The journalists scribbled down that answer.
Another reporter directed a question at Leo.
"The Holy See has expressed its intention to provide divine power support to the Empire regarding the problems caused by the heretics. His Highness the Crown Prince, who purified Bavaria with you at dawn on the 7th, and his classmates are also currently receiving proposals from all over the Empire. Does Bavaria not plan to scout them first?"
"We have sent requests, but nothing has been decided yet."
That's about Narque. He's a foreigner, but it's not the time to be picky. He must have received numerous proposals too.
Then, one reporter raised a hand.
"A presumptuous question, but… Sir Nikolaus, you do not remove your mask even at official events. May we know the reason?"
I shook my head and replied.
"That question is difficult to answer."
"Have you known His Highness the Crown Prince for a long time? You said you came from the Papal States… what exactly did Sir Nikolaus do there…?"
"I will only answer questions relevant to the topic."
An aide sitting next to Leo brushed off that question.
Several journalists looked at me with regretful expressions, then, knowing it wouldn't work, asked questions fitting the press conference.
...Hmm.
I'll have to consider this issue soon.
As more and more people recognize Nikolaus, curiosity about the person behind the mask is bound to grow.
After a long while of directly answering their questions and listening to Leo's responses, time flew by.
"As the scheduled time is up, we will conclude the press conference. Thank you to the citizen representatives and journalists who participated."
Leo and I left the conference hall, leaving the aide to wrap things up.
After walking in silence for a while, Leo dismissed the guard mages following us and entered the room used for warp travel.
"...It's over."
Leo muttered, slumping onto the sofa as if melting.
"Good work."
"Thanks. Now let's go pick up Elias."
"Did you get the contact?"
"They said the proof that it's a male common mosquito is complete. Your magic restrictions will be fully lifted when you arrive too."
"Good, that's a relief."
I held out my arm in front of Leo for the warp.
Just like the first time, Leo looked at the magic crime restraint with a distinctly uneasy expression.
"...You really look like a criminal."
"Let's not say it out loud."
"I'm sorry on his behalf. I really didn't mean to send you two alone."
"It's fine. I got everything I wanted."
"If you get everything you want twice, you'll be finished..."
Leo let out a hollow laugh and channeled magic. As the guarantor's magic touched it, the bracelet's restrictions vanished in an instant.
I felt the sensation of blocked blood rushing fiercely to my fingertips.
Without hesitation, I snapped my fingers and deployed the warp magic.
* * *
After resolving all my magic restriction issues, we entered the isolation room for major crime mages.
It was time to meet Elias.
Elias's actions weren't a major crime, but his magic couldn't be controlled by ordinary means, so he had been moved here.
"Woo-hoo~"
Elias, who had grown considerably gaunt in that short time, lay on the bed as if it were his own home and waved.
Judging by his complexion, it seemed he had been under pressure despite pretending to be calm.
Elias suddenly sat up and gestured at Leo's uniform.
"What's with the clothes? That's totally the royal one."
"Are clothes what you're focusing on right now?"
"Of course not. And… Nikolaus is here too."
The playfulness gradually faded from Elias's face as he looked my way.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to cause harm, I was shortsighted."
"No, it's fine."
Thanks to you, I pulled 3 points of national favorability in one day.
...Not that I can say that.
I sat in the chair beside him and answered.
"No need to apologize. I was prepared."
"What?"
"I was the one who judged you could perfectly succeed in this task, and I was the one who recommended you for it. I wouldn't have asked you to take this position, going against the team's opposition, without anticipating this much."
When setting Elias up as the instigator, there was opposition within the team.
Naturally. The idea of sending the school's biggest troublemaker to the court and parliament wasn't easily accepted.
Elias stared at me silently for a long moment, then burst into loud laughter.
"Ahahaha! That's a new kind of answer. You're saying you gave me the job expecting me to cause a ruckus."
"A ruckus with a reason. Your final choice made the reaction bigger than we expected. Look."
I handed Elias the newspapers I had bought near the conference hall.
Elias carefully read the heavily censored newspaper, then laughed again.
"...Is what's written here not false? They really accepted the demands?"
"It was a situation where they couldn't refuse. Protests are breaking out everywhere, though the press is controlled so it's all cut."
Leo said.
Elias's face lit up as he flipped through the newspaper faster and faster.
"Yeah, it looks like it. Seeing all this deleted, it seems we really succeeded. Nikolaus and I gained a ton of supporters too. Hey, my uncle must be nervous~"
"Would you say we successfully screwed over the imperial family with this?"
"Of course. Way more than I expected."
At my words, Elias giggled.
