Chapter 34: The War, A Game (1)
“You did really well, Abel.”
Iris clapped her hands.
The garden of the Orléans family villa. Amidst all sorts of fresh flowers diligently decorated, Abel stood with a hazy expression.
Servants were fumbling over Abel's body. Following that, magic staves were aimed. It was to restore the formal attire soaked in blood, and to apply makeup to the skin smeared with soot. After mobilizing numerous household magic spells, Abel's appearance was tidied up.
“To break the museum managed by Sharma twice. How truly admirable. To the point where I feel like throwing up.”
Iris said, inserting a cigarette into her cigarette holder.
“Since you don't seem to know, I'll let you know. The villa of Sharma, located in the capital, is on the outskirts of the administrative district. How about you try aiming for that place next time. It means to crush the head of the family.”
“……I am ashamed.”
Abel said with a sigh-laden voice.
Iris waved her hand. The servants, who had bowed and turned their backs. Abel, who had been staring at their retreating backs, took a step.
Iris was sitting facing the table. After clearing away the plate with refreshments, Abel placed Felix's uniform in the center of the table. Iris's touch extended towards Felix's uniform.
“I'm not joking, Abel.”
Felix's neatly folded uniform.
Iris whispered, lifting it.
“Next time, please be sure to aim for the head of the Sharma family.”
“……I will keep that in mind.”
Abel sat down across from Iris. Iris's hand, which had been rummaging through Felix's uniform, stopped. Her light pink eyes narrowed. Iris aimed a match flame at her cigarette.
“A fetus.”
……So you brought a fetus.
Iris whispered, with tobacco smoke in her mouth.
Between Felix's uniform, there was a small fetus. Its size was smaller than Iris's fingernail. Not only were its arms and legs not divided, but its facial features were also difficult to distinguish. A seed-like lump of flesh. But it was alive. It was the end of the nameless Holy Knight.
“He is the professor from CIAR I was pursuing. He turned out to be the commander. He had obtained the appearance of an old man through a forbidden medicine, but after suffering from the side effects, he was reduced to a fetus.”
“There's no way we can interrogate him like this. Couldn't you have secured him in a more complete state?”
“I judged it would be sufficient. He's alive, after all.”
Abel looked at one side of the garden.
In the gap of the fresh flower scent, a single leaf had withered.
“You would be able to find out. If you mobilize the authority of a Saintess, by all means. The soul is a collection of information, and is a Saintess not one who views it? You would be able to gain insight into his name, place of birth, the course of his life, and even the reason why he colluded with the apostates. As if distinguishing the good and evil of a believer and giving rewards and punishments.”
“Of course.”
Iris bit her cigarette holder.
“It's not a difficult thing for a Saintess to gain insight into a person's entire life. But that's like the process of reading. You just read the context, you can't feel the vitality. That's why I……”
“It's nothing more than a mindset.”
Abel said with an indifferent expression.
“The only thing we cannot find out is that. What this person held dear and what he was saddened by. For what reason he held malice and through what he hardened his resolve. We just can't fathom the depth of such a heart. And all of that is……”
Utterly unimportant, on the battlefield.
Abel muttered so.
“Indeed……”
Iris stared at the place where Abel's gaze was directed.
The center of a beautiful garden. A gardener was plucking off a withered leaf. And so, the garden became perfect. It was not the duty of a gardener to respect the physiology of a leaf.
“You must be right.”
Abel's words were sound reasoning. What was needed was just information. It was fine whatever happened to his heart. Felix Christian. No, the nameless Holy Knight's misdeeds were clear and his death was deserved. The true feelings leading up to the end of his life were of no use.
Not in the least, in protecting this world.
“I'll be on my way back now.”
Abel stood up from his seat.
“Before that, there are a few things I'd like to ask.”
Ask?
Iris tilted her head.
What could that man, who was like a plaster statue, possibly ask for.
Abel averted his gaze from Iris. He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and repeatedly cleared his throat. Finally, he requested in a small voice,
“First of all……”
The <BRAVE QUEST> Hero……,
Tell me a place where I can buy a hero doll.
* * *
A torn dark cloud decorated the glass ceiling.
The faculty meeting room of Cia-Harphe Academy.
In the center of the circular hall,
Dante Marchisio stood.
- What do you mean! Are you saying that child colluded with Felix Christian! Get a grip! You who were not at the scene wouldn't know, but that child was unconscious!
- That's right. Dante Marchisio……. That boy was in a state where his ego was being controlled by his sword. When I looked into the source of the sword, it turned out to be an item that Felix Christian had given him. It is not logical to punish that boy.
- This old man's thoughts are also the same. Listening to your ignorant words makes me yawn. Dante Marchisio has no sin. That child is also just a victim.
Countless gazes were fixed on Dante.
