Purification
The deepest cell of the underground prison, beneath the Public Security headquarters in Caipol's city hall.
No thread of outside light reached that damp, stale place. Beatrice sat slumped on the floor in a vacant daze, shackles forged of magic stone locked around her wrists. Redfrin, by miserable contrast, sprawled at her ease as if she hadn't a care in the world, and even now she never took her eyes off Beatrice, snickering without pause.
"Boss."
"......"
"Boss?"
"......"
"Hey. You loose-lipped bitch. Mouth lighter than air."
"What the fuck did you just say?"
"I said your mouth runs fucking cheap. So what."
Redfrin let a sour little smile slide across her face. Fury raked Beatrice's insides without mercy; she ground her teeth until they creaked, and her hands shook.
"The kids—it was Haller. Haller called them—"
"Same shit either way. If you were gonna spill, you should've fucking spilled all of it from the start. Thanks to you, I'm the one who lost my fingers."
With a vicious look, Redfrin shook the hand at her—index and middle fingers gone.
There was nothing Beatrice could add to a sight like that. She turned her face toward the bars.
"So how far are you planning to blab, Boss? Everything that isn't already locked under the prohibition magic?"
"......"
"Hm? Bo-oss?"
"Shut up."
"What, we're allowed to talk, aren't we? Don't be so cold. Honestly, you're bored too."
"......"
"Fine. Then let's just finish what we were saying. When our captain finds out about this, what's going to happen to you, Boss? Hmm. Think they'll start by carving the wrists? Except over there they don't do mercy the way they do he—"
"I told you to shut up!!!"
Beatrice roared until it seemed the prison itself might shake, but Redfrin only snickered, as if this were the finest entertainment she'd had all day.
The guards watching from beyond the bars shook their heads, thoroughly sick of it.
While Beatrice was still having her nerves scraped raw by Redfrin, a lock clicked and a door opened. A man who looked to be with the Magic Bureau stepped inside.
"Redfrin. Out."
"See you later, Boss."
With that she was brought past the bars, and a black cloth was pulled over her head—so tight she could barely breathe, and certainly not see the way.
Corridor after corridor bent away beneath her feet. At last a heavy iron door groaned open in her ears, and the cloth covering her eyes was drawn away.
At the sight that opened before her, she had no choice but to cock her head and burst out laughing.
Julbert Mertios sat beneath the interrogation room's dim light in a shabby, wretched state she had never once seen on him.
"Hahaha!! Hello there, young master?"
"......"
"Why are you staring like that? What—is the young master as sexually frustrated as I am?"
"Crazy bitch."
Julbert glared at her as if he meant to kill her. Unfazed, Redfrin lifted the corner of her mouth, leaned her body in toward him, and sniffed—drawing his scent in, breath by breath.
The guards' brows knotted at the bizarre display, and Julbert himself couldn't help a small flinch.
A moment later Redfrin opened the eyes she had softly closed, let out a short laugh, and raised the corner of her mouth again.
"Nothing special."
"What did you say?"
"Stuffed in a gutter, stinking the place up. Turns out a noble isn't anything special either."
Madness glittered in both of Redfrin's eyes above that crafted smile.
A chill ran the length of Julbert's spine. He shuddered with regret at his own foolishness—for ever having joined hands with her, even for a moment.
At that same hour, the people gathered in front of the student council building at Caipol Magic School were murmuring among themselves.
Personnel from the Magic Bureau were hauling every last one of Julbert's personal belongings out of the building. The members of his Student Welfare Department stood in a cluster before the crowd, watching the scene as if their souls had left them.
Herbena and Skadi frowned at the sight, then approached Yulia—who stood with a face set like stone—and offered her a formal bow together.
"Senior."
"Ah—yes. Skadi, Herbena..."
"Do you happen to know how this came about? That's Senior Julbert's desk..."
"It seems Redfrin said Julbert leaked the imperial palace conference records."
"What?"
The moment they heard it, Herbena's and Skadi's eyes flashed, sharp as blades.
Fury surged up in Herbena. She swallowed the curse climbing her throat and put the question to Yulia in a trembling voice.
"Where is that bas— no. Where is he now?"
"As far as I know, the Magic Bureau took him in overnight. The fallout from this is going to be larger than anyone thought. Word is that House Mertios has been turned upside down, and they'll begin, at the very least, by casting him out of the family."
"I didn't think he'd go that far."
The three of them stood with crumpled faces, watching the belongings pile up in front of the building.
