Chapter 53 : Chapter 53
Chapter 53. A Message from the Past (1)
Gazing into Perlman's coldly shining eyes, I thought. Should I make an excuse? If I did, what kind of excuse would be able to persuade the head of the Iron Bank?
It would be impossible. The person currently sitting before me was a dwarf who hid sharp eyes that could dissect a soul behind a pleasant smile. I would not be able to persuade him with an excuse I improvised while sitting here. Then, should I tell him the truth? Should I confess that I regressed to this time from a future thirty years away, and another comrade regressed to 190 years ago and created an account for me?
He wouldn't believe it. Even if he did, it was a problem. My regression was a result of shaking the timeline. Since I had returned here by directly defying the will of the goddesses who created this world, there was no way Perlman would not report this matter to the Goddess Order if he sincerely believed in my regression.
If that happened, I would become a blasphemer who directly defied the goddesses' will, and I would be branded as a singularity that must not exist in this world. Perhaps I would be classified as a more dangerous existence than the black mages. If that happened, everything I had built up until now would come to naught. Also, there would be great difficulties in everything I had to do in the future.
In other words, I would not be able to stop the Void. I stared straight into Perlman's eyes. If there were no options, the only thing I could choose was a direct breakthrough.
"I do not quite understand what you are saying now, Mr. Perlman. However."
"However?"
Perlman's eyes shone coldly.
"I have been feeling that something else is resting on my shoulders besides the weight of the ordeal I must overcome."
"What does that mean?"
I lowered my head and looked at the note Perlman had written for me.
-001
Ulrich had made my account the first one. Not the second, but the first. Among the three regressors, after realizing that he could not stop the Void, he had made an arrangement using me as the first, rather than the one-eyed elf. I could not know the reason, but I could clearly understand Ulrich's intention.
I must do it.
"It was a series of ordeals difficult for a thirteen-year-old to overcome. But I did not succumb to fate and have overcome all of those to reach this seat."
I lifted my head and looked at Perlman.
"I am sitting in this seat, facing the head of the Iron Bank. I was able to feel it while overcoming the ordeals until now. A certain flow of fate pushing my back."
"A flow of fate?"
Perlman could not fully understand what I was saying now. However, he could at least feel that the man before his eyes was not telling a lie.
"I am sitting here now according to a certain flow of fate, not just by my own will. I do not know if this is the goddesses' will or a result intended by someone, but."
I picked up the note Perlman had written and said.
"The only thing certain is that I must open this."
My firm momentum poured into Perlman.
"I have a legitimate right to open this account, Bank Manager."
Silence settled. Perlman did not say anything and just stared into my eyes. Perlman's cold gaze pierced through my eyes and sharply rummaged through me as if to find the true intention hidden in my soul, but... I was dignified. Because what I said was the truth.
I came all the way here following the flow of fate to stop the Void. I was like the last hope of humanity who must not stop here. I could not help but be dignified. Although no one recognized it, I was a hero who carried the heavy burden of humanity's survival on my shoulders.
"Those were grand words, but eventually, you are saying you know nothing."
Perlman spoke with a smile on his lips.
"However, I can at least tell that what you said is not a lie meant to deceive the Iron Bank."
Perlman spoke while adjusting his glasses.
"The last successor of the Cadmus family, Blanc Cadmus..."
Perlman muttered as if recollecting.
"That's right. I am indeed the last remaining Cadmus, Blanc Cadmus."
At my words, Perlman laughed as if it were interesting. My words about being pushed here by the flow of fate were preposterous and like catching a floating cloud, but Perlman burst into a small laugh as he felt himself being persuaded by those nonsensical words.
"Is it fate?"
"That's right."
Seeing me answer boldly again, Perlman fell into thought once more. The very first account, which had been out of the Iron Bank's awareness, had now appeared because of the man before him. He was at least someone who proved the existence of the first account.
The noble man before his eyes, who gave off an unknown, strange atmosphere, was already something that exceeded his awareness. So, Perlman decided to give up judging me. Regarding my case, he decided to temporarily step down from his position as the last gatekeeper of the Iron Bank. From now on, he would act merely as one of the components that made up the Iron Bank.
