Chapter 377

Chapter 366

"Hands up."

To think I'd hear such a hackneyed line in person, here. Ismailov obediently raised both hands. His book dropped to the floor with a thud. Between the artifact still beeping away and the identical alarm from the receiver Albertina Hohenzollern had brought, my ears were stinging. I scrunched my eyes and waved a hand.

"Nothing happened, Senior. It seems the artifact has malfunctioned."

Narce, who had been looking at us in disbelief, gradually hardened his face into the same blank expression I'd seen that morning.

"A problem with the artifact? Impossible."

"Allow me to check, Sir Ismailov."

Albertina Hohenzollern approached him and jabbed her hand right above the artifact hanging at Ismailov's neck. I felt my own neck starting to ache in sympathy. Ismailov's mouth opened and closed briefly, but he made no particular sound. Albertina Hohenzollern stepped back with the expression of someone witnessing a truly bizarre spectacle.

"It is not an error. His heart truly is racing."

"...?"

Not an error? Then why? I looked at Ismailov, who stood staring at empty air. Albertina Hohenzollern pointed at Ismailov and asked.

"Sir Askanian. What did this man just do?"

"He was about to read a book by Augustine, so I checked the title."

"......"

Everyone, apparently sharing my thought, looked at Ismailov with forced smiles. A man labeled the messenger of the covenant or whatnot rummaging through theology texts would sit poorly with anyone. Albertina Hohenzollern, maintaining her smile with the face of someone fighting a headache, asked.

"Sir Ismailov. There is no law forbidding you from reading Augustine, however... were you perhaps afraid of being discovered by us?"

"......"

Ismailov maintained his silence. With an uncharacteristically frigid Narce, a Pleroma Messiah whose heart rate had spiked alone for no known reason, and two seniors who'd come rushing to my rescue all standing before me while this silence stretched on, I found myself wanting to go home. I pressed my forehead and said:

"...To explain the situation a little further—he opened it right in front of me, so he wouldn't have been worried about being discovered."

"Mm, is that so? Then I wonder why a problem severe enough to trigger this signal arose so suddenly. There was no functional abnormality whatsoever during his examination."

"I'm not sure either.... All I did was check the title, so I can't come up with any plausible cause beyond that."

While the 91st Class Representative Mage and I pondered Ismailov's heart rate, Mecklenburg and Narce exchanged glances. Their expressions looked subtly similar.

"Understood. Fortunate that we obtained warp authorization. We'll be going for now."

Mecklenburg—perhaps because he'd heard the entirety of Ismailov's interrogation—glanced at Ismailov with eyes even more guarded than Albertina Hohenzollern's and vanished. Once both mages had left, Narce shot up from his chair and stepped right up close to Ismailov. He glowered at him.

"Pull yourself together."

"......"

"Go back. I'll have the mage assigned to you posted at your side."

Whether he'd already predicted Ismailov's answer before hearing it, he exhaled at length and warped off somewhere with him. Narce returned before long, all smiles.

"Lukas."

"You're not going to keep sending him off elsewhere, are you? He should at least stay within surveillance distance so that if something erupts, we're not the ones taking the damage."

"That's true, but."

Narce stepped up before me. The waning sunlight pierced translucently through his irises.

"It's true that you have to look after Ismailov, and I know you're enduring this time to verify the hypothesis you've built and to gather whatever information you can. But you don't need to put up with too much."

"That goes without saying."

Had I ever put up with anything in the first place? If that guy had followed me somewhere he absolutely shouldn't, I'd have peeled him off myself, and in any case he hadn't actually done anything except trail after me. I leaned against the wall, crossed my arms, and looked at him.

"Understood. While we're on the subject, let's talk."

Narce raised his eyebrows.

"Let's set Insight aside. Could I know the reason you're not using your Foresight?"

I don't know which abilities he uses, where, or how much. I can only conjecture that it's something like this: regarding the events Ismailov will bring about, he either hasn't used his ability, or he has and simply isn't telling us the future he saw. Narce only looked at me without opening his mouth.

"I only want to ask for your help. My question might sound rude. If so, I'm sorry."

At that, Narce waved his hand and spoke with difficulty.

"Sorry—I can't use my abilities right now. I, of all people, must not, by whatever means."

"Thanks for answering. So... I still don't understand why you won't use them. Is speaking of it something you'd rather die than do?"

I asked with a faint smile, worried he might feel excessive pressure. Narce looked at me for a moment, then slowly drew out the words.

"...I don't know."

There was no ease or laughter in his tone. It was different from the tone he used when Insight and Foresight failed to get through properly—when he'd tilt his eyebrows, put on a courtesy smile, and say he didn't know how things would unfold. That is, judging solely by what reached me: right now, he genuinely didn't know whether telling me the truth was something he'd rather die than do, or not.

Narce pressed his eyelids and exhaled.

"I'm sorry."

"No. I didn't mean to pressure you—I should be the one apologizing."

I'd never placed the information in his keeping. Even if he can tell us nothing.... Honestly, this was a situation that called for grabbing him and grilling him, but pressing a friend to the bitter end when he's said this much isn't something easily done. Considering the help he's given us so far and the time we've spent together—no. Of course, that's rich coming from me, who abruptly summoned up Narce right after Gabriele Caetani in the middle of an interrogation. I deliberately erased the thought and maintained my smile.

"For now, understood. I'm planning to pool the information each of us has found together with Leo soon—if you're comfortable with it, let's talk again then."

Narce hesitated briefly, so I immediately added a clarification.

"You only need to tell us what you're able to tell. I can't reveal all the grounds for my reasoning to you two either, and I can't share every inference I've made."

"Alright. If that's how it is."

Even after I said I couldn't explain everything I'd found, he didn't harbor the slightest question about it. I nodded and enjoyed the time without Ismailov. It turned out to be a good opportunity to learn just how skilled a prankster Narce was. Lying—not by my own will—on the dusty archive floor, I stared up at the chandelier on the ceiling and muttered.

"You're a teenager too, after all."

"Haha, am I?"

"From now on, I'll have to pace myself when playing around with you too."

"Why~"

Narce, who'd had his arm draped over my stomach and his chin propped on it, shifted his weight onto his elbow to lift himself up. In the end, I had no choice but to throw him off before my internal organs got crushed. I sprang up, straightened my clothes, and headed for the dining hall.

And so, I finished my first meal at Nymphenburg Palace and wiped my mouth in satisfaction. In the aftermath of my taking on Ismailov, my friends had grown a bit quieter, but by the time the meal was wrapping up, they'd returned to normal. Tsheringen looked at Narce, glued to my side, and remarked.

"Lukas is going around with Narce today, of all days?"

"Mm, it turned out that way. It's nice eating together with all of you. Now I'd better go feed Ismailov."

At that, Elias, who'd worn a coolly detached face throughout, snorted.

"Does that guy know Luka talks about him like this?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Like he's a dog."

"......"

Come to think of it, I'd expected them to say I sounded like a mom or dad, but these aristocrats have never had parents personally handle their meals, so that answer would never occur to them. Honestly, even when I lived in the twenty-first century, my parents rarely handled my meals either—but there's such a thing as universal sentiment, and in a situation like this, "parents" would be the more familiar answer. I let out a hollow laugh and replied.

"At the very least, I should check whether the mages standing guard fed him."

"Then I'm coming too. That guy's hair color is weirdly similar to mine and it annoys me."

"I want to go too."

Elias and Heike said. Annoyed because their hair colors are similar—what is that even supposed to mean? But even if Elias says so, that won't be his real reason. Just then, Narce, who had only been smiling beside me, cut Heike's words down without ceremony.

"Not Heike."

***

"Why?"

Of the three of us, I was the first to break the silence. Narce climbed the stairs toward Ismailov's floor without a word before answering.

