CHAPTER 4
More Than a Prisoner, Less Than a Guest
Imperial territory, eighth checkpoint.
When the Imperial forces’ reinforcements arrived, the place looked like the scene of a disaster. The roads were split, railcars had been upended like cast-aside toys, the grass had been singed into char, and most conspicuous of all was the gigantic crater in the middle of the checkpoint.
“Can we really say the Founder did all this? Are you sure, Ms. Saint Disciple?”
“It’s fine, Jhin-Jhin. His Excellency has said so. Oh…you there, medic, take the injured to get treatment. We’ll ride a separate helicopter, so you don’t have to wait for us.”
Jhin scowled, but Risya kept up her easygoing tone. “If we come out to the public about the monster Elletear has become, we’ll just have nothing but more trouble on our hands.”
“I suppose you’re right… And I guess the Eight Great Apostles were also the reason why she ended up like that.”
“That’s correct. The people responsible for it are gone, too.”
That was why they were pinning it all on the Founder. It was true that the Founder Nebulis had attacked the seventh checkpoint nearby, and many people from the forces had witnessed it, too. That would be the simplest public announcement to make to the world.
“You, from the second communication team, once you get in touch with headquarters, make sure to—”
“Risya.”
Risya was busily giving orders when Iska called out to her from behind.
“May I ask a question? It’s nothing important, but…”
“Hmm? What’s up, Isk?”
“I don’t see the Lord or my master.”
“The Lord went back ahead of us. Just think of what they look like. And after your master spoke with the Lord before they left, he wandered off somewhere, too.”
“Why does he have to be so erratic?!”
He had a mountain of questions for his teacher. He understood most of what had taken place a century ago in the Empire through Sisbell’s powers, but there was still something important that remained.
……What is the calamity at the planet’s core?
……And my master wasn’t the only one who was concerned about it—the Founder and Elletear were, too.
No one had told Iska what it was.
He’d learned only bits and pieces from his master and the Founder Nebulis’s conversation. And that the swords in his hands were their hope to fight against the calamity.
“Hey, staff officer.”
Rin had finished treating the wounds. Behind her, Alice was headed in their direction as well.
“There’s something I want to check.”
“Ask away—as long as it’s not about Imperial secrets or my age or weight, that is.”
“It’s about what’s happening to them.” Rin motioned with her chin at the Zoa’s astral corps that the Imperial reinforcements were carrying.
……Did they try to take advantage of the Founder’s movements to get into the Empire?
……Then they ran into Elletear.
They had likely been Elletear’s next prey after the Eight Great Apostles, but they’d been wiped out simply upon meeting her.
Though he pitied them for running into an unreasonable battle against an indomitable opponent, he strangely also felt they’d gotten their just deserts.
“The Zoa family’s decision ran counter to what our queen sought. Now that they’ve been captured by the Imperial forces, we don’t plan to beg you to treat them with mercy. However, if you’re planning any inhumane—”
“Oh, so that was what you were worried about.” Risya dismissively waved her hand.
The medic team continued to carry away the comatose Zoa.
“They’re headed to an astral-illness research institute. Chief Newton is such an astral-power maniac that he’ll investigate whatever ails them regardless of whether they’re friend or foe, especially considering that the illness is such a rarity… He’ll treat them with care.”
“And there better not be a change of plans for their treatment.”
“All right, all right. Oh…? Looks like while we were talking, our helicopter arrived.”
Risya looked up at the sky. It was a large aircraft, and one Iska was familiar with. It steadily descended. They would ride this helicopter back to the capital.
“It looks like this is good-bye, Iska.”
When he turned around, he found a princess whose strawberry-blond hair fluttered in the wind looking up at him with a fleeting smile that seemed as though it could fall apart at any moment.
“We will leave through the border and go back to the Sovereignty. Mother must be worried about us, and most importantly, we need to tell her about Elletear.”
“Oh, right…”
Yes. They had agreed to be Sisbell’s guard only at the start. He never could have imagined their contract in Alsamira would have led to such a long journey.
“Is Commander Mismis still unconscious?”
“She’s awake now. Nene and Jhin are keeping an eye on her, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Please thank the three of them for me as well. You too, Rin.”
“Excuse me?”
When Sisbell said the attendant’s name, Rin blinked in surprise.
“You should thank them, too.”
“Me?! Why?!”
“It seemed to me like the Lord was catering to your every need in that room. You had such lavish meals each day.”
“I was a prisoner, you realize?! A-anyway, it was all a misunderstanding! They never showed me any hospitality at all!” Rin insisted, her face going red.
“Lady Alice, Lady Alice, please say something!”
“ ”
“……Lady Alice?”
Rin felt something was off and turned around. Beside her, the golden-haired girl was silently staring at the ground. It seemed she hadn’t listened to Sisbell and Rin’s conversation at all.
“Alice?”
“Huh?”
The moment Iska said her name, she jumped in surprise and let out a small yelp despite not responding to anyone else until that moment.
“Wh-what?! You… Why would you shout at me suddenly like that…?”
“I wasn’t the only one. Rin was, too. She was calling your name.”
“What?”
“Hmm…” Rin’s eyes suddenly grew cold. “You won’t respond to me, but you will to the Imperial swordsman, then?”
“Of course not! It was a coincidence… I just had something on my mind!”
