For a moment, my mind went blank.
But my judgment was quick.
“P-Please… at least spare my life……”
I’m completely cornered.
This is practically the same as handing over the power of life and death over me to Lobelia.
Of course, she might be lying.
But there is such a thing as circumstances.
Looking only at the circumstances right now, if anything, they supported Lobelia’s claim rather than contradicting it. In fact, based on the circumstantial evidence alone, it would practically be a direct trip to the guillotine.
“Johan, that’s too much. Do I look like the kind of person who would do that? If I were, I would have already killed you last night.”
“……”
She’s right.
If she really intended to kill me, she wouldn’t have bothered telling me all this.
But I can’t think of any way to smooth this situation over. Is there even any way other than paying with my life?
Of course, I don’t want to die.
I’ve only just reached a turning point in my life…
Cold sweat ran down my body. I was already sweating because of the curse, but now it’s literally pouring like a waterfall.
“Well, there’s no need to think about it so seriously. It was a joke.”
As if she liked the look on my face, Lobelia snickered and then sat down on the edge of the bed.
It was a subtle distance.
Not too close, yet not too far… a strange distance.
It felt awkward somehow.
“Well, I did say you should take responsibility, but I’m not expecting much.”
“Yes.”
“What could you even do? I’m just telling you to remember it.”
“Yes.”
“Keep what happened last night in your heart.”
Lobelia smiled, her face slightly flushed as if embarrassed.
“For now, that’s enough.”
Feeling as if I had crossed a river I could never return from,
I simply nodded, having no other option.
***
After that, it took quite a long time before I could leave the imperial palace.
The curse was still pulling at my body, and between morning and lunchtime the palace was crowded with people.
So how was I supposed to leave?
If I happened to step out of Lobelia’s room and ran into someone, it would practically be the return of the previous disaster.
Thinking about the snowball effect from back then, I really needed to be careful this time.
Especially since I’ve been attracting attention in the imperial palace lately.
Officials, attendants, and even the servants passing by were gossiping about the aide who parachuted into the Guillotine Knight Order. If some kind of scandal broke out in a situation like this… just imagining it is terrifying.
Fortunately, I had learned quite a few things from Yuna.
Since I had the world’s strongest assassin by my side, I was at least capable of sensing people’s presence.
The problem was that there were simply too many people passing near Lobelia’s room.
Still, since Lobelia had ordered early on that no one was to enter, we had plenty of time to wait.
But…
“Ahem, ahem.”
“W-Would you like some coffee?”
“…It would be my family’s honor.”
Being alone in the room with Lobelia was quite difficult.
Last night’s mistake hadn’t exactly been resolved. On top of that, [Thought Split] had forcefully stuffed all sorts of unnecessarily detailed information about Lobelia into my head, making it hard to even look at her face.
And since this was Lobelia’s personal room, her clothing felt naturally light and bright.
I wished she would at least wear something like her usual uniform or academy outfit.
But—
“It can’t be helped. My uniform is stained with the blood of those criminal bastards, and my academy uniform… because of you yesterday… ahem. Anyway, I just finished showering, so I don’t really want to put dirty clothes back on.”
“…That makes sense.”
It was such a reasonable explanation that I couldn’t really argue with it.
More than that, just sitting side by side on the bed was already overwhelming.
After spending several hours in that awkward atmosphere,
I finally succeeded in escaping Lobelia’s room.
“Ugh…”
The moment I barely managed to escape, whether because the tension had faded or because of the curse’s effect, my knees immediately gave out.
What a vicious curse.
I can only hope the reward will be just as sweet.
“What are you doing here?”
“….…!”
While I was resting for a moment, I heard a familiar voice from behind me.
“Why are you so surprised? Hmm? Your complexion doesn’t look good. Are you sick somewhere?”
“…Oracle?”
“Yes, it’s me. But what’s with that strange expression?”
“No, you…”
I was flustered. Something I had never noticed before suddenly stood out.
How should I put it? I never wanted to realize it for this kind of reason, but…
“Why don’t you have any presence?”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
In order to leave the imperial palace without running into anyone, I had been carefully checking the presence of people around me the whole time.
Isn’t it better to stay alert than to get caught and have rumors spread?
I did my best.
Unless someone was deliberately hiding their presence inside the palace, there shouldn’t have been anyone I couldn’t detect.
Not only had I grown stronger, but the ability [Thought Split] constantly fed me information about my surroundings.
Because of that, unless they were the Guillotine Knights known as the Wraiths, no one could deceive my senses.
In fact, a few of those wraiths had even been caught in my sensory net.
But the Oracle was different.
“Johan Damus?”
The Oracle didn’t look like she was trying to hide her presence at all. The fact that she openly called out to me proved that.
Her footsteps and movements showed no sign of concealment either.
And yet… I couldn’t sense any presence.
No, to be precise…
“You weren’t human?”
“That’s rather rude to say all of a sudden.”
It felt like looking at something that didn’t actually exist in this world.
Why had I only just noticed it now? And why was I the only one who noticed?
If the sense of strangeness was this strong, others should have felt it too. So what was the difference between them and me?
“……”
I held my tongue. It felt like I shouldn’t say the thought that came to mind.
“No, never mind. More importantly, if you’re free, could you help me out?”
“I’d like to say no… but judging from your complexion, it does look like you desperately need help.”
“Carry me home.”
“Well, sure. It’s not like it’ll wear me down. And it’s not that difficult anyway.”
