The Fall of Celenas
Headmistress Celenas stared at the brooch sitting on her desk.
It was a crude thing, hammered from copper, worn shapeless and unsightly with the years.
She lifted her head, her smile gone stiff from the effort of holding it, and looked at Rai.
"What is this?"
"A souvenir from my trip."
"I was expecting a glittering silk dress. I didn't think I'd be receiving an antique."
Rai grinned at that, bright and shameless.
"Yep — an antique, all right. The Tower Master used to carry it around before the Magic Tower fell."
"This belonged to Christine?"
The Magic Tower had once stood on the border between Northern Norden and the Empire. It had been destroyed during the Era of War.
The Pure Mages who hailed from the Tower had publicly sworn they would take no part in the fighting. Norden attacked it anyway, slaughtered everyone inside, and plundered its knowledge and its artifacts.
And so the Magic Tower — which had gathered and studied the magic of all mankind — vanished from the world. Tower Master Christine was executed before the King of Norden, and her line was cut short.
Celenas studied the historically precious brooch in silence. Rai turned it over and showed her the words engraved on the back.
To my beloved daughter
"A keepsake her mother gave her as a child, then."
"Yeah. This ought to more than make up for a silk dress, don't you think?"
It was not even close to an even trade. If the brooch was genuine, you could have brought hundreds of Bel Federation silk dresses — the kind where the seller named their own price — and it still would not have been enough.
Watching Celenas examine the brooch without a word, Rai smirked and rummaged through the cupboard for a tin of expensive cookies.
"I brought in some money, so I'm eating these."
"Ha... This is going to be difficult to even dispose of. Collectors and people claiming to be heirs of the Magic Tower will come running."
"You don't necessarily have to convert it into money."
He said it with a meaningful air, crunching on a cookie. Celenas watched him for a moment — he looked entirely at ease — then gave a bitter smile, set the brooch inside the safe, and spoke with her back still turned.
"I told you not to reveal your identity. You didn't listen."
"Yeah. I got orders not to."
"..."
Celenas fell silent. In the quiet of the room, the sound of cookies being chewed seemed almost too loud.
"You do know that I am your master, don't you?"
"Yes, but my master's master said — wait, not that master. I mean this one."
"..."
"This master told me to talk as much as I like. Did you get on this master's bad side, Headmistress?"
She did not need to turn around. She could picture his expression perfectly: sprawled on the sofa with an arm draped over the back, wearing that infuriating smile, crunching away.
"Did Lady Emilia go so far as to say that...?"
"No. I just figured as much. This master doesn't have any power, so if she's not planning to protect you, cutting you loose is the smart move."
"..."
"You probably tried to block it any number of ways, but my activities have likely reached the other master's ears by now. And that master hates incompetence, doesn't he?"
Just as Rai said, Second Prince Endo Shane Bernies valued ability above all else. The mere fact that Endo — a man who believed in the supremacy of the elect — had even deigned to deal with Celenas, a woman of common birth, meant her capabilities had been considerably recognized.
But he was the kind of man who would discard anyone the moment they showed they had none.
Realizing she had been abandoned by both Emilia and Endo, Celenas let out a small breath.
"The capital is probably already searching for a new candidate for Academy Headmistress."
"I wouldn't know about that. I'm not exactly well-versed in imperial politics. I just know that both of my masters are angry."
Celenas closed the safe without strength. When she turned around, her expression was dark — and yet, at the same time, she looked almost refreshed, as though a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
"So the ending that was always coming has arrived. Will you comfort me?"
"If that's my master's wish."
Rai spread both arms in a gesture that said, come here. Celenas shook her head, her eyes sad.
Rai hesitated.
When he had first arrived here, he had been told that the Devil of All Nations no longer existed. At the time, he had taken it as nothing more than a measure to conceal his identity. Only later had he realized it was a kindness — from the Empire, or perhaps from Celenas herself — telling him to live a new life under a new name.
