Volume 1 – Following the Maze Drawn With Lines of Blood
The three stared at Mary as she looked up at the sky.
Cutie in particular seemed a little worried about something.
Mary noticed this and met eyes with her.
“Oh……”
Cutie awkwardly scratched her cheek, and asked Mary:
“Mary, do you really have the power to seal souls?”
“I don’t, it was just a bluff.”
Mary spoke clearly after laughing.
Then, she spat out Dugan’s head and his smashed up flesh from her right arm.
“Oh, it came out.”
“I don’t want to eat this thing. Besides, it’s more convenient that a corpse is left behind.”
“His face looks terrible.”
“……Yeah.”
Cutie firmly crossed her arms after looking at the terrified face.
But she frantically explained herself after noticing something.
“Oh, no, it’s not like I pity him or anything……”
“Please don’t worry about it, my revenge is my own. It’s not for the sake of some great duty or justice. It’s only natural that you’re sad after knowing him since you were little.”
“……Thanks.”
“Please stop, I should be apologizing. However, I did what I thought was right. So I can’t let those words out of my mouth.”
“That’s the same as actually saying it, though.”
“That’s true, I guess……”
“Hehe, weird.”
Cutie broadly smiled.
The gloomy feelings in her chest dissipated, and she relaxed her body after sighing while facing the night sky.
Calaria was also relieved after seeing her like this, and spoke in a calm voice.
“Noted must be worried about his daughter too. Let’s go back.”
“I’m hungry!”
“Me too.”
“Let’s eat lots!”
“Yes, let’s eat a lot, and let’s rest a lot.”
“I’m worried about how my back will heal now……”
“Don’t worry. All three of us will make sure to watch you hug yourself.”
“That’s the thing I’m worried about!”
The four of them lined up and made their way back to the building.
They heard the sound of cars far away.
The army, which had temporarily retreated, had come back.
They would understand the true scale of this tragedy the next day.
So, for now, they decided to simply enjoy their victory, no, the end of the battle.
◇◇◇
Mary and the others, who returned to Majoram’s headquarters, ate a lot of food and postponed the complicated conversations for later, and slept like the dead.
It was a very long battle, so even the monstrously strong Calaria was exhausted.
And the next day, they woke up before midday and met up in front of the president’s room.
The reason they were not in the room was probably to see the expansive view.
“Thanks, Princess Mary. Allow me to thank you from the heart.”
Noted met face to face with Mary and deeply bowed.
“Please don’t push yourself, Mr. Noted, I’m the one who killed your close friend.”
“That’s just it. You did me a favor. You’re the only one who could stop him.”
Mary did not know how to reply to that.
At the very least, she felt nothing but negative emotions towards Dugan.
“Enough talk about that, you two. More importantly, father, what did you call us here for?”
“Yeah, we briefly talked about it yesterday, but we’re going to the royal capital next, right?”
“Yes, even if he is my father, I can’t forgive him for killing my sister. No, it’s precisely because he’s my father.”
“I will go with you, of course. I’m only alive to help you, sis!”
“I still need to learn more about Yueri. There’s also Magician, so there’s no reason for me not to come with you.”
“Cutie……?”
“……I’ll come along. I mean, the world is going to be destroyed if I ignore this, right? I’m in this too.”
“Yes…… you’re right. Besides, you’ll get dragged into the fight even if you remain here anyway.”
Noted spoke, as if trying to convince himself.
He did not actually want Cutie to go.
But, he was not the type of person to leave something after getting involved.
Most of all, after becoming the territorial lord, Noted had a duty to confront King Henry for destroying Captis and killing many people.
The people would not follow him otherwise.
“Majoram Technologies will support your journey with everything it has.”
“Are we like the vanguard? Our supplies aren’t going to be cut off on the way or something, right?”
“There are companies related to Majoram everywhere in the Kingdom, so don’t worry about that.”
“They know we’re going after the king, don’t they? Aren’t we going to be put on wanted lists?”
“The people’s suspicion will turn towards you if we make any bad moves, father. I doubt that will happen, but still-”
“Information warfare is our territory, leave it to us.”
“So you had that newspaper written, after all, didn’t you? It’s a bit much to have us treated like heroes, you know.”
Cutie was talking about the newspaper published just a few hours ago.
However, the printing place in Captis was destroyed, so when it came to the Slava Territory, only a few dozen newspapers were distributed in the headquarters.
But that did not matter.
Noted used affiliate companies to distribute the newspaper in the Kingdom.
As early as this evening, companies would be reporting on how Mary and her team are fighting.
“It’s the truth, so there’s no helping it. I emphasized the suspicions towards King Henry as much as possible. Let’s just see how they react.”
“Even if we can win the information war, they have the arcana of World. Dealing with that is the real problem.”
“That was the 21st arcana, right?”
“Didn’t you know about its existence, Mr. Noted?”
“I definitely didn’t. I was even surprised that my theory that the arcana themselves were alive was correct.”
“Even Death God must have lived for tens of thousands of years. Ever since the birth of the world, right?”
One could not even imagine that length of time.
For Mary, even the hours in the last few days felt very long.
“Unlike the other arcana, the Death God, who sealed World, had to be preserved. But now, I understand the roles of the other arcana, and the reason that the inheritances are occurring faster.”
“Are you saying World is the reason?”
