Chapter 511

“It’s okay to think of another way.”

Leo said this while quietly looking at Ulrike. I had expected Ulrike to say he would go right away, but I never thought he’d actually insist on it like this. I looked at him worriedly. Ulrike shook his head as he looked at all of us.

“If I go, everything will be resolved. All I have to do is walk there on my own two feet, and he’ll give me the information, won’t he? Why should we go through all the trouble to find another way?”

“Luise.”

Leo held out a hand, asking him to wait for a moment, but Ulrike took it and gave it a playful shake. His expression was serious.

“Einsiedel has no reason to attack me. He wants Pleroma to be destroyed, and even today, he gave you a clue so you could attack Pleroma. And he’s going to attack me under these circumstances? It makes no sense from a strategic standpoint. Unless he’s an idiot, that is!”

Ulrike straightened his tie and fixed the pin on his cufflinks, as if he were already getting ready to leave. Once he was properly composed, he looked straight at us.

“I don’t know why he’s looking for me… But I do know that he has a particular interest in me. The last time we met, he even gave me a bottle containing Heike’s mana.”

Ulrike lowered his gaze and frowned slightly.

“I don’t know what he wants me to do with it. That bottle containing Heike’s mana… might be a token of a promise whose meaning only he knows.”

Elias pulled out a note for carrier-pigeon communication. Leo and I exchanged glances, but he paid us no mind and began writing a reply on the note.

“Whether I know what it means or not, I believe Einsiedel won’t attack me, both strategically and in terms of basic human decency. If he’s the brilliant strategist who’s been giving you all such a headache, wouldn’t attacking me today be a complete miscalculation?!”

Ulrike raised both hands emphatically, then calmly lowered them again. He tried to reassure us with a composed look.

“I’ll go. It’s not dangerous.”

We exchanged glances in silence.

A little while later, Leo stood up. When he returned, he was carrying all sorts of artifacts in both hands. Without explaining anything, he fitted them onto Ulrike and patted him on the shoulder.

Ulrike began inspecting the things fastened around his wrists and neck. I stood in front of him and waited for him to look at me. After checking all the artifacts attached to him, Ulrike looked at me.

I opened my arms, indicating that I wanted a hug. Ulrike readily embraced me. I moved my hand to his back where the magic I was using would not be visible, and quietly cast a spell.

— I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

“…?!”

Ulrike shoved me away and narrowed his eyes, glancing around as he frowned. His hand had gone to his chest. I had placed the subjugation spell as gently as I could, so thankfully, he seemed to be fine. I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the face, so I lowered my head and patted him on the shoulder.

“I’ll remove it when you come back…”

“What is this? It feels pretty good.”

“Hm…”

Leo ran a hand over his mouth at those words, his eyes narrowing slightly. Maybe I should have stopped hitting Leo’s core, knowing something like this might happen. Feeling the air grow awkward, I answered, “It’s just something I have. A last resort.”

“Really? So I’m safer now?”

“Much safer than before, at least.”

Ulrike’s lips curved into a broad smile. He patted me on the back with a grin.

“Very good.”

Ulrike left the Crown Prince’s Palace with his friends, sent the carrier pigeon on its way, and waited for a reply. About three minutes later, a note bearing the coordinates flew back. The coordinates pointed to a small chapel near Herrenchiemsee, not far to the southeast of Munich. The entire area was surrounded by forest, with a gloomy cemetery shrouded in mist nearby. It was only natural for the world beyond the city to be covered in forest, yet somehow, it only made him feel more uneasy.

His friends shifted the coordinates Einsiedel had sent one square to the side as they moved, while Ulrike, together with Lukas, moved one square south. Leaving Lukas standing still in place behind him, he slowly walked toward the coordinates he had received from Einsiedel.

“Is anyone there?”

Ulrike called out from in front of the door to the small chapel, its walls painted yellow, and the adjoining building. When there was no answer, he opened the door and stepped inside. Light from the tip of his wand illuminated the dim interior of the chapel.

