Chapter 248: Qualification Part 7

“If Immun is the key figure in your script, what happens if I back out?”

“If things go according to my calculations, Immun will die. The reverse is also true.”

In other words, if I try to handle this on my own, I’ll die.

Then let me flip the question.

“If Immun and I join forces, can we solve this?”

“I can’t guarantee that. It’s not like I know everything. I don’t even know how much of his humanity my other self still has.”

“Judging by how he shattered Prince Theseus’s psyche, I’d say he’s fresh out.”

He completely obliterated him.

No normal person would ever do something like that.

“Well, you never know. Even when I was alive, if someone like Theseus had been my enemy, I probably would’ve done the same.”

“You were a terrifying person, huh?”

So now you want me to go up against someone that terrifying?

What happens if he’s lost even more of his humanity?

No, before that…

“I’m busy.”

“Have you ever not been?”

“Never.”

“Then you can just make time.”

“…You’re really something, aren’t you?”

“Then at least help me out. This isn’t even directly related to you, so you should be able to get involved, right?”

“Hmm, tell me more.”

Still acting like it’s all just a matter of curiosity, right to the end.

“This is urgent. I need to quickly look into some sorcery spell.”

“Sorcery, huh… Quite an interesting subject. How far along are you?”

“Just getting started.”

Yeah, at this point, there’s no escaping Deus’s script.

Running away means the world ends, so there’s no other choice. Of course, I still need to get a proper explanation.

If it’s something like “Defeat Deus!” then there’s no hope.

Even in the game, Deus couldn’t be overcome except by brute force.

An organic form that changes its resistances and tactics depending on the opponent.

Because of that, no tactic ever worked against Deus.

In such a situation, someone like me who’s only come this far by being a variable has no chance of defeating Deus.

Somehow, I need to persuade him. Even the lich version of Deus in front of me said that the odds of success depended on his remaining humanity.

Either way, there’s not much I can do right now.

“For now, what I do know is…”

So let’s start by tackling the immediate problems in front of me, one by one.

With Deus’s genius-level intellect, he should be able to get a grasp on the spell in no time.

Just as Deus and I were exchanging opinions about sorcery—

“Should I teach you?”

Lapis who had been quietly eating her sandwich tilted her head and spoke.

“……”

Deus and I, who had been in the middle of a productive and heated discussion, could only stare at her, speechless.

We’d been throwing ideas back and forth with all our focus, and now the woman who’d just been munching on a sandwich casually says she knows the answer.

“What exactly are you curious about?”

It was hard not to feel deflated.

***

“That’s the character for ‘interference’. Ah, and now that I think about it, that’s probably why you were able to hit me earlier, too. Hmm, though that would’ve only worked because my little brother allowed it.”

“……”

Lapis casually explained the spell engraved on the back of my hand.

Sorcery was an ancient power.

Even Vidar didn’t know what form the spell he carved onto me had taken.

But Lapis spoke about it like it was common knowledge.

“…I wasn’t planning to ask, but… what exactly are you, Princess Lapis?”

“Are you curious?”

“If it’s something I shouldn’t know, I’ll just keep my mouth shut.”

Curiosity killed the cat. In most cases, it’s better not to know.

“It’s not exactly a secret? Hmm, how should I put this? To put it simply… Ah! I guess you could say I’m something like a god?”

“……”

“Though even saying that, I’m still a bit different from an actual god.”

“I… I see.”

I already knew she was a monster, but to casually throw around the word god?

Just how powerful is this creature to say something like that so nonchalantly?

Come to think of it, even Mephistopheles didn’t know Lapis’s true identity.

Just what is this “Naraka” supposed to be?.

“I am the first daughter of the Almighty Father. What humans call Naraka, or more commonly, Hell itself.”

“……”

The scale is absurd. So absurd it sounded like something out of a teenage chuunibyou’s fantasy.

Ha… she says she is Hell. What a lunatic.

