Chapter 111: Emilia's Awakening (Patreon)

Moments later, in a wine cellar belonging to the Muse Company.

The cellar had been converted into a temporary shelter for civilians. Guided by Water Gate City guards, the evacuees sat in orderly rows on floor mats laid out in advance. Medical staff hurried back and forth, giving basic treatment to those wounded in the Witch Cult's attack.

At Kiritaka's direction, one partitioned room of the cellar served as a temporary command post. He still had some reservations about facing Emilia and her group of Witch Cultists, but he knew this was no time to hesitate, so he spoke frankly.

"Lady Emilia, thank you from the bottom of my heart for lending Water Gate City a hand in this hour of crisis. The situation is desperate, so I'll keep this short."

"As you can see, the Witch Cult wiped out our administration in a single raid and took over the city. They're holding a huge number of hostages, and they're threatening to flood the city unless we hand over the legendary remains of the Witch. We can't afford to wait any longer."

"May I ask something?" Emilia said. "Are the Witch's remains really buried beneath Water Gate City?"

"So the legend is true after all." Geuse nodded beside her. "Lady Emilia, as far as I know, Water Gate City Priestella was built to trap the Witch of Pride, Typhon, and destroy her with a great flood. Her remains probably became the foundation of the city afterward. If they're removed, I fear the result would be a disaster equal to the original flooding, or even worse."

"How... how do you know all this?"

Kiritaka stared at him, utterly dumbfounded. It was no secret that the Witch's remains lay beneath the city, and the rumor that it had been founded to "trap something" was fairly widespread. But someone who knew as many inside details as Geuse did? Even the members of the late Council of Wise Men would have called themselves amateurs next to him.

On top of that, the man's clothes were clearly standard Witch Cult issue. That only deepened Kiritaka's dread. Had the Witch Cult infiltrated Water Gate City so thoroughly that the city was practically one-way glass?

Emilia had vouched for them, and both Geuse and Clarissa insisted they had nothing to do with the thugs outside. It was unlikely that the two factions were sharing information. But if one faction already had this kind of intelligence, wouldn't the faction that had turned the city upside down be even more deeply entrenched?

In that instant, Kiritaka was overwhelmed by helplessness and despair. All the effort he and his colleagues had poured in over the years had been for nothing. The Witch Cult had long since seen through the city's little secrets. Worse, to stop one faction from destroying the city, he had to borrow the strength of the other.

With the Witch Cult this powerful, could Lugnica really still be saved?

Kiritaka was silent for a long while, then finally let out a bitter laugh. Geuse, who more or less guessed what he was thinking, smiled awkwardly in return. The two men exchanged a look, and the atmosphere turned decidedly strange.

Our Old Geuse, though, was suffering in silence. Why did he know so much about Water Gate City? Because the attack on it had been his idea from the start. He had proposed and planned it, and after he went missing, Pandora had taken the plan over and refined it further. Either way, he was one of the masterminds behind this assault.

He decided it was best not to tell Kiritaka, lest he scare the poor young man into questioning his whole existence.

"Bzzt... bzzzzt!!"

The magic-tool loudspeaker on the cellar ceiling once again erupted into a harsh drone without warning.

"Hello, hello? It's me again."

Then Regulus's affected, contemptuous voice, laced with faint irritation, echoed through the whole cellar:

"Let me share a few impressions so far. Honestly, it's hard to believe... A full twenty minutes have passed since I issued my magnanimous ultimatum."

"And what do I get? Not one person has come crawling to me with the Witch's remains. Instead, all I hear is the racket of vermin scurrying through the streets. I ask you... what is the meaning of this? Isn't it contempt for my supreme goodwill? Trampling on someone's kindness, ignoring their ultimatum... Don't you have even the most basic sense of decency and shame?!"

Regulus grew more and more worked up, then reined himself in just as his tone was about to turn into a bellow. He took a deep breath and went back to that unhurried drawl, as if he really were a man of lofty virtue.