"Heike needs to be kept separate, specifically. Honestly, you do too, but.... In any case, you, me, and Heike should stay as far from Ismailov as possible."

So, I'm asking—why not? I swallowed the words threatening to leap from my throat and brought up something else.

"And yet you, with no surveillance duty whatsoever, are stuck to my side. Which means the three of us end up going around together anyway."

"Exactly! Why do you two play by yourselves all day? I wanted to go out on deployment with you too!"

Elias, following behind, draped his arms over my shoulder and Narce's and grumbled. Narce smiled at Elias, then looked at me and tilted his head.

"So—do you mind?"

"...Not to the point of minding."

I simply hadn't adjusted yet. The very fact that Narce, of all people, was trying to be with me every waking moment except bathroom breaks. At my curt reply, Narce beamed. When we reached the floor with the room where Ismailov was confined, I could see two mages standing before the door.

"It's mealtime, so I came by. How have things been?"

"He's been without incident. However, we brought in his dinner thirty minutes ago, and there's been no word that he's finished."

"I see. I'll go in and check."

The mage dismantled the security magic and stepped back. I took a deep breath, gripped the doorknob, and pushed.

"......"

Ismailov hadn't touched his meal. Seated on the sofa, he looked at me without any expression. And then....

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

At the sharp sound piercing my ears, I could only freeze in place. I could see Elias and Narce flinch to a halt beside me.

'...Again.'

Again—why? Someone abruptly appeared at the warp point at the end of the hallway, and in an instant something like Mecklenburg had seized my shoulder. Albertina Hohenzollern's presence registered beside him.

"......"

I looked into Ismailov's pale blue eyes, snorted, and answered.

"No matter how I look at it, it seems to be an error, Senior."

"I told you it isn't an error."

"From where I stand, it's an error."

Mecklenburg ignored me, frowning as he asked.

"Did you two fight, perhaps? You're about the same age, after all...."

"Would we? We can barely communicate."

"...Right. If nothing's wrong, we'll be going."

"Wait just a moment, Senior. Why on earth do you think Ismailov is acting like this?"

"......"

Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes and closed his mouth. It seemed that no matter how he racked his brain, nothing came to mind. He just kept sweeping back the hair falling over his eyes, looking around. I spoke to him, enunciating each word.

"The way I see it, that person's aggression spikes sharply every time he looks at me. He definitely wasn't like this at first... it seems hostility formed after I checked his book title."

There was an ambiguous point or two, admittedly. Ismailov didn't seem angry with me, but at present that was the only explanation that made any sense.

"Hmm... that may well be."

"This can't continue. Please have the decision withdrawn at once and request a replacement."

"I'll raise it. With the same safety issue occurring twice, it's hard to simply sit and watch."

Mecklenburg answered with an oddly ambiguous look on his face, then entered Ismailov's room with Albertina Hohenzollern. I looked down at Ismailov, who was staring fixedly at me, shook my head, and left the room.

It was already approaching eight o'clock. A more peaceful day than expected—two minor problems aside—was passing by like this.

My room was two floors down, right in front of the staircase. I unlocked the door with the key I'd received in advance, then let out a hollow laugh as I turned around.

"What is this?"

"Hm~?"

Narce stood there, a bag stuffed full of something slung over his shoulder, eyes sparkling. Elias had come empty-handed, wearing the exact same expression.

"You're following me all the way to my room?"

"Ah—Elias probably isn't, but I'm sleeping here too."

"You can't be serious."

"Completely serious~"

"Why?! For once I could finally be alone—!"

I bit my lip and clutched my head. Whatever I said, Narce just smiled, pushed me into the room, and answered with perfect equanimity.

"If we don't play now, when will we ever~"

"Ah, should I sleep here too, guys?!"

"No!"

I answered Elias's reckless question with finality and grabbed hold of Narce.

"This isn't right, Narce. I need to start protecting my privacy."

