Chapter 205 : Turbulent Ribenia (3)
Chapter 205: Turbulent Ribenia (3)
At Kali's words, Rachel tapped the document with her fingers, wearing a skeptical expression.
"...So you're saying that bastard's mother was a descendant of the Vladia Family?"
"Yes."
"But she's recorded here as a member of the Flos Family."
"Which is precisely why it's so convincing."
"The Flos Family was the only house that had dealings with the Vladia Family during that era."
"And the only noble family in the Empire with a plausible reason to preserve their bloodline."
"Hmm..."
Following the records about the Vladia Family, the document contained information regarding the woman believed to be Eugene Carter's mother.
Mary Flos.
Born in 1425.
Both her father and mother had been notorious criminals.
Her mother, Bellatrix Cruz, had given birth to Mary while imprisoned.
Tracing Bellatrix's lineage revealed her connection to the Vladia Family.
"Of course, both of her parents were punished solely for the crimes they committed."
"And at the time, the Empire was in the midst of abolishing the policy of guilt by association."
"So, in a way..."
"She was extraordinarily fortunate."
Public opinion had begun insisting that a newborn child bore no guilt for the crimes of its parents.
As a result, the Imperial Correction Bureau searched for a noble family willing to adopt her.
However,
not a single noble house was willing to accept the daughter of infamous criminals.
Thus, until the age of five, she grew up alone in a childcare facility operated by the Imperial Correction Bureau.
Then, in 1430—
Fabian Flos,
one of the collateral branches of the Flos Family that had been scattered following the Imperial Palace Bombing Terror Attack,
adopted her as his daughter.
That was when she officially became Mary Flos.
"After the terrorist attack, the Flos Family was no longer even treated as nobility."
"The family itself had completely fractured and everyone was simply struggling to survive."
"So the public paid almost no attention."
Mary Flos attended Plumen Academy during her youth.
After becoming an adult,
she worked as a carpenter in Herba, one of Parcel's major cities.
That lasted only until she turned twenty-five.
"During that time..."
"She entered a relationship with Leslie Carter and gave birth to one child."
"But that wasn't enough to suppress her true nature."
"Or perhaps..."
"Once she'd left behind a descendant..."
"She simply had nothing left holding her back."
From 1451 to 1456—
for five consecutive years—
she became infamous for committing grotesque serial murders.
"She mainly used sharpened stakes as her weapon."
"And wherever she appeared..."
"Crimson thorns were always found."
"So before long..."
"The public began calling her..."
The Witch of Thorns.
"Back then..."
"I never imagined that witch would turn out to be Eugene Carter's mother."
After listening quietly while continuing to read through the report,
Rachel tilted her head.
"But..."
"The Witch of Thorns..."
"She's dead."
"She was publicly executed."
"She was captured."
"And she died."
Kali nodded before continuing.
"But do you remember the rumors that circulated back then?"
"...What rumors?"
"The rumors claiming the Witch had used a double."
"Oh."
"The Imperial Correction Bureau and the Defense Force had practically given up."
"She murdered more than five hundred people over five years."
"And yet there were barely any eyewitness accounts."
"People simply couldn't believe such an elusive witch had been captured so easily."
"..."
"Naturally, the report I brought is based on testimony from the people involved and those around them."
"And judging by all available evidence..."
"The possibility that she truly was Mary Flos is extremely high."
"However..."
"There was another story circulating at the time."
"They claimed..."
"There existed a form of Dark Magic capable of perfectly copying someone's personality..."
"...and completely overwriting another person with it."
.
.
.
"That's far too much of a stretch."
"No matter how I look at it."
Rachel firmly dismissed the idea while staring sharply at Kali.
"No matter how powerful Dark Magic may be, something that absurd shouldn't be possible."
"And even if copying someone's personality really were possible..."
"It couldn't possibly change their appearance."
"What about their face?"
"Their body?"
"Their voice?"
"What then?"
"Well..."
"I'm sure they found some way."
"...What?"
"Come now."
"Does any of that actually matter?"
"The important part is that Eugene Carter inherited the bloodline of the Vladia Family..."
"The Witch's blood."
He wasn't wrong.
Those events had occurred more than twenty years ago.
Even if the truth could no longer be fully verified,
that couldn't be helped.
Whether Mary Flos truly died on the execution platform...
Or escaped by using a double...
Neither possibility changed the fact that Eugene Carter had inherited her bloodline.
"But..."
"That's only devastating for Eugene Carter."
"It has absolutely nothing to do with Edel."
"All we'd have to do is cut Carter out."
Rachel crossed her arms and continued.
"And don't you realize this could hurt us too?"
"The Carter Family belongs to your faction, doesn't it?"
"Then your entire side will get dragged into the scandal."
Apparently expecting that response,
Kali Arta's expression never changed.
Instead,
he calmly replied,
"You simply need to change your perspective."
"There are very few people in the Empire who would deny that Eugene Carter has been the driving force behind every major incident recently."
"He's dismantled outdated systems."
"And broken apart entrenched power structures."
"For now..."
"People naturally see that as a good thing."
"Those dissatisfied with their lives always believe that whatever is new must be good."
"And whatever is old must be rotten."
"But..."
"What if they learned that the man leading that movement..."
"...was actually a descendant of the Vladia Family?"
"The descendants of those monsters..."
"Whose slaughter of countless Imperial citizens remains infamous to this day."
"Would the people still blindly embrace everything new?"
"When they realize..."
