With the flow of time turning back, the chaos that had once erupted in the hall faded. In its place was the Emperor’s soft voice.
“With the worsening of the Mirror Dimension, we’ve found that more and more monsters are starting to threaten the Supply Stations, forcing a lot of our manpower to focus there. Not only that, but the monsters also appear to be stronger. I’m afraid that we’re about to reach a critical point of no return.”
I could still distinctly remember each word that came out of the Emperor’s mouth, and as I slowly turned my head, my eyes focused on a certain figure sitting at the front.
He seemed focused on the Emperor, his gaze sometimes flicking towards his nearby guards.
‘…Just how far can you steal from me?’
He had stolen my vision and acted accordingly, turning the situation into one where he saved the Emperor’s life.
In that sense, I could predict what he’d do next.
He’d probably try to request something that might involve me.
‘Is this your plan?’
I leaned back on my chair and covered my mouth.
It was quite the plan, and if not for Leon’s warning, it could’ve even succeeded. But there was one thing that he had overlooked.
And it wasn’t the fact that I could see into the future.
I was certain he also couldn’t given that he didn’t react strangely. Of course, it could’ve been an act, but I didn’t think so.
Most importantly, the one thing that Jackal overlooked was the fact that his actions might not get him in the good graces of the Emperor.
At least… if the Emperor was related to the Inverted Sky.
If he was, then I could more or less guess what the intentions behind the incident were.
‘The complete breakdown of the relationship between the four Empires.’
….Or perhaps a reason for the Nurs Ancifa Empire to conquer and attack the other Empires, taking them all for itself?
I felt this was something Sithrus would do.
Of all the Empires, his reach within the Nurs Ancifa Empire was extremely deep-rooted. I would even go as far as to argue that the royal family was a ‘puppet’ designed to follow his orders.
But this was merely a hypothesis from my side.
However, taking into consideration how everyone that had attacked seemed to belong to the three other Empires, I had reason to believe that my thoughts weren’t far off from the truth.
‘It’s a pity that Atlas didn’t fill me in on anything.’
I was probably still not strong enough for him to involve me in such matters.
How much easier would things be if he did?
“Julien…”
Overhearing Leon’s words, I shook my head.
“Don’t worry. We still have time before anything happens.”
“What? How do you—”
“Just observe your surroundings and look for anyone that might look suspicious to you.”
“Uh? What are you talking about? At least t—”
“Shhh.”
I placed my finger over my lips.
“Give me some time to think.”
The key to solving this situation was rather simple. It was to find the ‘spirit’ user that was capable of controlling the powerful people from the other Empires.
Of course, knowing how they were capable of controlling such powerful people, I understood that even if I did find them, beating them would be an almost impossible task unless I somehow managed to get close enough to them to touch them.
…But I didn’t really need to do that.
Delilah was here, and so were a lot of other powerful people.
All I needed to do was find the spirit user.
‘But how exactly can I do that?’
I thought about the obvious, which was to ask for Delilah to help, but considering how her every movement was very likely monitored by everyone in the room, I understood it wouldn’t be a good idea.
Atlas was also out of the question considering how he most likely had a part in the matter.
In that case…
“Yeah, we’re on our own.”
I sighed.
What a surprise.
“What do you mean we’re on our own?”
As Leon whispered next to me, I gave him a short reply,
“Just like you think, something is most likely going to go wrong. I thought about telling this to the Chancellor or asking for help, but that would be pointless. Nobody is going to believe us, and asking the Chancellor for help would make the ones involved to be more careful.”
It could buy time, though, so I took that into consideration.
If I hadn’t figured anything out by the time the deadline hit, I planned to involve her in some way.
First things first,
“How much do you know about spirit magic?”
“…As much as you. Wait, why are you suddenly ask—”
As Leon paused, it finally hit him as his head flicked towards the front.
“Are you suggesting that someone is going to…”
“Yes, exactly that.”
I was glad Leon was sharp enough to understand what I was trying to imply.
His expression stiffened as he looked at me, his eyes narrowing.
“How do you even know this? No, never mind.”
Leon shook his head.
“Now is not the time for this.”
“I’m glad you understand.”
Leon’s mouth twitched, but he soon let it go.
“Regarding your question, I know just as much as you about spirit users. If you’re suggesting that someone is planning on causing trouble using spirit magic, the two main ways would be through touch or voice. In some ways, it’s pretty much the same as Emotive Magic. However, as far as I know, I don’t think they’re capable of doing delayed attacks.”
“Delayed attacks? You mean tags?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm.”
My eyes fell on the ones involved in the situation.
There were a total of seven of them, and they all sat with their backs straight, expressions normal while listening to the Emperor.
“If you put it that way, then things can be narrowed down quite a bit.”
I focused on the seven figures behind the situation and observed everyone sitting around them.
