Survivors

50th Episode

…Truly, there is nothing.

I am currently at the place where the Kingdom of Clamor once stood.

I followed the map and arrived with precision, yet nothing remains here.

Not a single trace hints that a kingdom was ever here.

No rubble.

No corpses.

The vast, desolate wilderness stretched on, endlessly.

And here I was, with the survey team, of all things.

Did I even need to come?

“Your Excellency, the mages of the Magic Tower report no residual magical energy, but advise maintaining a safe distance from the presumed epicenter, just in case.”

Ah, that makes sense.

Wouldn’t want to get caught up in some leftover whatever and die for nothing. Best to listen to them.

But why is Francesca suddenly using honorifics with me?

Not that it bothers me, exactly, but the formality feels a little…off. I glance over, and she suddenly winks.

What’s with that?

“Only when we’re alone do you call me by my name.”

Not that you need to, really.

Anyway, I’d come, but there wasn’t anything *I* could do, or rather, anything I *was* doing, so I ended up sitting in the tent set up by the Royal Guard, blankly watching my siblings working, killing time.

Angela was yelling at the mages of the Magic Tower, activating some strangely-shaped arcane device, while Karl was squatting with his apprentices, kneading the soil with a serious expression.

Come to think of it, isn’t this the first time all three of us siblings have been deployed on the same operation?

In that case, it’s quite the monumental day.

Even if I myself am doing nothing.

“…Minister. Are you sure you’re alright with this?”

At John’s question, surfacing from the shadows behind his owl mask, I nod.

Of course I’m alright. It’s perfectly fine for me to do nothing.

It’s not like I came here thinking I’d be of any use in the first place.

My capable siblings will handle the investigation.

All I can do is wait quietly, so as not to get in the way.

“…Understood.”

John answered in a tone that sounded remarkably unconvinced before melting back into the shadows.

Hours passed after that, perhaps several.

Then, the phenomenon arose with sudden ferocity.

—

Angela was the first to sense the anomaly.

If you were to ask why, she would only be able to answer that it was instinctive.

The moment she felt it, Angela channeled her magic to its maximum, instantly conjuring thousands of ice lances and unleashing them towards a single point.

It was an attack executed by the Empire’s foremost mage.

The scale and power were of a different dimension compared to ordinary magic.

Even so, it was too late.

Utterly too late.

‘What…!?’

Angela’s eyes widened, flooded with dismay.

The ice lances she had unleashed were suspended in mid-air.

No, perhaps suspended wasn’t quite the right word.

The lances were undoubtedly still moving forward.

At a maddeningly sluggish pace.

“Ho, not bad. So there was a mage of this caliber in this era, was there?”

Standing where the tips of her ice lances were aimed was a man draped in robes.

Judging by his voice, somewhere between middle and old age.

Sensing danger, Angela tried to cast another spell, but she couldn’t.

Like her ice lances, her body too had been ‘slowed.’

‘What in the world…?!’

Unable to even move her eyeballs as she pleased, she looked at those who fell within her limited field of vision.

Those who belatedly noticed the anomaly wore expressions of obvious bewilderment, but, like Angela, they were unable to move as they wished.

In the meantime, the man walked past them as if nothing was amiss.

It was then that Angela saw it clearly.

The black gem he held in his hand.

‘The nature of that mana… it’s that…!’

Although she hadn’t been present at the dark auction, Angela, recalling the quality of mana she had sensed from afar, instinctively knew the gem the man held was of the same kind.

But that was all.

No matter how hard she wracked her brain, no solution came to mind.

With neither body nor mana cooperating, there was no way to know what was happening behind her.

She could only wait helplessly.

After what felt like an eternity, Angela finally returned to normal and took a deep, desperate breath.

Then, she turned her head in haste.

And she understood.

The worst had come to pass.

“Brother!”

Ervin was gone.

Along with the man who held the jewel.

—

The scenery seemed to invert, then everything visible transformed in a single instant.

Space transference, perhaps?

I’d heard it was incredibly advanced magic. I hope he managed to follow along alright.