He felt gratitude toward those who had set aside the Devil of All Nations, vanished into the back pages of history, and given him a new life as Rai Redford.
But now Celenas was invoking Elliot.
The words, spoken as if she were composed, only showed how fragile she had become. Rai scratched his head.
"...That's right..."
"Still. A greenhorn scholar from Basario making it all the way to Headmistress. That's impressive."
Celenas's eyes went wide.
"You... knew...?"
"I've always been pretty confident in my memory for people."
Their first meeting had not been at the academy.
A very long time ago, during the Era of War, Celenas had encountered the Devil of All Nations.
It was not some grand fated connection. A group of scholars gathered for research had simply failed to outrun the fighting, and among the academics captured helplessly in Basario, she had been one of them.
She had not even been the group's representative — merely an assistant. That was where Celenas first saw Rai.
His face was far too young, far too much like a mischievous child's, to belong to the Devil of All Nations who had drowned the continent in terror. Celenas stared at him openly, forgetting even her own predicament.
"Hello there, folks from the Empire. As of today, this is Keilen Kingdom soil — congratulations. You're tourists now."
"The thick iron bracelets are a gift, so do make sure you keep them. They're cheap, though, so if you wear them too long you'll get metal poisoning. Fair warning."
"Would you shut your mouth when the commander's talking?"
She had not known it then, but Joshua — an Imperial spy — was there, along with Melanie, who was bickering with him. Leaving the two of them snapping at each other, the Devil of All Nations looked over the scholars as if picking out a toy.
His eyes were utterly pure. But it was the kind of purity that would tear the legs off an insect without a second thought, and the scholars, seized with terror, all lowered their gazes.
Sensing their fear, Rai shrugged as if bored.
"Doesn't look like they want to be tourists. Send them back. Mikhail."
"Yes, sir! Right here!"
A young boy of about the same age as the Devil of All Nations came running with a shout. Rai slung an arm around his shoulders and pointed at the scholars.
"Take off their cuffs and take personal responsibility for handing them over to the Imperial army."
"Sir? But these people might be important figures of the Empire. As hostages, their value—"
"Forget it. A shitty war like this should be soldiers killing each other. Regular civilians don't need to get caught in it."
The Devil clapped Mikhail on the back, then threw his arms around the still-bickering Joshua and Melanie and walked off.
"Be grateful the commander's a decent guy, and live your lives saying a prayer once a day. Never forget that he's the one who saved you."
Mikhail's face was full of discontent, as if he had no desire to let them go — but an order from the Devil was an order. He unlocked the scholars' cuffs.
"I'd prefer you didn't get any funny ideas... but just come along quietly."
As Celenas followed the sharp-tongued Mikhail — so at odds with his handsome face — she looked back once more at the Devil of All Nations.
Whether it was a scholar's curiosity or because he was her savior, even she could not have said. She had simply wanted to see his face one more time before she left, and she watched him laughing and chatting with the people who appeared to be his adjutants.
That was the last of it. More than ten years would pass before they met again at the academy.
To a man who had wandered countless battlefields, it would have been a connection of no significance at all. But Celenas smiled, glad that he had remembered someone like her.
"Thank you for saving my life back then."
"I didn't do anything. Thank the Devil of All Nations."
"Yes. I'll thank him."
Celenas slowly leaned into him. It was not the kind of intimate display one would see between lovers. Rai held her and gently stroked her weary head.
Given her station, it was an unbelievable sight — but right now, there were only the two of them in the room. Celenas, who had always maintained her dignity as Headmistress, accepted his touch like a child, perhaps because her heart had grown so frail.
"A final gift. I like this even more than Christine's brooch."
"Who said anything about final?"
Celenas, who had closed her eyes, slowly lifted her head at his words.
"..."
It was Rai, smiling with the exact same expression she had seen on the Devil in Basario.
