Chapter 258

Leo scanned the room. Everyone was waiting for him to continue.

“First, regarding Hohenzollern joining hands with Askanian, we should actively encourage it. Prussia currently needs allies. Bavaria has been sharing information with Prussia and striving to maintain friendly relations, but given the power dynamics between the two nations, it’s difficult for Prussia to easily align with Bavaria.”

Accepting Bavaria’s help would diminish Prussia’s influence. It’s a matter that could threaten their position as the empire’s hegemon.

This incident was resolved through the cooperation of Lukas Askanian and Bavaria. Thus, if leveraged well, Bavaria could gain an opportunity to rise to a position equal to Prussia. As a Catholic nation backed by the Papal State, Bavaria might even surpass that.

However, the anticipated backlash from Prussia in that process would cause significant damage to the empire. The notion of equal standing is, after all, a hollow promise. Such peace can never last. We’ve already witnessed centuries of power struggles between the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor. If there are two hegemons, one will inevitably crush the other to rise higher, or be crushed and fall under the other’s interference. There cannot be two suns in one sky. That is the nature of power.

In that process, Prussia will bare its teeth desperately to avoid falling. In the worst-case scenario, they likely have mutual destruction with Bavaria in mind.

“If we don’t want to provoke a radical shift in power that brings bloodshed and unrest, we must give Prussia a chance to recover.”

“Hm.”

At Leo’s words, the King rubbed his chin, lost in thought. It wasn’t in objection, but the topic required further explanation.

“Prussia claims to follow enlightened absolutism, but to maintain a unified empire, they’ve been enforcing strong internal suppression, and their subjects’ patience is reaching its limit.”

Though the press under their control hasn’t reported on the suppression, instead branding some subjects as malicious groups—designating reform-seeking subjects as criminals was highly effective in deceiving the majority—everything has an end.

“The citizens of our era, who have stepped onto the path of enlightenment, are not the subjects of old.”

They’ve endured as much as they could. Absolute monarchy is destined to collapse, and Bavaria can seize power without hastily taking on risks for short-term gains.

Everyone understood where Leo’s words were leading. Though there were slight differences of opinion, in a situation involving continental issues like this, minimizing risk was the best choice, and there was no disagreement on that. The ministers nodded.

Leo took a deep breath and thought.

What conclusion Hohenzollern reached regarding the possibility of collapse is unknown.

Wittelsbach’s conclusion is this: We will give them some opportunities, but we will prevent them from overreaching.

Now it’s Bavaria’s turn to persuade Wittelsbach’s stance.

Leo met the eyes of everyone seated and spoke, not glancing at the materials for some time.

“The main actors in resolving this terror attack can be divided into two: Lukas Askanian and the Bavaria government-Papal State alliance. As you know, our Bavaria, with the Papal State’s help, supplied Prussia with double-space magic dismantling techniques and purification magic.”

At the scene, I went to the Minister of Magic with the Catacombs’ double-space magic dismantling technique.

The Catacombs’ mages were temporarily incorporated into the Bavarian royal family.

Since we couldn’t lead royal mages to infiltrate Berlin and Brandenburg, we needed Prussia’s permission from there.

In that process, we didn’t disclose the source of the technology, but now that the incident is over and the unrest has subsided, Prussia will question Bavaria’s technology.

This is why the Papal State’s name was brought up.

We could never reveal that the source of the double-space magic dismantling technique was the Catacombs.

If we did, the Catacombs would be annihilated, and Bavaria wouldn’t be safe either, having allied with what Friedrich Hohenzollern designated as a ‘cleanup target.’

In this regard, Lukas, I, and ultimately the Catacombs leadership decided to join hands with the Papal State. We laundered the source of the double-space magic dismantling technique and its reverse as coming from Papal State scholars, not the Catacombs.

‘Of course, that means the Catacombs’ interests are infringed upon.’