There were no human eyes. The eyes of all sorts of beasts were flashing, dyed in the color of dusk. Dogs and cats. Owls and crows. And a group of rats, holding their breath and shining their glinting eyes. They were all familiars, without exception.
Among them, three kinds of voices were filling the circular hall. Voices desperately defending Dante. Dante himself didn't know anything clearly. Who were they? Why was he standing here? Why was the half of his body, wrapped in bandages, aching? Dante asked himself, with his head bowed.
“I can also guarantee it!”
At that moment, Monika, who had been standing with crutches, shouted.
“It was not Dante senior's intention to injure the other students! That was……”
Because he was being controlled by a weapon……, and.
Just as Monika was about to speak,
- Shut your mouth, commoner!
A heavy voice pressed down.
- Know your place. This is not a place for a lowly person like you to interfere! A student has injured another student. This alone is a grave violation of the school rules, and what's more, Dante Marchisio used a real sword. There is sufficient room to consider that he intended to murder.
- He was robbed of his ego by a sword……. Well, that could be, but that doesn't change anything. Are you planning to put the sword on the guillotine? Are you going to separate the blade and the hilt, and then declare that all responsibility has disappeared?
- Fortunately, no student lost their life. But they are complaining of psychological aftereffects. Protests at the family level are also pouring in. That child……, the students that Dante injured were precious talents of CIAR. Among them was also a child from a prestigious family…….
They're making a fuss.
Muttering so, Monika clenched her fists.
Not even a full day had passed since the situation had been calmed. Dante had been dragged to the faculty meeting room as soon as he had regained consciousness. At a time when the investigation into the group that had attacked the capital had just begun, the professors were already sorting out the targets to impose responsibility on.
“So what you're all saying is, professors……”
Meanwhile, Fleur opened her mouth, stroking her flower crown.
“That Dante senior is the perfect prey. To make excuses for your own incompetence……”
Isn't that right, everyone?
Fleur asked with a fresh smile.
Though Fleur's tone was soft, it was enough to raise the voices of the professors. An opinion to postpone Dante's treatment. Furthermore, an opinion that he should be protected. Or an opinion that a severe punishment was needed. An opinion to request his arrest by the Capital Defense Force and then wait for the interrogation results also poured in.
Dante stood in silence.
My head feels like it's all torn apart. With such a thought.
He had just closed his eyes and opened them. He thought he had been doing swordsmanship training early in the morning, but at some point it had become dusk and everything had changed. In a way, it was natural. No matter how high one stood, the time needed to be plunged to the ground was just a fleeting moment.
“──Enough!”
Koong, and.
The sound of the arched door of the faculty meeting room being thrown open.
Konstanze had arrived. The professors' clamor ceased, and Konstanze sat down on the chair prepared at the highest place.
“I apologize.”
Konstanze said with a sigh-laden voice.
“Monika Lohengrin, Fleur de Saint-Pierre, and Dante Marchisio. I'm very sorry. To have called you to a place like this when you should be resting. It seems a few impatient people have convened a meeting on their own.”
Konstanze's gaze scanned the circular hall. The familiars, engraved in her sharply honed eyes. Some of them were avoiding making eye contact.
It was a natural thing. Since they were conducting an interrogation without the Vice President's approval. Behind them, the power of a noble family that could not be ignored must be lurking.
“……Let's finish this quickly.”
After biting her lower lip once, Konstanze continued.
“First, young Marchisio, you have injured students using a real sword. Do you remember the series of events?”
“You know too, Vice President! Dante senior was unconscious!”
Monika shouted on behalf of Dante.
“That sword was no ordinary weapon. Something like a monster came out and was controlling Dante senior's body. Dante senior doesn't remember anything. Didn't you see me separating him from the sword!”
“That must be so. I am also aware of that. I asked because it seems there are some who don't know. And there must be not a few who want to pretend they don't know until the end.”
Next question, and.
Konstanze said, following up.
“The investigation is not yet over, but the fact that Professor Christian contributed to today's incident is clear. Do you understand, young Marchisio. Not only Cia-Harphe Academy, but the capital Naflansee was also in a dangerous situation.”
“……Yes.”
Dante said in a small voice.
Though he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he had heard. While heading to the faculty meeting room after regaining consciousness, countless voices had been whispering based on the progress of events so far. Thanks to that, he had gained insight. The warships surrounding the floating island. Felix's speech that had echoed from them. And furthermore, the one who had slaughtered all those warships……,
“If it weren't for Professor Argento……, CIAR might have lost countless students today.”
Yes, Abel Argento.
Even the achievements of a man he had only met a few times.
“So I will ask you, young Marchisio. You were Felix Christian's personal disciple. You were able to be admitted to Cia-Harphe Academy because of that man's recommendation. Did you really not know anything? Did Professor Christian not show any suspicious signs?”
“Vice President, I think that is a foolish question.”