He went around to the back of the chapel and found the stairs. All the windows visible from outside had appeared completely dark, but now he could see light spilling down from above. He layered various spells onto the tip of his wand and took a defensive stance before gripping the handle leading upstairs. Only after checking for vibrations did he slowly step onto the stairs.

Ulrike froze at the sight before him. A large dining table had been laid out with steaming food. Just like before.

“Generally speaking, you shouldn’t eat food given to you by an enemy.”

Ulrike spoke to the white-haired mage sitting at the end of the table. At first glance, the mage was pale enough to look dead. Everything about him was alive and moving, yet he looked like a person made of the dead.

Ulrike thought that his pale white hair looked remarkably like Elias’s. And Ismailov’s, too.

The mage did not respond. Ulrike stood before the empty chair and said firmly once more.

“I’ve learned at least that much.”

The mage drank his wine with a face that seemed completely at odds with the food, as though he were someone who could live without taking in any nourishment at all. The movement of his neck and the rise and fall of his throat were visible beneath his thin skin, unnaturally so. The chicken in front of him remained completely untouched. That blank expression, and those eyes that seemed to look past Ulrike even while staring directly at him, reminded Ulrike so much of Heike that he felt something rise in his chest.

“Did you call me because I was the easiest one to deal with?”

That wasn’t what he really wanted to ask. How could Heike’s own family have done this to him? Did he still intend to believe that Heike had willingly chosen to lie in that hospital bed? Of course he did. Ulrike swallowed the words. He couldn’t forget why he had come here.

“I hope you remember this well and make it back safely.”

Einsiedel finally spoke. Ulrike kept his eyes on him as he pulled out a chair and sat down. Or tried to. When Einsiedel tapped the table with his long fingertips, the chair slid backward on its own, and wine began filling the empty glass. The sight made Ulrike’s stomach churn even more. He wanted to knock the glass over as it filled itself before his eyes. He wanted to throw it at Einsiedel’s feet.

But Ulrike didn’t.

He sat down and watched as Einsiedel deliberately picked up a fork and a glass of water, as if to reassure his guest. Even so, Einsiedel began speaking at once, as though he already knew Ulrike would eat nothing.

“The four dioceses belonging to the Munich-Freising ecclesiastical province. The Archdiocese of Munich-Freising, the Diocese of Augsburg, the Diocese of Regensburg, and the Diocese of Passau are now half gone from Bavaria. The Archdiocese of Munich-Freising is practically nothing but a name at this point. The leadership of the other three dioceses has gathered near Brandenburg. The four dioceses remaining in northern Bavaria are what they call the Bavaria Overthrow Committee, dioceses organized to prepare for an attack by the Bavarian government.”

The Munich-Freising ecclesiastical province.

Bavaria wasn’t Ulrike’s homeland, but he already knew the geography and the locations of the Catholic dioceses by heart. The three dioceses that remained in southern Bavaria had moved their headquarters to Brandenburg. The four in the north were prepared to stop the Bavarian government if it took action against Pleroma.

As Ulrike listened to Einsiedel, he could almost feel the map coming together in his mind like pieces of a puzzle.

“The problem is that if you attack the three dioceses in the Munich-Freising ecclesiastical province, Brandenburg would respond immediately. So you need to completely isolate those coordinate systems. Seize the coordinate systems and make them yours.”

“Is that possible?”

“Use every resource available to you.”

Einsiedel said it as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ulrike, who had been listening with a sharp look in his eyes, spoke up.

“I heard that our government negotiated with Pleroma for the sake of peace. Why are you encouraging Bavaria to break off the negotiations?”

“Have the negotiations not effectively broken down already? Prussia will likely dismiss the Stadelheim Prison incident as nothing more than Pleroma’s doing.”

“What about the prisoner exchange?”

Not all of the Imperial mages taken captive by Pleroma had returned. Attacking Pleroma now was almost like gambling with civilian lives as the stake. Einsiedel answered coldly, as though Ulrike had asked about something obvious.

