Only after seeing the sight before his eyes for himself could Ron be certain.
My benefactor, Miguel Wiseburn, was unmistakably an evil man.
“What brings you here, when you never so much as looked toward Oiran?”
Over the rim of his cup, Miguel’s eyes gleamed sharply.
“I came because there was something I wanted to ask....”
Ron’s gaze swept lightly over the inside of Moon Shadow Pavilion.
For some reason, a bitter smile rose to his lips.
“But now that I see this scene, I do not think I need to.”
Miguel, on the other hand, spoke with a rigid expression.
“What are you trying to say?”
“I will ask only one thing.”
Strength naturally entered the hand gripping his scabbard.
“The distribution of illegal drugs within your jurisdiction.... Are you the one behind the plan to use phantom grass to all but exterminate imperial citizens?”
Miguel raised one eyebrow.
Then he poured alcohol into his empty cup.
“I would rather ask you something. Is that a question you ask as my son? Or as a member of the Imperial Army?”
“I am asking as a member of the Imperial Army.”
“That is regrettable. I thought the reason you had looked the other way all this time was because you were my son.”
For a moment, Ron felt as though his chest were being torn apart.
He knew well enough that Miguel had not taken him in out of goodwill after he had been abandoned.
But none of that mattered.
He was already my benefactor.
Even after Ron followed him into the Imperial Army, that feeling had not changed.
Even when Miguel showed signs of wrongdoing, Ron had turned his head away, thinking there must surely be a reason.
But the fact that the result of all that repeated looking away was no more than this wretched thing sliced Ron’s heart to ribbons.
“...Please answer my question.”
As Miguel looked at him, he smiled.
“Yes. You did ask me a question. The one behind it, was it...?”
Miguel drained his cup in one go and spoke.
“And what will you do if I am?”
Ron lifted the sword at his waist, scabbard and all.
“Even now... I will set things right.”
Miguel laughed.
At that, the gang members around him burst into low laughter.
“I do not know what has suddenly made you act this way....”
Miguel raised a hand.
“But it seems you are a little too late.”
The executives of the three major factions, who had been lined up in long rows on either side of him, rose from their seats all at once.
Though at least a hundred blades gleamed before his eyes, Ron was not afraid of them in the slightest.
By setting right the villains he had looked away from all this time, he would undo everything.
Ron was convinced that this was the only way he could atone.
Having fully drawn his sword from its scabbard, he spoke with a solemn expression.
“As of this moment, I arrest Miguel Wiseburn and everyone present here for violating the Illegal Drug Control Act!”
***
After leaving the holding cell with Anesia’s help, Gale raced through the streets of Yoshiura and recalled the conversation he had shared with Nike yesterday.
-I’d like you to finish preparing for the Oiran infiltration as quickly as possible.
When Gale said that, she frowned and asked back.
-How urgent could it be for you to rush me this much?
-I’d like it ready by this time tomorrow, at least.
-Tomorrow? I’m going to lose my mind.
Even as she poured out complaint after complaint, she diligently tapped away at the calculator in her head.
-I’m asking just in case, but all you need is to get into Moon Shadow Pavilion somehow, right?
Her last words had been a little unsettling, but Gale was the one who had forced the schedule, so he answered that it was fine.
“But I never imagined things would turn out like this.”
Originally, he had planned to go meet her right after his patrol duty ended, but his schedule had gone awry because he had ended up locked in a holding cell.
The night sky was dyed black.
Even a glance told him evening had long since passed.
When he hurried to Dwarf’s Goblet and went inside, Nike, who had nearly finished her meal, looked his way and waved.
“You’re late. I almost went home feeling like I’d been stood up.”
It struck him anew that she was the type with a surprisingly mischievous streak.
Seeing her brush it off lightly, Gale gave a small nod.
“Sorry. Something came up.”
“I’ll charge extra next time for how long you made me wait, so keep that in mind.”
Seeing how she subtly left open the possibility of another deal, Gale smiled faintly.
“Are the preparations complete?”
“Of course.”
Nike pushed a large sack toward Gale, who sat opposite her.
“What is this?”
“What else? The admission ticket you asked for.”
Inside the sack were clothes that looked like something male employees working at Oiran would wear.
