Episode 20

Van and the others thoroughly searched vanished Samaris and its surroundings. They searched with a faint hope that there might still be someone alive or a witness, but there was no sign of any person.

The group moved on after passing through the Samaris tunnel, which had not yet been opened. Was it ironic that Van and the others, who had absolutely nothing to do with Samaris, became its first users?

There was no conversation among them, and they advanced along the foot of the mountain in a heavy atmosphere. The sun had already begun to set, and they were now in the middle of camping.

“We will need to procure food soon.”

“That’s right. Let’s stop by a nearby town for now.”

Van and the others surrounded the campfire. They were eating a simple meal, but their conversations were only businesslike, with no energy at all. The same situation had continued ever since they witnessed the damage to Samaris.

“…”

“Luke. Eat. We do not know what might happen at any time, do we?”

“…I know. I’ll eat before I rest.”

Luke answered Nahal’s consideration absentmindedly. He was quietly watching the crackling campfire.

“We are going to stop by a nearby town and resupply. What will you do?”

“…We don’t know what the knight order’s course of action is now.”

“We must also report the abnormal situation in Samaris. We should return to the royal capital once.”

There were also ways to contact others using magic tools, but Luke’s squad did not have one. Nahal and Skinny thought that, considering the gravity of the matter, this was something they should report directly. They should probably refrain from acting independently any further.

“…If that’s the case, then it can’t be helped. Yes, that’s good.”

“Why do you look so happy?”

Atri unusually showed her emotions openly. Ciel tilted her head, thinking that this was not really something to approve of that completely. …But only Van knew. When Atri was like this, she was plotting something no good. This was black-hearted Atri.

“…”

“It seems your squad leader is not convinced, though?”

“…Mixing in personal feelings is dangerous. Not good. You’ll be fired.”

“Atri, keep quiet for a bit, okay?”

Van warned Atri not to interject. Perhaps to keep Atri, who kept derailing the conversation, at a distance, Van took out a single book. The well-worn book had photographs of swords in it.

“When my emotions are disturbed, I look at this ‘Famous Sword Photo Collection’ and calm my heart. …Though lately, there have been a lot of chances to do that.”

It was a book that contained many types of swords from around the world. With photos, illustrations, and explanations compiled together, it was the supreme volume for sword enthusiasts. The book, which even fully covered the weapons used by successive generations of Sword Saints, was Van’s favorite.

“I’ll lend it to you, so calm down once, okay?”

Van handed over the Famous Sword Photo Collection with a somewhat proud look. He gave everyone meaningful glances and raised his thumb. Ciel and Selen looked at each other, Glanz gave a wry smile, Nahal and Skinny looked at him as though seeing a strange person, and Luke completely ignored him.

Atri received the book called the Famous Sword Photo Collection. Van wore a triumphant expression, as though to say, “This is it, right?” but Atri’s reaction was different. Her eyes turned jet black, and she looked at Van and the book as though looking at filth. …The thought shared by everyone was, “What are these two doing?”

“Ahem… Luke-san. What do you want to do?”

As if to change the strange atmosphere, Glanz asked Luke.

“I think we should make the truth clear. …He is always like that. He tries to shoulder everything alone. He thinks it is fine as long as only he gets hurt.”

Among the people here, Luke was the one who had known Zeke the longest. Zeke had created the opportunity for his mana sclerosis to be cured, and Zeke had also created the opportunity for him to grow stronger as an adventurer.

It was not merely that they had spent time together when they were young. The Luke of today existed unmistakably because of the existence called Zeke.

“I agree with Luke-san as well. We must reveal the truth. As things stand, there are far too many unhappy people.”

Regardless of who the culprit was, the fact that Sword Saint Masfelt Freak had died would not change. The same applied to Samaris. The vanished city would not return to normal.

“Even if we ask Zeke, who knows the circumstances, I doubt he will honestly tell us. In the first place, he can use the same teleportation magic as Glanz.”

“We do not know where he is, and there are no witnesses either. What should we do…?”

Though Samaris had a small population, it was still a city. Since even its residents had disappeared, there was nothing they could do. Searching for witnesses would be difficult.

“With my magic and Ciel-san’s sacred arts, it is impossible to hear the voices of the deceased.”

“The dead tell no tales. This is difficult…”

Zeke was wanted on suspicion of killing the Sword Saint. The situation also suggested that he was involved in the disappearance of Samaris for some reason. An already bad situation was made even worse by his position as a Lagias.

While each of them could not find an answer, one knight opened his mouth.

“…Then why don’t we ask them? The dead, I mean.”

“? What are you talking about? Are you all right?”

“That reaction makes it seem like I’m crazy. …Well, I guess that’s the normal reaction.”

No one understood Skinny’s statement. Perhaps Skinny himself knew he was saying something outlandish, because he did not raise his voice.

“N-e-c-r-o-m-a-n-c-y. If it goes well, we should be able to learn what we want to know with that.”

The atmosphere had changed because of Van’s and Atri’s strange behavior, but now it changed again because of Skinny’s statement.

“Skinny. You said the same thing before. …At the time, I thought it was a nasty joke.”

“There’s no way I’d joke at a time like this, right?”

“Necromancy, is it? In modern times, it is said that there are no users of it.”

Necromancy was said to call the souls of the dead into the present world. As Glanz said, it was said that no practitioners existed, and in a sense, it was counted as one form of ancient magic.

“There aren’t any users, sir. If that spread around, the boundary between life and death would get vague, sir.”

“…Skinny, stop. It is embarrassing. This is actually rude to the Sage.”

Glanz was not offended by Skinny’s poor polite speech and listened seriously. He encouraged him to continue, saying that he could speak as usual.

“There aren’t any users, but there is a p-l-a-c-e w-h-e-r-e i-t c-a-n b-e u-s-e-d. There, we should be able to hear the voices of the dead. If all the residents of Samaris are dead, then it shouldn’t be difficult… if they’re really dead.”

“Skinny, you…”

Luke and Nahal showed confusion at Skinny’s atmosphere, which was different from usual. It was true that Skinny had spoken of necromancy in the past.

“On the outskirts of the northernmost town in Diabalet. They say the oldest necromancy is sealed in the ruins there.”

“…I remember now. Necromancy and its practitioners. You are one of the Shupilad, are you not?”

“…I guess someone knowledgeable would figure it out. It’s my former surname, though.”

Those who had made a name for themselves as a clan that manipulated the souls of the dead were the necromancers called the Shupilad.

Necromancy was the counterpart to sacred arts, the symbol and pride of the Kingdom of Diabalet. As an act that was the complete opposite of the silver miracle, it was hated by the people like snakes and scorpions. In the end, by royal command, necromancy was made taboo, and history held that the Shupilad who opposed it were purged.

“That’s insane. There’s no way such tyranny should be allowed…”

“It’s a story from long ago. …My boring story doesn’t matter.――But.”

Skinny looked at everyone. As if to say that what came next was important.

“I understand how he feels. It’s painful to be hated from the moment you’re born. It’s too much for everything to be decided just by your origin.”

Very few people knew of the Shupilad now. But in Skinny’s hometown, it remained as a legend, and some people loathed them.

An environment where he was hated without even understanding why. Wanting to change that, Skinny left his hometown and resolved to become a knight.――So that even one fewer person would be hurt by absurdity.

“If everything he did is true, then he’s one hell of a villain. But if it isn’t… then it should be fine if someone trusts him a little, even just a tiny bit.”

Skinny had originally known of the House of Lagias, but after going out into the outside world, he came to know it in the true sense.

The hostility and malice people directed toward Lagias was stained with hatred unlike anything Skinny had ever experienced. It was not an emotion that humans should direct toward another human.

“I don’t know him well, and I can’t use necromancy. But personal feelings or whatever else don’t matter.――I’ll trust him. I want him to make fools of the people who decide everything on their own and reject him.”

“Tch, this isn’t like me,” Skinny said as he roughly scratched his head. Before they knew it, everyone had been listening closely to his words.

“…Skinny. Can we enter those ruins easily?”

“Huh? Not normally. …Apparently, the mechanism opens the entrance in response to Shupilad mana.”

What Skinny took out was a shining metal fragment. Its shape seemed to have originally been the b-l-a-d-e o-f a s-w-o-r-d, and it had been processed into a talisman so it would be easy to carry.

“Is that orichalcum? You have quite the rare item.”

“It’s not mine, though. …This thing has ridiculously high mana conductivity.――So.”

When Skinny poured mana into it, perhaps because a magical formula had been engraved on it, a spell formula surfaced and the talisman glowed dimly.

“A talisman that stores mana… And this formula is… his.”

“I asked a s-t-r-a-n-g-e regimental commander from the Mage Corps to install it for me. Well, this was originally yours, so I’m giving it back.”

The talisman was handed over.

It had been Luke’s beloved orichalcum sword. The sword he had received from his dear friend had broken from the base. It was precious to him, but because it could not be repaired, he had asked for it to be used as funds for Osten’s reconstruction.

“I hated from the bottom of my heart that I was born into the Shupilad bloodline. But that was… for this moment, I can think that now. Luke, I told you before, didn’t I? Whether he becomes a genius or ends as a monster is up to you.”

Skinny lightly nudged Luke. That casual action felt as though it contained many feelings.

“I’d really like to at least guide you there, but if someone doesn’t show up at the knight order soon, things will get bad, right?”

“…If it is only a report, the two of us should be able to manage somehow. I am also concerned about Regimental Commander Yorn’s whereabouts.”

“Skinny, Nahal…”

Their relationship had only begun because they had been assigned to the same squad in the enlistment exam. They had only acted for their own goals and purposes, and had not thought of one another as companions. Now, however, they trusted each other and could entrust their lives to one another. …This meeting, too, was probably not a coincidence.

“It seems the discussion is settled.”

“Luke-san, let’s go together!”

“There is a fair distance. We must prepare properly.”

No one objected to Luke joining them.

The Talk Mountains were marked by sheer rocky slopes. There were no people at all, and it was a quiet place outside even the territory of monsters. A few years ago, this place had been the nest of the basilisk that ruled this land, but it had been subjugated by one noble.

And now, that noble had set foot in the Talk Mountains for the first time in five years.

(Even though the basilisk is dead, there are no animals or monsters.)

In the original work, there had been a setting that other living things did not approach because they feared the dragon, but how was it now? In the first place, it was unclear how far the game’s circumstances influenced this world.

Hiroto changed his thoughts, deciding that thinking about it would be a waste of time.

(Haaah, I overdid it again. The power I took from the knights is completely empty too.)

Transferring all the residents of Samaris. Even though he had borrowed Arnica’s and Baccus’s power, it had originally been an impossible demand. The reason he accomplished an impossible spatial transfer was because of Unison Link, excessive life force, and Zeke’s talent.

If it had been the powerless Hiroto, he would have ended without being able to do anything.

(I can’t dope myself from here on. …Well, the next one is the l-a-s-t, so it should be fine.)

The Talk Mountains. This land had been his first real battle and could be called the place where everything began.

After subjugating the basilisk here, Hiroto’s fate began moving. Because of that one step, he had been able to run this far.

If the self from back then learned that the self who had acted only to survive had nearly died in order to save someone, what would he think? Would he laugh scornfully or get angry? Would he admonish him, asking what he had misunderstood? No answer came, but he somehow understood that he would not be praised.

(With this, I’ve fulfilled the bare minimum of my obligations. I can’t trust her, but I have no choice but to force myself to believe.)

The deal was practically a threat. In that desperate situation, Hiroto did not think Arnica would refuse. It might have been a cowardly method, but expecting nobility from Zeke was the stranger choice.

(…In the end, I couldn’t change the main course of the scenario.)

Atri (Mistraze) was taken in by the Freak Trading Company, Ciel and the other two inherited “keys,” Luke (Fonsell) entered the knight order, and Selen became Ciel’s guard. Glanz lent his strength to support Van and the others, “Spearize” was stolen, and the Sword Saint died. Looking only at the circumstances, Zeke had destroyed Samaris.

(If it follows the scenario, next is――the Hidden-World Ruins.)

The Shupilad were a clan that used necromancy. The ruins in question were said to contain the oldest necromancy they had sealed away.

In the story, the protagonists visited the Hidden-World Ruins in order to confirm the truth behind the Sword Saint’s murder. There, they learned that Zeke had killed Masfelt, and that Elzen had guided him in doing so.

Hiroto did not know what mechanism necromancy used. All he could explain was that it had been that way in the game. But judging from the flow up to this point, the culprit would be considered Z-e-k-e.

He had not killed Masfelt. He was not Elzen’s accomplice either. Even so, the one who had made Samaris vanish was Zeke. No matter what the truth was, this world would come to erase Zeke.

Of course, Hiroto had no intention of accepting death by saying, “Oh, so that’s how it is.” He had acted until now in order to survive. He had gained strength while vomiting blood.

――He would not let things go as they wanted.

Hiroto’s final resistance was to erase the oldest necromancy sleeping in the Hidden-World Ruins. He intended to destroy the innermost altar along with the ruins themselves. If he did not let them use necromancy, it might still remain only as s-u-s-p-i-c-i-o-n.

If the protagonists identified him as an enemy, there would be no recovery. This world existed for the protagonists, after all.

(Why did I… not erase Aktor?)

The one who told the protagonists of the existence of the Hidden-World Ruins was Actol. Based on that information, they learned the entire truth. That probably would not change in this world either. Van and the others, having obtained information from Aktor, should head for the northernmost part of Diabalet.

(There’s no way I could kill a person. …No, enough. This is fruitless. If I destroy the ruins, it’s over. Then I’ll leave the country. I’ll go somewhere far away where no one knows Zeke.)

Ignote crossed his mind, but considering Zeke’s position, he did not know whether they would accept him. If he would only cause trouble, it would be better for both sides if he did not get involved.

(Let’s go…)

The sky was gloomy. It felt as though it reflected his own heart. There were no animals, and not even monsters. He smiled bitterly inwardly, thinking that being alone was the same as always.