Audrey was stunned. "???"
"That's right. George I, George II, and George III were actually all the same George from the very beginning! With the help of certain secret organisations, he chose the right moments to 'die' naturally, then replaced his successor and became the 'new' king. During each reign, he continuously launched wars, created conflicts, built mausoleums, issued currency, amended constitutions, and so on. For more than a century, he caused over a million deaths—all to complete his advancement ritual piece by piece! Oh, and the tens of thousands of innocent victims in the last Great Smog of Backlund disaster? That was orchestrated by him as well."
Audrey froze. "Y-You're saying…"
"Exactly. For nearly two hundred years, the king of Loen had always been the same person—the one who was once George I, and now George III."
There was no denying that this revelation was far too shocking for Audrey. Although she had already learned of George III's conspiracy through Edward and the Tarot Club, she had not expected an even deeper secret to be hidden beneath it.
Edessak said, "And now, he believes the only thing separating him from the final step is a continent-wide war. So the war has come."
"On the surface, it appears that the Feysac Empire initiated the war and Loen is merely resisting. But in truth, this war could never have happened without his behind-the-scenes manipulation."
He paused there.
Helena looked at Audrey with a smile and asked, "Alright, story time is over. Audrey, now it's your turn to vote~"
"Are you going to help this old lunatic who caused endless slaughter and stained himself with the blood of a million innocents just to become a god? Or will you pull him down from his throne and pedestal, letting him receive the punishment he deserves?"
Audrey fell silent for a moment, then suddenly said softly, "I abstain."
"???"
The siblings froze simultaneously.
Audrey continued, "I'm abstaining not because I don't believe your story, nor because I disagree with you. I simply feel that…matters involving nation, war, and even deities couldn't possibly be decided by a vote among just the four of us."
"Of course, even if I abstain, the final result is still two to one, which fits your expectations."
As she said this, she looked toward Althea. "What do you think, Althea?"
"Ah? I don't mind either way~"
Althea shrugged with a cheerful grin. "Then that settles it. Do whatever you two want!"
Edessak and his sister exchanged a glance, then placed their hands over their chests and bowed in unison. "Much appreciated~"
"And thank you as well, Audrey."
They stepped back a few paces and turned to leave.
In the room, only Audrey and Althea remained.
"Althea…do you really think our little vote could influence anything at all?"
She yawned again and muttered, "Who knows?"
"But…there's something you might be mistaken about."
Audrey blinked. "What?"
"The four of us together are actually really, really strong."
Althea slipped a slender, alabaster hand into her pocket, pulled out a crystal-clear monocle, and placed it over her right eye. Then she smiled faintly.
"What do you think?"
"!!!"
Audrey's heart felt as if it had been violently clenched. Her pupils shrank sharply. "Y-You're—"
Just as the words "Amon" were about to leave her lips, her mind abruptly blurred.
When she came to, Althea was waving a hand in front of her face, frowning in confusion. "Audrey, what's wrong?"
"What?"
"W-What happened to me?" Audrey paused, then said, "Oh, it's nothing. I just spaced out for a second."
…Huh?
But why did I suddenly zone out?
It felt like something extremely important had just happened.
What was it?
Why can't I remember anything?
Althea waved her hand dismissively. "Alright, head back for now. I'm going to rest too."
"Okay~ see you."
Watching Audrey's figure disappear into the distance, Althea narrowed her eyes and curled her lips into a smile.
"The show's about to begin~"
"Cheek, oh Cheek…if Lilith actually succeeds in leaping to Red Priest this time, you're going to be in big trouble."
"The struggle for the Primordial Demoness is finally approaching its curtain call."
———
Backlund, on a street in the North Borough.
Leonard had changed into a worker's outfit and wore a patched, worn-out beret. He followed behind a horse-drawn carriage as it slowly moved forward.
"Hey!"
The sudden voice startled Leonard so badly that he nearly jumped. Thinking he had been discovered, he instantly ducked to the side and muttered inwardly, Old man, what are you doing? You scared me half to death.
"I should be asking you that. Why are you suddenly tailing Daly? Don't tell me you…"
"Please don't say nonsense!"
"You're not thinking she's suspicious, are you?" Pallez chuckled. "Hmm? What was that reaction just now?"
Leonard stayed silent for a couple of seconds before explaining, "I just feel like Miss Daly has been acting strange lately—especially after learning about the Feysac bombardment. She suddenly made up an excuse to go home."
"Heh. She's worried her place might have been bombed. Isn't it normal to go back and check?"
"My intuition tells me it isn't."
Pallez laughed pleasantly. "Did your intuition tell you what the truth is, then?"
"No. But Miss Daly must be hiding something—something she doesn't want me to know."