"Since gentle persuasion fell on deaf ears, I have no choice but to dispose of a few hostages to get your attention, in defense of my sacred and inviolable rights. Remember this: their gruesome deaths are the bitter fruit of your disregard for my kindness. You shameless creatures forced me into this wickedness... Ah, how regrettable..."

"Rumble... rumble... rumble!!"

Amid a series of deafening roars of shattering stone and earth, the sound of flesh being ground to pulp rang out, followed by the dying screams of the victims. There was no doubt about it. Those were the last sounds of the hostages Regulus had imprisoned in city hall, crushed alive.

"Ahh... Listen to those pitiful sounds. How awful."

Regulus gave a heavy sigh, in a tone of sorrow for all of mankind.

"Two hundred and sixty lives in that room, gone for nothing, all because you stubborn lowlifes have no gratitude. As a pacifist, I deeply regret it. I hope that within the next twenty minutes someone comes forward to hand over the Witch's remains. I truly don't want to stain my flawless hands with any more innocent blood. That is all."

The broadcast cut out again.

"Bastards...! How many people do these deranged lunatics have to kill before they're satisfied?!"

Listening to the broadcast, Kiritaka clenched his fists so hard his nails dug into his palms, his chest heaving with fury.

If he had still been wavering over cooperating with Emilia a moment ago, now he would gladly raise both hands in favor of her proposal. Even if it meant signing a soul-selling contract with a witch, he would pay that price, so long as those murderers got the punishment they deserved.

"Lady Emilia!"

Kiritaka pressed a hand to his chest, gritted his teeth, and bowed to Emilia with bloodshot eyes.

"We have to act now. Leave the hostages to us! I, Kiritaka Muse, stake my life on it! Even if the Muse Company loses its very last private soldier, I will never let those innocent people be slaughtered again! As for the Sin Archbishops... I leave them to all of you!"

"The fate of all Priestella rests in your hands. Please, I beg you! Help us! If we truly survive this catastrophe, I will throw the full support of Water Gate City, as its representative, behind your ascent to the throne of Lugnica. Please!"

Emilia didn't answer. She simply gave a solemn nod in response to his hopes.

The agreement was sealed.

"Clarissa, take your people and help Mr. Kiritaka find and rescue the hostages." Emilia gave the order in a cold voice. "If you dare act on your own and hurt innocent people again, I won't mind giving you a refresher on the lesson from the royal capital."

"Y-yes! Mother, understood!"

Clarissa accepted the order, trembling. She led the Beloved Children out the door after Kiritaka, leaving only Emilia and Geuse in the room. Puck finally found his chance to float out of the crystal on Emilia's chest.

"Lia..." Puck hovered at her side, his little paws rubbing together anxiously. "Things are getting worse faster than we expected. Please be careful. Even Geuse doesn't know the true nature of that guy's Authority, so if we run into him..."

"It's fine. Subaru told us to leave him to him, didn't he?"

Emilia shook her head lightly, her eyes holding a trust without reservation.

"Since Subaru went off wearing my face, it means he already has a foolproof plan for that egomaniac. He's never once broken a promise."

"The real problem is that the Gluttony brothers, who should have reached Water Gate City long ago, still haven't shown themselves. We have no idea what they're plotting," Geuse said in a low voice. "With Reinhard, the current Sword Saint and the strongest of this age, and Sir Julius standing guard, a head-on fight should be no problem in theory. I'm only afraid the Witch Cult has some hidden deployment we don't know about."

"Even so, the heart of this matter is right here with us."

Emilia drew a deep breath and looked through the cellar's observation window at the clock tower in the Third District.

"Geuse, tell me honestly... What is that Wrath Sin Archbishop to you and me?"

"That..."

