Chapter 413

The eyes of every mage in the room widened.

Adrian Askanien? Him? Why? But their confusion quickly gave way to anticipation.

As I watched their faces light up with barely concealed excitement, I was reminded all over again of just how absurd Adrian Askanien’s reputation was. The announcement caught me off guard for a moment, leaving my mind blank, but since Adrian himself wasn’t standing in front of me, I recovered soon enough.

‘Why?’

Let’s think this through. Why? A joint training exercise with the Ministry of Magic? Was the Special Operations Command lacking something? Adrian Askanien arrived in Germany yesterday afternoon, and the meeting was held that evening. When we were drinking together last night, he’d said we’d probably get to go out together soon. Then today, he came to the headquarters to deliver documents.

Good. That meant this wasn’t some aftereffect of my escape from the estate. At the very least, it had already been planned since last night.

‘Stepping up the training isn’t a bad thing.’

After a lengthy standoff with the government, Pleroma had complied with the terms that were agreed upon. Rampager incidents had dropped by 63.1%, and the prisoner exchange was proceeding without issue. So what should we expect next?

That the enemy could be putting us at ease before stabbing us in the back. In fact, the government had concluded that Pleroma deserved even more caution precisely because everything after the negotiations had gone too smoothly. At least, that was my own reading of the situation.

Still, why bring Adrian Askanien into all this? He wouldn’t be staying for long. What was he hoping to accomplish with such a short-term assignment? Was he simply carrying out his duties as Deputy Minister of Magic and representative of the Imperial Mage Association? Or…

Was he here to keep an eye on me?

“…….”

He hadn’t come to expose every last detail of my disposition to the world, nor to drag me back into the basement. I needed to consider the possibility that his immediate goal wasn’t nearly as malicious as I assumed. He…

‘My head hurts.’

Not because it was complicated. It was because I was staring at something I couldn’t confront.

More importantly, there was someone here who was probably in even worse shape than I was. My gaze shifted toward him.

“…….”

As expected. The color drained from Mecklenburg’s face. His expression itself remained perfectly composed, but the telltale signs gave away just how uneasy he was. His amber eyes flickered beneath the lights. The Chief of Staff cleared his throat and turned the page.

“Now then, next.”

“Your Excellency.”

Someone called out to him. The Chief of Staff lowered his glasses and stared at the speaker for a long moment. The questioner met his gaze before speaking in a calm but unwavering tone.

“I believe it is inappropriate for the Deputy Minister of Magic to supervise the Special Operations Command’s training.”

A chill ran down the back of my neck. Does he have two lives? I welcomed someone challenging the decision, but…

…that was an absurd argument. Adrian Askanien was the top mage of the Imperial Mage Association’s 89th Unit, and even among the representatives of the surrounding units, he was widely considered one of the strongest. Sure, his background and political standing had helped him become Deputy Minister of Magic, but he’d also spent years leading campaigns against Pleroma throughout the Papal States and neighboring regions without a single major incident. That alone proved his strategic mind and combat magic were second to none.

Even the Chief of Staff looked at the speaker as if he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard before replying curtly, “Before he is the Deputy Minister of Magic, he is the representative of the 89th Unit.”

“…….”

There wasn’t much room to argue after that. The questioner lowered his eyes and bowed his head. Then, the moment the Chief of Staff looked back down at his papers, he raised his head again, his lips curling into a stubborn grin.

Nepomucena Wettin. I’d noticed him before. A member of a ruling house, captain of the 98th C, and currently the second strongest in the 98th after Albert Mecklenburg. If memory served, he wasn’t exactly the serious, sensible type. He was the sort who liked to push the line just enough without quite crossing it. Judging from what he’d said during the meeting about banning firearms, he clearly wasn’t on friendly terms with Albert Mecklenburg—whether he saw him as a rival or for some other reason. And from what I’d just seen, he seemed to treat Adrian Askanien the same way.

‘Hmm…’

I kind of liked him.

