[400] Rapidly Changing Situation (4)
Kashan Empire.
The ruler of the continent's northwest, occupying a third of human territory—the imperial coronation of Kashan's emperor was an hour away.
As always, the succession was unofficial and secretive.
Only the two Teraje who shared the same memories and a handful of people who knew their private secrets remained in the 23rd spire of the vast palace Aganos.
A transfer of power from Teraje Mistra to Teraje Uorin.
From the outside it looked like the ordinary handover of a throne from parent to child, but someone knew the truth.
Only the name had changed.
Teraje was simply the proper name of something that had endured through the ages by repeating itself.
"This finishes the handover related to the Temple. Well, if the Temple's settled, everything else is settled too."
Fourteen hours earlier, Uorin had stopped by the World Council Chamber on the central continent on her way back.
It was there she had first been introduced to the Temple, and in an hour she would rise into the Tri-Sovereignty.
Even within the Temple—the world's most powerful super-faction—the influence of a Teraje was immense.
Beneath the Tri-Sovereignty were the Seven Kings, rulers of the continent's seven strongest nations, and the Two Monarchs, the heads of the fae and the dragons.
These twelve sovereigns affiliated with the Temple could rightly be called the pinnacle of the world.
Uorin had gone from Kazra's princess to the ruler of the world overnight, yet there was no joy on her face. After all, everything was just a subset of the name Teraje.
"I don't need idle talk. We've already verified there's no discrepancy between your memories and mine. But I have a question."
Uorin stopped and looked back at Mistra.
Because mother and daughter shared memories, they were two yet one. Any divergence in their thoughts had to be examined.
"Hmm, about that…"
Mistra turned to Uorin.
Where Mistra had dark hair and fierce eyes, Uorin had white hair and an almost translucent presence.
Even her husband Orkamp didn't have white hair—this was a mutation.
She was the 'self' with future-sight, one of the rarest manifestations among the History Search abilities that had produced the current Teraje.
Perhaps among countless daughters, Uorin becoming emperor had been a foregone conclusion.
Still, today's early enthronement was an irregular move Mistra herself had not calculated.
"Don't worry. I'll ensure the annihilation is complete. It's just that among the memories formed after you were born, some things absolutely had to be handed over, so I followed you all the way to Aganos."
Now that Uorin would sit in the Tri-Sovereignty, there was no reason for Mistra to remain in this world. But there were matters her generation had to finish.
That was why she had hastened the succession years early, why she had driven Micaea Gaold to a charge of treason—to push things forward quickly.
Mistra went into the room, took a locked box from her desk drawer, handed it to Uorin on the sofa, then sat opposite and crossed her legs.
"Everything you're questioning is in this box. You'll figure it out, but it contains a secret about current humanity unknown to anyone. If used well, it'll be a powerful weapon. Given the circumstances, I had to act first."
"How do we open it? We can't break it."
"The key's with me. I can't show it yet. But there's someone I want you to meet first."
Exactly on time there was a knock.
Very few in the world had access to the 23rd floor of Aganos, so Mistra immediately bade them enter.
A tall man came in. Narrow eyes and a kindly expression, violet hair slicked back with a single strand hanging down.
He was Gando, former captain of the Tormia Mage Association guard.
Biologically he was Mistra's first son and thus Uorin's older brother, but psychologically he was her son. That was why bloodlines meant nothing to a Teraje.
Gando bowed his head toward the ambiguous position of his two mothers.
"Did you call, Mother?"
"Yes. Come here. You handled this one well."
Adopted into Tormia at birth and raised by the Gando clan, the Mage Association had been everything to him.
But it had all been a lie.
Even his joining Gaold's personal guard had been a fabricated life designed by his mother.
Amid a life built on lies, the only genuine feeling Gando had found was a reverence for Gaold.
In the end, though, he had helped bring Gaold down for treason and fled to his mother's arms.
"Oh my, what's with that face? Surely not because of Gaold? You didn't have personal feelings for him, did you?"
"My only precious person is Mother. However…I respect his achievements as a mage."
"Hah. Gando, you are a son of a Teraje. You don't need to bow to some Mage Association head."
Gando fell silent.
Someone in the Tri-Sovereignty would be entitled to say that. But having spent most of his life in Tormia, he still couldn't tell which side was the truth.
Uorin appraised him and nodded.
"You're definitely different from Zion. This time you were chosen properly."
"Heh, right? I didn't expect a son, but if he has talent—want to raise him as a mage? If you want him nearby, you can keep him."
Gando bowed.
Chosen properly? Raised well?
What, exactly, was he in the eyes of a Teraje?
A human? A living being? If not that, was he a gear stuck in a clock, condemned to turn forever?
"Keep him close? Hmm. I'm satisfied with Crouch. Come here, Gando."
Gando approached Uorin like a slave sold at market. Each time her gaze pierced him, he felt exposed.
He couldn't show discomfort.
Today his biological mother, Mistra, would be annihilated. If abandoned by Uorin, only death remained.
"All right, then…for now, stay with me. We'll need to watch Kashan for a while."
"Thank you, Mother."
Gando bowed deeply. His eyes trembled as they stared at the ground.
He would die.
If Uorin were Mistra's avatar, nothing she said could be trusted.
"On one condition—two conditions, actually."
Uorin snorted a laugh. For a Teraje in the Tri-Sovereignty to accept conditions meant he wanted to live that much.
