Lawful Murder
"The winner of the World Beauty Pageant is—!"
Once news spread that the terrorist had been caught, the contest resumed in full swing.
"Miss Arachne! Barho Rangi!"
The crowd, which nearly filled the stands, leaped to their feet and applauded, and Rangi wept tears of joy.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Having tasted all the bitterness the world had to offer on her way to this moment, her tears were genuine.
"Congratulations, Rangi."
It was an honor for Shirone as well that Poni, Tormia's representative, had placed second.
'Good for you, Poni.'
Satisfied with her achievement, Poni would return home and devote herself once more to magic training.
"Is it over now?"
Marsha and Jaestin approached Shirone, who was standing at the edge of the audience.
Jaestin's mercenary band had been merged into the Parrot Mercenaries and had already left, but Shirone wanted to confirm the contest results.
"Yes. We should get going, too." Marsha narrowed her eyes and exhaled cigarette smoke.
"Going to pull some strange stunt again, I suppose?"
Shirone smiled in reply, and as the applause died down, Rangi gave her acceptance speech.
"Thank you, everyone. First, I'd like to thank the director of Beauty Style Hair Salon who made me who I am today and—"
A contest official came looking for Shirone.
"Mage of the Ivory Tower, I should have told you earlier, but we were thrown into chaos because of the terrorist—"
He handed over the sheet music for "Light Rain" bearing Maya's signature.
"Miss Maya asked me to deliver this herself. She said if you just received it, you'd understand—"
Maya had wanted to stay until the end of the contest, but her agency would never allow it.
"I see."
Shirone took in the lyrics, each line full of her heartfelt words, and nodded.
"Yes, Maya is right. Thank you."
The reason she left only her feelings without meeting in person was that she didn't want anything decided yet.
'We'll meet again.'
From an even higher place than now.
"Let's go. You're busy, right?" After bidding farewell to Marsha, Shirone left the capital with Jaestin.
The monstrous bird Kaidra, which had been circling overhead, landed before them with a strange cry.
"We're going to ride that?"
Jaestin's eyes went wide.
"Yeah. We rode it on the way here too. It's the Kaidra the queen of Kashan rides personally. Its name is Latusa."
Latusa stroked Shirone's cheek with its beak.
'It's a Tier-3 monster.'
The strongest monsters Jaestin's mercenary band had slain so far were only up to Tier-5. Specialized for flight and easily overlooked, Kaidra was a powerful creature that could peck ordinary monsters like insects.
"It won't eat people, will it?"
"Haha! No way."
They'd never bothered confirming whether a person-eating Kaidra could eat Shirone—because even if it ate people, that didn't mean it would eat him. Jaestin peered at Shirone in fear, and Shirone, mounted on Latusa, beckoned.
"First time? Come on up."
In his eyes the Kaidra looked like a gigantic monster Shirone had simply climbed onto.
At the hotel, after packing, Rangi sat on the sofa sipping liquor until her bodyguard arrived.
"Hah, it's finally over."
The joy of victory lasted only a moment; all the hardships she'd endured flickered through her mind like a slideshow.
'Shirone.'
At the end of that flashback was the afterimage of the world's strongest mage.
Rangi, staring at the "Great Mage Who Slays Dragons" Shirone had left behind, shook her head.
"Idiot, what are you thinking?"
They lived in different worlds.
'It's not about being strong or weak.'
What mages pursued was spirit, not matter, and Rangi could never truly understand them.
"Rangi, I brought Berni."
"Come in."
A man with a messy, bird's-nest hairdo and a patchy beard stepped in awkwardly.
"I-is it really Rangi?"
Seeing Rangi on the sofa, Berni trembled as if deeply moved.
"Please sit. I asked to be brought in because I wanted to thank you personally."
He had gone from a world-beauty-pageant maniac to Rangi's devoted fan; this was the honor of a lifetime.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Rangi smiled with dimples.
"No, I'm the one who should be thankful. You saved me back then."
When Mecha's explosive shells flew down from the mountain, he had been the only one to leap onto the stage.
"Was I of any help?"
In truth, it had been Shirone who had stopped the attack, so Berni sat there looking embarrassed. Rangi leaned forward.
"I'm sorry, but we don't have much time. We have to go to the palace for a congratulatory performance."
"Ha! Yes, of course. Just seeing Rangi up close like this is enough for me."
"Then if you have anything to say, say it now."
"Yes?"
Rangi lifted the corner of her mouth.
"You risked your life for me, so I'll grant you an unofficial wish. Ask for anything."
As a single thought sprang to his mind, Berni swallowed.
"Really?"
"Do you think I'd call you here to joke? Say it."
"You may think it's strange, but if I could make one wish—tonight…"
Rangi nodded.
"Yes, tonight?"
Berni squeezed his eyes shut and shouted.
"Please, just one dinner!"
"Yes, dinner… yes?"
Rangi blinked.
"A-and I'm really sorry, and I know it's shameless, but it's my life's wish! Please, just once…" Berni hurriedly rummaged through his backpack and took out an expensive optical camera he had bought with a fortune.
