Arc 37: Memory

Quinier suggested that the three of us go inside the Roah Estate. She said Kora would settle down once we were inside.

I had my doubts, but she was right. The moment Kora sat down at a table in the mansion, he became astonishingly subdued.

“... So Kora is the one who spread the rumor at Constel?”

“Yes. Or, to be precise, the rumor probably started with Kora,” Quinier declared.

But I wasn't quite convinced. The magical notice on the hallway wall had been a fairly advanced piece of magic. It had repelled Quinier's mana, and she herself had said it would take someone on Edwin's level to dispel it.

“... How could Kora have written a magical notice that advanced?”

“Of course he probably didn't make it himself. But Kora is popular at Constel.”

“... Wait, Kora goes to Constel?”

“No. But he drops by to see me sometimes. He can hide his ears and tail.”

Kora snorted at her words and turned his head away. But he did hide his ears and tail. Rather than hiding them, he made them invisible. He might dislike me, but apparently he still wanted to show me that he could hide them.

“It's invisibility magic. He isn't casting it himself. It's the effect of an artifact he wears.”

Now that Quinier mentioned it, Kora was indeed wearing a bracelet on his left wrist. She spoke as though testing me.

“You're familiar with invisibility magic, aren't you?”

“... Oh, right. Of course.”

I wondered what she was talking about, then realized she meant Weaving and quickly agreed.

I see. People who had watched me fight must think I was using invisibility magic.

“Anyway, what does being popular have to do with it? Why is he popular in the first place? He's so noisy.”

“Hey! What do you take me for? Do you have any idea how much older I am than you?”

“What? Quinier, is that true?”

Quinier nodded.

“He's older than me, too. He has White Tiger blood, after all.”

Kora cleared his throat and puffed out his chest.

“So show me some respect when you speak.”

“No.”

“Didn't you hear me? I'm older than you! Respect according to age is a principle that must be strictly upheld!”

So what?

Nearly every enemy I'd fought so far had been older than me. Robald Rief, whom I'd briefly scuffled with, was the only one my age, and Elysia was the next closest.

I even called Empress Philly “Ms. Philly.” Why would his age matter to me?

“Besides, Quinier doesn't seem to speak to you respectfully either.”

“Hmm. Quinier is fine.”

His principles changed on a whim. I turned back to Quinier and continued.

“So, about him being popular?”

“Kora must have asked someone to put up the magical notice. Since he comes to see me, naturally he's popular with the third-years. A third-year at Constel could conceivably put that level of protection on a notice. Especially if they weren't working alone.”

At that, I looked at Kora. He wasn't looking at me, but he kept blinking with an incredibly guilty expression.

Quinier narrowed her eyes at him.

“Very few people know about my weakness. If it wasn't you, Frondier, there aren't many possibilities left.”

“...”

I stared at Kora in silence, and he kept avoiding my gaze. Finally, as though he couldn't bear the prolonged silence any longer, he squeezed his eyes shut, trembled, and shouted,

“That's right! I did it!”

SMACK!

I smacked the back of Kora's head for declaring it so brazenly. I'd done it without thinking, but I didn't regret it one bit.

Kora clutched the back of his head, shaking, then shouted at me.

“Hey! What the hell was that for?”

“What the hell were you thinking? You must know what that information means to Quinier.”

“I-I thought it would be fine, since everyone would think it was just a false rumor! I didn't know things would get so out of hand. I was surprised to hear the notice was still there, too. They couldn't even erase it... Besides, the wording isn't what I said.”

The wording was different?

I asked, “What did you originally say?”

“All I said was something like, ‘Quinier really hates killing people.’ Everyone was having fun talking about rumors going around. So I joined in and let it slip... But the notice said something completely different.”

Quinier and I exchanged looks.

“... What do you think are the odds that someone changed his wording and, by coincidence, ended up closer to the truth?”

“Impossible. Besides, what Kora said just makes me sound like a nice person. It was completely off the mark.”

... It wasn't, though. Quinier was an incredibly good person. She just worked hard at pretending otherwise.

“Then whoever wrote the notice must have known the truth from the start.”

“Yes. They made it look as though they did it after hearing what Kora said, so they could pin it on him if necessary.”

Quinier and I looked at Kora.

“Wh-what's with those looks?”

Quinier spoke.

“Kora, then this is simple. Who was listening when you brought it up? No, someone there must have casually brought up magical notices. Who was it?”

Exactly. That person was the culprit. If Kora didn't know about magical notices, someone had brought them up and steered the conversation toward spreading his rumor.

Kora chuckled and put both hands on his hips.

“That's easy. It was...”

He seemed to savor having our attention, then said something idiotic.

“... Who was it again?”

That genuinely pissed me off. But a moment later, the look on Kora's face cooled my anger a little.

“... Who... Huh?”

Kora furrowed his brow and brought a hand to his mouth in an uncharacteristic gesture, searching his memory.

“... I can't remember.”

“Huh?”

Even after a long while, Kora couldn't remember who the culprit was.

* * *

Late that night, after sending Kora and Quinier home, I spent a little time thinking.

