Episode 44

Zeke was taken away again on suspicion of destroying a private residence. This was his third interrogation. Not even a full week had passed since he had arrived in the Republic of Ignote.

“You just never learn, do you?”

“That is my line!”

“Why am I here too…”

For the interrogator, this was the second time; for Kratz, it was the third round of questioning.

“Do you have no other work? I have no obligation to entertain you lot when you are bored.”

“Because you! Keep! Causing! Trouble!”

“!? M-my ears are going to burst…”

The interrogator’s shout rang out, but Zeke looked completely unfazed.

“…We do appreciate that you tracked them down. However, what kind of idiot smashes down someone’s front door!? That’s a residential district!”

“Are you stupid? The deal was to capture the rebels. What happens to this city’s residents has nothing to do with me. That is your job, is it not?”

“I’m impressed. You really talk the same way to everyone, don’t you? …Even if, looking at the results, no one else was hurt.”

He sounded like a member of some evil organization, but it was hard to punish him outright. In terms of results, he had produced achievements, and aside from the destroyed house, there had been no civilian casualties.

“Exactly! It was like you’d calculated it—no damage at all in the surroundings! If you can control it that precisely, there were other ways to handle it!”

“How should I know? Don’t drag me into your convenience.”

“!? ————”

The interrogator clawed at his own head and let out a sound that barely counted as a voice. His condition was dire.

“M-more importantly, we need to talk about that underground passage.”

“Hmph. Finally, the main topic. Hurry up and give me the conclusion.”

He took a breath and forced himself to calm down. As an interrogator, he reminded himself, he had to stay cool-headed.

“…There were clear signs that people had been in the underground area. But that was all.”

“So just a cramped underground room and a crest carved on the wall, right?”

“Yeah. …It was the state crest from the Ignote Principality era. Our analysts say it has some sort of magical mechanism built into it.”

Under certain conditions, it would activate. The interrogator said it was most likely some form of teleportation magic.

“If they’re hiding somewhere else through teleportation magic, that would certainly explain why we can’t find them.”

“It’s not that simple. If there are teleportation points all over Wartel, searching every last one will be a nightmare.”

After the revolution, the old principality crest had been removed from the city as something alien. Since it no longer existed in public places, they had to assume that any remaining crests were hidden, like this one. And even if they managed to find them all, unless they unraveled the mechanism, there was no way to tamper with it from their side.

“For now, all we can do is wait for them to move. If they can travel freely, then we’re at even more of a disadvantage.”

“Their goals are becoming more and more unclear…”

They had captured members of the noble faction, only to have them escape. Just when they thought they had a lead, they hit another dead end. Their position of always reacting second had not changed.

“You seem to know a lot about magic. Any thoughts?”

“What nonsense are you babbling? I didn’t even go into the passage. No—more accurately, I was not allowed in.”

“That’s right. Same for me, by the way…”

Zeke had immediately been surrounded by soldiers, and Kratz had been told he was useless and pushed aside.

“…That was the decision from above. Don’t complain to me.”

The interrogator looked uncomfortable. The comment was aimed at Zeke, but he kept glancing over at Kratz as well.

“I’m sure you have your grievances… So. I’m going to give you a chance to redeem yourself.”

“A chance to redeem myself? From where I stand, you lot are the ones drowning in disgrace. I’m amazed you can show your faces in public.”

He swallowed hard and kept his emotions in check.

“For better or worse, you’re the one racking up results and blunders. If you still intend to keep our deal, shouldn’t you be taking action right now?”

Zeke was finally released from questioning. He should have been investigating since morning, but by the time he got out, the sun had long since set and night had fallen.

“In your case, you kind of brought this on yourself, but still… it’s a lot.”

Kratz walked beside him. His trudging steps made him look like a subordinate who had just been chewed out by his boss.

“If you only look at the results, the only ones actually accomplishing anything are you and Blood. It doesn’t exactly make the rest of them look convincing.”

“Are you dissatisfied with the system? You sound no different from those rebels.”

“!? N-no! I’m a proper soldier who swore loyalty to this country!”

“Well, if someone of your caliber tried to rebel, you’d just get caught right away. Don’t bother.”

Kratz desperately tried to defend himself, but Zeke seemed uninterested and did not engage.

On the way back to the dormitory, as Zeke kept cutting down every topic Kratz brought up, three soldiers appeared ahead of them.

