Chapter 423

The others hadn’t even finished their tests yet, and they wanted me to meet the Commander? Just Narke and me?

I could see what they were trying to set up. I answered in an even tone.

“Understood. I will go right away, so you can go back.”

“No, please come with us.”

The professor from the Imperial First Academy approached me with a polite gesture. I responded by extending my hand in the same courteous manner.

“I can go by myself. Don’t you need to evaluate the other teams’ progress?”

“That is all right. Besides, it is also our duty to brief the two of you.”

“All right? Are you saying there is no need to see the others’ test results?”

The professor seemed about to offer an explanation, but the other aide raised an eyebrow and answered with a sharp glint in his eyes.

“Precisely.”

“…….”

I felt the muscles around my brow tense slightly and lowered my chin a little. They gestured for me to hurry, so I slowly started walking. As we went, the professor continued explaining.

“The Commander’s office is monitoring the training as well. If you have any questions, you will be able to get them answered there.”

“Understood.”

I gave a short reply and opened the Change Probability window.

Just as I had initially thought, this exercise was a good opportunity for two things. First, I could find out what information Adrian Askanien had brought back. Second, I could learn what mindset and objectives he had when he returned to Germany. So I decided to watch how the Change Probability shifted before and after the test.

I had already checked its previous value. What would it show now? The answer should contain a clue about the second possibility I was hoping to confirm. I took a deep breath and opened the Change Probability window.

The moment I saw the number, my lips parted on their own.

‘How could it not even…?’

It hadn’t changed at all. Why? All sorts of thoughts swirled through my head. I hadn’t held back during the exercise. I had approached it without hiding my methods. And yet the Change Probability hadn’t dropped?

My face had already been stiff and expressionless, but now it felt even more rigid.

No. But the possibility remained. Broadly speaking, there were two possibilities. First, Adrian Askanien might not have heard the news yet. The second was…

“I am not the Deputy Minister, of course, but as his aide and one of the people who designed this training exercise, I have to say that I am deeply impressed, Lord Askanien. As expected of an Askanier.”

The professor, who had been walking beside me in step, spoke in a satisfied voice. Looking down at him, I brought up the question I had been meaning to ask. My voice came out dry.

“I am glad to hear I have been evaluated so favorably. Isn’t the Deputy Minister coming in person?”

“He is extremely busy. He hasn’t even been able to get a proper night’s sleep for the past two days.”

He had taken time off to come here, only to work himself to exhaustion… And contrary to what I had initially suspected, apart from the early hours of the first and second days, he hadn’t even shown his face. He had been completely absorbed in government affairs. At that moment, the professor dropped a bombshell.

“However, he has already received the news that you became the top scorer. The Deputy Minister was very pleased.”

“…….”

A chill ran down my spine. What exactly did it mean when he said that Adrian had heard about me? Faced with a fact that had become painfully obvious, I felt the back of my neck stiffen as I asked bluntly, “…But I only just finished, didn’t I?”

“Lord Askanien.”

The other aide walking ahead came to an abrupt stop. His gaze, rising from below to meet mine, was unwavering.

“You have already been the top scorer for the past hour.”

“…….”

Thirty minutes after the exercise began—indeed, from the moment I entered the bakery—the first-place position had already been decided. And that was me. I should have been happy to hear that. But I couldn’t be.

Even though Adrian Askanien had received the news, why had my Change Probability remained exactly the same?

I hadn’t deliberately hidden my abilities during the exercise. I had simply followed the most straightforward line of reasoning, and I hadn’t used any special tricks. In other words, it was obvious to anyone watching that I hadn’t displayed any particularly extraordinary technique or devised some ingenious solution. Even so, I had beaten Narke, who had used divine power, and achieved the highest score in this training exercise.

From Adrian Askanien’s perspective—someone who wanted his younger brother buried somewhere beyond redemption and ultimately wanted him dead—a title like “top scorer” could hardly be considered fitting for a younger brother who was supposed to quietly remain insignificant.

So, that leaves the first possibility out. Adrian Askanien knows that I was the top scorer in the strategy game he had devised, and yet my Change Probability hasn’t fallen even a fraction from 72.9%.

What does that mean?

The second hypothesis I had been considering all along was…

“…….”

I closed my eyes and drew in a deep breath.

