SLASH—!
“Keek!”
Arwin’s sword bisected the goblin charging toward her at the speed of light.
“……One hundred.”
After finishing off the last goblin, she caught her breath and flicked the blood from her sword.
When she looked back, countless monster corpses she had cut down lay scattered behind her.
She had not suffered a single wound, but her expression was grim.
‘The air feels heavy.’
Perhaps it would be better to call it a bloody stench.
It was difficult to put into words, but one thing was certain.
The sensation was deeply unpleasant.
Was this also part of the Trial?
Arwin had no way of knowing.
She had not been given any information about the Trial.
Instead, she recalled something.
Remember this, Sister.
Her beloved little brother, who sometimes acted like an old man trapped in a child’s body.
Her brother never approached her emotionally, but he looked after her a great deal in practical matters.
In particular, he would often hand her books and give her advice.
-You can never be too cautious when it comes to black magic. Even though our House is connected by a political marriage to the Ducal House of Ralke, the progenitor of black magic.
“……Black magic. Demonic energy.”
Recalling that memory, Arwin adjusted her grip on her sword.
She had never taken her brother’s advice lightly.
Rather than simply skimming the books he gave her, she read them closely and committed their contents carefully to memory.
“Unlike Aura, air contaminated by demonic energy carries a fishy stench similar to the smell of blood…….”
“Demonic energy strengthens monsters merely by existing, and in some cases can even cause them to evolve…….”
She continued the question-and-answer exchange with her brother from her memories.
-If there is enough demonic energy in the air for you to sense it, there are two main possibilities. What are they?
“There is either a monster powerful enough to turn the surrounding area into a demonic land, or…….”
Arwin frowned.
“There is a black mage.”
-There is always a possibility of something unexpected happening during the Trial. If you sense demonic energy, you need to be suspicious. What should you do first?
“Trace it back to its source.”
After recalling that much, Arwin decided which direction to take.
Coincidentally, she had reached a fork in the road.
-Then which way will you go?
Without hesitation, she answered the question posed by the brother in her mind.
“Left.”
***
-You do not smile very often.
The Commander used to say that to me from time to time.
Then she would always add one final thing.
-Try smiling. Broadly.
I had always thought I smiled broadly.
Other people described me as cheerful and positive, but apparently, that was not how the Commander saw me.
What had been different?
What had the Commander seen in me?
And why had she trusted a traitor like me because of it?
Was it because she had not known I was a traitor?
No.
If that had been the case, then in her final moments, the Commander should have felt betrayed and cursed me.
But she had not.
Why?
Just why…….
“Young Master.”
Deckard’s voice pulled me from my thoughts.
Perhaps it was because of the last thing Arwin had said yesterday, but my thoughts had been unusually restless.
“Yes, I’m listening.”
“You seem troubled. Are you all right? You are not feeling ill, are you?”
“That’s not it.”
I let out a small sigh and stood.
A brief wave of dizziness hit me, but it was nothing serious.
-■■
Noise appeared from somewhere yet again and stood beside me as though it were only natural, his flames flickering.
Was that…… concern?
I had no idea.
I still did not know why Noise kept hovering around me like this.
‘Well, does it matter?’
I shook off the distracting thoughts and assessed the situation again.
“I think I inhaled some demonic energy. Am I right?”
“Yes. As you said…… the demonic energy within the Sanctuary is dense. I cannot possibly call this a good situation.”
Deckard frowned as he looked around.
“Are you all right, Young Master? If you inhaled demonic energy, you may have begun experiencing hallucinations…….”
“Ah, I’m fine. I shook it off.”
I had briefly become lost in unnecessary thoughts, but it had stopped there.
The reason it had not grown any worse was probably thanks to the Sacred Flame.
Or perhaps—
‘Noise helped me.’
When I turned toward Noise, he was simply standing there as always.
In any case, the demonic energy was denser than I had expected.
‘I knew there was a black mage behind this, but I didn’t expect it to be this severe…….’
My thoughts cooled.
“Young Master, if resisting the demonic energy becomes difficult, leaving is also an option. Demonic energy is not something to take lightly.”
“I’m fine.”
I answered firmly.
“Once was enough. I have no intention of falling victim to the same thing twice.”
“Hmm…… Understood.”
Deckard nodded somewhat reluctantly.
“If that is your decision, Young Master, I shall not try to stop you any further.”
“More importantly, Sir Deckard. What’s the situation? I imagine there are other things besides the demonic energy.”
“Yes. I checked, and…….”
Deckard frowned as he surveyed the surroundings.
“As you said, things that should never be here are wandering around.”
“Chimeras?”
“Yes.”
Deckard’s expression darkened.
“I cannot imagine how much work they must have done in secret for creatures like these to be roaming around inside the forest.”
“They only need to kill Sister.”
From the First Wife’s perspective, I was regarded as a non-contender in the succession struggle.
Schubert also believed that his curse had taken root within me, so he had no reason to be wary of me.
Arwin, however, was different.
She currently held the advantage in the competition to become Messiah’s successor.
She had reached the same realm as Schubert at a younger age.
Father, the Grand Duke, as well as the other members of the House, all regarded Arwin’s talent highly.
To the First Wife and Schubert, Arwin must have been a thorn in their side.
“Noble Houses, I swear…….”
Deckard grumbled quietly and took the lead.