"If you could just take one proof photo for me…"
He trailed off in a small voice, watching Rangi's stunned face.
"Would that be so bad?"
Rangi could only ask back.
"What did you say? That's your real wish?"
Berni shrank back.
"A proof photo… to show my friends… to brag…"
"Hahaha—!"
Rangi burst into laughter, leaning back on the sofa and looking up at the ceiling.
'I see. So that's it.'
Mages.
For a moment she felt she could somewhat understand their lives.
Imperial Aganos.
"If you want to know someone, take the humblest stance before them."
Uorin said.
"Humans want to be superior, so eventually they reveal their true colors. But if someone doesn't change even then…" Gando answered.
"Then they're someone to trust."
"No. Maintain humility until the person shows their true face." "It's a matter of who endures longer. Some people spend their emotions easily. If you blame and belittle others to feel a little superior, there's nothing left afterward."
If you show emotion, desire disappears.
"The heart's sense of superiority is an illusion. True superiority reveals itself."
Uorin spread her arms.
"The jewel-studded Imperial House, armies stretching to the horizon, vast piles of gold—those were all gained because the heart's sense of superiority was abandoned."
It was the emperor's philosophy.
"So don't sell your emotions cheaply. Hide yourself and use others' thoughts. That's the whole game."
"I have a question."
Gando cut in.
"According to the queen's theory, isn't it taboo for her to reveal imperial techniques to me?"
"Sharp as ever."
Uorin walked to the window.
"Gando, tell me—do you ever think of becoming emperor?"
Now he understood.
"Mother."
"It is the era of great purification. I have no more subordinate matters. Among all the unknowns, the one I chose is Shirone."
She had no intention of bearing a daughter.
"An extreme judgment."
"It's an extreme world. Habitz's soul-money is the natural enemy of Teraje, which is based on logic."
"There are other ways to make alliances." From Gando's perspective, a world split between Kashan and Gustaf wasn't a bad thing.
"So you can't give up Shirone."
"You've run countless years. If now is the only chance for Teraje's life to bloom—"
Because it must bloom someday, she had chosen to be patient for eternity.
"Shirone has arrived." When the guards outside announced it, Uorin's face brightened like a girl's.
"Let's go, Gando."
Watching her bolt toward the door, Gando exhaled deeply.
'Emperor? Me?'
Gando was indeed the son of Teraje, borrowed by the same womb, but his genes weren't mixed.
'What are you looking at?' He couldn't understand a woman who would give up endless history to live one life with someone she loved.
'She's not someone who moves on emotion alone. Perhaps…'
Maybe they had already reached the end of an age.
"Your skill has improved since before." Gustaf's military strategist Balkan looked down at the dozens of chess pieces laid out before him.
"Really? I don't even know the rules properly."
Habitz had no interest in chess; he simply grabbed pieces and placed them wherever.
'That's why it's bizarre.'
It seemed random, but against the genius strategist Balkan his win rate was almost fifty percent.
'He's not reading formations. He just keeps initiating battles to make things interesting.'
Because he wasn't obsessed with winning or losing, his win rate hovered around fifty percent.
'If he ever decided to win—or no, would that not also clash with chaos?'
Balkan asked, "What is Your Majesty's philosophy on ruling humans?"
Habitz's theory of kingship was—
"There is none. It's too simple. No matter how you sort apples, they're still apples."
"But aren't there people like strawberries, or pears? Different kinds."
"There's no such thing."
Habitz looked up.
"Everyone thinks they're the best. But lock them in a warehouse and beat them with a rod for three days—what will they do?"
Habitz pretended to suffer.
"Oh, I'm dying! Yes! That apple is a pear! You are a god! I'm a dog!"
Balkan blinked.
"How strange. If someone were truly the best, whether you beat them or gut them, they'd still be the best. But they always change their words."
"Heh heh."
Habitz twirled his mustache.
"I don't know why they believe they're right day to day. Must be some disease."
"Puahaha!"
Balkan slapped his knee.
"Brilliant insight, Your Majesty!"
It was an unbearably hot summer.
A record heatwave raged, and the border between Kashan and Gustaf reeked of blood.
"With this, all preparations are complete."
To Uorin's left stood the Iruki team handling Ex Machina, and to her right Shirone's team in charge of 〈Lawslay〉.
"This is the only chance to kill Habitz."
Minerva looked over Abella standing at the center.
'Abella and Jaestin are both fully prepared, but the higher probability lies with Alpha Fish.'
During the half-year stay at the Imperial Palace, Abella and Jaestin had never met. Given their respective ties that was natural, but it was actually a strategic choice.
"Yus Abella. Countless lives will rest on your hands. Are you aware?"
"Don't worry. I won't make a mistake."
Having analyzed and trained with top experts, there was no tension to be seen on Abella's face.
'Uncle Habitz, I'm coming. To kill you.'
The emperor's temperament was vicious; courtiers fled and manpower was scarce—that was only to be expected.
"Let's depart."
Alpha Fish's first mission was to enter the Gustaf Empire as a maid and have an audience with Habitz.