“Take a bigger hostage and negotiate again.”

“…….”

“The laypeople of Munich-Freising have no value to Pleroma whatsoever. Exchanging them for mages would practically be an act of goodwill on Pleroma’s part. You seem to think that if you attack Pleroma, they’ll simply kill the Imperial mages on the spot, but that’s not how things will play out. Once you attack them, they’ll move to minimize their losses in the Kingdom of Bavaria. And if you hold Pleroma’s people captive, they won’t have the opportunity to kill the mages. Besides, if they’re clearly losing, they can’t afford to kill the Imperial mages recklessly, because they’ll need them as bargaining chips for a prisoner exchange.”

His slow voice continued without pause. Ulrike narrowed his eyes, trying to adjust to the flat, unchanging tone.

“The Empire is being far too hesitant when dealing with an isolated enemy. Do you really need to follow their example? Shouldn’t you strike without hesitation when the other side leaves an opening? Isn’t that how Bavaria can win this fierce diplomatic struggle?”

Silence followed. Though Ulrike was a Prussian, he agreed with Einsiedel, and his silence made that clear. Knowing it was his turn, Ulrike asked, “Prussia could hold Bavaria responsible. They could claim that Bavaria’s preemptive action cost them the opportunity to attack Pleroma elsewhere, both in timing and in method.”

“You’re quicker than you look.”

Ulrike’s eyebrow twitched at the remark. Einsiedel continued indifferently.

“Prussia will do exactly as you said. It won’t take long for its relationship with Bavaria to deteriorate further. You’d better offer your condolences in advance to Sir Nikolaus Ernst, who’ll be summoned to Prussia. But you know there’s a flaw in that argument. Prussia is the one that failed to act appropriately, and before long—by the day after tomorrow, or perhaps the day after that—it will find itself in a position where it has to thank Bavaria.”

“Is there something you haven’t told me?”

How did he know what would happen in the future? Was he using information he had gained through his dealings with Terminus Eukairia in this conversation? It seemed so.

“Aren’t I only supposed to give you the information you need for the attack?”

“Tell me everything.”

“I’m sorry, but knowing too much can be poison… Has no one ever told you that?”

Einsiedel tilted his head, his eyes looking heavy with drowsiness. Yet his gaze remained remarkably clear as he spoke.

“Has no one ever warned you about knowing too much?”

Ulrike glared at him before changing the subject.

“You called the four dioceses in northern Bavaria the ‘Bavarian Overthrow Committee.’ It doesn’t seem like they’re simply preparing for a Bavarian attack that could come at any time. Are they planning some kind of special operation for Easter?”

“First, information about an individual diocese’s plans would not make its way as far as the dioceses in northern Germany. Second, Pleroma does not engage in outside activities while Easter Mass is being held. Third, they have no plans to attack another diocese after Mass.”

“Why the second?”

“Because they are devout Christians.”

Ulrike answered firmly.

“Pleroma is not Christian. I know because I am a Christian. They can never be considered the same as us.”

“At the very least, they believe they are the true Christians. They believe that Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son, will return and usher in the Millennium¹ they so tirelessly go on about in the Book of Revelation.”

“…….”

“They bless and worship on Easter too. That is all.”

“Then if they are all gathering in Pleroma’s world, doesn’t that mean they can respond immediately if something goes wrong?”

“It also means that, with a good enough plan, you can burn every last one of them to death, doesn’t it?”

Einsiedel’s reckless words were softened by his slow, almost sleepy voice. If anything, that made the hairs on the back of Ulrike’s neck stand on end. Ulrike shook his head once more and changed the subject.

“So they believe in premillennialism as well. Then have they found the day when Christ will return?”

“If they had found the day when the ‘Messenger of the Covenant’ would become the ‘Lord you seek,’ I wouldn’t be sitting here. The moment they find it, the war against non-Pleroma begins. Of course, for those who don’t go to the front lines, war doesn’t hit them like a bolt of lightning. Away from the battlefield, the signs of destruction will simply seep into their lives little by little, like mud creeping through a swamp…”

Ulrike fell silent again. Einsiedel spoke.