Then again, people who enjoyed picking fights were just as likely to give me the same attitude, so I dropped the thought. My first impression could still be wrong, and I wasn’t interested in entertaining the possibility any further.

What mattered was that Adrian Askanien would now be able to observe my fighting firsthand. Not just mine, but the movements of everyone in the 101st Unit. Which meant…

‘…there was a chance he’d notice Leo’s traces all over my fighting style. That was the real problem.’

“My favorite seat.”

“What do you mean, your favorite seat…? Get off.”

I gave Elias a few light pats as he mumbled into my shoulder, his cheek squashed against it.

Once the meeting—which had really been nothing more than an announcement—ended, we slipped into an empty conference room on another floor. According to Mecklenburg, we should’ve been with everyone else, getting briefed on the new training program. But that wasn’t possible.

Because Mecklenburg had postponed the briefing.

Which was exactly what we’d hoped for. If we didn’t head back right away, we’d draw suspicion, and once the briefing was over, there wouldn’t be time to sit down and talk things through. It was better to steal a few minutes between official schedules.

“Alright.”

Still carrying Elias on my back, I sat down in a chair. For some reason, Zähringen wore a faint, almost sympathetic smile. Looking around at the friends gathered at the table, I spoke.

“As you all know, I’m back after just one day. Thanks to all of you.”

“Woohoo~”

Elias let out a strange little cheer and clapped right in front of my face. Narke was smiling as well. Ulrike, looking a bit more like himself than he had yesterday, clapped without really knowing what was going on.

“So you really wanted to come back that badly? You should’ve rested a little longer!”

“I’m fully recovered. Anyway, we should get started on our strategy meeting. Mind if I cast a soundproofing spell for a bit?”

As I spoke, I looked at the others while gesturing toward Narke and Leo.

“Hmm.”

Zähringen stroked his chin with an amused smile. Then, with a playful lift of his brow, he answered, “I’d like to say no, but I can’t exactly do that today. Go ahead.”

“Thanks.”

I smiled at Zähringen and Ulrike before casting the soundproofing spell. I excluded even Elias, who was still clinging to my back. The moment it went up, he started drumming on my back with his hands, then rested an ear against it. There wasn’t much I could do about that, so I shut my eyes, rubbed my forehead, and began.

“First off, my brother didn’t come here because of my disposition. Right, Narke?”

“From what I saw when I ran into him earlier.”

Narke gave a short reply and nodded.

“Then why?”

“…….”

Narke met my eyes, then hesitated. I waved a hand to show I understood. I already knew what kind of answer would come after that silence. Looking at me steadily, Narke asked, “Are you alright?”

“Of course, Narke. It’s good seeing you in an Eszett uniform instead of a cassock.”

I tried to steer the conversation elsewhere, but it didn’t work. Without so much as blinking, Narke said, “You didn’t look alright.”

“Fair enough. I wasn’t. But I am now. He’s not standing in front of me, after all.”

And even if Adrian Askanien were standing right in front of me, now that I had my freedom to move again, I had no intention of handing him the key to this situation. Leaning closer to Narke, I smiled.

“No more using your ability. Deal?”

“…Mm~ Alright.”

“First, let’s talk about the holy relics theft. Even if my brother ends up overseeing the Command’s training and combat strategies, one thing hasn’t changed—I’m free to move around again. And that means we’ve finally got the groundwork to catch the culprit.”

Looking around at my friends, who were listening intently, I laid out only the most basic information I’d gathered so far. Not my conclusions. I wanted to see whether they’d reach the same answer I had when they were told just the facts. Five minutes passed. I glanced at my watch, then gave a light clap.

“Let’s start here. Based on those two pieces of evidence I told you about, I concluded the culprit had to be inside the Papal See. Then a rosary showed up at the Hermetische Gesellschaft, and the chairman asked Emanuel Wittelsbach to examine it. So what does that tell us?”

“Man, Luka’s gone full professor.”

