#68 Phantom Dauphin (12) – Approaching Deadline
Izehern Empire. Capital, Kalastia.
Golden Cloud Palace, the Crown Prince’s residence.
“But tell me, isn’t this Mana Weaving business dangerous if it spreads indiscriminately?”
“Hm?”
“Doesn’t it allow even ordinary commoners to gain immense power? If all the commoners in the kingdom possess Knight-level strength, wouldn’t that be a threat not only to the kingdom, but to the Empire here as well?”
Lucidra’s question prompted the Crown Prince to stroke his chin in contemplation before replying.
“The Empire already teaches Mana Weaving to regular soldiers. Ah, not conscripts, of course, only professional soldiers. Don’t misunderstand.”
“…”
“From the beginning, Mana Weaving isn’t a power that allows just anyone to suddenly become strong simply by learning it. Some can learn to emit *geomgi* after just a year, while others can barely manage clumsy body enhancements even after more than ten years. If the effects vary so drastically depending on individual aptitude, then it’s more efficient to apply it to as many candidates as possible and nurture the most talented among them, wouldn’t you say?”
If Mana Weaving was exclusively taught to family members, as the nobles of the Virka Kingdom did, or to retainers and private soldiers who had been thoroughly trained in loyalty and obedience from childhood, the pool of talent would be severely limited.
On the other hand, if Mana Weaving were simply released to the general populace affiliated with the state, the number of attempts would increase, as would the number of successes.
No, even if there are no successes, it is advantageous from the perspective of the country’s military strength.
Even soldiers with little aptitude for Mana become slightly stronger than if they had not learned it.
So, why doesn’t the Virka Kingdom use this method?
“Because the country is a mess. They are afraid of giving power to ordinary people indiscriminately.”
The Virka Kingdom is a problematic nation.
Discord rings with every sort of dissonance here, enough to make you wonder why the whole damn thing hasn’t imploded.
Still, it doesn’t.
Because the upper echelons monopolize violence, or more accurately, because they crush everyone with the terror of it.
“So, you’re going to give people the power to fight by revealing the secrets of mana manipulation?”
“Well, if you ask me, that’s just a side effect. Not the core reason. Though, I guess it’ll help some.”
The Crown Prince held his tongue.
To discuss what came next would be more akin to a conversation between a Sarnossian rogue and a guard, not the Empire’s Crown Prince.
*
“It’s Dauphin! Dauphin has appeared!”
“Knew it. There’s no way Dauphin would just die like that!”
About three days after Dauphin was stopped by Dahlia.
He reappeared with a flourish, completely overturning the whispers that he’d certainly drowned in the river, succeeding once again in a brazen act that earned him curses from the nobles and cheers from the common folk.
But that was short-lived.
The very next day, Dauphin’s attempt was thwarted by Dahlia, who had a subordinate impersonate him while she hid elsewhere.
“Oho, now he’s starting to use his head? I’ll admit, relying purely on strength made him look like a bit of a boar!”
“Who! Are you! Calling a boar!”
*KWA-AANG!*
A small bridge was destroyed in the process of the battle, a real disaster. But both the protected target and their assets were safe, so if one were to objectively judge the outcome, Dahlia was the clear victor.
Of course, Dauphin didn’t just fail every time.
“This time I’ll catch y–”
*CRUNCH! SPLASH!*
“C, Captain!”
“Hahaha! One should always watch their step in the dark, wouldn’t you agree?”
One day, he tricked Dahlia into falling into the river, buying himself enough time to successfully pull off his crime. Another day, he lured Dahlia away with a phantom doppelganger created with magical tools, while he punished his true target somewhere else.
“Currently, the score is 20 to 14? Dauphin has a pretty good lead.”
“Still, the guard’s response time and overall capabilities have improved a lot recently. And as time goes on, the list of targets will dwindle, making things even harder for Dauphin.”
“Couldn’t sleep one night, so I was having a beer, and I saw Dauphin and the 8th Squad Leader chasing each other across the rooftops. Best entertainment I’ve had in ages.”
“What? You lucky b*stard! I haven’t seen it even once!”
Things had reached a point where some of the citizens of Levreuk saw the rivalry between Dauphin and Dahlia as a form of entertainment, even going out of their way to watch it at night.
A truly absurd situation from the guard’s perspective.
“Is *that* the right reaction, with the guard and the thief going at each other like that?”
“It’s better than getting treated like dirt just for stopping Dauphin like we used to. I mean, sure, there are still some who see us as just getting in the way, but it’s way better than before, right?”
Dauphin’s escapades, judged solely on efficiency, were excessively wasteful and flamboyant.
Sometimes he’d use a giant kite to descend from the sky onto his target. Other times he’d walk across the river as if it were solid ground. He’d use special paints to make buildings appear to vanish, or use tricks to conjure buildings that didn’t exist at all.
At first, his crimes only occurred at night, but the timing grew bolder. He’d snatch targets right in the middle of the day, while people were working and going about their business.
Dauphin’s deeply showman-like behavior caused a sense of excitement, and ironically, it also had the effect of turning the guard’s image into a caricature.
They went from being the righteous force thwarting evil to rivals who just kept getting outsmarted by Dauphin.
Those whose names ended up on the list pestered Dahlia and the guard, but it didn’t damage Dahlia’s position.
Those targets weren’t fools either. They grouped together and tightened security, and sometimes even brought knights from their estates to try and capture Dauphin. But every attempt ended in utter failure.
Every other force that tried ended in a complete defeat, while Dahlia, in any event, was always going back and forth with Dauphin.
