Chapter 251. Witch (2)
The First Princess, Silis Riven di Estiria.
Once so brilliant that she was called a Genius in her childhood, but an unfortunate princess whose brain was damaged by the aftereffects of an explosion accident.
She lived her whole life upon a wheelchair as if dead, and people derogatorily called her a doll.
The only thing left to her was an extreme self-defense mechanism.
'That's all I know about her.'
Yet the woman right in front of him, who introduced herself as Silis, was entirely different from the rumors.
Far from being bound to a wheelchair, she was standing firmly on two feet, and her platinum eyes carried a clear brilliance.
She was definitely a Mage, judging by the magic power he could feel… but it was hazy, like fog, and he could not sense it in detail.
No ordinary human, it seemed.
Perhaps Silis too was a trait-holder.
Verdin finished his instant judgment and likewise returned the courtesy.
"I am Asher."
Silis hesitated briefly.
"You are calmer than I expected. I thought you would be more surprised."
"I am rather used to such things."
Unexpected, yes, but no more than that.
For Verden, who had lived a life so dynamic and shocking, it was not enough to be astonished merely because he knew of a princess concealing her true identity.
All the more so after he had battled the administrator, the fragment of the Demon King, in the Demon King's tomb.
"I see… yes, that makes sense."
Silis gave a small nod and waved her hand.
At the empty center of the garden, a white table and two chairs appeared.
On the table, steaming tea and neatly arranged plates of sweets were set out pleasantly.
"Please, sit. This will be a long conversation."
The two sat facing each other.
As Silis placed her hand upon the teacup, Verden followed her motion.
He tasted the tea, savored the sweets.Even within a mental realm, the sensations were nearly indistinguishable from reality, and Verden found himself inwardly intrigued.
"..."
Silis was watching him.
Even though she had not yet set aside suspicion or caution, his calmness was not because he underestimated her.It was the certainty that he could leave this space at any moment.
This man, he is not easy.
Even within another's mental realm, he maintained a clear self.
She could feel from him a mental strength greater than anyone she had ever seen.Realizing her opponent was far more difficult than she had assumed, her gaze wavered slightly.
Soon regaining her composure, Silis opened her lips.
The beginning was light.
"First, Asher, I want to thank you. Whether intended or not, thanks to you we gained much. Not only did we learn of Leonil's experiments, which we had not realized, but also the hindrance, the king of the underworld, Grond, was dealt with."
"I never sought gratitude."
Verdin's voice sank low.
His blue eyes flickered with light.
"Rather, what was the reason you created this place?"
He wanted the main point.
Silis wanted that as well.
"I would ask for your cooperation."
"Cooperation?"
"Difficult if you say it is difficult, simple if you say it is simple. But before that, there is something you must know. What Leonil's experiment was, why I lived as a doll… its beginning goes back no less than twenty-seven years ago."
Twenty-seven years ago.
He had some guesses.
'The war between the Republic of Beldirn and the Kingdom of Estiria.'
As Duke Riviant had said.
The war broke out due to the tyranny of the kingdom, and the corrupt kingdom could not withstand the republic.
Though some fought desperately, repeated defeats soon drove them into disadvantage.
At that moment, a strange man was appointed as the new chancellor.
With mysterious Magi stepping forward, the tide of war shifted dramatically, and the kingdom instead invaded the republic's territory.
'But the truth was horrific.'
As the Listener of the Ark had said.
The new chancellor was a member of Gluttony.
He had obtained direct approval from the royal family, and using the kingdom's citizens as well as the prisoners of the republic, he carried out human experimentation.
The number of victims reached tens of thousands.
The kingdom's victory was paved with blood.
Later, when the Ark annihilated Gluttony directly, the flames of war died down instantly.
And in that gap, the Duke of Riviant, who had realized the truth of the human experiments, declared independence.The war, having reached a lull, thus came to an end.
That was the full story of the war.
Recalling the information, Verden answered.
"Twenty-seven years ago… you mean the war."
"Correct. Well, you could hardly not know. Before you came to the kingdom, you subjugated the abnormal species, Soul Tree, in the duchy, saving a city, and aided in annihilating the vile Marquisate of Gardran that had committed heinous crimes."
Silis briefly summarized the war.
It was little different from what Verden knew.In fact, with no mention of Gluttony, it was even less.
It was then.
"The reason the kingdom could reverse the tide of war was because of that man, the new chancellor belonging to the mysterious group called Gluttony."
"...!"
For a moment, ripples spread in Verden's heart.
Until now, only members of the Ark had known of Gluttony's existence.
'Then how does she know?'
Silis was not part of the Ark. It was impossible.
If she were, she would never have needed to arrange such a meeting.
In deep doubt, Silis continued.
"Asher, do you know of the four ducal houses of the kingdom?"
"…I do."
The Ducal House of Devon.
The Ducal House of Riviant.
The Ducal House of Dosramd.
The Ducal House of Rubinelian.
Among them, Riviant had declared independence and founded the principality.
And Rubinelian, after the war ended, was annihilated under charges of rebellion.
"The new chancellor came to the kingdom because of my mother's side, the Ducal House of Rubinelian. More precisely, because of the bloodline that has been passed down from long ago."
"Bloodline, you say…"
"Now forgotten, but in ancient memory it was called thus."
Silis set down her teacup.
A small resonance spread throughout the space.
"Those who deal with dreams, the 'Witches'."
Silis released her magic power.
The once-sunny garden was instantly engulfed in darkness.
Within that abyss, backgrounds and figures shimmered, and her voice echoed low.
