Melvin, who had been staring at papers the whole time, asked quietly.
"Monsters?"
"Yes. Corrupted animals have been appearing all over the Empire since this year. Leo... I mean, I went out to check on it myself before. What did you see?"
"Some festering rats were gnawing on each other."
"Probably the result of a resurrection ritual performed on a pile of dead rats. I don't know how they got out, though."
In the novel, Pleroma never created chimeras or released foreign wolves.
But if you only consider the problem of monsters appearing en masse, this part is indeed Pleroma's doing.
It hasn't been revealed yet, but by the end of the year, it will be recognized as Pleroma's crime.
One student pondered my words.
"So they're doing resurrection experiments on animals too. But why start with animals now and not earlier?"
Leo put the documents down on the desk and spoke softly.
"They probably used up all the humans. Or they can see the supply running dry."
"Ah."
"...Hmm."
"Their growth is slowing down. They must be having trouble securing believers and test subjects."
That's correct.
But I can't talk about things I learned from the novel, so I have to use statistics.
I took out a chart summarizing Pleroma's crimes and stuck it on the board.
"Last year alone, there were 22 crimes conclusively linked to Pleroma through abductions. The year before that, 7. The year before that, 3."
"That's a huge increase, really."
"They must really be short on people."
I nodded and continued.
"If you had to choose humans for human experimentation, which would you pick? A child wandering around with no connections, or a child affiliated with an institution?"
The students frowned, reluctant, and answered.
"The one with no connections?"
"Me too."
"Right. Those cases wouldn't even be properly reported. The increase in numbers means the existing supply isn't enough, to the point they have to take people under the state's protection now."
At first glance, they seem to act recklessly, but there are strict rules within Pleroma too.
If they were truly reckless, all the Empire's graves would have been robbed by now.
The fact that they're now blatantly targeting children under state protection, after only taking children outside the safety net until now, means they're already desperate.
The students nodded with dark expressions.
"The missing persons column in the newspaper got really long too. Is that because of Pleroma? The problem is more serious than I thought..."
"Yes. Let's summarize at this point."
I wrote a summary on the board.
"First, Pleroma moves in different directions depending on the season. It's fundamental, so keep it in mind for future predictions. Second, the cult is facing its biggest crisis in its 12-year history, and it's highly likely they are planning a new system to find a way out."
Or maybe they've already done it.
Judging by the sudden surge in monsters this year.
A few students copied the summary into their notebooks.
"I've never analyzed it like this before. It's new."
"Right. This is the kind of thing only the Imperial family would know."
Since this is a gathering I made to gather people on my side, I didn't expect much in terms of analysis and was putting on a one-man show, so I'm grateful they think that way.
I should just keep pushing forward.
"So far, I've talked about the current situation."
"There's more?"
"We have to analyze the crimes by type."
I put up a new map and picked up the chalk.
* * *
I suggested they think about places where grave desecration crimes might occur before the next meeting and got up from my seat.
"Now it's just us."
"What are we going to do now?"
Narke asked, shuffling through the materials.
"I want to think about the monsters a bit."
"Oh, are we getting into the real deal now~?"
"Yes."
To gain nationwide support, solving the Pleroma problem is the best way.
Of course, I can't go out and reveal my face, but that's something I can solve by wearing a mask again.
I need to dig into the monster issue now, while everyone isn't yet convinced it's Pleroma's crime.
I stuck a huge map on the wall and pulled out a pen.
"Let's start with the region. Last year's number of corrupted animal appearances within the Empire was... 25."
"That's not bad."
Leo muttered while looking at the map.
Understandable. 25 sounds like a number from another world now.
This year, it's already close to 1,000.
"The total number of appearances this year is in the triple digits. Even though the Imperial family set up restricted zones to block them, this is the situation."
I drew borders around the areas where monsters appeared.
Narke, who had been watching intently, pointed to the remote forests.
"If they experimented with monsters, we can't ignore the possibility that the experimental site was originally near those areas."
"That could be... but I need to think about that."
I wouldn't use such an obvious method.
I'd conduct the experiments separately and dump them in a remote place, or warp them away.
'Though they might have considered we'd think that and brazenly made them appear around their own base.'
Then Narke laughed and snapped his fingers to get my attention.
"If we go investigate directly, we'll catch something, right~"
"Hmm, right."
It's good to have someone with a different personality at times like this.
I stopped thinking and read the text in front of me.