She certainly had said she would make it possible for him to approach somehow, but still.
“Are you telling me to serve customers?”
“You can hate it all you want, but it can’t be helped. There is another way, but that one is too dangerous, so I don’t really recommend it.”
“Another way?”
Nike sighed and held out an old piece of parchment.
“It’s a teleport scroll. It was made for emergencies in the building that stood here before it was rebuilt into Oiran.”
Nike paused for a moment, then continued.
“I asked a magician I know to roughly check the coordinates, and apparently, it was designed to teleport you exactly to the ceiling area of Moon Shadow Pavilion.”
“Then why is that dangerous?”
“Moon Shadow Pavilion was built for secret meetings among high-ranking people, so it has a powerful ward cast over it. The moment you use this, you’ll be able to move there in one go, but....”
“The ward will affect it, is that it?”
Nike pressed her lips together and nodded.
“The choice is yours, but I recommend wearing those clothes. Who knows? They might suit you pretty well.”
As if to render her words meaningless, Gale immediately picked up the teleport scroll.
After unfurling the scroll, Gale sent a faint stream of mana into it and examined the formula written on the parchment.
Gale was currently at the 3rd Tier, far below the 6th Tier required to use teleportation magic, but the magical knowledge he possessed was at a level where he could perfectly understand the formula written on the scroll.
For such a Gale, modifying parchment with a completed formula on it was not particularly difficult.
‘If I tweak the coordinates just a little, I’ll be able to buy time to respond to the ward.’
Gale bit his thumb.
He sent mana into the blood that flowed out and began painting over the teleport scroll.
Nike, who had been watching, shouted.
“What are you doing?! If you do that...!”
No matter what she said, Gale focused on modifying the formula.
Even capable magicians of the Magic Tower could only imagine interfering with an already perfectly constructed formula and modifying its contents, while actually accomplishing it was close to impossible, but Gale’s magical talent far surpassed the realm of what such ordinary talents could even imagine.
As Nike watched Gale, who seemed completely focused on the formula, she unconsciously murmured, “Unbelievable....”
When one worked as an informant on the streets, one met all sorts of people.
Among those she had met, there had been quite a few capable magicians, but this was the first time she had seen a magician like Gale.
Looking at him, who seemed wholly absorbed in concentration, Nike thought, ‘I really can’t let this one slip away.’
Nike was certain that a connection with a man like this could not be bought even for a fortune.
How much time had passed since he had begun concentrating?
Gale let out a small sigh, rolled up the scroll, and placed it in his pocket.
“Really... I’m not even surprised anymore.”
“That is a relief. If you were surprised every time, it would actually make things difficult for me.”
Nike raised both hands as if admitting defeat.
Gale would have liked to talk with her about this and that a little longer if he could, but he had no time.
He immediately rose from his seat.
He had succeeded in modifying the coordinates of the teleport scroll, but he must not mistake what that meant.
It had only just become possible to execute the plan.
When he used this teleport scroll, the sights reflected in his eyes would likely be a series of moments so painful that they would make him long for everything he could see now.
As Gale turned to leave the shop, Nike spoke.
“I don’t know what’s going on... but come back alive.”
Gale turned his head, gave a small smile instead of an answer, and left Dwarf’s Goblet.
***
As the clouds parted, silver moonlight illuminated the room.
Ron had expected a grand sight befitting the name Moon Shadow Pavilion, but as if to put that name to shame, everything was stained with blood.
“Your skill has improved a great deal.”
Ron vomited blood and drove his sword into the floor to support his collapsing legs.
When he raised his head, the sight of Moon Shadow Pavilion turned into a sea of blood entered his eyes.
This was the first time he had fought so many people, but it was also the first time he had killed so many.
After swinging his sword again and again, he could no longer tell what was right.
He merely swung his sword in silence at those he himself had defined as evil.
“Cough...!”
But now even that seemed difficult.
The cuts covering his entire body spewed blood without end, and his vision blurred until he could not make out a single thing properly.
At that moment, a gang member who had been collapsed on the floor dragged his severed body upright and thrust out a dagger.
“Die...!”
Ron barely avoided the blade and, throwing his weight behind his sword, cut through the man’s neck.
