TL/ED – Miso
I glanced at the dagger on the table.
The blade was a clear grayish-white, looking as though it had never been used. Given that it was likely ant for self-defense, the chances of Sharmia having actually used it herself were infinitely low as long as Karos was around.
Even so, if what she said was true, it was probably the tool that had killed the Princess the most.
A reasonable question ca to my mind.
“Why is that the price of prophecy?”
“Huh?”
“If what you’re saying is true, isn’t that ability close to invincibility?”
If the Princess possessed a literally infinite Regression ability, returning to a fixed point in ti and coming back to life every ti she died.
Wouldn’t that be the sa as saying defeat was impossible? I couldn’t easily accept the Princess calling that a price.
Sharmia nodded as if in agreent.
“It’s true that my ability has helped a great deal. Without it, the Empire would probably have been a far more terrible place and might have fallen much more easily.”
“Then why…?”
“Jern, what would you do if you were an ordinary person with no power at all, traveling along, and you suddenly just knew that there was a band of bandits ahead? No warning, no reason, you just knew?”
“I’d avoid them, of course.”
“Yes, you would. But what if, while avoiding the bandits by going through a canyon, you were suddenly crushed by a falling rock? What if you suffered for an entire week before dying of dehydration, a death far more terrible than being killed by the bandits’ swords? Wouldn’t it have been better to just die to the bandits?”
“…?”
I tilted my head. I couldn’t quite grasp what she was trying to say.
“Isn’t that just hindsight? If you didn’t know the rock was going to fall…”
“You’re right. Then what if you knew the rock was going to fall?”
“Then I’d take a different path, not through the canyon.”
“And what if, as a result, you fell into an acidic swamp this ti and t a death far more painful than dying of dehydration?”
“What?”
“Forward, sideways, backward, standing still… What if, no matter what choice you made, no matter how you moved forward avoiding dangers, dodging accidents, escaping disasters, what remained at the end was always a nightmare more terrible than what you’d avoided, stretching on endlessly?”
“…”
“After confirming all of it, every single disaster you’d inevitably face no matter where or how you went, you realize you haven’t even taken a single step yet. And then you think, ‘Wouldn’t it have been best to just die to the bandits?'”
Sharmia asked her question in a casual tone, as if wondering what to have for dinner.
“Jern, would you choose to die to the bandits?”
“No.”
“Then would you choose to be crushed by a rock, dissolved in a swamp, or burned to death in a desert?”
“None of those.”
My answer was already decided, of course.
“I understand why you consider it a price. And that it’s not sothing I, who knows nothing, have any right to comnt on. But if I may answer without knowing my place, I’d struggle to the very end.”
“As I thought.”
Sharmia smiled brightly and sipped her tea. I felt a sense of déjà vu from those words.
As I thought?
“…Have we had this conversation before?”
“Dozens of tis at the tea house? You always give the sa answer.”
“…”
“Thanks to that, Jern, I was able to trust you.”
I struggled to keep my expression from souring.
The Princess’s repeated declarations of trust in had felt uncomfortable and strange, but it seed I had passed all of the regressor’s nurous tests.
No wonder she had been trying to win over by any ans necessary from the start. I gathered my thoughts and asked again.
“So, you’re saying I can borrow that price as well?”
“Once is possible. But…”
Sharmia cupped her cheeks and looked at Dersia with an embarrassed expression.
“The thod is a bit, well… It would be awkward if Jern’s master, Lady Dersia, found out, could you perhaps step outside for a mont?”
“Do you think I could leave after hearing that?”
Dersia had looked displeased ever since we began this conversation.
“Jern. Using that price ans you’ll have to die at least once. Our benevolent Princess is essentially ordering your death.”
“B-but… I thought it was Lady Dersia who ordered his death…”
“What did you just say?”
Sharmia seed cowed by Dersia’s razor-sharp gaze, tapping her fingers together as she replied.
“I’m willing to go back anyti if Jern is in danger. That way, he wouldn’t actually have to die…”
“The idea that the world ends imdiately after your death is absurd. You may stand above all others, Your Highness, but that doesn’t make you the protagonist of the world.”
“Of course I don’t have such delusions. The world doesn’t end. It goes back. Like turning a cartwheel in reverse.”
“…Unbelievable. It would make more sense if it ended and then went back.”
“Lady Dersia, you change your words quite often, don’t you? That doesn’t seem like proper conduct for a master…”
I take back what I said about her being cowed.
Her expression might have looked subdued, but she still said everything she wanted to. Sensing a fight brewing, I cald Dersia down first.
“Let at least hear her out. Master, the fact that you didn’t stop this eting ans you agree to so extent, doesn’t it? From what I’ve heard, it doesn’t seem entirely bad.”
“…Jern. While you were away, I looked into the First Wizard and this bloodline of his.”
Dersia cald slightly and t my gaze.
“His story only appears in fairy tales and folklore. Most historical records did’t survive. Even the Elves barely know who he was. They only knew of him as so peculiar human.”
