Stan shouted furiously, demanding to know who had said such nonsense, and I told him the informant was Emily.
His complexion turned pale in an instant.
His sister or his father. One of them was lying.
Realizing that fact, Stan staggered away down the street.
“I hope it turns out well.”
I laughed heartily, feeling for once like I’d done a good deed.
Watching Stan in anguish somehow made me feel as if a heavy burden had been lifted from my heart.
“By the way, what the hell is Yuna doing?”
Yuna’s whereabouts were still unclear.
I’d heard that during her previous disappearance, she’d been swamped with duties acting on behalf of the Tower Master. Maybe that was the case now too?
Hmm, I wasn’t sure.
Still, if something serious happened, she’d tell me. It probably wasn’t anything major.
***
Around the time Johan found Luda’s urn, Yuna was at the Imperial Palace.
It wasn’t a place one could go just because they wanted to, but she had a helper.
“Thank you.”
“…Whether this is something to be thankful for depends on the outcome.”
“Phuhihihi. Still, I’m sure of one thing. It was an action for my sake.”
“…….”
With the help of the Oracle, Yuna confidently entered the Imperial Palace through the main gate.
The reason things had come to this was simple.
The Oracle had told Yuna about what happened with Olga Hermod.
Officially, Safe Clown was declared dead.
If that name were to resurface, it could harm Olga Hermod. So the Oracle felt it necessary to warn Yuna in advance.
“And you’re the one who convinced the Emperor to let me see Mom, right?”
“Let me first advise you. This is the Imperial Palace, so it would be wise to watch what you say.”
“Yeah, yeah. Got it.”
“…….”
The Oracle already felt a headache coming on. Yuna had always been unpredictable.
Being alone with someone like her was unbearably uncomfortable.
“And in the end, it was His Majesty who made the decision, so there’s no need to thank me for that either.”
“Aha! I get it. You’re shy, huh? That’s kind of cute.”
“Every word you say manages to irritate me. As expected of Johan’s girlfriend.”
“They say lovers start to resemble each other.”
“How truly horrifying.”
The Oracle let out a deep sigh and walked briskly through the palace.
They were filled with the urge to get this uncomfortable meeting over with as soon as possible.
Yuna scurried after the Oracle and casually threw out a remark.
“You know, it’s only because it’s you that I’m being generous about this?”
“…Generous about what, exactly?”
“Since I owe you, I’m saying I’ll turn a blind eye even if you end up in that kind of relationship with Johan.”
“Have you completely lost your mind?!”
The Oracle shouted.
There was a strict rule that one must always remain solemn within the Imperial Palace.
But the words that came out of Yuna’s mouth were simply impossible to bear in silence.
She had to speak just a little louder. Anything to dilute the hellish sentence she’d just heard. Her ears felt contaminated.
“Well, we’ll see about that.”
Yuna, seeing the Oracle’s reaction, let out a mocking smile and walked past the fuming Oracle.
From here on, Yuna could find the way on her own.
No, she didn’t even need to look. Her destination was right in front of her.
Yuna boldly threw open the doors to the audience chamber.
The person she was looking for was there.
“So, you’re Yuna Hermod?”
“Yes, that’s me.”
From the moment the doors opened, she was struck by an overwhelming pressure.
But Yuna was not the kind of person to cower at mere pressure like this.
“Your behavior and speech are all lacking in proper etiquette, but considering you were a commoner until recently, I won’t hold that against you.”
“How flexible of you.”
“Haha.”
The Emperor Abraham burst into laughter at the entirely new experience.
Even his own children tensed up in his presence, yet this girl whom he was meeting for the first time acted as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
Of course, it was probably all bravado.
But even so, she appeared more composed than anyone he had ever faced.
What made her different?
Abraham had a vague sense that it was because Yuna saw him as a human being.
She was a girl who had seen through such an obvious truth. That alone was enough to throw Abraham off for the first time in a while.
“You’ve probably heard the situation from the Oracle, right? Still, if there’s anything you want to say, now’s the time. I’ll listen, even if it’s a complaint.”
It was an unusually generous offer.
Whatever his intentions may have been, Abraham was still the one who had driven Olga Hermod to the brink of death.
And depending on how things had turned out, he might really have let her die.
Even now, he didn’t regret his decision. But he did accept that he had failed.
What would Yuna say?
Would she, with that composed expression of hers, condemn him as a terrible person?
Or would she flatter him, trying to get on his good side for the sake of their future relationship?
It didn’t matter either way.
He was ready to accept whatever she had to say.
Or so he thought…
“I came to reclaim my status.”
The words that came out of Yuna’s mouth caught him completely off guard.
So much so that, in the middle of their conversation, the Emperor glanced at the Oracle.
The Oracle shook her head, signaling that she had already explained the truth of the matter.
“I’d like to hear your reason.”
So Abraham asked.
“Because it’s something I built for myself.”
“Hmm…?”
Yuna was angry.
She had known nothing about what happened….nothing, until Olga Hermod ended up like that.
Considering how she normally kept Johan informed of everything, this incident had come as a particularly shocking blow.
Why hadn’t she noticed?
Why hadn’t she suspected anything?
Had she grown too comfortable around Olga Hermod without realizing it?
After leaving the Tower and catching up on a pile of newspapers, Yuna understood.
Olga Hermod had intended to die.
What she had done was a clear fabrication of an alibi to separate Yuna from Safe Clown.
Then why would she do something like that? Why go so far as to fabricate an alibi for Yuna at this timing?
“Mom was planning to die from the beginning, wasn’t she?”
“I didn’t want that, but she had already made up her mind.”
