Chapter 42: White (5)
"Our proud little sister. You've succeeded again, certainly and precisely."
I glared at the guy calling himself my older brother, his face wearing that sly, smug expression.
"Whoa, even when I compliment you, you act like a damn lunatic."
"Tch, forget it. So, what about what I asked?"
"Ah, well. When our number one meritorious officer—who single-handedly succeeded in the capture—said she wanted to visit, how could the Alchemists refuse? Besides, those other families were about to bleed us dry over every little thing, but since our house took care of it, they were practically creaming their pants over getting off so easy, you know?"
He said that as he pulled out a document.
"It's a really strange state. Like he's caught somewhere on the boundary between Devil and human?"
I skimmed the document briefly.
The body contains a large amount of demonic energy, but it hasn't been corrupted. Mentally, he hears hallucinations, but his urges for cannibalism or murder are close to zero.
"If we just sever the contract with the spirit, he should be able to return to daily life within a few months."
He said that and looked at me.
"Well, the problem is that he's actively refusing to break the spirit contract. He hasn't crossed the line to be classified as a Devil in the first place, and there's zero loss of life. It got sent up as a resolved case, but..."
He frowned, his voice trailing off.
"The government won't provide support since no line was crossed, and the Alchemists don't have the capability. So it'll be left alone until an incident happens, and then the government will step in. And by then, we won't be able to revert him. A real mud fight has opened up."
When I finished his cut-off sentence, he nodded and continued.
"So, they're probably hoping you'll visit and change his mind."
I made a face.
Even in a situation like this, they were still jockeying for interests. I didn't like it.
If that guy had belonged to a prominent family like ours, they would have used his unclear past as a pretext to quietly handle things, just to prevent it from escalating.
But with him, even if you touched him, nothing would explode.
A guy I couldn't stop was someone who could take on the whole continent.
So he was just going to be sacrificed in the fight over the continent's internal interests.
"I'll go meet him first."
I moved from my seat. Since I'd been staying in the lodging provided by the Alchemists for several days after that day, it didn't take long to find my way there.
"I present myself to see the child of House Pendragon."
Seeing my seal, the Alchemist employee opened the multi-layered door.
I'd come to see him as promised, but I didn't want to go in.
I was afraid his resentful voice would lunge at me.
"You came, as promised."
After several days of treatment, all the wounds on the man before me had healed, but my heart felt heavy as I looked at him.
"Because I promised."
"Did you get a good look at the new Seonghwi?"
"Yeah."
"Why are you so cowed? You fought well enough in battle."
The man before me spoke as if it was nothing to him. But his smile was one of resignation, so I couldn't answer it.
"Our paths toward the best were just different. That's all."
My choice certainly wasn't wrong.
No matter how strong one's will, no one can withstand the Whisperings of the Starry Sea's Stars without eventually breaking. I had to bring him back before he fell, by any means necessary.
Knowing the contents of the experiment, separating Luna and the King's remnant was nearly impossible. To succeed, I'd need to procure an artifact used by the Demon Kings to command the Kings in the Heroic Age.
If we were going to lose someone anyway, losing one was better than losing two. I don't regret that choice even now.
But.
"It's fine. This is just the end of a half-wit. Someone who can't do anything right."
That story came up during the engagement too.
The story I hadn't been able to refute then because the situation was bad now flowed from his lips again.
In a tone like he'd given up on reality.
"No matter what I learn, I never reach the top. That's why I used Authorities to make up for my half-baked talent, but my vessel was just lacking."
"Even knowing the future, plans made with that in mind always go wrong and fall apart."
"I always thought I was so great for knowing the future, but I couldn't see even an inch ahead of my own."
Because of his lamenting words.
"I was nothing but a lame duck who couldn't walk straight toward one goal. I learned many things because I couldn't do even one thing properly. To compensate for each other's shortcomings. Like a cripple staggering, unable to move straight ahead."
"And that cripple just… couldn't get over the giant wall that suddenly appeared."
"That's all."
I couldn't look him in the eye properly.
I couldn't say anything to him.