"I already know everything in your head anyway."

"...!"

When my blood pressure spiked and I clutched the back of my neck, Narce waved his hands.

"Joking. If privacy matters that much, you should have protected it sooner. Why didn't you object back then?"

Does he mean Leo? My head hurts. I hurried to explain.

"That was... that guy owns this country—how am I supposed to push back? Once he knows I'm in Bavaria, he can find out wherever I go anyway. And to be honest, he prefers being alone too. He was being considerate, worried something might happen with me as the target again."

"Right, exactly. Extend that same patience to me."

"......"

Fine.... In a way, his motive is the same, isn't it. I shook my head, shrugged, and flopped face-down onto the bed. I could see Elias standing at the head of the bed, smiling—I have no idea why he was smiling; I suspect it was simply because our eyes met. Narce, ever so kindly, pulled off my shoes and pushed my legs up onto the bed.

"You can do it. Right?"

"Why are you deciding that on your own? I have no patience left to extend."

"Sure you do~"

I let a hollow laugh slip and heaved a sigh. Fine—maybe he's better than Leo, at least.

Over the three hours that followed, we scraped together every newspaper on international affairs and debated them. Right—this is by far the more familiar way of spending time with Narce. The flow broke around eleven, when someone knocked on my door.

KNOCK, KNOCK—

"Lukas."

The person who opened the door and walked in was Leo.

'Hmm.'

Even after changing rooms, this face appears before me again—am I dreaming? He saw Narce in pajamas and lifted his head askance.

"...What is this?"

"What do you mean what—it's Narce."

"Haha. I wanted to try being Lukas's roommate for once too."

"......"

Leo looked at him in silence, then answered briefly.

"On this point, at least, I hope our intentions align."

"They will, Leo."

As the mood between Narce and Leo turned serious, Elias, lying on the floor, waved his feet and asked.

"What are those two talking about?"

"You tell me."

Even under the subtle pressure from Elias and me, they didn't answer, and the topic was soon steered elsewhere by Leo.

"Ismailov isn't here."

"We needed some distance. There have been two incidents involving the heartbeat artifact."

"Heartbeat?"

"Yeah."

Leo seemed to want a detailed explanation, but I didn't feel like giving one right now. Elias answered in my place.

"The heartbeat-measuring artifact keeps going off even in situations where there's nothing to be startled about. Though I'm only now learning it happened twice."

"...Is that so? Well—I did some investigating while I was out, and a question for Ismailov has come up. Is he asleep right now?"

"No."

"Then can we go up now? Lukas, you'll need to be the one to ask."

I hesitated, wondering if I'd face the same scene as before... but honestly, what reason would there be for it a third time? Twice is plenty. Whether it's a malfunction, fear, or aggression. And Leo wouldn't have prepared a pointless question, so either way I'd have to go ask tomorrow.

"Well, no reason not to."

I threw on a robe and stepped outside. Watching four people file out of this one room made me freshly incredulous, but I recovered my composure and climbed to Ismailov's floor.

"I've come for one last check before bed."

At those words, the mages standing before the door stepped aside. I knocked lightly, entered, and greeted Ismailov, who sat on the sofa before the balcony in the distance.

"We meet again. Have you eaten?"

Leo, entering behind me, watched him with deeply guarded eyes.

BEEP BEEP BEEP—

"......"

The same alarm rang out. Leo's wand snapped up toward the front in an instant. Ismailov merely tilted his head at the sound coming from his own wrist, showing no other reaction. Narce's deep sigh spread from behind.

"Again?"

It was Mecklenburg's voice. He came running in with Albertina Hohenzollern and caught his breath. Despite the string of false alarms, they were still, to their credit, running over each time.

'More to the point—why?'

Why? Why do these abnormal responses keep happening? No matter how I look at it, the artifact must be broken. But hadn't Albertina Hohenzollern said it wasn't broken? Should I go take his pulse myself? No. His complexion doesn't look it at all, but if he truly is angry, I shouldn't approach either. Mecklenburg's voice came from behind, having grasped the situation.

