Volume 2 – The World Sneered
Come to think of it, there was no guarantee that Dugan had the right information.
In secret to Noted, who knew a lot about sorcery, King Henry manipulated the information about World Destruction.
And this was what he thought:
“Henry is trying to acquire a dangerous arcana and increase his controlling power.”
That idea came to mind because of Dugan’s hostility towards Henry.
The Kingdom was certainly not at peace.
However, it would be incorrect to say that Henry did not desire peace.
In the first place, why would he think that acquiring the ‘power to destroy the world’ would become a deterrent?
A power that destroyed everything along with its user was not easy to utilize.
The reason that made sense the most was……
“Henry is trying to eliminate the dangerous power that exists within the country and threatens to destroy the world.”
Yes, destroying
World.
That simple, boundless plan was the real World Destruction.
“Didn’t you know about that either? I get that it was a plan conducted in secret, and that few people knew about it, but if you’re baring fangs against King Henry, I thought you’d know.”
“Wait…… Then why is King Henry trying to ‘destroy the world’ right now!?”
“I don’t know.”
“But the Kingdom has a strong connection with Pupa!”
“I’m just a researcher. I have no right to meddle after World Destruction ended in failure. Oh, I do know about that failure. 16 years ago, the day when World Destruction was going to be carried out, an assassin Dugan helped sneak in killed the defenseless Luno by suicide bombing. The facility was also destroyed. Everything failed thanks to that.”
For Dugan, who was mistaken about everything, this was probably a ‘greatly successful’ result at the worst possible time.
“Before
World
could be extracted from Luno’s body and transferred to Princess Mary, Luno herself died and
World
was lost. I don’t know who inherited it. Princess Mary and King Henry were wounded but survived, and everything was ruined.”
At that time,
Death
was inherited by Mary, and
World
was inherited by Henry.
The arcana themselves probably slept without awakening by their own wills.
Or, perhaps it was a side effect of an abnormal inheritance.
“If uncle had trusted father, then this wouldn’t have……”
There was no point in blaming the dead, but Cutie could not help but feel disappointed.
Dugan’s actions were too shallow.
“Well, Luno was pessimistic after an overly long life and wanted to die, and since Princess Mary survived, it’s not all bad. If things had gone on track, Princess Mary herself would vanish along with
World
.”
“That would have been better! If everything ended then and there, then none of this…… my sister would have survived too……!”
Mary hung her head down, bit her lips and cried as her shoulders trembled.
Calaria’s hand rubbed her on the back.
“What happened to the homunculi after that? Why were they sold to aristocrats while you were still alive?”
She asked Yueri in a stern tone of voice.
That was another ‘reason’ for this tragedy.
If Pupa had not sold the children to aristocrats back then, there would have been fewer arcana users attacking Mary and her group.
“We had no leeway. My sister would have kept them secure no matter what, but we were not strong enough to do that.”
“You take no responsibility for anything!”
“Say that to the Kingdom, who suddenly made our budget zero. The team was immediately disbanded after the king was injured because of Dugan’s interference. The facility where the homunculi were looked after was also immediately closed down. The staff who cooperated also lost their positions, and the evil staff from Pupa teamed up with other evil cabinet ministers and sold them off. There was nothing we could do while we were forced to adjust the facility and our data in a great hurry.”
“But you were entrusted with the lives of people.”
“Like I said, my sister could have done something. We were outnumbered. It was a plan conducted in secret, so we could not increase our staff so easily. Most of all, my sister was irreplaceable.”
While she held fanatical emotions for her sister, she also spoke very coldly when it came to this subject.
“It’s not like I’m saying it was my sister’s fault. But I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking that way.”
There was a strange delay in her remark.
It was as if she was hinting at Digi, but what was the point of making such allusions now?
(……No, it’s dangerous to think of this woman in the framework of common sense. I still don’t know what she’s thinking. I don’t even know why she invited us here either in the first place.)
