Three days remained until the date of the vote.
Of Frondier’s party, the first to arrive in the capital was Carla.
No—Atena, who had possessed Carla.
'Gregory will already have my position pinned. He’s probably reported to Frondier by now.'
From Atena’s standpoint, of the countless birds that passed by her, she did not know which gaze belonged to Gregory.
But she understood Gregory’s ability itself.
'He handles numerous small animals, gathers most of the information, and can transmit what he’s collected to others with almost no delay. It’s not a combat ability, but it’s far too convenient.'
However, the birds or rats being controlled were of almost no use in a fight.
Gregory could only control them; his aura or mana could not be replaced by small animals.
At most, they could substitute for seeing and speaking.
In that case—
Atena slipped into the crowd. With the vote imminent, the capital was already packed with people.
Atena checked her surroundings. She saw a few birds, but they were distant. She could not relax, though. The rats were also Gregory’s eyes.
'Let’s do it here once.'
Within the press of people, Atena deftly put on a mask.
Of course, she did not know whether Gregory had observed the process.
But the mask was sufficient.
Now, whenever she buried herself in a thick crowd, Atena would swap masks. In addition, even after securing a lodging, she would switch them regularly.
'There’s no distinguishing the creatures Gregory controls from ordinary animals. Their mana levels are almost identical.'
Conversely, that meant the interfering mana was so faint that it could not be told apart. They could do nothing beyond what a normal small animal could.
Sensing Carla’s mana to track her down would be impossible. He would have to rely solely on sight.
'Hoo, to avoid a single human’s ability I have to go to this much trouble.'
Now with a completely different face, Atena allowed herself a slightly relieved smile.
“Then bye-bye. See you later.”
***
[Tch.]
Gregory clicked his tongue.
'Even if it’s borrowed a human body, a god is still a god.'
One of the crows in flight flew over to Frondier.
[I lost her.]
“As expected—she used masks?”
[Yeah. She’s more thorough than I thought. I confirmed the first switch, but she’s swapping masks in places where sight is cleverly blocked. Under bridges, inside shops. And she picks spots with lots of people.]
At those words Frondier felt a strange sensation.
'Thorough, huh...... Then that time really was a stunning bit of acting.'
Frondier recalled when he first met Atena.
To be honest, she’d felt like a frivolous, feather-brained brat, but the way she moved now was like a different person.
[What is Atena’s aim? Did she play you completely?]
“No. When she faced off against me, she was probably resolved to die.”
Frondier had met Atena in Pandemonium.
In Pandemonium, one of the two must be confined, and the only one who could pull the loser out was Frondier. And even then, the countdown was extremely strict.
No matter how cunning gods are, they do not deliberately carry out actions that lower their own rank. You cannot factor such things into a plan.
In that sense Atena had dropped her rank monstrously. She would not even have calculated that she could lose a soul-fight to a human, and counting on Frondier to return after escaping Pandemonium would have been nothing but hope.
[In that case, I understand it even less. If she meets you again, she knows she can’t win.]
“Well, that’s right.”
Thinking in such terms, was she still resolved to die even now?
“There must be something more important to her than her own death.”
[......The vote being held here in the capital?]
Gregory’s voice was unconvinced. Naturally so.
It was Frondier and the like who worried about a war of gods and demons—Atena was a god herself. In other words, a decision-maker who could fire the signal flare for war. By nature, she was not in a position to worry about war.
In short, what was important to Atena was this very situation unfolding in the capital of Palma.
And it was on that point that Frondier felt something odd.
'......The Golden Apple......'
The tale of the Golden Apple from Greek myth. A thing that, with the single line “to the most beautiful goddess,” provoked Hera, Aphrodite, and Atena all at once. The quarrel of those three goddesses would later become the start of the Trojan War.
A contest fought over beauty, and the fact that Hera and Aphrodite were involved had already led him to suspect a connection; as a result, Atena was also moving toward the capital.
If this was a flow that could not be resisted, then would an incident comparable to the “Trojan War” unfold here in Palma?
“......I need to pass this to the other side.”
[The other side?]
“The continent of Falind. As long as it reaches Her Highness Philly, she’ll be able to take measures somehow.”
[What kind of measures? Are you saying what’s happening in Palma’s capital will affect Falind?]
“If a war between gods and demons truly does break out, and if what Vishnu said is true, then any {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} human who received divine power can have their body taken at any time.”
[......Ah!]
