Chapter 400

Get a grip.

What was I even here to do again? No, seriously. I could barely think straight anymore.

In front of me stood the old brick cathedral. A spring breeze brushed against the front of my robe, and the air carried the scent of fresh grass. And I…

“Haaah…”

“Out of breath?”

That ominous voice came from beside me. Elias was stating the obvious, fully expecting me to give him the answer he wanted. Ridiculous as it was, I forced myself to reply one word at a time.

“Wouldn’t anyone be?”

“You’re a Cardinal. Don’t tell me you can’t carry 90 kg for even an hour.”

“Are you insane? Even carrying 40 kg for an hour would be exhausting!”

I wouldn’t even make it an hour. I’d be looking for somewhere to sit after five minutes. I frowned as I tried to pry the thick arm wrapped around my neck loose. Narke stopped and looked back with an awkward smile.

“Maybe you should get down now, Elias.”

“Oh! So I was mistaken. You’re still full of energy if you’ve got the breath to yell.”

Hearing that made every bit of strength drain out of my body.

90 kg… He really didn’t look that heavy. New Humans were, on average, a little heavier than Old Humans of the same height. Knock off maybe 5 kg for that. Even then, around 85 kg for an Old Human height of roughly 185 cm was on the heavier side. My head was spinning, and my thoughts kept wandering off into completely pointless directions, as though thinking about anything else might somehow get me out of this situation.

Maybe he noticed I’d been thinking about his weight—or maybe he just guessed—but Elias pinched my neck and protested.

“It’s muscle, you know?! I worked hard for it!”

“Who said it wasn’t?! Ugh…”

I’d only just managed to put on some weight myself, and here he was acting like I was making fun of him… Compared to Elias, I was basically skin and bones. Anyone in my position would be annoyed.

‘At least being a New Human means my bones are stronger.’

I could definitely tell they were tougher than when I was an Old Human. Not that they were somehow built for carrying Elias around all day. Just that if I ended up slamming him into the ground, his bones might come out of it in one piece.

“The ground’s gonna cave in. Luka, dig us a hole with magic.”

“Let’s… not do that.”

Feeling like sweat was about to drip into my eyes, I stopped walking. I caught Narke’s eye in silent apology, then turned around.

It’s hot. How is it this hot at the end of March? Maybe it was finally time to ditch the robe and stick to the cassock. Late March used to make me shiver whenever I thought about the international situation. Now all I could think about was throwing Elias.

“Luka, where are you going?”

The moment I turned around, Elias—whose legs were practically crushing every bone in my waist—started kicking the backs of my legs with his heels. Guess he had decent instincts after all. He could tell something was off.

“Behind the building.”

“Why?”

Why?

Bang—!

“Ow! Aaahhh~”

Elias cried out as the back of his head collided with the grass. I lay sprawled on top of him—well, more like I stayed exactly where I’d landed—and took a long, deep breath. Thick white clouds drifted lazily overhead. A flock of pigeons glided across the sky with their wings spread wide. Above me stretched nothing but open sky.

‘Finally… I can breathe.’

I had no idea how I’d managed to carry him for over an hour. I shrugged off my robe and waited for the breeze to cool the sweat on my skin. Behind me, Elias shouted, “Luka! No! How could you just fall backward?! Weren’t you scared? Even if I was behind you!”

“I was. But the thought of carrying you around all day was even scarier.”

Still, I’d expected this. The moment I came up with the “freedom” plan, I knew he’d end up clinging to me like a sloth. At this point, it’d almost feel strange if Elias wasn’t eating something, looking for booze, or glued to my back.

Elias wheezed dramatically beneath my weight. I considered leaning on him a little more, then generously shifted to the side. He let out a deep breath and immediately jumped back on top of me.

“Ah!”

Please! I’m dying from the heat here. I shoved Elias off as he tried to sit on top of me and started to get up. Well, I tried to. The moment I did, he quickly grabbed the part of my robe where the brooch was pinned.

“You can’t abandon me, Luka.”

“I’m not abandoning you!”

I started to rub my forehead, then reinforced the magic maintaining my disguise instead and looked up at the sky. An errand boy was leaning against the window frame, staring at us with wide eyes.

“…….”

What a dignified sight for a cardinal. Out of habit, I checked that the soundproof barrier I’d cast was still in place—it was—then smiled and waved to the boy.

He jumped and disappeared at once. I grabbed Elias by the collar, hauled him upright, and patted him on the shoulder.

“Why would I ever abandon you? I was just trying to do you a favor. But… try to stay away from the booze for a while.”

“So you’re confident we can get out of here soon, right?! Sounds like you and Narke have basically figured out who the culprit is.”

We had, but no one had suggested going after them yet. Why? First, unlike Munich-Freising, this wasn’t the kind of situation where we could prepare in advance, march straight into someone’s hideout, and take them down. We’d need a different strategy this time. And second…

“Eli, I’ve been thinking. It might actually be better if we stayed here a little longer.”

Elias tilted his head. Why? The question was written all over his face. Honestly, I’d have asked the same thing.

“Officially, I’m on medical leave after getting mauled by Ismailov. At this rate, I’m spending every day in the hospital. Not exactly a great look for an Imperial Mage. Anyway, once I go back, they’ll just mark me as discharged. You and Narke are officially carrying out a mission for the Vatican. Right now, all four of us from Eszett are unavailable.”

“Yeah.”

“If we want to avoid getting swept up in whatever chaos is brewing outside, it’s better if the government can’t pull us into their plans for now. Let’s investigate everything we need to while we’re here… then find a way to save Heike before we leave.”

“…….”

Elias looked away from me and out at the lawn. Then, after a moment, he quietly nodded.

“…Yeah. That’s probably for the best. Even if there isn’t any booze… how often do you get the chance to stay under the Vatican’s protection?”

“Exactly. I’m glad you’re on board.”

“I’m not about to trade my safety for a drink. I love alcohol, sure, but not that much.”

“Yeah. I know.”

I’d always known Elias had a surprisingly good head on his shoulders. He could be fooling around one second, then switch gears so completely you’d wonder if he’d ever been joking at all. Smiling, I gave him a pat on the back. Grinning back, he leaned in and whispered, “Besides… I already brought my hip flask.”

“…….”

“If you need some, just ask, Luka. For you, I’d gladly spare half a bottle of whiskey.”

“…Thanks.”

Half a bottle? His generosity knew no bounds. I wasn’t even sure how to respond.

I let out a long breath, debating whether I should rat him out to Narke, when Elias unexpectedly turned serious.

“More importantly, what if the culprit runs? Heike collapsed yesterday. Shouldn’t we move in today?”

“It wouldn’t change anything. They didn’t come after us in person—they attacked remotely. Chances are they’re already hiding somewhere we can’t reach.”

“Hmm. Fair enough. Since we’re talking about it, let me ask you one thing.”

“I’m starving, Eli. I skipped breakfast. Let’s get to the dining hall before mealtime ends.”

Elias reached into his pocket and pulled out a fistful of candy. Seriously, what kind of magic had he cast on those pockets…? None of that had been there when I’d slammed him into the ground earlier. I unwrapped one of the white candies and popped it into my mouth.

Watching me, Elias asked in an unusually serious tone, “What’s your reason for linking the remote attack to the Holy Nail? A remote attack could just as easily come from some weird ability—like my cousin’s. It’s great that we’re getting closer to the truth, but I’d rather know why you think that.”

“Like you said, if we’re talking about a remote attack, there are only two real possibilities: an ability, or some unknown artifact the French side got their hands on. An ability opens up endless possibilities, so you can’t even use process of elimination. The artifact, on the other hand, is something we can actually piece together if we find more clues. That’s why I decided to start there.”

Elias nodded for me to continue. I’d gone through two Extra Chapters. I’d gathered every piece from the very beginning of the case and brought them back with me.

“But… strangely enough, the second possibility started to fit.”

That would mean telling him about the last Extra Chapter—about the time I spent with Helga Brandt. I couldn’t do that. Elias was still waiting for me to continue, so I shook my head.

“I’m still wondering if I’m just forcing the pieces to fit.”

It was something I always had to watch out for. If I didn’t constantly check whether I was falling into confirmation bias, eventually every new clue would start looking like proof of the theory I’d come up with first. History is full of people who believed the sea stayed calm because the village chief performed a perfect ritual, when in reality the wind had simply changed direction. The same mistake happens when you ignore possibilities that don’t support your theory—in my case, the possibility of some unknown ability that could throw the whole investigation into chaos—and focus only on the clues that do. That was exactly the trap I was trying to avoid.

And Elias had immediately questioned whether I was forcing the Holy Nail into the picture because it was the explanation I preferred.

