r18novel Chapter 346
Chapter 346
Chapter 346
"……."
I looked at that face and pulled the corners of my mouth upward. The enemy had proposed an alliance. Mecklenburg, having caught on to that fact, turned his head toward me with a creaking motion, his face frozen stiff.
There must be a critical reason why a man who should have entered the Brandenburg Archdiocese went to Osnabrück instead. What were the chances that he simply wandered into foreign territory out of boredom and ended up becoming the Diocesan Bishop? The same went for why he was in Munich-Freising.
The hypothesis I had been considering was this: Ainsidel was not devoted to Munich-Freising, and naturally held no loyalty to it, because he had deliberately sought this place out for a certain 'objective.'
Ainsidel, who had been staring straight into my face, tilted his head at an angle with a cryptic smile.
"It seems you expected this."
"Then what will you do about it?"
"Ah, I'm merely satisfied."
Ainsidel replied with a face that didn't particularly look it. More than that, I'd heard words like these from someone before…. A chill crawled over my entire body."So… I'm quite curious how you knew I would act this way. Why don't you try explaining it for me."
The reasoning process was exceedingly simple.
Thinking in reverse order forever would only breed confusion, so first I needed to rearrange my information in chronological order aligned with Ainsidel's timeline. He should have been in the Dresden Diocese or the Brandenburg Archdiocese, yet he set foot in Munich-Freising but ultimately didn't settle there, instead going to Osnabrück and eventually becoming Diocesan Bishop—the probability of the Brandenburg Archdiocese was far greater than Saxony's Dresden Diocese, and for an obvious reason: if I were to attend a church, I wouldn't go to the one in the region where my family's main house is, but the one in the region where I actually live. I could further elaborate on this claim by considering the speculation that this Ainsidel is from a branch family, but it gets too long-winded, so I'll omit it—.
I had two pieces of information. First, competition between dioceses within Pleroma is fierce. This was information I'd known for some time, and today, through the priest's answers, I reconfirmed that inter-diocese competition within Pleroma had existed as far back as 1891.
Therefore, it now became easy to infer what had happened between Ainsidel's 'initiation into Munich-Freising' and his 'ordination as Diocesan Bishop of Osnabrück.' Munich-Freising would have had no intention of losing a capable individual to another diocese, yet Ainsidel clearly showed his face at Munich-Freising and then went to Osnabrück and advanced without issue. This meant either Ainsidel had used his Divine Power to collectively tamper with the memories of Munich-Freising's clergy, or he had seized Munich-Freising's weaknesses and prevented them from pursuing him. This treacherous act by Ainsidel would have been carried out the moment he fell out with Munich-Freising, or the moment he judged there was nothing left to gain from them.
'Now, the second point.'
The Federal Council's Pleroma, Alexander Kluger, belongs to the Brandenburg Archdiocese, and he said his diocese didn't get along well with Munich-Freising. At the time, I asked the assemblyman whether the regional animosity between Prussia and Bavaria was related to that, and he answered yes. I could surmise that the relationship between the Brandenburg Archdiocese and the Munich-Freising Archdiocese had been that way from the very beginning.
'Keeping this second basis in mind and returning to the original question.'
1. When it would have been natural for Ainsidel to belong to the Brandenburg diocese, 2. why did he deliberately choose Munich-Freising? Here, the thought flows naturally in this direction. 1. Ainsidel is not on good terms with Brandenburg, to the point of deliberately avoiding that diocese. Whether the problem is the people inside it, or the diocese's system, or perhaps Brandenburg did nothing at all but Ainsidel simply wants to seize it for his own amusement—whichever possibility one considers. 2. He chose not just any diocese, but specifically Munich-Freising, which has a poor relationship with Brandenburg. The hypothesis that it was a random selection is perfectly fine, but a far more causally meaningful hypothesis would arise with utter naturalness. He chose this place to dig up information from Brandenburg's rival diocese, Munich-Freising, that could be used against Brandenburg—or to build his own power base.
'I had no intention of being certain, so it was merely a hypothesis, but….'
However, the possibility of this hypothesis grew once when he, at the very end of our last conversation, left traces of his Magic Power on my clothes and body—as if trying to track my path the way one traces a warp spell's route. It grew again due to the warp spell laid on the floor of the priest's office. And finally, it became true now, as he struck down Munich-Freising's priests and extended his hand to me.
And I have no intention of voicing this directly. It would reveal the gap in our information. I stood from my seat, met his gaze, and spoke.
"You, too, already predicted that I would know, didn't you?"
"What makes you think so?"
"You evaluated me as a mage worth using as a comrade, and yet you think I'm so incompetent that I couldn't even detect the Magic Power you let drift into the air?"
