●
“Ah, you seem to have a lot of questions, but first listen to this story!”
Still looking distraught, those sentences continued to flow.
The guy immediately took something out of his pocket.
‘…key?’
It is a key luxuriously decorated with jade.
Judging by the mark on it, it is an item used to open and close the facilities inside the imperial palace.
“With this, you will be able to enter and exit anywhere in the imperial palace! Since it is an item managed by the Presbyterian Council, I will give you ownership of this item!”
“…”
“And, maybe.”
Marquis Bogart winked and handed me the key.
“The imperial palace is a very complicated place with a lot of people and things to play with! “It wouldn’t hurt to take one or two items you like!”
“…”
“If you get caught, it doesn’t matter if you lie and say that the Presbyterian Council told you to do it!”
It’s not something you’ll throw away so casually just by hearing the word.
This is especially true of the sentence that follows.
“…Why did you do that?”
“Only then will you be able to pass the final test of selecting a hero!”
“…”
“Don’t you have a clear idea of what may be ‘asleep’ in the imperial palace?”
Marquis Bogart smiled and continued.
“I’m sure there will be some items that will help you with your planning!”
“…”
Something.
Something is strange.
Putting aside the intention behind why this favor is suddenly shown.
I feel like this guy has a very clear understanding of my ‘principle of action’ and ‘purpose’.
Before an incident, collect items to easily solve it and make a plan in advance.
I feel like I already know the knowledge about this world.
“…I guess there’s something I should bring.”
“yes!”
Marquis Bogart’s eyes flew to the amulet tied to my arm.
“…with ‘Guardian’. “It will definitely help!”
“…”
This guy.
I also know about Caliban.
He stiffens his expression and looks at the other person without saying a word.
I have no idea where this guy suddenly appeared or what his intentions are.
“…Why are you doing this, Marquis Bogart?”
Recite to the other person in a low voice.
“I think you know best that I could be your enemy. “I am a close associate of your political enemies.”
How dare they make me say something like this.
This guy’s very existence is such a mystery that I had to knock him to tell me at least once.
“…I don’t think that’s what you want to ask most, do you?”
Even.
The same goes for saying things like you know everything.
“If you ask me that, I think you can give me some kind of answer as to why you are doing this?”
“…”
Gently grit your teeth.
I don’t feel like it because it feels like it’s playing in the palm of my hand.
Still, I can’t help but ask the biggest question.
“…Do you know your mother?”
When it comes to my father, Viscount Armin Campbell, it wouldn’t be surprising if I knew quite a bit about it.
Considering the insidious habits of the imperial nobility, it would be better to say that my personal information from A to Z was leaked from the moment I started attracting attention.
but.
When it comes to the ‘other’ parent, the story is a bit different.
“I know.”
Bogart answered my question with a shrug.
Even when he asked the next question, he still looked that relaxed.
“how about you?”
This is a question that cuts deep into my heart.
“…If you look at the signs.”
That sentence continued.
“It seems like you don’t know ‘everything’ either. “Isn’t that right?”
I glare at him without answering.
“I thought so.”
Marquis Bogart grinned again and continued.
“Armin is definitely not the kind of guy who would go easy on talking about that to you. Because he’s been like that since he was a kid.”
“…”
“He’s like a bear. “He’s steady and sincere, and that’s probably why Astrid was attracted to him.”
My fists are clenched.
Astrid.
Astrid Campbell.
my mother’s name.
The only information I know for sure about it.
“And, I respect Armin’s decision.”
Marquis Bogart spoke softly.
“If he didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t tell you this or that about Astrid.”
“…I think you’ve already shown this and that, Marquis.”
He throws out such a sentence coldly.
What is it that makes it so obvious that you are deeply tied to your father and mother in some form or another and then say you don’t know? I’m not kidding.
But, even with my attitude.
Marquis Bogart just shrugged his shoulders as if he was okay with it.
“…Well, since you’ve made such a show of it, would you like me to tell you one more thing out of kindness?”
Then, the smile fell from the guy’s face.
Marquis Bogart continued expressionlessly.
It’s the first serious look I’ve seen since meeting this guy.
“…I have a favor to ask from Astrid. I am.”
I feel irritated.
“You’ve been talking in circles since a while ago-”
“You came to find out my true feelings, right? “I’m sure the emperor and prime minister are willing to keep me in check.”
“…”
My eyes narrow.
The word “Your Majesty” is missing.
If you look at it as a subject of the empire, this is honestly such an outrage that you would have nothing to say even if you were punished for lese majeste.
Let me rephrase this.
An incident of language that is no different from blatantly revealing ‘hostility’.
“…What are you thinking, Marquis Bogart?”
I don’t know why I’m suddenly saying this.
Of course, the emperor and the prime minister must have known that they were being viewed unfavorably.
I don’t know why they are showing such reprehensible behavior to my side, which is openly lining up for them.
“The current trend of the Empire’s Presbyterian Council is unusual. In a situation where the empire is divided between the emperor, the prime minister, and the council of elders, if one side starts a big fire, an uncontrollable civil war will break out. “Isn’t that right?”
“…”
This is something I know all about.
Right now, that’s the background of Chapter 5.
“That is correct.”
“…”
I couldn’t believe my ears and looked at the person in front of me.
I feel like I got hit.