Calaria was used to feeling disturbed, which, in turn, made her aware of the need to stay ‘calm’.
She would not lose her composure again.
This woman was the type of ‘enemy’ who used methods like that to disturb others.
Even if she was Calaria’s foster parent, and Justia’s sister, there was no need to trust her just because.
“Hey, Calaria, let’s stop talking about troublesome things. Tell me about my sister.”
“I thought you were in communication with her.”
“It was just for a little while. There’s a lot I don’t know, and I don’t like that.”
“What if I say I don’t want to talk about it?”
“Ahaha. So cute. You want to have her all to yourself.”
Calaria almost clicked her tongue, but she restrained herself.
“We have plenty of time, so I want to chat a little.”
“We learned the summary of World Destruction, so there’s no reason we should stay here any more.”
“Do you hate me?”
“You’re making a big deal out of it if you think I hate you because of what I just said.”
“That’s confusing. It happens often, you know. I guess I have no delicacy. I’m bad with people.”
Yueri bitterly smiled while she spoke, but she did not seem that troubled.
“Let me say one thing, I only invited you people here because I just wanted to talk. I want to talk about how my sister raised Calaria, and how the last homunculus, Mary, grew up.”
“Is that really all?”
“What else do you think it could be? Did you think I’m actually an underling of King Henry too, and that this was a trap to kill you? Ahaha, I wouldn’t have teamed up with Clive if that was the case. Don’t worry, I’m not an underling of the king. I swear it on my sister.”
“That’s not the problem!”
“You’re quite stern, I didn’t expect a 12 year old kid to talk to me like that. But I don’t want you to leave right away. I’ve made some arrangements too.”
Yueri looked over at the door.
Then, as if waiting for a signal, someone knocked on it.
A researcher wearing a white robe entered the room.
Yueri approached him, exchanged some short remarks, and looked over at Mary.
“We’re ready. Princess Mary, could you go with him?”
“To do what?”
“He’ll take you to World Destruction’s site.”
“Is it in this laboratory!?”
“Yes, its remains are. It was recycled from the homunculus research facility, and it’s used for weapons development right now.”
“Weapons development, huh……? When I think of Pupa, I think of human experimentation.”
“I’m not related to the research utilizing the artificial arcana user project World Destruction’s results.”
“You’re not secretly continuing the research on homunculus, right?”
“What would be the point? The real World Destruction is at a standstill.”
Cutie and Calaria tried to ask a leading question, but did not get a reaction.
Yueri was not going to give herself away so easily.
“Ugh, you really don’t trust me. I’m just going to show you something, okay? The facility that we can’t use any more, I mean.”
“I’ll go too, then.”
“You can’t go, Calaria.”
“Why?”
“It may not be used any more, but I can’t show you Pupa’s secret information so easily…… That’s my pretext, but I also want to ask you lots of questions while Mary is on a field trip.”
“I told you I don’t want to talk about it. I can’t let Mary go alone.”
“……Hmmph. I see, you really love her.”
“Ugh……”
Calaria clinched after this psychological attack coming from a different direction.
Yueri looked at her slightly red cheeks, and showed the biggest smile she had so far.
“Hehe. Okay, you can go. Enjoy your nice date.”
Mary and Calaria were sent off by Yueri waving at them, and left the room.
The two looked at Cutie and Ami, who remained in the room.
Cutie and Ami were outsiders there.
They had little connection with Yueri.
Mary and Calaria felt bad about leaving those two in that room.
Cutie tried telling Mary with her eyes that it’ll be okay, but she was not very confident about that herself.
The door closed with a slam.
In that moment, like a candle flame being blown out, the smile on Yueri’s face vanished.
The two, who remained in the room, felt the temperature in the room suddenly drop.
“Ah…… that pseudo-human really does hate me.”
Yueri leaned back on her chair, looked up at the ceiling, and calmly muttered to herself.
Cutie’s cheek twitched after this sudden transformation, and Ami stared at her with a stern expression.