Geuse was at a loss for words. He should have known Emilia would ask this someday. He shot Puck a pleading look. The gray-furred kitten slapped a paw against his own forehead in agony, then gritted his teeth, squeezed his eyes shut, and said:

"Oh, just tell her the truth already. I'm out of ideas. Lia has already accepted you, so what's one more Fortuna to be afraid of?"

At Puck's words, Geuse froze solid. Great. So he's not the one who has to spill all that ugly history, and now he's off the hook. Did he spare even a thought for how I feel?

"Mr. Geuse? Are you all right?" Emilia asked with concern.

"No, it's nothing..."

Geuse forced a smile. He glared at Puck, who had ducked into Emilia's hair, with a look that said he wanted to turn the wretched cat into stew. His white teeth chattered hard, and it took him a long while to push the agony off his face and keep from losing his composure in front of Emilia.

"The truth is... that Wrath Sin Archbishop... she is Fortuna, your adoptive mother from long ago. I know it's hard to accept, but that feeling... I could never mistake it! Even with her mind shattered and her body wrapped in those eerie bandages, Lady Fortuna's presence is still so clear to me, and it pains me so..."

"A hundred years ago... Pandora led Regulus in a raid on the forest. To guard the seal, to protect you when you were so small, Fortuna fought with the last of her strength... And I... I overestimated myself and forced a fusion with the Witch Factor of Sloth that didn't suit me. I broke my promise to Lord Flugel, and I couldn't protect anything!"

Geuse's throat erupted in uncontrollable sobs.

"At the time, I thought the one I'd run through with the Unseen Hand was Pandora, that I'd pierced her enemy's chest and shattered her heart. But when I came to my senses, Lady Fortuna was already lying in a pool of blood! The hole in her chest... was the one the Unseen Hand had made!"

Hum—!

Emilia's mind went blank. The whole world turned stark white before her eyes, and the shards of memory finally linked together. Snow whirling across the sky. Fortuna lying in a pool of blood. Geuse beside her, clawing at his hair and howling like a madman. And...

A white-haired girl, covered by nothing but a single white cloth, as if only that spotless fabric were fit to touch her body. She looked like a saint, and she wore a meaningful smile. She was the one who had caused all of Emilia's misfortune, the one who had taken her family away!

The Witch of Vainglory: Pandora!

For a moment, Emilia was back in that very state of mind. "Kill you! Kill you!" echoed mechanically in her head, and raging ice magic ran wild around her, freezing the ground into a bone-chilling sheet of ice.

"Lia!" "Lady Emilia!"

Puck and Geuse both cried out in alarm. Puck flew straight to Emilia's forehead and tried to touch it, but a fierce blizzard blew him away. He slammed into the cellar ceiling and passed out, seeing stars.

"Pandora..."

Emilia murmured the name softly. Her slender body trembled violently in the icy mist, and a storm raged in her hollow lavender eyes. Sorrow, shock, rage, pain... countless tangled emotions collided inside this young but resilient half-elf's chest, and for a moment she lost her bearings.

But at her most helpless moment, the back of a black-haired boy in a black coat flashed through her mind. His voice followed, comical, yet unexpectedly reliable when it counted. In an instant, color returned to Emilia's world, and the light came back to her eyes.

"If I fall apart over this, what right do I have to keep walking beside Subaru?" she said to herself.

Under Geuse's tense gaze, the blizzard around Emilia died down. She exhaled a cold breath, looked up at the man who had once been her adoptive father, and laid her hands on his shoulders.

"It must have been so painful... Mr. Geuse."

"...What?!" Geuse's eyes went wide.

"A hundred years wandering in the dark... Carrying this guilt for a whole hundred years... You must have suffered more than anyone."

Emilia's voice was soft, yet warm enough to pierce the blizzard. Tears slid silently from her eyes and fell to the floor as glittering crystals of ice.

"Mother Fortuna loved the forest, and she loved me... I'm sure she never truly blamed you."

"So please, help me, Mr. Geuse! Let's go bring Mother Fortuna home together! And then... let's make everything right!"