"...."
The Commander narrowed his eyes, his expression hardening.
Elias glanced at him briefly.
'That's a fair reaction,' Elias thought.
His tone had changed.
The Commander had chosen to attack him based on his noble birth, so Elias couldn't let that angle stand unchallenged.
'I know I'm different, and I have no intention of hiding it.'
It was better to admit that than to stubbornly insist, "I understand you all perfectly." If he denied it, their attacks would continue to land. But if he acknowledged his own nature, those attacks would lose their power.
After all, no one here was unaware of the fact that he was a noble.
At that moment, the Commander's gaze sharpened further, boring into Elias.
'…So you've been deliberately avoiding anything tied to nobility, and now you pull this?'
Was he trying to appeal to the bourgeoisie?
That might work outside, but in the Catacomb, there weren't many bourgeois. Those with wealth avoided detection by supporting local minor nobles or registering themselves as distant relatives.
Elias interrupted the silence, speaking again.
"So let me make this clear. Just because I've lived a life rejected by the Emperor doesn't mean I claim to understand yours."
"...."
"But my goals align with yours."
At that moment, angry shouts erupted from the square.
"Ridiculous nonsense!" "Kill him already! Why waste time listening?!"
Elias smiled faintly, as if he'd expected this reaction.
The Commander infused his voice with magic and pushed Elias back down to the ground.
"How fascinating. Now that you're famous as a hero who hunts Pleroma, you think harboring animosity toward them is enough to say, 'Our goals are the same'?"
"...."
"Pleroma is evil to you, is it not? But what's your basis for that?"
"They kill the innocent for their own gain. What's not evil about that?"
"Exactly. And you—those who harvest magic from us to stockpile it in your treasury—are the truest form of evil to us. While you may see Pleroma as your one and only enemy, we don't share that view."
'Hmm.'
So this was his plan from the beginning—countering by pointing out that the nobility on the surface were even worse than Pleroma. To reject the notion that they needed to abide by the morality instilled in them by their oppressors.
'Not bad.'
It was in human nature to seek binary divisions, as if they couldn't function without them. In this case, Pleroma would gradually slip away from the role of "ultimate evil," replaced by the surface nobles.
'From what I've heard, Müller himself was anti-Pleroma.'
He must've shelved his personal opinions to craft this line of argument.
Well, this was getting interesting.
Elias listened to the Commander's words, a strange sense of satisfaction creeping in.
"You fear being ambushed by Pleroma's 100,000 followers scattered in places you can't even find. But you have a system to hunt them down, and 100 million Imperial citizens to grieve and rage on your behalf. We, on the other hand, live as if the entire Empire's population is one giant secret police force watching us."
"...."
"So, of course, to us, you are a greater evil than Pleroma. Now, can you still say our goals align?"
"No."
Elias's firm, unhesitant reply rang through the square, amplified by magic.
The square, caught off guard by the unpredictable exchange, fell silent for a moment before someone shouted in frustration.
"Are you kidding?! Stop playing games and just kill him already!"
Ignoring the outburst, Elias spoke again, his voice cold and steady.
"When did I ever say that we share goals because of Pleroma? I've never claimed that defeating Pleroma is my ultimate aim."
"Then what shared sentiment could possibly exist between us? Don't twist the truth in this situation…"
"You're mistaken. My enemy isn't Pleroma. It's the Emperor and the Federal Council."
Elias cut off the Commander, his words laced with a faint, chilling smile.
"...."
The square fell deathly silent, as if someone had poured cold water over the crowd.
Countless wide eyes turned toward Elias.
Surveying the motionless square, Elias shifted his gaze to the stunned Commander.
"Why are you so surprised? Isn't that the reason you're wasting time talking to me, despite how many here are eager for my death?"
Elias continued with a smirk, his tone sharper now.
"You're planning to hand me over to the Imperial Court, aren't you? My uncle, always looking for a chance to undermine me, would use that opportunity to abandon any hardline policies against the Catacomb and soften his stance. That way, you'd gain security by selling me off. Isn't that right?"
"...."
"Don't try to deny it. I'm only repeating what one of your subordinates already told me."
The square buzzed with murmurs and restless energy.
It wasn't that they were outraged by the lack of ethics in selling Elias to the Emperor. No, the crowd simply hadn't fully grasped the situation yet.
The Commander raised his hand quickly, speaking louder to regain control.
"You're well-informed. The plan has indeed changed. Elias Hohenzollern is Friedrich's greatest political rival. Delivering him to the Emperor serves the purpose of justice far better than killing him and ensures the Catacomb's safety."
With that, the Commander turned his gaze to Elias.
"Your nonsensical diversions are exhausting. We don't have time for this. Now, it's time for Marianne Baum to testify about you."
"…!"
Elias's head shot up in alarm.
The fact that they were bringing Marianne Baum was a problem in itself, but that wasn't the only issue. I could feel a shift in the flow of magic, something different from before.
The moment Elias channeled his magic to create a barrier, the mages surrounding him simultaneously aimed their wands at him.
