Elias just blinked before suddenly falling onto me.

Saying he fell is the right way to put it. Because the bastard roared as he got up and hugged me.

“You thought of using that here?! Hey, the timing is perfect~”

“……”

“Lucas’s face went pale….”

My heart skipped a beat for a moment, afraid I’d fall backward, but Elias didn’t care at all.

Anyway, even if it hadn’t been me, Elias would have found a breakthrough. Although someone’s career might have been threatened in a groundbreaking way in the process…

‘That would have been more fun, though.’

But now that I’ve fallen into this world, it was hard to just let it happen.

There was a significant gap between watching a fire from across the river and standing right next to the flames myself.

“Talking to Luca solves everything. Thanks.”

“No, it’s not over yet. We’ll have to see how it goes. And….”

I looked back and forth between my friends and said.

“I’m not saying there’s a definite connection to Pleroma. This is purely to extend the investigation. Just in case you thought we could catch two birds with one stone.”

“Ah, I know~ I didn’t take it as meaning they’re related. Since a full investigation means using the ability on everyone anyway, you’re just trying to find politicians tied to Primrose while you’re at it, right?”

He gets it.

Elias chuckled and continued.

“Besides, isn’t that not two birds, but double the headache…? Even if they show up, it’s tricky to just beat them down.”

“So you know it’s tricky too.”

“Hey, I know what I know! If it were easy to beat them down, you would have already blown Osnabrück away. Blatantly blowing up Osnabrück means having to face the entire Pleroma, and there’s no way that’s easy.”

He’s right.

We needed time to hone our skills enough to defeat the entire Pleroma cult.

But now, I wonder if it would even be possible if every mage in the country joined in.

Narce, who had been listening quietly with a smile, spoke up.

“Maybe it’s possible if you defy fate.”

“…Huh? But can you even defy that? Looking at the scriptures, it always turns out to be part of God’s plan, or something like that.”

“Hahaha, you know it well. You’ve read the scriptures too much.”

Even setting all that aside….

‘Is it okay for a Cardinal, cradle Catholic, to say things like this?’

Sometimes I get scared he’ll be excommunicated.

Since Narce ended his words blandly without further explanation, Elias lightly shifted the topic.

“Hmm~ If I had my way, forget Primrose and everything, I’d just want to laze around, eat, and sleep. Right?”

“Right~ I’m just waiting for summer vacation.”

“Ah, I think we’ll be out training the entire summer vacation….”

At those words, the light vanished from Narce’s eyes.

It seems he didn’t use Foresight for things like this.

Anyway, the two of them now started chatting eagerly, leaving me out.

‘Wanting to just play and eat is unexpected.’

It strikes me as strange that the future Emperor thinks like this. It’s uncertain if he can even become Emperor in this world, which has changed so much from the novel, but because of his nature, that bastard will never just laze around.

Born as a New Human, as royalty, how could he just play and eat with that nature of his, constantly questioning his position?

Anyway, since that’s what I liked about him, leading me to devour that insanely long novel without noticing the time pass, there’s no reason for me not to go along with Elias’s intentions now.

‘My friends have gone along with my tune quite a bit until now, too….’

Anyway, there’s no time for such thoughts now.

‘It’s 4 AM now.’

If I’m going to see His Majesty today, I need to at least give Bavaria a heads-up.

Just in case, I pressed the artifact to send a signal to Leo.

Then, before the signal even finished, Leo’s voice came through.

[Lucas?]

“Oh.”

That was fast.

[Why?]

“You didn’t sleep? Your voice sounds wide awake.”

[How could I sleep? I heard from Elias that you went there.]

Right, this guy was also wary of Heike.

“Fortunately, nothing happened, so go to sleep now. But there’s something I need to tell you. I’m going to request an audience with His Majesty today as Nicolaus, and I thought you should know beforehand.”

[So you do know that I need to know, Lucas.]

“……”

It’s because I usually handle things on my own….

Anyway, I belong to the royal family, and this guy is my superior. In this situation where the Emperor is using Nicolaus while also keeping him in check, it’s safer for the Bavarian royal family, my backing, to know my entire schedule.

[Alright. I’ll send a letter to His Majesty in the evening.]

“Thanks.”

As I disconnected, Elias waved the photo.

“This, should we try asking Heike to read its memory? I’m curious who took it and who brought it to school.”

“Good idea.”

I said that and added a thought.

“But if Heike contacting Pleroma is the real future, it’s best not to reveal any information, as much as possible.”

Even if it doesn’t become a huge problem, you never know what information might cause a butterfly effect, so it’s better to be careful.

Elias seemed to think it made sense, nodding slowly before looking at me.

“Luca. But shouldn’t we stop Heike before those bastards capture her~? I’m going to do that.”

“……”

If being unconquerable meant ‘we cannot change the future with our strength’.

I was so caught up in that, I failed to think of the obvious.

“Yeah. We have to.”

We have to stop it before it happens.

We can’t just give up before even trying.

Narce smiled and held out his hand.