Gregory realized it as well.
How does a god impose sanctions on demons?
By possessing the body of the human to whom he bestowed divine power, and attacking the demons.
Gods are anywhere and everywhere.
On the continent of Falind, many have received divine power, and of course most of them are strong individuals who bear the balance of power for the Empire. Especially the Zodiac—almost all of them possess divine power.
“If among them there are those who received power from the gods of Olympus, they could at any time barge in here by possession. Or they might be purging demons hidden inside the Terst Empire even now. For all we know, at this very moment......”
Frondier furrowed his brow.
What came to mind first, naturally, was the Empire’s hope who had received Baldur’s power: Aster Evans.
Aster had overcome Baldur and let him go, but given Carla’s case, it wasn’t impossible that Baldur would attach himself to Aster again.
'Baldur isn’t a god from Greek myth, and Aster’s mental fortitude is strong enough that it should be fine—but there’s always that one-in-a-million. And Aster isn’t the only problem. In terms of sheer trouble, the Zodiacs having their bodies taken is an even bigger headache.'
For a god, the pretext of “exterminating demons” is extraordinarily convenient.
It’s a way to seize the body of a human to whom they gave power without lowering faith. Contempt for demons runs deep.
“But it’s fine. Mother will be watching.”
Frondier recalled that his vision was shared with Malia.
What Frondier saw would be transmitted to Malia at once, and Malia would now go to meet Philly.
[......Mm. Come to think of it, I’d forgotten something, Frondier.]
“Hm?”
Gregory sounded a bit sheepish.
Hard to tell from a crow’s face, but the voice said as much.
[......I met Malia de Roach.]
“......?”
Frondier tilted his head in mid-flight.
What had Gregory just said?
[So, uh, I got found out. About everything. Luckily she kept the secret, so I was able to make it this far.]
“......What would you have done if my mother had decided differently?”
At that, the crow said,
[I would’ve been in deep trouble.]
“You bird-brained idiot.”
[It was Aster’s doing! I was trying to help Aster, but he got suspicious on his own! He grabbed me by the neck and dragged me!]
Frondier let out a sigh.
To have been caught by Aster, found out by Malia, and still kept his life—lucky indeed.
“......I’ll have to give Mother a long explanation later.”
Frondier muttered, feeling a little blue.
***
The Terst Empire.
Since Frondier’s departure, the Empire had been nothing if not peaceful.
The archdemon Frondier, who had been scheming to swallow the Empire whole. The Empire had shed almost no blood to drive him out.
People believed the Empire’s power was that great, and, as a result of successfully handling a demon, they banded together more tightly.
With trust in the Empire heightened, Philly’s work had become considerably easier. Tasks that would normally rub citizens the wrong way were now going through smoothly.
However, aside from that—
“.......”
Philly Terst, Empress of the Empire, increasingly felt of late that an inexplicable anxiety was creeping up from beneath her legs.
She was walking the corridor now. For her next business.
Ahead of her, a lady-in-waiting carrying an armful of files walked along. A busy pace.
“Ah—!”
While hurrying, the maid misstepped and swayed. Her arms flew open by reflex to keep from falling, and the bundle of files danced in midair.
Shiiik!
Philly gave a single wave of her hand, and the papers that were clearly about to scatter in every direction gathered neatly and stacked themselves on the floor. The maid who had nearly fallen felt a light buoyancy as Philly caught her. She was able to stand up without injury.
“Y-your Highness, I’m mortified!”
The maid, immediately realizing it had been Philly’s magic, hastily bowed.
“It’s fine. You look busy; go on.”
“Y-yes!”
At Philly’s words the maid picked up the neatly stacked files and moved on again.
Had others seen it, they would have been astonished at Philly’s high-speed casting. To complete a spell in that split instant when the maid misstepped?
But not from Philly’s perspective.
It had not been high-speed casting at all.
'......My foresight is getting sharper.'
Yes. Philly already knew.
An ability she possessed because she was Bala’s descendant: foresight.
But Philly’s foresight had not originally possessed this level of accuracy. In the beginning it had been closer to a “sense” that gave her warnings.
'Frequency, precision, and even how far into the future I can see—my foresight is growing stronger.'
Philly’s foresight had allowed her to survive in the imperial palace, and it had allowed her to protect her daughters.
So the strengthening of foresight was of course a good thing for Philly. The Philly of the past would have been pleased.