Thus, we and the Catacombs leadership found several believers among their mages who were part of the Munich-Freising Archdiocese. The Catacombs leadership selected one who was actually a cleric in Munich-Freising as their representative, and we immediately contacted the Papal State.

The scenario was set up like this:

‘The Catacombs discovered that their new technology was leaked to Pleroma. We don’t know when that magic might be used, but if it threatens people’s safety, we must share the dismantling technique with the state. However, there are two problems: If we disguise ourselves as imperial mages, the Catacombs’ proprietary technology could be stolen, and if we reveal our affiliation with the Catacombs, we cannot survive.’

The fact that double-space magic could cause significant damage if misused was proven by its nature as a space magic that is nearly invulnerable unless countered by magic exceeding its threshold.

Of course, without seeing the magic directly, it’s hard to grasp. Thus, Narce was instrumental in persuading the Papal State of the necessity of this proposal.

As a result, the Papal State secretly ordained the scholar sent by the Catacombs as a cardinal. They framed this consideration as a means to ‘overcome transnational crises and resist Prussia’s unjust oppression of commoner mages.’

“The fact that we resolved a problem Prussia couldn’t handle is reason enough for Prussia to be wary of us. Prussia will try to prevent Bavaria from gaining more support from the empire’s subjects. Ultimately, the time has come for a third party, not Bavaria or the Papal State, to emerge as Prussia’s ally.”

Leo continued.

“Conveniently, the one who ended this terror attack is Lukas ‘Askanian.’ The younger brother of Adrian Askanian, the Vice Minister of Magic, and a mage personally selected by the imperial family. Anhalt, a pro-Prussia and nominally Protestant state, is an ideal partner for Hohenzollern to align with.”

“Hm.”

“If they join hands, the imperial government will likely announce this: Anhalt is loyal to Prussia, and Lukas Askanian is a loyal subject of Hohenzollern. Hohenzollern fully trusted Lukas Askanian to resolve the issues facing Pentalon, and in response to this unexpected terror attack, they actively accepted his ‘demands’ and resolved the terror with Anhalt.”

There’s some falsehood, but it’s good enough. After all, from the plague rat incident to the magic lantern terror, the empire relied on Lukas’s power to reach this point. In fact, the government—the Crown Prince—trusted Lukas and made a place for him in meetings he wouldn’t normally be allowed to attend.

Since it’s based on truth, Wittelsbach can tolerate this much.

“On the other hand, if Prussia joins hands with ‘Lukas Askanian.’”

To be precise, if Prussia forcibly takes Lukas Askanian’s hand by leveraging Adrian Askanian or Georg Askanian’s power.

“…They’ll announce this: Lukas Askanian cooperated with the imperial government to achieve results, meaning the government didn’t summon a choir to deceive the public without a plan. Instead, their cooperation with Lukas Askanian was prearranged, and they deliberately misled the public to calm them until he was ready.”

I can’t tell the people here that Lukas is Nicolaus.

Thus, I can’t say we can’t simply hand over Lukas’s achievements to them. Lukas Askanian’s achievements are closer to the imperial family’s, so few here would agree with me.

But this much needs to be conveyed.

“We must not let ‘Lukas Askanian’ be co-opted. If that happens, the imperial family will gain a card to attack Bavaria. We had Lukas Askanian as a solution. So how did Bavaria, coming in late, manage to dismantle double-space magic and reverse double-space magic to resolve the terror? Does it mean Bavaria foresaw the terror and prepared a solution in advance? …Then why didn’t they inform our government of a way to resolve the terror beforehand?”

The officials nodded with reluctant expressions, not directed at Leo but because his words were highly plausible.

Leo continued at a steady pace.

“Even if Bavaria knew a terror attack would occur and didn’t disclose it to weaken Prussia’s influence… they secured the technology to stop it and show off. Now, despite working for the empire’s peace, Bavaria will be branded as terrorists.”

