace of doubt or wavering.
“……”
As I remained silent, Rebecca asked.
“Why are you looking like that? Do I seem like a delusional madwoman chasing after pipe dreams to you, Professor?”
“I do not judge people’s dreams. However, I am curious. Why do you harbor such a dream?”
“Because I want to become the sky.”
“Why so?”
“…Well. Professor, you really do ask me about everything.”
It felt as if the words ‘how dare you’ were implied.
After all, who but a king would ask a princess for the basis of her dream?
“…Well. …Why? I’ve just wanted to do it since I was little. Perhaps it’s because from the bottom of a well, you can only see the sky…”
Rebecca waved her hand as if she had said something trivial.
“I’ll be going. I have plans this evening.”
“Understood.”
“And, speaking of intuition earlier. Shall I kill her for you? That woman.”
Rebecca’s gaze fell upon Adele’s desk, specifically the photograph on it.
“…I appreciate the offer, but it’s fine.”
“Be careful. She’s more ominous than you can imagine.”
“……”
As expected, she’s not someone I can grow fond of.
Regardless of her dreams, I have no interest.
To me, Rebecca is neither a Student nor a child. She is a Demon disguised as a young woman.
Killing a Bishop because she didn’t like her.
Trying to kill a Saintess, too.
And willing to kill someone she hasn’t even spoken to,
Yes.
She is the witch of the palace.
……She?
What am I thinking?
It was then.
“…Professor. We’re on the same side, right?”
Rebecca asked this out of the blue.
“Of course.”
“……”
“Why do you ask?”
“It’s nothing.”
I shook off my thoughts.
I had to deceive her properly.
“Is something weighing on your mind?”
“Not at all.”
No, she clearly seemed to have something weighing on her mind.
Perhaps it was due to her renowned ‘intuition’?
“There’s no need for suspicion.”
“……”
I need to give her trust. Honestly, I don’t really know how to give trust to others.
However, there was one faint clue.
Not long ago, when Rebecca, whose foot was badly injured, stumbled and I caught her in my arms.
We ended up embracing, and for the first time, I felt Rebecca avoid my gaze.
Why did this psychopathic, crazy witch react that way?
At the time, Rebecca had said.
‘Don’t touch me.’
I tried to pull away, apologizing.
‘…Because I want to believe.’
Wasn’t that what she whispered?
In other words, Rebecca’s intuition was that physical contact grants trust. I completed the coding in my brain accordingly. The principle behind me sitting next to her just now was the same.
And so, now.
“You can trust me.”
I reached out my hand to Rebecca. Then, I slowly moved it towards her cheek. Towards the bloodstain.
“We boarded the same ship that day.”
“……”
“I bound you with my influence as shackles, and you bound me with one hundred million Hica as shackles. We tied each other.”
Rebecca subtly turned her head, but my hand followed. After a brief chase, my fingertips touched her cheek. Rebecca didn’t pull away.
I sharpened my fingernails. Rebecca didn’t pull away.
“I am on your side, always.”
“……”
She remained expressionless, but her gaze clearly averted mine.
Slowly, I used my fingernail to crumble and wipe away the bloodstain.
“……”
There are things you can only see up close. Rebecca’s cross earrings hanging from her ears were one such thing.
They were symbols of the Star of the Holy Mother, the 「Cross Star†」.
Didn’t they suit her perfectly? They looked like wooden pillars. At least, that’s how they appeared to me.
“…From now on, please use words. And don’t touch me.”
The plan that followed was simple. I would use Rebecca’s contract, her feelings, and when the time came, I would discard her without hesitation.
“Understood.”
A witch suits a cross.