Traitor (2)

The art museum in District 4 had been abandoned after the Noark invasion. There, a woman was placing the paintings hanging on the walls into her subspace.

“Um… Lady Emily?”

“I’m not stealing.”

“…Pardon?”

“If we leave them here, people who don’t understand their value might damage them carelessly…”

“Ah, ah… I see.”

“It’s absolutely not because I intend to keep them and hang them in my house later. If anyone asks for them back, I plan to return them immediately. Understood?”

“…Yes, I understand. But what I wanted to say wasn’t about that; it was something else…”

At Auyen’s words, Amelia coughed awkwardly.

“…Go on.”

“Well… it’s nothing serious… Ah! And of course I’m not trying to rush you! I was just wondering… what your plans are going forward…”

Amelia rested her hand on her chin in thought. After a brief pause, she replied, “I’m thinking.”

“…Excuse me?”

“We can stay like this for the time being. There’s no need to rush into anything. Even if it’s frustrating, just endure it a little longer.”

“No, no! It’s not frustrating at all!”

“Then that’s good.”

With that, Amelia continued wandering through the dark museum, with Auyen assisting her at her side.

“Are you not taking that one?”

“Those are trash. I heard the artist used to commit vile acts with young girls while he was alive.”

“…Let’s burn them.”

After burning the legacy works, Amelia rested against a wall, and Auyen refrained from speaking to her for a long while.

“……”

“……”

The silence lingered until the light outside the window finally faded.

Auyen spoke in a subdued voice.

“…I’m sorry, Miss Emily.”

Sorry about what?

But Amelia understood without him having to spell it out and let out a small chuckle.

“Are you talking about when we got separated?”

“Yes… If I hadn’t fallen behind back then… the two of us wouldn’t be hiding out like this.”

On the day the main force withdrew, Ayen was on the front line when he was struck by an arrow. Unable to dodge it, he was left behind.

Amelia saw it happen and immediately turned back to help him. She managed to save him, but they ended up separated from the rest of the clan.

After moving as stealthily as possible to avoid enemies, they eventually arrived here, at the Sector 4 Art Museum.

“…I’m sorry. I held you back…”

“It’s not ‘I’m sorry’.”

“…Yes?”

“In times like this, you say ‘Thank you’.”

Even as she said that, Amelia found it a little amusing and smiled.

‘Not “I’m sorry,” but “Thank you,” huh…’

It was something she never would have said back when she was filled only with hostility.

The thought sent a sudden pang of longing through her. It was not a vague sense of missing someone, but a feeling tied to a single, specific person.

“…I hope he isn’t doing anything reckless.”

Even though her worry for him occupied most of her thoughts, she still noticed something.

This was the feeling of ‘missing’ someone, and it was slightly different from the feeling she had for her older sister.

Swish.

Instinctively, Amelia crouched in the darkest corner. A moment later, she straightened and moved to the window, where the moonlight poured brightest into the room.

She normally didn’t like places like this.

They say childhood habits last a lifetime—dark places felt mentally comfortable to her, while bright ones caused an inexplicable irritation.

But…

“Not bad.”

Bathed in the warm moonlight, Amelia murmured quietly.

“Emily Raines.”

A new name she had taken to avoid causing any trouble.

At first, she was satisfied just by the fact that she could live in the light under that name.

Was she always this greedy of a person?

“Amelia Rainwales.”

Had she always been such a greedy person?

“Amelia Rainwales.”

For the first time in a long while, she spoke her own name aloud.

“Maybe…”

Maybe her days of living in the shadows were finally coming to an end—

“…?”

Just then, she sensed something wrong with her body and quickly activated her ability.

“Self-Replication.”

However, the ability she knew as well as her own body failed to activate.

“…Is this punishment for being greedy?”

She knew the reason all too well.

「The character has entered the range of [Silent Command]」

「All Essence skills are sealed.」

***

Traitor.

I could not help flinching at the word as my ears perked up. It was an instinctive reaction for anyone who lived in a society.

‘It’s a bit late to chase after him anyway.’

I coolly gave up on chasing the Corpse Collector. However, there was still a chance that I was being played, so I issued a warning.

“If you’re lying, it will end very painfully for you.”

“O-of course! It’s fine! I’m not lying!”

“Then say it.” I ordered, getting straight to the point. Vivian swallowed hard and began speaking.

‘Alluva Raven! That mage — your old ally — is the traitor!”

Huh, so Raven was the traitor… .

The moment I heard it, my grip on the hammer tightened.

It wasn’t because I felt betrayed or anything like that.

“What a waste of time.”

Did she think I gave up the chase just to hear this bullshit?

Fine. If I handled this quickly and followed—

“I-I saw it myself!”

Saw what?

I thought listening to any more of this nonsense would be a waste of time, but surprisingly, the woman’s mouth moved faster than my hammer.

“When the Imperial Capital, Carnon, was burning! You definitely said it while looking at her—‘I never thought I’d be betrayed like this…’!”

“…Are you on drugs or something?”

“N-No! I know it sounds weird! But… Eek! Wait! Put the hammer down! I can explain!”

“Ten seconds.”

“…Huh?”

“Nine, eight…”

When I ignored her and started counting, Viviane realised what it meant and began explaining herself frantically.

“Y-You might not know this, but I used the Level 1 dark magic [Future Sight]! Ah! O-Of course, I couldn’t do it alone! There were many other dark mages and we received tremendous support, so we barely managed to succeed… .”