The King listened calmly. Some officials’ faces hardened. They had likely suspected this before coming to the meeting, so it wasn’t far-fetched. This made the atmosphere even sharper.

“Thus, the fact that Lukas Askanian ‘directly’ requested help from Bavaria and the Papal State to resolve this incident cannot be conceded to the imperial government’s lies.”

“Very well.”

At the King’s words, Leo gave a nod of gratitude and said,

“Hohenzollern has already contacted Adrian Askanian in the Papal State, requesting Askanian’s cooperation. Soon, Hohenzollern will issue an official statement with Anhalt. Our Bavaria must preemptively reveal our cooperative relationship with Lukas Askanian. That is all.”

“How do you plan to reveal it?”

The Prime Minister of the Kingdom asked.

“What I’m about to say is still at the verbal agreement stage. I ask that the ministers review it from here.”

“Yes, go ahead.”

The ministers replied briefly.

To prevent Lukas being exposed as Nicolaus, we must make it seem that we borrowed the power of ‘Eszett,’ not ‘Leonard Wittelsbach.’

“Our kingdom and the Grand Duchy of Baden will directly rescue Lukas Askanian.”

*  *  *

“I’m back!”

The Archbishop spread his arms in front of me.

It’s now the seventh day since I’ve been staying here. The fifth day since I started acting according to my resolve.

I knew what he wanted by now. I lightly hugged his shoulders. The Archbishop smiled and asked,

“Did you rest well?”

“Of course.”

My resolve to play along with him remains. I’ve been gradually increasing the intensity of my acting each day.

Today, I held the hug a bit longer than usual, and the Archbishop raised his eyebrows and said,

“You took that medicine, didn’t you?”

“No, I didn’t.”

I didn’t, and it’s making my stomach churn.

Now I realize that the emotion-manipulating drug had the effect of keeping my mental state calm. Acting like this without it… Of course, acting is done sober, but I feel something rising in my throat.

As the Archbishop handed his hat and muffler to the servant, he asked me,

“Did you talk to the staff today?”

“No. Who would I talk to?”

“Oh, you must’ve been bored all day.”

The Archbishop slightly furrowed his brow as he spoke.

My response was acting—when is anything not acting these days?—but in truth, there was no time for conversation. The servants were busy working, and the attendant, Lu Barre, was constantly absent.

The Archbishop hadn’t been here for even five minutes, yet for some reason, he was in a rush. He led me to the room we’d been using as a strategy room and said,

“Okay, I have something to tell you today, so let’s quickly go over the information. Then…”

“Wait a second.”

“Yes?”

“How many hours will you stay this time?”

It must’ve been an unfamiliar question from me because the Archbishop tilted his head and answered,

“…Well, three hours?”

“Three hours? That’s too short.”

The Archbishop’s eyes wavered. He quickly composed himself and smiled.

“…Wow, I never thought I’d hear that from you. But I have to go soon.”

“Can’t you stay longer? What do you need to investigate this time?”

“What?”

The Archbishop looked up at me with surprised eyes. He was subtly smiling, but the surprise seemed stronger.

He must be thinking, *We need to find a way to kill the Bishop of Osnabrück as soon as possible, so what’s this about?* As expected, he looked like he was wondering if I’d changed my resolve.

Then, with a face of realization, he said,

“…Oh, it’s already been a week since you’ve been here. How many days was I gone this time?”

“You didn’t come for two days.”

“…Wow, I thought it was less than three hours…”

“Less than that?”

“The coordinate system must be collapsing further. It’s probably down to about an hour and a half instead of two hours now. I’ll order them to reinforce it so it doesn’t collapse within an hour.”

Then he stared at me and muttered,

“By the way, leaving you alone doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.”

“What?”

“Nothing. You must be bored being alone.”

I nodded with a look that said, *Why ask the obvious?* and said,

“Stay a bit longer. Even if you stay here for twelve hours, it’s only thirty minutes outside.”