Ainsidel, who had been watching me without expression, let a smile settle into his features once more.
"I like people such as yourself."
He turned his head and continued.
"No, I don't know whether I like you or what it is, but…. It remains unchanged that you are quite a satisfying existence at this point."
You said you liked me, then said you didn't know if you actually liked me or what—what am I supposed to make of that? I looked at Mecklenburg, who was clutching his bleeding arm, and spoke.
"Why did you drink my friend's blood?"
"It has simply been a long time, so I needed strength. If you find it objectionable, I shall ease his pain somewhat."
"……."
Does he mean it's been a long time since he used Divine Power? He sat down in front of Mecklenburg, and when Mecklenburg scrunched his face and tried to pull back, I sat beside Mecklenburg and held his shoulder. Ainsidel placed his hand on the slashed arm and used healing magic. I hadn't thought he had such an ability, but it was worth noting.
More than that, the smell of Mecklenburg's blood filling my lungs was causing my core to gradually expand. Feeling a dreadful revulsion blanketing my entire body, I spoke in a low voice.
"You're already a Pleroma. I had suspected during my reasoning that you weren't just a mere novice, but still."
"Perhaps."
"Very well. Then how are you using Divine Power?"
"……."
"Moreover, what you just used to knock out the priests was a sleep spell. A sleep spell isn't achieved through that kind of incantation—where on earth did you learn such a formula?"
I examined Ainsidel with sharp eyes. He tilted his head for a long while before letting out a deep breath with a bored expression.
"I cannot say. Now then. Frankly speaking, Pleroma's reputation has become laughable at this point. The Pleroma I knew was not such a shoddy organization…. So, what will you do with this pathetically shoddy diocese?"
Listening to his languid words, I answered curtly.
"Raid the archives."
"Our intentions align."
Ainsidel said that and whipped his head around.
CRASH—!! SHATTER—!
I raised my arm to block the front. Divine Power spread from the Staff Ainsidel had slammed down, and the Magic Power of the Space Magic rushing in from the entrance shattered and scattered like glass. Priests from Munich-Freising had already arrived. I cast a barrier with one hand, pulled Mecklenburg to his feet, and watched Ainsidel's movements closely. The ceaseless barrage of explosions and light scrambled my senses.
'His reaction speed is extraordinary.'
His skill was already complete. Since there were no more opponents left to fight, the room fell silent in an instant. Ainsidel surveyed the five priests collapsed on the floor, then stepped out of the room and stomped his foot hard. Just as though he had warped everyone in one go, the priests vanished somewhere. What a familiar sight. Isn't that exactly what I'd done dozens of times? I watched the scene I knew all too well and spoke.
"You already know Pleroma's coordinate system. Munich-Freising's coordinate system at that."
"And how did you know that Space Magic can only be used within Pleroma if you know the coordinate system? No matter how I think about it, as your friend put it… I'm curious what you've been doing to be this proficient."
We are suspicious of each other. How long will this suspicion remain unspoken between us?
DING—!
Suggestion 1. Have a conversation with 'Ainsidel' (0 min / 30 min)
— Reward: EC point +5
The first Suggestion appeared.
When I smiled, Ainsidel mimicked my expression, making the exact same face. Then, as if mildly intrigued, he tilted his head.
"I had planned to handle this quietly, but now that I have a comrade, why don't we try handling this cleanly. Before the archives, let's go to the cathedral."
***
The sensation of combat is never welcome.
"Hey!"
CRASH—! BOOM—!
The moment my feet were bound from below, a terror-stricken shout came from Mecklenburg. Bound was the literal word. The marble had squirmed and engulfed my feet, then raced ferociously up my legs.
'There's someone using ground manipulation as a unique ability….'
A mere devotee, but one who would certainly not stay a mere devotee. Munich-Freising would recruit him. The instant I raised my head to search for this ability user, who was surely somewhere inside the cathedral packed with people, a blade's gleam flew toward my eyes. It struck the barrier.
BOOM—!
[He wraps himself in light as with a garment; he stretches out the heavens like a curtain.]
Blue light surged skyward from where I had slammed down my Staff. The blades that had pressed in to my back and right before my eyes fell away, powerless. The Pleroma clutched their throats and dropped the weapons they held. I took a step forward and swung my Staff.
[He lays the beams of his upper chambers on their waters. He makes the clouds his chariot….]
Magic Powers that weren't mine—deep blue ones—rushed toward me. Their last desperate struggle bore down on me, and I swept the Staff to scatter it all.
CRASH— BOOM—!!
"N-No…!"