As though it were a play.
***
Long ago, in the eastern continent lived witches.
Beings of magic who dealt with dreams, able to influence not only the mind but reality itself.
They passed down blood and memory to their gifted female descendants, accumulating unique magical knowledge.
But nothing lasts forever.
In a changing world, one day the transfer of memory was severed, and the witches lost their power.
Only their blood continued unbroken, and thus it was inherited into one of the kingdom's four ducal houses, Rubinelian.
Naturally, none knew of the witches' lineage. Not even the founding duke of the house.
No matter how the blood continued, if the memory was not inherited, the traits of a witch would not awaken.At most, they would simply become a talented Mage.
The magic power and magic of the witches had long since been forgotten.
One day, war broke out.
Pressed back by the army of the Republic, the Kingdom stood on the brink of destruction.
The corrupt nobles sought only their own survival, and the ordinary, incompetent king fell into panic.
At that time, a man appeared.
───I have a way to break the kingdom's crisis. Not only that, I have the power to make Your Majesty a great Conqueror King.
───Conqueror King…?
The king grew interested.
───And what is this method?
───It requires only the smallest courage from Your Majesty.
What the man demanded was Silis's mother, the fourth queen, Remien.
The only daughter of the Ducal House of Rubinelian. After much deliberation, the King of Estiria appointed the man as the new chancellor.
───…I accept.
The reason was simple.
He did not want to go down in history as the foolish king who led the kingdom to ruin.
A king incompetent simply because he was ordinary. A fortunate king, who surely would have lost his throne if he had brothers. And so, being subtly despised for this, he rebelled against it.
The king gave up his wife.
He feared more the memory of his incompetence passed to posterity, than he loved her.
───Your Majesty has made the right choice for the kingdom.
The royal family's permission was given.
The new chancellor infused the long-preserved memories of a witch, which Gluttony had safeguarded, into Remien, whose mind was half awake.
The witch's memory and her bloodline reacted violently.
Just as expected.
Queen Remien inherited the talent of the witch.
To accept so easily the memory of a witch, which could be passed to only a single person.
The new chancellor smirked, and extracted Remien's blood and magic power.
The awakened power of the witch carried the trait of amplifying and even altering magic power.
Using this, he made magic amplifiers, with prisoners of the enemy nation as materials.
He ordered the magi of Gluttony to use them upon the battlefield, and the experiment was highly successful. With devastating magical bombardments, the tide of war was overturned at once.
───Then, the next step.
The new chancellor cut away Remien's organs and pieces of her body. Of course, only to the point where she would not die.
His goal was the experiment of distorting magic power, to create an acquired unique trait.
As numbers were needed, not only prisoners but also citizens of the kingdom were secretly secured as test subjects.
Tens of thousands were dissected and died.
The progress was extremely smooth.
But the experiments ended in an instant.
By an unknown group, the new chancellor and all of Gluttony were swept away. Test subjects, research data, all of it.
Amidst this, Duke Riviant declared independence, and the front line collapsed. The kingdom could no longer sustain the war.
To silence the duke who had learned of the human experiments, they had no choice but to promise not to invade the principality.
That should have been the end.
───Victory was at hand! How dare, how dare a mere duke! A mere republic!
The power to overwhelm other nations.
The great Conqueror King, whose name would be recorded in history.
The admiring gazes from the nobles around him.
The King of Estiria clung to power and fame.
From that change, his incompetence and mediocrity turned into obstinacy.
The king forced the court mages to continue the experiments. Without the new chancellor, without the data, he still pressed forward recklessly.
───Your Majesty, at this rate…!
───Silence, and continue!
The result was that Remien was torn apart.
───Silis…
Dying alive, her only will was her daughter's name.
She, the mother of Silis, and the fourth queen, left behind not even a trace of her form. Could there be a death more dreadful and empty?
And still, there was no result.
Without Gluttony's technology, they knew nothing of witches. At best, only of magic amplification.
───You say it failed? No, no, it is not over yet. Yes, the chancellor had said so. That Remien carried a special bloodline…!
Which meant, there was a secret in her family.
The King of Estiria orchestrated from the shadows, fabricating charges of rebellion against the Ducal House of Rubinelian.
Because Duke Riviant had once set a precedent by founding a principality, it was possible.
Using the secret social hall members other than the dark merchants, who now served the First Prince, and with the aid of the other two ducal houses, he thoroughly ruined their reputation and forged evidence.
When offered money and territory, they carried out the king's orders more faithfully than anyone.
Using that as a pretext, he annihilated the Ducal House of Rubinelian.
The captured bloodline of the house was secretly used to continue human experiments.
But the results were the same.
The king raged, and the witch vanished.
…But the line of witches did not end entirely.
When Remien died, the memories that vanished with her were passed wholly onto her daughter.
The pain, the death.
All of it.
***
The play that Silis had manifested came to an end.
As the darkness receded, the dream garden of fresh atmosphere returned.
Leaving behind the change of space, Verden quietly sank into thought.
'I heard it once from the Administrator.'
Among unique traits, there are rare ones inherited through bloodline and memory.It seemed Princess Silis was such a case.
Now he understood why she knew of Gluttony.
As the memories of her mother, who had undergone experiments, had been passed down, she must have encountered that name.And the fact that she knew nothing of the Ark was proof of that.
Yet, there remained unclear points.
Tap, tap. As Verden drummed his fingers upon his arm, he asked.
"I have five questions."
"As many as you wish."
Silis invited him to ask.
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