Chapter 240: Improvised Performance Part 2

Lobelia Vicious von Miltonia was a cold and composed person.

The experiences of the past year were more than enough to make her that way.

That’s precisely why she would never tolerate Deus. No matter what excuses he might offer, Deus is the leader of Ex Machina and Ex Machina is an officially designated terrorist organization by the Empire.

Of course, the Empire who was coveting Ex Machina’s technology didn’t actively go after them.

But that’s merely the unofficial stance of Emperor Abraham.

As far as Lobelia is concerned, there’s no reason to let the leader of a terrorist group that has murdered countless classmates over the past year live.

Now, if Lobelia were to completely destroy Deus here and now, how would Theseus react?

That’s the crucial part.

However, there was one thing even Deus hadn’t accounted for.

Lobelia, unlike Theseus, wasn’t just blindly emotional.

“Johan. Explain.”

“Ah, yes.”

She knows how to delegate when faced with something bothersome by making her subordinates handle it.

Realizing the situation was a hassle, Lobelia immediately put me to work.

Without hesitation, I laid out everything for her—

Deus’s condition? Theseus’s circumstances? Not my concern.

I’m not generous enough to take everyone’s situation into account.

Once I laid out the facts and my own speculation about the current situation,

Lobelia finally turned toward Theseus, who was hesitating nearby.

“Lobelia.”

“Well, your beliefs or whatever…. none of that’s my concern.”

“Don’t move.”

“Aren’t you being a little too sensitive? Anyone listening would think I said I was going to wreck that pile of scrap.”

“It’s not a pile of scrap.”

“Coming from the one who made it that way, how very convincing.”

“……”

A tense standoff.

Unlike back with the carriage, this time real violence might erupt.

And if that happens, the emotional rift between the two will only deepen.

“Well, fine. I have no desire to complicate things or let myself be played by him.”

“……”

“So? What’s your angle this time, Scriptwriter?”

– Well… zzz…

Deus’s voice was increasingly filled with static.

Even now, I still couldn’t tell whether it’s part of an act or genuine.

“Well, fine. Either way, it doesn’t matter, right? Before you die, or before the connection cuts off…. I’d like you to spill whatever you can. You’d want to leave something behind in this world too, wouldn’t you?”

“Lobelia, save that for later. Right now, what matters most is keeping old man Deus alive.”

“Alive? That heap of junk? Come on, brother. Be reasonable. There’s no way something like that can be fixed.”

“It can be fixed. The old man said it himself. So it should be possible.”

“Oh, really? And who’s going to do it?”

“……”

Theseus fell silent.

Well, of course. What good is knowing it can be fixed if you don’t know who can fix it?

But I know.

Emily could probably do it.

“And even if you fix him, that’s a problem in itself. What are you planning to do with such a dangerous weapon once it’s restored?”

“He’s not a weapon. He’s a person.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You don’t think I know exactly why I showed up at just the right time?”

The fight between Theseus and Deus was so massive and destructive that anyone could see it from afar.

It was only natural that Lobelia found her way here.

“That thing made you fight with everything you had. What else would you call it besides a weapon? If anything, even if it were a person, it’d be called a monster.”

“……”

“And whether it’s a weapon or a person, the fact remains that he holds the title of leader of Ex Machina. That alone means the imperial family has to take control. Ex Machina is a terrorist organization, and he’s their representative. If he were just a low-level thug, maybe we could overlook it, but he’s long since crossed that line.”

“Lobelia.”

She was someone aiming for the emperor’s throne. There were lines she simply couldn’t allow to be crossed.

A leader of a group.

His nature or thoughts don’t matter.

If he’s the one in charge, he must bear the responsibility.

“Or what? Should I say we’re ‘taking him into custody’? If that makes you feel better, I’ll say it however you like.”

The tension remained thick.

Lobelia had compromised on many things, but not on this one. And Theseus was the same.

Who will take charge of Deus’s fate—

That’s the one thing neither of them can back down from.

“If you two are going to keep arguing like this, that’s fine by me. Eventually, that pile of scrap will stop functioning. And once that happens, the danger will vanish on its own. So there’s nothing for me to lose.”

