Honestly, I think the idea of the Papal State was quite a clever way to go.
It was obvious they treated human lives like mechanical parts, but isn’t this the kind of era we’re in? Plus, in these kinds of worlds, it’s pretty common for religious folk to act more inhuman than anyone else.
Of course, the religion here isn’t strong enough to dominate the world; they were in a position where they were being judged instead. Still, the collective mania of their subculture religion insisting it must be the Goddess is too precious not to use as material.
But let me reiterate: I had infinite opportunities.
As long as I could say a word or maintain consciousness, I had more than enough time to get a response. Even if it was some magic that would lead to my instant demise that the healing device couldn’t fix.
Gargle!
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve made that sound.
I rewound time repeatedly while dragging the Cardinal all around the room. I wanted answers from him, and I pointed with my remaining hand as well. Luckily, the Cardinal had a few seconds left to suffer before dying, which was enough time to make vague guesses about what he wanted to say.
“…….”
Was it the twelfth time or so?
From that point, I didn’t even bother to ask the Cardinal any questions.
The place the Cardinal pointed to before his demise was a bookshelf in a corner of the first-floor hall.
It was a bookshelf stuck with various versions of scriptures, both big and small.
How classic!
Could it be that one of those books would open if I pushed or pulled it?
But it seemed the Papal State had some tricks up their sleeve too; even after pulling out each scripture, I couldn’t find a switch book. The bookshelf didn’t turn sideways to reveal a secret door, nor did the floor suddenly drop away revealing a passage to the underground.
I glanced back at the Cardinal once more.
He was still alive. I hadn’t asked any questions this time, so I thought it was okay.
It was clear from our few questions that he had consistently pointed to the bookshelf; it meant there was a method here, but… perhaps it was a more complicated method. Something that required a lengthy explanation as he coughed up blood.
Hmmm.
Lost in thought, I stared down at the last scripture I had pulled out.
Without asking anyone any questions—at least that’s what it would have looked like to those around me—I randomly started checking the bookshelf, and the Cardinal and the knights looked extremely puzzled. I wondered if this was enough to be judged as ‘leaking secrets,’ but none of them had coughed up blood yet.
In fact, there was enough time to read through the scriptures entirely. Maybe I could find a passage to read out loud, or perhaps change the order of the scriptures… something like that might work.
If not…
Suddenly, I thought about the Cardinal’s one remaining arm on the second floor.
Hmm.
*
I learned a bit about the basics of magic in this world, but magic has its intricacies just like the laws of physics.
Physics laws may seem like easy-to-understand formulas at first glance, comprising absolute truths, but as we delve into the microscopic world, we get tangled up in quantum mechanics and face absurdly difficult concepts that are hard for us to grasp. Similarly, the rules of magic are more complex than just reciting spells.
So, I don’t really know why the “Cardinal’s severed right hand” would activate this mechanism. Would the Cardinal have needed to be alive to touch the scriptures, or did they just have his fingerprint or something registered?
Well, I don’t need to think about such rules, right?
Those kinds of thoughts are for the creators. As someone using it, I just need it to open up and that’s it.
“In the end, your greed was your downfall.”
I threw the leftover right hand at the Cardinal as I spoke. I didn’t know if a right hand that vanished like that could be reattached, but hey, he’d figure it out himself.
Startled, the Cardinal reflexively caught his own severed right hand and dropped it on the ground. For someone who was just about to kill kids with a Gryphon, he looked rather queasy.
“You wanted control over that powerful beast known as the Gryphon, and you needed to be here for that control. If you had just left your knights behind and ran away from the beginning, everything would have been resolved.”
It’s possible he thought there might have been some alternative method.
If he was wary of ‘me,’ he might have thought that I possessed such incredible ability that I could see through all these side tricks.
Certainly, to those who couldn’t see my actual gaze, I must still appear that way.
Among my companions, the ones looking at me with a strange gaze were Alice, Claire, and Leo. These three had already caught on to my abilities to some extent after watching me fight. Especially Alice, who seemed to know exactly what kind of abilities I had.
The other kids… well, they had pure looks of horror on their faces.
Yeah, I’d feel the same. If I entered a secret base and it turned out I had memorized the shortest route to this very spot, knowing all the important weaknesses of the battle and easily disabling the enemies, while also finding a hidden space from the start, even I would scream, “This makes no sense!”
But what can you do?
It’s already happened.
“…….”
I glanced around at the kids who were gaping at me and looked back at the open floor.
At the center of the hall where the Gryphon had been earlier.
The door there was wide open.
It was a place I hadn’t seen in the original work.
So, there must have been a reason why the Gryphon was ‘there.’
Was it a space hastily created by the Papal State using magic?
“……Shall we go together?”
When I asked my companions like that, they all turned to look at each other.
And when they looked back at me, there was not a single trace of the bewilderment from before.
They all nodded silently.
I also nodded back for no reason.
*
It was quite a spacious area for being quickly made. However, it wasn’t neatly organized like the upper space either.
It felt like a space hastily constructed to hide something, meant for securing ‘safety in the depth.’
…Did the Emperor hide something here in preparation for attacking the Papal State? Perhaps he had picked a hard-to-attain location for hiding rather than being looted within the Papal State.
From my perspective, that was quite a brilliant thought.
“This is……”
In the pitch-black darkness, something was faintly shining.
It looked like whatever it was had cracks like it had been broken, but part of it was ‘clearly’ intact and completed.
“Could it be…?”
Alice muttered as she peered over my shoulder at the object.
“……Wait.”
I said as I held my hand up to stop the members behind me from getting too close.
That was….. ‘the Guardian.’
And it was even partially completed. Whether all the objects from the Papal State were dragged here to be completed, or if I had been incredibly busy gathering pieces while my mind was somewhere else, I couldn’t tell.
Of course, it was just a minuscule part, but— that segment looked ‘clearly’ complete enough to be recognizable.
The object that looked like a broken gear’s edge was quietly placed on a pedestal deep underground.
But that means—
Again.
*
Time had come back correctly.
My powers were not sealed.
At least the Masked Woman wasn’t here. That piece of the Guardian didn’t seem to function to block my powers either.
Why?
If they were relocating to hide from the Emperor, I would understand.
But there was always that Masked Woman appearing whenever the Guardian was present—
“Claire? What’s wrong?”
Claire peeked over my shoulder as she asked.
“……We need to be careful.”
I said that, and slowly began walking toward the Guardian.
As we got closer, the Guardian shone with increasing brightness.
It was as if it welcomed us, as if it had been waiting for our arrival—
…Ah.
No, that wasn’t it.
The existence the Guardian was ‘welcoming’ wasn’t me.
It wasn’t a matter of instinct or some sort of surreal occurrence.
The light pouring from the Guardian was aiming at the place behind me.
Specifically, it was directed towards Claire and Alice standing on either side of me.
And obviously, the light directed at Claire was much stronger.
“……Ha.”
Only then did I vaguely understand why the Emperor’s plans fell apart after Claire’s death in the game.
I’m losing it.
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