“Yes. Arcanas exist to oppose the threat of World. That’s why inheritances occur faster when the danger is higher. Perhaps that’s why forceful methods like transforming a human’s body are being used too.”
Noted spoke while looking at Ami.
She had said that the arcana spoke to her when she inherited Wheel of Fortune.
The fact that there were no records of that happening so far meant that the arcana was in a hurry this time.
“But, why did the other arcanas dwell in the homunculi? It’s wrong for them to help World.”
“We’ll just be adding conjecture on top of conjecture from now on, so this is less certain, but……”
“Just tell us, father.”
“You’re right. Arcana inheritance may be automatic. Like Ami said, normally, nothing can live for tens of thousands of years. So the ‘inheritance system’ automatically chooses the next target. That’s why arcanas gathered in the land where World was sealed. If World’s seal was lifted, and their distance with World is getting closer every time an inheritance occurs, then……”
“……Wait.”
Cutie had a bad feeling, and her cheek twitched.
Calaria and Mary frowned, and Ami was the only one who did not react, while Noted slightly nodded to his daughter.
“If the unsealed World itself goes around with the homunculi, which are vessels for arcana, and kills the ‘current users’, then……”
“In theory, that would make the inheritances very quick.”
“But that’s way too big of a flaw in the system, isn’t it?”
“Since it hasn’t happened for all these tens of thousands of years, this is the first time it’s being done. Also, they probably did not expect that this world’s humans would eventually be able to create artificial homunculi……. I’m somewhat of an engineer myself, so I understand the feeling.”
This was the result of an out-of-date system that had not been revised for tens of thousands of years.
It was hard to unconditionally blame the arcana, but if they were gods, one wanted them to at least have some foresight.
“Then, Wheel of Fortune noticed that, and frantically switched to manual operation. I see, that’s why she apologized to me!”
Of course, a big part of her apology was due to the fact that she used Ami’s life.
However, it was also because she blamed her own clumsiness.
One mystery was now solved.
(The reason the arcana of Death God entered me is because World was right in front of its eyes. The arcana was inside me all this time, ever since 16 years ago……)
But this also gave rise to another question; why was her Sorcery Rating 0?
(……And World entered my father, who was at the same place as me.)
But Henry’s Sorcery Rating was only 4,000.
It was hard to believe that there was an arcana within him.
In other words, the same phenomenon that occurred with Mary may have happened with him as well.
The arcana was in a dormant state for some reason, and was sleeping until only recently.
But when it woke up, Henry’s psychology started to transform as well, and the situation rapidly changed.
“I understand the arcana’s plans. But, I still don’t understand Henry’s objective.”
Calaria crossed her arms and spoke her mind.
“According to Dugan, he tried to destroy the world 16 years ago, so what’s his objective now? No, why does he want to destroy the world in the first place?”
“He wants to destroy the world and create his ideal one after that. Maybe something like that? A crazy idea like destroying the world doesn’t make sense otherwise.”
Cutie spoke as if making fun of the idea.
Indeed, if one man was trying to destroy the world, there couldn’t be a logical reason for it.
“His objective right now is to kill you, sis, right? Death God is the only thing that can seal World, isn’t it?”
“Then we should end him as early as possible.”
There was a reason for Henry to go after Mary.
The problem was, why now?
Mary had a theory that made the most sense to her right now.
“Perhaps his arcana woke up only recently. Same as me.”
At the very least, Mary remembered Henry being a real father to her many times when she was little.
It was not as if he did not love her at all.
Even if she felt distance between them, she was still treated like a daughter – she did not want to believe that he wanted to kill her all that time.
“……I see. Maybe Henry didn’t notice that World was inside him, right?”
“So he was able to start conspiring again after acquiring its power…… and went after sis for being in the way?”
“That’s the most convincing theory. A dream that could not be fulfilled unless he killed his daughter – only something like destroying the world would make it worth that.”
Unlike Mary, who was a homunculus, Francis was Henry’s real daughter, and she was from his previous wife, Blair.
She was loved dearly, and was boasted as the pride of the royal family.
……That was precisely why her elder brother, Edward, had apprehensions that the crown may be taken away from him.
Leaving that aside, Francis’s death certainly had to be a heavy thing for Henry to bear.
Despite that, he was not making any moves.
His whereabouts were unknown, and he was ignoring everything.
That could mean that his dream which had to be fulfilled was just that important – even as the reality of it all became more and more clear, Mary still could not comprehend it.
Emotions were left behind and a puzzle of reason alone was getting fit together.
The conversation came to an end.
It was certain that no one could come up with an accurate answer.
Even if they thought about it, they could not understand the feelings of a man who wished to destroy the world.
Especially a homunculus, who experienced suffering without ever being treated like a human being.
They heard the elevator stop after the silence continued.
A female worker came out of it and stopped before Noted.
“President, we have a call from Prince Edward.”
“From the prince!?”
Noted was surprised after hearing the name of an unexpected person and looked at Mary.
“It might be for me.”
“Send it to the president’s office…… You’re good with that, right Princess Mary?”
“I don’t mind.”
The battle in Captis must have already reached Edward’s ears.
Was he moving as a pawn of Henry?
Or, did he communicate by his own accord?
In the first place, he was not a man whom they could call an ally.
Mary entered the president’s office with Noted, feeling like she was about to have an audience with the enemy.