I walked all the way around the World Tree with Mephi.
“Hmm?”
“Looks like she’s away.”
At this hour, the World Tree’s avatar should’ve shown up already and started making a racket.
But there was no sign of her. It had been the same when I saw Monia earlier, and even now, after circling around looking for her, she still hadn’t appeared. It seemed like something must have happened.
“Could it be because of Mistiltein?”
The World Tree’s first branch. The one that dealt Faust a fatal blow.
Maybe the aftereffects of that power had caused her to fall asleep.
***
It’s a little sudden to say this, but I’m actually pretty handsome. People around me act like I’m not, but that’s just because we’re friends.
Haah… Still, I’m not exactly the type to embarrass myself anywhere.
“Is that the senior?”
“They say he’s the Guillotine Knight’s strategist.”
“At that age already?”
“A capable man……”
Lately, whenever I walk around campus, I can feel the admiring gazes of the freshmen who just enrolled this year.
Ha! This damn popularity of mine.
“Johan, your grin’s reaching your ears.”
“……It’s not.”
“Oh, come on, you don’t have to hide it. Why would I feel bad that my boyfriend’s popular? Besides……”
Yuna wrapped herself around my arm and flashed a sly grin toward the juniors staring at me with admiration.
“They’re not even competition for me anyway. Puhihihi!”
Mhmm, that unwavering confidence.
As expected of Yuna. How many people could really compete with someone who has power, authority, and beauty all at once?
“Wow, that senior must have insane influence. How else could he pull someone like her looking like that……?”
“Hey, who just said that?”
Calling it “looking like that” is way too harsh, isn’t it?
I’ve heard people say I look “ordinary” but this is the first time I’ve heard something that close to outright slander.
“Yuna, let go for a second.”
“Did that upset you?”
“You’re the comparison target.”
“Well, that’s not entirely wrong.”
No, that’s exactly the whole problem.
I’m perfectly decent-looking.
My face isn’t bad at all, and I dress well too.
Not to mention this steel-like physique I’ve forged recently through all kinds of ridiculous hardships.
“Ah, I want to go on a date.”
“Seriously. Feels like we’ve been spending less and less time together lately.”
There were times when I’d get summoned away as the Guillotine Knight’s strategist, and there were times when Yuna would be called away as the heir to the Magic Tower.
On top of that, she’d spent a huge amount of time on the recent operation to subjugate Faust, so maybe because she was trying to make up for the gap it left behind, she’d become even busier.
“Strategist.”
“Ah, looks like I’m getting dragged around again first thing in the morning.”
We were finally enjoying a date around campus together, yet these damn revenants never took a break.
“What is it?”
“We found the trail of the Eclipse group we’ve been tracking.”
“Then we should go catch them.”
I nodded and glanced around at the atmosphere nearby. All of this was no different from a carefully staged play.
“Lead the way.”
They fabricate a fictional organization called Eclipse and present it as if it truly exists.
When people hear it spoken about like a fact in front of crowds, they can’t help but believe it.
Even now, it seemed Emperor Abraham’s plans were progressing smoothly.
“Yuna, see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah! See you tomorrow, Johan.”
***
As expected, the place the revenant led me to was a complete disaster.
“At least cover it up a little.”
Don’t just pretend to.
People are going to walk by and end up traumatized.
Even if this is meant to spread awareness of Eclipse’s existence, this is way too much.
“Hmm, this scene is horrifying as well.”
“You’ve arrived, Commander?”
I gave a respectful bow to Lanius, the commander of the Guillotine Knights, whom I hadn’t seen in quite a while. It was actually pretty rare for this old man to come out to the scene personally…
“Johan Damus, this is a decree from His Imperial Majesty.”
“Please deliver it.”
So he really hadn’t come here for leisure.
I knelt on the road stained with blood and corpses.
Ugh, this feels unpleasant. Why deliver something like this in a place like this of all places?
“As of today, Johan Damus is relieved of his duties as strategist and may return to being an ordinary student. In recognition of your service, land and gold shall be granted to you.”
“I humbly accept.”
A sudden dismissal.