There were quite a few, and seeing as not all of them were sitting together, a thought occurred to me.
‘Could there possibly be more than one spirit user responsible for this? Otherwise… How is it possible to affect them through touch if they couldn’t do tags?’
Unless it was not just one spirit user, but multiple, or had some sort of way to delay the attack, I didn’t think touch could be an effective means.
Then…
‘It can only be through voice.’
That was when it finally hit me and my gaze fell on the reporter who had been having an exchange with the Emperor.
Back then, the only ones that had been speaking were none other than him and the Emperor.
In that case,
‘It’s either one of the two.’
I couldn’t discard the possibility that the Emperor had been the one responsible for getting people to attack him.
Having been screwed over many times before, I knew not to discard any possibility.
“…This is really troublesome.”
“Did you figure something out?”
“I did, but…”
“But what?”
I pursed my lips before eventually answering,
“There’s a chance the culprit might be the Emperor himself, and the means is most likely through voice.”
As expected, Leon’s face almost collapsed the moment I said those words. If not for the fact that he knew how to keep composed, I was afraid he might’ve given himself away.
“Hoo.”
I could hear him taking a deep breath as his eyes eventually shut.
“You understand just how ridiculous your claim is, right?”
“I know.”
“But you still think there’s a chance it’s him?”
“Yes.”
“Is there anyone else I should be aware of?”
“Yes, the reporter with the bowl cut seated in the third row.”
“That one?”
“…Yes.”
“Okay.”
Leon opened his eyes, his expression calming down considerably.
It was enough to leave me somewhat surprised.
As if he could read my thoughts, he answered flatly, “I expected something this ridiculous to happen the moment we left the Academy. That’s why I’m not even surprised.”
“Makes sense.”
As sad as it was, Leon had a point.
I was indeed quite unlucky.
Be it the Academy or outside of the Academy, something tended to happen to me. There was no use denying the fact that I was a jinx.
‘Well, it’s mostly because of the quests, but it’s not like trouble still doesn’t follow me even when they don’t appear.’
“One more question, do you know who will get affected by the spirit magic?”
“Yes, and I even know the time.”
“…..”
Leon’s eyes narrowed further, but I feigned ignorance. Leon eventually shook his head in resignation.
He spoke after a little bit of thought.
“Since you know who will get affected, the time in which they’ll get affected, and who might be responsible for it, can’t we just have the Chancellor prevent any noise from reaching the victims in question?”
“It’s possible.”
I nodded. This was one of the solutions I had previously thought about.
But there were problems with this solution.
“First, nothing is stopping the Spirit user from switching targets. Second, Delilah’s actions could easily be mistaken for an attack.”
“…You’re right.”
Leon nodded after a brief thought before speaking again.
“…But she’s one of the strongest people here. I don’t think she is scared of anyone in the room even if they get angry.”
“That’s true.”
Nonetheless, her actions could also be taken as a sign of aggression, giving another reason for the relationship between the four Empires to break down.
‘This situation is a lot more complicated than I thought.’
The possibility that there was some variable I hadn’t accounted for and that my current conclusions might be wrong, loomed over me like a scythe, ready to decapitate me at any moment.
The worst part of the situation was that I felt completely chained.
With so many powerful people present, I couldn’t act like I usually did.
Any small movement I made could be noticed at any moment. I was stuck in my seat, bound in a way that kept me from moving.
This…
It felt suffocating.
Time; 9:05 P.M
***
At the same time.
‘Are all preparations ready?’
Jackal’s gaze fell on the Templars stationed next to him. Following his orders, they had been ready to act at any second.
Following the vision he had experienced, he understood just what sort of opportunity was about to fall on his lap.
He planned on using this chance to save the Emperor and have him own a debt to him.
If that happened, then getting his hands on the fake fragment was going to be even easier than expected.
Having spent the past half a year preparing his body, he was now ready to take what originally belonged to him back and fully inherit Oracleus’s powers. To become Oracleus himself.
‘….I can’t waste this chance.’
There was still some time left before the scenario happened, and as he thought about the situation, his gaze drifted back, towards the fake fragment.
It was there that Jackal caught him staring at the front, his face seemingly oblivious to the situation.
A thin smile spread across his lips at the sight.
‘As expected, the difference between us is big.’
The reason Jackal was able to steal Julien’s vision was simply because the purity of Oracleus’s blood in his body was purer.
This was the difference between the two of them.
Thinking about this, Jackal turned his head away and shifted his attention back towards the Emperor.
Everything was proceeding smoothly.
It was soon time for him to act.
By then, everything would belong to him, and he would take what rightfully belonged to him.
As his thoughts wandered toward the future, Julien’s head slowly turned in the direction of Jackal’s turned head.
Soon, a smile formed on his lips as his lips parted.
‘Why didn’t I think about it before?’