“Come to think of it, Young Master. Is it not about time you treated the young lady a little more warmly?”
“…….”
This again.
“She is quite hurt by it. As you know, there is not a single person in the House who does not know how much she adores her little brother.”
“I know that too.”
“Then I do not understand why you keep your distance from her.”
It was not as though I did not understand either.
As my ‘sister,’ Arwin cherished and loved me more than anyone else.
There was no grand reason behind it.
It was simply because we were family.
But to me, she was…… a victim who had suffered an unhappy death because of me.
“Sir Deckard.”
“Yes, Young Master?”
“What would you do if there were someone you had hurt? And that person, without knowing anything, continued to care for you…….”
“You should tell them the truth.”
Deckard answered without a moment’s hesitation.
It was the answer I had expected, so I spoke again.
“I can’t.”
“You cannot…… Haha.”
Deckard gave a bitter smile.
“But if you keep your distance for that reason, is that not ultimately something you are doing for yourself? Not for the person toward whom you feel guilty.”
“……!”
“People often become so buried in their own emotions that they fail to consider the other person’s feelings. It is not a matter of experience or age. It is simply because we are human.”
Deckard continued slowly.
“But if you do that, nothing is ever resolved. Usually…… time takes care of it. But not always.”
“You’re saying I should think about how the other person feels.”
“Yes. I do not know who this person you speak of is, Young Master.”
Deckard said that with a sly smile and shrugged.
It was just like him.
He would offer advice, but never deliberately pry into the deepest parts of someone’s affairs.
“Either way, the fact that you are troubled over this means you do care about them. That alone is enough.”
“Is it?”
“I doubt anything more I say from here will help.”
Deckard ended the conversation there and changed the subject.
“More importantly, the movements of the chimeras inside the Sanctuary are becoming suspicious. It appears they are all targeting the young lady.”
“Yes. There’s a limit to how many we can eliminate one by one. In a situation like this, we need to strike whoever is giving the orders.”
“You mean we should capture the black mage directly. But with things like this, locating his hideout does not seem easy…….”
“I’ll handle that.”
With those words, I placed a hand on the ground.
FWOOSH.
The Sacred Flame ignited and flowed from my fingertips.
The flames slowly extended along the path.
Deckard let out a low exclamation at the sight.
“Hah, this is…….”
“The demonic energy inside the Sanctuary ultimately originates from the black mage, doesn’t it? Naturally, if we trace it backward, finding his hideout shouldn’t be difficult.”
“Hah. It sounds simple when you say it…….”
Deckard clicked his tongue, muttering that this was the first time he had ever seen someone actually put such a thing into practice.
“Then let’s go.”
Deckard nodded and took the lead, following the path I had created.
***
The black mage, Rasel.
He vividly remembered the day he had been expelled from the Magic Tower long ago.
-Human experimentation? For one who pursues the sacred path of magic to dabble in such heresy!
-Slaves? Do you truly believe your heresy is justified simply because they were slaves?!
-Get out!
Expulsion from the Magic Tower meant expulsion from magical academia itself.
Rasel could no longer introduce himself as a ‘mage,’ nor would other mages recognize him as one.
Rasel could not understand their decision.
‘So what?!’
Did progress not require a certain degree of sacrifice?
What experiment could guarantee results as reliably as experimentation on living subjects?
Besides, the materials he had used were merely slaves.
Was it not up to the owner how their slaves were used?
Feeling that he had been treated unjustly, it was only natural that Rasel became fascinated by black magic.
Chimera research, in particular, suited his disposition perfectly.
And while living his new life as a black mage, the proposal he received from the Ducal House of Ralke was an opportunity unlike any other.
“Ha, hahahaha!”
Rasel burst into mad laughter as he gazed at the result he had created.
A flame burned before him.
It looked remarkably similar to what Messiah called the ‘Sacred Flame.’
There was only one difference.
Unlike the Sacred Flame, it was pitch-black.
“At last, I created the Black Flame.”
Their interests had aligned perfectly.
The First Young Master of Messiah needed a method of artificially raising the level of the Sacred Flame through black magic.
And Rasel had gained an opportunity to experiment on that Sacred Flame.
The result was now in his hands.
A product that, however imperfectly, reproduced the Sacred Flame in the form of ‘black magic.’
“Heh, hihi, I was right! With this, I can burn those damned old bastards from the Magic Tower too! How dare they look down on me?! Filth who cannot even understand the value of progress……!”
Rasel reached toward the Black Flame with a trembling hand.
As though it were alive, the Black Flame was gradually absorbed into Rasel.
And just as most of the Black Flame was about to enter him—
WHOOSH—!
A dagger suddenly flew through the air and buried itself squarely in Rasel’s right shoulder.
SHNK—!
“Aaaaaagh!”
The sudden pain made Rasel’s eyes roll back.
At the same time, the Black Flame that had seemed to be entering him returned to its original position.
“W-Who are you?! How dare you enter my workshop……!”
“You deserved to be expelled.”
Before he could even finish speaking, a young voice rang out as someone rose from within the shadows.
Rasel’s eyes widened when he recognized the figure.
“Y-You are……!”
“You filthy black mage bastard.”
The owner of the voice frowned and adjusted his grip on his sword.
The Second Young Master, Sigmund Messiah.
A variable that had never existed in Rasel’s plans.