kscans

Chapter 45 - Chapter 5, Part 1. The Reason

"I'm sorry. I always seem to make you worry, Ricardo-kun. But I'm all right. I'm just a little tired."

In a room in the grand ducal residence, Alfina spoke as she sat up in a four poster bed. She was fully conscious, and her words were clear. I felt a small sense of relief.

Still, on her skin, as white as porcelain, her blue veins stood out.

"I heard you collapsed while you were facing the crystal."

"...I thought if I could just get a slightly clearer image. I pushed myself a little too hard."

Problem number one, the crystal places a burden on its user. What's more, the deeper one tries to see into a prophecy, the greater the strain. The more one tries to confirm information, the more energy it requires. This principle is universal, unchanging from physics to business.

"Which means you were in a situation where you felt you had to do so."

"Senpai, right now..."

Mia tried to stop me. But I looked intently at Alfina.

"............That's right. We still haven't even been able to specify where the calamity will occur."

Problem number two, their attempts to deal with the prophecy were not going well. And number three...

"Alfina-sama, could you please tell me the reason you are so devoted to your duties as the Oracle Princess?"

I cut straight to the heart of the matter. Dalgan's words came back to me. Gathering information on people was a habit of mine, born from a constant concern for self preservation. In other words, collecting information from people was a form of investigation. That's why I had hesitated to look into someone I was close to.

If I was worried, I should have just asked her directly. I had already declared to the Grand Duchess that I would help. There was nothing to hold me back.

"Because it is a role that only I can fulfill."

If she failed to fulfill that role, Alfina, who carried the blood of rebels, would have no standing. But if that were the case, there would have been no reason for her to defy the king's will and publicize the previous prophecy. Of course, she was trying to fulfill her duty as an oracle to protect the people. There was surely no mistake about that.

I couldn't believe there was any falsehood in the worried expression she wore as she watched the villagers in Leylia.

"Regarding the prophecy, would it be conceited of me to think that I, too, have a role that only I can fulfill?"

"No. ......................We could never have prevented the last calamity without your help, Ricardo-kun. But I cannot rely on you for everything."

Alfina shook her head at my words.

"Besides, what happened this time is truly my responsibility for pushing myself too hard."

Those who stand above others bear the heavy responsibility of managing their own physical condition. I had no intention of denying that. But for that very reason, I wanted to lighten the cause of that strain, even if only a little. As a strategic response, that was the correct course of action... No, that's not what this is about right now.

I took a deep breath.

"Before coming here, I saw two reliefs at the Forum. One belonged to the royal family. We saw it together the other day, Alfina-sama. And the other belonged to the Grand Ducal House of Bertold."

"......!"

Silence fell over the room. I could see Alfina clenching the sheets tightly.

The reliefs were symbols of honor for the royal family and the great nobles who built the Forum, serving as a kind of family portrait. On each of the two reliefs, there was a section that had been erased. This meant that the figures depicted there were later treated as if they had never existed.

The emperors of ancient Rome were assassinated so frequently one might think it was their job, but few were subjected to this. It was a thorough form of punishment. The erasure from all records.

The two people, or rather, the man and woman who had been erased from the two reliefs were, of course...

What came next was not something I should say. I waited quietly for Alfina's reaction.

"My father... went against the opposition of everyone around him... to marry my mother. He never regretted it. And my mother was grateful to him until the very end..."

After a period of silence, Alfina finally spoke. I listened quietly without a word. Alfina haltingly recounted her life of confinement in the Royal Capital. She sounded lonely, but I could feel the strong love she held for her parents in her tone.

"No matter what anyone says, my father and mother were a happy couple. That's why..."

Alfina's parents were treated as if they had never existed, just like in those reliefs. Their marriage record in the cathedral had probably been erased as well.

"I don't wish to restore my father and mother's honor. I just want it to be known that a happy couple did exist, that's all..."

A nation is composed of many people with different standpoints. And a nation's policies must, in principle, be unified. Both of these are facts, and even I, who complains that this country's policies are too strict, too rigid, cannot deny them.

However, these two facts naturally contradict each other. Someone always gets the short end of the stick. Take Pedro from the other day, for example. As a manager of apiculture, Pedro showed exceptional talent. He has what you might call an aptitude for change. But he probably wasn't like that as a farmer.

Within the way of life of a village centered on agriculture, which values repetition and stability, Pedro would have been a problem in many ways. This isn't an issue of the village being too conservative or Pedro being inconsiderate.

When many people act as a single organization, it is, to a greater or lesser extent, inevitable. There are ways to mitigate it, just as Pedro found his place through beekeeping. One of the goals of the general trading company I aim to create is to increase the number of such niches.

But that is merely a matter of making things better. It cannot be reduced to zero.

In the first place, I myself have lived within a stability created as a result of such sacrifices. That was fundamentally the same not just in this world, but in my previous one as well. I'll change it because I don't like it, but I can't deny it as evil.

So, it's fine for Alfina's father to be shunned. If his presence is a problem, it can't be helped if he's removed by force. As long as it's understood to be out of necessity, I think even heartlessness is unavoidable.

To say "don't do that" is to ask of others what I cannot do myself.

But to act as if something that existed never existed at all, that is going too far.

"............"

"The couple erased from the reliefs, their forgotten child contributes to the nation as the Oracle Princess. That would serve as proof that their marriage was not a mistake, is that it?"

It was absurd logic, turning cause and effect on its head. It might even be akin to the hysterics of a child who cannot accept reality.

"............Yes. It is my own selfish wish. That is why..."

That's why I can't cause trouble for the rest of you. So that was it.

"Yes, that's your ego. It seems I have no reason to help you, Alfina-sama."

"Yes..."

"Senpai!?"

"In that case, let us begin by identifying the location where the calamity will strike."

"Ricardo-kun?"

"Senpai??"

Mia, who had been flustered, and Alfina, who had been looking down, both stared at me with bewildered eyes.

"There is nothing strange about it. Nations and individuals each have their own standpoints, circumstances, and wills. And that is fine. Alfina's ego, as long as it exists as an ego, has a right to exist. That is a fact, just as it is a fact that your parents existed. And if I find your ego disagreeable, I will use my own ego to obstruct it."

The nation has an ego. I have an ego. The two clash. One cannot deny that egos exist, nor that they will clash. It is simply the way things are. Otherwise, it wouldn't be an ego.

And then, whether through negotiation or battle, I will deal with it in the most efficient way possible. This is what I call self preservation. But my principle of action this time is a little simpler.

"Ricardo-kun. That is why..."

"My reason for lending my strength this time has nothing to do with you, Alfina-sama."

I declared. Alfina's expression became one of desperate thought.

"Is it because you are thinking of the country, Ricardo-kun..."

"No. It is much simpler. I am grateful to Claus Bertold and Sophia Fellbach. For the reason that they brought a friend of mine into this world."

I'm a loner, after all. So the shape of my ego is a little different. The value of a single friend is, relatively speaking, enormous. Just like how a single copper coin is precious to a poor man. What's more, she is...

"!"

At my declaration, Alfina lowered her head.

"Now then, for the sake of my own selfish reasons, let's have that information."

I said. Alfina's shoulders trembled as she looked down. After a moment, her head moved in a slight, vertical nod.

"First, the prophecy... What is it, Mia, why are you pushing me. We were just about to--"

"I get it. I get it. I fully understand that you're being your usual twisted, strategist self. Please just step outside the room for a bit, until Alfina-sama has calmed down."

Mia kicked me out of the room. That's strange. All I did was state my own desires.

It was fifteen minutes later that Mia opened the door and permitted me to reenter.