“Hm? Oh, if it isn’t Kratz. You’re still around?”

“Of course he is. No one else wants to take him.”

“No kidding.”

The soldiers burst out laughing. Kratz’s face went stiff.

“Shuffled from post to post, and now you’re stuck babysitting a brat? That’s priceless.”

“Go easy on him. It’s not like he’s good for anything else.”

The three of them cackled loudly at their own jokes. Their behavior was the kind that made people’s skin crawl.

“So, Kratz… I heard you caught some of those escapees’ buddies.”

“Big achievement, that. The world really is full of surprises.”

“…That wasn’t my doing. He’s the one who found them.”

“Right, right.”

One of the soldiers said, nodding absently. It did not look like he was really listening.

“Well, that’s only natural, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. I mean, you’re the one who let them escape in the first place. That makes it easy to find them again.”

“A staged mess to confuse everyone and buy time, right?”

“W-what are you talking about!? Why would I ever do something like that…?”

The soldiers exchanged glances and grinned. One of them stepped in front of Kratz. He was tall and broad-shouldered, looming over him.

“Why? Isn’t it obvious? It’s the filthy blood running through you that makes you do it.”

“—!? Filthy… blood…”

“That corruption has been festering in this country for years. Why do you people keep making us suffer?”

“I’ve never done anything like that! I’m a soldier of this country!”

“Then you’re doing it without even realizing. Sneaky little coward.”

Kratz could not think of a single thing that fit what they were accusing him of, but the soldier spoke as if it were fact.

“If you want to prove you’re clean, go catch every last one of them. And if you can’t, quit being a soldier. We don’t need dead weight.”

Kratz was shoved and fell hard on his backside. He could not get up—not because of the pain, but because of the blow to his heart.

“Let’s go. Thanks to these idiots, we’ve got another early morning tomorrow.”

The soldiers walked away, giving him nothing but contemptuous looks. Kratz could do nothing but hang his head in defeat.

“Pathetic.”

“Yeah. …Why am I like this…”

The two of them returned to their room. Normally, Kratz would say something and the conversation would gradually spread from there, but now it was quieter than ever.

“…You’re not going to ask? What they meant by what they said?”

“I don’t care. Your circumstances are none of my concern.”

(Is he being honest, or is this his way of being considerate? I really can’t tell.)

Kratz Line.

He was a soldier from Wartel in the Republic of Ignote. Born and raised in the city of water, he had spent his life here since childhood.

His family was just his parents and himself—a perfectly ordinary household in every way but one: his parents’ roots.

“So I don’t cause you trouble again like earlier, I’ll tell you now. My parents—my ancestors—were… nobles of this country…”

On his father’s side, the Line family had been nobles during the Ignote Principality era. Kratz had understood what that meant since he was very young.

“In this country, nobles are special—for good reasons and bad. Even now there are people who see us as enemies. I got bullied a lot when I was little.”

From parent to parent, from child to child—bad reputations spread fast, and it was no different in children’s communities. Because it was “pure” bullying, without even conscious malice, the mental damage had been that much worse.

“Back then, the Line family was considered one of the more decent noble houses. We neither cooperated with nor opposed the revolution.”

You could call it fence-sitting, but for that very reason they had been deemed neutral and, instead of being purged, had merely lost their noble status.

“Now and then, nothing’s changed—our Line family has no complaints about the current system. We want this republic to continue. …But to everyone else, that doesn’t matter.”

No matter how much they explained, they would never be understood by everyone. No matter what happened, the past could not be erased. Even if they were innocent, it was inevitable they would be lumped in with the rest.

“Just like I had a hard time, my father and mother suffered too. Maybe that’s why I wanted to become a soldier in the first place.”

He had not wanted to prove his innocence, nor did he intend to swear absolute obedience to the state.

He simply wanted to help the people who were living honest lives—his parents, his friends and neighbors who did not see him through tinted lenses, the other former nobles who had gone through the same thing. He wanted to protect the people who were important to him. That was why he had become a soldier.

“I’ve never been good at physical stuff, though. I barely got in as a soldier on the waiting list.”

(That’s right. I did become a soldier, no matter what anyone says…)

“And this is the result? From where I’m standing, it looks like you’re just accepting your lot without even trying to fight back.”

“…If I take a swing at them, I’m playing right into their hands. Besides, I’d get beaten to a pulp.”