... To be honest, a part of me—about ten percent—still suspected Kora.

Kora was a mysterious character to me. More than anything, I'd never seen him. Not once while playing as Aster.

That was only natural, really. Aster rarely crossed paths with Quinier, a third-year. He only got to know her after she graduated.

Even the Aster of this world probably barely knew her. He'd likely only heard her nickname, “Little Devil.”

But beastfolk were incredibly rare. And those cat ears and that cat tail... Oh, right. He was a tiger.

Anyway, I'd never seen such distinctly beastlike beastfolk even while playing the game, so Kora made quite an impression. Even if I'd never met him in person, I felt I should at least have heard rumors of him somewhere.

“Lord Frondier.”

“Hm?”

“I've finished all the questions.”

I examined the sheet Selena handed me. I'd written down some simple words in the ancient language for her to practice deciphering. There were about ten questions, and she'd answered every one correctly.

“Well done. They're all correct.”

“Thank you.”

Selena answered calmly. Even so, the tension around her eyes eased, and the faintest smile curved her lips.

... I seemed to be getting a little better at reading people's faces now.

“Selena, what do the Ten Thousand Capes have to say?”

“They're delighted. They say a complete decipherment of the ancient language is finally within reach.”

Hmm. So that was what they thought.

When your dreams get too big, you ought to consider whether they're just dreams.

“The Ten Thousand Capes are currently trying to apply the basic knowledge of the ancient language I relayed to them to their deciphering efforts.”

“I see. They're working hard.”

“... Are you sure this is all right?”

“It's fine. They can't decipher it with that anyway.”

“Pardon?”

Selena looked at me in surprise.

“Don't tell me everything you've taught me has been false?”

“No. It's just that you can't decipher the ancient language with what you've learned so far. Those basics alone won't let you discover its rules. There's nothing connecting them.”

To put it another way, it was like learning only the word “apple” and then trying to decipher “fire.” With no relationship between their consonants and vowels, it was impossible to work it out.

“... But if I keep learning like this, won't I eventually learn those rules too?”

“Of course. When we reach that point, I'll tell you not to relay anything further to the Ten Thousand Capes. Tell them I refuse to teach you.”

The story was that I was teaching Selena the ancient language because she'd bewitched me. So there would be nothing strange about my refusing to teach her any more out of fear that the Ten Thousand Capes would learn everything.

“That won't work forever.”

“They'll offer terms. If those terms are reasonable, I'll consider them.”

“...!”

After thinking over my words for a moment, Selena's eyes widened. She'd realized my true intention.

I would use the ancient language to sway the Ten Thousand Capes without them even realizing it. And now she must understand that she herself was indispensable to my plan.

“... Understood.”

But Selena said nothing more and looked back down at the ancient words I'd written. She still hadn't decided which side to take.

“The ancient language really is fascinating, though. It's so inaccessible, and even leaving a written record is meaningless.”

Selena changed the subject, and I went along with it.

“That's right. Ancient mages didn't want knowledge of magic to spread. They needed written records to organize their thoughts, but they didn't want those records to be passed down. So they needed a language that would become impossible to decipher over time.”

“What a shame. Writing something down, only for it to disappear.”

Selena lifted the sheet and studied it quietly. For now, she could decipher it because it held my mana, but eventually its voice would fade, rendering it completely indecipherable. She remembered what it meant now, but with time, she would forget...

“... An erased record.”

“Pardon?”

I'd murmured without thinking. Selena looked at me questioningly, but a thought had struck me, leaving me no time to answer.

Records and memories.

Kora, who couldn't remember the culprit's face.

The culprit, who knew Quinier's weakness.

And this person named Kora, whom I knew nothing about.

“...”

I closed my mouth.

Slowly. Very slowly.

To calm the chill creeping through me.

* * *

In her room at the mansion, Quinier pondered. One important question remained.

“How does the culprit know my weakness?”

Even if Kora regained his memory and identified the culprit, it would be pointless unless she resolved that question. What if this information was circulating through some easily accessible channel?

“I have to meet the culprit somehow and get that information.”

Quinier leaned back in her chair. Would she have to torture the culprit once she caught them? The thought alone already made her feel sick.

“It would be so nice if the culprit simply told me.”

With a sigh, she looked toward the window.

Outside stood a man wearing an upside-down mask.

“... Huh?”

The mask bore a smiling face, its eyes and mouth so simple they looked like crescent moons pasted onto it. Worn upside down, it was utterly grotesque.

No, that wasn't what was grotesque...

“Who are you?”

‘Why is something like that outside my window...?’

“Hello, Quinier.”

The man raised a hand like a friend dropping by for a visit.

“I asked who you are.”

“Oh, you don't know? You don't know? Really?”

His manner of speaking was infuriating. Why was his voice so high-pitched for a man?

“It's absurd to expect me to recognize you when you're wearing a mask.”

“No, that can't be. You'd know just from my voice. You should have known. You ought to know.”

Just from his voice?

It was certainly distinctive and memorable, but Quinier had never heard it before.