Fleur raised her hand on behalf of Dante.
“Adults are truly strange. While you all make a great effort to prevent us from grasping your true nature, you sometimes interrogate us as to why we couldn't look deeper. How can young ones grasp the nature of you all, who feign to be great, harmless, and upright? You are all acting as if you are noble, prudent, and firm right now.”
You all, every single one of you.
Fleur muttered so.
“That is correct, Miss Saint-Pierre.”
Konstanze readily affirmed.
“There's no way young Marchisio could have grasped Professor Christian's true face. If it were possible, we would have noticed first.”
That's why……, and, saying,
Konstanze let out a sigh.
Soon, she declared with a light smile.
“Dante Marchisio, as of today, you are no longer a student of Cia-Harphe Academy. I, as the Vice President, order your expulsion.”
Silence.
“Please vacate the dormitory within a week. And leave behind the furniture you purchased with the support of the Zylon family. If you need more convalescence, please submit the relevant documents. I will extend your period of stay. Though there is a possibility that it will be rejected.”
What is this…….
Monika clenched her teeth. Expulsion? Why? Because he injured students? That wasn't of his own will. In the first place, not only did no student die, but she had heard that their wounds had also healed without a scar. Right. They all said they had been discharged from the hospital in a few hours. They're complaining of psychological aftereffects? Aren't they just whining that they were scared? Rather, that kind of pain is on Dante senior's side…….
……Is that so.
Fleur narrowed her eyes. Expulsion. She made a realistic decision. With this, the professors won't be able to argue about Dante senior's treatment. Because he has become an outsider. An investigation at the level of the Capital Defense Force might be conducted, but that's a different story. In the first place, CIAR has become a dangerous place for Dante senior. The children of the noble families who were injured must be grinding their teeth.
“……U, understood.”
And Dante smiled.
He wore the brightest smile.
“I'm……, s, sorry about everything. Because of me……”
After bowing, Dante took a step. The gazes of countless beasts were following Dante's back.
Monika moved her crutches. She followed Dante, shouting for him to wait a moment. Following that, Fleur, who turned on her heel. She closed the arched door and gave a slight nod to Konstanze.
As a moment of silence flowed,
- Are you mad, Vice President! The current punishment is unjust! Dante Marchisio is an orphan!
- Expulsion! That alone is not enough! The resentment of the injured students will not be appeased!
While the divided clamor decorated the circular hall,
“Were you watching, Professor Argento.”
Konstanze looked down at her feet. A cute dog was wagging its tail. The dog that Monika and the janitors of her age had been taking care of. It was none other than Thunderstorm.
“That is correct.”
Thunderstorm's eyes shone and Abel's voice flowed out.
“I had business to take care of in the capital, so I had planted a familiar. You look tired, Vice President.”
“Of course, of course. It's a situation where even a hundred bodies wouldn't be enough.”
Konstanze let out a long sigh. Then she fumbled in the inner pocket of her velvet cloak and took out a letter. A letter envelope with the crest of CIAR stamped on it. She put it in Thunderstorm's mouth.
“These are the documents you requested, Professor Argento.”
Please take care of it, and.
Whispering so, Konstanze wore a smile.
Abel did not delay. Thunderstorm's short legs began to run across the circular hall.
.
.
.
Under the setting sky, the campus of Cia-Harphe Academy.
While all sides were dyed in a reddish sunset light,
“Damn dog. Damn cat. Damn crow. Damn rat. Damn professor bastards……”
Monika bit her lower lip and spat out a curse.
“It doesn't make sense to be expelled like this. Please wait here for a bit, Dante senior. I'll go get Teacher Abel. Teacher Abel will be able to do something.”
“Calm down, Monika.”
Fleur let out a sigh.
“Professor Argento must be in the capital. There are people who saw him jump off the floating island. I don't know what method he used to destroy the warships, but……, anyway, it will be impossible to overturn the Vice President's decision.”
“Then are you telling me to just watch? You won't know unless you try!”
Monika shouted, swinging her crutches.
Damn it. And why are my legs in this state. Monika glared at her crutches with a frown. They said her leg bones had been shattered to pieces by the Aura. Though they had succeeded in sealing them using divine magic, she had been recommended to rest for a few days.
“M, Monika……”
Dante carefully opened his mouth.
“……It's okay now. I, it's okay, so……, go back and rest.”
“What do you mean, it's okay!”
Monika's voice rose. It was not because of anger. It was because of resentment. Because she knew all too well. What was waiting for Dante, who had left CIAR.
“Don't say it's okay. It's not okay at all.”
“I, it's really okay……. I'm used to it……, I, I worked at a magic stone quarry……, and they said I was good at my work……, they even praised……, praised me often……, I, I just have to go back. So it's okay……”
“No. It shouldn't be okay with something like that.”