Indeed, from Lobelia’s perspective, she had nothing to lose.

Time was on her side.

Which is why…

“Or are you going to try and force your way past me? Who exactly are you planning to run to, doing that?”

“Lobelia, I…”

“Oh? Or maybe you’re in contact with other terrorists too?”

Time moved forward.

Theseus had to make a choice—

Accept Deus’s death, or hand him over.

“If you’re really going to stick to such childish stubbornness to the end…”

Or, strike Lobelia down and walk a path with no end in sight.

Theseus raised his sword.

Lobelia glared at him as if he were utterly disgusting.

“Honestly…”

Theseus’s convictions were difficult.

To act the part of a hero while upholding a vow of non-killing. That’s no easy task.

Up until now, his overwhelming strength likely made it possible, but no one could deny how unstable that conviction truly was.

Didn’t even Loki nearly succeed in breaking it?

“Johan, what do you think?”

“Me, Your Highness?”

Lobelia, while squaring off with sword in hand against Theseus, cast a sidelong glance at me and asked.

The answer was already clear.

“As I said back at the carriage. I will side with Your Highness.”

Deus crossed the line. At least, in this case, he clearly did.

And it’s not wrong to say that he, as the head of the group, knowingly allowed its crimes to continue.

Even if Deus cannot be called evil, it doesn’t mean he’s innocent.

After all, it’s not only bad people who commit crimes.

Even I, if someone listed everything I’ve done, wouldn’t be far from a criminal.

Of course, there may be mitigating circumstances.

But as I said earlier, Deus crossed the final line.

“This is why I was uneasy about him.”

The moment a hero shows his human side—

The standards that were supposed to be absolute can be so easily shaken.

Of course, there was room for excuses.

The fact that he himself had turned Deus into that state was probably more than enough to shatter Theseus’s mental stability.

Whether it was true or not, Deus’s script was perfectly crafted.

“Your Highness, may I offer a piece of advice?”

“By all means. Whatever you say, I’ll give it proper consideration.”

“Just let him go.”

“And the reason?”

“You can’t fix that.”

The script was already complete.

Theseus’s mind had broken long ago. Everything now was just an aftermath.

There was no need for Lobelia to get hurt here as well. If someone’s going to die, let it be just one. Why should both go down?

“Just let him run around in despair until he wears himself out.”

“…Sometimes I wonder if I shouldn’t arrest you first above anyone else.”

“What? Did I say anything wrong? Honestly, didn’t Your Highness ask me about the situation in the first place because you wanted to avoid a hassle?”

“Well, I suppose that’s true.”

Even so, Lobelia shrugged but didn’t lower her stance.

She likely didn’t want to leave a potential threat unattended.

Especially given recent events.

She hadn’t been able to stop Kult, or Tillis, or even Vidar.

After everything that happened, she must’ve been feeling both responsibility and helplessness and she didn’t want to repeat past mistakes.

“I’ll guarantee it.”

“……”

“There’s no fixing him. And frankly, I’m not even sure that’s really Deus’s body. To be honest, I don’t think it is.”

“…Alright.”

Only after I gave that guarantee did Lobelia finally drop her stance.

“If you’re saying it with that much certainty, I’ll trust you.”

Yeah. The guy who’s usually thinking of how to run away first just gave a guarantee.

That should be enough to earn some trust.

“Then go ahead and do whatever you like, First Prince Theseus.”

Lobelia drew the line.

That was something she hadn’t even done to Loki.

***

Naturally, the mood inside the returning carriage was the worst.

Immun who had passed out after trying to fix his own mess was actually a relief.

At least now, I didn’t have to look at Lobelia’s expressionless face.

It was suffocating.

“Um, Your Highness. Aren’t you curious who this person is?”

“She’s Countess Agnes.”

“Uh… y-yes, that’s true. But the thing is, this person is the infamous bomber everyone in the Empire has been talking about for ages! I’d say this counts as an achievement, wouldn’t you?”

“I wasn’t the one who caught her, though.”

“……”

“Well, whatever. Either way, the fact remains….we’ve captured a dangerous criminal.”