But honestly, I wasn’t particularly shocked.
“You’ve worked hard. And this is not an order, but advice from His Majesty, so whether you ignore it or take it to heart is up to you. His Majesty said this: ‘Once you step onto the stage, you can never step back down again’.”
“I’ll keep it in mind.”
The Emperor’s plan was nearing its final stage. And far faster than expected.
Did wiping out all the terrorist organizations mean he finally had room to breathe?
“You’ve worked hard.”
I returned the cloak and medal that had been given to me along with the strategist position.
I had been worried I might get dragged down together with everything else, but thankfully, it seemed they’d decided to use me appropriately and then discard me.
From here on out, hell itself was probably going to unfold, so excluding me from it like this was honestly something to be grateful for.
“And this is just a personal remark.”
“……?”
“No matter what happens, do not interfere. Stay still. His Majesty has already yielded quite a bit for your sake.”
“What exactly do you mean by that?”
“His Majesty has already noticed the existence of the World Tree.”
“…….”
That single sentence sent a chill down my spine.
I couldn’t even bring myself to raise my head and only lowered my gaze.
The Emperor had noticed the World Tree.
Which meant, naturally, that the Misfits’ hideout had been discovered as well.
The Emperor had shown mercy. From his perspective, he had chosen to tolerate beings that should never have been left alive.
The Prophet and the World Tree.
Both were symbols of the gods he despised.
Lanius was right. The Emperor had compromised quite a bit for my sake.
But……
“Thank you.”
“No need for thanks.”
I hadn’t done enough for the Emperor to deserve this level of leniency from him.
The very fact that he would show me such mercy in the first place was strange.
That was why it was merely a “personal remark”.
By passing along information that technically never needed to be shared, Lanius was telling me something.
That someone had been pulling strings behind the scenes for me.
“Though perhaps this may have ended up pushing you forward instead.”
With that, Lanius slung his spear over his shoulder and swaggered away.
“Haa……”
The Emperor was still operating in the shadows. But it was all for the sake of the world, and he had no intention of dragging me into it.
Pretending not to know and staying out of it was probably the best choice.
That was why the Emperor had warned me: once you step onto the stage, you can never step back down.
And that was exactly what I intended to do.
No matter what, I had no desire to make an enemy of the Emperor.
Still, there was one thing bothering me.
And it probably wouldn’t hurt to prepare a contingency plan for that part.
***
“You’ve been coming by a lot lately, Teacher.”
“It’s urgent.”
The Emperor had become aware not only of the World Tree, but of the Misfits’ existence as well.
Which effectively meant this place’s location had already been identified.
He said he would tolerate it, but there was no harm in being cautious.
“Start preparing to move.”
“…What?”
“The Emperor found this place. So it’d be best if you run.”
The Emperor was a monster.
Not just in strength, but in power, influence, and intellect as well…he lacked nothing.
A man being called the Sun is no exaggeration whatsoever. And drawing the attention of someone like that could never truly be a good thing.
He says he’ll tolerate us? Will he really? There’s always the possibility that he’s simply leaving us alone because he plans to use us later.
“Start packing from now on. I’ll speak to Cattleya myself.”
“Okaaaay……”
“Even if it’s unfortunate, it can’t be helped.”
Alright, the Prophet’s situation was handled for now.
But the biggest problem was something else entirely: the World Tree, which couldn’t simply be moved or relocated.
After instructing Helena to prepare for the move, I headed straight for the World Tree.
“Was I being careless?”
A few days ago, I searched for the World Tree together with Mephi, but we couldn’t find the World Tree’s avatar.
I assumed she was merely asleep from the aftereffects of using Mistilteinn… but what if that wasn’t the case?
“Why are you only coming now?!”
“Good grief.”
Judging by how she appeared the moment I approached the World Tree today, it seemed my concerns had been right after all.
“Did something happen?”
“Keh! Ugh! Eugh! Waaah!”
The World Tree’s avatar repeatedly crumpled and uncrumpled itself while making bizarre noises.
Maybe because it was modeled after Tillis, the stupidity somehow felt doubled.
“That person came.”
“Who are you referring to?”
