Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjo, Aruiha Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen - Volume 11 - Chapter 4.4

4

The Castle Tower Seat.

The Lord’s residence could only be entered by a small number of important Imperial personages, after going through extensive identity checks. Crossweil passed through undetected by the guards or surveillance.

“…Even though it’s my second time coming here, I’m still nervous.”

Crossweil looked up at the glittering stained glass in the beautiful hallway. It looked exactly as it had the first time. The hallway was spacious and long enough to hold a footrace. People who looked like guards periodically passed through it as well.

Then he arrived at a gigantic door decorated in gilt designs. This was, of course, the entrance to Yunmelngen’s chambers. Naturally the door could not be opened from the outside. He needed to find a way to have Yunmelngen open it from within.

“…But he won’t answer me.” He hadn’t gotten a response on the comm. “Hey, Yunmelngen! I know you’re in there!”

Though he knew the risks of the passing guards hearing him, he yelled.

Next, he knocked.

He was here. Attempting to tell the prince that, he tried again and again, hitting the door and calling Yunmelngen’s name.

…I’ll never get an answer like this.

…He won’t pick up his comm. Maybe he’s still hospitalized somewhere?

In that case, Crossweil would have to give up. Though he had made it this far, there was a possibility that the Crown Prince wasn’t here.

“Damn it. If you’re not there, at least tell me…!”

As a last resort, he pushed the door as hard as he could.

He had to crane his neck to look up at the imposing mechanized door. It was impossible to open with human strength. Even a large truck on a collision course toward it likely wouldn’t have made it budge an inch. Crossweil knew that.

He knew it, but…

So E lu emne xel noi Es—accept me.

Someone had whispered.

Whose voice had that been? He hadn’t even had time to wonder as a dazzling light flashed. It had come from his purple mark.

“…Is that my mark?!”

The light before his eyes was surging from the back of his own neck. Upon realizing that, something strange happened.

Creak.

The door he had been pushing against creaked at its joints as it slowly started to open.

“……What?!”

He was opening it with pure brute-force. This door to the Crown Prince’s room, that wouldn’t have budged even if dozens of people pushed against it, had opened.

…What’s going on with my arms?

…Is that thing happening to me, too?!

It seemed he also had paranormal abilities. He had just been late to notice them. He simply hadn’t realized because they weren’t as easy to see as Musha’s flames or Eve’s flashes of light.

“…What’s going on…with me……?”

But he had to figure that out later. He quickly snuck through the gap in the door, heading into the extravagant chambers that reminded him of what a suite room supposedly looked like.

“Yunmelngen! Are you here?!”

“………Crow?”

The voice was incredibly feeble. It had come from the corner of the spacious room, from the canopied bed.

“I’m so glad you’re here, Yunmelngen. Sorry I barged my way in, but the capital’s been a mess. Me and my family have been, too. I wanted to see if you knew any—”

“Stay back!”

“Uh?”

“Don’t come near me… You can’t… Please don’t look.”

Don’t look. He was so taken aback by the unfamiliar words that he stared at the bed unconsciously. He made out a figure through the thin transparent curtains. Someone was under the blankets. Or rather, something?

A gigantic silver tail had fallen out from under the covers.

Was there an animal on the bed? It was too big to be a cat’s, and he could hardly think a fox would be in this room. Now that he thought of it, where was the Crown Prince?

“Where are you, Yunmelngen?”

“…………”

“Is that your pet on the bed? I can’t tell if it’s a fox or a cat.”

“Tsk.”

In that moment, the bulge under the blankets shifted. The beast had twitched.

“Hey, Yunmelngen?”

A short period of silence was shared between them.

“……We never should have touched it.” Crossweil heard Yunmelngen’s voice from the bed. “It was not energy that erupted from the core of the planet. It was tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of astral powers, each with their own will. They possessed the humans. Their power is so strong that once they fully fuse with a person, they can no longer remain human.”

“Hm?”

What did that mean?

The eruption hadn’t been from energy? And what did it mean that astral powers possess people?

“…You stop being human once that happens.”