Of course, in the current situation, this guy is the only one who will cause the ‘great chaos’ of Chapter 5, but admitting it so calmly is another matter.
‘…why?’
In the end, it’s a question that goes around and around.
What is the benefit of saying this at this time?
“Doud Campbell.”
While I was thinking about that, those words fell out.
“Astrid, did you ask what favor you asked of me?”
“…yes?”
“I can’t say for sure because I have a promise with this guy, but I can give you at least a clue.”
Marquis Bogart spoke while sipping the wine in the glass he brought out.
“Astrid asked me for ‘you’. “He created the greatest masterpiece he has ever created.”
“What is that-”
“To put it simply, I intend to make you ‘great.’”
“…”
There are just a lot of words that I can’t understand.
Since being possessed by Sera’s world, this guy must be the first ‘variable’ that is as unpredictable as the Precursor’s.
He looks at the other person with a frown on his face.
next.
Without any time to reply, the next sentence continued.
“You can convey this to the emperor and his ministers as is. “Listen carefully.”
Absolutely.
This time too, the sentence was definitely not within the ‘expected range’.
“I will burn the entire empire. entire.”
“…”
In fact, he spoke so calmly that I couldn’t understand what he meant for a while.
“It’s not something trivial like a civil war. “My goal is not the throne.”
Light, like an outpouring of obvious facts.
“Any citizen of the empire over the age of ten will be killed. Men, women, children, adults. Regardless of everything. To be fair. Hundreds. Thousands. Tens of thousands. Hundreds of thousands. millions. All. “Everything.”
As if conveying the message that you will go for a walk tomorrow morning.
“We will return this entire country to nothingness.”
“…”
so.
When I realized what it meant, my breathing stopped violently.
“…you.”
It would have been better if it had been the declaration of a madman or the resolution of a villain plotting a grand scheme.
I would have been able to at least understand it.
But now this guy.
With sober mind.
A crazy, crazy plan.
Dry.
As if it were a task given to him that he must accomplish.
“And, I want you to stop it.”
really.
“Please.”
It was a word that came out calmly.
●
“…Haaa…”
After parting ways with Marquis Bogart.
While walking outside the terrace and walking down the hallway.
A deep sigh that I haven’t let out since coming over here comes out of my mouth.
In his hand was the key he had received from Marquis Bogart at the social center.
‘…What are you doing, that bastard?’
I really don’t know anything.
It’s almost like it’s the first time I’ve felt this sense of despair since I met the seer.
In particular, knowing information about my mother that I don’t even know is creepy.
[…Now that I think about it, you also said a while ago that it’s better if you don’t know about your mother’s side.]
A voice like that came from within Soul Linker.
[Still, isn’t that what you said because you know about it to some extent?]
“I don’t know.”
[what?]
To Caliban, who responded as if it were absurd, he continued speaking in a strained voice.
“I’ve never seen your face before. “I only know one thing.”
When I was young.
This is a story from when I was very young.
This is the story before I was possessed by ‘Daud Campbell’.
The original owner of this body was in so much pain that he couldn’t even move properly.
[Oh yeah. I heard you were miraculously healed when you were seven?]
“no. “I’m not healed.”
I sigh and answer.
“Strictly speaking, I died once then.”
I looked it up in my father’s library.
Six years old. Dowd Campbell was unable to overcome his chronic illness and died completely.
There was even a record of an attempt to call a funeral director to hold the ceremony.
The fact that he survived ‘like a miracle’ is definitely not an empty statement.
“…And the one who caused that miracle was my mother.”
[…What do you mean, that?]
“I brought a dead person back to life.”
Of course, I have performed the feat of coming back from the dead many times, but the trick is different in that I have never been ‘completely’ dead.
Astrid Campbell.
My son, who was completely dead, was brought back to life.
[…what?]
Caliban asked in an exasperated voice.
[Even the high priests of the Holy Empire, who are said to be able to perform all kinds of miracles, cannot do something like that. Even the Pope himself could never do that. Sounds like some kind of novel…!]
“But, isn’t that why I’m here now?”
[…how?]
therefore.
I don’t know that either.
“…”
okay.
Even in the fantasy world, it’s like fantasy.
The revival of a lion is a miracle of a type that cannot be found even in the power of demons.
The most likely guess is that they mistakenly thought I was in suspended animation rather than dead in the first place. Common sense tells us that there is no way my father could not have distinguished that much.
‘…I don’t know. The thing about my mother. nothing.’
What on earth did they do to bring a dead body back to life?
What happened to my mother after that? where is she now
How did you meet your father in the first place, where did you get married, and what kind of life did you live?
I don’t know anything.
That’s all the information my father told me about my mother.
As Bogert just said, my father was extremely sparing in mentioning my mother.
“…Whatever happened.”
He sighs and says.
“If you don’t know, shouldn’t you find out?”
That’s the only way.
To find out what he is doing and how he knows about his mother.
You have to hit it directly.
“I ask for your understanding from His Majesty and the Prime Minister. “Will this cult escape immediately, Caliban?”
[…Where should I go?]
“There’s a place I need to stop by.”
I turn the key I received from Marquis Bogart once in my hand.
“It concerns you too, Caliban.”
Exactly.
It’s a place I can’t go to without you.
●
fantasy,