“The Elf Slayer……”
“…….”
“The agent stained in blood and sorrow came here!”
There was only one person who could possibly be called the Elf Slayer.
The Black Knight Lanius. It was definitely the same man who had warned me earlier today.
“Were you harmed?”
“He stared directly at my true body! That sinister old man! I’m scared! Ahhh! That horrible bloodline! Ahhh! That horrible butcher!”
“I see.”
She’s loud.
Still, what could I do? From her perspective, it probably was terrifying.
“Is it possible for you to flee?”
“If that were possible, my predecessor wouldn’t have ended up burned alive.”
“Ah.”
Well then, that’s unfortunate.
Sadly, it seemed our relationship would end here.
“I’m afraid of that butcher. More afraid than the bloodline that burned me!”
“I see.”
“That man… is cold-hearted. It’s not that he feels nothing. That’s what makes him frightening. He’s the kind of person who can do such things even while feeling guilt.”
The Black Knight Lanius. The Emperor’s right hand.
I didn’t really know what kind of man he was. Only that he was a monster rivaling the Emperor himself.
“Aah! Aaaah!”
The World Tree pressed a hand to her forehead in an exaggerated manner, then promptly fainted on the spot.
She really is something else.
***
The Black Knight Lanius.
As the Emperor’s right hand, he had slain countless enemies.
Men and women alike.
Young and old.
He killed without discrimination.
If it was the Emperor’s command, he cast aside all emotion and thrust forward his spear.
But even he possessed something called a heart. There were times when he felt nothing at all, and times when guilt weighed on him.
Yet even now, he could not understand the emotions he had felt when he extinguished the elves and burned the World Tree.
Was it guilt? Satisfaction? Or perhaps unease?
“Lunael.”
Lanius was a married man.
More precisely, he had been.
From a young age, he had been a promising talent, a knight trusted by the Emperor.
Though calling him a knight was only nominal. In truth, he was little different from a butcher.
Even so, there had once been a time when he truly was a knight. A proud knight, not a butcher.
“Though you have long since left me, you still linger before my eyes.”
Lanius’s wife, Lunael.
She was an elf. Through a chance encounter, Lanius came to help her, and for the first time in his life, he learned what love was.
It was inevitable.
How could he possibly ignore a woman who looked upon him with admiration, when all his life he had only been condemned as a butcher?
He understood it was mere coincidence.
He knew that Lunael had fallen for him only because chance had led him to save her.
But that infatuation never faded. Until the very moment of her death, Lunael loved Lanius.
He thought he had grieved enough. He thought he had sent her away with a smile.
He was fine. He was a strong knight, and his final moments with Lunael had been beautiful.
But he had not realized it.
“His Majesty’s words were not wrong.”
Do not love. Since that would become your weakness.
Abraham had always emphasized those words.
Love becomes a weakness. Even more so for butchers like them.
Lanius had parted beautifully with Lunael, yet her shadow followed him for the rest of his life.
The moment he proposed to her became a lifelong weakness, striking at his vital point whenever his guard slipped.
“I’ve been making more mistakes.”
Lanius had spared Tillis.
It was because, through that young girl, he had seen the image of his wife.
The sight of an elf looking up at him helplessly amidst a sea of blood.
In that moment, he was reminded of his wife from long ago, and because of it, hesitation took root in his heart.
That mistake had been fatal.
Tillis had gone on to create an organization called Lemegeton, and when the time came for Lanius to eliminate her, he hesitated once again.
He could have died.
He could have ruined Abraham’s plans through a crushing defeat.
The sin of loving his wife.
The punishment born from it surfaced even at the most unexpected moments.
“Johan Damus.”
And those emotions resurfaced once more when he discovered the World Tree this time.
The scenery of the homeland his wife had longed for all her life caused his resolve to waver again.
“Do not make another mistake.”
The moment Johan Damus stepped onto the stage, Lanius would become the spear that cut down the rabble. It was not a role he welcomed either.
“You must never step onto the stage.”
Lanius slung his pitch-black spear over his shoulder and continued down the road.
Behind him, the shadow stretching from his past trailed long across the ground.
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