But the Philly of now felt very ill at ease.
Creak.
Philly entered her office. Her eyes grew heavy.
“......Frondier. How am I supposed to take this.”
Philly suddenly spoke Frondier’s name.
“Since you left, my foresight has been getting stronger.”
There had been a time when Philly had wanted Frondier at Aten’s side.
When Aten was with Aster, she felt foreboding, but when Frondier was with her, that foreboding was absent.
Therefore, being with Frondier was safer for Aten. She had judged so, and in fact it had been right. Because Frondier was there, the Empire had been able to win the war against Manggot.
But as time passed, Philly realized.
Trusting Frondier had been the right call in the end, but the ground for that judgment had been her misconception.
With Aten together with Aster, she felt foreboding, but with Frondier, she did not.
She had mistakenly thought that was because Frondier was “safer.”
But the truth was otherwise.
'......Foresight doesn’t work on Frondier.'
Philly felt nothing from Frondier. Whether foreboding, joy, or sorrow—her foresight did not react to Frondier at all. Naturally, even when Aten was by Frondier’s side, she felt nothing.
In fact, as her encounters with Frondier increased, her foresight decreased.
She did not know the reason. She did not know the mechanism.
But there was one thing certain.
Frondier’s very existence, by just being there, weakened Philly’s foresight.
'So the closer I am to Frondier, the less my foresight responds, and now that Frondier has left the continent, my foresight keeps getting stronger......'
Set down in simple dynamics, Frondier and Philly repelled each other. Whatever the identity of that repulsion was.
In other words, to make maximum use of Philly’s foresight, she had to be far from Frondier.
So far as to be across the continent.
“What is this.”
It was absurd.
Frondier was Philly’s greatest ally. She had never once considered that Frondier could become an obstacle at this point.
Philly’s decision was made with surprising speed.
If Frondier was an ally, the answer was clear.
Foresight was the hindrance for her.
“In fact, it’s starting to scare me a little.”
Philly realized that foresight had infiltrated a considerable portion of her life.
Foresight sees the near future based on grounds in the present. In other words, it “calculates.” Strictly speaking, it was prediction rather than foresight, but probability approaching 100% had merely elevated that prediction to the realm of foresight.
In other words, it was modifiable. Just as Philly had earlier modified the future where the bundle of files would spill onto the floor.
Philly’s foresight was not a compulsory fate where events must occur exactly as foreseen. It was simply that if she left things alone, events would head toward that future.
Therefore, when foresight activated, it was best to check and modify it for a better outcome. She could produce a good result with near certainty.
The problem was, the more frequently this happened, the more tasks increased that were unrelated to Philly’s own will.
There was almost none of Philly’s own choice involved in turning the future that foresight showed into a good result. It was little different from arithmetic.
Yet she could not refrain from those actions. She was the Empress, the mother of three daughters, and the pillar of the Empire whom Frondier trusted.
She was none other than “Philly Terst.”
'If this foresight keeps growing stronger, what happens then?'
Her worry was not, in truth, mere fancy.
She did not know it, but Frondier actually knew the outcome.
One of the countless tragedies that could occur in the game “Etius.”
Philly becoming a complete “machine.”
A Philly wholly subsumed by foresight would now entrust all actions to foresight without her own will. A thing possible because foresight itself rested upon calculation and prediction.
That tragedy was, in most cases, chosen by Philly herself. In the moment she felt there was no other way to save the Empire.
Of course, there was no way the Philly of now would think like that.
'......Someday, I might have to—but not yet.'
Knock, knock.
Just then, a knock sounded on the office door.
“Your Highness, Malia de Roach has come.”
“......Malia?”
“She says she has an urgent matter. I have allowed her through. What would you like to do?”
“Let her in.”
Philly answered readily.
She was inwardly glad. Her mind was in turmoil because of foresight. It was a time when she needed a change of air.
Soon the door opened, and Malia entered.
“Your Highness, I am immeasurably grateful that you have accepted an urgent visit. The information that reached me was pressing, and I had no choice but to come like this—once again, I sincerely apologize—”
“That’s too formal, Malia. Between us, what—”
Smiling as in their usual exchange, Philly was saying that when—
“──Huh?”
Philly,
for the first time in her life, felt a colossal foresight in the flesh.
The moment she looked into Malia’s eyes, she saw Malia’s future.
Malia, kneeling, weeping.
And in front of her, fallen prone, a man with black hair.
