“Follow me. We’re going to the Imperial Palace.”
“Why to the Imperial Palace?”
“I need to report to His Majesty. It’s the safest place in the Institution.”
“Ah.”
As soon as we returned to the mansion, I got Emilia ready.
Fixing the entrance of the mansion would take at least a day, and there was no way I could sleep peacefully in a place where the Barrier was completely shattered.
Even if I managed to sleep comfortably, Emilia would probably stay up all night to protect me.
It seemed like I had to rely on the palace for just one night.
As a direct knight of the Emperor, I also had the duty to report directly, so I had to visit anyway.
‘But… is it really okay?’
Suddenly, I felt tense, remembering the faces of Sergey and Ludwig, who had looked at me as if I were ridiculous.
The two most influential professors at the Imperial University had pressured me to stay out of this incident.
Not only that, but they also told me to pretend I had never encountered the intruder…
Of course, I couldn’t do that.
It was clear what their scheme was.
But I had no idea what the aftermath of flatly rejecting the demands of Count Bermanstein and the former commander of the imperial army would be.
‘They wouldn’t seriously come after me, would they?’
I believed that educators wouldn’t resort to heinous acts against a student at this point in time.
No, I wanted to believe that.
“Brother… My maid’s outfit is completely torn and scorched, so I’m wearing this instead. I guess it’s not going to work out, right?”
Of course, if I was going to the palace as my attendant, I had to wear a maid’s outfit.
Just as I was about to tell her to shake off the soot-covered clothes,
“Of course—”
“Uh, sorry. I’ll come out in my scorched outfit.”
“No, it’s perfect.”
The moment I saw Emilia in her casual clothes, I was utterly mesmerized.
Her thin, airy top and the narrow skirt…
Oh, those were the clothes I bought her when we went out last time.
Wearing them together made it look just like the outfit of a modern secretary, and I remembered buying them.
Back then, Emilia had wondered what kind of fashion this was.
But now, looking at her all put together, I was convinced.
Emilia could pull off anything with style.
“Doesn’t something seem off? I’ve never seen clothes like this, and it’s my first time wearing them.”
“No. It looks just right. Super cute.”
“Hmm… Is this cute? I feel like there were other words besides cute.”
Emilia turned around in front of the mirror, glaring at me.
“Say that again. What is it?”
“C-Cute.”
“You really have no sense.”
“What…?”
“Forget it. Let’s go.”
“O-Okay…”
She seemed really irritable today.
Without knowing the reason, I was pushed out of the mansion by Emilia.
…
“Haha! We’ve both been bitten by our teaching student, haven’t we?”
“……”
While Sergey was laughing beside us, Ludwig silently puffed away at his pipe.
What could the problem be?
I thought I had warned them clearly with a threat.
Maybe my expression wasn’t threatening enough, which left me in a downtrodden mood.
“Where on earth did those monsters come from?”
“Professor, have you heard of the Übermensch Project?”
“Übermensch…?”
“Yes. It was a plan to create the strongest soldier by editing the internal circuits through surgery. You might not have heard of the project name, but you know the result well. It failed.”
The Übermensch Project.
It aimed to artificially reform the inherent internal circuits to create the most efficient and powerful soldier.
But internal circuit editing required surgery that involved cutting open the chest and directly placing a knife against the heart; very few survived it.
“No matter how many trials and errors were made, it was impossible to raise the survival rate above 0.1 percent. One out of a thousand… There were seven self-destructing soldiers that infiltrated the Imperial University today. That means at least 7,000 had to die for today’s terrorism. So no matter how I think about it, this isn’t the work of the Kingdom.”
Ludwig spat out his pipe and clicked his tongue.
The history of the Kingdom’s Intelligence Agency didn’t even reach 20 years.
They must have had a shaky foundation, unable to operate extensively, so there was no way they could conduct a human experiment that killed 7,000 people in imperial territory.
Yet this incident presented a perfect opportunity to form a special team to hit the Intelligence Agency and receive a budget.
As long as I could report to the Emperor that the Intelligence Agency carried out a terror attack on the Imperial University.
But the problem was Schlus Hainkel.
With his insight, it was extremely likely he would realize that this incident wasn’t the work of the Intelligence Agency, so I had to ensure he kept quiet to avoid disrupting the operation.
Yet, Schlus refused to hold his tongue without any signs of struggle.
“Haha, I should’ve offered compensation right away. I had no idea that guy would become so greedy ever since he became a knight.”
“I doubt it’s greed.”
Ludwig answered with certainty.
Schlus Hainkel wasn’t that kind of person.
Of course, people do change, but in this case, he didn’t seem interested in seeking honor or accolades.
It was just my intuition saying so, but there was no clear evidence to support it.
“Then, could he be trying to protect the Intelligence Agency…?”