“Hey, Yunmelngen, what are you—”

“Like me.”

The blankets flew away.

Crossweil gaze at them as they sailed through the air, and suddenly, he felt an intense pain from his neck and back. He almost blacked out.

“…Guh?!”

Before he even realized what was happening, he had been grabbed by the neck and slammed against the wall.

“Ha-ha!”

“You’re?!”

He could see the vestiges of Yunmelngen’s features on the face, but the thing that was holding him by the neck was most certainly a monster. The prince’s beautiful blue hair had been replaced by thick silver hair and fur, which covered the creature’s whole body. His fingertips were ferocious claws and equally fierce fangs peeked from his mouth. He even had a tail.

He looked like a beastperson from a fairy tale, if not a monster.

“Looks like I’ve found myself a human. Won’t you play with Meln?” the thing that had once been Yunmelngen asked.

He no longer addressed himself with the royal “we.” And Crow was now just a “human.”

“You?!”

“I am Meln. What you get when you throw a human being and astral power together.”

Crossweil felt the beast’s grip tighten around his throat.

Even the wall was beginning to crack, unable to withstand the strain of having Crossweil being pushed against it. Normal human bones would have crumbled under such pressure. Their bodies would have been crushed as well. The unnatural power inside him had saved him.

“Ha-ha. Sturdy, aren’t you, human?”

“…Yeah, I am! But not by choice!”

He grabbed the hand on his throat.

“This is starting to get on my nerves, too. I don’t get what’s happening!”

Somewhere in his heart, he had been prepared for this. He had seen the changes in his sisters. And even how there was something odd about him.

…I knew he wouldn’t be any exception.

…Since he was in the middle of the blast. I thought something was up!

He’d already expected it. That was why he’d been able to keep his composure—just barely—even in this situation.

“Open up your eyes already!”

He pulled the wrist he held up and flung the arm away as hard as he could toward the floor. Before hitting the floor, the beast had nimbly flipped backward like a cat. It landed easily and leapt at Crossweil again. It flashed its claws, sharp as knifepoints.

“Give it to me.”

The claws stopped just as they were about to reach Crossweil.

“Yunmelngen?”

“…This body…we…Meln is…we…Meln…”

The creature stopped. He fell to his knees, held his own head, and began to shiver.

What in the world had happened?

Crossweil watched, half-thunderstruck.

“………Crow…” The beast still clutched his head as his voice rasped.

He’d said “Crow.” Not “human” like earlier. Yunmelngen had used Crossweil’s usual nickname.

“…Close…the door…”

“Huh? Okay!” He quickly did as instructed before guards came rushing in from the noise.

“……It’s okay… It should be okay for a while…”

The Crown Prince raised his head while still sitting on the ground. He looked at Crossweil’s red neck, then at his own beast-like body that had inflicted the damage.

“…We…don’t know what to say anymore…sorry, Crow…,” Yunmelngen said, sounding close to tears. “Look at this body…it must look horrible to you…these claws and fangs… The fur all over… It all happened overnight.”

“Yunmelngen.”

“…What is it?”

“I think you know the most about what’s happened.” He got straight to the point and stopped Yunmelngen from disparaging himself. “It’s not just you. Hundreds of people are going through this. Me and my family, too. And my coworkers from the excavation site.”

“…………”

“So I came here to talk to you. I want to try to figure out where to move forward from here.”

“…You’re so easygoing, Crow.”

The beast weakly gave him a bitter smile.

“But you see the situation. This might call for a little more panic and inner turmoil, don’t you think?”

“I did panic, and I went through plenty of turmoil already. I’m already emotionally numb to what’s going on.”

“…Well, I’m just happy you don’t hate me after seeing me like this.”

Yunmelngen stroked his ears, which poked out from atop his head. His expression softened.

“You came all the way here, after all. Then I suppose I have to humor you. But I’d like to ask for something first…”

“What?”

“…Um…don’t stare like that…I’ll put on some clothes…”

Crossweil finally realized Yunmelngen wasn’t wearing anything. In human terms, the Crown Prince would have been nude. However, Crossweil had barely registered that because the prince was covered in fur from head to toe.

