Omniscient First-Person’s Viewpoint - Ch. 292
Historia stammered for a moment, unable to keep up with the situation.
Maximilien’s boisterous voice filled the silence left by her hesitation.
“Major General Historia, now you understand how difficult my position was, don’t you? You and I had no reason to fight. If you hadn’t tried to wage guerrilla warfare against me, I would have ignored you.”
“… How did that happen?”
She looked shocked, and it was understandable.
The idea that the head of the Military State’s Bureau of Arms Development was actually on my side?
I hadn’t known it either until I met him and read his thoughts.
“This is partially your fault too, Maximilien. If you had arrived a bit earlier, we could have avoided some unnecessary battles.”
To be honest, even though he was on my side, he wasn’t much help. I had expected some backup, but the only person he ended up fighting was Historia.
What kind of ally was that?
When I blamed him, Maximilien offered an excuse.
“I was delayed because of the Envoy. By the time I finished my urgent business, the Envoy had already started the information control. The Signallers didn’t respond to my calls, and while I was away, my loyal subordinates were reassigned elsewhere. I was left unattended without receiving any reports, so all I could do was move once I heard gunfire.”
“Are you trying to shift the blame?”
“I’m merely stating the facts! If the Envoy hadn’t been so cautious of me, would you have been able to reach this place so easily?”
That’s true.
The Envoy, Eimeder, was none other than the Saintess of Foresight, Yuel.
The Saintess possessed the coveted ability of Clairvoyance that allowed her to see the world from her seat.
Yuel had noticed our approach and sent angels to guide us secretly.
She tried to handle the situation quietly, even revealing the identity of the Signallers to do so.
While part of that was due to our lack of power, Maximilien’s presence was also a significant factor…
But now that I think about it, I’m angry.
If he had arrived earlier, we would have had a much easier time!
Why does nothing ever go according to my plan?
Why is it that only when my life is on the line, everything becomes so precarious?
“Not much help, really. In the end, Ria did most of the heavy lifting. You were late and ended up attacking the weakened Historia!”
I can’t let this slide.
Incompetence beyond a certain point is a crime. He must pay for it somehow!
Maximilien, however, replied calmly to my accusations.
“You’re the one who bears more responsibility, aren’t you? If you had given the Major General a heads-up, we could have avoided unnecessary conflict.”
“Well, what’s done is done. Let’s move on to the next issue.”
“That’s what I was hoping for. Now we can talk.”
“Since we’ve established our positions, how about you release Ria now?”
If he’s truly an ally, there’s no reason to keep Historia bound.
It was a reasonable request, but Maximilien didn’t comply.
“Before I release her, shouldn’t we address the Major General’s concerns first? I’d rather avoid being attacked again once she’s free.”
He didn’t want to be attacked again.
There was a chance she might attack him again after she got free.
In other words, he didn’t fully trust me.
After all, Historia attacking him was because I hadn’t given her a heads-up.
“Very thorough, aren’t you?”
“Occupational hazard, you might say. Don’t worry about it. I need to be sure too. The Military State is the toy I’ve put the most effort into creating and I’d hate to bet it on anything less than 100% certainty.”
His answers were so logical that there was no room to argue.
I needed to explain things to Historia while also convincing Maximilien.
Ugh, even in this situation, he’s firmly holding the reins of control.
People who know how to leverage their advantageous position are really tough to deal with…
At that moment, Historia lifted her head and looked at Maximilien.
“Director, what is this possibility you speak of? Why would you side with Huey?”
“You’re being impatient. Just wait a bit. He’ll explain it himself.”
“You should tell me, Director. Huey’s words… they’re hard to take at face value.”
Historia glanced at me with a look full of distrust.
Hey, how much have I deceived you?
It’s one thing if people I’ve really deceived talk like that, but for Historia to say it is just infuriating.
Should I punch her while she’s still tied up?
I glared at her with a fiery gaze, but Historia didn’t flinch.
“The Director seems to favor Huey. Yet the Envoy tried to kill him at all costs. What is it about Huey that makes everyone react this way? Why did the Public Safety Chief, Zigrund, go from trying to kill him to suddenly showing him kindness?”
“Zigrund, the Public Safety Chief? That happened too? Ha ha, I’m getting more and more convinced!”
Maximilien wasn’t the only one welcoming this moment.
Historia was also using this opportunity to satisfy her curiosity.
I couldn’t stop the flow of conversation between the two Star Generals.