If I wanted to explain why I’d connected the Holy Nail to this case without revealing too much, one point was enough. One question alone explained why I’d singled out the Holy Nail thief as the culprit.

“Why Heike and Ismailov? Why were those two targeted, and no one else? Forget coincidence for a second. If we assume there had to be a reason…”

“…?”

Elias stared at me like I’d completely lost it. Then he let out a long breath.

“…Ah. Right. So that’s where you’re going with this. Okay! Don’t say anything else.”

He raised a finger in front of my mouth. I only shrugged. Elias grinned proudly.

“I’m quick, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”

“Quicker than Leo?”

“Hmm…”

In some ways, yes. At least when it came to how ridiculously open-minded he was. He could accept almost any possibility without getting stuck on it. That was what I was about to say. But Elias had already started muttering to himself.

“If we dig into this the wrong way, couldn’t it start a war? Can’t we just keep it between us and focus on finding a way to save Heike? Normally I’m all for making things bigger, but this time… I don’t think that’s the right move.”

“I don’t know either. Let’s ask Narke. He’s the one with Precognition.”

We never got the chance.

Between arguing with Elias and everything else, there were only ten minutes left before lunch ended. I barely had time to finish a bowl of soup before heading to the meeting room. Elias somehow managed to polish off an entire steak in those same ten minutes, then stuffed my pockets with candy—I’m still not sure how he knew my cassock had pockets; his eye for details was annoyingly sharp—but it wasn’t much help.

The meeting was supposed to be a discussion between the bishops and the two Vatican cardinals, where we’d compare our conclusions. In reality, it was mostly them asking questions and us answering.

“Then, Your Eminence, we are very curious what sort of technique they infused into the Holy Nail.”

“As I said earlier, if our theory is correct, they turned it into an artifact capable of destroying a person’s core.”

As soon as I answered, I felt Narke’s gaze on me. A moment later, he looked away toward the bishops. Unlike him, the others simply waited for me to continue.

‘…Or maybe the Holy Nail itself gained some kind of special property after Ion Forso.’

If only I could find an Extra Chapter set in the right year. That thought slipped out before I caught myself. Narke had started looking at me, so I quickly steered the conversation elsewhere.

“Saint Helena’s skull is also a holy relic. I know this may sound irreverent, but bones make excellent materials for artifacts. So there must be a reason they took only items directly connected to Jesus Christ instead of relics from other saints. What exactly is the Vatican’s position on the relationship between the Arma Christi and divine power?”

“The Arma Christi, yes. Like most holy relics, they are vessels that can fully bring out the purest form of mana—in other words, divine power.”

“Hmm.”

If I asked for the reasoning behind it… I wouldn’t get the answer I wanted. Ask a room full of Christians, “Why do you believe the instruments of the Passion of Christ make the best vessels for the purest mana?” and there was really only one answer I’d get: Because they were the instruments of the Passion of Christ. It was a perfectly valid answer from a religious standpoint, but I was trying to understand the underlying principle. What I really wanted was an explanation grounded in magic theory. Why had they taken the Nail instead of the skull?

‘Are the people who stole the Holy Nail also obsessed with prophecies about the Messenger of the Covenant?’

Was that why they’d decided to collect the objects associated with the Passion of Christ?

I stayed silent, unable to draw a firm conclusion. The Archbishop glanced at the deacon standing beside him. The deacon disappeared into another room, then returned carrying an antique wooden case.

“This is a wand made from part of the previous Pope’s remains.”

“…….”

“Please, give it a try.”

The Archbishop gestured toward me. At first glance, the wand had the sort of presence that made it seem like it wasn’t meant for just anyone to hold. The finely crafted platinum leaves and thorny vines wrapped around the upper part of the handle only reinforced that impression. It was clearly ceremonial, not something meant for battle. Pushing aside the rather disrespectful thought of wondering how much the decoration alone must have cost, I carefully accepted the wand.

‘…Hm.’

It felt right from the very beginning. The moment I gripped it, the mana in my hand flowed into the wand as naturally as wind riding a breeze. Before long, it felt as though it had taken root in my heart.

I extended the wand and gave it a light flick. Narke shot to his feet. In one motion, his wand lengthened into a staff, which he slammed into the ground.

Boom—! Craaash!

“…!”