That meant Adrian Askanien had not come to Germany to test me. He had no intention of getting any information out of me, no intention of harming me, and no intention of setting up a game board only to leave after putting me in danger.

‘Why…?’

My head throbbed.

Of course, that didn’t mean Adrian Askanien was completely innocent. Anyone could see that. It didn’t mean he was suddenly a perfectly upright and virtuous person with a deeply humane spirit who sincerely cared for his sick younger brother. Taking it that far would be an absurd leap in logic, the kind only someone who saw everything in black and white, good and evil, could make. In other words, I had not reached the deplorable conclusion that, because of the Change Probability test I had just conducted, Adrian Askanien was unquestionably a good person and I was the damn Pleroma. If I had reached such a conclusion, I wouldn’t even know where my logic had gone wrong.

No. It simply meant that the numbers provided by the system guaranteed that he had no intention of harming me. That much remained unchanged. Assuming the system’s numbers regarding my survival could be trusted, Adrian Askanien had not returned to Germany with any malicious intentions toward me. Why? He really had returned simply to check on the state of my injuries and to ensure the safety of the Empire. That realization sent a chill down my spine. It was enough to shift the weight of the belief I had held so firmly until now.

“…….”

Was ‘Luka’ really free of that disposition? Was everything truly nothing more than slander fabricated by his brother? There was no denying that his brother’s method of suppressing his core to restrain that disposition was extreme and, in some respects, wrong. But how likely was it that, based on some incident in the past, it had been the best conclusion he could have come to? How much of what I read in that novel can I actually trust?

My lips weren’t smiling, but a quiet laugh kept bubbling up from within. The foundation of my faith had been shaken by the fact that Adrian Askanien had witnessed my success and still made no attempt to kill me. Once again, I was confronted with the thought I had never been able to escape since Ash Wednesday—from the very day I gained what others recognized as the greatest ability in the world, an ability I had never particularly wanted and wasn’t even sure was truly a good thing for the greater good, and had to give up my certainty in the premise in exchange for it.

My brows drew together on their own. I closed my eyes and pressed my fingers against my temple. I was torn by conflicting feelings. If only Adrian Askanien had come here to kill me.

In some ways, perhaps that would have been better. Even if I had gained the ability to grow stronger by consuming blood after Ash Wednesday, the foundation of my beliefs would have been shaken less, and with good and evil clearly defined, at least my mind would have been at peace. At the same time as I had that thought, I felt relieved that I didn’t let it go any further.

‘That’s a ridiculous thought.’

In the end, unless I had refused to see that reality and ideals were different, this kind of thinking was nothing more than a desire for Adrian Askanien to be thoroughly evil in my eyes, even after I had already tested my hypothesis, simply so I could feel at ease. “Adrian Askanien wants to kill me” and “I want Adrian Askanien to be evil” were clearly two different propositions.

I couldn’t find comfort in such a childish way, and the justification I gained from thinking he is evil, therefore I am good was neither truly justified nor solid, nor did it even make sense. If I allowed myself to keep thinking that way, then I would be no different from a judge who believed he had the right to distinguish good from evil, reward the good, and condemn the wicked with nothing more than his words and the fingertips tapping against a screen—the kind of thinking that lay at the root of the public’s motives for killing through dolus eventualis, and that reflected a partial absence or distortion of liberal humanism. In other words, I would be no different from someone consumed by the crowd’s black-and-white mentality.

No. Perhaps the fact that I had even entertained such a thought, however briefly, meant that despite how it went against basic human decency toward both myself and someone who had shared a part of my life, I had, disgustingly yet perhaps inevitably as a human being, placed my peace of mind in the belief that I am right and you are wrong.

Even so, despite the foundation of my beliefs being shaken, I didn’t fall into despair or frustration. Perhaps the reason lay in the very humanity I wanted to preserve.

Ironically, verifying his intentions has made things clear. Even if my assumptions have been shaken, I am not in a situation where I need to reconsider my efforts to keep Lukas Askanien alive—meaning, I am not dealing with some straightforward villain defined by a simple good-and-evil dichotomy. By recognizing my own bias toward his intentions, I have become able to clearly piece together what lies within me and what lies outside me. At the very least, it has given me a starting point from which to try.

‘In conclusion.’