Elias handed the newspaper back to me and spoke.
"Thanks. If I hadn't done as you said, I'd probably just be blackmailing people with an Empire Newspaper chief career. I wouldn't have even thought about broadcasting... Ah, now I see you know how to raise the stakes. A national target, thinking about it again is thrilling."
"...You were really planning to blackmail?"
At Leo's question, Elias shrugged his shoulders with a 'why are you asking that' face.
"Of course."
Leo, who had been smiling with a complicated expression between causing chaos and achieving the goal, opened his mouth.
"Elias."
"Yeah, what."
"...You spoke better than I thought."
"..."
"..."
I chuckled softly at Leo's awkward expression.
It reminded me of the expression he had the first day I made him a comrade.
Elias exchanged a bewildered look with me, then asked Leo.
"You... what happened to you?"
"You complain even when I praise you?!"
"No, I'm glad you finally recognize my skills."
At those words, Leo smiled faintly and replied.
"Yeah, you really did well. Bavaria aside, the rest could have actually become very dangerous. It's actually natural for people to react to you and Nikolaus like this."
"Right~? How about it, don't I seem more clear-headed than my uncle or the Federal Council? Don't you think?"
"Yeah."
Elias doubted his ears, then his eyes widened.
"What?"
"That's right."
"..."
Elias's mouth hung open as if his jaw would drop.
To see this situation firsthand...
This seems a bit accelerated too. I almost unconsciously mirrored Elias's expression before barely managing to wipe mine clean.
"You... should be lecturing me about lese-majeste or something right now."
"It's the truth. The whole nation probably thinks the same as me right now."
"Lu... Nikolaus."
Elias called me with a serious face.
"What."
"What's with him... why is he like this? Did his contents get swapped?"
"He's the same."
"To say that to a person...! Let's not talk, just..."
Elias grabbed Leo, who was about to turn away.
"No, thank you. I was just surprised because it's the first time you've said something like that."
"Ugh..."
"Good for you. Seems like Leo plans to go along with our intentions without complaint from now on."
Elias grinned, then swiftly turned his head toward me.
"Can't miss this opportunity. What's next? You're not planning to stop here, are you?"
"Of course not."
There are countless things to do to raise impression points.
Since I can't stop at 5 points anyway, I have to keep moving endlessly until I achieve 9.
Leo, sensing foreboding, asked.
"You're not planning to cause another uproar, are you?"
"Don't worry. I have no intention of meddling in politics this time."
I looked at Elias and Leo in turn and continued.
"And, before that, there's something I have to say. I found Phleghma."
"What?"
Leo and Elias's faces turned serious.
"More precisely, the most likely candidates. There are two candidates. One each in the centrists and the barrier opposition."
Surprisingly, there was no significant change on the barrier proponent side. Meaning no one held a major grudge against me.
"Two? Two Phleghmas~?"
"Both could be Phleghma, or only one might be."
"So, who exactly are these candidates?"
"Mecklenburg-Schwerin Councilor Werner Strauch, and Prussian Councilor Hermann Liebentrop. Centrist and barrier opposition, respectively."
Werner Strauch's favorability was -5.
Not an exceptionally bad score considering it goes down to -10, but it was the lowest among the centrists.
It's even lower than the scores of barrier opponents, which fluctuated between -3 and -4.
Judging by his previous interviews where he said 'I'll just follow the will of the people,' he held the position closest to approval among the centrists.
If he truly held that position, there's no reason for him to dislike me.
And, he quietly left his seat during the meeting.
I can't judge his final favorability, but for that very reason, he must be included as a suspect. The possibility that he left because things didn't go his way and he couldn't contain his anger cannot be ignored.
'But to step forward... If he really is Phleghma, he wouldn't want to do anything that could get his tail caught.'
There's no reason for him to step forward, betray his stance so far, and oppose me and Elias.
Secondly, Hermann Liebentrop had the lowest final favorability among those present.
His favorability score initially recorded -6, and finally, even with the trait applied, it was -5.
Meaning, without the trait, it would have been -8.
He might genuinely dislike our arguments, but who knows.
"Then the problem is figuring out who is Phleghma."
"Exactly. Any ideas? Feels like if we just go and hit them, we might get an answer..."
At Elias's joking words, Leo looked at him with a scornful gaze.
Anyway, the method to find out is simple.
Lost in thought, I slowly opened my mouth.
"If I hadn't reported this issue, Phleghma could have gained a huge benefit, so they would thoroughly punish the one who failed the task. And, the Phleghma who was in charge of the task would hold immense anger toward me."
"Right."
