We Must (2)
As always, I woke from a nightmare.
But for some reason, I felt no weight across my lower body.
The weight of the wolf girl who crawled into my blankets every single night was missing.
"Dorothy?"
"I'm. Over here."
Dorothy had the blanket pulled over her head and was staring out the window.
One of the things I'd worried about before becoming a heresy inquisitor was the lodging situation.
The men's and women's quarters were separate, and there was always the chance that some wolf might break out of the women's dormitory in the middle of the night and invade the men's.
Fortunately, the Special Task Force didn't stay in the clergy quarters. We had a separate mansion in Lumenon's residential district.
Of course, the Lumenic Church hadn't provided it. The Saintess had apparently paid for it out of her own pocket.
There were enough rooms for everyone to have their own, but Dorothy spent almost all her time in mine.
"What are you looking at?"
"The Captain. She went outside."
"It's still early."
"It's raining, too."
I could hear the rain lashing against the windowpane.
The sun hadn't properly risen yet. The world was submerged in a dark blue gloom.
Looking outside, I could clearly see Veronica.
Without even an umbrella, taking the rain full on, she was walking somewhere.
"Dorothy. I'm going to go check on the Captain for a bit."
"Okay."
Of course, I'd meant for her to wait here while I went, but I'd fully expected Dorothy to ignore that intention and follow me anyway.
Instead, she chose to wait quietly without trailing after me.
Maybe she just hated getting wet.
I took an umbrella and followed Veronica.
She was walking slowly, so I caught up without much trouble.
"Captain?"
"…Ah. …Baron."
The moment I heard Veronica's voice, a pain like a fist closing around my heart shot through me.
I'd rushed out without putting on my silver ring.
So this was the pain of the Curse of Severance.
I couldn't keep my expression under control.
Veronica noticed my condition and closed her mouth.
I held the umbrella over her thoroughly soaked figure.
"Is something the matter?"
"……"
"You can speak."
Veronica parted her lips slightly, then closed them again.
She seemed to be arranging how to rephrase things like a monologue, so as not to cause me any pain.
"Just say it normally."
"…I simply enjoy walking in the rain."
Veronica and I chose to face each other and talk, enduring the pain.
"We have to leave on a mission today. If you fall ill…"
"…How diligent of you. Like a true newcomer."
"No, I'm not worried about the mission…"
"…Heh. …So that's what you meant."
"……"
Veronica wore a faint smile as she brushed her wet hair back with one hand.
"…In that case, keep me company on a short walk. …If we talk too long, it'll only be hard on both of us."
"…Understood."
Veronica headed toward the commercial district.
Maybe she'd regretted not being able to come here together yesterday.
I held the umbrella over her and walked at her side.
Even at this early hour, the merchants looked extremely busy.
Diligent ones would have been preparing for business this early on a normal day, but with a festival schedule suddenly thrown together, they looked even more frantic.
"…Come to think of it, someone from the Caligosa Ducal family is coming, aren't they?"
"So I've heard."
"…Baron, you had an acquaintance in that family, didn't you?"
"Maria Caligosa… is the one."
The girl I'd met at the sanitarium.
Veronica also knew that she and I had uncovered the dark mage who'd infiltrated among the priests.
"Do you happen to know exactly who's coming, Captain?"
"…I heard it isn't the Duke of Caligosa himself. …But someone close enough to him will surely come."
Then it definitely wouldn't be Maria.
As an illegitimate child, she'd been as good as eliminated from the succession struggle from the moment she was locked in that sanitarium.
"…Baron, do you wish to see Lady Maria again? …You seem a little… conscious of her."
"No. Absolutely not."
"…That's rather emphatic."
"She has a rather nasty personality."
"…Is that so. …Heh."
After that, there was no more conversation.
We walked the rain-soaked streets in silence.
I was exhausted beyond measure.
Barely sleeping every night was already killing me, and now I'd gone for a walk in the rain at dawn on top of it. I could barely hold myself together.
Enduring the pain of the Curse of Severance had drained my mental stamina more than I'd expected, too.
"Whoa… Baron, your eyes are crazy dark again today. Shouldn't you put on some powder or something?"
"Should I…"
Agnes said as she loaded luggage onto the carriage.
It was advice worth seriously considering.
If someone already cursed looked gloomy on top of it, people would pile every kind of prejudice on them without a second thought.
"…I'm sorry."
"Ah, no. I was the one sticking my nose where it didn't belong."
Veronica apologized in a whisper.
Other than Dorothy, no one knew we'd gone out at dawn.
From one side of the Holy City came the sound of grand trumpets.
I could faintly make out the cheers of a crowd as well.
It seemed the person from the Caligosa Ducal family had arrived.
"Uh… then, Your Excellency… shall we depart…?"
Alexander called me Your Excellency as he opened the carriage door.
As if he were my servant.
Was he trying to start that game again?
"…Why are you doing that?"
"W-we're going to a county… standing before other nobles… so I thought it might help you not feel intimidated…"
"The Count outranks me anyway, so I don't think it'll make much difference."
"…No. …I think Alexander is right. …Your Excellency."
"Haa…"
"Master. Someone's coming."
Dorothy pointed with her finger.
Sure enough, someone was running toward us.
A group of Holy Knights trailed behind.
"…Saintess?"
Clothes adorned with white feathers, radiant gold hair and blue eyes.
It was Saintess Emilia.
The first and last time I'd seen her had been in the Manfred Barony.
Since arriving in the Holy City of Lumenon, this was our first meeting.
The Saintess ran right up to us and caught her breath before speaking.
"Hah… hah… O… O~hoho! Hah… Baron… it's been so long… hah…"
"You never showed your face once. I thought you'd forgotten about me."
"Hah… Ah, th-that's… not something to apologize for! I am of noble station, after all—it can't be helped! O~hoho!"
"…Saintess. …We were just about to depart for Blarose County."
"Ah, you can't! Hah… hah…"
"The Saintess will inform the Heresy Inquisition. Please postpone your departure."
The vice-captain of the Holy Knights, the Hero Sylvester, explained.
Unlike the still-panting Saintess, he looked as composed as if he'd been walking the whole way.
"The distinguished guest who arrived today has expressed a strong desire to meet the members of the Special Task Force."
"…You mean the guest from the Caligosa Ducal family?"
"That is correct."
"We already loaded everything—and you're only telling us now?!"
"My apologies. We only just received the request ourselves."
I'd only just shaken off the anxiety that I might meet Maria again.
And now someone from the Caligosa Ducal family was summoning me.
No—summoning the Special Task Force, not me specifically.
"After an audience with His Holiness the Pope, they said they would meet with all of you. Please come with us."
We followed the Saintess and Sylvester into the guest reception hall of Lumenon's Great Cathedral.
This single room alone was vast enough to be called a temple in its own right.
The person from the Caligosa Ducal family had already finished their audience and arrived ahead of us, waiting.
"Saintess. Are those the ones?"
"They are."
Silver hair and purple eyes.
Clearly of Caligosa blood—but a man.
Just in case, I scanned the surroundings.
There were plenty of people who looked like Caligosa retainers, but only that one man had silver hair and purple eyes.
Fortunately, Maria was not among them.
"Allow me to introduce you. This is His Highness Yohan, Crown Prince of the Caligosa Principality. Your Highness, this is Baron Karl Manfred of the Laviart Empire, a member of the Special Task Force."
The Saintess designated me as the representative.
Captain Veronica should have stepped forward, but she could hardly inflict the pain of the Curse of Severance on the next ruler of a nation.
Even the Saintess, recognizing who she was dealing with, wasn't using that unpleasant manner of speech she usually favored.
"A pleasure, Sir Karl. And to all of you of the Special Task Force."
"It is an honor to meet you, Your Highness."
Yohan was a beautiful young man who looked as if he'd been carved by a sculptor.
Crown Prince.
Had the fierce succession struggle of the Caligosa Ducal family finally been settled?
It meant the story of Luke's Biography had changed.
In Luke's Biography, the Crown Prince of Caligosa had never been decided until Maria awakened as the Demon King.
In the end the family fractured, and when the Demon King appeared they were stripped of all authority.
Most of the ducal children died in the process.
I remembered that Yohan hadn't died, but he'd only existed as setting material—I'd never actually seen him in the game.
"I very much wished to meet all of you. There are also matters I would discuss before the Saintess."
We took our seats across the table from each other.
The Saintess sat in the center, with the Special Task Force and the Caligosa Ducal party facing one another.
Veronica yielded the foremost seat to me.
Dorothy and Agnes looked no different from usual, but Alexander's face had gone white with tension, and he hid it by pulling his cloak over his head.
"I shall speak frankly. Honestly, we find ourselves somewhat disappointed. The Principality extended a hand first, wishing to contribute to the peace of the continent, and at the time we were all but ignored."
"…I have no excuse."
"I am aware it was not the Saintess's own will. However, considerable time has passed since then, and the Principality's circumstances have changed."
"Does that mean your intentions have changed as well?"
"No. The Principality remains positively disposed toward cooperation with the Lumenic Church. The problem is that we no longer have the luxury for it. Of late, the Principality has been plagued by dark magic troubles. Therefore, it is the Principality that must first receive the Church's aid."
"If that is the issue, we can lend our strength without reservation."
Yohan's violet eyes turned toward me.
"Sir Karl. We both serve His Imperial Majesty, so I trust you understand well what it means for the Principality to borrow the Church's power. I cannot speak of it directly."
"I understand, Your Highness."
The Laviart Empire kept the Lumenic Church in check.
They weren't openly hostile, but even the gradual cooperation of provincial nobles in establishing dioceses must have been grating.
If the Caligosa Principality also turned to the Church to solve its problems, the Emperor's mood would sour for certain.
"How fortunate that you hold a title as well. Sir Karl. Under the pretext of exchange between an Imperial baron and the Principality, could you come to the Principality and assist us?"
"However, Your Highness. While the Special Task Force is certainly composed of people I trust, for them to take sole charge of a matter concerning an entire nation…"
"Saintess. The Principality is not without strength. We require only the slightest assistance. Sir Karl. I would hear your opinion first."
"Your Highness. Could you tell us specifically what sort of dark magic problem this is?"
"Regrettably, I cannot say at present. We have our own circumstances."
"Then by when must we go?"
"The sooner the better. Even as early as tomorrow."
Both the Crown Prince and the Saintess were looking at me.
The Saintess nodded as if urging me to accept for now.
Certainly, this was not a situation someone of my standing could refuse.
Veronica kept her gaze fixed straight ahead, as if leaving it entirely to me.
Dorothy and Agnes didn't seem to be following the conversation at all, and Alexander looked on the verge of fainting.
"We cannot do so at present either."
"Sir Karl…!"
The Saintess called my name urgently, but I ignored her and continued what I'd meant to say.
"In fact, the Special Task Force was scheduled to depart on a mission today. Returning by tomorrow would be difficult."
"If it's that mission, I'll postpone it somehow. The Principality's problem is more important right now."
To the Church, perhaps.
But not to me.
If the Saintess was speaking that way, it truly must be a serious matter.
But if I didn't go to Blarose County, that region would fall to the vampires without fail.
By contrast, I had no idea what crisis lurked in the Caligosa Principality—not even with my knowledge of Luke's Biography—and the Crown Prince wouldn't tell me.
That attitude of his, pressing me while claiming they only needed the slightest help, was strange as well.
The compensation would no doubt be generous, but right now the Curse of Vampirism I could obtain for certain was far more tempting.
"You're exactly as I was told. It's not that you don't fear me—you're simply trying to secure at least one area where you can take the lead."
"…When you say 'as you were told'…"
"From my sister, of course. From the very beginning, I wished to meet you, Sir."
Maria Caligosa.
She'd told the Crown Prince about me.
She'd known I was here.
"Very well. Go and complete your mission. We shall speak again afterward. I shall wait."
"Your Highness. Are you truly certain?"
"In exchange, attach one of my people to the Special Task Force. It shouldn't come to this, but it would be troublesome if you deliberately delayed matters."
The Crown Prince said he would select someone from among his people and send them ahead.
Leaving the reception hall, we headed back toward the carriage parked in front of the Heresy Inquisition.
"Ugh… that was so scary…"
"I'm sorry. I've only added to our workload. After Blarose County, we'll have to head straight to the Caligosa Principality."
"…No. …It may only be a feeling, but I also believed we shouldn't postpone the county mission."
"Huh? Is that what that was? I didn't understand a single word of it."
I was just about to open the carriage door and climb in when someone suddenly covered my eyes from behind.
"…Dorothy? Stop fooling around."
"I'm. Not."
Dorothy's voice came not from behind me, but from the other side of the carriage.
Then who was playing this prank?
Agnes?
"Who do you think I a~m~?"
A familiar voice.
But not anyone from the Special Task Force.
"…Lady Maria?"
"Correct!"
She seized my face and spun my body around so I was looking straight at her.
"You were disappointed when I didn't show up even though you knew I'd come, weren't you? I'm sure of it. Karl."
Even though the Curse of Emotionlessness should have been lifted, she still wore that smile like a mask.
A face in which the beauty of a master craftsman's artwork and a coldness that seemed scarcely human existed side by side.