“Do you really need clothes?”

“You nitwit!” Yunmelngen scolded him.

Once the prince was clothed, they began to talk.

“That day, the humans around the Planet’s Navel were possessed by astral powers. Many of them are asymptomatic like you.”

“Asymptomatic, my butt. My neck has got—”

“The astral crest is nothing but a mark. It has no ill effects.”

“What’s an astral crest?”

“The mark on the back of your neck. It is proof that you have astral power in you, but as long as it doesn’t hurt, it’s asymptomatic. But there were some that were not well-meaning.”

The Lord was still comatose. Yunmelngen’s very body had been transformed. He had been out of his mind fighting the astral power within him that he hadn’t been able to even respond on his comm.

“No two astral powers are alike. And Meln happened to get the worst one.”

“Hey.”

He tensed up unconsciously. Yunmelngen had stopped using the royal “we” and was back to using “Meln” again. Was he in for another attack like earlier?

“We’re fused together,” Yunmelngen sat cross-legged and said with a self-derisive smile. “I think I won’t lose my senses and become violent again like earlier…but I think Meln will be like this forever.”

“You mean in that form?”

“I don’t find it disagreeable. I’ve started to think it’s fine. I think the fusion between my human side and the astral power has come that far along. I don’t even have the same human sense of self.”

It wasn’t just his body that was changing, but also his mentality. Crossweil recalled someone else with similar symptoms.

“…I think Eve might be in a similar situation as you.”

She would lose her sense of self before going off somewhere. She had an extra-large mark on her back and had demonstrated power on par with a weapon. In terms of destructive strength, she likely had more potential than Yunmelngen.

“I need to at least keep Eve a secret somehow. Because of Musha, journalists are going to keep coming to the capital from all over the world.”

“You can’t stop that.”

“…You’re quick to assume.”

“That’s why I was hiding in my room. Your family’s only option is to lie low.”

Even the Crown Prince couldn’t control what was happening. Even if he could stop the press within the Empire, he couldn’t do anything about those from outside.

“I suspect there will only be more people possessed by the astral powers. I think we’ll discover many, many more.”

“There were only supposed to be about eight hundred people in the hospital, though.”

“That’s only the audience at the Planet’s Navel. Remember, the astral powers’ light flew up into the sky of the capital.”

“…Which means?”

“They covered the entire capital.”

Tens of thousands had been exposed to it. A fraction of them would develop marks and would likely find themselves with powers. They just had yet to realize it.

…Or they’re hiding it.

…They might be scared of what’s happening, like me and my sisters.

The true chaos would begin after this.

Because of what had happened with Musha, the whole world had taken notice of astral power.

“What happens to us if the commotion spreads?”

“ ” Yunmelngen looked at the ceiling. As Crossweil watched the prince, a long silence followed.

“There are two possibilities. If things go well, the spotlight will be given to those with abilities from astral powers. If not…”

“Then what?”

“We’ll likely be feared as monsters.”

For the first few weeks, Yunmelngen’s best-case scenario held true.

Other people like Musha showed off their miraculous powers, and TV and newspaper journalists spread the word on a grander scale.

They began to call the marks astral crests. Some even started to call them the “chosen ones”—stars.

But a month after the events, ominous clouds began to gather steadily within the Empire.

People with astral powers were labeled as violent and prone to crime.

A case of a girl setting a group of men ablaze because she hadn’t “cared for” them changed things.

As did the robberies in which someone used an astral power to steal valuables from homes.

“…There were only three cases last week,” Crossweil said. “But this week it reached eleven. They put us up on a pedestal on TV at the beginning, but now they’re calling us astral power contaminators. Contaminators…have you ever heard anything worse?”

“People who receive astral power change, after all. How they think and how they act will be influenced.” Yunmelngen’s voice came from the comm. “Say you were to find yourself with enough money to spend on anything for a lifetime. Most humans would abandon their jobs or stop going to school.”

“Are you saying it’s the same thing as having money?”