“I doubt it as well.”
“Hahaha. Exactly, right? There’s no way… There’s no way…”
Even while awkwardly laughing, Sergey still couldn’t shake off a sense of unease.
Schlus was undoubtedly a hero who had thwarted the Intelligence Agency’s terror and suppressed the rebellion.
What reason would he have to protect the Intelligence Agency?
Of course, there was no reason for that.
There shouldn’t be.
“Perhaps Schlus might already suspect their identity.”
“Excuse me? Professor? How did you come to that conclusion?”
“……It was a slip of the tongue. Please forget it.”
Ludwig grabbed his aching head after unintentionally voicing an unfounded supposition.
It was an embarrassing blunder for someone of noble lineage from the Bermanstein family.
But it also indicated how strongly he suspected, however unfounded that might be.
“If that’s the case, it explains why His Majesty wants to purge Schlus. Haha. If it were I, I’d have killed someone with so much knowledge and so many secrets.”
“Professor Sergey.”
“Oh dear… Forgive me.”
In a fluster, Sergey pretended to cover his mouth awkwardly.
It was certainly his way of showing consideration.
Since Ludwig had committed a slip of the tongue, he had tried to overshadow it with a much bigger blunder.
Sergey had no interest in exploiting others’ weaknesses; instead, he often earned people’s trust this way.
“By the way, what if Schlus tells His Majesty that we tried to silence him?”
“He won’t say anything. No, he can’t.”
This time, Ludwig spoke with certain conviction.
So far, Schlus had shown a tendency to differentiate between those who could be allies and those who couldn’t.
He treated potential allies with utmost kindness and excluded the rest entirely.
Given Schlus had treated us so far, it seemed that he considered both Ludwig and me as part of the ‘potential ally’ category.
So he wouldn’t openly act against us.
“More importantly, the identity of the intruders is the issue. A organization capable of sacrificing 7,000 lives without batting an eye within the Empire, hiding from the royal eyes…”
Trailing off, Ludwig cradled his chin while contemplating.
No matter how I thought about it, the existence of such a ridiculous scale of organization seemed impossible.
Unless they were a cult, such madness couldn’t be explained.
‘Huh?’
A cult…?
I felt like I had caught a lead.
*
As soon as I arrived at the palace, I requested an audience with the Emperor.
It seemed as though he had been waiting for me, as it took less than ten minutes until I was granted entry.
Upon entering the audience chamber alone, I detailed today’s events to the Emperor.
There was no need to hide anything, so I could speak freely without fear of slip-ups.
Unidentified thugs had destroyed the Barrier of the Imperial University and infiltrated it.
They had altered their internal circuits to create dangerous Explosion Spells.
The danger was so high that I couldn’t even attempt to capture them, so I had to execute them all on the spot…
Of course, I didn’t mention the pressure from Sergey and Ludwig.
“Schlus Hainkel.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“What do you think is the identity of the enemy?”
“I have no evidence that would give me certainty yet.”
“Rephrase the question. State what you currently suspect as the enemy’s identity.”
“At the moment, I suspect a religious organization.”
“A religious organization?”
“Yes. Perhaps a group that serves a malevolent deity other than Aigis.”
“Hmm…”
I hinted at my knowledge subtly, so it wouldn’t seem like I was overstepping.
The Emperor stroked his beard, looking at me with a contemplative expression.
“I see. Well done. You may leave.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
With the Emperor seeming pensive behind me, I exited the audience chamber.
Even on my way out, I couldn’t shake off a feeling of unease.
What if the Emperor’s contemplation was about whether to dismiss me?
Being capable is a strength, but what happens to a courtier who is deemed too capable?
As time passed, I felt an increasing pressure tightening around me.
I had to use my magic as soon as possible.
“That was quick, Hainkel.”
“It was a simple report. It didn’t take long.”
“Have you asked about where we will be staying tonight?”
“……”
At Emilia’s question, I feigned surprise, my mouth hanging open.
The act was so obvious that Emilia’s expression slightly twisted.
But whether Emilia was fooled or not didn’t really matter.
As long as the palace’s people were deceived, it was fine.
“Oh no! I completely forgot! Given that His Majesty is worried about something important, asking for a meeting for something so trivial as our lodging seems a bit much.”
“Uhm, what should we do? It’s a dilemma…”
“Really a dilemma. I need to find someone else to ask.”
“……”
Putting on a poor performance, we walked down the corridor and left the building.
Then we waited for quite a while.
Surely, the sounds we made would have reached the ears of the attendants.
But even after a long time, the person who should have come didn’t appear.
Wasn’t Aria, who used to come to visit me every time I stopped by the palace, being a little too… absent today?
Could it be that she was away from the palace today?
I felt a bit flustered.
‘Had I been cut off?’
Could it really be that I had been dumped by Aria?