“But it won’t be long now. Do you know William Miller?”

“…….”

“He was a poor Baptist born in New York in 1782. Through the Books of Daniel and Ezra, Miller determined that the end of the world would come in 1843.”

“Determined?”

“That’s what people believed at the time. They believe an important sign revealing that day will appear tomorrow, on Easter.”

“Why not just believe that He’ll return tomorrow?”

“If Pleroma is going to find the end of the world, shouldn’t there be a prophecy that looks convincing enough to support it? They’ve already gathered their clues. The reason they haven’t announced a special joint operation for Easter in this particular year, when they believe they’ve found the ‘half-Messiah’ known as the ‘Messenger of the Covenant,’ is… because the leadership is trying to decipher those clues first.”

“Doesn’t Matthew 24:36 say that no one knows that day except Jehovah?”

Einsiedel remained expressionless. Silence fell. Knowing that such an objection would never sway Pleroma, Ulrike shook his head.

“Then do they really believe Christ will return?”

“They’re staking their lives on it.”

Ulrike felt a headache coming on. There was no point in thinking any further about the plans of people who neither reasoned nor thought sensibly. Let’s think. The Easter Vigil Mass is being held from this evening until before sunrise tomorrow, and the Easter Day Mass will be held around noon. Ordinary believers usually attend the daytime Mass in greater numbers, but if Pleroma is truly so strict about doctrine and determined to follow Christian traditions faithfully, then as an organization, they would have to attend the Easter Vigil Mass.

“The Easter Vigil Mass is happening right now. Shouldn’t we raid Pleroma’s world now?”

“Tomorrow. Six in the evening on Easter.”

At Einsiedel’s words, Ulrike furrowed his brows and looked at him.

“There’s going to be a major announcement. Not just to the world of Pleroma, but one that will be made public throughout the German Empire and across Europe. So I won’t be able to help you throughout the day tomorrow. I hope you understand that I only managed to come here after shaking off my pursuers. …From tonight until tomorrow afternoon, they’ll spend their time worshiping Christ with sincere hearts. Then, in the evening, once the Easter Masses are effectively over, they plan to cause a stir around the world with Pleroma’s new discovery. So at six, every believer in every Pleroma diocese will gather in their churches and the squares outside, just as they are doing for the Easter Vigil now. I believe that alone should be more than enough help.”

“…All right.”

It was a tremendous help. Ulrike clenched his teeth at the thought of telling his friends what he had learned. Anxiety and confidence coursed through him at the same time. Einsiedel raised his sleepy-looking eyes and asked, “Are those all your questions?”

No. Ulrike quietly looked at Einsiedel. If he backed down now, he would have nothing to show his friends. He had to ask about the key clues and information that could make their operation a success. He had to quickly and carefully determine what mattered and what didn’t.

“Let’s divide the dioceses in Bavaria into four northern dioceses and three southern dioceses for convenience. Does that mean the southern dioceses are effectively without their leadership?”

“Yes. Even their administrative headquarters have been moved to Brandenburg. The destruction of the nearby Archdiocese of Freiburg also had an impact. But during the Easter Vigil and the major announcement at six, they’ll all gather in their respective dioceses. They won’t be there for the daytime Mass, though.”

“Then during the Mass and the announcement, will the believers of each diocese gather in their respective cathedrals?”

“They changed most of their bases after the destruction of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising. Not that they changed buildings. They overlaid the coordinate system those buildings belonged to onto other buildings.”

“Where are they? We need the locations of the leadership and the main churches.”

“I’m also an outsider, so I don’t know the exact locations of each diocese’s leadership… Just as I sent you the route into the main cathedral of the Archdiocese of Bamberg earlier, all I know are the routes into the main cathedrals of each diocese.”