“Astral powers can be more malignant,” Yunmelngen said, sounding philosophical. “They can get revenge.”

“Revenge?”

“For example, what would happen if a child with astral powers had been bullied at school? They likely would try to get revenge on their bullies. And their powers would be perfect for doing it.”

“…”

“There are other examples, too. Other reasons, such as poverty and misfortune that have made a great number of humans feel ostracized by society and hold a grudge against the world. And a fraction of those people have obtained the power to release their pent-up frustrations.”

Astral power was awe-inspiring. Though the powers that each person obtained varied, to an ordinary person, each power was far more threatening than any gun. Crossweil had seen guards on patrol multiple times, seemingly wary of the astral power contaminators.

“But only a few people are abusing their powers…,” Crossweil said.

He and his sisters weren’t. His coworkers weren’t, either. Since seeing the signs of the tide turning against those with astral power, he had been doing everything he could to live a quiet life with bated breath.

“Have you heard the phrase ‘bad money drives out good’? The bad actors are the ones who are most noticed.”

“…”

“I am working as well, of course. While the Lord has yet to wake, the Eight Great Elders lead the Imperial assembly. Though it pains me to admit this, I’ve asked them for help. I’ve told them those contaminated by astral power were the victims of the event, and to stop the unfounded rumors from circulating.”

“Thank you” was all Crossweil said.

“It’s not as effective as you’d think, though. The Eight Great Elders are not to be trusted.”

“What?”

“I can’t let myself be seen in public in this form. The Eight Great Elders are the only people who can do anything about the situation, but…”

The prince wasn’t being clear. There was something troubling him, which was unusual.

“I don’t like them. The Lord changed after welcoming them in.”

The small room was dim—very dim.

A secret underground audience chamber below the Imperial assembly.

And there, in that very space…

The eight men and women known as the sages of the Empire sat facing one another.

“The astral power exists.”

“The legends passed down by the Astrals were true. We have obtained a new energy that will re-create the world.”

“Things have progressed well to this point. The issue now is—”

“We never could have guessed the power would have such a great affinity that it would possess humans…”

The powerful energy was enough to revolutionize the age they lived in. However, the Eight Great Elders had not anticipated that the power would dwell in people.

“What a troubling divergence from the plan…”

“Yes. We reviewed so many possibilities, yet reality far exceeded our expectations.”

The astral power eruption had been like a volcano. During the Festival of Spiritualism, the enormous amount of energy had mercilessly scorched its surroundings like lava. Even the Lord and Crown Prince had been helplessly swallowed up in the deluge.

Their plans gone awry.

“The Crown Prince survived.”

The astral powers evolved mankind.

The Eight Great Elders could not have foreseen that the powers would take refuge in humans.

Powers that could create windstorms, summon enough fire to engulf a building, and freeze a tank. The birth of individuals with so much power had disrupted the world’s power balance.

“It seems the astral powers differ greatly.”

“We only understand a small sample size. It is likely even more of those with power that far exceed our postulations will turn up… Now the issue we face is what to do with them.”

“The Crown Prince.”

“The astral power that took possession of that thing must have likely been closest to the planet’s core.”

And that hadn’t been in the plans. The Crown Prince, who should have been eliminated by the blast of energy, had instead transcended humanity and been reborn.

“The Crown Prince seems to have suspicions.”

“But does not lay a finger on the Eight Great Elders. The prince’s monstrous appearance has rendered them unable to dream of leaving the Castle Tower Seat. And they are still but a child.”

“We hold the Empire in our hands.”

“The astral power contaminators are sure to gain power in the future. We must act before that. ‘Contaminators’ is such a weak word. We should find a name with a more menacing ring to it in advance.”

“…”

“…”

Silence fell over the room.

The eight sages watched each other, still quiet.

“Witch.”

“It is decided. We will call those who have astral powers witches and sorcerers. We will forbid all other names within the Imperial territories from being used.”

“Luclezeus, how many crimes have been committed by the mages and sorcerers within the Empire?”

“Eleven.”

“Not nearly enough. That will not change the world’s view of them.”

“Then let us increase the number.”