Perlman decided so and lifted his head. All that remained was the process of confirming whether he was the true owner of the very first account. After going through that process, he would be able to know the identity of the man named Blanc Cadmus. If he succeeded in opening the account, I would become a person led by fate as I said, and if he failed, I would become one of the many scammers who had frequently knocked on the Iron Bank's door.
"You are right."
Perlman stood up from his seat at the same time as those words. Then, he approached the wall behind me where intricate patterns were engraved.
"At least you are someone qualified to attempt to open the account."
Perlman approached what I had thought was simply a pattern engraved on the wall and brought his hand to it.
...! As Perlman brought his hand to it, the patterns began to react whitely.
It was a magic circle, not a pattern. According to my thought, they were magic circles installed to create a hidden space. And by that magic circle, the wall was now opening, revealing the space that could be called the true heart of the Iron Bank. I watched Perlman entering the opened wall. In the hidden space, an old-looking pedestal was standing. I did not know, but that pedestal was the central control device that controlled all the facilities of the Iron Bank.
"Baron Blanc, do you know what the creed of our Iron Bank is?"
Perlman approached the pedestal and inserted the brass ring he was wearing, which symbolized the authority of the Bank Manager, into the central part of the pedestal.
"I do not know."
Perlman spoke to me while handling the central control device.
"It is a creed that the first Bank Manager who founded our Iron Bank created himself. Not only me but the successive managers have strived to keep that creed."
... I could not catch at all what Perlman was trying to say by bringing up this story now, but I decided to listen to his words for the time being.
"During that time, the Iron Bank has stayed one step away from the flow of the world, not intervening in any matter and simply watching. Even though we could have gained immense profit or could have handled a corresponding loss, we did not move. It was the result of following our belief."
As Perlman turned the ring he had inserted into the central control device, magic circles that were intricately embroidered instantly appeared before Perlman.
...! Perlman looked at me across the magic circles and said.
"Simply watch. Like the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range standing here."
As Perlman operated the magic circles floating on the control device with an experienced hand, new magic circles began to be constructed before me soon.
"I admit that you have come here because of something that has exceeded my awareness. I admit that much."
Perlman thought that even if he did not know if it was fate as I said, it was surely sent by an existence that easily exceeded his own level. Otherwise, there was no way I would have the qualification to open the first account. The head of the Iron Bank readily admitted it. That he could not judge an existence like me.
"And the moment I admitted that, I decided that I should act like this."
Perlman's blue eyes turned toward me.
"From now on, as the Bank Manager, I will not judge anything. I will not measure anything. I will simply watch like the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range that is said to have stood since the beginning of the world."
As soon as Perlman finished speaking, the magic circle that appeared before me was gradually moving beyond its 2D flat form and changing into a 3D spherical form. While emitting a pure white golden light.
"In the meantime, the first account of the Iron Bank has been deactivated by a special procedure. And now, it has revealed its existence by the special activation word 'the only successor of the Cadmus family, Blanc Cadmus'."
At the same time as Perlman's words ended, the magic circle became a complete sphere of golden light.
"Baron Blanc Cadmus, please prove that you possess the true qualification to open the very first account of the Iron Bank."
"How?"
"The password."
Perlman stepped back from the pedestal as if he had done his part and watched me with his hands behind his back.
"The activated first account, please state the password to release its seal."
At Perlman's words, I stood up from my seat and faced the magic circle that was emitting golden light.
"Whew..."
I did not bother to hide my nervous heart. I lifted my head and looked at the golden sphere before me.
-My regression failed. If one of the two sees this, follow the golden guidance and call the name of the one who was my disciple.
I followed the golden guidance Ulrich had prepared. And now, I stood in this place.
"Please state the password."
Now, all that remained was to call her name.
-Fill your heart with many things to burn. Before the anger makes you void.
I closed my eyes and recalled her from my previous life. I remembered the time when I plunged a sword into her heart while looking at her eyes that were becoming void. It was what her last remaining reason wanted, what I wanted, and what I had to do. When I plunged the sword into her heart, I heard Ulrich's scream-like cry from behind.