Elias grumbled, but Narke reacted differently. He frowned awkwardly, brushed a finger across his lips, then ran his tongue along the inside of his upper lip. He already had the answer. I snapped my fingers at him.

“Good. First, this rosary completely undermines the two pieces of evidence I used to point to the Papal See. Which means my theory that the culprit is inside the Papal See no longer has anything solid to stand on.”

“Right.”

“Second, why did the chairman contact Emanuel Wittelsbach?”

Elias tilted his head.

“Another leading question?”

“Think it through with me. The answer is the important part.”

“Well, because the letter the chairman received was addressed to His Highness Emanuel Wittelsbach as the target… Ah.”

Elias raised his brows, leaning toward me.

Exactly. That tells us what kind of person sent the letter—and the rosary.

‘Someone who knew the magic scholar Maria Österreich-Este.’

The Österreich-Este family was out. They hadn’t even known Maria had a talent for magic, much less that he was deeply versed in occult-based magical studies. That left only two possibilities: the French Imperial Family—or more precisely, the French mage organization manipulating it—who knew the occult society Maria had visited while in an out-of-body state, and Germany’s Pleroma.

We had several clues to work with. One of them was the German address written in the letter, 6 Ludwigstr.

So the conclusion was simple. Of the two remaining suspects—the French Imperial Family and Pleroma—the evidence narrowed it down once more to the French Imperial Family. Up to this point, everything fit together neatly. Leo, who had been listening with his arms crossed, finally spoke.

“So you’re trying to conclude that the French Imperial Family stole the holy relics.”

I smiled and nodded.

“Exactly.”

My friends probably realized it at that moment. The conclusion I’d just presented wasn’t my real conclusion. Leo slowly tapped his folded arm with a finger before speaking again, “Lukas.”

“Go ahead.”

“I understand your original theory about the Papal See has fallen apart, so you’re looking elsewhere. One way or another, the French Imperial Family is definitely connected to this. They already stole the sapphire parure. But we know the True Cross’s mana was last detected at the checkpoint leading into Germany. That means we can’t ignore the possibility that they had help inside Germany. Which also means you need to find that accomplice. Right?”

“Right.”

“But you also said the chairman of the Hermetische Gesellschaft showed no signs of having been affected by mental manipulation magic.”

“What does that have to do with anything? Don’t skip ahead—walk me through it.”

Elias smacked Leo on the shoulder.

Says the guy who was jumping all over the place himself. He’d been a little more polite about it, sure, but apparently he didn’t like it when other people skipped steps.

“I wasn’t jumping ahead. What I’m saying is, even when we tried asking the kinds of questions divine power mages use after wiping someone’s memory, we still came up with nothing. That means we can’t ignore how strange the timeline is, Lukas.”

“Hm? Hmmm?”

Resting his chin on my shoulder, Elias turned his head toward Leo. His voice carried a hint of annoyance, as if telling him to explain it properly—though he would’ve gotten there eventually anyway. Leo ignored him and kept his eyes on me.

“You said you sent the letter to the Papal See the day before yesterday. But the rosary had already been discovered in the Hermetische Gesellschaft’s storage room the day before you sent that letter.”

“…….”

“And there was that wooden cross in Heike’s hospital room… It could’ve been something Ulrike lost, but given the timing, I think it’s more reasonable to assume it was another case of suddenly appearing items.”

“Right.”

“And then you found two new clues at the Hermetische Gesellschaft that completely undermined your original theory. The first was the rosary that appeared out of nowhere. According to the witnesses, it came from outside the Hermetische Gesellschaft, so let’s set that aside for now. The second was what those occult fanatics said—that an object could become a ‘naturally occurring artifact’ if a soul, qi, or something similar settled inside it. Thinking about what an artifact actually is, I still don’t know how that isn’t a contradiction. It sounds ridiculous on the surface, but…”

Leo let out a quiet breath, staring at the tabletop before looking back at me.