"Speak. If it's something I can accept…"
"Please ensure I do not come into conflict with anyone in Kashan."
He wanted recognition as an independent institution. If he survived to serve Uorin, it was a reasonable demand.
"All right. The second?"
"Do not make me criticize Mother. I am nothing but a warrior who fights blindly for Mother."
It was a polished way of saying he wanted to be treated like a dog—desperate, yet unwilling to fall into abject servility.
Perhaps a cold, pragmatic tactic befitting a mage, but Uorin didn't care.
A little pup wouldn't hurt.
"You've saved your life, Gando."
"I can only thank Mother for her mercy."
Mistra waved her hand.
"That's enough. Go out. There are other matters."
This would probably be Gando's final meeting with Mistra, but there was no maternal warmth in her tone.
When Gando left, Mistra, as if it were time, took the key from her bosom.
"The reason I moved the succession forward was to create variables. Gaold will go to heaven and do something. In the end, it will help us."
"Do you think he can succeed? His twenty-year plan was upended at once."
"Success doesn't matter. What matters is that something changes. Humans gamble on low odds because the reward of victory overwhelms the despair of defeat. I merely gave Gaold that."
"I still don't understand. I don't know what you're thinking. How can you do this?"
"Of course. That's why you need to open the box. Inside is the déjà vu record of the 'underlying incidents' that only I know. If you read it, you'll know exactly what I've been thinking."
A Teraje held all memories from primeval times to the present, and with the unique ability History Search could rapidly scan that vast recollection.
At first it was simple data retrieval.
But when the Geopin Reset occurred, that ability evolved explosively. After the reset a new history formed, and beneath the existing history lay the 'underlying incidents.'
Two different timelines sharing the same era contrasted through déjà vu, producing a kind of future-prediction ability.
Add Uorin's future-sight, and her generation might very well dream of conquering heaven.
"The reason I hid it until the end was that if we exchanged opinions, subjective judgment might seep into History Search. You should see and judge for yourself. After all, I'm you, and you're me."
Mistra walked to the desk. From the moment she handed over the key, her mission in life was complete.
Uorin asked, "With what?"
"Anything will do, but make it clean."
Mistra showed the longsword on the desk. The blade slid free with a whisper, scattering light across the room.
Uorin nodded and put the key in the lock. While she did, Mistra gripped the hilt with both hands, lifted her chin, and pressed the blade to her throat.
She blinked at the ceiling, then suddenly remembered and looked at Uorin.
"Right—you said you were going to consume Shirone. Is that still your plan?"
Uorin shrugged as she opened the box.
"Ataraxia's attractive, isn't he? The rest doesn't seem particularly important. Why, is he a liability?"
"No. Yes, okay."
Mistra lifted her head again.
Her instincts were a little off, but that was common. The long history of a Teraje was not so fragile that a single boy could introduce a decisive variable.
The moment Uorin opened the box, Mistra's blade moved with a clean hiss and a fountain of blood spurted up. Shortly after came the sound of her collapsing.
Uorin didn't glance. Her only interest was the information inside the box.
Inside were documents on two agendas.
The title on the cover of the first document read "Geopin Erasure."
Because the reset was judged to have occurred nineteen years ago, Uorin—born after that—had a hazier sense of the underlying incidents than Mistra did. But since this matter had already been investigated by the Temple and major institutions, it wasn't especially critical.
Uorin set that obsolete document aside and pulled out the document beneath it.
"So that's it…"
Her hand, which had been reaching for a coffee cup, paused, then returned to seize the document with both hands. She lingered over the title printed in the center.
Anke Ra Erasure
Uorin flipped through the pages quickly. Save first, analyze later.
In five minutes she had memorized two hundred pages down to the last detail. She took a candlestick and burned the document.
Staring into the flames, Uorin's gaze was colder than ever. She finally understood what Mistra had been trying to convey.
"You were right, Mistra."
Gando knocked and came back in. He paused at the changed scene from when he had left, then returned to a composed expression and bowed.
"Mother, it is time for the coronation."
"All right. I'm going out now."
Gando glanced at Mistra sprawled on the floor.
Her throat had been cut by the sword. One could tell without seeing that it had been a perfectly clean cut.
"What should we do with the body?"
"Dispose of it."
Uorin answered curtly, as if to warn him not to interrupt her thoughts.
Gando moved with careful, muffled steps and removed the body.
She had given birth to him. But now Mistra was Uorin—something beyond human common sense. That was a Teraje.
Uorin pushed herself up and strode into the corridor.
At the end of the 23rd-floor tower was a balcony overlooking a plaza where hundreds of thousands of imperial citizens had gathered, stretching to the horizon.
She drew back the curtains and stepped onto the balcony. The crowd spread to the horizon line.
A mighty roar erupted when they spotted the Teraje. The earth seemed to tremble; heat surged to the summit.
"Long live Her Majesty the Empress! Long live Her Majesty the Empress! Long live Her Majesty the Empress!"
Uorin raised her hand. The volume—already enormous—swelled to more than double and stunned the ears.
The whole world lay at her feet, yet Uorin only looked down with a cold gaze.
Humans were peculiar creatures with as many personalities as there were individuals, but when gathered they were still the species called human.
Not a person—just the massive beast called humanity roared at her.
"Shirone, there is no time. Meet Ikael. You must change it. If you don't—"
Uorin looked up at the sky. Only the sun hung higher than she did.
"Humanity will perish."