"That's the third time. From what I can see, he doesn't appear to have any will to attack anyone—what does Your Excellency Hohenzollern think?"

"I see it the same way. Sir Askanian, you didn't do anything in particular after coming here? Speak in an overbearing tone, perhaps...."

"Absolutely not. All I asked was, 'We meet again. Have you eaten?' I was merely trying to exchange pleasantries."

"Then why...? If he shows this reaction only in front of Sir Askanian, it can't be a health problem either."

"You're telling me."

"Have you been together this whole time?"

"No. I just came by for a final check."

At that, Elias snapped his fingers.

"So it's happening every time you walk in, Luka. All three times were because of you, weren't they?"

"So it would seem."

Silence flowed. Mecklenburg let out a hollow laugh, then muttered quietly.

"No way."

"Come on, surely not...."

Surely not what? I waited for them to finish, but everyone stayed silent. I scanned the face of every person standing in the room, and finally realized what they were all thinking.

"Ha... hahaha...."

Elias covered his mouth and began to laugh. Given the gravity of the matter, it was serious business too, so the struggle over whether to laugh or not was written plainly on his face—but in the end, he seemed to have judged it better to just laugh. Elias turned around and started hitting the wall, laughing.

"...Don't just laugh...! Narce!"

Narce wouldn't look at me, only pressing his forehead. So these people are seriously suggesting—? Seeing Narce avert his eyes, I no longer had the nerve to look at the face of the one person who'd been present all three times. Utter helplessness took over my mind. I desperately ignored Mecklenburg and Albertina Hohenzollern, who stood beside me watching with complicated expressions, and stared at the ceiling. No—correction. The only one watching me with a complicated expression was Albertina Hohenzollern.

"Do you know what color your face is right now?"

I very nearly said to Mecklenburg, does this bastard have no tact at all, before catching myself. I quickly pulled off my right glove and cooled the heat of my forehead. Mecklenburg stared at me, then let a laugh slip.

"You must be angry. It's your cheeks you should be cooling, not your forehead."

I reached to grab Mecklenburg by the collar as he kept needling me, then took a deep breath instead.

"If you're just going to make quips, don't trouble yourself with this."

"How could I not trouble myself? The messenger of the covenant, or whatever he is, toward our Imperial Mages' Association junior—"

"That's enough."

"Is there anything more to consider? Adding what I heard yesterday, the answer is plain to see."

"That's your narrow thinking. You're not even an Old Human."

"...Now you're not even calling me Senior?!"

People have intuition, and no matter how I look at it, Ismailov doesn't appear to be acting the way they're conjecturing. They've latched onto a pretext and become obsessed with teasing me.... I stroked my chin, then nodded.

"I have a rough grasp of it now. I've seen a similar case before, you see. It will definitely be different from what you're imagining, Senior."

Heike. From my first meeting with Heike all the way to that day, that moment, when she granted me Favorability—it all flickered through my mind again. Heike is dull to external stimuli and lacks certain experiences—interpersonal relationships, for instance—whereas this man is ignorant of nearly all experience, so there's a slight difference. But in that every reaction comes somewhat abruptly, and in that smooth communication requires deeply considering his perspective, they're alike. Even this present reaction fits.

'Then the cause of this behavior?'

Simple. It's probably nothing much at all.

If I had to guess: this person regards me as a newly made friend—or someone he wants to become friends with. Just as Heike did at the start of this year.

"...Wait, Lukas!"

I shook off Leo's grip and sat down before the sofa where Ismailov was seated.

"Let's be honest with each other. If my guess is right, there's one thing I need to make clear."

"......"

Ismailov looked at me with the same expression as before. I deliberated at length over what to say to this second Heike, then snapped my fingers, cast Sound Insulation Magic, and began:

"First of all—I cannot be friends with a Pleroma."