Chapter 264

What if it’s not okay?

Of course, I didn’t answer like that. Since the other person was who they were, it was just a brief crooked thought.

“Yes, it’s fine. Please speak.”

“Your Excellency shouted the sentence <Osnabrück Diocese is looking for you> at the end of the match. In fact, no matter what the sentence was, our government was not convinced that hearing something would dispel the curse magic. As you know, that’s because there was a lack of clear grounds to be so certain.”

That’s right.

So, what did you know to shout the code?

No need to think complicatedly. In this kind of Q&A, there was no need to kindly explain everything I knew one by one. Naturally, in such a situation, what I had to do was to pretend not to know.

The attendant leaned toward me, clasped both hands, and said.

“We’ve long heard and know about Your Excellency’s insight.”

“That’s a somewhat unfamiliar statement.”

“You’re the modest type. We’ve heard a lot from the professors at the First Academy. They evaluate that insight is superior in cases where, even if it’s a problem that can be solved sufficiently given time, one approximates the correct answer in less time than others. If there’s time and will, people can find answers to even the most difficult problems, right? What makes the difference is speed. Well, by now, I think Your Excellency has noticed what I want to ask….”

I know. You’re laying the groundwork with such sincerity. At the same time, I can see the intention to prevent me from escaping.

Even they think it’s a high-risk question. They also know that I’ve grasped their intentions to some extent, so they have no choice but to be cautious in the conversation.

“Our government knows well that Your Excellency dispelled the curse magic with your innate ability. If possible, could you tell our government the process in more detail?”

“You seem to believe that I had additional special clues.”

At my answer, the attendant narrowed his eyes and smiled.

That’s a reaction worth having. This question was already over here.

What they really wanted to ask was this.

Did I have separately given information? In other words, was there information that the terrorist gave only to this Pleroma Askanien, or did I receive shared information from Pleroma?

They deliberately praised me and packaged this real question as a request to ‘explain your thought process from one to ten,’ and the benefits they could gain from this are as follows.

First, people who receive praise don’t easily betray that expectation. An unconscious sense of duty to prove that value to the one who praised them begins to take root. As a result, instead of giving answers like ‘Actually, there wasn’t any special basis, I just thought it might be and tried it,’ which avoids telling the truth—they came to the interview to extract evidence that I was an accomplice to the terrorist—I become more likely to try to answer more logically, even if it’s a lie.

Second, if I fall for it above, game over. The more people talk, the more they give away information. Even if the ‘accomplice me’ tries to revise the knowledge I have to fit their perspective, there’s a high chance that my knowledge as a criminal will be mobilized there. 

Even if I’m not the culprit, it doesn’t matter to the other side. Even now, when I’m not the culprit, if what I know is from 1 to 50, what they know is from 1 to 20. Since their goal is to catch even the slightest suspicious behavior, no leeway should be given.

Sorry for them, but it was over from the first one.

I no longer had any desire to prove anything. Whether the end of proof is failure or success, the result is endless fatigue.

“I’m sorry I can’t be of help. But all the clues I mobilized until shouting the answer are what the government knows. The White Phosphorus Match’s ‘Tell everyone that.’ As I told the Minister of Magic at the time, I just judged it worth trying, so I shouted what I guessed ‘that’ was right there.”

“Hm, I see. Understood.”

He could ask more, but he didn’t ask further on this topic.

The reason was clear. The government had certainly heard and knew about the White Phosphorus Match’s code, but the government mistook that White Phosphorus Match’s code for the order the terrorist received and missed the chance to solve the problem directly. They probably didn’t want to dig their own grave.

“Next, I want to ask about this. The question about the sentence ‘Osnabrück Diocese is looking for you.’ While organizing the places Your Excellency stayed in this time, our government discovered several sentences made up of the letters of that sentence. It was what Your Excellency had written in the notebook. How did you know that anagram code?”

This was probably why the government thought they had a clue to frame me as the culprit. However, this was also evidence I could use when claiming innocence.

The attempt to come and probe like this instead of immediately indicting me from the government arose because of the ambiguity above.

Anyway, what they found was paper I deliberately left unburned, and his question was the good question I wanted. It was bound to come out.