[Nunc est bibendum.]
"Guh…!"
Elias's vision went black for an instant, only to return moments later.
He clutched at his chest in a panic. Bright red letters began scrawling themselves across the back of his hand, glowing faintly.
Catching his breath, Elias glanced at the glowing letters and let out a wry laugh.
'The spell is crude, but… you're calling my words exhausting?'
No, it wasn't exhaustion.
They had caught on to the fact that I was steering the crowd toward my desired outcome.
Still, this wasn't an immediate crisis, so Elias decided to let it slide—for now.
"I'll give you five minutes," the Commander declared. "Use them to apologize to the citizens of the Catacomb."
Elias actually welcomed the delay. He suspected the situation would shift in his favor soon enough.
His earlier claim, "My enemy isn't Pleroma, but the Emperor and the Federal Council," had momentarily quieted the crowd. Now they were starting to listen more intently.
No one had ever imagined Elias Hohenzollern, a noble mage, would seek to challenge the Empire rather than live comfortably by leveraging popular support.
'This is good, but… it's a bit disappointing.'
The fact that my lifelong goal—killing my uncle—hasn't been properly advertised yet? What a shame.
Still, they resorted to using curse magic as an excuse to silence me.
'Even so, I guess they thought outright gagging me would look bad.'
Elias adjusted his posture with some difficulty and began speaking.
"What are your goals? To live on the surface without fearing for your lives, like other citizens?"
"That's not enough," the Commander retorted. "We'll make up for all the time we've lost."
"Good attitude. I feel the same way."
The Commander raised an eyebrow.
"When this is all over, you'll do as you see fit. You'll probably gain a lot from it. The Empire's newspapers will suddenly stop justifying mass murder and begin sympathizing with the Catacomb. Meanwhile, Nikolaus and I will somehow become the most shameless people in existence."
Elias chuckled softly and raised his head. His palms were slick with sweat.
"Yes, I have options. It's true that I can choose between a 5-pel gin and a 500,000-pel bottle of wine. I don't deny that. If I said I felt guilty for all the privileges I've enjoyed at the expense of the masses, would that make you feel better?"
"Not at all. Even if you said that, you'd still be enjoying your wealth. What's the point?"
"Then if I were to be cast out of the Imperial Court and live in the slums, sharing your past and present circumstances, would that ease your mind?"
"...."
It wouldn't.
There were countless nobles deserving punishment. Seeing one of them fall wouldn't bring any particular satisfaction.
"It wouldn't, would it? The root problem is too vast, and instead of addressing it, you blindly crush whatever's within reach and call it justice."
"...."
"It's the same with you. Do you want to bow to the Emperor and gain a few months of peace? Do you want to surrender to a doomed path, becoming like Pleroma, just to feel a fleeting sense of safety?"
The murmurs of the crowd were now lost on Elias. He wasn't in a state to hear them.
"If that's what you want, then go ahead. But I won't."
"You have no authority to dictate the Catacomb's course of action. Whatever method we choose is beyond your understanding…"
"I already told you I don't fully understand you," Elias interrupted. "But the reverse is true as well. I won't claim that your lives of hardship make my privileges inherently evil, but…"
Despite his pale face, glistening with cold sweat, Elias spoke with unwavering confidence.
"If you're going to say I shouldn't presume to understand others, then you shouldn't utter definitive judgments about others either."
"...."
The Commander stared down at Elias without a word.
Words spilled out of Elias's mouth like a torrent.
"I know what it feels like to be condemned for something you were born into. Ever since I can remember—a memory clouded by magic—I've been viewed as my uncle's rival. In a world where the one who should protect me tries to crush me, I've never once believed this world operates rationally. Can you really say I wouldn't understand your plight? Isn't your situation the same as mine?"
The atmosphere of the square was impossible to read.
Elias himself wasn't sure if maintaining this insufferable tone was having the desired effect.
Someone outside the circle kept shouting, but Elias could no longer hear it. The curse magic was starting to seep into his core.
"Coming here in disguise wasn't just for my own safety. I knew it would endanger you too. And yet, I had no choice but to come."
If Müller truly had ties to Pleroma, then…
Perhaps Luca had come to the same conclusion. After all, seeing how these vigilantes acted, failing to make this connection would be strange.
Time was running out. Elias decided to take a gamble and speak as if his assumption was correct.
"The Emperor intends to use Pleroma as an excuse to deal with this place. And yet, you still consider allying with Pleroma? Did you ever stop to wonder why Nikolaus and I came here in the first place? I doubt you ever thought I'd be on your side. I get that, but…"
This was it. The endgame.
Elias summoned the last of his strength and raised his voice.
"I swear, I didn't come here to harm you. I came to stop the Emperor."
At that moment, the vigilantes standing to the left and right of the Commander suddenly aimed their wands at him.
Elias's half-lidded eyes shot open wide in shock.
Before he could grasp what was happening, the light in his vision disappeared entirely.
***
"We've succeeded," Lichthofen murmured, standing before the spatial magic he had cast.