“Shall I try reading it? I can read it if you don’t mind potentially useless information.”

“Yeah!”

Elias handed the photo to Narce as if he’d been waiting.

Narce fiddled with the photo, then gripped his forehead.

“If the person in this photo knew it was taken, there’d be big trouble. More importantly, I wonder if the person who took it thought it was you, Elias.”

“…Why would they think it’s me? Is the person in the picture really Ainsidel?”

At those words, Narce stroked his chin for a long moment.

“Elias. Don’t get angry, just listen.”

“Yeah. Why would I get angry at you~”

“It’s you.”

“What?”

Silence followed.

Subjectively, one second felt like a minute.

Narce tilted his head and smiled.

“Well, my ability reads it that way… but I know better that it’s not true~ I even dyed your hair black back then, remember? It’s just speculation, but maybe because the person who took the photo mistook that person for you, it reads that way to me too. Anyway, if everyone could mistake her for you, circumstantially, it’s likely Ainsidel, don’t you think~”

“…Just how similar are we? What are her features! Tell me so I can prepare myself mentally. You said you die if you meet your doppelgänger~”

Then, Narce spoke to Elias, who still hadn’t quite grasped it.

“What’s important now is one thing. Primrose Path holds immense hostility towards you, Elias. That much is certain.”

“…Right.”

Whether it was a mistake or not, trying to take a picture of ‘Elias’ was surely intended for blackmail, wasn’t it?

Elias, seemingly having the same thought now, clutched his head for a while.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“And… like I said before, you guys be careful too. Primrose Path will try to kill me from now on. Of course, they won’t actually kill me.”

Narce nodded at Elias’s words.

“They’ll kill you socially~ Especially with nobles, inflicting physical damage just harms the attacker more… Lately, it’s common to start by gradually weeding out those around the target, right?”

“What, how do you know? The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith doesn’t do things like that, does it~?”

“……”

Silence followed.

A subtle smile appeared on Elias’s face, who had thrown out the question just in case.

“Haha, not me, people from hundreds of years ago…. Since I do study the history of the place I belong to~ Just in case, I’m telling you, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith absolutely doesn’t do things like that nowadays!”

It seems he’s talking about the days of the Inquisition.

“Yeah…. Anyway, it’s like Narce said. They’ll try to slowly cut off the relationships around me. Of course, they won’t be able to pose a physical threat to you, but as I said before, it will become annoying….”

The methods of thugs are obvious.

Harassing the people around the target to make them feel guilty, grinding them down – isn’t that their method?

That’s not Elias’s fault. He was just trying to stop a crime; the criminal group acting like thugs is the one in the wrong. Anyway, just like in the novel, all of this will affect his ascension to the throne, so I have no major reason to oppose it or back out.

I gathered my thoughts and spoke to Narce.

“Narce. When we get back to school, there’s something you need to do.”

“Hmm?”

“About the rampage incident, until now, it’s all been internal school investigations. When the professors were informed of the victim, you had already used your friend Leo’s help to request a drug analysis from the Bavarian Magic Medical Center.”

“Right, we arranged the story that way~”

“I’ll convince Adelbert, so now, tell the professors. Tell them the Prince is ready to report the entire situation to His Majesty.”

* * *

Adelbert hesitated slightly but eventually followed my lead.

That perfectionist didn’t want to reveal even to his own family that he had taken a drug and almost rampaged.

I don’t intend to tell everyone anyway. Three or four professors from the Imperial Second Academy and the Emperor. Only that many need to know.

‘The culprit has lost their mind and even messed with Elias now.’

That means the bastard is still letting their guard down.

I can’t let this situation slip by.

That evening, I visited the Emperor in the guise of Nicolaus.

I sent the letter around dinnertime, and surprisingly, the Emperor agreed to meet me immediately, less than 30 minutes later.

‘The shock of his son almost rampaging must have been significant.’

He currently thinks I will somehow provide a solution.

I stood before a room I had never seen before.

Seeing that it was in the most secluded place and the entire room was covered in special magic, I could feel how anxious he was.

As a servant announced my arrival, the command to enter came immediately from within.

“Have you been well, Your Majesty?”

“Yes.”

The Emperor finished the greeting simply, without further pleasantries.

I sat down in front of him and said.

“You don’t look well.”

“I’ve received unpleasant news, so it can’t be helped. I’d appreciate your understanding.”

Before I could even reply, the Emperor continued immediately.

“You know as well, don’t you? My nephew was also a victim in this incident.”

“Yes, I am aware.”

The Emperor slowly lifted the teacup placed before him and took a sip.

His attempt to regain composure was futile; his face was still flushed.

“To think they still haven’t caught the culprit, it makes my blood boil. The fact that I only heard about this after a week is also infuriating.”

“……”

“Of course, receiving the report only now was Adelbert’s wish, so I can forgive that, but the complacency of the Imperial Second Academy is intolerable.”

He sighed and spoke in a subdued voice.

“Of course, there’s the possibility the culprit isn’t within the school. If it’s someone capable of attempting such a thing against my child, where should I even begin to deal with it… My head hurts.”

