“The Leader of the Republic?”
“Yes.”
Song Chien spoke with a grave expression.
“Originally, the enormous organization known as Eden was united around a bloodline called ‘Kreuz.’ Its leader, ‘Lucif,’ was simply too great a figure. Wherever he went, he accomplished feats no ordinary human could achieve. Eden is a nation formed when forces that followed him almost like a religion gathered and united. The fact that it calls itself a republic in the middle of all that is something of an amusing joke…….”
That much I already knew well.
The Public Security Agency and the Guard divided criminals into 3 categories.
The first were petty criminals.
Among the 200 million people living across the continent, there were naturally too many petty criminals to count.
The second were wanted criminals.
These were criminals the Guard considered worth capturing even at the cost of offering bounties.
Wanted criminals were further divided into S, A, B, and C Classes.
Lastly, there were Regional Public Enemies and Enemies of the State.
These were wanted criminals officially declared ‘public enemies’ at the regional or national level, with bounties beginning in the thousands or tens of thousands of gold.
Looking at that system, one question naturally came to mind.
‘Who has the highest bounty?’
I'd seen the answer once on a wanted poster.
― Leader of the Puppet Group, Lucif : 470,000G
└ Charges : Serial murder, ringleader of a military rebellion, treason with a foreign power, insurrection, insulting the Imperial Family, and 37 other felonies.
400 gold was enough to buy a house in the center of the capital.
The bounty on Lucif, the ‘King of Evil,’ was an astronomical amount equal to half a year's budget for the Public Security Agency.
The reason was Lucif's history.
Across various countries, he had erased 13 noble families and their territories from the map.
He had even once infiltrated the Imperial Palace and killed a member of the Imperial Family.
Beyond that, he was one of the two strongest humans in the world.
‘So that man's son died.’
To put it simply, if Lucif was the king—
the prince had died.
No.
‘There was a rumor that the prince had died.’
It wasn't certain that he was actually dead.
“If there's only a rumor that he's dead, then it hasn't been confirmed yet.”
“Correct.”
“Then, metaphorically speaking, internal strife has broken out over who inherits the throne?”
“Precisely. Eden has forces stationed in both southern and northern Gesenna, and the Counts on both sides are exploiting the internal strife to fight over their share of the pie.”
Song Chien spoke calmly.
“The Leader was born around the time I was ‘leaving Eden,’ so roughly 20 years ago…. Yes, he should be about your age. From what I heard, he was a play-loving, cowardly layabout. Though apparently he was not particularly interested in women.”
A play-loving, cowardly layabout.
Not exactly a temperament suited to ruling.
“Perhaps he was simply exhausted by a life where he had to see blood and fighting every day. Many people withdraw from the front lines for that very reason.”
Song Chien looked bitter as he spoke.
If I dared guess, perhaps he'd also withdrawn because he'd grown tired of those things.
“So even if he was a layabout, nobody dared say a word because his father was Lucif?”
“Correct.”
A Captain of the Public Security Agency was considerably stronger than most Enemies of the State.
Yet at one point, Lucif had fought an Enemy of the State Extermination Squad consisting of 1 Public Security Agency Captain, 9 general-rank officers, and 330 elite combatants.
Lucif won.
4 of the 9 general-rank officers died.
The Captain came within an inch of death, lost an arm, and was left ruined.
There were approximately 250 casualties in total.
I'd once read the Captain's memoir.
― Should ‘it’ truly be regarded as the same kind of human as us?
The Captain openly wrote in his memoir that ‘it’ had felt like a god wearing human skin.
To stand before ‘it’ was an audience.
The words of ‘it’ were oracles.
And the power emanating from ‘it’ seemed like divinity (神聖).
― Across all ages, throughout the three continents and four oceans, the only one capable of standing against it would be the Commissioner-General of Public Security.
Those words praised a criminal.
The Imperial Family, which had lost members of its bloodline to that criminal, halted sales of the book.
Captain Herkov was then dishonorably discharged.
‘But….’
“If Lucif is still alive, why did a rebellion break out? In the end, the rumor says the prince died, not the king.”
