Chapter 39 - <5>
Ritz returned to his room in silence, sat on the sofa, and placed the bourbon he had swiped on the table. Edward, who had followed him in and closed the door, gave a wry smile.
"Of course you'd bring something like that along."
"Naturally. It's the best way to loosen a tight lip."
"Oh, honestly."
He had probably seen through Ritz's true intentions long ago. Edward had to know that while he might be able to fool Franz and Anna, there was no way he could deceive Ritz.
"Your companions are quite sharp, Ritz."
Edward sat down across from him, an expression that was almost a grimace on his face. By companions, he of course meant Franz.
"He's not sharp. He's just suspicious."
"I see…"
Ritz poured the straight bourbon about halfway into a glass that had been set on the table and placed it in front of Edward. He filled his own glass to the brim.
The unique, rich aroma of the spirit drifted between the two men as a heavy silence descended. They drank quietly for a while, but eventually, Edward spoke as if he'd finally given in.
"I never thought I'd see you traveling with companions."
"It's no use trying to change the subject."
"I have no intention of changing it."
At his nonchalant tone, Ritz silently tipped his glass back. He himself had never dreamed he would be traveling with two beginners.
He had traveled with professionals—adventurers, they were called—but this was the first time he'd had wards to protect.
"Well, I've got my own stuff to deal with, you know?"
He observed Edward while trying to be evasive. His expression didn't seem to hold any fear. But Ritz could sense a subtle tension and a faint trace of anguish.
"Ed, why did you come to Faldina? The Sabatieri inheritance… Me… That alone isn't enough to bring the king himself out here, is it?"
"…No."
Edward began to speak, his voice heavy.
"The king will be changing soon. This country might be shaken a little."
That was a strange way to put it. The Yuresla Kingdom was stable right now. One could even say it was prospering like never before.
"Why would the country be shaken just because you're abdicating the throne to your son?"
Ritz came across all sorts of information in his travels, so he had heard about the next king, the crown prince. Edward's only son, Crown Prince Gerald, was said to be gentle and sincere, and was apparently deeply adored by his vassals.
Naturally, the crown prince had been born after Ritz left the country, and he had never once met him.
Edward fell silent for a moment, quietly sipping his bourbon.
Ritz could see his expression subtly changing. From the face of a gentle, dignified king, it shifted to the sharp eyes of his youth—the days he had spent with Ritz. An expression that seemed calm, yet was filled with a wisdom that saw through all things… That was the Edward he knew.
Now that it was just the two of them, his manner of speaking had reverted to how it was before he was king. Edward had originally been raised on a farm, so his speech was rough.
"You see, Ritz, I'm not just thinking of handing the throne to my son. I'm thinking of giving him a trial."
"…Why?"
"I seized this throne with my own two hands. So now I have my doubts. If there is someone truly worthy of the throne, shouldn't I yield it to that person?"
"What are you talking about?!"
Ritz had slammed his glass onto the table without thinking. It didn't break, but its contents spilled everywhere.
"You… you're an idiot."
He was utterly speechless. Seeing Ritz's dumbfounded expression, Edward gave a wry smile.
"Don't call me an idiot. A doubt just crept into my mind. Is it really right for the king's firstborn to become king? In the past, I answered 'no' to that. That's why I became king, right?"
"…Yeah, but still."
As Ritz struggled with words and actions he couldn't comprehend, Edward just smiled wryly.
"This is still just something I've been thinking about in my own head. You're only the second person I've told."
Ritz knew who the other person was. Edward's foster brother, the nagging but thoughtful Prime Minister who had served as a chaperone for both Ritz and Edward…
"…What did Shasta say?"
"You can imagine without me telling you, can't you?"
"'What foolishness are you spouting, Your Highness Edward?!' Right?"
At Ritz's words, Edward laughed.
"Exactly. But he's gotten old, so he's not so cute about it anymore. It was more like, 'Your Highness Edward, are you aware of your position? You are, for better or worse, the king who rules this country! If you are serious in what you say, then I, Shasta, shall stake my life to stop you.'"
"I see… But it means the same thing, doesn't it?"
"That it does."
After a moment of laughter, Ritz deliberately returned to the topic at hand.
"So what does that have to do with this whole affair?"
"Even things I've kept secret get leaked somewhere. That's the terrifying thing about the royal court. When the time comes for a king to change, someone always manages to steal information, no matter how. Even from a conversation in a room with just me and Shasta. On top of that, it seems this particular story somehow reached my elder brother."
Ritz scowled.
"…And?"
"Next, they use that information to spread rumors. That the king has apparently said such-and-such. And then you get people who are swayed by it."
He was starting to get it. In other words, the king was changing, but the throne would be passed not to his son, but to whoever could clear a trial. This meant that anyone with royal blood was being led to believe they had a non-zero chance.
For those who were smoldering under Edward's just rule, it would be convenient to place someone on the throne who would do their bidding.
To that end, if they could do away with the inconveniently fair king who would act as judge, and install their own puppets to decide the victor, they could get whomever they wanted on the throne.
To ensure they didn't miss that opportunity, they needed to do some groundwork behind the scenes… That seemed to be the gist of it.
"When Shasta learned of this, he was furious and tried to find the person spreading the rumors, but he hit a wall. But he did manage to discover that the person was a member of the royal family."
"How?"
Edward gave a small shrug. Apparently, it wasn't by Shasta's own efforts.
"A thief broke into the treasury."
"…What's that got to do with anything?"
Edward continued, his face grimacing as if he'd bitten into something bitter.
"The thief ransacked the treasury but was found by the guards and captured. Everything the thief took was returned to the treasury. That should have been the end of it, but for some reason, one item had vanished. Of course, the thief didn't have it on him."
Ritz waited silently for him to continue. Edward seemed to be thinking about something for a moment before letting out a sigh and continuing his story.
"It's an artifact passed down in the royal family. It's called the Infinite Nightmare."
"Infinite Nightmare? What's that?"
"It's something only the royal family knows about. To put it simply, it's a magical item created to punish members of the royal family."
Ritz tilted his head. Just because he knew it was stolen, how could he be sure a royal was the one who spread the rumor?
"So what?"
"Even if you saw the Infinite Nightmare, you wouldn't have any idea what it's used for. It looks like a piece of junk. The number of people who know it has any value to steal is extremely small."
"Huh."
Indeed, that meant the only person who would take it would be someone who knew its purpose.
"So, what kind of thing is it?"
At Ritz's question, Edward shrugged.
"I don't know."
"You don't know, you…"
As Ritz was left speechless, Edward gave a wry smile.
"It's been sealed away for a long time. All that's known is that it's small enough to fit in the palm of your hand, it's made of crystal, and it's a labyrinth that can trap a person's consciousness inside."
"Is it old?"
"Extremely. Apparently from the dawn of the kingdom."
"The dawn…"
That meant it was from a time when the Yuresla Kingdom Calendar had not yet reached a thousand years. It was currently the year 1572, so that was over a thousand years ago.
"I don't know which king it was, but there was once a king in the Yuresla Kingdom who was the strictest of them all. He supposedly had a famous spirit user who lived in these lands create the item for him, but the spirit user's name has not been passed down."
Ritz listened to Edward's voice while gazing at his own faint reflection in the amber liquid swaying in the glass in Edward's hand.
"The king was strict with himself and demanded the same of the other royals. It's said that if a royal committed even the slightest sin, he would have them judge themselves using that item."
"Some kind of torture device?"
"Who knows. According to the records, any royal who behaved in a manner unbefitting of their station would have their consciousness drawn into the item."
To have one's consciousness drawn in… He couldn't imagine it.
"If the person whose consciousness was taken managed to escape the Infinite Nightmare by their own power, they would appear before the king and be forgiven their crime."