It was obvious which side people believed in and depended on.
People rejoiced and despaired at Dauphin and Dahlia’s stories, and the other guard units, who at first resented her and the 8th squad, slowly began to try and act friendly.
And Dahlia would confide the various emotions she felt during this process to the man.
“Honestly, it’s so shameless. All those insults—no, not even insults, more like open mockery right to my face. To think, all the people who were slinging insults and hatred, now suddenly flipping their hands over the moment we seem to be doing well.”
“Well, isn’t that proof that the guard lady is doing well?”
“If this is proof, then I’d rather decline it.”
Dahlia hadn’t always been like this.
She didn’t visit ‘his’ house every holiday, and sometimes they only shared superficial, businesslike conversation. She felt like she was being shallow by constantly opening up her heart.
But like water constantly flowing from a dam that’s been breached, Dahlia’s feelings towards ‘him’ were the same.
He always listened to Dahlia’s stories with a calm demeanor, and even when Dahlia complained, or whined, or showed her ugly side, he never changed his attitude, but responded to the conversation in an open and honest way.
Duty, sense of mission, discipline, order.
For Dahlia, who had tied herself up with these things, and who had always suppressed negative feelings without ever expressing them, a relationship where she could just show her comfortable self and open up her heart was more addictive than any drug.
Was that why?
She brought up stories that she would have rather died than speak of if she was her old self.
“Sometimes, really, just sometimes… I get this thought. That it would be good if this situation could continue forever.”
‘He’ silently waited for Dahlia to continue speaking.
Neither urging nor questioning, just his calm gaze, led Dahlia to confess a story that she could never tell in front of others.
“I, who wasn’t recognized in the guard and who was always an outsider, am now in an important role. My subordinates, who suffered under a useless captain, are now being treated better than before. The impudent upper-class residents are watching their behavior, and the other squads are working hard, watching the higher-ups’ every move. There are even more people on the list who are voluntarily asking the victims for forgiveness.”
It’s not that there aren’t those who still support Dauphin and treat Dahlia like an obstacle.
It’s not that there aren’t those who blame Dahlia for not catching a thief quickly.
But, even so.
Looking at the city of LeBroucq as a whole, there seem to be fewer who wallow in despair, and a vibrancy, indefinable, has filled the city.
Even though Dahlia diligently carries out her duties and apprehends criminals, the city’s countenance, which had remained unchanged, seems to be slowly improving.
So, just a little, only a very little, but Dahlia couldn’t help but entertain the thought.
Was Dophin actually right, after all?
As if ashamed of such a notion, Dahlia covered her face with both hands.
“…How pathetic. I’ve been chanting about order and discipline, insisting that people shouldn’t be spurred on by unjust methods, and yet, now that things seem to be improving because of his presence, I so easily want to flip my hand.”
The belief she had so vehemently championed, the mindset she had always considered to be righteous, Dahlia could no longer hold onto it with unwavering conviction.
Was it not that she truly thought it ‘right’ and thus defended it, but merely that she told herself there was no other way, that this was the best option, justifying her surrender and resignation with excuses?
Was it not that she simply lacked the resolve to fight, turning a blind eye to the answer while blaming others?
To Dahlia’s words, akin to a confession, ‘he’ spoke.
“Guard girl.”
Yes, he always called Dahlia ‘Guard girl.’
Even though he must know her name, he had never once called her Dahlia, nor had he ever asked her name.
And it was the same for Dahlia.
She always referred to him as ‘You’ or ‘Jester Sir,’ never once asking his name.
As if it were an unspoken rule.
“Dophin’s actions are unconventional. He is an outlaw, shamelessly imposing his own brand of justice outside the bounds of the law.”
“That is why people find his actions exhilarating and cheer him on. But Guard girl, you must remember one thing above all else.”
“─A phantom thief can shatter order, but they cannot create a new one.”
Dahlia gasped.
“If an order is so warped, so rusted, so twisted that it torments people merely by existing, then it is better that it be destroyed.”
“But that does not mean that order itself is unnecessary. If someone shatters an order, then someone must build a new one in its place.”
“The phantom thief is powerless in this task. Because the very existence of the phantom thief is a symbol of ‘my own sense of justice is more important than any law.'”
“Who would obey a law created by an outlaw who does not obey the law himself?”
Dahlia unconsciously looked at his right arm.
Whenever ‘he’ spoke like this, as if he were Dophin himself, she went through the process of convincing herself.
It’s alright.
When Dophin’s right arm was broken, he was using his right arm perfectly fine.
So, the two are different.
Even if there had been suspicious circumstances after that incident, even if Dauphin, handling all sorts of bizarre contraptions, might have had a way to move a broken arm, it had to be different.
It *had* to be.
“So, don’t degrade yourself too much. You are someone who can accomplish things the Phantom Dauphin cannot.”
“I… I’m not such an amazing person.”
“No, you are an amazing person. At least, that’s how I see it.”
*Of course, if the young guardswoman can’t trust my judgment, well, nothing I can do,* the man shrugged with a playful air, and Dahlia shot him a resentful look.
To say something like that… how was she supposed to deny it?
That conversation was the last of the day.
Dahlia’s head was still a mess, but she shook it, banishing such stray thoughts.
There would be another chance to talk.
She could resolve her lingering questions then.
That’s what Dahlia thought.
“—A knight order is coming from the Count’s estate.”
The company commander’s deathly utterance the next day caused her to freeze, almost without realizing it.
The moment to settle the accounts she’d been avoiding, putting off, was finally approaching.