“To continue the analogy, because the king disappeared long ago.”
“…Pardon?”
“If it were merely a rumor, matters would not have escalated into a Civil War this easily. The rulers of Eden value their own lives too. However, it is an undeniable fact that the Leader disappeared long ago.”
“I see…….”
“And because assisting the Leader was the role of our ‘Spider Society,’ if the Leader vanished, every member of the Spider Society was probably killed. The Spider Society formed contracts by imprinting their souls into magic tools, so unless they had retired, they could not betray the Leader's bloodline.”
So that was why Arman, the owner of the coat, had been killed too….
“…….”
Something utterly absurd had happened in the world.
This was a battle between gigantic whales.
Crushing the backs of countless shrimp in the process would be nothing.
And among those shrimp was one crippled shrimp.
‘Tch. I'm trapped in here anyway. What good does knowing any of this do me….’
Still, it was interesting.
“Hmm. I got carried away and spoke at length. Let us count all of that as your second question. Do you have another?”
It was time for my final question.
What should I ask?
Should I ask how to live comfortably here?
‘I can probably manage that somehow….’
On the other hand, hearing stories of the outside world from him was like hearing stories about space from an alien.
Even if I could never go there, wasn't it still fascinating?
“Ah.”
I thought of something.
Something to ask.
“I was originally a guard.”
“Were you? So you truly were not a doctor.”
“Yes. I belonged to the Gesenna Fifth Provincial Guard. Things got tangled up somehow, and I ended up here.”
Then I told him everything in chronological order.
Arman, who had died at the hospital.
Katran of 15-Year Noodles.
Underboss Hamon and Boss Yustaf of the Bloodstorm Bandit Gang.
And finally, the Black Knight.
“Truly remarkable. How were you able to act so convincingly?”
“The reason was…….”
The reason I'd survived until now.
The being who had given me a miraculous magic tool unlike anything that would ever appear twice in my life.
Was it all right to tell him?
My instincts told me it was.
“A prisoner was brought into our Gesenna Provincial Guard.”
Then I told him about 1208 and the 「All-Seeing Eye」.
And waited for his answer.
“Hmm. I do not know.”
“Pardon?”
“He is certainly an extraordinary person. And the magic tool also sounds extraordinary. Then again, all implant-type magic tools originate from ancient times.”
“…….”
I knew that much.
Modern technology had no way to prevent a human's Mana organ from conflicting with the Mana mechanism of a magic tool.
In other words, every magic tool that replaced part of the human body was a mysterious artifact created in ancient times.
“At minimum, it would be an ‘Empire-Designated National Treasure’ or an ‘Empire-Designated Treasure’…. But I cannot say for certain.”
“I see….”
“If that answers your question, we shall stop here.”
He hurriedly brought the conversation to an end.
I bowed deeply as well and left his tent.
Even someone that intelligent had things he didn't know.
Well, the world was enormous.
Thinking that, I limped toward my own tent with my cane.
.
.
.
.
.
Several men blocked my path.
They were prisoners from our section.
Two of them were even people whose bodies I'd treated.
“Wh-What is it…?”
They jerked their chins and approached me.
“W-Wait! Wait! Why are you doing this?”
They grabbed one arm each and began dragging me somewhere.
The moment they took away my cane, I was helpless.
There was no way for me to resist.
The next moment, we were in a shadowy corner of the section.
My head was slammed against the ground.
“Stay still!!”
A prisoner shouted.
‘What the hell? Why all of a sudden?’
Could it be…….
Because I told him about the 「All-Seeing Eye」?
My thoughts spun.
That was when someone approached my head and crouched down.
“Young man. Raise your head.”
It was the old man, Song Chien.
He was looking down at me with cold eyes.
“Did you order this?”
At my question, the old man paused.
Several seconds felt like dozens of minutes.
Then he raised a finger to his lips.
And smiled kindly.
“Now, now. That is enough. Everyone, release him.”
“Yes, Elder. Is that enough?”
“Yes.”
What?
‘What the hell is this supposed to be?’
