〈 Episode 47 〉The Wild West 11

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"Sirtus' contingent has been eliminated."

Millian, who had been sipping tea in the briefly empty room, cleared his throat slowly as he listened to the report.

"I see."

He waited for the next words. On his impatient desk sat a small plaster figure. They looked like chess pieces, and Million slowly moved them with his white gloves.

"...Perhaps..."

"Predictions don't matter, because what's happening now is the basis for what's actually happening."

"Boom!

A light blow knocked the white plaster off the far side, shattering it.

"That last report was..."

"Yes."

Finished, the servant slowly lifted the report from his arms.

"Funny."

Smiling, he slowly unfolds the report.

"I thought it was impossible..."

"Yes. It is impossible. To bring back to life someone whose heart has been stabbed..."

Common sense says it can't happen.

"Witches, I see."

"Then the ones moving on the other side are witches after all?"

Unable to resist, the servant makes the prediction that Millian had thwarted.

"Hmm."

Two plasters, one of which had been put away. The one that looks like a boy, Millian takes it out of the glass cabinet and gently touches it.

"Do you think this is what it's like to watch your grandchildren play?"

"What?"

Slowly, Million places the black plaster in the place of the crumbling white ones.

"You know..."

"What's wrong?"

"Why...may I ask why you're smiling?"

The report that many of the cancers sent to Cirrus have died. Million smiles as he takes it in.

"Well, I guess I'm just feeling nostalgic...I used to compete in competitions like this...and it was a lot of fun."

"What?"

"Bring Deckard's dogs."

"They're...retired, aren't they?"

"Yes. They're specially set loose, and they'll have their own posterity."

He sips his tea again.

"Posterity...you mean?"

"Yes. The dogs' last command was to create their own posterity, and they must have fulfilled it. New dogs...new people in a new age, I suppose."

She pulls a parchment from her bosom and holds it out to him. The parchment was in pristine condition, as if it had been carefully preserved, with a cryptic note of location scrawled across it.

"Hmm."

He looks at the black female plaster inside the glass cupboard.

"Ding!

I slowly close the window and look up at the sky.

"The stage is getting pushed back for old people like us."

"...."

The white-haired Million looks amused and places a black cluster of plasters around the black boy.

"...It's been a long time since I've been intimidated."

"..."

Unable to understand Million's words, the servant simply walks away to fulfill his orders.

[Beware of Tyr].

Eli's last words.

[He'd make a much better assassin than me, no, even better than you.]

I remembered her advice.

"Yes.

Her apprentice, the monster she had created, crouches, slowly rises, and glares at me, teeth bared in the killing stare of a prey.

[You are nothing but a monster!!!!]

Anak screamed. Her cry that it didn't matter whose side she was on.

[Think about who will be left in the end. What do you want in this filthy world where we feed on each other's blood?!!］

Northwell Deckard's words echo in my ears.

'I survive for nothing, you're getting old, my Lord.'

The black woman plastered over the many plasters of the past, the dusty look of them.

.

"In the end, we got no information, but we did manage to wipe out the hermits in Sirtus. Your father will be pleased."

"I'm glad."

I turned to face Sergen, grimacing.

"The best part is, I don't think you said anything about dealing with the head of the hermits yourself?"

"...It was the leader I was talking to, that's all."

"You're a cowardly subordinate, sneaking off with the credit."

Serghen's anger was that I had taken his greatest accomplishment in hunting the hermitages, the capture of the leader.

"It was to be expected.

It was obvious that Sophia would be the leader of the hermitages, because she was expendable by Million's side, and with the exception of Ellie, most of the hermitages were expendable, so she would be the one at the top of the list for Million to introduce me to.

"Are you done with your investigation?"

"No, but I've been able to identify a number of routes coming in from Deckard. We can use this to pressure and condemn the top people involved in Deckard to fill in the gaps."

"Good."

The hermitages' feeder routes were most likely the Top, or a larger organization. He suggested to Sergen that he investigate it, and that he might have access to the big tools they use. Sergen agreed, and said he was working on figuring out who they were and pressuring the higher-ups involved.

"Of course they're going to grab them.

The newcomers were the ones to go after, but the odds were slim that the groups affiliated with the hermits were good ones. This is something he's learned from years of pickpocketing.

"Even if you didn't know the hermitage, if you did a full investigation, they're probably up to no good."