“Hundreds of years ago, the Great Sage Faust began researching how to defy death, and eventually, he discovered me. Through that, I became connected to the world, and ever since then, the power to raise the dead and what you call necromancy has existed in this world.”

“……”

Is this okay? Is it really fine to just spill a secret like this so casually?

I didn’t want to know this much.

Sure, I asked. But why tell me something like this?

“Then… what does that make you?”

“…Huh?”

“My lovely little brother. The one they used to call the Demon King. The problem child who, even with our Father’s favor behind him, refused to follow His will and ran away from home.”

She spoke as if she were singing a lullaby.

“The Child of the Apocalypse… why is he dwelling inside you, I wonder?”

She wasn’t looking at me but at something inside me. Her tone was sweet, her expression gentle….

But her eyes were fierce, sharp enough to kill.

And in that moment, I understood.

“…I don’t know. Really. It has nothing to do with me.”

“Is that so?”

Lapis….or rather, the monster called Naraka hated the Demon King.

What I saw in her eyes was inferiority.

She said the Demon King had been favored by their Father, yet still ran away. He was a rebellious failure.

That must be it.

So let’s rethink this.

“……”

Just who is this “Father” she keeps referring to?

If there really was a being that birthed both death and the apocalypse, wouldn’t that be the true god, in the most literal sense?

…No. That’s not something I should ask.

She may talk about her own identity without a second thought, but something tells me that “Father” is her reverse scale. Her ultimate taboo.

There are things in this world that are better left unknown.

“Ah, we got a little off track, didn’t we?”

Lapis clapped her hands, as if to firmly shut down that line of thought, and steered the conversation back.

“Is the reason you’re researching curses only because of what’s engraved on the back of your hand? Or is there something else?”

“My friend… ahem, an acquaintance of mine was afflicted by a mysterious curse. Because of it, they can no longer use their abilities. And since that ability is deeply tied to their daily life, I’ve been trying to find a way to undo it.”

“Oh my, that must be quite inconvenient.”

No matter what, I couldn’t bring myself to say it was about Lobelia.

Even putting aside Naraka’s identity, Lapis was still an imperial member.

Telling one member of the imperial family about the current state of another wasn’t something I was eager to do. Even if Lapis had no interest in the throne.

“It’s about Lobelia, isn’t it?”

“You mean the Third Princess?”

“……”

And yet, these crazy bastards figured it out without me even saying a word.

What the hell? How did they know?

“Excuse me, but… how did you know?”

There was no point in denying it.

The fact that they both immediately arrived at the same conclusion meant they were sure of it.

And Lapis and Deus weren’t the type to fish for answers.

They weren’t guessing; they were stating the truth. That’s how it felt.

“Well, based on your social circle…”

“When a guy with barely any friends says the person’s ability is essential to daily life, there aren’t many candidates.”

“……”

That’s not true, though?

I have plenty of friends!

“My dear, beloved brother. I’m sorry, but friends and acquaintances are different.”

“Just how many people could a selfish guy like you care enough about to actually do something?”

Even that monster looked at me with pity. It made me furious.

But the fact that I couldn’t argue made me feel like I was about to cry.

“Fine. Lobelia… hmm, this might be a bit too much for her to handle.”

“She’s not Princess Lobelia.”

“Sure, let’s go with that. My poor, sweet little brother.”

“…Could you not call me your brother? Someone might get the wrong idea.”

“Then should I use your name? Yedi…”

“It’s Johan.”

“Ah, right. I should call you by your shell’s name. Got it, Johan.”

“……”

I seriously hate this.

She doesn’t even see me as a person. All she cares about is whatever’s inside me, not me.

Well, whatever. It’s not like I ever planned to befriend a monster like that.

“In Lobelia’s case, it’ll be harder to break free from the spell because of her power of destruction.”

“Why? Wouldn’t the power of destruction make it easier?”

When I didn’t answer right away, Deus picked up the question and directed it at Lapis.