The brown-haired woman was Ulrich's only disciple and adopted daughter whom he cherished as much as his life, and a mage who inherited everything of the Illusion School. And she was also my lover in the previous life.
... I cautiously called the name of the lover I could not protect in my past life. Cautiously, with the feeling that the name might break just by calling it.
"Petrica... Tiedemann."
I called her while putting my sincerity into it. As soon as I uttered the words, the golden sphere trembled as if the surface of water was rippling. Thus, the golden sphere swallowed the most painful words I had hidden deep within my soul. The magic circle that recognized the password was soon becoming smaller and changing into a small sphere.
"This is..."
"Please wait. Baron."
I was flustered as the magic circle's form suddenly changed, but Perlman was watching that sight with fierce eyes. The magic circle that began to get smaller and smaller finally became a tiny golden bead. And the golden bead floated on its own and approached the pedestal where Perlman was.
"It disappeared."
It was sucked into the center of the pedestal.
"It has entered the central magic circle of the Iron Bank."
"How long must I wait?"
"... I do not know either."
Perlman, the head of the Iron Bank, was also experiencing this for the first time. The first account was like a floating rumor passed down as a legend among the dwarves. Not only himself, the 3rd Bank Manager, but also the person who served as the 2nd Bank Manager did not know well about the first account. They only made a guess that it might exist. And now, Perlman was witnessing the beginning of that legend.
RUMBLE-!
At the sudden vibration, Perlman hurriedly grabbed the pedestal.
"What is happening?"
Instead of answering my question, Perlman operated the magic circles floating before the pedestal again to grasp the situation. The vibration shaking the Iron Bank was not a phenomenon occurring only in the Bank Manager's office where I and Perlman were. Even outside the Bank Manager's office, it was being filled with screams from employees and customers flustered by the suddenly started vibration.
Perlman and I were reacting calmly as we recognized that the current situation was an event caused by ourselves, but the people outside were not. they judged the current situation as being caused by a sudden earthquake and were flocking to the entrance to get out of the Iron Bank as quickly as possible while trembling in fear. The guards of the Iron Bank were struggling to prevent the customers' panic, but they were also equally flustered.
"Mr. Perlman!"
Without even a moment to answer my shout, Perlman was doing his best to grasp the situation by incessantly tapping the control device. Sweat was flowing from Perlman's forehead. Perlman was a person so cold that rumors circulated that gold flowed instead of blood. The boisterous temperament characteristic of dwarves did not exist in his soul.
However, even someone like him could not help but be flustered at this moment. It was because the vibration was getting louder and making a roar. It was a vibration that felt as if the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range itself was screaming. It was a vibration that felt like the Iron Bank, situated inside the mountain range, would collapse if the vibration continued like this.
"The password was correct."
"What?"
Perlman, who had been operating the magic circles for a while, spoke.
"The very first account at the bottom of the Iron Bank is opening."
...! The accounts of the Iron Bank did not simply have the function of depositing and withdrawing money. Depending on the grade of the customer using the bank, the Iron Bank prepared vaults that the customers could use, and those warehouses were hidden deep within the Neyanpalgar Mountain Range.
"The vault corresponding to the first account is being activated!"
Perlman could see through the magic circle. He could see that the first vault at the very bottom of the Iron Bank, which had not been recognized until now, was being activated. Perlman's words were correct. The vibration that felt like it would swallow the Iron Bank stopped like a lie at some point. And that moment exactly coincided with the moment when the first vault was fully activated in Perlman's magic circle.
"Baron Blanc Cadmus..."
Perlman looked at me while brushing back his sweat-soaked hair. Then, he recalled the task he had to do. I looked at him with an expression as if I were still dazed.
"I will escort you."
"Where to?"
Perlman walked to the desk where he performed his duties, opened a drawer, and picked up a bunch of golden-shining keys from there.
"The deepest part of the Iron Bank, the place that has been known only as a legend until now."
"I will guide you to the place where the very first vault of the Iron Bank is located."
Perlman's voice was trembling.