A shallow but unmistakable aura bloomed from Ron’s sword.
Watching that sight, Miguel spoke.
“Are you still... stuck at Sword User?”
It had already been five years since Ron reached Sword User.
He had remained there with only a single step left before the next stage.
He had continued to work hard and swing his sword without end, but he could not surpass the wall known as Sword Expert.
“How pathetic. When I first saw your sword, it certainly had force.”
As Miguel looked at Ron, he quietly recalled his own past.
Ron’s biological father was the most insane human being Miguel had ever seen in his life.
Miguel had seen plenty of people mad for gambling, but that man was the first person he had ever seen who was not satisfied with selling his own organs and even sold off his child.
At the time, Miguel was still a newcomer, and he asked him a question.
Why would he go that far?
Then he laughed and said, If I win, I can get it all back.
When Miguel heard those words, he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
It was not wrong.
No matter how many sacrifices he had made until then.
If only he succeeded at gambling, he would be able to get everything back.
Of course, Miguel knew.
That the gambling den he had been in was not fair.
But what about reality, not a gambling table?
In a world crawling with every kind of conspiracy and corruption, could one truly say it was wrong to head toward victory with the resolve to burn everything?
Pursuing a goal was instinct,
and doing one’s utmost for it was effort.
After Ron’s biological father was arrested, Miguel asked the young Ron, who had been left alone,
-Do you think your father is a criminal?
-If he comes to take me home.... I don’t think he is a criminal.
Like father, like son.
In an instant, Miguel was captivated by their way of thinking and decided to take Ron in.
Because he thought that even if he made the world his enemy in the process of pursuing his goal, this child, at least, would stand on his side.
From then on, Miguel had made countless efforts while looking solely at the result.
If it was for his objective, he achieved it by any means necessary.
How long had he kept running like that?
Now, the world he had wanted was before his eyes.
The moment he used the River Lethe plan as a pretext to destroy the three major factions, promotion was as good as guaranteed, and if that happened, it would not be impossible for him to become a member of the Golden Dawn Society and realize the extreme justice he pursued.
Then why had it come to this?
After finishing his recollection, Miguel asked in a quiet voice,
“Why?”
“What do you mean?”
“The reason you rebelled against me.”
“Well....”
Ron smiled faintly.
“...because you are doing something wrong, are you not?”
Miguel slowly rose from his seat.
He had not stood up once since Ron arrived here.
As he looked at Ron, Miguel slowly drew his sword.
Then aura erupted around him.
If a Sword User’s aura was like dew gathering on a blade, a Sword Expert’s aura was closer to spreading mist.
His aura filled the space, and Ron felt an oppressive pressure that seemed ready to stop his breath at any moment.
“Wrongdoing... I do not recall teaching you such a thing. It seems you learned something strange from your own father.”
Miguel slowly approached Ron.
Wherever his feet touched, thick drops of blood splashed.
“I shall teach you why I never needed to teach you such a thing.”
In an instant, the air changed.
The sensation of thousands of needles piercing his entire body.
I’m going to die.
When that thought came to him, Ron instinctively raised his sword.
But.
“Even blocking is too slow.”
“...!”
He was certain he had blocked it properly.
A searing heat, as though he had been burned by fire, washed over him, and an enormous slash appeared across Ron’s chest.
“Ghk...!”
“Not yet.”
Miguel’s sword did not stop.
Miguel’s sword flew at him once more.
Ron gritted his teeth, rose from his place, and met that sword with his own, but, “Are you truly this weak?”
Ron could not defeat Miguel in either strength or speed.
Each time he felt the gap between them through their swords, Ron gripped his sword even harder.
Even if only for a single moment, he desperately swung, hoping his sword would reach him.
“Miguel...!”
“...Playtime ends here, Ron.”
The moment their swords crossed, Ron’s sword split in half.
The instant Ron saw that, he sensed death, and just as Miguel’s sword, still moving, was about to cut Ron’s neck.
At that moment, a massive explosion erupted from the ceiling of Moon Shadow Pavilion.
CRASH—!!
The falling debris forced the two men apart, and they raised their heads at the same time.
As the explosion smoke cleared in the ice-cold night air, beyond the shattered ceiling stood Gale, smiling with an enormous full moon behind him.