“Really? That’s quite strange.”
If even the Elves, who lived for such long ages, didn’t know, did that an it happened that long ago?
Dersia shook her head.
“No. The Elves existed long before this First Wizard ever did. However…”
After choosing her words carefully, Dersia spat them out.
“I’d never thought about it before, but the the period when the Elves claid to have suffered from madness and burned the entire continent was, for so reason, also around that ti.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe he created magic. The magical arts are too deep and profound. It would be like saying an individual molded the clouds in the sky or predicted the shape of every crack in the earth. I suspect he was simply a primitive who mistook discovery for creation.”
“Ah, I think the sa way.”
“But sothing is certainly strange. The timing of the Crimson Circle’s ergence coincides exactly with when the Princess’s Atavism awakened.”
“Hmm…”
“You don’t need to make the right decision.”
Unexpectedly, Dersia opened the door and stepped out without resistance.
She glanced back one last ti, leaving behind a gaze tinged with worry.
“—Just make the correct one.”
Thud.
As I stared blankly at the closed door, a gentle hand suddenly touched my shoulder.
When I turned around, I saw the Princess beaming now that the obstacle had left.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
“Let say this upfront. If the thod isn’t proper, I won’t do it. Especially if it violates Imperial law.”
“I have absolute power right now, so I can change the law whenever I want?”
“…”
Sensing my gaze turn cold, she hurriedly raised her hands.
“I’m joking. Actually, it’s already done.”
“Already done?”
“Yes. It’s a bit of a loophole, but if you tell your master, she’ll explain the details. The thod itself is really simple, so it’s not difficult.”
“Then why did you ask my master to leave?”
“It’s nothing major, but there’s sothing I’m curious about that would be a bit awkward for Lady Dersia to hear. You said you t soone from the Upper Tier and killed them, right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“What kind of person were they?”
Sharmia tilted her head, her gaze filled only with curiosity.
“I can’t say that I really know a lot about her. The one you defeated was definitely the person who raised corpses and covered the Empire in plague in my mories. But… why did she do such things? Could I have done sothing wrong?”
“What else could it be?”
Whether human or world. In the end, the purpose behind such acts was the sa as mine. Only the thods differed.
I answered with self-deprecation.
“To survive.”
“Ah, I see.”
She nodded as if she understood.
Watching her silently, I also spoke up.
“I also have sothing I’d like to ask before I infiltrate.”
“Oh, yes. Please, go ahead.”
“If the bloodline of the First Wizard is born with such abilities, does His Majesty possess sothing like teleportation magic?”
“Pardon?”
Seeing the Princess’s bewildered expression, I asked more specifically.
“What I an is, His Majesty the Emperor ca to see last ti using so kind of teleportation. Was that sothing you’d arranged?”
“What do you an?”
Sharmia asked back, looking dumbfounded.
“Father hasn’t been able to get out of bed for three years now. It’s treated as top secret, but most people in the know are aware. He hasn’t appeared at any official events.”
“…?”
What was she talking about?
“It seems soone with the ability to impersonate others ca to see you, Jern. You weren’t hurt in any way, were you?”
“No, I wasn’t.”
“That’s a relief. If you et them again, run away. Impersonating the Emperor, of all things. There are limits to lèse-majesté.”
…I see.
Co to think of it, there was no reason for the Emperor to co see in person. The odds of it being an impersonator were high.
Watching Sharmia puff out her cheeks, I slowly nodded, then rembered sothing and pulled out the book the fake Emperor had given from the Workshop to show her.
“The impersonator left this book behind. It has sothing like imperial etiquette guidelines written in it.”
“Honestly, whoever it was, they prepared thoroughly. This certainly looks like the real thing…”
Sharmia looked exasperated as she casually opened the book and flipped through it quickly.
“…?”
Her expression gradually hardened.
“Your Highness?”
“…Wait a mont.”
-Ding!
She rang a bell to summon a servant and asked with a sowhat serious expression.
“Bring Volu 3 of the etiquette guidelines from Father’s study.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
The servant headed for the study imdiately despite the sudden command.
About ten minutes later, she returned with a flustered expression.
“Your Highness. No matter how much I searched, I couldn’t find it. It seems to have been stolen… According to the guards, there hasn’t been a single entry in nearly three years. Shall I start disciplinary action?”
“…It’s fine.”
After the servant left, Sharmia tapped the cover of the book and sighed.
“It seems that impersonator is no ordinary person. To actually steal a book from Father’s study.”
“This is real?”
“Yes. I’ll handle this matter. Jern, don’t worry about such trivial things. Just focus on the Upper Tier.”
“Understood.”
If I thought about it simply, there was a high chance it was the Crimson Circle’s doing.
I bowed my head and stepped out into the corridor, then glanced up at the Emperor’s portrait hanging above.
“Hmm.”
The resemblance was so exact it gave chills.
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