Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
“Can arcana users be created by human hands?”
Mary reflexively asked.
But Cutie neither denied nor accepted that.
“Like I said earlier, arcana is what chooses its practitioner. We can’t interfere with that, so it would be more correct to say it’s like ‘creating a vessel of arcana’.”
“So you do what you can and the rest is up to destiny.”
“The latest technology combining surgery and sorcery. That’s what Pupa Industries was working on, in order to supply the Kingdom’s army with arcana users.”
“But the Kingdom’s army only has two arcana users who were there from the start, right?”
Indeed, according to Cutie’s story, the Kingdom should have more arcana users at its disposal.
Leaving aside assassination arcana like Magrat’s Hermit and Cutie’s arcana which she wanted to hide, for King Henry who would want to show off his power to other countries and the Duchy of Slava, he would want to flaunt the arcana users under his hand.
“Like Calaria said, it’s up to destiny in the end. No matter how many vessels they created, the number of arcana users did not increase.”
“But in truth, the Kingdom secretly had numerous arcana users……”
“That’s the part I can’t solve.”
“By the way, what happens when you undergo this surgery?”
“Arcana requires a large amount of space for mana, in other words, a big ‘tank’ to settle in someone’s body. Basically, you don’t always need a huge amount of mana. As long as you have the ‘space’ for it, arcana can settle in your body. The surgery is to guarantee that.”
‘Settle’ was a strangely comical way to phrase it, but it wasn’t wrong if arcana really were gods with their own wills.
“So, someone who underwent this surgery has a ‘large permissible level of mana’ even if they have a low Sorcery Rating.”
“……Like how I used to be, right?”
“It’s the opposite in my case, but they’re similar situations.”
“That’s right. That’s why I want to examine your bodies.”
Indeed, that was an understandable motive.
But Mary and Calaria also felt uneasy.
They felt as if they learned a truth that they would have been better off not knowing.
(Whether arcana dwells in your body or not depends on destiny…… If Magrat and Hemlock underwent the same surgery Miss. Cutie did, they would be jealous of us – no, but they did earn their arcana. I feel like that’s a weak motive, considering their tenacity……)
The enemy’s circumstances didn’t matter.
But, there were surely things Mary did not know yet.
That did not feel good for Mary.
Her heart was covered in more mists. Mary asked Cutie in order to get away from these feelings:
“Miss. Cutie, did you undergo the surgery in Pupa’s headquarters?”
“No, we did it at our own headquarters when I returned.”
“That’s risky, you made yourself a guinea pig.”
“……I suppose.”
Cutie faintly squinted her eyes.
She seemed to be thinking about something.
Then, the conversation came to a pause.
Mary and Calaria found the silence unpleasant and started chatting, and Calaria requested to collect her weapons but the conversation didn’t get going.
Then, the car drove away from Majoram’s main building and entered a thin road.
There were two cars following it, which carried survivors from the Liberta Liberation Front.
There were no signs of any pursuers.
After a few minutes, they arrived at a dead end.
Cutie left the car and touched the wall of a nearby building.
The ground shook as the road inclined and a tunnel appeared.
“So your house has the same setup as the hideout.”
Calaria spoke to Cutie while she sat back down on the driver’s seat.
“It’s not just a house. My father likes this kind of stuff…… he has an adventurous spirit, I suppose.”
“Your father hasn’t forgotten the child in him, then.”
“I wish he was more of an adult, actually.”
The car entered the tunnel.
The entrance automatically closed when the three cars entered inside.
A long road continued straight ahead.
It was underground, but there were a lot of lights and it was bright inside.
“This is a fine hidden road. Does the military know about it?”
“They don’t, of course.”
“Majoram is hiding a lot of things too, isn’t it…..?”
“Everyone is. Besides, this place was planned to be an escape route for Dugan during emergencies.”
“So the possibility of the enemy learning about this is very low if even Dugan doesn’t know about it.”
“Yep. Information is important, you know.”
They continued on until a large door appeared before them.
The car stopped inside a wide space, and Cutie spoke to the members who disembarked their cars.
“Good work, this place is underground below Majoram’s headquarters. Firstly, I can guarantee your safety as long as you’re in this building.”
Men in black uniforms came out of an elevator deeper inside while Cutie talked.
They looked at Cutie and deeply bowed.
“Members of the Liberation Front, go with them. Prepare for the next battle and get some proper rest.”
There was no going back now after this.
The members obeyed her words and went up in the elevator with the black suits.
“Mary, Ami should go ahead as well. Just for caution’s sake, I’ll have a thorough checkup done on her in the medical room.”
“Okay…… Thanks.”
Perhaps out of consideration, Cutie called in a female employee.
The woman in the black suit held Ami up after Mary handed her over, and it was clear she was no ordinary person.
Ami repeatedly said to Mary, ‘I’m sorry’, ‘I always cause trouble’.
Mary felt uneasy as she lifted Ami’s bangs with the palm of her hand while they left each other, and kissed her on the forehead.
“H-Haheh!? A-Ah, Lady Mary, that was……”
“I can’t do anything, but please get well quickly.”
Ami was taken away by the female employee, and while her face was already red due to her fever, it went even redder after the kiss.
Then, Cutie said something.
“Whoa, you’re definitely Francis’s sister.”
“You’re going to make that girl explode if you go too far, Mary.”
“Huh? Go too far? My sister did that all the time, so I just wanted to do the same too.”
“You have it as well, but Francis had a pretty heavy sister complex.”
“Ehehe…… Well, my sister is my sister, but she always loved me more like a mother.”
Mary spoke with a smile on her face.
“You always look so happy when you talk about your sister, Mary……”
“Calaria, there’s no end to it if you get her started on that.”
“Yes, I can talk about my sister forever!”
“See?”
“I’ll listen when we have an opportunity.”
“Weirdo…… Well, let’s get going too.”
“First, we’re greeting the president, right?”
Mary and the others went up on a different elevator than the one Ami and the employee went on.
The president’s room was on the top floor.
Mary looked at the display showing the floors, and realized how tall this building was.
◇◇◇
“Whoa…… Such beautiful scenery.”
Arriving on the top floor, Mary looked out the window and expressed her astonishment.
“This is the second tallest building in Captis.”
“Is that a compliment?”
“Of course.”
“You can see the whole town here, thanks to this place being by the edge of it.”
“Yes, that’s the important part. Romeo’s tower is the tallest building, but you can only see in one direction since it’s right at the center of town.”
“That building is constructed by Majoram too, isn’t it?”
“Well, yes. I guess it was a problem of pride, since the duke’s building had to be the tallest one.”
“Dugan?”
“Romeo. He was a selfish little baby.”
“I thought so too. It doesn’t matter now that he’s dead, though.”
Saying that, Cutie opened the door without listening to Mary’s reply.
Entering the room, Mary and Calaria were surprised at what they saw.
They expected the president’s room to be wide, orderly and overflowing with cleanliness, but there were numerous partitions on the surfaces of the walls, books messily scattered around the floor, giving it the appearance of a room belonging to an untidy researcher.
“Hmm? Ooh, welcome back Cutie.”
Hearing his daughter’s voice, a chubby man peeked up from behind a mountain of books.
He was a middle-aged man with stubble on his face and casual clothing.
“Wait…… Is that really the president of the world-famous Majoram Technologies?”
“Looks like it.”
Mary had met him before.
But, back then, his beard was shaved off and he was wearing a suit, which was apparently his ‘outside’ outfit.
“I’m sure you’re surprised, but this is how my father normally is.”
Cutie spoke after a sigh.
She didn’t seem to think this was a good situation either, but the person in question was busy peeking at a computer screen even as he celebrated his daughter’s return.
“I’m home, father. Can you leave your research for now to welcome our guests?”
“Sorry, sorry. The simulation just got to the good part. Oh, it’s here? It’s here, it’s here, that’s a good value, that’s right, right there, go, go! It’s heeeereeeeee! I did it, I finally succeeded! Look at this Cutie, the heat efficiency is up 10% with this! The main battery’s power is up too!”
“……Ugh.”
Cutie’s shoulders dropped when she saw her father making a victory pose and jumping around.
(Ahaha…… These two are nothing alike, are they?)
Mary smiled, as the two’s auras were so different that it was hard to believe they were father and daughter.