First, let’s think about this. Before turning back time, I had intuited the book code. But in this timeline, I hadn’t heard about the book code. The Minister of Magic had only said during the tournament, ‘Three book codes arrived at our office, and we’ve decoded them all. Forfeit and come right away.’

There’s a slight problem, but this could be handled just like a snake crossing a wall. However, to lead the atmosphere in my favor, I needed to change the order of answers.

“Alright. But first, it seems better to explain why I thought this ‘Osnabrück Diocese is looking for you’ was the decoded message, to aid understanding. Is that okay?”

“Please proceed as you’re comfortable. I wanted to ask that too.”

“Fortunately. To cut to the chase, shouting that sentence was quite an experimental attempt for me. As I mentioned earlier, I still had doubts about ‘Tell everyone that,’ but there was no basis to be certain that ‘that’ was this sentence. To put it more certainly, I had no evidence that this anagram code was the correct answer.”

“Then?”

“I just relied on analogy. It might sound a bit mundane.”

“No. If it’s not rude, please tell me in more detail.”

“I was already on edge about the White Phosphorus Match’s code. The imperial government was the same, right? I just thought the terrorist’s way of presenting clues would be consistent.”

At my words, the attendant nodded with a soulless smile.

My words differ from the facts. The two methods seem the same in using codes, but the entities giving the two codes are different. Ainsidel intentionally made it look the same as the Freiburg Archbishop’s method—anagram ‘code.’

However, I’m now glossing over this fact and speaking assuming the culprit is one. The other side also thinks the culprit is one; they don’t think multiple people competed in a power struggle and this mess happened.

So, even though I’m cleverly creating logic, to the listener, I’m just continuing to say obvious things.

Regardless of whether he made a soulless expression, I spoke enthusiastically, even using a bit of gesture.

‘I thought the terrorist’s way of presenting clues would be consistent.’ In other words, as the attendant said earlier, that I had received the code in advance. Now, I’ll explain in detail. One month ago, at the Second Imperial Academy, I received a note with a strange sentence written on it. After the nationwide berserk incident, the Second Imperial Academy was almost sealed off, and the only day outsiders could enter was the art festival. Taking advantage of that time, the culprit left a bouquet with a strange sentence written on it for me.”

“The Second Imperial Academy.”

The attendant asked back with a slightly disconcerted face.

It wasn’t anywhere else but a school supported by the imperial family, so it wouldn’t be received well. If a problem arose here, the responsibility lay with the Second Imperial Academy too.

“Yes. Shouldn’t you check the entry records from then?”

“Yes, I’ll mention it to the superiors once.”

He composed his expression and nodded.

In a normal situation, I would have just ended it, but now I couldn’t. There was a need to push once more here. I hardened my expression a bit more and leaned toward him.

“No, Attendant. This isn’t a ‘mention once’ matter. Surely, the culprit is among those entrants. No matter how experimental my attempt was, hasn’t it been confirmed after the fact that it was the code to dismantle the curse magic?”

“Ah, yes, of course. But these things now need to be discussed even with His Majesty the Emperor, and above all, I have no decision-making authority. However, what Your Excellency said is sufficiently empathetic.”

He tried to make the most sincere expression possible and asked me another question.

“For now, I have nothing more to say on that part… Is there anyone who can testify to the situation at the time?”

“Of course. His Highness Elias Hohenzollern, Duke of Prussia, was with me at the time. Additionally, there are a few classmates who can testify that I received a strange phrase in January.”

“Understood. It may be bothersome, but please write the list here.”

The attendant held out a notebook to me.

I wrote the names of Leo and Narce and the second exam team members, and the theater club people including Adelbert, and returned it. Anyway, they had heard the story from me within January—most not directly. I deliberately didn’t write Heike.

Seeing that, the attendant smiled with an ambiguous expression. Before he could show more displeasure, I asked.

“How about it? Were there no other reports? It’s uncomfortable to say this to Your Excellency the Attendant who came on the Minister’s orders, but I can’t just let the fact that such a problematic phrase came to me slide either.”

“Of course. Our government also knows well that Your Excellency Askanien suffered much damage in this incident and feels sorry about it.”

He immediately understood my meaning and defended the government.

It meant that I, as a victim of the terror, intended to blame the government in reverse.

When I didn’t answer and waited for his words, the attendant shook his head and continued.