“You also concluded that neither the Holy Nail nor the True Cross became artifacts because someone artificially imbued them with abilities. You thought they had naturally acquired those abilities.”

“Yeah. So?”

Propping my chin on one hand, I turned fully toward him. He caught the smile on my face, hesitated for a moment, then continued, “That means our list of suspects isn’t just the cult backing the French Imperial Family and the traitor inside the Papal See anymore. Now we also have members of the Hermetische Gesellschaft—an occult relic auction society. We should send a correction to the Papal See and rebuild the hypothesis from scratch.”

“Ah, nice. Now we’re getting somewhere.”

“…….”

Leo seemed at a loss for words. He looked away, his lips moving soundlessly. Then he let out a dry laugh and muttered in a voice that was nearly inaudible.

“You’re praising me over something so trivial… Did I do something to offend you?”

“Of course not.”

“Wow. Leo basically just breathed and he’s already getting praised.”

Leo shot Elias an exasperated look from head to toe before turning back to me with a smile.

“Still, I’m glad to hear it.”

“Getting praised for stating the obvious isn’t so bad either, right?”

As Elias started acting up again, Leo gave him a resigned smile and jerked his chin toward him.

“Lukas, just compliment him once so he’ll stop.”

“Then you compliment me, Leo~ I like getting compliments from you too.”

“Back off. If you’re going to keep bothering Lukas, you might as well climb onto my back instead.”

“That doesn’t count as a compliment! Try again! Besides, Luka said I’m not heavy at all, right?”

“So, Lukas. There’s one thing I still don’t understand. Even before, but especially now… I can’t see how the person who stole the holy relics and the one who attacked Heike could still be the same culprit. Do you still stand by that theory?”

I looked around at my friends and nodded.

“I do.”

“…….”

“All right, let’s keep going. The case has gotten complicated, so the only thing we can do now is go out there and walk around with our heads held high. Everything else is something only time can resolve.”

That was the last piece of the puzzle. Walking around openly was practically the same as setting a trap.

“We just have to lay the trap and wait. More precisely, put the right bait inside it and wait for our target to come to us. That’s all we can do now, so we’ll work on that alongside our duties here at the Special Operations Command.”

“…Good. I can finally see where this is going.”

Elias’s voice had turned serious. Leo and Narke wore the same determined expressions. Before we could even enjoy that silent exchange of resolve, Elias reached over from behind and pinched my cheek.

“So that’s why you’ve been so calm~? I thought you’d react more when your brother was put in charge of supervising the Command.”

Seriously… this guy never missed a chance to mess with me. I pried his hand off my face and nodded.

“Yeah. At least I’ve accomplished my initial goal of giving myself more freedom to move around. As long as my brother doesn’t try to keep me on a leash, him overseeing the Special Operations Command won’t interfere with solving the holy relics theft at all.”

“Hmm…”

“If anything, we can use it to our advantage.”

Provided Luka’s nerve holds out, that is. Elias fell silent, curling up and resting his head against my back. The thought of him hearing my heartbeat made me oddly self-conscious, so I straightened up and continued.

“The real question now is where we should focus our investigation.”

Elias tapped my shoulder twice before blurting out, “Wait! If Leo’s right and the culprit’s in the Hermetische Gesellschaft—”

“I said we need to investigate. I didn’t say we’ve confirmed the culprit is there. It’s still just a theory.”

“—then doesn’t that also mean someone in the Hermetische Gesellschaft got help from that French cult? Right? Am I right?!”

“…….”

“When Narke and I went there before, we both noticed the Hermetische Gesellschaft really hated Pleroma. Seriously, way more than you’d expect.”

Not that it was surprising.

Pleroma would’ve turned every place upside down searching for the records Maria Österreich-Este had left behind. There was a good chance they’d been harassing the club Maria founded for years. The members of the Hermetische Gesellschaft had probably dealt with Pleroma’s spies firsthand instead of just reading about them in the papers. It was only natural that they’d harbor such strong anti-Pleroma sentiments.