Einsiedel flicked his finger with a tired expression, and a pile of ash appeared in front of Ulrike. The ash began moving in reverse, forming a sheet of paper. As the soot cleared, writing appeared. Ulrike carefully slipped the note, which listed the routes into the main cathedrals of the Diocese of Speyer and the Diocese of Würzburg, into the inner pocket of his coat.

“…An outsider. Is that because, even within Pleroma, you belong to a different diocese? And where are the routes into the other two dioceses?”

Einsiedel nodded.

“Let’s talk about the four northern dioceses you mentioned: the Archdiocese of Bamberg, the Diocese of Eichstätt, the Diocese of Speyer, and the Diocese of Würzburg. The Archdiocese of Bamberg and the Diocese of Eichstätt are practically a single diocese. They’re closely united, and even together they’re only about the size of the Diocese of Regensburg in the south. That’s why, ever since the destruction of the Archdiocese of Munich-Freising, they’ve even shared the same cathedral building. The diocesan clergy have separate offices, but they aren’t very far apart. And the Diocese of Speyer is geographically separated from the other three.”

Ulrike nodded. He had to remember this exactly and not forget a thing.

Unlike the three dioceses centered around the Archdiocese of Bamberg, the Diocese of Speyer lies on its own beside the Grand Duchy of Baden. Looking at a map of Bavaria, even the isolated territory in the west bordering France is marked in blue. That entire region is under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Speyer.

“The Diocese of Speyer is part of the Bamberg ecclesiastical province, but in practice, its ties aren’t particularly strong. They were close to the Archdiocese of Freiburg in neighboring Baden, but that relationship weakened along with it after the dissolution of the Archdiocese of Freiburg.”

“Are you saying we can give them a lower priority?”

“Yes.”

“Perhaps because they’re closer to a community bound by economic interests, they’re not particularly strong when it comes to defense.”

“There’s little reason for people living on land with neither borders nor a visible presence to focus on securing territory. The defense of each diocese is what keeps Pleroma safe.”

“Why are you telling us all this?”

“Don’t we have the same goal?”

“Then you should be a little more forthcoming.”

At Ulrike’s words, Einsiedel raised an eyebrow. Ulrike clenched his fists and said, “Tell me the Special Abilities of the bishops and monsignors of each diocese. But before that, if your goal is the same as ours, then tell us everything you know instead of only answering when we ask!”

As Einsiedel watched Ulrike angrily speaking with the veins standing out on his neck, he opened his pocket watch and checked the time. He raised his head and looked at the ceiling before speaking slowly.

“From last Sunday until today, it was Holy Week². Have you suffered?”

Ulrike pulled down the corners of his mouth, wondering what kind of conversation this was supposed to be, and answered, “You know the answer to that.”

It could certainly be said that their Holy Week had begun with the collapse of Stadelheim Prison last Sunday. But wasn’t it called Holy Week because Christ had suffered, rather than because they had suffered?

“Have you eaten?”

“Any human being eats regularly. Why are you asking?”

Einsiedel closed his eyes and let out a long breath. Slowly, he opened them again. His piercing blue eyes gleamed coldly.

“What does the Book of Ezekiel say? That even after the old kingdom of David is restored, the people of Israel will continue to suffer.”

“……..”

“Justice doesn’t always win. Not even in Scripture. Justice gets trampled for a while, only to rise again and prosper. What matters is that it is bound to be trampled for a time. Pleroma believes that even the trials that befall them are part of their mythology, so they won’t be swayed by any setback.”

Einsiedel tilted his head. He clasped his hands and slowly leaned forward across the table.

“When dealing with an opponent like this, the proper thing to do is return the favor in kind. Tell Sir Nikolaus Ernst not to think sensibly until it’s over.”

Six o’clock on Easter evening. Pleroma would announce their latest discovery to the entire world. What could it be?

Ulrike had returned safely from Einsiedel and written down everything he had heard for us. Everyone who could gather was here now—not just Ulrike and me, but Julia, Elias, and Leo as well. I combined everything Ulrike had told me with all the information he had written down and muttered, “It’s complicated. There are seven dioceses we need to deal with.”

