Chapter 332: Deculein (1)

Swoooosh…

The rain-drenched Hadekain’s forest. The smell of soil and wood rose thick, and grass worms fluttered in the air with clear mana. On the bed of the quiet shelter inside the forest, Julie was watching Deculein sleep.

“…”

Without a word, without a sign, afraid that he might wake up. Fortunately, this doll’s body didn’t need sleep. She could watch and protect him without wasting even a second.

…Creak.

A ringing echoed in her ear as a door opened. But Julie didn’t have to react. As if waiting, she stood and prepared a chair. Then she looked back.

Stomp, stomp.

Careful footsteps as if stepping on ice. Julie bowed.

“Are you here?”

The woman who appeared now was the wizard who arranged for her to be resurrected, although briefly. The person she was grateful for protecting and cherishing Julie’s thoughts, feelings, and memories.

“Yeah.”

Epherene Luna.

“I’m here.”

Julie put her fist to her chest and lowered her head. That way, she expressed a knight’s gratitude.

“What are you doing?”

But Epherene asked what she was doing as if she didn’t know its meaning. Julie smiled a little and sat down.

“As expected, you’re very meticulous.”

“…Stop.”

Despite Julie’s admiration, Epherene shook her head and looked to Deculein.

“I don’t know anything.”

The present Epherene didn’t even know that Julie could be revived as a doll like this. She was just a fragment of Epherene’s flow.

“I just do what time allows. I’m only adjusting what’s going to happen.”

To make sure that what is going to happen will happen. The relationship between the future and the past had nothing to do with Epherene.

“Now that I’ve seen Knight Julie come back to life like this… if I go back to the past, I will now preserve your diary.”

Julie admired and respected Epherene. No, she looked at her with longing. No matter what she said, Epherene was the benefactor who saved her life twice.

“As expected of you, master wizard.”

Suddenly, the title changed to the master wizard. Epherene smiled softly and stretched her hand to Deculein, then stopped. She clenched her teeth, contemplated with a sad look, and retracted her hand. Now she wasn’t allowed to touch anyone. Even the slightest touch would cause a warping of time that could disturb causality.

Julie, noticing, quickly changed the topic.

“By the way, is it okay if I talk to you?”

“Yeah. Knight Julie, it’s a typical problem.”

“…Typical?”

Epherene looked to Julie. Then she pointed to her chest.

“The knight Julie, the talent in your soul, can freeze even time. It’s still working naturally, so everyday conversation is fine.”

“Oh….”

Julie put her hand over her own heart. Epherene smiled.

“Uuugh—!”

Epherene stretched and mumbled.

“Today, there will be one more guest beside me.”

“A guest?”

“Unlike me, she is someone who can touch the Professor.”

Stomp—

Just then, something landed on the other side of the window. Epherene pointed.

“Her Majesty the Emperor.”

“…!”

Julie looked over with wide eyes. A long, flaming-red-haired existence stood there in the pouring rain.

“Why, Her Majesty…?”

After she confirmed it was Emperor Sophien, the moment she looked back to Epherene…

“…You’re already gone.”

Epherene had vanished without a trace. Then, did she come to warn of the Emperor’s visit? Julie watched Sophien outside the window. She forced herself to nod as their eyes met.

Julie spoke.

“Come in.”

—…

Then, Sophien moved. From outside the window to this place inside. Once inside, she cleaned her soaked and muddy clothes.

“…Your Majesty.”

Julie greeted Sophien with a bow. More formalities were allowed only to Deculein.

“…”

Sophien sat quietly in the same seat Epherene had been and looked to Deculein. However, she was more active than Epherene, and she placed her hand against Deculein’s forehead and confirmed his fever.

“I knew it.”

Mana emanated from her hand. There was no intention of harm, so Julie silently watched.

“It’s only the divine language that can heal his body.”

Sophien explained. Julie nodded.

Sophien’s mana fluttered around Deculein, spreading through his veins and heart like a gentle blue aura.

“Yes, I understand.”

“…Whew.”

Sophien exhaled.

“His body is still at its limit. If I don’t repair him, he might close his eyes tomorrow. So….”

Sophien turned to Julie. Julie answered.

“I won’t tell him.”

But if Deculein asked, she’d answer honestly. Because she now had someone who took precedence over the Emperor’s orders.

“…”

Nodding, Sophien looked back at Deculein with sorrow in her eyes. Her attempts to heal him could only delay death a little longer. She watched him until the rain stopped, the fog of dawn spread, and the sun rose…

“I’m leaving.”

“Yes.”

Before he woke up, the Emperor erased all traces of herself. She stood and left him without hesitation. Just like in the desert, that one day, when Deculein had healed her without her knowledge…

* * *

“Deculein is a traitor, Your Majesty—!”

One day in autumn, a great shout resounded through the Imperial Palace. After a very long time, the servants held a formal group meeting. Their target was Deculein. Two hundred of the six hundred most important ministers were gathered in a wide area thanks to the fact the intelligence service had spread the rumor he was trying to betray the Empire.