He definitely seems flustered.

Starting right off with his son’s story without any preamble.

I wasn’t about to think something like, ‘No matter what, he’s still a father with a child.’

It’s just nauseating that someone who can do his best for his own child sits as the leader of the Empire, trampling his own people, the Old Humans, to death.

God shed the blood of his only son for humanity, yet this man ignores the suffering of the Old Humans just to keep one nephew in check, while endlessly raging and worrying before the crisis of his own son’s potential rampage.

Although I, thinking this, am an atheist, the Emperor is nevertheless a Protestant. This man is acting completely contrary to the teachings of the religion he believes in.

But I cannot reveal this disgust in front of him.

“Your Majesty, there is something I must tell you regarding that. Someone capable of committing such a crime against royalty would not be an ordinary person. It’s clear they must have deep ties to Pleroma.”

“That would be the case.”

“Previously, I mentioned that Pleroma exists within the Imperial government as well. As promised then, how about we proceed with vetting all public officials of the Imperial government? I will fully abide by Your Majesty’s decision.”

Silence fell.

The Emperor drank his tea again, then looked out the window and spoke.

“Sir Nicolaus. The reason we postponed that vetting was because Pleroma began ruining the lives of our subjects. Even at this moment, there must be people rampaging and dying.”

“……”

It was clear what he was trying to say.

Considering his own political survival even in this situation.

The Emperor spoke slowly.

“Let’s proceed with the vetting in utmost secrecy. Even after the vetting is complete, this matter must not leak anywhere.”

Just what I wanted.

If the fact that we raided the Prussian government today gets reported, how do you think other countries would react?

They’d obviously prepare.

This vetting would be ruined if the Emperor acted even slightly complacent, so if he takes the initiative like this, I welcome it.

“I shall do so, Your Majesty. And, there is one more thing I must report. It’s not directly related to this assassination attempt, but I have learned of an incident presumed to involve Pleroma. The timing is coincidental, so I thought it would be best for you to be aware of this as well.”

“What is it?”

The Emperor’s eyebrows began to tense slightly.

It was clear that he had no intention of letting this information pass idly by.

‘It’s done.’

I placed the photo I had received from Elias on the table.

“A Pleroma Bishop visited Primrose Path.”

* * *

After that, things proceeded swiftly.

The materials obtained through the search and seizure were not returned. This was what Elias had told me earlier.

The Emperor didn’t know the Bishop’s face, but the ‘Pleroma disposal unit’ image he basically had of me seemed solid.

It wasn’t a situation where doubting would gain him anything more, and trusting me was advantageous, not detrimental, so it was natural.

And, starting immediately today, I visited the Police Bureau for the vetting.

Accompanied by a Divine Power-using mage belonging to the Imperial family. This meant the Emperor was also keeping me somewhat in check. It meant I was being watched to see if I was implanting wrong ideas into government officials.

‘Of course, it’s beneficial for me.’

I don’t want to be framed later.

So I also brought an attendant of the King from Bavaria—with permission from both countries—so there shouldn’t be any problems with this.

I talked with the Police Chief for a while, and when there was nothing more to gain, I placed my hand on his forehead and muttered.

—Enter through the narrow gate.

“…Hmm?”

As soon as I finished speaking, focus returned to the Police Chief’s eyes.

Seeing that the magic worked with just this one phrase, it seemed his Mental Strength wasn’t particularly strong either.

‘More than that, his actual way of thinking…’

I don’t want to get involved any further.

Anyway, I couldn’t read any connection to Pleroma from him.

Instead, there was collusion with Primrose Path.

‘Just how much fucking money did he take.’

I snapped my fingers, removing the lingering effects of the brainwashing from him, and said.

“Thank you for your cooperation.”

“Not at all. Please feel free to ask about Pleroma’s movements anytime.”

Hearing him say something so out of the blue, it seems the false memory I implanted blended in well.

I stood up from my seat, gave a brief nod, and went outside.

The Divine Power mage assigned by the Emperor followed me. He probably already knew from watching so far, but I summarized it once more.

“First, among the people I met today, none were related to Pleroma. Likewise, there was no connection to His Highness the Prince.”

“Understood. I will report it as such.”

I exchanged simple greetings with him too and immediately boarded the carriage the Emperor had arranged.

‘I’m tired.’

My head hurts from using too much Divine Power in one day.

‘Still, this much is a success.’

It’s going smoothly.

It’s almost questionable how things are unfolding exactly as planned.

Lost in various thoughts for a while, the carriage stopped in front of the inn Elias had arranged.

I immediately changed clothes there and warped to the dormitory. The familiar room I had seen just yesterday spread out before my eyes.

Before I could even relax, my legs wouldn’t move, as if stuck to the ground.

“…?”

It’s not a rampage.

I didn’t feel anything done to the air.

The problem is….

I looked down at the floor.

It’s unfamiliar magic, but I know what this is.

Someone cast warp magic on the floor.

The moment I thought that, my vision turned black.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep