Chapter 310

The scene before my eyes changed. Sunlight blocked my vision, bringing on a wave of dizziness. I was sitting in an office I had never seen before, staring at the face of the Archduke of Austria.

“Beatrix died after setting foot in a Gnostic group.”

“She never set foot in such things.”

Emanuel answered briefly. Beatrix Maria’s father explained again.

“So, you are saying that a German Gnostic group killed our Beatrix. I heard everything from the Investigation Bureau.”

“As you heard, they wanted Her Highness Beatrix’s Magic Studies research. This is Her Highness’s Magic Studies research material.”

Emanuel held out the box, but the Archduke shook his head without even opening it.

“Beatrix never showed interest in Magic Studies. Recently, she was striving for the harmony of the Hungarians.”

“…Didn’t I already tell you in the letter? Maria was conducting Magic Studies research based on Cabala mysticism and Hermeticism. Maria was unfairly murdered by robbers who wanted these research materials.”

Anxiety filled the eyes of the Archduke, who began to shake his head slowly. Emanuel sensed it intuitively. Although he wasn’t crying, he was crying inside; he knew he would never see his child again, even though he couldn’t fully realize the loss yet. And while he loved his child, he didn’t trust her. He was denying reality.

“My child is a Christian. A devout Catholic.”

“So.”

“There is no reason for her to set foot in such a field.”

“Look here! The Gnostic sect cast a curse wearing the shell of baptism to resurrect Her Highness Maria and manipulate her as they pleased. That is why Maria died! Shouldn’t you go to Germany to protest right now?! You should go and ask what they are doing not eliminating Pleroma, or declare war over the fact that a member of the Austrian Imperial Family died in the middle of Berlin, or do something!”

“…….”

The Archduke looked at Emanuel with a face that didn’t understand at all. He was trapped in the sound of his own weeping and couldn’t hear anything. Nothing reached him.

Words didn’t get through. This person was crazy, and I was crazy too, but I didn’t have the confidence to talk anymore. To this person, Beatrix Maria was different from the Maria I knew. He only knew Maria as a child who was an excellent politician; he had no idea, and didn’t want to know, that she was a person who wanted to give opportunities to Old Humans even while stepping into wicked Magic Studies. At the same time, he would want to know even less that she was a person who found joy in that wicked Magic Studies. Honor, honor, honor…. He loved his dead child, but the truth about the dead child was not accepted at all.

Emanuel, who was looking down at the Archduke with a fed-up face, squeezed a sound out of his stiffened throat.

“Goodbye.”

It was the last courtesy.

As soon as Emanuel came out of the room, the younger brother of the dead Maria, who had been waiting outside, followed him. The anxiety rising on that face felt distant.

“Your Highness Emanuel.”

“…….”

“How did my brother die? No one explains it to me. Your Highness….”

Emanuel looked at him blankly and then shook his head.

“You don’t need to know.”

“Pardon?”

Emanuel walked past him just like that.

When I closed and opened my eyes once, the view changed again.

[1888. 02. 28 Archduke Beatrix Maria von Österreich-Este Passes Away]

[Accidental Death During Magic Studies Research… Wave of Mourning in Vienna]

Whoosh—

Sometimes the sound of the wind was indistinguishable from the sound of rain. having lived only in the south, this was his first time coming to the North Sea. It was the same for Maria. We lived inland. I wanted to bury him in a forest or a mountain, but since I couldn’t, I felt sorry. Emanuel thought so as he looked at the newspaper in one hand. The fake funeral procession was being broadcast through the Imperial Newspaper.

‘The real one is here.’

Emanuel sat at the edge of the cliff and read the article. The final farewell announced by Österreich-Este was a spectacle.

[We will not forget Beatrix Maria von Österreich-Este, who strove for the people of Austria-Hungary until the end. Archduke Maria’s heart for Magic Studies and the public’s livelihood will be remembered forever.]

It was Magic Studies, alright. Though that Magic Studies wasn’t general Magic Studies, and he didn’t die from an accident during a Magic Studies experiment. Österreich-Este had no will to catch the culprit. They feared that the deceased would be dismissed as an anti-Christian figure. They must have thought it was better to say he died in an accident.

‘…Right, it is indeed a disgrace to be dragged away by a group like Pleroma and die because of occult Magic Studies. I guess they don’t have the confidence to protest to Germany and escalate the matter?’

They were probably concerned that they might learn something they didn’t want to know in the process, or that Germany would get a hold of their weakness.

Emanuel took a deep breath. Now, there was no point in arguing about anything. He fiddled with the bottle he was holding and muttered.

“It’s a relief I didn’t let those people know you committed suicide.”

The sound of crashing waves was heard.

“If I had, you wouldn’t have been able to go anywhere near Purgatory. Your devout father would have stopped it.”

Laughter scattered in the wind. Emanuel, who was laughing lightly alone, stood up.

The conclusion was this.

Maria was dead, and Pleroma could not take his technology no matter what means they used now. At least within the line I knew.

Fwoosh—

Emanuel poured oil on the suitcase he brought and dropped a lit white phosphorus match. A popping sound was heard. The leather on the outside of the bag melted and turned into a black semi-solid shape. The papers inside didn’t burn as easily as expected. The letters Maria wrote by hand were slowly being devoured by the fire. The things he left behind disappeared like this. Emanuel watched Maria’s traces turn into dust, and only when even the last piece of paper scattered and flew into the sky did he open the bottle he was holding and throw it into the sea. The bone ash mixed with the seawater and disappeared.

That was the end.

***

I opened my eyes.

“It seems you won’t be satisfied until you read it in the end. Though I don’t know how you did it.”

Emanuel’s half-submerged voice was heard. I looked at the ceiling of the Bavarian hospital and blinked.

He had returned.

Without going berserk internally like Adelbert or Marco Schreiber. He simply accepted the Divine Power I pushed in, purified the Vitriol himself, and sent it back out. It was a calm end.

Starting with Gregorio, numerous things were churning in my head, but now was not the time to think about that. I took a deep breath to organize my emotions and spoke.

“You woke up more cleanly than I thought.”

“Because I already let him go.”

“…….”

“I’m the only one who can properly send that friend off, so I should send him off cleanly.”

I sat up without a word. Emanuel mumbled with a face drained of all strength.

“You don’t need to apologize. Didn’t you save me when I almost became Pleroma and died? Rather, I should be saying thank you.”

“Your personality remains the same.”

At those words, Emanuel looked at me.

“Have I ever had a proper conversation with Sir Nicolaus?”

Even though it was only a month, the words didn’t come out easily. I stared blankly into the air and answered.

“No.”

“…….”

There was no time to be like this anymore.

I touched my face to confirm there was no mask, and realized this was a sealed hospital room without windows. Leo must have put me here. The berserk incident that happened at Emanuel’s mansion had been settled while I was in the labyrinth.

I spoke a long time after organizing the aftermath of Emanuel remaining in me.

“There is someone targeting Your Highness Emanuel. Though Your Highness probably knows.”

“It must be Pleroma.”

I nodded.

“You can tell by seeing them commit such a bold act targeting Your Highness Emanuel, a member of the Royal Family, even knowing they would turn Bavaria into an enemy; Pleroma wants Her Highness Maria’s technology right now.”

“They should know by now that it has all disappeared.”

“They are trying to extract the knowledge inside Your Highness Emanuel’s head. Furthermore, if Your Highness Emanuel happens to be keeping Her Highness Maria’s remains or blood… they would need to obtain that.”

Emanuel looked at me. I knew what he was trying to ask me. I quietly continued.

“You must be curious about their intention to resurrect Her Highness Maria only after 10 years have passed without looking for him all this time.”

“It seems this is related to the parure.”

“It is. Did you know that Her Highness Maria made the parure into an artifact and interacted with people of the past? You already know that one cannot interfere with the past simply through astral projection.”

“…It’s the first time I’m hearing that he interacted with people of the past, but it seems like something that friend would have done enough.”

Emanuel burst into light laughter and continued.

“Because I hated astral projection, that friend didn’t bring it up much either. He started talking about it gradually from the time he created the club called Hermetische Gesellschaft….”

He stayed still with eyes recalling memories, then asked.

“If what Sir Nicolaus says is true, do you think the French Imperial Family, who stole the jewel this time, knew that Maria’s technology was imbued in that parure?”

“Yes. Your Highness would also know that otherwise, France would have no reason to steal Austria’s parure.”

There were more clues, but I couldn’t tell Emanuel that. Emanuel also seemed to think there were many awkward points for France to simply target a lump of minerals from another country, so he agreed and asked.

“Exactly what technology is contained in it?”

“It was a technology to replicate unique abilities. Although various other technologies were put into the artifact, the main magic was that.”

“…….”

Emanuel held his breath and stroked his chin.

“That is Maria’s masterpiece that I remember.”

It was a familiar expression. I smiled. Emanuel looked at me and said.

“How did you investigate Maria? You…. don’t seem like a bad person, but you are knowledgeable about unknowable things.”

“…….”

“For your information, I’m not saying this because the wall of my heart has disappeared, but simply because you have already read everything.”

He spoke lightly, but it wasn’t light. The reason he had rejected me all this time must have been because he didn’t have the courage to face the Maria spoken of by others. His memories that I read proved it. The reason no lump of resentment remained that would cause him to go berserk continuously was because he didn’t dwell on ‘what if’ regarding Maria’s and his own actions, not because he had become numb to the death. Sending him off cleanly was one thing, and the wound from it was another.

“I know. I apologize.”

“I told you earlier there’s no need to apologize.”

He said that and looked at me silently. He was still demanding an explanation. I looked into the air, thought, and handed him the cigarette I had carried just in case. Since Emanuel just looked at it with an expression asking what it was, I smiled faintly.

“Accept it like a Bavarian.”

“…….”

Emanuel laughed with a face that looked slightly dumbfounded. Yet, his eyes were full of ambiguous confusion. The answer he gave me that day must not have been just words thrown out randomly.

“It seems you also possess a peculiar ability like me.”

I showed a smile. It wouldn’t have been a sufficient answer to the question of how I investigated, but it couldn’t be helped. How could I say that we were friends for a brief moment 12 years ago? It was an event of a world that didn’t exist for him. I left him and stood up.

“Please rest. I will come back in the evening.”

***

I waited until Emanuel’s treatment was over, received simple treatment myself, and then entered his hospital room. Emanuel pointed to the bandage wrapped around my neck.

“Did I do that?”

“Yes. You know.”

“I’m sorry. No wonder your voice sounded a bit strange….”

“Everyone who goes berserk is like that. First, I will explain what I can tell you. The French Imperial Family and several noble families know the fact that Her Highness Maria had a special artifact. They might not know that it is an artifact that stores unique abilities, but based on the circumstances, they would have found out by now.”

Emanuel understood quickly despite my sudden explanation. I examined his expression and continued.

“What did Your Highness think when you heard the news that France stole the Österreich-Este parure?”

“Of course… I was dumbfounded. I wondered if Pleroma stole it and framed France.”

“It’s very long to explain, but Pleroma is not the culprit. Although it’s too early to say it’s confirmed, when verifying my information with help from around me, that theft was accomplished with the d’Orléans family’s unique technology.”

“…….”

Emanuel looked at me as if I was being absurd, then a playfulness rose on his face.

“Well… if Sir Nicolaus says so, then it must be. Let’s assume that family possessed an ability optimized for theft.”