What I need to do now is become an actor equal to Adrian Askanien while he remains in Germany, and treat him as a loving family member. There is no need to fret or wonder about what might be lurking beneath his skin. All I need to acknowledge as fact is that, for now, he genuinely welcomes my success with nothing but approval; that he has no intention of setting a trap for me at present; and that, at least for the time being, he really did return to Germany to protect the Empire against Pleroma. Nothing more than that. His intentions are more complicated than I expected, have in some way gone beyond what I anticipated, and it is possible that this simply isn’t the time for him to make his move.

Good.

Unless I can dissect Adrian Askanien’s mind or fast-forward through time into the future, thinking about his intentions any further would be a waste of time. I should think about something else.

‘…Speaking of which, what are the others doing?’

What could they possibly be doing that they didn’t even need to see the others’ results? I asked the professor, who was still walking along with a satisfied, almost buoyant step.

“How was the difficulty of this training set?”

“What did you think of it?”

“If you promise not to share my opinion with the other mages, I will answer honestly.”

“Of course. I will keep it confidential. Tell me what you thought of it overall. My pride as a professor is on the line here.”

“It was straightforward and intuitive.”

“Ah, excellent. It seems our intentions as the designers came through exactly as we intended. As Deputy Minister Adrian Askanien instructed, we designed the training to reflect realistic incidents that could actually happen, while avoiding anything too contrived.”

“I was surprised that I could handle everything just by thinking.”

“Didn’t you notice the fishing ad at Berlin University? We even set it up so you would be led straight into the traps, but you managed avoided every single one.”

“…I see. I suppose I was lucky. I will keep that in mind.”

“It wasn’t luck.”

The professor answered with a serious smile. He and the other aide stopped abruptly in front of the door.

“And our government wants people who can succeed even when luck isn’t on their side. We have arrived. The Commander is waiting.”

There were only two people in the room. The President of the Imperial Mage Association, who now also served as the Commander, was seated with Narke. Adrian Askanien was still nowhere to be seen. I now knew that he wasn’t keeping a close eye on me alone. I saluted the Commander, then took a seat alongside the two aides.

“We met during the Pentathlon as well, did we not?”

“Yes, we did.”

“You were an Eszett even back then, but even more so now, it seems. It is a pleasure to meet you again as a Prussian. I heard you took the highest score in this exercise, too.”

The Commander smiled kindly before turning his gaze toward the two aides. It was clear that he himself had not taken part in the evaluation. Of the two aides who had brought me here, the professor spoke with a confident expression.

“It is an unbeatable combination, Your Excellency. We did not have every unit in the Association take the exercise, but the two of them can certainly be called the best among the Command’s A-Classes.”

“Hmm.”

The Commander nodded, his brows raised slightly, and continued.

“Not even the 98th, but two from the 101st… Quite something. But after hearing you speak so highly of them, I have little choice but to believe you. What about the others?”

“More than half are still in Pankow.”

“Heh. So the Empire’s finest mages are nothing but fools, are they? I suppose academic credentials and individual ability do not necessarily go hand in hand.”

Though he had merely muttered it to himself, the Imperial First Academy professor listening to him wore a somewhat complicated expression. He could hardly help it. Everyone except the 101st Unit—with perhaps only one or two exceptions—was a graduate of the Imperial First Academy. Yet the Commander had essentially just said that graduating from the First Academy did not mean one was particularly capable.

Academic performance was certainly important for admission to the First Academy, but family background and mana had a great deal to do with how those grades were achieved. So the Commander wasn’t entirely wrong, but it was still an awkward thing to hear from the professor’s perspective. As silence settled over the room, the Commander let out a long breath and waved a hand.

“Then, among the teams that have made it out of Pankow, who are the best?”

“The 91st Unit’s Albertina Hohenzollern–Marie Schlieffen team, the 101st Unit’s Leonard Wittelsbach–Elias Hohenzollern team, and the 98th Unit’s Albert Mecklenburg–Nepomucena Wettin team are currently showing the best results, in that order. However, in the 98th Unit’s Alpha Team, only Lord Mecklenburg, the unit representative, has come close to the correct answer, and they have completely failed in terms of teamwork. As for the 101st Unit’s Gamma Team, their reasoning abilities are outstanding, but it is quite apparent that they have yet to receive proper training across a variety of exercises. If we had to choose an alternative, the 91st Unit’s Alpha Team has shown the strongest performance by conventional standards, but…”

The professor spread his hand toward me and Narke, who was seated beside me, and said, “That’s only when 101st Unit’s Lord Narke Farnese and Lord Lukas Askanien are not included.”

