The game’s setting book was packed with numerous stories, but it wasn’t like a history book or a full biography of any character.
Especially, some of the important background settings were intentionally left out. Naturally, that’s because of spoilers.
But what if they had written a bit about the past of the Emperor and the Sword Saint? In the original, the Sword Saint dies in his cabin, and the Emperor never meets him again, so there were no dialogues between them. In fact, both characters weren’t present throughout the game. The Sword Saint teaches the protagonist an important lesson and then exits, while the Emperor is the final boss.
Particularly, the Sword Saint is a character you might not even meet in the first part unless you complete a hidden quest.
“Good then. I wasn’t in the mood to train today anyway.”
The Sword Saint said that to the Emperor while casting a glance at Jayden. Jayden flinched his shoulders.
He then moved his gaze again, this time looking at me.
“……”
I slightly bowed my head.
It was understandable. After seeing my remarkable talent and trailing after me, it would indeed be disappointing to find a ‘plain, talentless human’ upon reaching the palace. While his gaze might not seem like much at first glance, I figured the Sword Saint could hide his thoughts well.
“It’s been a while, so let’s drink and catch up.”
“Can the old man hold his liquor in the daytime?”
“Isn’t that exactly what you do, sitting around in the palace playing politics? You probably couldn’t even get drunk in front of others, so your liver is probably nice and clean.”
The Sword Saint answered back at the Emperor without losing an ounce of his stance and then turned towards us.
“I’ll continue training tomorrow. Don’t slack off just because I’m not here. That’s how you get lazy.”
“Understood!”
Jayden replied energetically, looking eager to redeem himself from today’s fiasco.
“Oh, right. Jayden.”
The Emperor said suddenly, as if he had just remembered something.
“I want to hear a report. Come see me as soon as you’re ready. We’ll both be there.”
After saying that, the Emperor glanced at me once and then turned away.
“Understood!”
Jayden replied vigorously and then added,
“Well then, Sylvia, see you tomorrow.”
He looked my way when he said that.
Of course, I didn’t reply.
*
Both Alice and Claire seemed to notice that I was acting a bit strange today. Alice had come to my room since morning, and Claire had felt it while training with me. Leo was the same.
All three managed to ask me in their own ways if I was okay, but I simply replied,
“I’m fine. Just… I’d like to rest a bit.”
I couldn’t share the details, so I just gave that answer and headed towards my room.
I was exhausted.
I knew it was all because of what I did. And as I thought earlier, it’s best to stay close to the Sword Saint and the Emperor for my own safety, no matter what happens.
But at this point, it was all just a hassle.
I just… wanted to sleep soundly.
I couldn’t sleep well worrying, plagued by nightmares, and my mind was all tangled up from not being able to meditate properly.
Ignoring the worries around me, I dashed into my room without even changing my clothes and threw myself onto the bed.
Lucas… Ah, right, it would be troublesome to be alone…
That was probably the last thing I thought before drifting off.
But what I should be worrying about wasn’t my body.
*
“Sylvia!”
The voice I heard right after the door burst open was from two people overlapping each other.
As I barely opened my eyes, I saw Claire and Alice looking at me with worried expressions.
“Are you hurt!?”
Claire asked.
“No, there’s no sign that anyone came in. Everything’s just as I saw it last.”
Alice looked around my room and said that, and only then did Claire seem to breathe a sigh of relief.
After blinking my eyes several times, I finally gained focus. At the door stood Leo, facing my direction with his back turned. Seeing him gripping the sword tightly, it looked like he was on guard while Alice and Claire came in.
“What’s going on…?”
“It’s an attack.”
Alice answered even before I could finish my question.
“An attack?”
“Was it Lucas?”
Claire’s words made Alice nod.
“Yeah, that’s right. It was Lucas. He had been in hiding for a while.”
That made my mind snap awake.
I sat straight up.
“Who’s the target?”
The Sword Saint? The Emperor? Judging by the fact that I was doing fine until Alice and Claire showed up, it seemed I wasn’t the target.
“The Inquisition.”
But Alice’s answer completely deviated from my expectations.