Abraham added that the one who was originally supposed to die was Yuna.
He had no qualms about discussing death right in front of the person involved.
“What order did Your Majesty give to my mother?”
“Kill the Judge. If that’s not possible, then kill Safe Clown.”
The two of them calmly repeated what they already knew.
“Mom created a fictional Safe Clown and planned to die in her place.”
“It was a foolish decision. Could you have done the same?”
“No.”
Yuna shook her head.
She couldn’t. The idea of dying for someone else disgusted her.
Charybdis Sallos, Olga Hermod…they both had risked their lives without hesitation.
She hated that.
She didn’t want anyone to die for someone else.
“Do I look like some clueless child to you, Your Majesty?”
Yuna looked Abraham straight in the eye.
A faint smile began to form on Abraham’s face.
“By imperial law, you’re still a minor, so yes, technically you are a child. But what about your resolve? Let me hear it.”
“I would’ve completed the mission by any means necessary.”
If ever faced with a binary choice, Yuna would not hesitate to destroy the very options themselves.
Abraham realized what Yuna had meant by her words. Regardless of her abilities, he liked the strength of her resolve.
“So please, Your Majesty, return my status to me. I need it.”
The title of Safe Clown was a burden passed down from Charybdis, something Yuna herself had built up.
She had no intention of giving it away.
Even if she would one day have to pay for that burden, it had to be her who paid the price.
“If I were to overturn the decision I’ve already made and return that disgraceful title to you, what would you do with it?”
“I will kill the Judge.”
“Ha!”
To kill the Judge.
A task impossible to accomplish head-on.
But precisely because of that, Abraham found credibility in Yuna’s words.
To ask for her title back in this situation meant…
“Can you do it?”
“Yes.”
She had effectively declared her intent to assassinate the Judge.
“Then I shall command it. Kill the Judge. If you succeed, all the crimes you’ve committed until now will be pardoned, pitiful Safe Clown.”
Only then did Yuna respond, demonstrating flawless imperial protocol.
“I humbly accept your command.”
***
A pile of scorched wings.
Buried at the center of the scorched wings, the Judge Tillis slowly opened her eyes.
She had been struck down without even a chance to react. She had been caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Emperor and his unexpected blow.
The only reason she was still alive now was because the Emperor had shown no real interest in her.
Being cast aside was an unpleasant feeling, but as a result, one could say Tillis had been given an opportunity.
And she confirmed it once more.
“As long as the Emperor exists, our wish can never come true.”
That overwhelming power left her unable to even consider resisting.
Overcome with a sense of helplessness she hadn’t felt in a long time, Tillis narrowed her eyes.
“It seems we’ll need to keep the Emperor tied down.”
Whoosh!
Mastema’s wings unfurled.
The Elven princess, who had been asleep to heal her wounds, opened her eyes.
“So, what shall we do?”
Tillis emerged from the burning, charred wings dressed in a beautiful gown.
It was neither the Judge’s outfit nor the robes of a saintess.
She was done hiding behind a mask.
Now that the final puzzle piece she had long been searching for had finally appeared, there was no need to conceal herself any longer.
“Hmm, I’ve just had a wonderful idea.”
Tap.
Stepping lightly onto the ground, Tillis declared with a chilling smile.
On either side of her, the solemnly assembled librarians bowed their heads. They were awaiting the command of their king.
With dazed expressions, the librarians waited for her next words, as if they were entranced by the beauty their Master radiated and the destructive danger hidden within it.
“As expected, there’s no need for many words. It’s the first time this many have gathered but that’s all it is.”
Due to the inherently individualistic nature of Lemegeton, it was unheard of for so many of them to move at once.
Even so, Lemegeton was often considered more dangerous than other terrorist organizations.
After all, every librarian affiliated with Lemegeton was a one-man army.
“Destroy, burn, and run wild.”
The command was always the same.
Spread evil. Let the world know that it exists.
Swallow evil with greater evil, shatter good, and stain it black.
If the entire world could be cast into a shadowy darkness, then perhaps everyone could sleep in equal silence.
“I’ll go find the Blue Bird.”
The final puzzle.
She would seek out the demon in the shape of a bird with deep blue wings.
“May you all burn gloriously.”
***
Monia who was half-asleep and hidden in a dark alley jolted awake with a shiver.
She had only just fled from people and sought a moment of rest. She was worn out and ended up falling asleep.
“You’re exhausted, Monia. Both your body and your heart. I wonder… how far can you run in that state?”
“……”
Monia, before she even realized it, was already moving. She was staggering under the weight of the demon’s voice whispering inside her mind.
“What do you hope to gain by running? Do you truly believe you can start a new life when your very existence has become a sin?”
The demon with deep blue wings pressed Monia as relentlessly as ever.
Shax, the demon ranked 44th among the original 72 demons born from the hand of the Demon King.
He was different from the others.
While most demons were driven by instinct to fill the void of souls, Shax had a different purpose.
He was not like them.
“How far will you fall just to preserve that pitiful life of yours?”
He existed solely to bring about someone’s ruin. Nothing more.
“Ah… I see it now. A lamb sacrificed to your arrogance has appeared.”
“……”
Shax sneered as a boy stepped into the alley.
Another one of the sins Monia had committed had come back to haunt her.
Unable to contain his excitement at the coming tragedy, Shax let out a gleeful snicker.
The moment the boy spotted Monia, he drew his sword and muttered,
“What the hell have you been babbling about this whole time, you bird-brained freak?”
“……”
“Is that thing your friend or something?”
“I have no such strange friends, Johan Damus. Watch your words.”
At the torrent of insults hurled at him, Shax fell silent.
Leave a Reply