It was something I'd had to resign myself to from the moment I learned his records were a lie.
I had to make him sever his only family, and I couldn't hesitate in doing so.
Because I'm a member of House Pendragon. Because I'm the one who will become the strongest sword.
That is my family's, my house's, everyone's, and my mission.
It was the best choice, but I knew how much he treasured Luna.
So I only wanted to hear his unaffected voice.
If he was making the expression I imagined, I felt like I would regret that best choice, so I couldn't lift my head.
"I'm sorry."
"I understand. My way wasn't certain either. Our clash was inevitable."
An awkward silence followed. My mind went blank. In battle, I could move as if seeing all the right answers, but in a situation like this, my head felt frozen and wouldn't budge.
"Can you show me your seal?"
The request came out of nowhere. But it might have been a kindness to break this awkward silence, so I had no reason to refuse.
"Sure."
I handed him the seal I'd shown the employee just moments ago.
"It's cool."
That was his first remark as he took my seal.
"But I noticed last time — does yours differ from other family members' seals? Because you said 'I present myself to see the child of House Pendragon.'"
"Yeah. The color of the dragon's eye on the seal is different. Purple for the direct line, blue for the collateral branches. If you're affiliated with the house even without a blood tie, it's red."
"Thanks for the kind explanation."
Talking a little made the words I wanted to say seem to rise up as well.
"And I don't think anyone is a half-wit."
"Huh?"
"Everyone just has something they're good at. Even if you haven't found it yet, I don't think you need to define yourself by a frame like that."
My head was still lowered, so only his hand fiddling with the seal was visible.
Even if I couldn't organize the words I thought I should say, I was able to get them out.
"I don't think being a half-wit, being a cripple, is a bad thing."
He brought up an unexpected remark. Then, instantly, the smell of blood filled the room.
"Huh?"
"Because you're a half-wit, because you're a cripple, you can receive help from others. Because you can't do even simple things alone, you can avoid being arrogant. And because people pity you, you can receive sympathy and achieve what you want."
At the scent of blood, she had no choice but to lift her head.
He had cut his own finger, and using his Authority, he shaped the severed finger into an exact copy of the seal. The only difference was that the dragon's eye on the seal was red.
"Ha, my acting wasn't bad, was it?"
"What?"
"Just because you're a cripple doesn't mean you can't reach your destination. It'll take longer to head toward your goal if you stagger left and right, but there are advantages too."
"Even if there's a wall, you don't necessarily have to go over it and pass by force. Because you stagger left and right, you might discover that there's a path next to the wall."
"So what if you're a half-wit? Rather, because your talent is just half-baked, you can see things more broadly. You can think of methods without being buried in one spot. As long as you don't leave your shortcomings as they are."
"Ah, not using my Authority for a few days has cleared my mind. And the employees used calming magic on me too. Thank you, Estelle. Thank you for being fooled by my acting."
He had never once despaired over his incompetence.
Everything had been part of his plan from the very beginning.
He had waited for the vigilance to fade as time passed after the incident.
To buy time, he had even acted uncooperatively.
After buying enough time like that.
He met me when all defenses were down, and he obtained the seal.
But how does this him here intend to leave this place?
Does he think he can beat everyone here?
No. I already knew the answer too.
The Authority of Assimilation makes the target the same as oneself.
Makes it the same.
From the start, he wasn't alone.
He had duplicated himself using his Authority.
He made that duplicated self meet with me.
Then where is he?
At the Demon Realm's Entry Office.
He simply used the gambit of discarding himself.
So that he himself could move forward.
"By now, I should have passed through the Entry Office. I'm going to cross over through the barrier. It's simple, but isn't it too one-dimensional a thought?"
Saying that, the pure white man before me, having fulfilled his purpose, crumbled and disappeared as if collapsing.
"Didn't I tell you? That you'd suffer your first failure at my hands."
I watched him vanish like that. He was laughing, utterly delighted, as if proving that his resigned demeanor up until just now was all a lie.
For some reason, this failure of mine didn't seem to feel all that bad.
As if, somehow, he would return after proudly succeeding at even the things I had thought impossible.