Snap!
The moment the Oracle snapped her fingers, the space shattered like glass.
Her own unique ability.
The power to move through space by passing between worlds.
She was one of the people capable of spatial movement, alongside the Wonder Mage and the Great Sage.
Her ability was truly convenient.
“Johan Damus……?”
However, because it required passing between worlds, the shock inflicted on the physical body was not insignificant.
An ability as convenient as it was limited.
While crossing worlds together with her, I lost consciousness for a brief moment.
***
It feels like people dream more when they’re sick.
Just like last night and now as well. I keep dreaming again and again.
Another lucid dream.
But this one was clearly different from the dreams I’d had until now.
This is…
“It’s not a dream related to me.”
The place and the situation…none of it had anything to do with me.
A black sun floated in the sky, and the land was dyed red.
The architectural styles of the buildings visible in the distance were strange. They were nothing like anything I had seen either on Earth or in my world.
The clothing of the corpses scattered across the ground also felt unfamiliar.
And yet, there I was, feeling as if all of it were completely natural.
“Hello.”
Watching the world through someone else’s eyes, I finally faced a person rather than the surrounding scenery.
Bright golden hair like the sun and blue eyes like the sky.
The face of the woman gripping a sword felt strangely familiar.
“Are you the Demon King?”
Only then did I understand what kind of dream I was having.
This wasn’t my dream either.
Yes, this dream is…
“My name is Alice. As you can see, I’m just a humble swordswoman.”
It was the Demon King’s final moment.
***
I regained consciousness quickly.
Rather than waking up on my own, it would be more accurate to say that someone woke me.
“Uh… hello?”
As I removed the damp towel that had fallen onto my face, I checked the face of the person who had woken me.
Maybe it was because of the dream I had just had. For a brief moment, her face overlapped with the woman from the dream.
“Oracle……”
“I’m glad you’ve regained consciousness.”
“……Are you incapable of even properly nursing someone?”
I never expected to end up feeling favor toward Lobelia here.
Thinking about it now, she might have been a more considerate person than I thought.
“I wasn’t even hoping for a thank-you, but isn’t complaining a bit too much?”
“I feel like I almost suffocated. If it’s just a complaint, that’s pretty generous, isn’t it?”
Seriously, who covers someone’s entire face with a wet towel without even wringing it out?
Seeing the Oracle’s shameless expression left me dumbfounded.
If you can’t do it properly, then just don’t do it.
“N-No it wasn’t! It was a mistake! I dropped it!”
“I thought you’d slapped me in the face while I was asleep.”
No wonder my face hurt. It wasn’t because of the curse. The towel, soaked with water, must have fallen straight down and struck my face.
“By the way, how does your body feel?”
“The worst.”
“You should’ve taken better care of your body normally. I wonder how you ended up like this.”
“I got cursed.”
“How did that happen?”
“His Majesty the Emperor gave me cursed alcohol as a gift.”
“Ah, that thing……”
It seemed she already knew the Emperor possessed such a bizarre item.
“Looks like he has high expectations for you, to give you something that precious.”
“Precious?”
Not wicked?
“Of course it’s precious. That curse was brewed personally by the Great Sage.”
“No wonder it was so horrifying.”
It was far stronger than I expected.
Still, hearing that it was made personally by the Great Sage made it understandable why it was considered valuable.
At this level, it was definitely top-tier.
It felt like it would certainly be helpful someday when facing the Great Sage.
“……But more importantly, why did the Great Sage even make something like this?”
“Oh, that?”
The Oracle spoke as if it were nothing of importance.
“They said it was given so he could use it if he ever felt like giving up on everything someday.”
“…….”
For suicide, huh…….
Certainly, for someone as powerful as the Emperor, even taking his own life would not be easy.
Even if he stabbed his own vital point, his superhuman physical abilities would likely make him suffer for a long time.
“But something at this level probably wouldn’t work on the Emperor.”
“It was alcohol he received at the time of his coronation. For the current Emperor, it’s not something that holds much meaning anymore.”
So it was from his coronation. That was a long time ago.
It really makes you realize again just how long both the Emperor and the Great Sage have lived.
“So with this, you can prepare yourself to some extent against the Great Sage’s curse, right? It’s admirable how you’re steadily getting ready to deal with the Great Sage.”
The Oracle shrugged and smiled.
It felt somewhat like she was mocking me, but it didn’t particularly bother me.
The old me would have shouted that it wasn’t true, but this time it’s different.
“That’s right.”
I am, in fact, preparing to take down the Great Sage.
Since that bastard laid his hands on Ollie and Raven, I had no intention of ending things with mere words.
Of course, rescuing Ollie comes first for now, so I’ll try to resolve things through conversation…….
“Anyway, thanks for walking me back. That really eased my mind.”
“So you do know how to thank people?”
How exactly do the people around me evaluate me?
I try to keep to a certain sense of decency, yet I have no idea just how much of a piece of trash they think I am.
“……By the way, how did you know which room was mine?”
Had I ever told her what room number I was in?
“Of course I didn’t know. I asked the dorm supervisor.”
“Uh……?”
Then doesn’t that mean someone saw the two of us go into the same room?
“Why? Is there some kind of problem?”
“No, you……! Ha! Forget it. Just stay unaware.”
I ran away to avoid Lobelia, yet now I’m on the verge of a scandal somewhere else.
They say there’s no paradise where you run away to. Maybe this is just the kind of fate I have.
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