Not the Sword Saint, nor the Emperor, but the Inquisition.
Who in the world is there—ah.
“Exactly.”
Seeing the look of understanding dawn on my face, Alice nodded.
“Kiara Verati is still being held there.”
The Cathedral Knight they captured in the Northwood territory.
“What does Lucas want?”
“I don’t know either.”
Alice bit her lip slightly.
“We have to go.”
As I headed straight for the gun I had set aside, Alice grabbed my arm.
“Wait a moment, Sylvia.”
When I turned my head and met Alice’s gaze, she hesitated for a moment before speaking.
“Your condition…”
Claire too was watching me closely. All three of them, including Leo over there, had seen how horrible my condition was today.
But…
If Lucas had gone out of his way to find the ‘Papal State’s captive,’ then I had to know exactly what was happening. There might be something much more significant that I didn’t even think to ask about.
Plus, that masked woman who was still hiding around me.
Even though the picture wasn’t entirely clear with a few pieces missing, I could still see some contours forming in my mind as I tried to fit those pieces of the puzzle together.
“We have to go.”
As I emphasized my words once more, Alice looked at me for a moment and then nodded.
“Then we’ll go together.”
As much as I wanted to go alone, those three would never let me leave just like that.
Without the ability to rewind time, I wouldn’t be able to push through them.
“……”
And without that ability, I wouldn’t be able to protect all three of them.
But—
“…Alright. But under no circumstances, overdo it.”
“Who would say that?”
Alice answered with an exasperated tone to my words.
It’s all turned upside down because of me.
I absolutely had to see that situation.
And I also had a bit of faith.
Because inside this Imperial Palace, there were two people who wouldn’t overlook the existence of Lucas.
*
“…Why are you doing this?”
“There are several reasons.”
With the red-haired man in front of her, Kiara Verati backed away as far as she could, her back hitting the wall.
She knew that as a glorious knight of the Papal State, doing things like this was beneath her dignity, but Verati had a much more important mission.
At the very least, she could not die.
“I don’t know where to start,” the man stated, swinging his sword. Blood clung to the blade, and it splattered downwards. The blade was clean just from that. As if he couldn’t bear to see it become dirty.
Looking at the now-clean blade, Verati’s mouth fell slightly open.
“…Jerico’s sword.”
“Oh, you know? You really are a Cathedral Knight.”
Lucas raised the sword as if showing off. It was so sharp that it could cut through anything, yet it also had never seen the light of day.
Though it wasn’t a ‘treasure,’ it was a sword made with lost ancient magic, hence treated as a prized possession.
“…What about Antonio?”
“What do you think happened to him?”
As soon as Verati spoke the name of the sword’s last owner, Lucas shot back.
“At least, he wasn’t skilled enough to be the master of this sword.”
Creep. Verati gritted her teeth.
“When I headed toward the Papal State, I didn’t expect much. I just went there on a whim, thinking I might find a hint about what my future-reading brother was trying to say.”
Lucas shrugged.
“Surprisingly, there were all sorts of hints. It seemed like you all couldn’t even begin to imagine.”
“What do you mean by that?”
Lucas stared silently at the questioning Verati. Looking into his eyes, Verati felt goosebumps wash over her.
I’m going to die.
The man before her had no intention of sparing Verati.
“I was thinking of asking you the same thing, how about it?”
“I….”
Verati opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it again.
If the ‘interrogation’ was enough for those cardinals to open their mouths, then the ‘gentlemanly’ manner she’d seen thus far from the Empire would not be part of it.
That means…
“Well, if you’re not willing to talk—”
Just when Lucas took a step toward Verati,
“—Oops.”
Lucas quickly ducked.
A sword whooshed past the spot where Lucas’s head had been just a moment ago, flying straight ahead, scraping the ceiling above Verati’s head.
A few shards of stone plummeted down.
Lucas leaped back to create distance between himself and the presence behind him.
He turned around, and,
“Oh?”
He uttered a word of astonishment.
There stood a woman in a black robe with a smooth, white mask that only had two eye holes.
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