“…….”

The Commander slowly nodded, exhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke. He placed the cigarette in the ashtray, clasped his hands together, and spoke slowly.

“What on earth are they all doing… Once the training is over, have them train again using the footage of Lukas Askanien and Narke Farnese. Make them train until they can reproduce the two of their outputs exactly. At this rate, they are going to run the Empire into the ground.”

And who exactly is going to run it into the ground? Does this guy have no sense of self-awareness? I had all sorts of questions, but unlike me, the aide answered politely.

“Yes, sir.”

“Now, enough of that… Lord Farnese. You found the answer immediately using divine power, correct? I read the report saying you have exceptional insight. Finishing the training in just thirty minutes was quite impressive.”

Rather than answer, Narke simply stared at the Commander with a serious expression. Then the professor spoke in a firm tone.

“However, he relied on his ability from beginning to end and completed the assignment in an excessively short amount of time. It is certainly an excellent ability, but an eagerness to resolve a case as quickly as possible can sometimes lead to mistakes.”

He pointed at me and continued firmly.

“On the other hand, Lord Lukas Askanien has neither divine power nor a Special Ability, yet he reached the conclusion through reasoning alone. If we combine Lord Askanien’s composure and logical thinking with Lord Farnese’s abilities, there will be no one in any other country who can match them.”

“…….”

The Commander flipped through the report, looking back and forth between us before nodding.

“Our Empire is truly fortunate to have talents like you.”

Being conscious that the guy beside me was a foreigner, I was momentarily taken aback, but I quickly got over it. The Commander continued, looking at the two of us.

“I was only a little surprised that two teenagers managed to take first and second place, beating out people who have had plenty of time to grow older. It certainly wasn’t because I doubted your abilities. In particular, haven’t the two of you already achieved impressive results in several operations?”

Perhaps he was treating us like high school students, because his voice was much gentler than when he spoke to the two aides beside him. And yet, there was a clear resolve in his eyes to treat us as Imperial mages whenever it mattered.

“Unfortunately, intelligence doesn’t necessarily increase with age. Rather than choosing the 91st or 98th Units simply because of your age, I believe it would be better to select people based solely on ability. What do you think?”

“…….”

“I am deeply honored to be entrusted with a mission for His Majesty and the one hundred million subjects of the Empire.”

That was Narke’s answer. I knew well that he was being courteous on my behalf.

“Good. After going through the training, you have probably already figured out what our government intends to ask of you and how. Even so, we must be thorough. From this moment on, forget everything said in this room once you step outside. Understood?”

“Yes.”

“Then I suppose I should start from here. While preparing for the Pentathlon, the government began monitoring all telegrams and some letters in order to respond to terrorist threats.”

I already knew that. There was a sort of blacklist, and prominent figures—anti-imperial politicians, members of the bourgeoisie, scholars, businessmen, and the like—were all subject to surveillance. They already knew the government was monitoring them, but the government justified it on the grounds of public security. And since not a single newspaper was willing to take up the matter even when someone reported it, they had no choice but to put up with it. Some people had fled overseas, but not everyone could simply emigrate.

I suppressed the expression that threatened to appear on my face—something along the lines of What a thing to be proud of—and quietly watched the Commander as he continued.

“By monitoring telegrams, the Empire has so far mobilized some of the finest cryptographers, mathematicians, and linguists both at home and abroad to intercept and counter the small-scale operations of Pleroma’s cells. But at some point, they realized they could no longer use Imperial telegrams. Eventually, coded telegrams stopped coming altogether, and their crimes decreased as well. This was even before the negotiations began.”

Even the two aides standing beside us grew serious. The Commander clasped his hands and let out a deep breath before speaking with a furrowed brow.

“Amid all this, we recently learned that one hundred barrels of a substance known as ‘Atropos’ had been discovered in the Kingdom of Italy. They were apparently scheduled to be loaded onto a freight train bound for Austria-Hungary.”

“Pardon? Then…”

“To be precise, we discovered a coded message implying as much. After receiving the information, we notified the Austro-Hungarian side and began an investigation, but so far, we haven’t found anything suspicious, either on the train or anywhere else.”