"Huh. So some people did get out."
"Of course. But it seems more often than not, they couldn't escape. Those who failed were unable to regain their consciousness and were said to have been left as empty shells for the rest of their lives."
"That's terrifying."
Having never seen the real thing, Ritz could only sigh, unable to imagine it.
Edward wet his throat with bourbon. Ritz, remembering his own drink, drained the glass in his hand. The rich aroma filled his nostrils.
It was a high-quality distilled spirit. It was strange for something like this to be in an abandoned village. As he rolled the aftertaste around in his mouth, Edward's voice once again reached his ears.
"Because of the king's temperament, the royals and nobles greatly feared and obeyed him. After his death, the item was strictly sealed in the treasury by the next king, and no one has seen it since."
"So its very form was forgotten."
"Exactly. But every generation, those with a claim to the throne are taught how to use the item, and when they become king, they are taught how to free themselves from it."
"Why?"
"If some wicked person were to misuse it and leave the king an empty shell, the country would fall to ruin, wouldn't it?"
"Hm, well, yeah, I guess so."
"Right. And currently, the only one who knows how to use it is my elder brother. Which means the culprit is…"
"…Stewart, the false king…"
"Precisely."
He got it now. He understood how they were able to identify the culprit who stole from the treasury. In the entire kingdom, the only ones who knew how to use it were Edward and his elder brother Stewart, who had usurped the title of king.
But if he knew how to use it, he should also know that the king knew how to get out. Which made Ritz wonder how he intended to use it.
"…What's he planning to do by stealing that?"
Ritz stared intently at Edward's face, unable to comprehend Stewart's actions.
"It seems his plan is to trap me inside. I would use a different method, personally."
"You? Even though you can get out, Ed?"
Edward nodded with a wry smile.
"Apparently, my brother doesn't know that. He was at war constantly since becoming king. It's no surprise he wouldn't know."
Edward smiled wryly. The ones who had started that war were none other than the revolutionary army, with Edward and Ritz at its center.
"Besides, he probably doesn't want to admit that I have more knowledge than he does."
Edward has two older brothers. The eldest, Stewart, and the second, Richard. Initially, it was Stewart who inherited the throne and called himself king.
But Richard lost his life in the civil war, and Stewart was not so much deposed as he was confined to the countryside with the years he reigned as king completely erased from history.
It seemed this was the man involved in the incident. Stirred by the rumors, several discontented nobles were likely working behind the scenes, scrambling to place someone with the blood of Stewart or the deceased Richard on the throne.
But they still hadn't figured out who.
"He was a crown prince, for all his faults. We can't just send the Military Police or inspectors after him. And there's no one in a position above him… except for me."
At Edward's self-deprecating tone, Ritz understood his entire plan. For anyone who knew the man named Edward, hearing this story meant his goal was singular.
Edward's true objective was to punish his own brother with his own hands. Without involving anyone else, he intended to use himself as bait to bring the curtain down on the civil war he himself had started.
With his one and only partner, who had been with him from before the war and throughout it.
"Shasta tried to stop you, didn't he?"
Reading the understanding in Ritz's face, Edward gave a defiant smile.
"Well, yeah. But a letter conveniently arrived from an old friend, so I decided to get you involved. In the first place, if your letter hadn't come, I wouldn't have resorted to this method."
"So what if I hadn't been here?"
"Good question. I probably would have mobilized all the inspectors and the Military Police and crushed them from the bottom up over time."
Ritz was speechless. That would have been far safer. Ritz knew Stewart too; he was a man who couldn't do anything on his own, without pawns to do his bidding.
"What were you thinking, Ed…"
When he sighed, Edward raised his glass cheerfully and laughed.
"Maybe I think more highly of my son than I thought. If I die but there are no worries for the future, he'll manage somehow. No, maybe it's Shasta and Patty I have faith in?"
The two names they mentioned were the Prime Minister and the Queen… Edward's wife. Both were familiar faces to Ritz.