Was it some kind of joke?
Sure enough, the prisoners began grumbling.
“What was all that for? Telling us to rough up our doctor and drag him over here.”
“You suddenly asked us to do something like this, so we were startled too.”
“Old man, you just came back from the dead. Why're you suddenly making us do this kind of thing? Sit down and rest.”
Relief flooded through me.
So they hadn't been trying to kill me?
“Sorry, sorry. Heeheehee!”
‘Doctor, sorry about that….’
With those words, the prisoners released me and wandered away.
The moment they were gone, the old man squatted in front of me.
“Young man. I shall be honest with you. I believe 1208 is most likely the Great Leader, Supreme Commander Lucif.”
“…….”
I was still watching him warily.
“…….”
So it took me quite a while to understand what his words actually meant.
“……Pardon?”
Song Chien raised his index finger to his lips again.
Shh.
1208 was Lucif?
The former Leader of Eden—
and the world's strongest Enemy of the State?
That was when the words 1208 had once spoken to me began resurfacing in my head.
‘This is a magic tool that rulers and visionaries throughout the land, treasure hunters, the Imperial Family, and nobles have sought since ancient times. It is the tool that raised me up and brought me to where I stand.’
No way.
My mind went completely white.
Was 1208, the man I'd met there, really Lucif?
“I shall explain. 1208 is most likely Lucif. For some reason, the Leader who vanished from the world appears to have gone to that Provincial Guard. Perhaps he wished to imprison himself. In any case, it seems I should keep this matter strictly to myself.”
“…….”
“And it seems the Leader bestowed that eye upon you. I do not know why, but you now possess the object that once raised a man into the strongest being in the world.”
“…….”
“An object beyond a person's station often ends up killing that person. A rich fool becomes an easy mark, and a beautiful beggar becomes a prostitute. Your future is much the same.”
The old man sighed.
“The only reason you have survived until now is that you were fortunate. If this Song Chien were not old—if I were an old man who still desired wealth and fame, or if I were insane—you would have been killed and your magic tool taken from you. But the role given to this old man, who is old, needs no money, and is not insane, was to point out your mistake.”
In other words—
shock therapy.
His words struck home.
I'd just been careless.
Because I'd saved his life.
Because we'd spoken a few times.
Because he seemed extraordinary.
Because he was old…….
I'd trusted him based on things that could all be faked.
It had been an obvious mistake.
“Then what should you do? You must become a person worthy of that 「Magic Tool」.”
Those were the words of a professor, doctor, researcher, businessman, criminal, and intelligence operative who had once been praised as one of the greatest people in the world.
“Surprisingly, there is a formula to human development and success, and there are several steps toward becoming a better person. But for now—the first step.”
Song Chien raised a wrinkled, bony finger and placed it against my chest.
It felt heavy.
“That feeling you just experienced.”
“You must remember for the rest of your life the feeling you had when those prisoners abducted you just now.”
“People think a ruler who conquered the world knows no fear. They think the only-begotten son destined to save the whole world must be superhuman, and that the greatest warrior who has never known defeat is simply strong.”
“They are wrong.”
“What allows such people to become complete? Innate talent, effort, luck…… all may play a role. But there is one essential value among them.”
“They always feared defeat and death, and doubted everything in the world.”
Then Song Chien raised a finger.
“We call an answer that never changes ‘truth.’ But humans lack the wisdom to know the truth.”
“And so, we must constantly doubt what the truth is.”
“If you do not doubt, young man, you will certainly die. The 「All-Seeing Eye」 is not such a forgiving object that any ordinary human can simply get his hands on it and remain alive and well.”
You have now been caught in an unavoidable current.
If you wish to survive within that current—
“Young man. Doubt.”
“Doubt.”
The old man looked at me with eyes more solemn than any I'd seen from him before.
“Doubt everything.”
***
That was the final encounter with the ‘Spider Society’ in my life.
“We have come to escort the Elder of the Spider Society!”
3 days later, the Black Knight came to take me away.
EP4
「 Somehow, a Doctor 」
END