“First of all, let me tell you this. Neither I nor Zigrund are subordinates of the Envoy. The Envoy brought us to the Military State, but there was no clear hierarchy like in the Military State’s command structure. It’s more like an employer-employee relationship.”
“Employee…? The Director might be somewhat insincere, but the Public Safety Chief…?”
“I tried to be diligent in my own way, you know,but compared to the Public Safety Chief, I pale in comparison. ‘She’ was probably a member of the Crusader at one point.”
A word slipped casually from Maximilien’s mouth.
Historia reacted to the name of one of the world’s most elite military groups.
“…The Crusader…? The elite of the Sanctum…?”
“Elite? No, more like slaves.”
Maximilien let out a short, mocking laugh as he explained what he knew.
“They were strong individuals abandoned by fate, taken in by a benevolent god. They have no lives of their own. All that remains is faith, so they don’t hesitate to sacrifice their lives. Zigrund was probably like that, and because of that, the Envoy must have trusted her.”
“…Does that mean the Envoy is actually…?”
“I’ve never faced the Envoy directly, so I can’t be certain, but who else besides a Saintess would be able to command angels at will? Don’t be so surprised to hear what should be obvious.”
Maximilien narrowed his eyes as he explained as if he were talking to a fool.
And indeed, he made sense.
With the presence of guardian angels in the Military State, it’s only natural that there would be some connection with the Sanctum.
Well, Yuel had personally and politically severed ties with the Sanctum, so it doesn’t matter much.
“The Public Safety Chief is the Envoy’s minion. But even faith crumbles in the face of a stronger belief. No matter how much one is forced to believe in a god, if that god doesn’t truly exist, it can’t offer more faith than something that does. That’s why the Saintess of Origin had to eliminate the king to create a god.”
“…The king.”
If you’re going to sever ties, do it completely.
Why cling to the last vestiges of faith like that?
“Yes. I suspect that he is the Human King.”
***“…The Human King?”
A profound silence settled over the secret underground space.
The stillness was different from the silence caused by the absence of people.
It was as if making a sound might disturb the newly revealed truth.
It was a statement too startling to dismiss as a joke, yet too overwhelming to accept easily.
The first to break the silence was Yerien Grandiomor.
Was it because she was directly connected to the king, or was it simply her nature?
She couldn’t bear the silence and asked,
“H-How? How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
“Pardon?”
And Yuel, who had just revealed all these secrets, responded irresponsibly.
“I can’t know. Whether or not he is the Human King is something no one can know.”
“But Lady Yuel, you just said he’s the Human King!”
“Wolves are the best at detecting the scent of sheep’s blood. If those who chase the Human King made that judgment, there must be evidence that I didn’t and couldn’t see.”
Yuel replied with an indifferent and irresponsible reply, as if it weren’t her concern.
She turned back to Yerien, who looked at her with resentment while clutching her head and trembling.
“Ugh, w-what do we do? What sacrilegious act have we committed…?”
“The sacrilegious one is that bastard Huey, not you, Princess. Do you really believe what she said?”
Shiati continued to glare at Yuel with eyes full of suspicion.
“He’s just someone full of bluster with no real abilities. There’s no way he’s the Human King.”
“But doesn’t he seem too extraordinary to dismiss as mere bluster?”
“I went to school with Huey. If he were the Human King, he should have shown something different back then, and if he’s a king who stands by and watches tragedies unfold, we don’t need him even more!”
“…I’m not defending the Human King.”
Yuel, unable to listen any longer, replied.
“The Human King has no special power. The Saintess of Origin used her power to reject the Human King across all of time. Even the Human King is an ordinary human with no power. Therefore, the world belongs to humans without a king. Sin and punishment, good and morality, all belong solely to humans.”
Yuel’s words gradually turned into something like a prayer, her soft voice only further provoking Shiati.
“Belong to humans? This is all your doing!”
“…Yes, that sin is mine.”
“What’s the point of saying that!?”
Shiati, filled with anger, started to demand answers from Yuel.
She shouted sharply at her, questioning how a Saintess could create such hell and telling her not to arbitrarily talk about sin after committing such atrocities.
Each of her outbursts pierced Yuel’s heart sharply.
But Yuel felt pain in a slightly different way.
“If he truly is the Human King then… the Human King, no, humanity… would never…”
Accept this country.
Yuel bent over the corpse of the Warlord, clutching her throbbing chest, either to console him or to comfort herself.