“Should I?”

The moment he answered, I gave a faint smile, took his hand, and said,

“It’s not a big deal, but there’s something I wanted to do with you when you came.”

“What’s that?”

“Let’s take a walk.”

*  *  *

“…It works well. Time was the answer.”

“What?”

I pretended not to hear the Archbishop’s muttering and turned around. Walking a step behind me by the lakeside—his choice—the Archbishop shrugged and smiled.

“What did you do while I was gone?”

“Read books?”

“That’s all?”

“What else would I do?”

This time, I answered not with acting but just as my personality dictated, and he laughed without caring at all.

“Shall we eat after the walk? I just ate, so I’m not hungry, but you must need breakfast by now.”

“Sure, sounds good.”

After that, neither of us said much.

I quietly asked,

“You know, I don’t even know your name.”

……

“And I don’t know exactly what position you hold in Pleroma.”

……

“Tell me now.”

He didn’t answer.

Why am I suddenly asking this? Well, why do I keep playing along with him?

Because it’s time to put an end to this. I can’t stay here forever.

To get back to the point, though I saw his name in the status window, he’s never told me his name directly. Whether he was hesitating over whether to give his real name or the name of his vessel, or if there’s another reason, I don’t know.

He slowly opened his mouth.

“I found where the Bishop of Osnabrück is.”

I turned around the moment he said it.

Seeing my expression, he laughed.

“Why so surprised? With my abilities, what don’t I know?”

“There’s plenty.”

“Haha.”

He laughed it off and looked at me, saying,

“You waited a long time. Now you can be free. Soon, we’ll be able to move more freely in your world or Pleroma’s world.”

……

I looked at him without answering, waiting for his next words.

“Three hours from now, I’ll attack the Bishop of Osnabrück with other Pleroma members.”

“Alone?”

“Yes.”

“Let me come with you.”

“You know that’s not possible.”

Of course.

Strategically speaking, I’d only hold my allies back.

I deliberately asked in a subdued voice,

“You’re sure you’ll come back?”

“I’ll make sure to come back.”

……

Despite my crumpled expression, he wasn’t fazed at all. Instead, he spoke calmly.

“This might sound sudden, but I need to say this. The day after tomorrow, before I leave, I’m planning to hold an engagement ceremony.”

I pointed to myself. As expected, he nodded.

Yeah, it’s me. Who else would it be?

Having finished my usual reality denial, I silently held up the ring.

It was a gesture asking why he’s doing this when he already prepared a gift. Even if I’m acting like I like him, I think it’s only human to be curious about this.

He understood my question perfectly, laughed, and answered,

“I want to be more certain.”

“You said something similar before. I haven’t taken the antidote since then, just as you said.”

“Right. Then let me put it this way.”

He was holding one of my hands and now pulled the other to hold it too.

A gentle smile spread across his face.

“I’ll keep living until this land turns to cosmic dust. I’ll watch countless nations rise and fall, countless people return to the earth, and from that earth, the next generation rise, and the next after that. In that time, many things might fade.”

His eyes turned not to me but behind me. He was looking at the dim dawn sky and its breeze. The sound of the reeds swaying was like the sound of waves.

“You know? Even when everything loses meaning, when nothing remains inside me, even when relentless exhaustion overtakes me time and again, there’s a memory I can’t forget.”

The Archbishop’s eyes were now on me.

“I want to fill my memories with you. Until history repeats dozens of times and the world finally meets its end, I want to remember you.”

His face was flushed. His grip on my hands tightened slightly.

“And you?”

*  *  *

“No way.”

Elias clutched his head and shouted at Leo.

“It’s been twelve hours! Isn’t that already… a big problem?”

Both he and Narce were back in Berlin now.

Everyone knew the ‘big problem’ meant death. Except for Elias, the other two knew the answer, but the atmosphere kept them from speaking.

Then Leo looked out the window and answered quietly,

“He’s not dead.”

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