– Knock knock.
“Ahem. Cain, what are you doing?”
When I knocked on the door to Cain’s dormitory room, loud clattering sounds came from inside. I heard Cain shouting from within.
“Uh, right now, my room is a little messy! Wait, don’t leave, just wait!”
After a long while of thumping sounds, Cain opened the door to greet me, his forehead drenched with sweat. Behind him, miscellaneous items were piled up haphazardly all over the desk.
I caught a glimpse of what looked like maps and military strategy books, so I could roughly guess what was going on. Pretending not to notice, I entered Cain’s cluttered room.
“…Since it’s a Grade 2 dormitory, the maids don’t come by often.”
“I don’t think that’s the problem, Cain.”
When I retorted with a bright smile, Cain burst into loud laughter. As I sat on the soft bed, lightly swinging my legs, Cain busily cleared the clothes from the floor while speaking to me.
“It’s Midsummer soon, isn’t it? You’ve been running around busy with exams and projects, so I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”
“Cain. Are you okay?”
I stopped the small talk and asked him point-blank.
“You briefly lost consciousness at the Dark Guild last time. With Sylvia’s incident and everything, I came by to see if you’re really okay since then.”
“…Mm.”
Cain paused what he was doing for a moment and stared straight ahead, furrowing his brow as if searching distant memories.
“I’m just… confused.”
“…Did something happen that I don’t know about?”
“I don’t remember well. It’s somehow hazy…. But I think I made a mistake. I’ve been a bit sensitive because of that. Yelling at you about being a commoner….”
“We’re always making mistakes anyway.”
Cain blushed and mumbled. When I crossed my legs, propped my chin, and stared at him intently, he looked at me as if about to speak or not, his lips parting slightly, then he shook his head with a small sigh.
“It’s different from that. It’s a really stupid mistake that only I would make.”
“…Does that mistake have something to do with Cesare?”
“……”
“I’m just asking because lately you two keep sticking together and whispering with serious faces. So what are you planning to do?”
“…I can’t turn it back. Rye. The matter has become too big to cover up the mistake.”
Cain spoke heavily with a dark face devoid of laughter. Immediately sensing that what he was worrying about was a military-related problem, I pretended not to know and casually broached the subject.
“Even if you try?”
“Yeah. No matter how hard I try. If an F appears on your report card, no matter how much you study again afterwards, you can’t fix it. It’s like that.”
“You could get an A on the next report card. Hehe.”
“…Idiot. The semester’s over, or rather, the academy has collapsed level?”
At his weak joke, I deliberately laughed cheerfully. And then I brought up the main point of my visit.
“Cain. Thank you for giving up on Sylvia’s matter.”
“Well….”
“Cesare is working hard to find the money he received from Priest Heiss and the request ledger. If there’s evidence, Professor Mahoff should at least be able to get out of prison.”
“That’s a relief.”
“So I have one favor to ask you.”
“What is it?”
“For Cesare, this small amount of money doesn’t matter, but I also wanted to help get Professor Mahoff out, so I arranged some funds.”
“Funds?”
I took out several documents from my pocket and handed them to Cain. They were promissory notes that were hard to trace because I had changed the debtors several times, and documents for borrowed-name safes where I had deposited slush funds taken from various places.
If I give him this, he’ll immediately use it as funds to maintain Trüf’s military forces. It’s obvious. And since only I can find out where this money is being used, if I utilize that information, I can secure management connections to control the military forces there. All while completely removing the Mellans name.
That’s it, just settle this matter and slowly distance myself. At times like this, it’s convenient that this is a feudal society without a computerized system.
Cain’s eyes widened to the size of saucers when he confirmed the amount.
“Without giving it directly…!”
“I’m too embarrassed to give it face to face. You pass on the message well. And cheer up. You’ve been looking tired lately.”
Cain stared at me blankly for a moment, then soon grinned and patted my head.
“…Mm. Well, I’d feel better if you imitate a Yorkshire terrier getting groomed?”
Ugh. Not once does he ever take things seriously.
“…Then just once.”
I had no choice but to sweep up my bangs and shake them wildly. Once the fluffy disheveled hair was complete, I stuck my tongue out slightly and filled my eyes with moisture. Then, through my drooping bangs, I lowered the corners of my eyes to look at him. Finally, I trembled my body while making a breath sound that seemed about to break. That’s the key point of small dogs.
“Haeek, hek.”
“Puhak! Uhahaha! You really look like a Yorkshire terrier getting groomed! Ahahak! Ah, my stomach! There’s no one but you, you cute thing!”
As Cain pounced on me and tickled my whole body, I too laughed for a long time and was able to refresh my mood.
* * *
“It’s open, so come in.”
From inside, the door opened by itself along with Peter’s voice. When I entered, Peter stood in front of a shelf at the edge of the room to greet him. On the shelf was a flat glass case, and inside it was full of soil and ants.