"If the restricted zones were established on February 1st of this year... that's a fast response for the Imperial family."
At my sneer, Leo cautiously asked.
"...You know you can't say things like that outside, right?"
"I know."
Hearing this from the guy who had the biggest influence on overthrowing the Emperor?
Anyway, the number of monster appearances in January was 271.
Then what about February, when the restricted zones were installed?
'37.'
A sharp decrease. But after that, it rose again to the 80-90 range.
'Look at this state even with a barrier blocking them.'
This means the barrier is unspeakably terrible, they only laid low in February, or they moved recklessly because they trusted the barrier.
"..."
Trust the barrier?
I removed my hand from my chin.
"...Is there a possibility someone in Pleroma is colluding with someone in the Imperial family?"
"What?"
I strode to the board and scrawled with the chalk.
"Last month, September, there were 87 reports."
January's 271 isn't a big number. Rather, we should be wary of September's 87.
On average, 1 out of 100 entities succeeds in escaping a low-grade barrier.
Compared to January, when 'there was no barrier at all,' this means 8,700 entities exist now.
'...This is getting to be quite a big deal.'
But I don't need to say this out loud now.
I need to get clues to verify the hypothesis first. It's also problematic that no evidence of collusion between Pleroma and the Imperial family was found in the novel, and the possibility that this mess happened due to a one-dimensional decision by the Imperial family can't be ruled out.
Of course, I only read up to Luca's chapters, but there wasn't much left until the final page after that.
I took my eyes off the board and shook my head.
"That's enough for now. Let's investigate and think."
"Huh? What is it, I'm curious."
"Let's find an area to survey first. As Narke said, we need to go check directly. Today is Saturday, so we can be active until dawn the day after tomorrow."
"Staying up all night and going to school? Cool. Should I hide my identity and go later too?"
Narke leaned his chair back again and smiled playfully.
Narke needs permission from his original school, so he can't move openly right now.
At his words, Leo let out a dry laugh.
"...You want me to go around with two people dressed like thieves? It might not be bad for just you two to go."
"Haha, Leo, you have to come~ Have a good trip."
Narke laughed and waved his hand.
His abilities are regrettable to leave behind.
If he gets permission, I'd take him right away.
Meanwhile, Leo tapped the board.
"If we're leaving today, pick quickly. Aside from the area where the chimera wolf appeared, there's no area that's been properly investigated. After the incident, they only sent hourly daytime inspections."
"Typical Imperial family."
"...Ahem... To be precise, the Security Headquarters within it. Anyway, we don't know about safety, so let's investigate from the low-grade zones."
Leo pointed to the restricted zone closest to the capital.
"Want to go here?"
* * *
Three hours later, I warped to the survey location.
After adjusting to the darkness, I saw a forest spread out at the edge of a wide plain.
Leo, who warped after me, frowned and grabbed my shoulder.
"Hey, you're really..."
"What."
"...Never mind. It's just that insisting on going to a place like this reminds me of someone I know."
"You felt that from me picking one place?"
Leo shrugged.
"I didn't know there were two people who would choose to go to a restricted zone in a swampy area, leaving all the grassy plains behind."
"That's nice. The person you know came and went too?"
I asked, feigning ignorance.
I know who he's talking about. But there's no helping it.
Looking for changes but going to a place I've never heard or seen is inefficient.
It's a much better method to follow in the protagonist's footsteps.
"A while ago. But I got a letter just the other day urging me to go here together. I refused, but I didn't know I'd end up going with you..."
"Really? That's a shame. If you had gone first, Leo, I could have heard what it was like."
"Now that I think about it, your attitudes are similar too..."
We crossed the plain and stopped walking where the pine forest began.
Having experienced it once before, I didn't hesitate. I approached the dreary plank building and knocked on the door.
"Excuse m—"
Bang—!
Someone must have kicked the door, as it slammed violently against the wall. I reflexively stepped back at the impact sound. Leo seemed startled too, unconsciously moving his hand toward his wand.
A child who looked to be barely in his early teens stared at us alternately, mouth agape.
"It's really...!"
"Hello."
Leo, tilting his head slightly at the child's strange reaction, spoke.
"We've come to handle the monsters. We'd like to enter the barrier now. Where is the person in charge..."
"That's me! I'm not seeing things, am I?! It's such a remote place, I never thought His Highness the Crown Prince would come here...!"