In the midst of it Blasse, a fourth-year, came over to Yulia and bent at the waist in a deep bow.
"Senior, good day to you!"
"Yes, Young Master Blasse. Did you have something to say?"
"Ah, yes. It's nothing else. I only wanted to offer my congratulations!"
"Congratulations?"
"Yes! With Julbert Mertios ending up like that, it seems a fortunate turn for you, Department Head! This election, too..."
"Young Master Blasse Latour."
Yulia's voice had sunk flat and cold, and her eyes flashed, severe.
This was a Yulia who, whenever she was with Blow, smiled brightly without fail. Faced with that cutting edge, even Skadi and Herbena couldn't help tensing, and Blasse—sensing at once that he had stepped wrong—hurriedly brought both hands together in front of him.
"Yes, Senior."
"This is not a matter for congratulations. What that Julbert did did not stop at a single student. It dragged the school's dignity through the mud. And you call that congratulations?"
"Ah..."
"I wanted to win the election fair and square. I am not pleased in the least that it ended like this. I imagine Lady Rebecca feels the same."
"M-my thinking was shallow. I'm sorry."
Blasse apologized at once.
Yulia stared at him without expression, then let out a thin sigh.
"...Forgive me for losing my temper. The truth is, I'm not in a very good mood."
In truth, Yulia's heart was a complete tangle. In some quarters, speculation was already circulating that Julbert had colluded with Redfrin over the matter of Young Master Blow, all for the sake of winning the election.
If that proved true, then he had suffered hardship he never needed to suffer—because of her. Because the two of them were business partners. How was she supposed to apologize to the young master?
She was drawing a deep, heavy sigh beneath that weight when Blasse, who had been standing helplessly at her side, bowed his head to her yet again.
"Senior, allow me to apologize once more."
"Please be more careful next time."
Blasse retreated as if fleeing. Herbena swept a disdainful look over him, then sighed herself, as though Yulia's mood had infected her, and dragged a rough hand down her face.
"Forget it. I'm going today."
"Where?"
"To crack the back alleys. I'm going today."
"Ah—you mean flattening that lich, or whatever he is?"
"Yeah."
Herbena's expression had already settled back to normal, her mind made up. Seeing it, Skadi privately offered a moment's mourning for the people who would be meeting her today.
Yulia, who had been listening closely, spoke to her with interest stirring in her face.
"Herbena."
"Yes, Senior."
"If you are going to clean out the back alleys, may I, Yulia Edfolk, accompany you?"
Yulia's expression was harder than usual. At the sight of it, Herbena's thoughts spun quickly.
If I go alone, the young master will have words for me. Better to go together. If I tell him we went together, it might even look as though we've grown closer.
Having settled on that, she gave Yulia a bright smile.
"More hands never hurt. But will you be all right?"
"All right? What do you mean by that?"
"Blood may well run freely. I don't think it will be a pleasant thing to watch."
"It's fine. What time were you thinking of leaving?"
"Right after class."
"Then we finish quickly and go to Hills together. We'll shower at our hotel. There's still the staff dinner tonight, after all."
"Ah, I'd be grateful if we did. But the hotel's too far—why not just use the showers in my research building?"
The two of them laid their plans out, neat and quick.
Skadi pitied the people of that back alley, who would have to face the twin leading lights of Caipol Magic School. And she let out a faint sigh for herself, left unable to stand with the two of them.
While Julbert's belongings were still being cleared out of the council building, Blow had been dealing, since morning, with his twenty-third nuisance of a customer.
"Hey. I hear if you come here, you can see the Saintess."
"I'm afraid I haven't been told anything of the sort."
"Wh-when the S-Saintess c-comes, c-could you t-tell me?"
The old man bared yellowed teeth and curled his mouth into a grin. Blow shook his head.
"I truly couldn't say when she'll come."
"Don't be so stingy."
"Stingy or not, I really don't know. That's all I can tell you."
Even after that, the man pestered him a good while longer before finally stepping out of Hills. Blow, who had met him the whole time with a smiling face, heaved a sigh the moment he was gone—deep enough to sink the ground—and drained a glass of cold water straight down.
Jane, come in late for lunch, opened her mouth carefully, worry in her voice.
"Young master, you don't have to deal with every single one of them yourself."
"It's not as if I've committed a crime. I ought to handle it as far as I can. It isn't going to drag on for months, and if I start acting strange with the doors open, that would only look stranger."
Blow answered her in an easy voice. Melo, who had been in the kitchen, came scurrying over and beamed at him.