“You should stick to the main point.”

“We used that magic to foresee whether this operation would succeed, but the spell failed. We saw Carnon burning, but we didn’t see the most important scene—the king’s death—and instead saw a completely different scene!”

“……And you’re saying that was the scene where Raven betrayed me?”

“Yes! That’s right! That’s why I said I saw it myself!”

Hmm… I suppose I could listen to her a little more.

“30 seconds extra.”

“……No, I’m serious!”

“That’s why I’m giving you time to convince me whether it’s true or not.”

“……You want me to prove my words are true in 30 seconds? How am I supposed to—?”

Who knows?

“That’s for you to figure out.”

If she failed, I could always prove gender equality with a hammer.

I kept counting as the silence stretched on. She clearly had no idea how to persuade me in thirty seconds.

“Fifteen seconds have passed.”

Vivian finally spoke when more than half of the time limit had passed.

“No matter how I think about it, I can’t prove it.”

“Ten.”

“Unless you give me time.”

“Nine.”

“I absolutely can’t in thirty seconds.”

“Eight.”

“So instead—”

“Seven.”

“I’ll tell you why you shouldn’t kill me.”

“Oh?”

Sharp judgment. As expected of a mage.

“A good decision. 15 seconds extra.”

I switched to counting down silently, and Vivian took advantage of the moment to keep talking.

“You’re trying to go to the Barbarian sanctuary now, right? I can take you there without any trouble.”

“I’m confident I can get there on my own.”

Of course, it might get a little messy along the way. But there was no reason to create variables and accept help from a woman who had been an enemy.

Vivian seemed to have expected my response, as she immediately offered her next card.

“Communications.”

“…?”

“If I’m with you, I can eavesdrop on the command staff’s communications.”

“…Hmm.”

“Wouldn’t knowing their overall movements be helpful? I’m not just talking about strategic aspects. If something happens to your allies, you’ll be able to know immediately.”

“……”

“That’s all. If you say you don’t need this either, there’s nothing else I can offer.”

Right, is that so.

“So… what are you going to do?”

She spoke quite boldly, but I could tell she was terrified.

Well, who remains calm in the face of death? No one.

That was precisely why I was so deeply affected by the choice made back then.

Since we couldn’t stay here forever, I carried Vivian like baggage toward the city wall.

I planned to talk with Raven once we got back.

But before that, one thing had to be made clear.

“About that traitor story.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t tell anyone. Understood?”

“Yes, yes! Of course! My mouth is sealed tight!”

Tight, my ass.

She blurted out secrets I didn’t even ask for as soon as her life was on the line.

After returning, I saw Raven and Astarotta waiting for me in front of the slightly open gate.

“Mr. Jandel!”

“Looks like things are mostly settled here.” I nodded to Raven’s greeting and replied

“It was simple,” she replied. “Once you left, the corpses here lost most of their power.”

Hmm, was he too busy running away to control them?

I don’t know, but as soon as we had exchanged brief greetings, Raven’s gaze shifted to my shoulder.

“But that woman… It’s her, right?”

“Oh, you know her?”I asked

“Even if I hadn’t, I probably would have known anyway.”

“Ahaha… Hello? Long time no see, Big Sis…”

“…Big Sis?”

“Huh? Am I wrong? I thought you were older than Mr. Jandel—”

Raven fell silent.

“……Call me by my name. I don’t remember giving you permission to call me by such a title.”

“Ahaha… I understand. Miss Raven.”

Since this wasn’t a place for open conversation, we moved into a nearby building.

There wasn’t much to explain.

I chased the Corpse Collector and caught her.

She convinced me she could be useful.

Aside from the part about the traitor, the entire story could be summed up in those two lines.

“So you’re conflicted? Whether to use this woman or just dispose of her.”

“Hmm… Then shall we first verify the conditions she offered?”

Raven approached Viviane.

“You said you can access Noark’s upper-level communication network, right? Let’s see. You might have already lost access rights.”

“…Hehe, I don’t think that’ll happen.”

“That’s why I’m telling you to show me. I need to know how important the information being exchanged is.”

“Fine.”

At Raven’s demand, Viviane pulled out a black crystal ball and connected it to the network. The network seemed to be functioning normally.

However…

[Zibne, Ter-a, Didibar.]

“What are they saying right now?” I asked

“Military code phrases. Even the intelligence department hasn’t fully decoded them yet.”

“I see… That explains why you connected to the communications network so easily. You were confident we would not kill you the moment you revealed this.”

“I’m not that stupid, you know?”

“Enough, just translate it. What are they saying?”

“Sector 5-3, Royal forces, signs of gathering, observe… That’s what they’re saying.”

Raven and I exchanged a silent look. We both immediately knew where 5-3 was. After all, I was the one who had asked the soldiers to create a distraction the next morning.

“Wiretapping… might actually be useful.”

Still, we needed further testing.

“Sector 13-2. Small-scale engagement. Requesting support.”

“Sector 5-1. Heightened alert. Requesting reinforcements.”

“Sector 13-2. Sweep complete. 31 enemies killed.”

“Sector 4-7, ‘L’, two intruders discovered.”

I noticed then that she suddenly flinched.

“What does that mean? And why did you flinch just now?”

Viviane answered cautiously.

“4-7 refers to an area in District 4… and, well… those two intruders… I think they might be your allies, Mr. Jandel.”

“…Then what about ‘L’?”

“Ricardo Lühensprache. It’s the code word for our captain…….”

Son of a bitch.

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