I wonder where that temper that turned me away at the door went.

“…Returning to the main point, if France dared to steal a jewel even with war in mind, it means that jewel is not an ordinary item. If France had to steal a jewel because they lacked money, they would have rather squeezed colonial mines. Pleroma could not have failed to notice this strange point as well.”

Emanuel looked at me when the colony topic came up, and perhaps reading quickly that I didn’t approve of imperialism, he returned to his usual eyes.

“There is another theft report that came in to me. A relic was stolen from the Trier Cathedral and the Vatican, and it also disappeared with the same method as this parure. But upon interrogation, the culprit of this incident knew nothing about the relic.”

“…….”

“D’Orléans stole only the jewel, but… there is someone who stole the relic with the same method. How could they possess the family’s technology?”

“Hmm. The head of the d’Orléans family could have ordered another d’Orléans to bring the Holy Nail.”

“That is a good thought. However, since family technology is not a unique ability, it can be passed on. Wouldn’t it be better to order a trustworthy servant rather than ordering a person of the same family for such a dangerous task? After all, if one is a servant of the Imperial Family, they are high-ranking nobles of the ruling family level, so they don’t receive ridiculous demands to open their luggage during inspection. Also, since they are in a position to erase memories with Divine Power after finishing the job, there would be no need to worry about secondary damage of the servant running away with the parure.”

“The value of Nicolaus’s name isn’t there for nothing.”

“…….”

He keeps teasing me.

I scoffed upon seeing Emanuel’s peculiar smile.

“Everyone probably thought like me. First, what Your Highness mentioned earlier was the first possibility.”

“The second?”

“There is a group like Pleroma in France as well, and they are controlling d’Orléans. In other words, d’Orléans is a puppet ruler, and the mastermind who absorbed the family’s information used appropriate figures with departure schedules to bring the jewel and the relic.”

“…….”

Emanuel stared at me intently. His face gradually hardened.

Why was no memory removal magic regarding the relic cast on Charles d’Orléans specifically? This is the decisive question remaining in this incident.

Since there is no need to explain all strategies to a chess piece being used, the mastermind force would have had information about both the jewel and the relic, but we can consider the possibility that those used as tools like Charles d’Orléans only knew about the item they were assigned and couldn’t imagine there would be another theft incident. In other words, the hypothesis is that since the d’Orléans family is not the master but strictly in the position of individual users, they were not shared any information about the relic plan established by the mastermind force, and there was no need to erase their memory.

The terror against Emanuel and the information witnessed in his labyrinth partially support this hypothesis.

“Third, both are correct.”

“…Is it certain that Pleroma caused the incident targeting me this time?”

“The sleeping agent used is identical to the one used during the previous Grand Hotel berserk incident. There is a diocese I suspect. You don’t need to doubt this point.”

Emanuel frowned, thought for a moment, and opened his mouth.

“You are thinking of the second possibility.”

“That is correct.”

The reason they dared to take a high risk in this situation—the reason they attacked a Royal Family member risking even war with the Kingdom of Bavaria—is because the French Imperial Family re-illuminated the possibility regarding Maria von Österreich-Este that they had buried. But there is a problem.

“However, even if the first hypothesis is correct, there is nothing particularly strange about the part where Pleroma dared to launch an attack on Your Highness Emanuel. Since becoming a large organization, they have become quite cautious and have been holding their breath extremely since the Pentalon, but… Pleroma originally showed radical moves frequently. If Pleroma takes an even bigger risk and explodes another major incident, it would be a different story, but if they stop here, the second hypothesis that there is a powerful organization in France capable of competing with Pleroma might be ambiguous.”

“Right. You know well.”

“Therefore, for now, I decided to place appropriate probability on all three hypotheses. The reason I kept sending letters to Your Highness about Her Highness Maria von Österreich-Este… was to prepare for the event that Pleroma, driven into a corner in the case of the second possibility, might commit an act like today. I also had to ask about the possibility of Archduke Maria being resurrected, or the possibility that Your Highness Emanuel possesses his data. Since they might try to chase Archduke Maria’s traces continuously for the time being.”

“Ah, don’t tell me you did it to explain this.”

“Yes. No matter what, I felt sorry for bothering you continuously. If it has been explained, I will leave now.”

Despite my rude words, Emanuel answered calmly.

“I am grateful.”

“…….”

“Let’s meet again.”

I answered with a smile and left the hospital room.

I wanted to talk more, but I couldn’t. An emergency meeting was scheduled in Bavaria regarding this berserk incident. Of course, it was the same in Prussia. Since I had to avoid suspicion, the King was considerate enough to let me go to Prussia first.

I moved to the Wittelsbach mansion in Prussia with Elias, who had been in Bavaria.

“Change quickly! 10 minutes left, 10 minutes!”

Elias rubbed the bandage on my neck briskly and pushed me into the dressing room. I was dumbfounded, but since it was practically the first time a direct attack targeting only a Royal Family member had been carried out, the Prussian Ministry of Magic also quickly scheduled meetings for each militia. It was true that only 10 minutes were left.

‘Why do old clothes have so many things to pack? They look similar.’

“It took 5 minutes!”

As I came out of the dressing room, Elias scolded me. Unlike plain clothes where I just had to throw on a one-piece shirt and jacket and run out, this couldn’t be helped because I had to assemble from the shirt up. Anyway, even while saying that, he didn’t cling to me as usual. He carefully grabbed my arm and raised his eyebrows. It meant to warp. As I closed my eyes, the surrounding air changed.

“You’re here.”

Hearing Narce’s voice, I opened my eyes. We were in the school’s militia conference room.

‘Hmm.’

It’s serious. I wonder how long it’s been since it was like this.

Unusually, all militia students from 1st to 3rd year had gathered. I adjusted my turtleneck to hide the bandage so it wouldn’t show and sat down.

Like that, it became 10 PM when the meeting was scheduled. Bewilderingly, no one came.

We waited for 20 more minutes from then, but still, no one came. There was no news yet from Elias, who had gone out saying he would bring someone. Narce glanced at me and turned his head. His expression looked strangely dark.

“They’re late.”

Bang—!

As soon as those words ended, someone opened the door and entered.

“I’m a little late.”

Questions arose on the students’ faces. I felt the same.

The person who entered just now was not the Militia Steering Committee Chairman, but a non-mage staff member. He swallowed his saliva with a face turned white and said.

“There is a little problem, yes… a problem has arisen. The Chairman Professor cannot come right now, so….”

Perhaps judging that rambling wouldn’t work, he showed us the newspaper he was holding and said.

[[Breaking News] 204 Magic Scholars Nationwide Missing]

“Since we cannot know the whereabouts of where the professors have gone right now, the Investigation Bureau is investigating at their level. You shouldn’t be here either, and an announcement will go out soon, but….”

The air froze coldly. Everyone’s gaze was fixed on the newspaper.

“…….”

Why specifically Magic Studies ‘scholars’? And not missing from one city, but across all of Germany?

They said a shrimp’s back is broken in a fight between whales.

It really broke.

If this incident is truly Pleroma’s crime, what does that mean?

We now have to deal with even the French criminal organization that Pleroma is desperately checking. No, to be precise, we have to deal with people across the entire Empire getting swept up in the competition between that organization and Pleroma. This day today, when Emanuel went berserk and 204 scholars went missing in just one day… is the beginning.

An announcement voice with Amplification Magic is heard from somewhere.

[Attention all members of the Imperial Second Academy Militia.]

‘…My deduction.’

I hope it is a hypersensitive calculation.

[We plan to announce a changed mobilization plan in response to the state of emergency, so please move to the Imperial First Academy Militia Operations Center immediately upon hearing the announcement.]

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