“I’m not saying ‘A means B’ automatically, but… isn’t it possible that some of them ended up working with the French cult? Or think about the possibility that they just didn’t become enemies with Pleroma in the first place! That occult society honestly felt kind of shady. If they wanted occult knowledge, they could’ve teamed up with another group researching magic independently, just like Pleroma does. But Pleroma’s a pain to deal with, so instead they joined forces with the French cult.”

“That’s a solid theory. It fits.”

Elias’s eyes widened at my response. Ignoring his reaction for the moment, I turned to Leo.

“All right, then let me ask you something. Leo, if you were the investigator, what would you do?”

“I’d look into the items auctioned by the Hermetische Gesellschaft. Even if those suddenly appearing relics were never put up for auction, it’s better to check everything first.”

Erst denken, dann lenken¹. That was what he’d said. Smiling faintly, I laced my fingers together.

“Makes sense. Then let’s pay them a little visit.”

Leo narrowed his eyes at that. I’d expected that much… but strangely enough, Elias stayed quiet. Normally, he would’ve been the first to jump up and insist on coming along. Instead, he stretched both arms out in front of him and looped one around my neck from behind. Frowning, I grabbed his forearm, but Elias ignored me and spoke in a cool voice.

“Guys, I think Luka’s using us as test subjects right now.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Luka. You did that on purpose—”

Before he could finish, I smiled and lightly smacked him over the mouth.

“Don’t go saying things that’ll get people the wrong idea. We’re just pulling out the information we need. Got it?”

“See? That means I was right. Ha!”

Elias bent over laughing, then leaned close to my ear again and muttered, “Yeah, I know. Can’t let ourselves get Polonius-ed and spill everything.”

“Exactly.”

“Hell yeah~ But if the enemy’s got a Polonius, then that makes us Hamlet, doesn’t it? So who’s playing Hamlet²?”

That sent a chill down my spine. I smacked him over the mouth again.

“No. Nobody’s playing Hamlet.”

Of all people, hearing Elias bring up Hamlet made me uneasy. Even before I came to this world, back when Elias had been nothing more than a fictional character to me, I’d spent a long time thinking about the relationship between those two characters. Looking at him as a friend now instead of a bystander, I couldn’t bear the comparison.

Just then, Leo clapped his hands to get our attention.

“Alright. That’s enough about the holy relics. Setting that aside, we’ve still got a problem right in front of us, Lukas. That’s what we need to think about now.”

“…….”

“Your brother’s going to be overseeing the Command’s training and tactical planning. We don’t know how long that’ll last, but one thing’s certain—this gives him the perfect chance to figure out exactly how close you and I really are.”

He was right.

Honestly, the only people in the Command who knew Leo and I were close enough to call each other close friends were the four people here and Albert Mecklenburg. Everyone else thought we barely got along, and teammates who weren’t especially close were common enough anywhere.

Couldn’t we just keep acting awkward around each other, even with my brother around? It wasn’t that simple.

Leo lowered his eyes, briefly bit his lip, then continued, “Because your fighting style still carries my influence. And that’s not something you can erase overnight. Letting Adrian Askanien know that the one who brought you this far wasn’t Baden, Saxony, or Prussia, but a prince of the Bavarian royal family… won’t do either of us any favors.”

“Yes. A very sensible point, Your Highness.”

I answered offhandedly, deliberately using his title. If Adrian Askanien found out how close Leo and I really were, he would inevitably conclude that I was Nikolaus Ernst. That wasn’t a leap in logic—it was the only reasonable conclusion.

Leo let out a disbelieving snort at the sudden honorific, then rubbed his forehead as if his headache had returned.

“You can’t even call in sick anymore. So what’s your plan?”

Leo wasn’t the only one worrying.

Albert Mecklenburg stood ramrod straight in the massive arena where the Mimesis system had already been activated, his eyes fixed ahead. The morning air drifting in through the open ceiling was usually crisp and refreshing, but today it felt cold enough to sour his mood.