“You may not have heard, but on the day of the terror, right before Your Excellency chanted the spell, a book code arrived at the Emergency Committee saying ‘Showed the answer to over 100 people.’ So, such codes didn’t arrive only to Your Excellency. We can’t give a definite answer yet as the investigation is ongoing, but Your Excellency might be one of the 100.”

“I see. Surely, no one else has come forward besides me yet?”

“As of now… yes. We’ll contact you again after finishing the investigation, so please wait a bit more.”

At those words, I narrowed my eyes and nodded.

‘Hm.’

Good.

Up to here, it came as intended.

They had room to press me using the terrorist’s hint ‘Showed the answer to over 100 people.’ For example, ‘We searched all of Prussia, but no one else received a strange sentence—what’s going on? Why only you? At this rate, the government can’t abandon suspicion of self-staging.’

The codes that came to the Ainsidel mansion and the Catacombs couldn’t be reported, so the incident was bound to flow this way inevitably.

The moment all five codes are revealed, many things must be disclosed. My identity, Nicolaus-Catacombs relationship, Catacombs-Ainsidel relationship, Nicolaus-Ainsidel relationship, the fact that there’s a Pleroma bishop among Heike’s family members, etc.

This code issue was something Narce said he’d handle during the meeting with friends earlier, but I still didn’t know how it turned out.

However, the attendant now defended the government and consumed that good attack tool. Of course, the government level could raise the issue again, but it primarily prevented that from being used as an attack tool against me.

The attendant glanced over the paper he brought and opened his mouth.

“Then, finally, one last question. How did you decode that code? Did anyone help with the decoding? It’s a question absolutely necessary for our government’s merit investigation.”

“What kind of help exactly do you mean?”

“For example, did someone tell you key words like ‘diocese’ or ‘Osnabrück,’ or were there more codes related to that?”

It should have been sufficiently answered with what was said earlier.

Merit investigation my foot. Saying it’s the last makes it blatantly obvious.

I listened to his words expressionlessly and shook my head.

“No. As you know, receiving that code was over a month ago. In the five weeks, I just combined possible words as a pastime. It’s not 270 characters, but 27. Naturally, at first, I didn’t attach much meaning, but only when the terror happened did I realize it was a somewhat ominous code.”

“I see. Then, going back to the beginning, the conviction that it was a code….”

“Isn’t it hard to see the nonsensical sentence Audienz dubioses schockiertes as an attempt to convey the true meaning of the original text as is?”

“Heh heh, that’s true.”

The attendant laughed roughly, scribbled something, and closed the notebook. That laugh still had no soul.

It must have been an interview with no gains. Since he achieved none of the single purpose for coming here.

Thinking there was nothing more to extract, he extended his hand to me and said.

“We sincerely thank you for responding to the government’s request. It was sufficiently helpful.”

“I’m glad it was helpful.”

“Heh heh, when your condition improves a bit more, we’ll visit again regarding the Pleroma matter then.”

“Yes, understood.”

I shook hands with him, and as soon as he left the room, I sat back down.

After spacing out for about 10 minutes, the servant opened the door and said to me.

“The spokesperson from the Anhalt government has arrived. Shall we meet right now?”

“Yes. Tell them to come in.”

Soon, someone in Anhalt formal wear entered and greeted me.

“Your Excellency Askanien. Long time no see. I am Ulrich Oster, spokesperson for the Anhalt government.”

“Nice to meet you.”

I answered like that and pointed to the seat in front. The spokesperson sat down while observing me for a long time and then said.

“It’s really as I’ve heard. You’ve changed a lot.”

“Hm.”

Is now the time to talk about how I’ve changed?

When I didn’t continue, he perceptively changed the topic.

Most of what he said was about the alliance with Prussia. Requests to not stand against Prussia and to pledge full loyalty as his ally continued endlessly. Unlike the attendant from the German Imperial government earlier, he didn’t ask about thoughts on handling the terror and just kept imploring.

With the press conference schedule about to fill up soon, it was natural.

And he diligently explained that I would become the second Adrian Askanien in the empire, and that Anhalt expected that too.

I expected it, but….

‘This is surprising.’

The Askanien and Anhalt government that treated Luka as a murderer, locked him in the castle, and acted as if he didn’t exist, now wanted to make me the second Adrian Askanien?

Setting aside the shamelessness, this was evidence that my brother hadn’t played any tricks. From after Eschet until now, he hadn’t blocked me. Even after seeing the third exam and the match with Gabriele Caetani.

‘Then….’

I couldn’t just let it pass.

Was that guy the type to watch quietly?

“The subjects of Anhalt are in a state of confusion right now. Before the nationwide tour, holding a press conference in Anhalt first….”

“I’ll do that. More than that, I have one curiosity.”

I cut his words, but he didn’t show discomfort and answered.

“Yes, please speak.”

“I need to send word to my brother, but I haven’t been able to so far. Have you been in contact with him by any chance?”

“Ah, of course. His Excellency the Vice Minister was really worried a lot. Over the past two days, he exchanged endless letters with me about Your Excellency Lukas Askanien’s physical condition, and upon hearing the news that Your Excellency woke up unscathed today, he was extremely pleased. I’d like to show you the letters, but… I didn’t think to bring them.”

“I see. That’s a relief. Did my brother say anything more to me?”

“That’s….”

Yeah. If my brother talks about me, he’d say more to Askanien than to the government spokesperson. The key talks probably went mainly to the Askanien people. Maybe they had a similarly info-less conversation like with the spokesperson.

I asked the next question immediately.

“Understood. I want to meet and greet again in person, but do you have no plans to return to the country?”

“Yes, not yet. Actually, His Excellency the Vice Minister requested the imperial government to expand his jurisdiction. He’ll be very busy, so the return to the country will be as scheduled in August.”

I nodded. He smiled and began listing admonitions about the terror to me again.

‘…Why is he so quiet.’

There must be a clear reason for being this quiet. What was he relying on to act like this now? After Eschet, we exchanged letters two or three times, and from then until now, he’s been consistently nonchalant.

He had a plan I didn’t know.

That must be the answer.

The Anhalt government spokesperson went on listing precautions alone like that. This side’s purpose was entirely to look good to Prussia. Like the attendant from the imperial government, he asked about the truth of the incident, but that too was just out of fear of being held accountable by Prussia.

‘Up to here, it’s smooth.’

Now was the time to hear from Leo why he said to go to Bavaria.

This place was Bavaria now, and even without that guy saying to go, I’d gone to Bavaria like eating rice—why did he say it that way specifically?

As I came out to the corridor, an elderly noble who wasn’t there before suddenly greeted me familiarly.

“Pleased to meet you, Your Excellency Askanien. I am the Marquis of Hohenlohe-Oehringen, the chief steward of the Wittelsbach royal family.”

“Nice to meet you. What’s the matter?”

I met a lot of people today.

Anyway, he had an appropriate smile, and his attire and style subtly proved he was Bavarian. It wasn’t someone I’d met in the Nicolaus state because he was a family servant, not a kingdom official.

He held out the letter he was holding and said.

“His Highness the Crown Prince left a letter for Your Excellency. Please check it.”

‘Leo?’

I unfolded the white letter he extended.

Clearly, there was no writing, but as soon as I opened it, navy ink appeared on the paper.

[To Lukas]

[I didn’t expect to end up speaking like Elias, but only you read.]

“……”

‘It must be because of ‘only you read.” He seems displeased at having ended up speaking like Elias; even just looking at the sentence, I could feel his mood wasn’t great.

[The meeting is really long. I was going to wait until your interviews were all over, but I have no time due to schedule, so I left a letter first. See you later.]

“Hm?”

You had a schedule but were going to tell me why to go to Bavaria in that gap?

More than that, you didn’t even tell me when you’re coming?

‘This isn’t like him.’

What’s up with him today.

I flipped to the back of the letter and asked.

“Where has His Highness the Crown Prince gone?”

“It’s hard to speak about royal duties. Have you checked all the letter?”

“Yes.”

As soon as I said that, the letter scattered into light. The steward glanced over my clothes and said to me.

“Is the robe you’re wearing now an imperial one?”

Out of nowhere?

“Yes.”

“I see. You must come with me now.”

“…?”

We stared at each other silently for a long time. Only after a while did I break the silence with a hollow laugh and opened my mouth.

“Why?”

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