"Young master! It's break time!"
"Ah, already? I haven't slept since yesterday, and I'm worn out—mind if I go upstairs and rest for a bit?"
"Yes! Please rest well, young master. Melo and I had yesterday off, so we're fresh as anything!"
Hans, who had appeared at Melo's side at some point, answered briskly. Blow patted his shoulder, stretched, and went on.
"There's the staff dinner later. Prep the ingredients for tonight, and get tomorrow's service ready—then the two of you ought to rest a little too."
"Yes!"
"Did everyone say they're coming?"
"Yes! Everyone except the three Barbarians, who are busy with the construction right now!"
"Got it. See you later."
The moment he stepped out of Hills, Jane quietly fell in behind him.
"Jane, you were supposed to rest too."
"Yes. Miss Ril and Miss Haghia said they'd cover today, and told me to get some rest."
"Well, you did close the books all last night. You've gotten a little wiser after all, Manager Jane."
"Young master..."
"Hm?"
"Would you like a drink?"
With that she produced a bottle of Ropert Rose—when she had even brought it out, he couldn't have said. Blow let out a short laugh and answered her.
"We'll all be drinking together tonight anyway."
"Just a little, before that. I don't think I'll be able to sleep now unless I get some liquor in me."
"Suits me. Daytime drinking, for the first time in a while."
"Better to drink in an empty room, don't you think?"
"No. Let's just drink in my room. It's an attic, but it's plenty big."
And so the two of them climbed up to Blow's room.
Blow set a wedge of cheese on the shelf, then turned to Jane—who had already settled in beside him—and spoke in a soft voice.
"You have something to say, don't you."
"No."
"Don't give me that."
As he said it, he poured Ropert Rose into Jane's glass.
Jane stared straight at him. Then the tears fell, drop by drop.
"...I was worried."
"......"
"I really was worried... what if, what if something had gone wrong......"
She rubbed at the corners of her eyes with her fingers. Blow went to her at once and gently wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm sorry. I feel as if I've been laying far too much on you."
"That part is fine—as much as you need. I just wanted to be like this. Only for today..."
And then she buried herself in his arms and sobbed for a long while.
While she calmed, Blow patted her back and stroked her hair with aching tenderness.
"Listen."
"Yes...."
"Once I get the Spirit of Space properly handed off this time, what do you say we fold everything and go down to Blanya? Even if my brother inherits the domain, there'd still be work for me if I went. Wouldn't there?"
"......"
"The business, well... I turn it over to Senior Yulia, run a little restaurant in Blanya, live quiet and easy... and now and then, when a girl like Skadi comes to visit, we can say, back then it was like this, and that time it was like that..."
While he went on, Jane—who had stopped crying at some point—looked at him.
"For that, you've taken on too many responsibilities. Now."
"Have I."
"And I think there are things that can be done only because it's you, young master."
"Yeah. And I'm only saying this because it's you. Who else would I say it to? Blanya—right. We can go down later."
Because he said he was telling her for the simple reason that it was her, Jane's nose stung all over again, and she folded herself back into his arms.
"Thank you. For leaning on me."
"What are you saying?"
"Thank you for leaning on someone like me."
"I'll say it again. I lean on you because you're you."
Jane smiled faintly at that. Blow pushed the cork back into the bottle and tipped her a look.
"Doesn't seem like we need any more to drink."
"You're right. I... I'll head down now... I'm sorry. You ought to be resting, and I only said useless things..."
"No, no. Something like this is fine whenever."
Jane nodded, her smile brightened.
"Yes."
Late afternoon in the deep back alleys of Dusk Block, where the sunlight was still beating down in full force, near the lich's mansion.
"You really mean to use a sword?"
Seeing Yulia wearing the sword she had used when the two of them sparred, Herbena tilted her head. Yulia answered with a gentle smile.
"If I've learned it, I ought to use it until it sits in my hand. I'd rather there was never a need, of course."
"True. Whatever it is, review matters most."
"Even so—first, let's try with words."
"With words?"
"While we can still say it nicely, we ought to tell them to turn themselves in to the security force. Shouldn't we?"
"I doubt it. The air doesn't feel like that."
By now, countless eyes were glaring at them from every corner of the alley.
Seeing that, both Yulia and Herbena summoned their magic circles.
"Well, then. Nothing else for it."
"No."
"Still, let's try our best to leave them their lives."
With those words, a flash of violet and a flash of indigo.
And with them, ear-splitting screams began to roll through the whole of the alley.