Following the Divine Power detonating all around and Mecklenburg's magic, the cries of several Pleroma faded from my ears. The priests and devotees who had stood packed tightly around me gradually vanished from eye level after my incantation. The sound of bodies falling continued without end. With each step I took, an unconscious person was underfoot. I continued forward, chanting without pause.
[He rides on the wings of the wind. He makes winds his messengers, flames of fire his servants.]
BOOM—
[He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved.]
I chanted in a low voice and gazed at the one person standing before me. Panic spread across the face of the last remaining devotee in the cathedral. Flustered that his unique ability of ground manipulation wouldn't activate, he waved his Wand frantically—but that in itself was a fatal error. Simultaneously, a blade-like amber attack hurtled toward his throat. After the sound of the last person falling, silence arrived.
"…Ha."
Mecklenburg let out a trembling breath. In a faint voice barely above a whisper, he asked.
"How, how…. Why are mages this powerful in a heresy like this…? Was it really not nonsense—what you said was actually true…?"
"Powerful?"
At the question I let slip, Mecklenburg blinked rapidly, then squeezed out a voice that wouldn't come.
"…Then they're weak to you? This?"
I didn't answer. The you of a few years from now will manage it somehow. I wanted to resolve his doubts, but this wasn't the time for leisurely conversation.
'There are quite a few with useful unique abilities. But….'
They're incomparably weaker than the Pleroma of 1898. Even accounting for the presence of mere devotees among them. I recalled the countless photos of Bavarian cathedrals stored in my memory and examined this one. I identified where Munich-Freising was using as their cathedral. Then, when my eyes met Mecklenburg's, he flinched and gripped his Wand tightly. Had seeing my skill made him wary of me as well? To think I have to put him at ease even on a point like this—in this era or seven years later, in this regard, Mecklenburg hasn't changed at all. I gave him a faint smile, then asked Ainsidel, who had been standing behind us watching.
"Where will you go now? Since you were the one who hit the cathedral first, it's obvious we need to head straight for the archives."
"You're confident you can go even though it'll cause an uproar."
Ainsidel asked.
Until now, support hadn't come because we had used Space Magic to relocate Munich-Freising's cathedral wholesale, but from this point, one wrong move and we'd be facing the Monsignor and the council of bishops. Even if memories of before torment me, there's no avoiding it now. How could I let this opportunity for rehearsal slip away? Both seizing the archives and combat—I need them both.
"Of course we go."
"I'm curious why you're so blindly zealous about attacking Munich-Freising…."
"That's what I want to ask you."
Ainsidel nodded, then stomped his foot. Before my eyes, an aged university library of several centuries unfolded. The sunlight that had been streaming in moments ago was absent here, and now I had to rely on the chandeliers hanging throughout. I looked up at the railing of the upper floor and asked.
"How did you know the coordinates of this place?"
"You've been truly curious about that since earlier, I see."
Ainsidel said that, yet answered my question all the same.
"I merely utilized information I already possessed. Cases where the coordinate system itself is overturned aren't common. And if there is a case where it gets overturned—what we're doing right now would be precisely the trigger for that."
"Information you already possessed."
If you already knew Pleroma's information… that certainly means you've already ransacked Brandenburg as well.
"……."
Ainsidel said nothing more and began walking. Even though he couldn't know when this peace would shatter, even though he surely knew a blood-soaked battle would soon erupt, his face was utterly tranquil.
He descended to the lower floor with practiced familiarity. In order to complete the Suggestion and verify what information he was stealing, I followed behind him and asked. Mecklenburg hesitated, then fell into step beside me.
"What do you plan to do with the archives you steal?"
"And what about you?"
"You intend to seize weaknesses of the Brandenburg Archdiocese, I assume. Then why haven't you hit Brandenburg's own archives?"
"Clever of you to figure that out, too. As I thought, you're no ordinary person either…."
After murmuring that, Ainsidel continued.
"I cannot go there. No, come what may, I will not set foot in that place. Does that answer your question?"
"……."
As I thought, there's something between the Brandenburg Archdiocese and Ainsidel. It's definitely information I need to learn. When I could only glare at the back of his head, he asked quietly as he walked ahead.
"Let me ask again. Why did you come here?"
"What if I said I came to destroy Pleroma?"
"You're destroying it with your own hands right now, aren't you?"
When I didn't answer, Ainsidel burst into laughter.
"I see, every last Pleroma…. Not a bad notion."
"Not bad?"
Even though you're Pleroma yourself?
He ignored my question, which carried a trace of mockery. He simply fell silent for a long time, then continued in a tone devoid of any hint of a smile—as if praying to something.
"I hope you destroy it with everything you have. By the time the next century arrives, make it a place no one remembers."