HIDING
Ten days have passed since we escaped from the kingdom.
An old friend of Hyrince’s is letting us stay in his home in a town some ways away from the border.
We’re also able to get information through this person’s network, which has been a big help.
However, that’s exactly why I can’t stay here for long.
As of now, my position has deteriorated to something terrible.
The prince who murdered his father and plotted a coup d’état in his kingdom to forcibly take the throne.
That’s my current reputation.
Although the coup d’état failed, the king still fell in the assassination attempt, so the kingdom’s been thrown into chaos.
Leston, the third prince, has been condemned as my accomplice, and people like Katia’s family and the elves have been accused of helping me put together a rebel army.
That’s the scenario they’ve devised.
It seems Leston ended up being captured after that battle.
I’m relieved he wasn’t killed on the spot, but it may be only a matter of time until he’s executed for treason.
I should have forced him to escape with us…
…but I know that wasn’t possible, or we’d be in a different situation now.
At the time, I had no way of opposing Sophia.
Magic doesn’t work on her, and I was carrying Katia at the time, so there’s no way I could’ve fought her.
I understand that, but I still can’t help regretting it.
Our escape isn’t the only part I feel guilty about, either.
Thinking back, when I used Telepathy to communicate with Sue and Katia before, something did seem off.
Sue was definitely acting strange, and Katia stopped using Japanese, even when it was just the two of us talking.
Katia always speaks Japanese when we talk alone.
Something was happening.
But I didn’t notice.
If I had, I could’ve stopped Hugo from doing all this.
Trying to banish those thoughts, I swing my arms, practicing my form without a sword in hand.
When I’m exercising, that’s the only time I don’t have to think about anything.
As I immerse myself in practicing to avoid thinking useless thoughts, I hear a knock at the door.
“What on earth are you doing?”
“Katia, are you sure you should be walking around on your own?”
Katia, who was bedridden until very recently, opens the door and enters.
“Yeah. My body’s fine. My head still hurts from time to time, though.”
“Don’t push yourself, all right? I know the brainwashing’s gone now, but it could still be affecting you.”
Hugo’s influence runs deep.
Katia managed to come to her senses for just a moment through sheer force of will, but when she did, she tried to kill herself.
The indoctrination was so strong that she had no other choice.
Although the effects of the brainwashing should be gone now, Katia still gets headaches for some unknown reason.
“I told you, Shun, I’m fine. Oh, right, I actually wanted to ask you to Appraise something.”
“Appraise?”
“Yeah. I got some new skill, but I’ve never heard of it. I don’t remember ever seeing it in the skill encyclopedia, so I have no idea what it does. I thought maybe you could look into it with Appraisal.”
“Oh really? All right.”
I activate Appraisal on Katia.
She definitely does have more skills than before.
Including some I don’t have.
<Divinity Expansion: Expands divinity field>
Even after Appraising it, I don’t understand.
Maybe I can Appraise it further.
<Divinity Field: The deep field of a living thing’s soul. It is the basis of all life, as well as the self’s final field of dependence.>
I still don’t understand.
“I’m sorry. I don’t really get it.”
“Even after Appraising it?”
“Yeah. It seems to have something to do with your soul, but I’m not sure what it does exactly.”
Both of us frown in thought for a moment.
“Oh well, I guess that’s fine. I also got something called Heresy Resistance.”
“Right. That’s probably because you broke through Hugo’s brainwashing.”
“And then there’s, uh, Parallel Minds?”
“When you turn it on, it’s like you temporarily have a split personality.”
“Wait, really? What’s the point of that?”
“Well, one side can fight like normal, and the other can use magic.”
“What? Isn’t that basically cheating?”
“I guess so, if you think of it as temporarily doubling your battle abilities.”
“Ooh. I’m gonna turn it on, then.”
“Ah, I wouldn’t keep it on all the time if I were you. I tried the same thing when I first got it, but if you leave it on nonstop, you start to lose track of which personality is the real you. I mean, having multiple personalities is called a disorder for a reason. It’s better to keep it off except when you’re in battle.”
“Oof. That’s kinda scary.”
“By the way…”
“Yeah?”
“Aren’t you a little close?”
Katia is standing in front of me.
Like, right in front.
Since I’m taller, I have to look down at her, which means I end up, you know, looking at her chest.
“Don’t worry about it.”
“I kinda can’t help it. I know you were a guy before, but you’re a girl now.”
“Oh? So you do see me that way, do you? Iiinteresting.”
“Ah, no, I mean, uh…you know, it’s, like, a guy’s nature or whatever… You get it, right?”
“Hmm. How would you respond if I do something like this, then?”
Katia takes a step closer, her chest pressing against mine.
“Okay, okay, you win! I surrender! Don’t tease me like that!”
“Ah, so innocent.”
Katia grins as she steps back.
“Well? Feel a little better now?”
“Oh…y-yeah. I… Thanks.”
So that’s what she was up to?
She must have been messing with me on purpose to get me to relax a little.
Really, she’s always so thoughtful.
“Hey, can I ask you something? That Healing Magic you used on me before wasn’t normal Healing Magic, was it?”
Katia looks at me inquiringly.
How should I answer…?
“Would you rather not tell me?”
“No, no. It’s not that…”
“Oh, it’s all right. I don’t wanna force you. I was just wondering if you could use it to heal Ms. Oka.”
It’s not that I didn’t want to tell her, exactly, but she didn’t seem to want to press the question.
“I tried a while ago, but it didn’t work.”
“Gotcha.”