"Sounds like a major cleanup to me, and a bodyguard for the master... I should probably recommend a different profession."

"What?"

"You're not thinking of being my chamberlain, not my private soldier, are you?"

"A chamberlain?"

"Yes. To take care of the main duties that a knight can't do, the administrative stuff, and the odd combat-related job."

"...I don't recall you ever being very good at that?"

"The most important duty of a chamberlain knight is that of a deputy, which is to say that I have chosen you as my representative."

Sergen seemed to be pushing me from bodyguard to deputy.

"...Because I'm not that good."

"Hmm, that's odd. Did that tactic of yours come from Elisha's?"

A plan to bind the hermits together, to use herself as bait, and to blow them away. Asking if it was Elisha who initiated it, not you.

"..."

"You'd better not lie. We've already seen how much Elyssa thinks of you. It's unlikely she'd suggest a plan where you're the bait."

I had underestimated Sergen's judgment.

"Most importantly, she has the practical skills to maximize the gambler's advantage. To risk exposing his own home, to set up a scheme to bait all of the females, to manipulate the minds of those in command, to carry out the scheme through the females, and to have the audacity to leave the aftermath to this master."

"You're floating, aren't you?"

Serghen takes the tea offered to him slowly, sipping it. It tasted slightly tangy, an indication that Serghen had deliberately made it a bit strong.

"And where is Elisa?"

"She's gone home, saying it's not a good idea to come to a man's workplace so often, and that she needs to keep an eye out for deluded hermits...she said to leave that to her."

"A curse...or an emotion witch interrogating a curse, I can believe it."

"There's a chance the bandits are on Deckard's side."

Sergen's eyebrows rose at my sudden advice.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been keeping an eye on Deckard's past wars with Sirtus, and I have a feeling that he has a far greater number of bandits than Deckard does, assuming that Sirtus has always had such a stable population."

"Hmm... Certainly our side has been troubled by an unusually high number of bandits."

"Well, if you consider that the bandits were largely responsible for Sirtus' inability to step up to the plate before the war, or for his inability to use total warfare properly..."

I wonder what Million would do.

"I'd suggest you look into the connections between the bandits and the tops who are currently gatekeeping, they're probably still alive and well."

"So what's next?"

Serghen asks.

"What?"

"Unless you're intentionally trying to deceive me to your advantage, I'm sure your head is already full of next moves. It's enough for you to tell me the general outline."

"Haha, I'm not that much of a genius, it's just that this one was a lucky break."

"Well."

Sergen laughed and set his tea down. Then, he walks over to the seat next to me.

"S...Lehen?"

"Just when I thought you were competent, you become so purposeful and scheming, I can't help but get greedy."

"What do you mean?"

She smiles weakly, lifting her hips slightly to move away from her seat.

"Because of this incident, my father has given me full control of the case. The subjects are already sending tribute to get on my side."

"...That's good, isn't it?"

"I suppose it would be greedy of me to want to capture the bluebird that brought the gift, but...I can understand the greedy owner in the old tale of the bluebird."

"Well, I'm a Sirtus, after all...I'm not going anywhere."

"No, the most important thing is that you have no real loyalty to Sirtus or to me. You belong here, but I suspect you'd be willing to leave at any time if Elyssa wanted to."

"She likes Sirtus, too."

"Of course she does. We have similar goals."

Serghen glared at me.

"The vengeance you seek is what brings us together. Have you thought about what happens next?"

I hadn't really thought about it.

"I'm a noble."

"Yes."

"That makes me greedy."

She slowly grabs my neck and pulls me closer.

"...That..."

"Think about being a chamberlain and then tell me. Oh, and I'd like a report on your next mission."

"No, I...first of all, don't you think it's too close?"

Sergen's face and mine, close enough to breathe.

"Don't you think we should talk about things like this quietly, since there's a risk of leaks?"

"...Yes, but I'm saying we don't have to whisper this much."

"Well, there's no harm in being careful."

"...Yes. Then I'll consult with Elisha about the chamberlain..."

"Your personal judgment is important."

"I see, so whenever you make such a claim, please don't put your arm around me, or I'll end up with your cheek and mine."

I thought about whether this might be a flirtation, but I scratched my head and walked out of the room, thinking it was ridiculous that her arm strength and cheeks would be stuck together.

"Early out again today.

Sergen, who had patted her on the shoulder for doing a great job, let her leave early again today... It seemed like a good job.

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