Leo nodded.
"What would that bastard have to do to recover his honor or position within?"
"He'd have to produce results equivalent to this failure."
"Right. So, he has no choice but to come after me or Elias."
Elias said earlier that I know how to raise the stakes.
By the same token, our value has also risen. The same goes from Phleghma's perspective.
"If they eliminate us, who have gained national support through this incident, they can prevent the damage we would inflict on the Phleghma side in the future, and also give the image that Phleghma isn't just taking it lying down. Among many options, it's the fastest way to produce results while delivering a massive shock to the public."
"Our deaths would become their propaganda tool?"
"Right."
Elias laughed as if amused.
I continued.
"Whenever the timing is, he will contact us to offset the damage. And, the one who gives us contact will be the Phleghma who suffered damage from this incident."
* * *
The next morning, Monday, I went back to school.
The events in parliament were so intense that even though it was just a two-day weekend, it felt like returning to school after a very long time.
The spy wouldn't contact us immediately, so we have a few days to investigate.
I placed my bag at my seat in the special class and opened the divine power book.
'The Class 2 kids aren't here.'
Only four Class 1 students are here.
Why the Class 2 students aren't here... I can guess well enough.
I exchanged a glance with the Class 1 student I had spoken to before and sat down.
The students immediately continued their conversation once I sat.
"I thought the rumor about him filing a lawsuit was false, but it was true? A friend told me about the Empire Newspaper yesterday, so I saw it right before it ended. Did you see it?"
"Probably everyone saw. They ran out of paper in 5 minutes and came to refill."
"I thought I was seeing wrong. Was my head messed up? I was like this, but everyone was saying the same thing."
"Exactly. The most shocking thing is that he could say all that. Ah, if he was going to do this, he should have just stayed in Class 1... Who sent him to Class 2?"
The Class 1 students of the special class huddled together, laughing and whispering.
"Quiet down and self-study!"
Only after the professor in charge shouted from the hallway, opening the window, did the conversation stop.
Even after leaving the special class and entering the regular classroom, the situation was the same.
There was no place in the school where Elias wasn't mentioned.
Well, actually, that was already the case.
But whereas before he was famous for causing trouble, now his image within the school has changed, following the national trend of praise.
They might grow up to be like those councilors, but perhaps because it's an age where a sense of justice is still alive, most seemed to agree with what Elias said.
Elias's seat was already packed with students, and it was the same for Leo and Narque.
Leo for being Leo, and Narque also drew attention due to the mage selection matter.
'It's quite noisy.'
Listening, I often heard my name mentioned too.
Before, they said they saw me and Elias as a complete pair, enough to be considered an accomplice.
By that measure, the attention directed at Elias is actually poured in a similar amount toward Nikolaus.
It's just that this is a school, and Elias is a student here, so it feels like all attention is concentrated on him.
But both inside and outside the school, the direction of interest toward Nikolaus is slightly different from Elias's case.
"What's the reason he doesn't take off the mask? Leo, have you seen his face?"
Leo didn't answer, just smiled and smoothly deflected the question.
If interest in Elias is focused on his achievements, for Nikolaus, while his achievements are noted, even more interest is focused on what might be behind the mask.
The questions experienced during the Bavaria press conference were actually common concerns among the empire's citizens.
'Well... if I go around looking suspicious, it can't be helped.'
I'd have the same reaction.
If it were during a hunt, I'd think it's just part of the concept, but... having gone to parliament looking like that, I can't avoid this reaction.
"Elias, how did you get to know Sir Nikolaus?"
"Introduced by Leo. I'm sleepy now, so let me sleep properly~"
"Ah, wait. Elias, is this real?"
A student handed Elias a magazine with a clearly indecent cover.
Elias, who had been dozing off and ignoring the students' words, this time snorted incredulously and read the phrase on the cover.
"What's this, 'Nikolaus Ernst Special Feature'?"
"It came out in Das Rote this morning. Is what's written here true?"
Das Rote is the empire's representative yellow journalism.
'...'
What do they know to publish a special feature on me?
I don't expect there to be any proper content. I'm just curious what nonsense they wrote.
Elias glanced at me briefly, then laughed and opened the booklet.
"Let's see... Personal information obtained in Bavaria and eyewitness testimonies, it says. Hey, Leo! You need to manage information properly."
"What does it say?"
Leo asked.
It's probably just filled with rumors anyway.
Thinking that, I still couldn't easily take my mind off it.
It's only natural. Who wouldn't be curious if someone made a booklet about me?
"Dunno. I'll read it now. Here, 77 years old... Huh?"
"...?"
—-----------
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