Alice suddenly flipped her golden hair. Even though she was acting strong at the moment, he felt as though he saw something fragile about her from her side profile, but Iska wrote it off as having been his imagination.
“Let’s go back to the Sovereignty… Shall we, Rin? Sisbell?”
Alice turned around—or so Iska thought. She seemed to linger for a few seconds as though hesitating about something; then the Nebulis princess turned her clear face partially toward him.
“Iska…I can’t talk to you much, considering our positions, but it seems I owe you after this. Thank you for watching over Rin and my sister.”
“It’s just how things panned out. I merely chose to do what I needed to in order to survive.”
“……Yes, of course.”
She suddenly smiled. Then she turned to face the checkpoint’s gate.
“Oh, wait right there.”
A voice came from Risya’s comm. It was the Lord’s voice—the very one who had disappeared not too long ago.
“Oh, Lord? Didn’t you already go back?”
“I’m in the Lord’s office. Anyway, Risya, are the Sovereign princesses still there? Princess Aliceliese in particular.”
“Me…?” Alice turned around, looking nervous. “Did the leader of the Empire just say my name?”
“Don’t you want to know what happened to your older sister to make her like that?”
“…Huh?” Alice gulped. She’d been planning on not letting anything perturb her, but she found it hard not to react to this. “Then let me ask you a question. How much do you know?”
“More than you would. After all, I do look the way I do. I’m a monster much in the same way as your sister.”
“H-how dare you call her that…!”
“A monster? Just look around you. All the Imperial forces and astral corps who are being carried behind you were victims of Elletear. She didn’t make a distinction between them. Or does this look like anything other than an act of savagery to you?”
“…W-well…” Alice wasn’t sure what to say. She understood that Elletear was no longer the sister she had known.
“It’ll be worth your while. I’ll tell you all I know about that monster. So come back with Risya.”
“Huh?!”
“What?!”
Sisbell reacted first, then Rin. Simply put, the Lord was saying that they wouldn’t be returning to the Sovereignty. Alice was being called to the Lord’s office—in other words, the capital.
“Are you asking me to become a prisoner of the Empire?”
“I suppose you’re more than a prisoner but not quite a guest.” There was a nonchalant laugh from the other end of the line. “That’s right, Princess Aliceliese. You’re the Ice Calamity Witch, aren’t you?”
“…” Alice didn’t say anything. The Ice Calamity Witch was feared and reviled by the Imperial forces. Confirming his suspicions was possibly very dangerous.
As though the Lord had seen through Alice’s conflicted emotions, the beastperson said, “No hard feelings, just for now.”
The voice on the other end of the line was incredibly calm. In fact, even Iska felt it was surprisingly anticlimactic listening to the indifferent tone from beside them.
“As long as you promise not to make a ruckus, I won’t do anything uncalled-for, either. And I promise you as much freedom as you want.”
“What are you plotting…?”
“This conversation will serve in my self-interest as well.”
In that moment, they all imagined the beastperson flashing a smile full of fangs.
“I’d like you to defeat your own sister.”
A war between siblings.
The Lord had proposed a ghastly future for the sisters.
“I came up with the idea based on the earlier conversation. It seems Elletear hasn’t been able to fully abandon her love for her own family. So wouldn’t you be the most ideal assassin? I’ll give you all the information you need to know in order to defeat her.”
The Lord’s proposal showed no restraint. Who knows how long it must have taken the Lord to come up with such a plan. Alice took the comm and offered up a weak, wan smile.
“What more would I expect from the Empire? You truly show no mercy to witches.”
“Your sister is planning to destroy your home country soon, you know?”
“ ”
“We’re already past the point where we can think of only protecting our own countries. Either we both survive or we all go down together. If you don’t want to cooperate, you can go home. You’re free to wait for your fate in your home country.”
“I’ll…”
She went silent again. Alice hung her head and was quiet as everyone’s gazes were on her.
“I—”
But in the moment of Alice’s much-awaited decision, the girl with strawberry-blond hair interjected. “Th-then I’ll stay!”
“Oh? Was that Princess Sisbell I heard?”
“It is I!” Sisbell placed a hand on her breast. “Elletear is no longer herself… No, perhaps that was who she always was, but if that’s the case, as her sister, I need to stop her!”
“Oh?” The Lord seemed rather amused. “But your astral powers aren’t suited for battle. Do you plan on heading straight to your death, then?”
“I can help in other ways instead of fighting. And I think more than anyone else in the Sovereignty, the best person to consult on how to stop Elletear is you.”
“How clever you are. You’ve understood correctly.”
“And don’t you still need my abilities? I should be able to help with analyzing my sister’s powers.”
“I applaud your nobility, unlike a certain half-hearted second princess.”
“Why, of course!” The third princess thrust out her chest as though it was her time to shine. “In place of my cowardly sister Alice, I will— Mrf!”
“Wh-wh-who’s supposed to be cowardly?!”
This time it was Alice’s turn. Just as her younger sister was triumphantly making her declaration, Alice had placed both her hands on either side of her sister’s face and squeezed her cheeks, and she seemed to glare at her sister as though challenging her.
“Unlike you, I think through my decisions!”
“Hee-hee. Are you scared, Sister?”
“Of course I’m not! Ugh, fine then.” Alice let out a long sigh. She exchanged looks with Rin, then glared at the comm in her hand. “You can take us anywhere you want in the Empire. But you must treat us courteously. If you don’t, I will go on a full rampage.”
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