"…Did you bring this up knowing I couldn't refuse?"
When he said it with a sigh, Edward laughed at him. That was probably the truth of it.
"What choice did I have? You and I started that civil war together. It's only natural we end it together."
Put that way, he couldn't argue. When the civil war began, Ritz was already on the battlefield with Edward as a hero. Ritz knew everything, from the skirmishes before the war even started.
If he said they started it together, he supposed it was true.
"Somehow, I feel like I've been thoroughly used…"
After clicking his tongue, Ritz downed the remaining bourbon in his glass.
"That you have. But I didn't want to involve your companions. And to think they were children. I feel bad for them."
At those words, which couldn't hide a tinge of bitterness, Ritz fell silent.
When Ritz left Edward, he was with a mercenary company. Edward probably couldn't even imagine that the Ritz who had departed under those circumstances would now be traveling with children.
That must have been why Edward had confirmed it with Ritz after they'd repelled the bandits.
'If it comes to a point where you must cut someone down, can you do it in front of your wards?'… he had asked.
Ritz silently poured more bourbon into his glass. Knowing the situation would become dangerous, could he protect those two? And in a worst-case scenario, could he get them to safety?
The thought weighed heavily on him.
Ritz had already lived for a sufficiently long time. More than enough.
But Anna and Franz were still so young. He couldn't let them lose their lives in a place like this.
They still had a future. Not an uncertain future like his, but a future of hope.
Could he protect all three of them, with his own two hands?
A faint anxiety stabbed at his chest, but he kept it to himself, letting out a small sigh.
"So what do you think he'll do?"
When he muttered the question, Edward gave a wry smile.
"He'll probably try to trap all four of us in there together."
True, it was unlikely he wouldn't use the thing he went to all the trouble of stealing. But Edward knew how to get out.
"Then teach me how to get out, too."
When he asked lightly, Edward shook his head.
"Impossible, Ritz."
"Why not?"
Edward sighed.
"Someone of the royal bloodline can get out."
"Huh?"
"You can use royal blood to get outside. In other words, only someone with royal blood can escape from there."
Ritz, Franz, and Anna were all commoners. They didn't have a single drop of royal blood flowing in their veins.
"Then what happens to us?"
"I don't know. But in the records I searched again, it seems many people who weren't of royal blood have also made it out. I have no idea what happens inside."
"…So in other words, we have to get out on our own?"
"Exactly. And once you escape, my brother and his collaborators should be there. I'll get out a bit ahead of you. I'll wait for you there. I'll try to stall them somehow, so do your best to get out."
Ritz realized that the vague, unpleasant feeling he'd had was right on the money.
"What're you gonna do if we can't get out?"
"Then both you and I will be empty shells, or dead."
"Isn't there any hint on how to get out?"
Edward stared back at Ritz with his pale, light-blue eyes. From that look alone, he somehow knew the answer.
There was probably no such thing.
But contrary to his expectations, Edward muttered as if recalling something.
"Come to think of it, I heard something like this. 'If one trapped in the Infinite Nightmare possesses the qualifications of a true king, they shall be released'… or so it's said."
"What the hell is that…"
Ritz was at a loss. In the end, didn't that just mean you had to have royal blood? But Edward didn't seem to think so.
"I don't think the qualifications of a true king are about royal blood. If that were the case, all royals would get out safely, right? But there are many royals who couldn't get out. On the other hand, many non-royals have managed to escape. Besides, if royals could get out unconditionally, why are kings taught a way out?"
It was true. The fact that the king, the pinnacle of royalty, was taught a method of escape meant it was a measure to ensure the king could get out if he were ever trapped.
"So what do you think the qualifications are, Ed?"
At Ritz's question, Edward made a gesture as if to say he was at a loss.
"This is no time for jokes!"
"I really am at a loss. But it probably has something to do with the kingly qualities of the person who enters. Watching you, Anna, and Franz, I realized something. Maybe if the three of you are together, you might have what it takes."
