MEMORY ILLUMINATION 4
Plan to Flee the Empire
Half a year had passed.
The term astral power contaminator had all but disappeared from the Empire’s vocabulary on
TV and in newspapers, and even on the streets. Now they only used the words witch and sorcerer. Those possessed by astral powers would hide their crests voluntarily with bandages and had learned to avoid crowded areas.
That included him, too.
“Crossweil Gate Nebulis, is it?”
“…”
He had been stopped under a streetlight. It was nine at night, when few people were outside. He’d just finished buying groceries at an old store in an alleyway, avoiding the supermarket on the main road. Imperial soldiers waited for him, as though to block Crossweil from his destination.
Not the police, but soldiers.
As violent encounters with witches and sorcerers had grown, the Imperial assembly had responded in kind by suppressing them using the Imperial forces.
“Four witches caught by the Imperial forces escaped. Just more of the Grand Witch Nebulis’s destruction.”
“I don’t know anything about it…”
“She’s your adoptive sister Eve. You lived with her half a year ago.”
“That was a long time ago. Alice and I don’t know where she is or what she’s doing. You already tore apart our home four days earlier and didn’t find anything.”
“…”
The two soldiers went silent. Crossweil gave them a small nod and passed by them.
He was used to this. The interrogators on the street had simply shifted from military police to Imperial forces. His role was to calmly answer any of their questions. If he got worked up, they would use that as a pretext to arrest him. Such was life in the Empire now.
…That’s why everyone puts up with it. We’re almost there.
…Four days until we leave the Empire.
He balled his fists as he continued walking down the dark road to his house.
“I’m home,” he called out.
“Crow, welcome back!” Alicerose was waiting for him. She was wearing an apron and preparing dinner. She had tied her silky, golden hair tied back, which made her seem all the more charming.
In the past half year, Alicerose had turned sixteen and started looking even more beautiful and mature.
It wasn’t just her outward appearance that had matured. She was a calming presence that could stop conflicts better than anyone. She was the least witchlike person there could be, despite the Imperial forces’ derision.
“Eve just got back too,” she told him.
“What? Oh, she really has…”
Eve was lying on the floor. He hadn’t noticed because of how quiet she was. She was fast asleep. Though the Imperial leaders called her the “Grand Witch” and designated her as the most dangerous of all on their hit list, she looked defenseless in her sleep.
“Some soldiers just stopped me. They wanted to know if I’ve seen Eve. And where she’s hiding.”
The Imperial forces likely wouldn’t even be able to imagine that Eve lived in a subspace.
Though she mostly hid in the same black curtain that Crossweil had entered once before, she would return to their home on occasion.
…It’s like a secret base.
…She uses that space to come and go so she can rescue people who have been arrested on the charge of being a witch.
Eve had saved hundreds already. All of them had fled to the subspace and were preparing for their escape from the Empire.
“Everyone’s grateful for being saved by Eve. And they say that we should be able to leave the Empire without worries with her here.” Alicerose lovingly stroked her sleeping older sister’s hair.
They looked as though their positions should have been switched. She seemed like the older sibling lovingly taking care of her younger sister. Alicerose had always looked more mature, and the gap had only widened in the past six months.
…Eve looks like she hasn’t changed.
…It’s almost like time has stopped for her.
Despite Alicerose’s growth, Eve hadn’t grown by even a millimeter. She also had started eating considerably less.
“You can tell by looking at me. She’s already almost half astral power.”
It was two days until their escape.
When Crossweil had his first call in two weeks with Yunmelngen, the prince sounded nonchalant, as if telling him that should have been obvious after seeing her for the past six months.
“According to the Imperial forces’ database, there are 7,981 people believed to be witches and sorcerers. The number has increased tenfold because the Planet’s Navel is still releasing astral powers even now. Until we close the hole, there will likely be more.”
“And the Empire is leaving it open while knowing that?”
“There were talks about who would do it. If anyone approaches the hole, they might also turn into a witch. We can’t just carelessly go near it.”
“I guess you have a point…”
“Put another way, there are many astral powers escaping from deep within the planet. And the people who’ve been possessed by the strongest are—”
“You and Eve.”
“Yes, and that’s why Eve doesn’t eat. I haven’t had a sip of water, either.”
Astral powers had no lifespan. That was something Yunmelngen had intuited instinctively after fusing with his.
“Eve and I will likely live for many more years. Maybe a hundred, maybe a thousand. Or perhaps we’ll simply disappear suddenly in a few years…”
“…You talk about it like that it doesn’t involve you.”
“This isn’t entirely unrelated to you either, Crow.”
That hit him hard. He felt as if a thorn had stabbed him right through the chest without warning.
“…Me?”
“The more compatible someone is with astral power, the more their body becomes astral power, the slower they age. Haven’t you noticed? You’re quite fused with it yourself.”
“…”
Unintentionally, he touched the astral crest on his neck.
“Not very perceptive about yourself, are you, Crow? Well, maybe it was difficult for you to notice because Eve and I are such extreme examples.”
It hadn’t even so much as occurred to him. That there was a possibility his lifespan would extend considerably due to the astral power. Or that it even might be diminished.
“Oh, but also there’s that.”
Despite Crossweil’s silence, Yunmelngen’s tone hadn’t changed in the slightest.
“The day after tomorrow is the birthday. Are you ready for it?”
“We’re ready whenever. Even tomorrow would work.”