Nothing would be waiting for him. Where on earth should a war orphan with no family and no home go. For Monika, she couldn't just stand by and watch. It wasn't to save Dante that she had ended up in this situation.
“……I'll go see Teacher Abel.”
Monika moved her crutches with her head bowed.
The setting sunlight pulled Monika's shadow long.
“Dante senior.”
No. He's not a sunbae anymore. Mmm……, and.
Fleur, who had been muttering so, opened her mouth.
“That's a real relief. To think you can just go back to the magic stone quarry. What kind of place is it? I don't know much about it.”
“U, umm……. The magic stone quarry is……, a nice place……. Everyone is kind……, and we work while helping……, helping each other……”
“Then there's no need to worry. I hope you do well in the future. It seems you were used by a bad adult, but that can't be helped.”
Fleur showed a bright smile and turned her back on Dante.
Wait, Monika. I'll go with you.
While such a voice from Fleur was growing distant,
Seueup, and.
Dante inhaled. The filtered air of the floating island filled his body. He felt as if his head was clearing up. The setting sun in the distance is beautiful, and the shape of the clouds, as if torn apart, is puzzling. So it's okay. One more sip like this. At the moment Dante's lips opened and he inhaled,
It's unpleasant.
Dante thought, stroking the back of his neck. A disgusting sense of expansion seemed to be tightening his windpipe. Soon, he scratched the back of his neck and looked around. There were no gazes of beasts. But there were plenty of human gazes. No, were those really human eyes?
Dante's body gradually hunched over. A murmur, flooding from all sides. The students who had been coming and going on campus had recognized Dante. And so, Dante, Dante, Dante. Dante's name was engraved in every voice, in every meaning of the words.
I can't breathe.
I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.
At the moment Dante lifted his head, muttering so,
“Dante Marchisio!”
──Ppeo-eok!
His head rang.
“You injured my younger brother! So don't think it's unfair!”
Dante's vision wavered. It was because a boy from a noble family, who had appeared from somewhere, had rushed at him. Dante, who had been stepping back, slumped down powerlessly. The boy climbed on top of Dante's body and continued to punch him.
“Were you trying to kill him! My younger brother!”
Dante crouched down.
“You lowly commoner bastard!”
Squeezing his eyes shut,
“To leave a scar on the body of a noble!”
He just waited for everything to end.
Yes, it would be better to just kill me. It might be better that way.
Dante's lips twisted. A smile took root on his lips, which were covered in foamy blood. It would have been better if I had died. It would have been better if I had died much earlier. In the middle of the Mirror War. Or while prolonging my life by begging. If everything had ended back then, there would be no reason for me to be like this. So please. This time, please…….
“K, kill……, me.”
Dante opened his mouth towards the boy.
“Will you……, kill me?”
“That was the plan anyway.”
Ptui, and.
Phlegm spread across Dante's face.
“Listen carefully, commoner. Today, I will──.”
Kill you.
Just as the boy was extending his fist, shouting so,
Kkwaak, and.
A hand, wrapping around the boy's arm.
“Wh, what? Who are you?”
The boy turned his head and looked behind him.
“──Get lost.”
A firm blackish-blue eye was flashing. Abel Argento. The professor of the Department of Theology. The boy's complexion, who had recognized him, sank coldly. It was not because he had been caught in the act of assault by a mere professor. It was not because he had heard the news that that man had saved CIAR. It was just those eyes. It was because he was frightened by the killing intent contained in Abel's mire-like eyes.
“Damn it……. You should know you're lucky, commoner.”
The boy stood up, biting his lower lip. After glaring at Dante once, he took a step. Abel, who had been staring at the boy's back, let out a sigh, and,
“Dante Marchisio.”
He held out his hand to Dante.
“Can you stand up? Please spare me a moment.”
Dante stared blankly at Abel.
From what he had heard, it was so. That Abel had repelled the group of warships that had attacked CIAR. By himself, in an instant. But the appearance of Abel standing before him looked somewhat humble. Just as his one and only teacher, Felix, had been.
The tips of Dante's fingers were directed at Abel. But he could not reach. Dante withdrew his hand and averted his gaze. He could only whisper with his eyes squeezed shut.
“Y, your hand……. Are you okay……?”
……Hand?
Abel tilted his head.
He blankly examined the hand he had held out to Dante, then glanced at his other hand. Ah, you mean this. Muttering so, Abel wore a faint smile.
“Don't mind it.”
He couldn't.
It was too conspicuous to not mind.
The sight of Thunderstorm, biting Abel's hand.
“It must be because I used him as a familiar twice.”
Let go, dog. Please, dog.
Commanding so, Abel shook his arm.
Thunderstorm did not retreat. It steadfastly struggled, biting Abel's hand.
“It seems this dog has…….”
Taken a strong dislike to me.
Abel muttered with a sigh-laden voice.