Emilia looked over a sheaf of documents and asked Leila, who stood beside her,
"Sierra... not Instructor Sierra from the academy. Would it be possible to meet with Adventurer Sierra?"
"It is possible. But for that, it would be better to have Rai handle it. They're practically involved."
Emilia considered for a moment, then shook her head.
"No. I can't afford to be resented by Instructor Rai."
"...He's bound by a contract either way."
"The Devil of All Nations resisted even when Margos held his soul as collateral."
"And in the end, he wandered the continent according to Margos's will."
Leila thought it would be better to make active use of Rai, bound as he was by the contract. But Emilia had never made a single demand of him. Exploiting him would have helped her break through difficult situations — and yet she refused to treat him carelessly, to a degree that could almost be called stubborn.
Leila wondered if Emilia had some relationship with Rai that she herself did not know about. But if Emilia said so, following her lead was Leila's duty.
At Leila's words, which had the air of a complaint, Emilia let out a small laugh and looked at another document.
"Someone who has no business being in the Intelligence Department."
She was looking over the personal file of Zeppelin, an operative of the Intelligence Department. An incompetent man who was of no use whatsoever beyond the fact that his family held a marquisate. To confuse Sierra with someone else simply because they shared a name — Emilia found him a dullard she simply could not understand, no matter how she turned it over in her mind.
"The more incompetent people like this there are, the more opportunities we get. He's so incompetent it almost feels like a gift from the gods. I rather like that."
Emilia smiled sweetly and turned to the documents on Adventurer Sierra.
"I hope Adventurer Sierra has a talent for acting. I'll need to ask her to throw some weight behind my sister."
She was laying plans around the mistaken Zeppelin and the two Sierras when a knock came at the door.
"Miss Diana Deschubella has arrived."
Emilia slowly gathered the documents. Leila took the papers she was handed and vanished.
"Lia~ It's been so long!"
The moment Emilia told her to come in, Diana threw the door open with a bright voice and came running. She threw her arms around Emilia, nuzzled her cheek in a show of affection, then glanced at the table where the documents had been sitting before taking a seat.
"Looks like you were working. Did I interrupt?"
"No, I was having tea. Perfect timing."
Diana looked at Emilia's cold teacup and smiled faintly. Emilia always pretended to be doing nothing. She had developed a habit of constant caution, because she never knew who was watching her — or who was an enemy and who was an ally.
"Yeah, it's nice to finally enjoy tea with you again, Lia. Oh, I'll get that. You can go."
Feigning ignorance with a bright smile, Diana looked at the maid preparing fresh tea and took over her work. The startled maid glanced at Emilia, who nodded in silence, and the maid withdrew carefully, her face tense.
"Would you give us the room?"
At Emilia's words, her escort knight Jane bowed and withdrew. Once the two of them were alone, Diana cleared away the cold teacup and poured tea into a fresh one.
"You've been helping me since we were little, Lia."
"If anything, I'm the one who's received so much help."
"It always amazed me. You'd show up and help whenever I was in trouble, and lift my spirits whenever I was down. To the point I wondered if you were keeping watch on me."
As Diana's calm words continued, Emilia quietly looked at her. Diana was clever. She would already know that Emilia had worked to build a friendship with her. They had maintained a relationship of mutual understanding without ever putting it into words — and now that Diana was deliberately bringing it up, Emilia tensed and took a sip of tea.
"It's true I received help. It's not like you deliberately put me in danger. But I don't like that you still don't trust me enough to hide things from me."
Diana wore a light smile, but Emilia did not let her guard down. Diana claimed she was not a genius, and Emilia knew well how hard she worked — but even so, the wisdom and insight she had accumulated were nothing to take lightly.
"I know you don't trust me. But can you tell me just one thing?"
"I do trust you, Diana. What is it you'd like to know?"
Emilia, who had been setting down her teacup, froze. Her expression went rigid as she looked at Diana.
Diana was the second person to have realized his identity — but of all people, it was someone far too unexpected who had caught on.