Chapter 131
Chapter 131
Treason
“……To be honest, it’s something I’ve always thought about.”
Noel said as she brushed back her hair, which had been completely soaked and hung limply from the rain.
“Didn’t you choose the wrong profession, Mr. Aiden?”
“Pardon?”
“If you’d gone into politics instead of becoming a con artist, I think you would’ve been astonishingly good at it.”
“…….”
Morrigan silently nodded, as if she agreed with that impression.
Inciting through anger could practically be considered a classic method, but the problem was that most of the people here were hardly seasoned politicians.
In other words, they weren’t the type to carefully listen while analyzing the intent behind every single word they heard.
And on top of that.
“……You’re so good at it that the insult almost feels elegant.”
“……Indeed.”
If even Noel and Morrigan, who had merely been watching quietly, were exchanging such impressions while an outrageous barrage of insults poured out as smoothly as flowing water, then all the more so.
“Cut it out already! We’ve been listening and listening since earlier—!”
“That’s what I’m saying! Someone drag that bastard down—!”
With multiple factors piling up like that, it was only natural that the reactions from those around us grew violent. And not just mildly violent, either.
To an outsider, it would have been believable if someone said a coup was breaking out right here and now—the ferocity of the reactions was steadily escalating.
As an atmosphere formed where threats about hanging that bastard’s neck and burning his corpse almost sounded like whispers of love, a sentence that seemed to throw fuel on the fire dropped sharply into the air.
For example.
“If you’re pissed.”
With the happiest smile in the world, Aiden raised his middle finger toward the royals who were raging at him.
He even wiggled that middle finger provocatively as he continued.
“Wanna try me?”
“…….”
“Even all of you together would probably struggle.”
“Y-you……!”
It was an absurdly bold thing to say to dozens of royals capable of wielding holy power.
Especially considering that those dozens of royals were furious enough to launch a killing blow at any moment without hesitation.
“I’ll kill you—!”
“I’ll tear off your limbs—!”
Savage curses burst out from every direction.
“If you wanna do that.”
The very person who had drawn out those reactions smiled brightly as he drove in the final nail.
“Catch me.”
And with those words.
“If you can.”
Aiden immediately spun on his heel and bolted.
Thanks to activating several skills, his speed was fiercely fast……
“…….”
“…….”
The faces of those who had been provoked went blank all at once as they watched the man who had taunted them retreat without a shred of hesitation and flee with his tail between his legs.
It seemed they had never imagined he would turn his back so coolly and walk away like that……
“---!”
“---!!!”
……But the reactions that followed were just as violently intense.
As shrieks that could hardly even be considered human language split through the air in every direction, Noel and Morrigan stared blankly at the crowd chasing after Aiden in a state of furious rage.
“…….”
He had clearly told Noel earlier.
That handling the royals should be left to him. That he would somehow drag things onto favorable high ground, boasting confidently as he said it.
‘……Well, he did do it.’
Setting aside whether the method had been appropriate, at least he could be said to possess a solid sense of responsibility when it came to keeping the words he spoke.
“……Shall we?”
“……Yes.”
The two of them shook their heads and followed after Aiden. Whatever else he might be, that man was still their ally, so they had to look after him……
And once even they left the campsite, the space that had been filled with people just moments ago was left with nothing but a hollow, desolate chill.
But even there, one person remained unmoving.
“……Your Highness.”
“…….”
“P-Princess Milene……?”
As was always the case for anyone assigned to Milene, the commoner student paired with her looked utterly flustered.
“Your Highness! A-are you all right?!”
The situation around us was clearly unfolding at a frantic pace—enough to make that question feel entirely justified.
“……?”
Only when the student practically screamed in near hysteria did Milene slowly turn her blank gaze toward them.
“Shouldn’t we… be moving as well?”
She appeared so unhurried that even the commoner student—who by default was supposed to move according to the royal’s lead—grew restless enough to speak up first.
But instead of answering immediately, Milene slowly turned her head back to where her gaze had originally been fixed.
Fortunately, before the student could die of frustration, a brief explanation followed.
“……No. I can see it.”
“Pardon?”
Amid the pouring storm, the heavy armor she had carefully fastened piece by piece—without any intention of removing it—clanked as she moved.
It seemed she did intend to move, as the student had suggested.
Yet her gaze remained fixed on the water surrounding the island, its surface growing more violently turbulent even now.
“……There’s something troublesome inside.”
It was a murmur carrying a meaningful resonance—one unsettling enough to send an involuntary chill through the listening commoner student.
▣
Inside the Grand Sanctuary, the current situation was, even in the most generous terms, a full-blown emergency.
“What about contact with the outside?”
“……All lines are down!”
The team leader’s fist slammed down onto the table hard enough to threaten splitting it in two, but no one blamed him. The situation was just that dire.
‘Damn it……!’