"…What's your basis for that?"
"Anna can compensate for your negative aspects, and Franz can compensate for Anna's lack of caution. And you can compensate for Franz's fear. In the first place, there's never been a story of multiple people entering the Infinite Nightmare. So maybe the three of you will be recognized as one person."
"Kingly qualities, huh…"
Ritz remembered Edward from when they first met. From the very beginning, Edward had something different about him.
Eyes of wisdom that saw into the far distance, and an air of confidence. He couldn't help but feel that those were things the three of them lacked.
As Ritz fell into thought, Edward smiled apologetically.
"My apologies. I never thought my brother would make a move now. It was my own naivety."
He knew Edward's anguish, so he couldn't just walk away. Besides, a part of him felt like he knew this would happen.
If it was Edward who started the struggle for the throne, and it was Edward's duty to end it, then Ritz honestly felt it was his duty to see it through to the end.
Even after all this time and distance, Ritz was still aware that he was Edward Baldia's right-hand man.
That awareness had only grown stronger by spending time together. There was no way Ritz could walk away now.
"When do you think they'll make their move?"
"Sometime tonight."
"So, when we wake up, we'll be inside that thing."
"Probably."
If they fled the mansion right now, they could avoid getting involved. But then they wouldn't be able to get to the mastermind. That would be meaningless.
He wanted to let Anna and Franz escape, but that would alert them. So for tonight, it would be best to pretend they knew nothing and sleep quietly.
He truly felt sorry for Anna and Franz, but he would have to ask them to help Edward.
He couldn't say cool things like it was for the good of the country, but he felt that the two of them would understand.
"Guess I've got no choice. I'll let myself get dragged into it. But in exchange, you better pay up big once we get to the Royal Capital."
At Ritz's cheerful declaration, Edward also laughed.
"Of course I'll pay up. I'll give you a reward and a position."
"I don't need a position!"
With the atmosphere finally lightening, the two poured more bourbon and clinked their glasses.
"A toast to the success of this operation."
At Ritz's bright toast, Edward laughed, then muttered seriously.
"Let's hope we both make it through this in one piece."
"Yeah, you're right."
When they awoke from their night's sleep, the labyrinth, the Infinite Nightmare, would awaken as well… That was the only future they knew.
In a dark, draftless basement, the flames of candles flickered and swayed. Was it the tense breathing of the people here that made the air tremble?
"There is no turning back, you know?"
The hooded man stared at the other man.
"I am aware. My life is short. There is no point in fearing now. If I do not strike a blow against that man, I cannot die in peace."
His throat seemed to have been damaged, for the old man whispered in a hoarse voice.
"I have allowed them to enjoy their last supper. It is my mercy. They should be satisfied."
At the center of a circle of ten candles was a multifaceted object like a mirror. It swayed and cast off light in time with the flames.
That form… was undoubtedly the Infinite Nightmare.
"Well then, Your Highness, shall we begin?"
The hooded man, in a tone both respectful and threatening, urged the man on and handed him a small knife. Without so much as looking at the ornately decorated knife, the man casually drew it from its sheath. He plunged the dully gleaming tip into his own finger without any hesitation, then pulled it out just as expressionlessly.
From the fresh wound, blood began to well up… drip by drip. The man seemed to feel no pain. Or perhaps even that pain was being replaced by the joy of the revenge to come…
As he let the oozing blood drip, drop by drop, onto the Infinite Nightmare, it began to glow beautifully, eventually illuminating the surroundings more brightly than the candle flames.
After a long period of being sealed, the Infinite Nightmare was quietly reawakening.
Into the silent room, a peal of laughter echoed—first low, then growing louder. It was the man who was laughing.
His pure white hair was a mess, and his eyes, buried in deep wrinkles, were bloodshot and gleaming with an eerie light.
"Edward!! Now is the time to taste the suffering I have endured!"