"Their own choices may have been reviving evil itself?"
"...Ho."
Rachel's expression noticeably softened.
It was, after all,
a persuasive argument.
Kali clenched his fist tightly.
"This is the best strategy we can possibly devise."
"We'll awaken the citizens who are blindly following beautiful words while unknowingly leading the Empire toward self-destruction."
"And then..."
"You will ascend the Imperial Throne, Your Highness."
After finishing everything that needed to be handled at the Imperial Palace,
we arrived at Karbenna exactly as planned.
It was five o'clock in the afternoon.
"...We somehow pulled it off."
"We did."
Among everything we had dealt with inside the Imperial Palace,
the most difficult task had been negotiating technical support with Duel Headquarters.
Edel had publicly announced the Imperial Election System.
She declared that citizens themselves would elect the next Emperor.
She also promised to introduce a new voting method using each person's unique mana signature to ensure fairness.
In other words,
the Empire was effectively transitioning from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy.
The problem was that present-day Ribenia possessed neither a national registration system nor identification documents.
That made election fraud far too easy.
Of course,
Edel would never manipulate the results.
Nor did she have any reason to.
But Rachel might resort to underhanded methods.
Besides,
it was a system worth establishing for the Empire's future regardless.
There wasn't much time,
so discussions had to begin immediately.
Traditionally,
they would've contacted Duel through its subordinate organization, Mallet.
But there simply wasn't enough time.
Instead,
Edel used the communication channel Duel had previously established with Abel and contacted Duel Headquarters directly.
As a result,
although several conditions had been attached,
they received a firm promise that Duel Headquarters would personally implement a unique mana signature registration system within the Ribenia Empire.
"I never knew the Barion Orb could be used like that."
"It's essentially a type of Duelric Record."
"The Barion Orb oversees all information managed by the Magic Tower."
"Through it, they'll immediately be able to derive the spell formulas and materials necessary for the system."
"So, in other words..."
"We can leave that matter to Professor Rubia and the Master of the Magic Tower?"
"Yes."
"I'll help as well."
"They'll need manpower."
"So the Imperial Palace should begin selecting personnel to dispatch."
"...Good."
"Everything's progressing smoothly."
Watching Edel nod with a satisfied smile,
I couldn't help smiling as well.
Our eyes met.
Edel looked at me curiously.
"What?"
"...I was just thinking..."
"Your Highness really does look much better when you're smiling."
"...You're a strange man."
She simply let out a quiet laugh.
She didn't say anything else.
By the time we'd finished chatting,
we had arrived at the large auditorium in Building J.
A heated debate was already underway inside.
"If this truly is wartime, then of course mobilization is necessary."
"That's exactly why Karbenna exists."
"And that's what it means to be part of Karbenna."
"But don't you think the argument itself lacks credibility?"
"If reports like this had come from the Defense Force or the regular military, perhaps."
"But the Special Task Force's entire justification is based solely on those..."
"What were they called..."
"Gates from the Duel—Mallet Joint War."
"The moment a Gate appears, we're already in wartime."
"So many things have happened that our response has simply been delayed."
"If you're going to make such a claim..."
"Then surely you've brought sufficient evidence."
"Reports confirming Gate appearances throughout the world have already exceeded one hundred and fifty."
"And Duel Headquarters—the center of magical civilization itself—has officially declared that the entire world must cooperate in preparing for this foretold disaster."
"The Gate during the Joint War was merely a precursor."
"If a bomb could explode at any moment..."
"Isn't refusing to prepare simply because it hasn't exploded yet the truly reckless decision?"
"Preparation?"
"Of course we should prepare."
"But we're not convinced the situation is severe enough to mobilize even first-year cadets who aren't yet adults."
"Just because they're a year or two younger, does that mean they can't train?"
"Even if they aren't deployed immediately, they're still cadets destined to become soldiers!"
"The Imperial Army's minimum age is sixteen anyway."
"Even most first-years already meet that requirement."
"And Special Forces don't even impose an age restriction."
"It would be better if they trained together..."
"We also have to consider noble opinion."
"The Academy receives enormous financial support from them."
"If large numbers of students insist on leaving Karbenna even at the cost of expulsion..."
"It'll seriously damage the Academy's reputation."
"I'm not so sure."
"They won't make such a rash decision."
"Noblesse oblige."
"Nobles have obligations that accompany their status."
"If they fail to set an example worthy of nobles during a crisis like this..."
"The damage to their authority will be far greater than any damage Karbenna suffers."
At that moment—
Boom—!!
A tremendous explosion suddenly interrupted the debate.
It was the sound of compressed air detonating through magic.
"Not everyone must become a hero."
As every conversation instantly ceased,
Edel stepped through the settling dust and spoke.
"A chosen few may become heroes..."
"And bear those responsibilities and privileges."
"But that's merely the minimum requirement for stopping the coming disaster."
I followed behind her.
Together,
we stepped onto the central platform where Michel, Frederick, Dale, and the others were standing.
"There was once an era..."
"When the majority could simply entrust all responsibility to that chosen few..."
"And remain obedient."
The moment the Princess appeared,
everyone knelt in respect.
Edel slowly shook her head before speaking in a firm voice.
"But that era has already become the past."
"And every one of us now possesses the right to shape our own lives."
"It is time..."
"To return the responsibilities and privileges we once held..."
"Back to the people."
"As citizens of the Empire..."
"Not as royalty."
"Not as nobles."
"The time has come for all of us to stand against our enemies."
"Soldiers."