Beside him stood the representative of the 91st Unit in the same rigid posture. And in front of them, standing at the lectern with perfect composure, was the one person Mecklenburg had spent his entire life growing sick of looking at.

The mage wore twice as many decorations on his jacket as Mecklenburg did—perhaps even more. With a clear, commanding voice, he began.

“It is a pleasure to meet you all. I am Adrian Askanien, representative of the 89th Unit of the Imperial Mage Association.”

His voice, carried throughout the arena by a voice amplification spell, echoed across the stadium. Meeting each mage’s eyes in turn, he continued in a calm, measured tone.

“I understand the announcement was made yesterday that I would be overseeing the Special Operations Command’s training and operational strategy. The government has already briefed me in detail on the Command’s accomplishments to date. It’s an honor to have the opportunity to lead such outstanding mages, even if only for a short time. I sincerely hope this special training period will help each of you become a mage capable of completing any mission and returning safely, no matter what dangers you face.”

‘This isn’t a school.’

Adrian Askanien possessed a warmth and gentleness that had no place in the military. He had always been that way, ever since they were children, and he hadn’t changed. The way he carried himself was closer to that of a secondary school teacher than a military commander.

The infuriating part, however, was that his gentle demeanor had never once failed to win people over. Looking down at the mages standing below the platform, Mecklenburg quietly swallowed.

“I regret that we won’t have the chance to get to know one another better.”

Mecklenburg emptied his mind and waited for that sickeningly gentle voice to finish.

Fortunately, Adrian Askanien’s speech was brief. If anything, the mages gathered below looked as though they wished His Excellency Adrian Askanien, Deputy Minister of Magic, would speak a little longer. Instead, Adrian ended his address at what anyone would have called the perfect moment—even Mecklenburg had to admit as much, so there was no need to wonder what the others thought—and moved on to explaining the training that lay ahead.

“…To begin, I will spend the first day of the official schedule assessing the individual skills of each A-Class member.”

In other words, he’d be opening with sparring matches. Just as anyone would. Unlike his abrupt arrival, it was a calm enough start.

As soon as there was a brief pause while the Mimesis system was being set up, Mecklenburg called over the vice captain of the 101st Unit. Or rather, he walked over to him.

“What are you going to do?”

Considerate enough to cast a soundproofing spell before speaking, Lukas Askanien replied without even looking at Mecklenburg.

“I sent you a letter through the vice captain of the 98th Unit, but I never got a reply.”

“…Ah.”

Mecklenburg pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I see. I’ll check once we’re back.”

“No need. It was about today anyway.”

Right. Today. That was why Mecklenburg had sought him out.

“Adrian Askanien will definitely target you today. Not because you’re his younger brother, but because he’s evaluating A-Classes. I don’t know what kind of training he’ll choose, but there aren’t many of them to begin with, and you’re one of the strongest among them. There’s no chance he’ll leave you until tomorrow.”

Lukas Askanien remained silent. Watching him, Mecklenburg muttered, “Want me to postpone it?”

“…….”

“Though I’d advise against it. A day or two of practice won’t change the way you fight.”

“Is it really that obvious? Most people don’t notice.”

“Only if they’re watching closely. Most won’t… but is this really the time to relax? You have someone standing right in front of you who will notice.”

Only then did Lukas Askanien turn to face Mecklenburg. Wearing a smile that reminded him all too much of Adrian Askanien, he replied, “It’s fine. If it involves anything physical, I’m confident I can handle it.”

Confident about what, exactly?

Mecklenburg turned away without a change in expression. If that was truly what Lukas Askanien intended, he didn’t want to think about it any further. What was the point of worrying over Nikolaus Ernst? Just as he turned his back, a neat reply came from behind him.

“I’ve been practicing for quite a while.”

“How long?”

“About six hours.”

“…….”

Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes and looked back.

After that, Mecklenburg returned to the waiting area for A-Class members. Perhaps worrying about Nikolaus Ernst had been the wrong priority. The enormous Mimesis display hovering before him was enough to make irritation burn at the back of his throat.

[Allow me to explain the rules for today’s sparring matches.]

Instead of Adrian Askanien, who had gone down to the control room, his aide’s voice echoed through the arena via a voice amplification spell.

[The matches will be held in pairs. During this exercise, each participant will be overlaid with someone else’s appearance. The opponent you see is not their real appearance, but another person’s. This measure is intended to reduce the pressure of public evaluation and prevent personal feelings from affecting the outcome. Please remain composed throughout the match.]

So they’re disguising everyone with Mimesis. It was a training method occasionally used anywhere Mimesis was available.

Maybe I shouldn’t have signed that Mimesis consent form. The thought was absurd, and Mecklenburg knew it. Everyone here had signed it before joining the Command.

‘How very considerate of him.’

Even if everyone wore someone else’s appearance, Adrian Askanien had undoubtedly arranged the matchups himself. He already knew who was who, so the explanation wasn’t nearly as reassuring as it sounded. Besides, anyone who had trained together long enough would probably recognize half the participants once the fighting started.

The first match was Leonard Wittelsbach versus Erich Reichenau. Inside the Mimesis, both wore unfamiliar faces, as though under a cognitive distortion spell, but it wasn’t difficult to tell who they really were. Erich Reichenau, especially, had been Mecklenburg’s friend for years. To say he didn’t know his fighting style would be a lie.

Mecklenburg watched the next match in silence as well, his eyes fixed on the screen. Once again, identifying the fighters wasn’t difficult. It was dull beyond words. Even so, one thing kept drawing his attention—the number of participants still waiting continued to shrink.

Then the third match began. Expression finally returned to his face. Mecklenburg frowned at the screen. Lukas Askanien and Nepomucena Wettin were no longer in the waiting seats. It was their turn.

[3, 2, 1. Begin.]

Beeeep—

The moment Mimesis activated, Mecklenburg grimaced. Standing in the arena were two figures wearing Ulrike Kleist’s face and his own.

‘Which one…’

Please don’t let the one wearing my face be Lukas Askanien. Mecklenburg’s expression hardened. The control room wasn’t even visible from here, yet his eyes kept drifting toward it.

Nepomucena Wettin might have spent his days fooling around back at the First Academy before lucking into the Imperial Mage Association, but his skill was the real thing. Naturally, he couldn’t use divine power here, so Lukas Askanien would have to rely on mana alone. In that case, Mecklenburg couldn’t even guess which of the two would come out on top. He wouldn’t be able to identify Lukas Askanien just by seeing who had the upper hand.

‘TThe one whose combat style resembles Wittelsbach’s—that has to be him.’

Six hours. Damn it. What kind of nonsense was that?

Mecklenburg swallowed unconsciously. There was nothing he could do now. All he could do was trust his claim that he’d hidden every trace of Wittelsbach’s style.

The two combatants settled into their stances. It was still impossible to tell. But by the fifth move—no, by the third, he’d know.

Boom!

Bursts of colored light matching their eyes exploded across the arena. The one wearing Mecklenburg’s face lunged forward with his sword. At that instant, Albert Mecklenburg narrowed his eyes. Was I mistaken?

‘…No.’

He could feel the members of the 98th Unit in the waiting area turning to look at him. Mecklenburg stared in disbelief, his mouth falling slightly open. The one wearing Ulrike Kleist’s face…

was moving exactly like him.

Translator Note

1. Erst denken, dann lenken — German for “Think first, then act.” Literally, “Think first, then steer.” ↩︎
2. Polonius is a royal adviser who secretly hides behind a curtain to eavesdrop on Hamlet’s conversation with Queen Gertrude. Mistaking him for someone else, Hamlet stabs through the curtain and kills him. ↩︎