“Professor Peter.”
“Oh, Yanox! I thought you’d come visit soon. Take a seat. How is Mellans? Isn’t Midsummer coming soon!”
Peter smiled broadly and welcomed the pleasant guest. When Cesare glanced at the ant farm, he said with gleaming eyes.
“Magnificent, isn’t it. There aren’t many groups where tens of thousands of lives coexist, achieving a delicate balance of competition and cooperation.”
“Even though it’s a hierarchical society with a queen ant.”
Cesare replied appropriately with a stiff face.
“Yanox. Do you know what qualities one must have to become a queen ant?”
“Productivity for the propagation of the species. The strength of a wealthy nation, in other words.”
Peter nodded while stroking the ant farm once.
“That’s right. A queen ant must not have anything else on her mind besides the strength of a wealthy nation. Literally, nothing at all.”
“……”
“And when a queen ant’s productivity declines….”
Peter raised his hand with a playful expression and made a gesture of slitting his throat.
“She’s killed by the worker ants. And even though she’s dead, society keeps going. Because there’s a new queen prepared.”
“So you’re paying for my tuition to prepare a new queen?”
Cesare brought up the main point of why he came to the professor’s office. Not knowing about the deal between Peter and Lionel, Cesare subtly asked if this was ‘making connections with Yanox for the future.’
“Do you think you have the qualities of a queen ant yourself? Do you think I invested in you for that reason?”
“……”
“The Yanox Ducal family appears cold-blooded but has hearts that boil more hotly than anyone. That’s not a quality suited for one who would rule the entire empire.”
Peter covered the top of the ant farm with a black cloth and continued speaking.
“Sacrifice is accepted as a natural order for the prosperity of the group. Why? Because it’s a natural principle for the stability of the whole. That’s the kind of position it is. Otherwise, it’s also a position without meaning.”
“Are you saying I’m not qualified even though the blood of Torusian clearly flows through me?”
Peter looked at him with a stern expression. It was a face asking how he knew that. Cesare himself spoke with an unconcerned face.
“I undid the memories my father painted over with my own hands long ago. I know everything that happened between my father and Emperor Hortega. When my bloodline is even superior, what makes me different from them?”
Peter placed his hand on one of Cesare’s shoulders with a deep sigh.
“…The Emperor and Cedric. They abandoned the Empress in the past long ago. All they see is the future of the empire. What about you, on the other hand?”
“……”
“Yanox. I ask again. Do you have the qualities to become a queen ant? Are you prepared to sacrifice the friend who entrusted their back to you and the person you love and move forward, just as His Majesty the Emperor did?”
Cesare couldn’t answer readily. Reading his hesitation, Peter immediately raised his voice as if pressing him.
“If you’re not prepared for that, then go back. The throne isn’t a children’s playground!”
At that, Cesare, momentarily enraged, pushed away Peter’s arm.
“Have you ever thought about my position, being pushed beyond what’s necessary, Professor? Why should we bear the sin of treason we didn’t even commit…! Why should only we pay for the rebellion she alone went mad and prepared…!”
“…At that time, the Princess was not in her right mind.”
“No! That was when she was in her right mind! The one the Princess originally loved was my father, and wasn’t it the current Emperor who stole and used Addiction from the Ducal family!”
“…Yanox!”
“Over a decade ago, secretly raising an army and killing His Majesty the previous Emperor…! It was all done by her alone, so why must my father be stuck in a remote place endlessly subjugating demonic beasts, and why must I even lose my place to stand?”
“I wish you hadn’t been smart. I hoped you’d only inherit Princess Elaine’s bright side. Otherwise, you’d be watched by the Emperor for your entire life. Do you think the matter of Mahoff being captured now has no connection to that incident at all? The Emperor lived his entire life chased by the shadow of the Yanox Ducal family and committed such deeds because of his inferiority complex. Who do you think was most afraid at the news that the shrine was losing power!”
“You’re a mage too, Professor! I don’t understand why you’re taking their side!”
“I now pursue a value greater than profit. A value that transcends the human realm.”
“Balance or whatever, are you saying you’ll play at being god? Like managing the number of ants?”
“The people of this nation receive a priest’s kiss when they’re born and die in their embrace when they die. If the balance of the shrine that forms the foundation of the empire collapses, chaos will begin in the empire.”
“You speak as if I’m definitely going to destroy the world, Professor.”
“Didn’t you also lose your reason like this because the reality you believed in as a child turned out to be fake? You know well how it feels when what you’ve believed in for so long collapses.”
“…I’ve come to the wrong place. This isn’t the answer I wanted.”
Cesare immediately turned around and left the professor’s office. Behind him, Peter also advised in a frightening voice as if angry.
“Lampel isn’t an ant. He’s more human than anyone in the world. That’s why I respect him. Don’t increase his sins anymore, and the sins of those who are working hard for you!”
