Novel Full Chapter 333: Deculein (1)
Chapter 333: Deculein (1)
Whoooosh…
Rainwater, falling like a shower, soaked Hadecaine’s forest, and the thick scent of earth and trees rose. In the middle of the bushes, where insects fluttered within the visibly clear mana current, Yulie watched Deculein asleep on the bed inside the cottage’s quiet resting place.
Worrying that Deculein might awaken from his sleep, Yulie moved without a single word or sound. Because it was a puppet’s body, sleep was unnecessary, allowing her to watch over and protect him without wasting even the slightest energy.
… Creeeeeak.
At that moment, the sound of the cottage door opening seeped into her ears, but Yulie did not bother to react. Instead, as if she had been waiting, she stood up, offered a chair, and turned to look behind her.
Crunch, crunch.
The footsteps, like someone stepping on ice, and the cautiously approaching presence soon revealed themselves.
“You are here,” Yulie said, bowing her head slightly.
The one who appeared now was a mage who had arranged for Yulie, who was merely a diary, to be briefly brought back to life, and who protected and honored Yulie’s intention, emotion, and memory.
“Yes.”
It was Epherene Luna.
“I’m here.”
Looking at Epherene, Yulie placed her fist on her chest and bowed her head, expressing her knightly gratitude.
“What are you doing?” Epherene asked, blinking as if she didn’t understand.
“As expected, Miss Epherene, you are meticulous,” Yulie replied, smiling as she pulled up another chair and sat down.
“… I wouldn’t say that I am meticulous,” Epherene replied, shaking her head despite Yulie’s admiration.
Then, looking at Deculein on the bed, Epherene continued, “I don’t know a thing, you know.”
Because she was merely a fragment of a flow known as Epherene, the current Epherene did not know that Yulie had been brought back to life in a puppet’s body.
“I only follow as time dictates and adjust things so that what is meant to happen happens.”
What was destined to happen would certainly happen, and the cause-and-effect relationship between that future and the past held no significance for Epherene.
“Since I saw that you, Knight Yulie, were brought back to life like this, if I go back to the past, I will preserve the diary,” Epherene continued, looking at Yulie.
Yulie felt a fresh wave of admiration and respect for Epherene—no matter what she said, Yulie looked at her as her savior, for Epherene had saved her twice.
“As expected, Mage Epherene,” Yulie said.
Before anyone realized, the title had changed to Mage Epherene.
Epherene smiled and reached out to Deculein, but she abruptly stopped, gritted her teeth, and contemplated with a sad face before withdrawing her hand, as she was not allowed to touch anyone now, since even a very light touch was regarded as a time distortion and could be affected by causality.
“However, is it alright for me to converse with you, Mage Epherene?” Yulie asked, reading the room and quickly changing the topic.
“Yes, it is because of your compatibility, Knight Yulie.”
“… My compatibility?”
“Because your talent, Knight Yulie, embedded in your soul can even freeze time and is still naturally working now, everyday conversation is no problem,” Epherene replied, turning to you and pointing to your chest.
“Oh…” Yulie murmured, placing her hand on her chest.
A small smile played on Epherene’s face.
“Today, there will be another guest besides me,” Epherene muttered, stretching her arms overhead and feigning that the tears in her eyes were due to the stretch.
“Another guest?”
“Unlike me, she is someone who can touch the Professor.”
Thud—
At that moment, muddy footsteps were heard beyond the window.
“It is Her Majesty, the Empress,” Epherene continued, pointing to that place.
Yulie looked at that place with wide eyes, and in the pouring rain, a being with long, red hair—as if burning—stood there.
“Why would Her Majesty be…”
The moment Yulie recognized Empress Sophien, she looked back at Epherene again…
“… She is gone,” Yulie muttered.
Epherene had already disappeared, and no trace of her remained.
Does that mean that Miss Epherene came to inform me of Her Majesty’s visit? Yulie thought.
Yulie looked at Sophien outside the window, and Sophien also seemed to hesitate, but when their eyes met, she inevitably nodded her head.
“Please come in,” Yulie said.
Then, Sophien teleported in an instant from outside the window to inside, her clothes and body, which had been soaked in rain and mud, now impeccably clean and dry.