I raised my head and stared into the air. We didn’t need to deal with all of them. ‘As many as possible’—Einsiedel hadn’t expected us to wipe them all out either. But our goal of achieving the greatest possible results remained unchanged.

With the large windows of the Crown Prince’s Palace behind me, I slowly paced in front of them as I spoke.

“But it’s simpler than I thought. No matter how much they’ve changed the coordinate systems, if we know the locations of the main cathedrals, taking out all the believers at once won’t be difficult. The problem is that both the Pleroma clergy and their believers still have somewhere to retreat to.”

Leo answered with his eyes closed, one hand resting against his temple.

“Right. If something happens to the cathedral, they can just return to wherever they were staying.”

The followers’ lodgings, or the offices of the Pleroma clergy.

“As for that, Leo.”

Leo raised an eyebrow and slightly turned his head toward me, telling me to continue.

“Negotiate with the Catacombs first. Once I finish investigating and come back, I’ll go with you to meet them as well. I need to find out the locations of each diocese’s leadership offices and archives.”

I calmly looked into Leo’s eyes. He stared back at me for a long moment before answering.

“Right now?”

“Yes. We’re running out of time.”

I checked the time after saying that. The Easter Vigil should have begun by now. Even if we couldn’t enter during the Vigil, if we were going to join forces with the Catacombs here, they needed to begin their investigation immediately. I would likewise have to investigate their cathedrals in the past. Only then could we determine the locations of the bishops’, auxiliary bishops’, and monsignors’ offices and archives. Our goal was to render the dioceses completely incapable of recovery. We couldn’t simply deal with the believers while leaving their most important clergy untouched.

And right now, there was something more important than time.

“I can promise you that I’ll be safe too.”

I said it without looking away from Leo’s eyes. If he was willing to trust us with this operation and share as much authority with us as possible, then I needed to live up to that trust as well. But more than that, I needed to do it because we were friends. Because I wanted to.

Leo quietly watched me, then smiled calmly.

That was his answer. I gave the others their rough assignments and entered the bedroom Leo had opened for me before leaving. What could I do to minimize the time wasted in the present while obtaining as much information as possible? I had already reached my conclusion the moment I deciphered the scytale cipher.

My choice, once again, was Bavaria.

“…Cough, hack.”

I opened my eyes amid acrid cigarette smoke. Cold sweat covered my entire body. I felt awful. I couldn’t breathe. Was it because of the smoke? Or because someone was gripping me by the collar?

“Why are you only waking up now?!”

I wiped my stinging eyes and sat up. My bothersome hair fell back behind my head. Because I was looking down, I still hadn’t seen the face of the person in front of me. This was why I hadn’t wanted to come here. Even if I had gone in and out of this place just a week ago, that had been unavoidable, and now…

It was unavoidable now, too. Was I really going to run off with my mind this muddled? I shook off the haze and faced the person in front of me.

Archduke Maria was gripping me by the collar, his eyes fierce as he shouted, “What was that?! Huh?”

I wouldn’t avoid it. The moment I made that resolve, a memory I didn’t want to recall flashed through my mind. The last place I had met him was Giesing, Stadelheim. I had left the Extra Chapter after that, so… Archduke Maria must want me to explain what had happened. Just thinking about Giesing made my head throb as if it were splitting apart.

“Ah…”

“Even just a brief explanation—”

“Wait…”

I twisted free of Archduke Maria’s grip and calmed him down.

“Just wait a moment, Your Highness. Do you have time?”

“Of course I do! Otherwise, why would I be here?!”

Archduke Maria answered excitedly. I nodded vigorously to reassure him, quickly gathered the vest and tie I had tossed aside, and led him along.“Let’s talk on the way out. We have to go now.”

Translator Note

1. The Millennium in the Book of Revelation is the prophesied one-thousand-year period where Jesus Christ reigns on Earth and Satan is bound in the abyss. ↩︎
2. Holy Week is the final week of Lent in the Christian calendar, commemorating the final days, suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. ↩︎