Kraken (1)

Aten and I arrived in front of the broadcasting room.

"......Is Serf still here?"

"I don't know if he's here, but he's probably watching us."

He tried to kill me using the students who received his business card.

He must really want me dead, so he wouldn't have just run away.

"Then, this broadcasting room itself could be a trap."

"That's right. He knows I have no choice but to come here."

Aten raised her hand and closed her eyes.

"......I don't feel any mana. It doesn't seem like a magic trap is set up."

"Good."

I nodded and slowly opened the door. Nothing happened.

As I carefully looked around and stepped inside, I found several students collapsed.

"Aten."

"Yes."

Aten approached and checked the condition of the students. Meanwhile, I checked the broadcasting equipment.

And soon, I found what Serf intended.

[Come to the auditorium.]

A brief line. He had designated a place for us to meet.

In the meantime, Aten, who had checked on the students, said,

"......They're bleeding heavily. It might be okay for now, but it'll be dangerous if we leave them like this."

"So, he means to keep you tied up here."

Aten nodded.

"Will it be okay? The auditorium seems really like a trap."

"We can't leave the students like this either."

I took out my phone.

"Will you make a call?"

"Yeah. To my brother."

Philly's chauffeur's sudden erratic behavior, crashing the car into the guardrail.

It's probably because of the 'business card.'

Since he acted out after receiving a call, he must have heard Serf Daniel's voice on the phone. Now that this 'business card'-induced erratic behavior has spread throughout Constel, I need to let Azier know.

I want to tell Philly, but if Azier is next to her, who knows what he might say to me.

A brief dial tone, then,

-...Frondier.

Azier answered the call.

"Ah, brother. It's me. Constel is in complete chaos right now. Most of the students are mimicking the erratic behavior of the Empress's chauffeur."

I explained fervently, but somehow, there was no significant reaction from the other end of the call.

Then Azier spoke up.

-Frondier, I have something to report as well.

"What is it?"

-Well, to use your words...

Azier spoke in a somewhat awkward tone.

-It's a mess here too.

"Excuse me?"

-No, let me clarify. It's not that the situation is chaotic. But, undoubtedly, something bizarre has occurred.

"What happened?"

-Most of the knights in the palace have stopped moving.

"Stopped moving?"

-Yes. Their gaze is distant, and their expressions are just like those of corpses. It's similar to what you described about the Empress's chauffeur. Right now, they're all standing still with that kind of expression.

Then it must be Serf's doing. He must have distributed his cards to the knights as well.

But something didn't add up.

Azier seemed to have the same thought and said,

-However, I can't fathom the culprit's motive. If he could command them to crash a car into a guardrail as before, there's nothing stopping him from doing worse with all these knights gathered. I can't understand why he would just have them stand like this.

I frowned, sharing the same sentiment.

Serf could have issued a much wider variety of commands.

"!"

I raised my head.

I realized it. It was actually quite simple.

"I see."

-Frondier?

"Yes. There's no way he could be alive."

I had been mistaken. I thought this incident was a joint operation by Gregory and Serf.

But that was impossible. What I initially thought, what I believed in, was correct.

"Ah, thank you. I'll hang up for now."

-If you can resolve it from there, hurry. We're in a state of emergency due to work paralysis here.

"Yes."

I hung up the phone.

I was under a misconception.

Yes, to borrow the expression from Azier

The enemy is currently in a state of high alert.

* * *

The empty auditorium echoed loudly with footsteps.

Thud, thud, my steps were slow but they resonated throughout the entire hall.

"Hey there."

And in the center of the auditorium, a man was sitting on a chair.

He was unarmed. Completely defenseless.

I slowly approached him. He lifted one hand in greeting.

"Hello, Frondier."

He acted as if he knew me, but it was the first time I had seen his face.

Yes, of course.

I am facing Gregory's face for the first time.

"You're hurt."

"Uh-huh."

Up close, Gregory's condition was serious.

His body was covered in wounds, especially on the side. There was no bleeding, but probably.

"It's necrotizing. Got hurt while fleeing and couldn't go to a hospital. Now, surgery is the only option."

"Couldn't you have looked for a pharmacy, or a quack?"

"Haha. You don't know Indus well."

That one sentence explained it all.

Most things outside the law are under the watch of Indus. He couldn't have done that while on the run.

"So, it wasn't Serf after all."

"Right. You knew. That guy died in the cabin. Got shot with an arrow. Right in the middle of the forehead, as if it was drawn there. If he had survived that, I wouldn't have been sticking with him."

It was Gregory who had handed out the business card, who had ordered me killed in the broadcasting room.

"You managed to get Serf's voice, impressively."

"Just one sentence. 'Kill Frondier.' That's what the guy kept shouting over and over at his death spot. Recorded it using a recorder, analyzing the residual mana."

Serf was dead, but the business card remained.

The card still possessed Serf's abilities. Without Serf, it was useless, but his voice was the only thing that remained.

Gregory lifted his head to look at me. His eyes conveyed a sense of resignation and surrender.

"Frondier. Arrest me."

"..."