“Are you saying you deciphered a coded message and discovered that someone in the Kingdom of Italy, presumed to be affiliated with Pleroma, had loaded one hundred barrels of some substance called ‘Atropos’ onto a train bound for Austria-Hungary?”

“Exactly. Personally, I believe France is behind it. But His Excellency Adrian Askanien doesn’t seem to agree.”

I was at a loss for words. Yet the people in front of me looked so utterly convinced… Maybe they were right, but the situation was still rather overwhelming. I had expected Pleroma to be planning something dangerous, but surely they wouldn’t go this far based on a single cipher, would they? Given that Adrian Askanien had come all the way here, it was clearly something serious, but still…

I nearly closed my eyes at the grim expressions before me, then stopped myself. I bit my lip before asking, “Is there any chance the decryption was wrong…?”

“None. When we interrogated a priest from the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising, we found that they knew about Atropos as well. They didn’t know what kind of drug it was, but, rather conveniently, they were Bavarians. Bavaria was elevated to a kingdom by France in the past, so it fits perfectly.”

The Commander raised an eyebrow and tilted his head, placing particular emphasis on the word Bavarians. Since Austria-Hungary lay right next to Bavaria, if they had been in contact with them, it was only natural that the Pleroma dioceses in Bavaria might know about it. And besides… no matter what anyone said, the Commander seemed convinced that France was behind the distribution of the drug. France, which harbored hostility toward Austria-Hungary. More importantly, I needed to know exactly what the drug did. It was obviously some kind of poison, but still.

However, he continued.

“The Supreme Council believes this could cause a serious diplomatic crisis in Austria-Hungary. Especially if France is behind it. Furthermore, there is a very high chance that Pleroma will infiltrate Austria-Hungary, which is made up of the same German ethnicity, and bring it into Germany in the near future. It may have already been brought in and distributed throughout Austria-Hungary and Germany.”

“…….”

“They speak the same language and belong to the same cultural sphere, so you understand why Austria-Hungary would be an ideal second stage for Pleroma. And Easter is just around the corner. We believe they intend to put their plan into action next Easter. Therefore…”

The Commander raised his eyebrows and looked at the two of us with a solemn expression.

“As the results of the training have shown, you two are the Empire’s hope right now. By this Sunday, I want the two of you from the 101st Unit to recover the Atropos in Austria-Hungary and Germany.”

Around lunchtime, I finished packing and arrived in front of Narke’s quarters. The others were probably still training. But we had to leave immediately—or at the very least, before this evening.

Knock, knock—

It wasn’t long after I knocked that Narke poked his head out. I went inside and sat down where he gestured. As I watched him pack his things, Narke whistled and laughed.

“So we’re teamed up again in the end. You and me~”

“Yeah, I guess we are.”

“Who would’ve thought we’d get another mission together before heading to Munich on Sunday. Hmm… I’m glad.”

“Not before we go. It’s completely overlapping right now.”

I leaned my head against the back of the sofa and let out a quiet chuckle. Narke gave me a reassuring pat.

“Let’s finish it quickly and make it to Munich by Sunday.”

“Sure. But you didn’t expect this to happen?”

At my question, Narke rolled his eyes around before laughing.

“I knew.”

“…You could’ve warned me.”

“Haha. It’s not like I use my ability over such a wide range. I wasn’t completely sure, either. I just had a feeling that if I got assigned a mission, I’d probably end up going with you~”

Narke folded some clothes and packed them away, murmuring softly.

“This is fun. It’s been a while. Doing disguises with you again~ Ah, I should try being an Old Human this time.”

“It’s too early to be enjoying yourself.”

“That’s true.”

Narke smiled and packed another set of clothes.

Knock, knock—

Just then, someone knocked on the door. I glanced at Narke for permission before opening it, and found a mage standing there with a pale face. He was holding a copy of the Imperial Dailies.

“Um, I was told by the superiors that there was some news you needed to see immediately, so I came here.”

I took the newspaper from him. The moment I saw the headline, I felt the blood drain from my face.

[[BREAKING NEWS] Rudolf Trapp, Prime Minister of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Found Dead]

“…….”

As I stood there speechless, imagining the diplomatic storm that was about to descend upon us, the mage carefully closed the door and left. Narke, who had also been holding his head, let out a hollow laugh before speaking in a strangely cheerful voice.

“Guess this is where we start.”