For someone in charge of coordinating and managing the entire event, there could hardly be a greater disaster than this.
A series of unidentified phenomena, the causes of which were impossible to determine, struck one after another.
It was only natural for the water level to rise when a storm raged, but the speed and force at which it was rising were anything but normal. Beyond abnormal, it was catastrophic.
The problem was that there was likely no one among the people on site who was in a position to even notice it. If this continued, we would all simply be swallowed and drowned together……!
On top of that, there was no means of contacting those caught up in it. It was a situation where we were being pummeled with one disastrous move after another, completely one-sidedly.
Worse still, even the Pontiff himself—the very person who was supposed to coordinate this entire situation—was unreachable. It was enough to drive someone insane.
‘Just who……!’
Naturally, countless devices had been installed near the Grand Sanctuary so that the entire event could be monitored.
Yet for all of them to go dead at once, for reasons unknown, was obviously no ordinary matter.
Someone.
Someone with immense power was intervening in this event right now.
“……This is ridiculous……!”
It was a situation that made such words spill out on their own.
This was a ceremony to determine the leader of a nation. And it was being thrown into chaos by external pressure?
If news of this spread outside later, I couldn’t even imagine the scale of the upheaval it would cause!
“……Team Leader, we need to halt the event immediately and summon outside personnel—!”
“…….”
Chaotic as it was, what one of the staff members said was something the Team Leader couldn’t help but agree with.
Every single thing happening out there had spiraled into madness. Only God knew how many casualties there would be.
And yet.
“Contact Sir Magnus! Call in all available personnel! We need to bring those royals into the facility as quickly as possible—!”
“There’s no need for that.”
At the calm voice that suddenly cut in, everyone flinched and turned toward it.
A giant of a man, tall enough for his head to nearly touch the vast ceiling, stood there with his arms crossed, letting out a wide yawn. A massive greatsword hung across his back, large enough to span his entire frame.
It was astonishing that someone of that size could move without drawing attention—but considering who he was, perhaps it wasn’t so surprising.
The Completed One, Magnus, scratched his head as he spoke.
“I was sleeping. Why all the fuss? If there’s a problem, His Holiness will handle it.”
“T-that’s not the issue, Sir Magnus. Even His Holiness the Pontiff is currently unreachable—”
“Then he must’ve cut contact for a reason.”
“…….”
“Don’t act rashly. Do you really think His Holiness can’t control something of this level?”
“…….”
……No.
Isn’t this chaos happening precisely because it couldn’t be controlled?
That absurd thought was reflected in the gazes shot toward Magnus, but all that returned was a look asking what they were staring at.
“B-but, Sir, if people get caught up in this situation, we don’t know how many casualties there will be. If you would help even now, we could prevent people from getting hurt—”
“Don’t want to.”
Despite the desperate plea, only a curt refusal came from Magnus.
“His Holiness said that ‘no matter what happens,’ the event must proceed. Then shouldn’t we simply follow those instructions?”
“…….”
“Besides, look. There’s someone doing something down there.”
“Pardon?”
The Team Leader’s eyes widened as he turned toward where Magnus was pointing.
Most of the observation devices had gone dead, but if there was significant movement, it would still be recorded as data.
And the scene currently displayed on the screen was being translated into unbelievably hopeful data.
“……They’re all moving to higher ground. At the very least, this should buy us some time……!”
……Someone.
It looked as though someone was ‘leading’ them and evacuating them to higher ground.
The only person among those present who had realized that, at this rate, countless casualties could occur was now displaying unbelievable leadership and saving them all.
“The one at the front is Aiden Kellermain!”
At those words, tears began to well up in the Team Leader’s eyes.
‘So it was that bastard……! The one who completely wrecked the preliminaries……!’
……It was a complicated mix of relief and resentment, but in the end, relief outweighed the rest.
He had once been the man who ruined the preliminaries entirely and earned the Team Leader’s undying hatred. But if he was acting like this now, I almost felt like bowing in gratitude.
If there was anyone capable of causing that level of upheaval—if it was that man.
……If it was that madman.
Even in a situation like this, where everything from start to finish had spiraled out of control, he would surely do something.
It was a reaction filled with that kind of faith.
▣
Meanwhile.
With the rapidly rising water level surging like a flood before us, Aiden was indeed acting in a way befitting that evaluation.
Leaving behind the students chasing him with the apparent intent of grabbing him and hanging him by the neck, Aiden spoke in an utterly relaxed tone.
It was probably only possible because he was riding atop Reaver, who was running at terrifying speed.
In fact, he had even told those pursuing him to slow down so they wouldn’t lose sight of him.
“To put it simply, Ms. Morrigan.”
That was why he could speak so casually to Morrigan nearby.
“Let’s combine.”
“…….”
“I think it’d look incredibly cool.”
“…….”
……The content flowing from his mouth was anything but casual.
Morrigan pressed a hand to her throbbing head.