“… Your Majesty,” Yulie said, substituting her full greeting to Sophien with a bow of her head, for any more formal gesture was permitted only to Deculein.
Sophien sat silently in the seat Epherene had just occupied and looked at Deculein as Epherene had. However, Sophien was more proactive, placing her hand on Deculein’s forehead to confirm the high fever with her own skin.
“I knew it would come to this,” Sophien said, mana glowing from her hand.
Yulie watched without a word, for Sophien had no intention whatsoever of harming Deculein.
“This is a spell that will recover Deculein. It is the only Holy Language magic capable of healing his intricate body,” Sophien continued, looking at Yulie.
Yulie nodded.
From Deculein’s forehead, Sophien’s mana shimmered, spreading through his veins and heart and giving rise to a blue, gentle aura.
“Yes, I understand, Your Majesty.”
“… Hoo,” Sophien murmured, letting out a small breath. “This man’s body is already at its limits. If my hand does not mend him, he might die as soon as tomorrow. Therefore…”
Sophien turned to look at Yulie.
“I will not be the first to speak, Your Majesty,” Yulie replied.
It meant that she would not speak first about Sophien’s visit, but if Deculein were to ask, she would answer truthfully, because Yulie now had a person who took precedence over the Empress’s command.
Nodding her head, Sophien looked at Deculein again and watched his body being slightly cured by her mana. Though it was far from enough and merely delayed his death, she kept looking with sad eyes until the rainshower stopped, the dawn mist spread, and the morning sun rose…
“I shall take my leave,” Sophien said.
“Yes, Your Majesty,” Yulie replied.
Before Deculein could awaken, the Empress meticulously erased every trace of her presence, then rose and departed without hesitation, mirroring the moment in the desert when Deculein had secretly healed her.
***
“Deculein is a traitor, Your Majesty—!”
On a certain autumn day, a tremendous roar echoed in the Imperial Palace’s grand hall, and for the first time in a very long while, a proper mass petition by ministers was held.
Its target was Deculein, based on the rumor—directly spread by the Intelligence Agency—that he was attempting to betray the Empire. Two hundred of the six hundred important ministers had gathered in this immense grand hall.
Not only the ministers, but also the key figures of the Imperial Knights’ Order, including Gawain, the Red Garnet Adventure Team, the Addicts of the Floating Island, and even the core professors of the Mage Tower of the Empire, all participated in Deculein’s petition.
However, Sophien, sitting on the throne, said nothing. She merely rested her hand on her chin and, with an unreadable face revealing neither seriousness nor contemplation, looked at the large door in the center of the grand hall. This was because he—the subject of this petition and the person most important to Sophien—was not yet there.
“Your Majesty—!” shouted Romelock, a senior minister, raising his voice in alarm.
In reality, the ministers had aimed for the opportunity presented by Deculein’s absence.
“Deculein’s achievements, from the very start, are naught but a façade of plagiarism. At present, intelligence abounds upon this continent that he intends to align himself with the Altar, Your Majesty. Even a mere child of the continent is aware of this truth, and therefore, we must not remain passive. You must seize and interrogate him—I urge you to reconsider.”
Their shouts disturbed Sophien’s ears, but the Empress’s eyes remained locked on the entrance of the grand hall, waiting for him to appear.
“Your Majesty—! Many witnesses are already awaiting—! To thoroughly expose Deculein’s crime—”
“How dare you spout such disgraceful rumors!”
At that moment, a thunderous shout, swallowing the senior minister’s voice, echoed through the hall. Every eye in the room turned, and even Sophien, who had been resting her chin, now straightened her back.
“Your Majesty—! Romelock speaks nothing but untruths—!”
That voice was certainly not Deculein’s, as he disliked stepping forward like that minister—like a wild dog—because such behavior went against the dignity of a noble.
“Let Romelock, blinded by envy, who unjustly defames the loyal servant Deculein, be punished, Your Majesty—!”
He was merely an unnamed minister of the Imperial Palace who claimed to be Deculein’s minion, and as Romelock confirmed his low rank and glared at him.
“What did you say—?! How dare…”
However, Romelock’s words were cut off midway, and instead, his eyes went wide as he took in the numerous crowds surging into the grand hall. They were likewise Imperial Palace ministers—exactly three hundred fifty-three of them—who marched majestically and stood opposite Romelock, and unlike those who were stiff, all had relaxed faces, as if scoffing.