Light burst through the air like fireworks, scattering in every direction. The people in the room gasped and scrambled out of the way. Just now, Narke’s divine power had collided with mine. Squinting, I slowly lowered the arm I’d raised to shield my face. The wand I’d been holding was now in Narke’s hand, and his face had gone completely pale. The Archbishop looked between us in bewilderment.

“Cardinal Farnese?”

“…Lord Ernst shouldn’t be using holy relics so casually.”

“Pardon?”

“He has a history of it. He nearly blew up St. Peter’s Basilica once.”

Wearing a smile that seemed to ask for everyone’s understanding, Narke held up the wand for me to see before handing it back to the Archbishop. The Archbishop looked completely baffled. Just remembering what had happened on the day of my appointment made a cold sweat break out all over again.

“Ahem. I see. In that case, Cardinal Ernst, you should now have some idea of the power an artifact made from an Arma Christi can possess. That wand was crafted by calculating the optimal ratio for mana resonance. Even so, I don’t believe we can simply dismiss the fact that it contains a holy relic. As you yourself have already said, Lord Ernst, I believe they have found a catalyst capable of amplifying an ability dozens of times over.”

“…….”

Right. Whatever the underlying principle was, there was no way to prove it. And an Arma Christi would naturally produce an even greater effect. Duly noted. I had a few ideas that went in a different direction, but those could wait.

Regardless of what I was thinking, the Archbishop rose with the wand in hand.

“Of course, the user also matters. Allow me to demonstrate.”

Whoosh—

With a smooth flick of his wrist, as if conducting an orchestra, the Archbishop swung the wand. Light alone flowed from its tip. It sliced cleanly through the air like a shaft of sunlight piercing darkness before scattering into countless fragments. Unlike the wild display I’d produced earlier by simply waving it around, the Archbishop’s control was flawless.

Looking resolute, he continued, “As you can see, the difference is obvious. My mana isn’t nearly as pure as Lord Ernst’s. And those people aren’t even clergymen. Even if they did steal the Holy Nail, I doubt they will be able to achieve what they intend.”

At those words, Narke and I exchanged a glance.

“So the Archbishop believes there’s still hope. As in, ‘Surely they haven’t actually used it to hurt anyone. If we recover the Holy Nail as soon as possible, it won’t be corrupted by those heretics’ twisted intentions.’“

“Right.”

“Even though it seems pretty clear the people who stole it already attacked Heike and Ismailov.”

“Hmm. True. Though we still don’t have any hard proof…”

Like Elias and me, Narke was being careful not to let himself fall into confirmation bias. He stopped in front of our room, pulled out a notebook, and went over today’s schedule.

“We’re going to see Ismailov later. Leo, Julia, and Ulrike are meeting us there. Before that, let’s organize all the questions we want to ask. Then we’ll meet up again before dinner.”

“Before dinner? Let’s talk first.”

“Ah, right. Still, I’m going back to my room for now. I think Elias hid some alcohol in there.”

Ah… He’d already found it. Poor Elias. Smiling to myself, I headed into my room.

‘More importantly… why did they tell us to protect Elias?’

What exactly does the Vatican know? Leviathan cutting through the sea with white foam in its wake. Lili Lebenro. Successor mana extraction. Narke… Every piece of information I’d gathered so far was still scattered, none of it fitting together yet. None of it was unnecessary. If anything, every new connection only created more questions—and more clues I needed to find. Still, maybe it was time to start connecting what I already had.

Thunk.

“Squeak!”

I casually tossed my robe onto the desk, and an odd sound came from underneath it. I froze for a split second, then quickly flung the robe onto the coat rack instead and picked up whatever had been underneath.

“Pie.”

“Lukas!”

The grayish-brown little fluffball spun happily in my hand. I gave an awkward smile.

“Long time no see.”

Had it really been that long? I’d spent so much time inside the Extra Chapters that my sense of time was completely messed up. Countless bits of information were tumbling around inside my head. Thankfully, Pie’s reply cut straight through the chaos.

“That’s right! We have to see each other every day!”

“Yeah, we are. But now that I’ll be spending more time with Narke, I’ll get to see you more too.”

Pie always followed Narke around. Back when we were at school, he’d come play with me often enough, but lately I’d barely had any time. The less time I spent with Narke, the less often I saw Pie as well.

And as of yesterday—or maybe even weeks ago—I realized I needed to talk to Pie. I carefully sat down at the desk and looked at the little pile of stones that had only just begun taking shape.