The birthday was a metaphor. It was a code word used among those who knew about the escape plan.
“I’ve been so lonely here without any news from you lately, Crow.”
“You’re generally the one who’s supposed to call me.”
“How forlorn I am. If you go to the birthday the day after tomorrow, we won’t ever see each other again.”
“Huh?!”
He didn’t know what to say.
Yunmelngen’s usual cheerful tone had disappeared, and the prince seemed genuinely saddened. Yunmelngen wasn’t participating in the escape plan because he was the Crown Prince. Almost all the astral power contaminators would be gone in three days. However, only Yunmelngen, the most conspicuous one, would be staying in the Empire.
“More astral power contaminators will be born after this. And all over the world.”
“If even I leave, then who will stop the persecution within the Empire?”
They needed someone on the inside who could correct the prejudices against witches.
Yunmelngen had decided only he could do that.
“You’re not the type to change your mind even if I asked you to come now.”
“I’ll be sad not being able to see you anymore, though.”
Ah-ha-ha, he heard a laugh over the line. It was the weakest chuckle he’d heard from Yunmelngen yet.
“I’ll be enthroned in the place of my father, as he’s still in a coma. Even in this state, if I become the Lord, I’ll have a lot more power.”
“Are you going to be okay?”
“I’ll have someone else go in place of me for public appearances.”
“You said something about the Eight Great Elders. How’s your fight with them going?”
“We still disagree plenty. But who cares about them? If I can become Lord, I should be able to do something.”
“……I see.”
They would flee the Empire. The contaminators needed to escape persecution first. But the fear and hatred of witches would still remain rooted in the entire Empire.
…That needs to be settled later.
…In other words, we’re leaving all the work to Yunmelngen.
Was that really the right thing to do?
That’s what he’d been thinking about the past six months. Or rather, he’d used thinking about it as a way of putting it off until now.
“Crow, promise me one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“Once I become Lord, if I’m able to stop all persecution of witches…when that time comes, come by and visit, will you?”
“…”
“If you can promise that, I’ll really be able to give my all.”
“Invite me whenever you want,” Crossweil didn’t hesitate to reply. Compared to Yunmelngen’s resolve to stay alone in the Empire, the prince’s request was modest and easy to make good on.
“I’ll be sure to come back to the Empire. Even if it’s years or decades from now.”
“……Okay.” Yunmelngen’s reply was still slightly lacking. “See you, Crow. Hope you fare well outside the Empire.”
“You too.”
The Imperial assembly.
Due to the destruction caused by the Grand Witch Nebulis, half of the building had been destroyed, and was constantly on the verge of collapsing.
In the rubble of an underground room…
“An attempt at enacting an escape.”
“Watching the last criminal apprehended as the curtain falls will be most beautiful.”
The light of eight hazy monitors…
There, eight men and women, young and old, were displayed.
“An escape plan that the witches and sorcerers have come up with. This is no great getaway. It is an act of rebellion against the capital disguised in the discord that will come with an escape. And we may assume that it could possibly be an attack on His Excellency and the Crown Prince.”
“Isn’t that right, Drake?”
“Raise your face, Drake In Empire.”
“…”
The radiance of the spotlights poured down on Drake from overhead.
Under the large monitors that displayed right humanoid figures, the young man bit his lip. It was almost as though he were a courtroom witness. He looked deeply worried.
“You are a felon.”
“After all, you planned to burn the Imperial capital to the ground following the Grand Witch Nebulis’s plan three days from now.”
“No! We’re just leaving the—”
“You simply need to make the testimony. That is all.”
“Huh!” The boy’s eyes opened wide.
He had been taken to the Eight Great Elders, the staff officers to the Lord, without a clue on what and how they would question him.
“A deal. Instead of throwing you into prison, we will allow you to live your days peacefully in the Empire. That will apply to both you and your family. In exchange, you need only testify for us.”
“That the Grand Witch Nebulis’s true aim is to take over the Empire.”
“With the power she has, would it not be easy for her to turn the capital into a sea of flames?”
“You don’t want me to confess about the escape plan, then?”
He had been too naive. The supreme authorities of the Empire sought not a confession but a false testimony to an even greater crime.
“But what will you get by having me do that…?”
The elders did not answer. The long silence as good as told him he did not need to know.
“Think it over, Drake. Where will you go once you leave the Empire?”
“Witches and sorcerers are feared all over the world. Even if you leave, no country will accept you. You will wander borders, suffering from the cold and hunger.”
“……Uh. I…”
They coaxed him, directly aiming for his weaknesses. The elders knew this, and that it was the truth.
“It’s the Grand Witch Nebulis’s fault, not yours.”
“And the same applies for Musha. We planned to put her under our protection. But the Grand Witch attacked our assembly hall and maimed dozens of innocents.”
“You cannot stay in the Empire only because of the Grand Witch Nebulis’s actions.”
“You have no reason to sympathize with her. You should break ties with her.”
The floor tile split with a loud clanking sound. A portable recording device rose from the floor.
“The Empire is your homeland.”
“You are only being ousted from it because of the Grand Witch. Don’t you detest her?”
“…Ngh.”
Those were like a devil’s whispers to him. Though he knew better, his arm reached for the device in front of his eyes.
“Now, let us hear of it, Drake.”
“Tell us your testimony to get revenge on the Grand Witch Nebulis, the reason you cannot stay in the Empire.”
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