Feeling a touch of dizziness, I righted my vision and surveyed my surroundings.

It looked like the inside of a cabin at first glance, but seeing as there were no windows, the other side of the door likely wasn’t the outdoors.

It was more likely constructed, or perhaps built, within a larger interior space.

Various objects were arranged in an ordinary fashion, but aside from the chair in front of the fireplace, there was little sense of habitation.

Judging by the amount of accumulated dust, it had been abandoned for quite some time; perhaps this place itself was seized from someone.

Though such things weren’t of great importance.

What mattered was that with what was presently visible, it was difficult to discern my current location.

Having lightly concluded my observation, I attempted to rise, only for a rope to slither out from somewhere and bind my body.

I remained seated without resisting, and the black jewel in the hand of the man who brought me here crumbled into dust.

The man, however, didn’t seem to mind; instead of reacting to the shattered jewel, he frantically rummaged through the table in front of the fireplace, searching for something.

He found a bottle, opened it, and gulped down its contents before letting out a sigh of relief.

“Hoo, that was close.”

The man, having removed his hood, appeared to be middle-aged.

Though the age he appeared to be likely wasn’t his real age.

His face was obscured by the hood, but I could see his hands.

They now had the same feeling as when he brought me here, but immediately after the space transference, they were visibly aged.

I could roughly guess what he had just drunk.

“Ah, pardon my manners. Let me introduce myself. My name is Kaios. I am the leader of Oblivion.”

I appreciated him stating his name and affiliation first, unlike that girl from the Oracle, and I opened my mouth to introduce myself as well.

“Ervin Barmut.”

“I know. Minister of the Imperial Information Department and holder of the title of Archduke, are you not?”

That’s something even a back-alley urchin could find out with a little investigation, so it was nothing to be surprised about.

“So, why have you brought me to a place like this?”

“To talk. Or, more accurately, to make an offer…I confess, I’m rather surprised. You, the master of Laplace’s Demon?”

So, he did know about Laplace’s Demon.

I regretted pretending and stood up, the rope that had bound me slithering to the floor.

Kaios gave a sound of admiration.

“Hah, I’ve been thoroughly tricked. If you were its master, the Replica’s power wouldn’t have worked at all. You didn’t come here kidnapped, but of your own accord?”

Correct.

That’s right.

I expected him to use a False Star, but I didn’t know which one, so I had to carefully observe my surroundings.

Thanks to Angela, I noticed it right away, but if I had been even a little careless, the timing might have been off.

“So, what will you do? Send me back?”

“Hmm. I think I’ll refrain from that, for now. Your coming here of your own free will doesn’t greatly disrupt my plans. First, shall we take a walk?”

I nodded, and Kaios led the way, opening the door and stepping through.

Does he know I have no means of attack? Or does he know I have no intention of attacking?

If neither, perhaps he’s simply confident.

As expected, beyond the door wasn’t outside, but another space entirely. The moment Kaios appeared, cries of anguish and desperation, lamentations and pleas, erupted from all sides.

“Food?”

“You’ve already figured that out, have you? I find myself wanting you even more. Tell me, did you also discern which star my Replica was based on?”

“Sloth, most likely.”

Sloth’s original ability is time stop.

The ‘slowing’ from before must have been an imperfect recreation of that.

“Curious. The records of this era aren’t particularly detailed regarding the stars…how do you know all this?”

“Do you think I’ll answer?”

At my words, Kaios chuckled.

“No need to answer. We can discuss the details after you’ve become a comrade.”

Kaios opened a door in a wall, past the noisy space, and a warm light spilled out.

The place we entered beyond the second door reminded me of Fraus Cathedral.

Except it had many shapes with blasphemous nature.

“Do you hate the gods?”

“Hate them? Of course. Don’t you?”

No different, really.

“Before you even mention ‘persuasion,’ let me ask. Oblivion. Who are you people?”

If my hunch is correct, they’re probably a case like Asero Kerke.

They are—

“We are—”

Survivors of a former—

“Of a former—”

Era.

“Era.”

Kaiohs answered.