It wasn’t just them, either. The main faces of the Imperial Knights, including Lawaine, the Red Garnet Adventure Team, the addicts of Floating Island, and the core faculty of the Imperial Magic Tower, had appeared.

“…”

However, Sophien didn’t say anything. She put her hand to her chin and looked at the big door at the back of the hall with a look they couldn’t quite identify yet.

All because ‘he’ wasn’t here yet. The object of this appeal and the most important person to Sophien.

“Your Majesty-!”

Old man Romellock cried out. They were aiming for Deculein’s absence.

“Deculein has plagiarized his achievements, and now, even information about his return to the Altar is infesting this continent. If people on the continent have learned such a fact, we can’t close our eyes to it, Your Majesty! We need to catch him and interrogate him! I beg your kindness, Your Majesty!”

“We beg your kindness—!”

Their shouts rang in Sophien’s ears. However, the eyes of the Emperor remained fixed on the entrance. She was still waiting for him to appear.

“Your Majesty–! There are already many witnesses waiting to uncover all his sins-“

“—How dare you babble about those rumors?!”

A louder cry drowned him out. Everyone’s eyes moved to its source. Sophien, who had been holding her chin sullenly, only then straightened up.

“Your Majesty! Everything Romellock said is a lie—!”

That voice, of course, wasn’t Deculein’s. Deculein didn’t like to go out like a wild dog, and it was against the dignity of an aristocrat.

“Please punish Romellock for slandering loyal Deculein out of envy and jealousy!”

He was just a minister of the Imperial family who claimed to be Deculein’s informant. Romellock also checked his low rank, and his eyes widened.

“What—?! How dare….”

However, Romellock was interrupted along the way. The crowds rushing into the room were contained in his widening eyes. Likewise were the ministers of the Imperial family, exactly three hundred and fifty-three of them.

They walked with dignity, as if marching, and stood opposite Romellock. Unlike his hardened self, they all had relaxed looks.

“…”

Romellock shuddered with astonishment. His eyebrows trembled, and a cold sweat formed across his brow. The reason was simple: all of them, or at least most, were the ones who raised their voices with him, saying, Deculein was a traitor…

Stomp-

The sharp clink of shoes filled the air. Romellock and his forces all looked around and received a heart-pounding shock.

“…Deculein.”

Romellock blankly mumbled. As if hearing those words, Deculein nodded and answered.

“Yes. I’m Deculein.”

He walked toward Romellock.

Stomp, stomp-

There wasn’t even the slightest hesitation in that step, nor the slightest humility. Only arrogance and contempt.

“In the place of appealing and interrogating me, Deculein. I, Deculein, will prove myself indispensable.”

He strolled up the long, red carpet leading to the Emperor. The traditional path that only the Emperor could tread, Deculein trampled with his shoes. At that moment, Romellock’s eyes filled with astonishment.

“T-This traitor—!”

The old man yelled and ran at Deculein. The other ministers stopped him, however. Glancing him briefly up and down, Deculein looked back to the Emperor.

“I’m here. If you have something to say, say it directly to me.”

Insolently and disrespectfully, Deculein spoke his will. He expressed his true intentions to the Emperor in the most active way…

* * *

…The meeting in the Imperial Palace was unconventional from the start, and it had been going on for five hours and thirty minutes now.

“Deculein, and anti-Deculein?”

Ganesha muttered while eating some chips. Outsiders such as the Red Garnet Adventure Team and the Floating Island had been evacuating for a while from the fierce conflict.

“Yeah. I think so.”

Currently, the palace is divided into two main factions. One Deculein focused, and the other anti-Deculein. They still didn’t know which had the upper hand.

Emperor Sophien wasn’t responding.

“What happens if the Deculein side wins? Will the Emperor change?”

“No. Her Majesty will become a puppet.”

Lia was now contemplating Deculein’s intentions. Standing out here, she saw him set to be the villain. She remembered what he said to her at the Hadekain annex before. Why did he say, ‘Follow me’?

“…No way.”

Knock, knock-

When Lia was about to bite into a mandarin orange, she heard a knock.

“Yes~, come in~.”

Ganesha said without much thought. The door opened.

“Is the meeting finally over…?”

Lia and Ganesha looked up.

“Knight Lawaine?”

The honest knight called the conscience of the Imperial Knights.

“Yes. Nice to see you, Lia. Captain Ganesha.”

He approached them calmly, as if they had just met yesterday, and pulled out a piece of paper. At a glance, it was a magically sealed letter.

“What is this?”

Lia asked.

“This is a handwritten letter from Her Majesty the Emperor.”

“…What does it say?”

Lia first looked at the title of the letter. It was an invitation to Masal (Demon Killer).

“Masal?”

“Yes”

Lawaine rubbed his forehead with a serious look.

“Masal. This is the newly established unit’s name directly under the command of the Emperor.”

“Her immediate command…?”

Ganesha’s face hardened, and Lia thought about Masal in her way.

The team that killed demons. The team that catches demons?

“Do they catch demons?”

“Yes. However, the ‘Ma’ here isn’t a demon.”

Gawain opened the Emperor’s handwritten letter.

“It’s Deculein.”