“Pie. There’s something I’ve been curious about for a long time. Can I ask you something?”

“Mm?”

“Since when have you been able to communicate with Narke?”

“Since I was born~! But why?!”

“Since you were born as a pika… or since you were born spiritually?”

“I’m just me.”

“Yeah. I know you’re you.”

Smiling, I handed Pie the grass he’d brought over. He felt it to make sure it was still fresh, then held it between both paws and started nibbling.

“Then, Pie. Besides me and Narke, has there never been anyone else who could understand you?”

“Nope.”

“Then why can I understand what you’re saying?”

I kept coming back to the same place. One of the countless questions I’d wanted to ask Narke… I was asking Pie instead.

“Ummm…”

Pie only mumbled. Maybe he was too busy eating. Or maybe he simply didn’t know. Watching him, I continued.

“I used to think Narke didn’t know the answer either… but now I’m not so sure.”

“That’s right! Narke knows everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yep. But he doesn’t know everything.”

“…….”

What are you, asphinx? Resting my head against one hand, I let out a long sigh.

“What do you mean by that?”

“He doesn’t know the things people want him to know. That’s why everyone’s always worried. Narke says it’s okay, but people keep giving him a hard time, and I don’t like that.”

“…….”

“Lukas, do you like Narke?”

“Of course I do.”

Pie’s ears twitched, along with his whiskers. I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant, but I figured it was something good. I spoke quietly.

“He was like the Cheshire Cat.”

“…I don’t like cats!”

“Ah… Right. Sorry. I guess you wouldn’t.”

“It’s okay~! But why was? Isn’t he still like a cat?”

“…….”

That wasn’t really the point.

It’s just… I honestly don’t know anymore whether I understand him or not. I don’t even know how I’d describe him now. Or maybe that’s exactly why he’s still like the Cheshire Cat…. But saying that wouldn’t help Pie in the slightest. Pie must’ve taken my silence as a sign that I was tired, because he placed a paw over my eyes.

“Take a nap!”

“I don’t have time for that.”

I really didn’t. But ever since Ismailov bit me, the wound on my neck still hadn’t fully healed, and exhaustion kept catching up with me. Carrying Elias around for over an hour probably hadn’t helped either. I pulled a couple of potions Leo had always made sure I carried out of my clutch, drank them, and closed my eyes.

I had no idea how long I’d been asleep. I jolted upright with a gasp, and I could feel the people around me stepping back.

“Hah—!”

“Ah.”

Narke was staring down at me with wide eyes. Elias, who had apparently been doing something to my hair, also jumped back with both hands raised.

“I was just going to tuck the blanket over you. Sorry.”

“Luka, did you have a nightmare?”

I looked at the two of them for a long moment before shaking my head.

“No. Is it time to go see Ismailov?”

“No, not yet! You haven’t even eaten.”

Looking around, I realized I’d slept for less than thirty minutes. Rubbing my forehead, I closed my eyes and muttered, “Right… Good. There were things I wanted to ask you two.”

I needed to ask about the exact relationship between the soul, mana, and the body. And I wanted to hear whatever absurd theory Elias had come up with this time regarding Moby-Dick. Every time I thought about the Extra Chapter, I felt more desperate to gather information as quickly as possible.

Maybe my expression gave it away, because Elias frowned and leaned closer to my face.

“Looks like you had a dream, Luka. A bad one, right?”

“Yeah. I did.”

The last thing I’d experienced in the Extra Chapter was still lingering. I’d simply dreamt about that. Since I admitted it so readily, Elias looked at me suspiciously.

“That’s why I want to put every hypothesis together as soon as possible. Eli, you connected the sea monster from Moby-Dick to Ismailov and what happened to Heike, didn’t you?”

At that, Narke narrowed his eyes. I caught the look, then looked away. Elias, on the other hand, turned serious and nodded.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Can you explain?”

“It’s nothing complicated. I just thought Ismailov sounded like Ishmael.”

I stared at him for a moment before asking, “…Eli. I get that part. But Ishmael and the whale in Moby-Dick aren’t the same thing.”

Was I still too groggy to follow his logic? Maybe I should’ve asked Narke about the relationship between the soul and the body first. Elias took my silence as a cue to build suspense. Putting on an unusually solemn expression, he said, “Exactly. That’s the problem. What if Ismailov is both Ishmael and Leviathan?”