12

Unlike Kirishiya’s wavering voice, which lacked confidence, this voice was full of confidence and carried an unwavering conviction.

“…Oh?”

Ains, who stood facing Kirishiya, checked the owner of that voice.

Kirishiya then turned around as well.

“…Lizelotte-sama!”

Standing there was a dignified and bewitching woman in a crimson dress, accompanied by several knights. It was the modern-day witch Lizelotte, whose beauty bewitched all who beheld her.

“I confirmed intruders in my archive, so I came in haste… and what is this?”

Lizelotte’s archive was in ruins.

There was no trace left of the way it had once been orderly managed.

And Lizelotte confirmed who was present. Kirishiya and Seidel. And Ains, standing facing them.

“…You again, Ains.”

“You were the one I saw in the royal castle, Lizelotte, was it? I see. So this was your archive.”

Lizelotte was irritated by Ains’s casual attitude.

“And so, Seidel. What is the situation here?”

There was no point in continuing to look at Ains’s disagreeable face. Deciding that Seidel alone was capable of explaining the matter calmly in this place, Lizelotte questioned him.

“I trust Your Excellency is in fine spirits. We, Kirishiya-sama and Lord Ains, happened to come here, but it seems intruders were here before us. It would be those two over there.”

At the end of Seidel’s outstretched hand were Rubelmel and Darius.

“That child… I feel as though I may have seen him somewhere before…”

“He is Lord Darius Sobi, eldest son of Marquis Zoin Sobi of the Sobi House, Your Excellency.”

Lizelotte understood at once. So that was why he looked familiar.

However, she had no recollection whatsoever of the woman standing beside him, the one with the bright red lips. And the air she carried was also somehow different from that of ordinary people.

“The woman beside him is Rubelmel. It seems she is a sorcerer of the Next-Era Luminaries.”

At those unexpected words, the knights standing by Lizelotte heightened their vigilance.

“…It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Excellency Lizelotte? No, Master of the Forbidden Archive, Eternal Witch. I am Rubelmel, Sorcerer of Antagonism, one of the Next-Era Luminaries. I hope you will remember me well.”

Rubelmel delivered her introduction in a composed manner, but cold sweat ran down her face.

“Oh? Then that magic covering the academy is yours. No wonder you caused us such trouble.”

“To receive such praise from a witch—I could not be more pleased.”

Rubelmel lowered her head as she said so.

Her magic of “Antagonism” had been deployed. To counter the giant serpent of the trunk, one would have had to use the high-tier fire magic Seidel had used, or something of a similar kind.

However, Rubelmel’s “Antagonism” activated so as to negate that magic.

Rubelmel’s “Antagonism” truly boasted an ironclad magic when it came to defense. The fact that Lizelotte and the knights waiting behind her were here meant that Rubelmel’s “Antagonism” had been broken through.

“(As expected of the Eternal Witch, I suppose. She too is like Ains-sama…)”

If that was the case, then for Rubelmel, being surrounded like this was a hopeless situation.

“It appears Rubelmel’s objective was to steal the original copy of the ‘Original Canon’ stored here, and since Lord Darius beside her was cooperating with her, he stands on that side as well.”

“Where is the Original Canon now?”

From what Lizelotte could see, Rubelmel did not have it in her hand.

“Yes, Lord Ains has already recovered it.”

“…Tch.”

Lizelotte clicked her tongue.

Even Seidel involuntarily showed fear at that. He knew nothing and had done nothing wrong, but still.

“Well, no matter. If that much is clear, then all that remains is to hear the details from those two. The person I least wanted to come here has already come, but it cannot be helped. I shall change my thinking.”

Casting an irritated sidelong glance at Ains, Lizelotte headed toward Rubelmel and Darius with the knights.

But then she noticed it.

“(…Wait. It may have been coincidence that Ains came here. Annoying though it is, that much is fine. But if so, then why…)”

Ains’s right arm was deployed…?

Lizelotte realized it in a flash.

“…Justice or evil. I may have spoken of such difficult matters, but that does not mean I think it is acceptable to break the law, of course. If they broke the kingdom’s laws, then they should be punished for it. I have nothing to say about that.”

“That is a matter between those who protect the kingdom’s public order and them. I will not involve myself.” Ains continued.

“The die has already been cast, by your own hand. All that remains is how you choose to use your power. For whose sake does the value of you being you exist? For what purpose does it exist? …Darius.”

Rubelmel, standing at the edge of despair, was at a loss as to how she might oppose the witch before her.

“Rubelmel. I am already a wanted man in the kingdom. If I am captured together with you, then it is over.”

“Please be quiet, Darius-sama. This is hardly a situation in which I have time to cater to your mood.”

This brat has no sense of crisis whatsoever, thought Rubelmel. She desperately suppressed herself so that she would not lose focus.

“You and I are already accomplices. I do not know much about your ideology, but if I am to remain myself, I cannot be captured here.”

“…Be quiet!”

Lizelotte stopped in place, as if she had realized something. However, the knights she had brought did not stop, and approached Rubelmel with their weapons readied.

“A place where I can live as ‘myself,’ with nothing to do with pedigree. …Rubelmel, I have no more attachment to being Darius Sobi.”

“…Be quiet!”

“From now on, I am merely Darius, a sorcerer. Take me with you, Rubelmel. Take me to your Next-Era Luminaries.”

“…Shut up.”

The brat beside her was rambling on as if intoxicated with himself.

In a situation where she needed to focus on the enemy’s movements, the brat’s nonsense unpleasantly reached Rubelmel’s ears.

“That room where you and I first met. All the furnishings you placed there—give every last one of them to me. If you do, we can get out of here without being captured.”

What Darius referred to was a room in the commercial district where she had planned this operation with him. The ostentatiously expensive furnishings placed there were vulgar in how obviously costly they were.

Rubelmel thought that, despite the situation, this brat really did have an admirable personality in the worst way, to be so greedily fixated on the furnishings she had prepared.

“Yes, yes! I will give them to you, so please be quiet! The opponent is the Eternal Witch, so this is no time to be dealing with you!”

“That is why it is a condition for exchange. If we make it out of here safely, then take me to where your people are.”

“Good grief! Fine, so shut up, brat! If you would just shut up, I might be able to gather my thoughts and find a way out of this situation! If all you are going to do is spout worthless nonsense, then either shut up or prove that grand confidence of yours!”

Rubelmel had finally snapped. A rough tone that no one could have imagined from how she had acted until now burst to the surface.

Even while snapping in fury, Rubelmel accepted Darius’s demand.