Those soldiers were Kratz’s peers, who had passed the exam normally. The work they were given, the treatment they received, even the way their careers as soldiers had begun—everything had been different.

“That’s just a pathetic excuse. In the end, you’re just running away. I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but if you stay like this, you’ll always be a loser.”

“A loser, huh. …Fits me perfectly.”

He did not have the energy to argue back. It was hardly rare for “the truth” to hurt someone more deeply than a lie.

“…You’re not just making this ‘former noble family’ nonsense up, are you?”

“No one in Ignote would joke about something like that.”

“In that case, go over your own house and your relatives’ homes with a fine-toothed comb.”

Kratz blinked at the sudden change of subject. According to Zeke, they might find clues related to that crest in the underground chamber.

“Something to do with teleportation? Isn’t that the kind of magic that activates only for certain people or bloodlines?”

“Are you stupid? Teleportation magic isn’t that convenient. If blood were the trigger, even someone like you would be able to go back and forth freely.”

Bloodlines could and did branch out. Zeke did not believe they would set up something so sloppy. On the other hand, he also concluded they were not competent enough to fully restrict the teleportation.

“You really know a lot about teleportation magic. I don’t get it at all. But that just makes the trick even more confusing.”

“There must be methods that were passed down only among the nobles of that time. For example… portable talismans, or certain words of power? Not that it has anything to do with me.”

(That does make sense. In that case, it wouldn’t be strange that the revolutionary side never learned about it, and they could have been hiding and amassing strength ever since…)

“In any case, you’re just in the way if you’re here. Don’t show your face tomorrow.”

“You really do have a filthy mouth. Still, you’re right—I’ll start with what I can do. …Thank you, Zeke.”

“Everyone, our preparations are nearly complete. The time we spent crawling in the dirt, steeped in humiliation, will soon come to an end.”

It was a dim underground place. Depending on how you looked at it, the mystic space bathed in magical light felt almost like a garden. There, the people known as the noble faction had gathered.

“The moment we bring the hammer down on those worthless mongrels is close at hand.”

The one speaking like a leader was a man who looked to be in his thirties, dressed in noble-style clothing with a blue motif.

“The Water God’s blessing is under our control. Your efforts are no small part of that, I am sure. Wouldn’t you say, Lord Hofran?”

“Yes, my lord. Your words honor me.”

Hofran and his group, who had been captured, were there as well. Each of them wore a prideful expression.

“In light of that… I intend to grant you the first blessing. What say you?”

“! Leave it to us. We will not fail your expectations.”

“Good. In that case…”

A mysterious blue light enveloped Hofran’s group. A supernatural power radiated from their bodies.

“!? So this is how far it goes… Ha, hahaha! So this is power! With this, we can bring judgment down on them! We’ll crush that insolent brat and those foreigners! Come, my warriors!”

Filled with fighting spirit, Hofran and his men rushed off. The remaining members of the noble faction watched them go with cold eyes.

“Ignorance truly is terrifying.”

“Indeed. …Still, you are cruel, Lord Zepha.”

“It is a necessary sacrifice for the sake of the Principality. Besides, they were delighted. They needed a chance to redeem themselves.”

He smiled with refined grace. His relaxed expression was one of absolute confidence.

“The little bits of mana we have gathered from the populace are not enough on their own.”

“The more they use their power, the more is poured into the Water God. It’s an efficient system.”

The day when they would reclaim the glory they had long awaited was close.

“However, Lord Zepha, I hear there are some unusual elements in play…?”

“Yes. There is a foreign boy, and one who has been swallowed by cursed equipment.”

The one called Yaksha had foiled their plans many times, and the foreign noble who called himself Zeke had captured their comrades. Their base had even been discovered.

“It should be impossible for them to get here, though…”

“You can’t say that for certain. Both seem to be quite skilled. And… they have foul tongues.”

Zepha laughed, clearly amused.

“Playing a role is not such a bad thing.”

“…You really are a wicked man.”

At the back of the garden-like chamber, something like a huge jewel was enshrined. It seemed to be the same light that had lodged itself in Hofran’s group.

“It is only when obstacles exist that our great ambition truly shines. …Now then, Jirk, I will be stepping out. If any visitors should come, receive them. If they are our brethren, show them proper respect.”

“Yes, my lord! At once!”

The young man called Jirk, who looked to be in his twenties, knelt down—before the master who would soon become king.