"Heheheh."
The old man suddenly laughed. "Her carriage slowed down again."
Leonard paused. "What?"
"Idiot! You've followed her all this way and still haven't realised? Every time you fall behind a little—every time you're close to losing her—the carriage slows down with you. Why do you think that is?"
"???"
Leonard scratched his head blankly. "Huh? Really? How did I not notice?"
"…"
Pallez sighed inwardly. Before the Chairman went into deep sleep, he had told him to go to Tingen and find Leonard after a century or so, and he had done just that.
He had to admit: the kid was pretty decent—just adorably stupid at times.
Leonard suddenly stopped walking, his expression frozen. "Wait! You mean Miss Daly has known I was following her all along—and she's been deliberately waiting for me?!"
"At least you're not completely hopeless."
"But…why?!"
Pallez curled his lip. "How would I know?"
Of course, he could guess most of it: that girl named Daly wanted to confess everything to Leonard—and to the Church of Evernight—through this method.
The reason was simple: to protect Dunn.
With Ince Zangwill on the loose and a war erupting, Backlund's situation changed by the day. Besides the Church, nowhere else could truly be considered safe.
But because he, the old man, had insisted on not letting Leonard learn the "truth," she hadn't told the idiot boy directly. Instead, she used this method to intentionally guide Leonard toward discovery—while also testing His attitude toward the matter.
Hmph. These youngsters, honestly.
As if I were some unreasonable old fogey, Pallez thought. How they underestimate me.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of a refined little house. Daly paid the coachman and hurried inside. Leonard hesitated for a few seconds, then quickened his steps. With Pallez's help, he silently approached the window.
"Cough, cough, cough."
The moment he reached the window, a series of coughs drifted out, followed by Daly's gentle voice. "Why are you out of bed again?"
"It's too boring."
A familiar voice answered, "Besides, my body has almost recovered. Cough, cough."
"You can say that again when you stop coughing."
"Hehe, soon, soon."
After a brief pause, the voice asked, "Any progress regarding Feysac's bombing?"
Daly answered, "Loen has officially declared war on Feysac. The Church hasn't given us any instructions yet—just told us to cooperate with the authorities and help the affected civilians."
"Then you must be careful."
"I know."
Daly smiled slightly—but her gaze suddenly flicked toward the window. She saw nothing, and her eyes dimmed with faint disappointment. "I've already arranged a rental near St. Samuel Cathedral. We'll move there this afternoon."
"Alright."
Leonard walked silently into a deserted alley. His complexion had gone pale, and his fingers trembled slightly. Leaning against the wall, he muttered, "That person just now…was…was that the Captain?"
Pallez spoke calmly, "Seems like it."
"So Captain…isn't dead?"
"What do you think?"
After a long moment of silence, Leonard suddenly slammed a fist into the wall. "Then what about Klein?! Is he also alive? And Edward—what's his situation?! Have they all been…all this time…"
"Hey now, kid, don't tell me you're going to 'fall to darkness' or something?"
"…!"
Leonard gritted his teeth. "I'm asking you a question!"
"I don't know. Besides, I'm not answering questions for someone who doesn't know how to respect his elders."
"Old man! Lord Pallez—"
He clenched his fists, forcing out the words from deep in his throat. "Please…tell me the truth!"
"There's no such thing as truth or falsehood. Back then, they were simply forced to stage a fake-death incident in order to survive."
Pallez immediately exposed all the thoughts swirling in Leonard's mind. "No one tried to trick you. No one saw you as an outsider. No one targeted you on purpose."
"…So you really did know everything. But why hide it from me until now?!"
Pallez said calmly, "What else would you have me do? Tell you that Dunn and Klein were alive and well, that Edward wasn't a traitor, and let you continue being the same lazy, self-satisfied kid—always thinking you're the protagonist of the era, yet never truly putting in effort? While everyone else improved day by day, you would've stayed a low Sequence fool dreaming laughable dreams?"
"Dunn and Klein's deaths were fake, but their enemy was real—and he was a high-Sequence powerhouse about to advance to Sequence 3. You might remember him: Ince Zangwill, that traitor who left the Church of Evernight. And behind him stands someone of even higher Sequence."
Ince Zangwill?
The wanted poster issued by the Church immediately appeared in Leonard's mind.
"So now that you know this so-called 'truth,' what can you possibly do? Rely on me to bail you out at critical moments? Let me make you shine for the crowd—so you can keep pretending you're the protagonist blessed by fate?"
———
[Note]: 1420 Powerstones for another Extra Chapter tomorrow! Go, VOTE!
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Link - (P)atre(o)n.c(o)m/ Iseeblack [Remove the brackets]