Romelock’s spine was gripped by bewilderment, his eyebrows trembled, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead. The reason was simple—all of them—no, most of them—were the very ones who had raised their voices along with Romelock, proclaiming that Deculein was indeed a traitor…
Thud—
At that moment, the shrill sound of shoe heels echoed on the grand hall’s ceiling—someone’s footsteps. Romelock and his faction entirely looked toward that place, receiving a stunning shock.
“… Deculein,” Romelock muttered blankly.
“Indeed, it is I, Deculein,” Deculein replied, nodding his head as if he had heard those words.
Deculein appeared like a final enemy and walked toward Romelock and his faction with a sneer.
Thud— Thud—
Deculein’s footsteps held not the slightest hesitation, nor any humility but only arrogance, pride, and disdain.
“At the proceedings for the petition and interrogation of myself, I attended because I could not be absent.”
Deculein walked along the traditional red carpet—a path meant only for her—leading to the Empress’s presence and at that moment, Romelock’s eyes filled with horror and rage.
“Y-You traitor—!”
The senior minister rushed at Deculein, shouting until his throat was torn; meanwhile, the other ministers restrained Romelock’s outburst.
“Should you have anything to say, speak directly to me,” Deculein said, giving Romelock a brief glance before looking up at the Empress again.
With a boldness and arrogance no one in the Empire would dare show the Empress, Deculein spoke his mind, conveying his deepest intentions in the most aggressive manner…
***
… The meeting in the grand hall, which had been exceptionally unconventional from the start, had now been ongoing for five hours and thirty minutes.
“Deculein and anti-Deculein, is it?” Ganesha muttered while eating the adventure team’s snacks in the Imperial Palace guest room.
Currently, outsiders, including the Red Garnet Adventure Team and others from the Floating Island, were in a state of temporary refuge from that intense political struggle, which took place in that space.
“Yeah, I think so,” Ria replied.
The grand hall was now distinctly split into two major factions—those who stood with Deculein and those who opposed him—while Empress Sophien offered no response, leaving the question of who held the advantage unanswered.
“Then if the Deculein faction wins, what happens? Does the Empress change~?”
“No, Her Majesty, the Empress will become a marionette.”
Ria was currently contemplating Deculein’s intentions, specifically the sight of him conspicuously stepping forward and assuming the role of a villain.
Ria remembered what Deculein had said to her recently, in the Hadecaine cottage, and she wondered why he had told her to chase him.
“… Could it be…”
Knock, knock—
At the very moment Ria was about to peel and eat a tangerine, knocking sounded at the guest room door.
“Yes~ come in~” Ganesha said, without much thought.
Immediately after that, the door opened.
“Is the meeting finally…?”
Ria and Ganesha looked at the person who visited them.
“Knight Gawain?” Ria said, tilting her head, having checked his face.
The incorruptible Knight Gawain, known as the conscience of the Imperial Knights’ Order and who had been gritting his teeth at Deculein in the grand hall until just now, was here again.
“Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you, Ria, Captain Ganesha.”
Approaching as if he had just seen them yesterday, Gawain took out a document, and at a glance, they saw that it was a magically sealed letter.
“What is this?” Ria asked.
“It is Her Majesty, the Empress’s handwritten official letter,” Gawain replied, his response instantaneous.
“… What kind of official letter is it?”
Ria initially looked at the title of that official letter, and the opening, Democide, was immediately apparent.
“Demoncide?”
“Yes,” Gawain replied, his face serious as he fiddled with his brow. “Democide is the name of the direct task force Her Majesty, the Empress, has just ordered to be established.”
“A direct task force…?” Ganesha said, her face stiffening.
Ria first thought about demonicide in her own way, meaning a team that killed demons.
Is it a team that hunts demons? Ria thought.
“Is it a team that hunts demons, Knight Gawain?” Ria asked.
“Yes. However, the demon here is not a demon,” Gawain replied to Ria and Ganesha, speaking in an extremely stern tone and opening the Empress’s handwritten official letter to ensure it would not be overheard. “It is Deculein.”