Looks like Deus was finally getting interested too. Which actually worked in my favor, since I was still insisting Lobelia wasn’t the one cursed.

“A curse is like clothing clinging to the body. Since it’s stuck to the surface, even the power of destruction can’t do much. If you try to forcefully tear it off, you’ll end up ripping the skin with it.”

“I see. Fascinating.”

That much went just as I expected.

Which means she’ll have to destroy the effect. Even if it means hurting herself in the process.

No matter how closely the curse and her power are intertwined, they’re still fundamentally different.

The curse’s strength shouldn’t be able to overpower Lobelia’s ability.

But that brings up another problem.

“If she forces the power out of herself, it might be possible. To burn away the curse, you have to ignite it from the inside.”

“Then that’s what she should do.”

“But… it won’t be easy. Like I said, if you want to burn clothes clinging to your skin, you have to be able to withstand the flames yourself. Lobelia’s fire is hot enough to do it, but… can her body endure it?”

Her ability’s output is high.

But Lobelia’s body still isn’t strong enough to handle that kind of strain.

“Given time, it’ll be simple.”

Lobelia will grow stronger. I know she will. She’s strong enough to fight a final boss one-on-one.

She’s still only midway through her growth.

“But I’m guessing she doesn’t have much time, right? Lobelia’s in a politically sensitive position… if people find out she’s weakened, they’ll pounce.”

“Politics are always a pain.”

Lapis, despite her dreamy appearance, was surprisingly sharp.

Well, it made sense. You’d need that kind of intelligence to complete something like the Babel Gear.

She’d just never been interested, that’s all.

“There are two problems, then. First, finding a way for Lobelia to unleash enough power to burn off the curse…”

Lapis stared straight at me.

“And second, how to heal the aftereffects.”

Right. That’s me.

She was finally looking at me, not the thing inside me.

“The Fruit of the World Tree should do the trick.”

“……”

I never told anyone about the World Tree.

I never mentioned it, nor anything related to it.

The only ones who know are Cattleya and the Misfits.

So then, was there a leak? To whom?

The most likely suspect is Cattleya. No matter how you look at it, she’s basically a villain.

If someone paid her enough, it wouldn’t be strange for her to betray me.

Of course, as long as Emily’s safety is on the line, she won’t act rashly…

No…enough. There’s no end to that kind of suspicion.

I don’t want to doubt everyone around me.

“How did you know?”

So I’ll just ask her directly.

If she’s anything like she’s been until now, she’ll probably brush it off like it’s nothing.

“Well, a young spirit was clinging to you. Since the World Tree has vanished, no new spirits should be able to manifest. And yet one suddenly appears….here, of all places? Don’t you find that odd?”

“…I see.”

Lapis was smarter than I’d thought.

To reach that conclusion from such a simple clue…

***

Lapis smiled softly as she looked at Johan’s impressed face.

She was a monster who had lived for countless years.

With all the knowledge she’d accumulated, creating something like the Babel Gear was child’s play.

Oh my, how cute. Can’t believe he fell for it so easily.

But knowing a lot and being wise are two different things.

Just look at the great sage and the Scriptwriter. Their approaches were completely different.

Lapis leaned more toward the Scriptwriter’s style.

She’d guessed that the person Johan mentioned was Lobelia by piecing together his relationships, sure.

But linking the spirit’s presence to the World Tree?

That was beyond her.

She didn’t have that kind of insight.

Well, I guess that’s only natural.

There was a reason Lapis was able to make that deduction about the World Tree.

She had known from the start.

It’s not surprising he doesn’t know that a cute girl named Melana reached out to us.

One of the Misfits.

The dark mage Melana was still in contact with the great sage’s side.

Of course, there was a reason she used that connection to deceive Johan.

“Fufu, I’m impressive, aren’t I?”

“…Honestly, I’m surprised. I underestimated you, Your Highness.”

All she wanted was to hear her little brother say she was impressive.