Leo looked at me with a bewildered face, then asked, dazed.
"Pardon?"
"Ah, I'm sorry. I'm Hubert Kunst."
"No, not your name."
"Huh? Then what..."
An oppressive silence followed.
Leo, who had unintentionally been in a staring contest with the child, calmly asked.
"How did my title come to be like that?"
"...What do you mean, how? The adults said when meeting nobles, to address them with the highest title..."
I could feel Leo's face turning black even in the darkness.
'He's realizing it intuitively.'
The Empire is composed of a union of several principalities, and among them, Leo's family rules the second most powerful kingdom in the Empire.
In the novel, Leo never had a good sense of the social order, so he couldn't hide his discomfort whenever he heard this title.
Fortunately, Leo seemed to regain his composure quickly and answered with a straight face.
"Just call me by my name."
"Are you serious?"
I grabbed Leo's shoulder and whispered seriously.
How dare you call a royal's name so casually upon first meeting in a place where the social hierarchy is alive.
The caretaker blinked and stammered.
"Th-that's a bit... And I heard the person next to you is an attendant..."
Even though I spoke as quietly as possible, it's no use since the surroundings are quiet.
"I am an attendant. What about it?"
"Ah, nothing. I must have heard wrong. Actually, I stayed up all night, so I'm confused if I'm dreaming right now."
"I see. To answer for him, using a title without the country name outside the Wittelsbach ruled territory can cause misunderstandings. You may address him as the Duke of Bavaria."
I winked at Leo, meaning he should be satisfied with this. The novel's Leo didn't like this much either, and sure enough, he was only giving an ambiguous smile now.
Fortunately, whatever we said didn't seem to reach the caretaker's ears.
"I'm so excited right now! Everyone living around the restricted zone must be waiting for you two to come in their hearts, right? They say it's even more so in the capital area."
"Is that so."
"The monsters are increasing. Yesterday, a corrupted rat bit my uncle's leg down there."
Leo, who had been listening quietly, opened his mouth.
"Is no one still coming to handle them?"
"There hasn't been a mage since one came last month."
Leo pressed his lips together firmly and nodded.
Afterwards, we received a mana-infused quartz from the caretaker and approached the barrier at the forest's edge.
I asked Leo, who was following me with a complicated expression.
"What are you thinking?"
"...I'm thinking I should go on a nationwide tour."
"Hmm."
I knew it.
It'll serve as an investigation too, so I have no reason to stop him.
Leo let out a sigh-laden remark.
"There are many problems. It's no different from before. I check the newspaper every day, but I couldn't read stories like this."
The media doesn't cover the stories of commoners living in places like this, so it's only natural not to know.
I clenched the stone and reached my hand into the air.
A flash of light appeared from the seemingly empty air. The air rippled where I touched it.
We entered the barrier, but there wasn't much difference from the outside.
Leo shone a light with his wand and looked around.
"There aren't many traces of monsters coming and going up to here."
"Right. Let's go straight to the swamp."
"Ugh!"
Then Leo waved his hand in front of his face.
A large moth flew towards us, fell away at Leo's hand gesture, then rushed in several more times.
The moth's movements seemed desperate for some reason.
"Turn off the light, Lucas."
As if sensing something ominous, Leo spoke with a grim face.
Leo had already extinguished the wand's light and was standing with his hand on the back of his neck.
"..."
I have an idea why he's reacting like that.
If we lose this light here too, complete darkness where nothing can be distinguished will come, but I put away my wand first.
Fortunately or unfortunately, it didn't take long to verify the hypothesis.
Bzzzz— Flutter flutter—!
The sound of countless moth wings overlapping repeated, fading and growing closer.
Suppressing the urge to leave this spot immediately, I opened my mouth quietly.
"They're corrupted."
They're rushing in even without light.
Perhaps not wanting to open his mouth while surrounded by moths, Leo silently slashed the air with his wand.
The sound of wings colliding grew urgent, like a last struggle before death. After confirming the moths had fallen to the ground, Leo quickly moved away.
"They experimented with moths? Disgusting. Animals weren't enough, now it's insects."
"..."
Instead of answering, I stopped and looked around the forest.
'...This is unexpected.'
In the novel, there was never any mention of Pleroma using insects for experiments.
To think we'd have a harvest right after entering.
I need to check this out.
I searched under a tree, knelt on one knee, and sat on the ground.
—-----------
T/N:
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