“R-Right, exactly.”

“But still.”

It’s painful.

The atmosphere is so heavy it’s not just suffocating. It’s painful.

No wonder Yuna excused herself to scout the area.

“What did you think of that hunk of junk… the Scriptwriter? Was he really someone worth defending, enough for my brother to go that far?”

“To be honest, he was a nasty old man. An optimistic yet selfish person. Still… I wouldn’t say he was evil. Just that…”

“Just that?”

“The man we saw earlier was different. His actions weren’t much different from before, but… how should I put it… the way he made decisions was so cold, I could hardly believe he was human.”

“Do you think he’s dead?”

“There’s no way someone like him would die like that. A guy called the Scriptwriter wouldn’t throw away his life so easily. Just to mess with Theseus? No chance.”

Theseus probably knew that much, too. But even the slightest doubt can make a person uneasy.

As long as he couldn’t say with 100% certainty that it was a lie, Theseus wouldn’t have been able to just walk away.

“That said, personally, I do believe Deus is dead.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… it’s hard to see the machine that’s moving around now as the same person. Just because it has his speech, behavior, and memories doesn’t make it him.”

“That’s…”

Lobelia paused for a moment, then turned to gaze out the window.

“Is this something you’re struggling with because of your ability, Thought Split?”

“…Huh?”

“Yes. You must have your own doubts too. I asked something unnecessary. Sorry, Johan.”

“No, it’s fine…”

Honestly, it was something I’d never even thought about.

I’ve never once seriously struggled with something like that. Why live life being that exhausted?

***

The Empire.

The place where the great warrior Vidar had sunk.

Riding down the huge, deep pit that had opened in the heart of the capital.

Clatterrrrrr.

Chains began to pour down.

As if it were raining, the chains flowed down the sides of the pit and piled up, and soon, from the center of that heap, something in the shape of a human slowly rose.

“I see.”

The Great Sage Faust appeared at the place where Vidar had fallen.

Faust saw it.

The Empire had torn Vidar’s corpse to pieces and mounted the parts on spears.

It was a chilling warning meant to crush the morale of the remaining barbarian forces and to send a terrifying message to other evildoers.

Only after witnessing that gruesome scene did Faust decide to act.

“Great Warrior… you truly left not a shred of regret behind.”

Indeed, the Great Warrior had no regrets.

Even after being murdered and then subjected to such a horrific fate, he had left this world cleanly.

Faust realized that Vidar had accepted death with quiet resolve.

Just as he was admiring that fact—

“Excuse me, but this area is restricted, you know? It’s unstable and dangerous, so you really should head back.”

A woman with a radiant presence appeared, dressed in a splendid gown.

“Naraka, is it?”

“Oh, come on. That name’s ancient history. I go by Lapis now. Doesn’t it sound much prettier?”

“What brings you all the way out here?”

“Well, aren’t you curious? A god murdered by a human. It’s quite the headline.”

“……”

“You came to see it too, didn’t you?”

“Yes…”

The Great Warrior left behind no regrets.

But in this place, a lingering grudge remained.

The Beast God Varg.

A god so consumed by attachment that he left a curse upon the world was killed by his own Great Warrior. Yet in doing so, he left behind a deeper, more bitter resentment and regret.

“Are you planning to take him in?”

“I’ve always wanted a puppy, you know. Haah… Back in the palace, there were too many annoying people who made that difficult. But now that I’ve got the chance, why wouldn’t I take it?”

“…I see.”

Faust turned away as if he had lost all interest.

Now that Lapis had decided to take in Varg, Faust had no more reason to remain here.

If she was going to handle Varg, then there was no need for him to clean up the aftermath.

The grudge and regret would be neatly dealt with by her.

“But.”

Just as he was about to take another step—

Lapis blocked his path, as if something had piqued her curiosity, and asked:

“Who’s that? The one hiding beside you.”

“……”

Lapis gazed into the empty air with interest.

Though invisible, there was undeniably someone there.

“That person’s an Archmage, aren’t they? Where’d you get a soul like that?”

Lapis clapped her hands in delight as she marvelled at the rare sight.