Our teacher is currently suffering from a status condition called Coma.
It’s a condition that prevents her from waking up.
Her life doesn’t seem to be in danger, but she’s sleeping like the dead.
By Appraising her, I learned that the condition should wear off on its own in fifteen days.
Today’s the tenth day, so even if we don’t do anything, Ms. Oka should wake up in five days.
I have no doubt Sophia is the one who put her in that condition.
Why would she do something so inconvenient, and why would she set it up to wear off on its own?
I don’t get it.
But I’m guessing that part of it is because Ms. Oka knows about Sophia.
At any rate, we can’t access any of Ms. Oka’s information for five more days.
The Seven Deadly Sins skill that Hugo possesses. Sophia.
The slain Potimas. My brother Leston. There’s so much I want to ask about.
Judging by their interactions that day, Ms. Oka and Leston seemed to know each other.
But I have no idea how.
I also didn’t know until that day that Leston had his own soldiers.
But Ms. Oka knew all about it, as if they were old comrades.
It’s obvious my brother Leston had some connection to Ms. Oka and, thus, to the elves.
But what was he trying to do, and why did he have soldiers?
I want to ask, but Ms. Oka won’t wake up, and Leston’s been captured.
All I know is that my brother was seriously concerned for my safety, and he helped me escape.
I know he never held any ill will toward me.
Is it possible he knew somehow that all of this was going to happen?
“How’s Anna?”
“She’s recovering, but she still can’t speak yet.”
Anna, who was also brainwashed by Hugo, hasn’t recovered from that yet.
I’m working on undoing it with status condition–canceling magic, but she still has to be confined to a room for now.
Unlike Ms. Oka’s Coma, this will be permanent if we don’t figure something out.
Whenever I have time, I use the canceling magic until my MP runs out.
It’s a slow process, but I have been seeing signs that it’s starting to work.
If it keeps going well, I should be able to remove the brainwashing completely.
Although I can’t deny that prioritizing Anna is delaying Ms. Oka’s treatment.
Since we know she’ll wake up before too long, I can’t really help it.
I’m sorry, Ms. Oka.
But I have things I want to ask Anna, too.
Anna was with my brother Leston.
Which means she knew what he was doing.
On top of that, since she was brainwashed, she probably knows about Hugo’s actions to some extent.
Katia’s already proved that memories from when someone was brainwashed stay intact after they’re released from it.
As soon as she woke up, she told me everything.
How her family had been keeping an eye on Hugo.
How the guards who were watching him were brainwashed.
And how the brainwashing spell eventually reached Katia herself.
After being converted, she said she accepted Hugo’s every word as absolute truth, without ever questioning it.
Turns out that instead of feeling like you’re being forced to do something against your will, it feels like voluntarily vowing absolute loyalty to Hugo.
Just hearing about it is terrifying.
The victim has no idea they’re being manipulated.
They think they’re acting of their own free will, so they make no effort to resist it.
Katia told me she thinks the only reason she could fight it at all was because the spirit of her former male self was still present inside her.
For some reason, when she explained this, she seemed to put a lot of emphasis on being a former man who’s now a woman.
“Man, though, I was pretty surprised at Fei’s transformation.”
“Yeah.”
Fei had evolved, becoming a light wyrm.
Apparently, this new evolution was suddenly available to her because I became the hero.
Since we have a contract as master and familiar, my obtaining the Hero title had an indirect effect on Fei.
According to Hyrince, there have been similar cases in the past.
When a hero has a monster familiar, that monster undergoes a special evolution.
This is how Fei apparently shifted gears from being an earth wyrm to a light wyrm.
With her powers as an earth wyrm still intact.
Earth wyrms are known for their exceptional defense power.
So Fei gets to keep that defense, while gaining the ability to maneuver freely on both land and sky thanks to her new wings.
Her newly acquired skills are Light Wyrm level 9, Light Magic level 1, and Flight level 1.
In terms of pure stats, she’s become stronger than the earth wyrm we fought at the academy, who was probably Fei’s parent.
Frankly, she’s even stronger than me.
Even though I’ve gotten much stronger since I became the hero and started intensely training.
Even if it’s just for the sake of convenience, it doesn’t seem right to me for a master to be weaker than his familiar.
Right now, Fei is hiding in a forest close to the town we’re in.
She’s far too large for us to bring her into the town.
If we did, she might draw unwanted attention and tip off our pursuers.
Right now, we’re spectacularly high on the “most wanted” list.
Which is why we can’t stay here for long.
We have to make sure our pursuers don’t find us.
This has gotten way past the point when defeating Hugo would solve everything.
Even people who aren’t brainwashed now think I’m a criminal who murdered the king.
As long as that misunderstanding is still in place, I can’t walk the streets safely.
Hugo, on the other hand, has become officially recognized by the Church as the new hero, Julius’s successor.
As the new hope of the human race and the next in line to rule a powerful empire, he’s admired all over the world.
If I speak up now, it’s obvious that anything coming out of my mouth will simply be dismissed as the lies of a criminal.
We need to do something.
But I have no idea how to go about it.
Far too late, I find myself regretting that I never took an interest in politics.
If I had any connections, maybe I could use those as a starting point to clear my name.
When I complain about this to Katia without thinking, she gives a surprising response.
“Well, you had no choice there. You might not have noticed, but you were being tactfully kept out of politics anyway.”
Huh?
“Shun, you know why the true queen didn’t like you, right?”
“Yeah.”
The true queen, the king’s wife, is Cylis and Sue’s real mother.
My and Julius’s mother was the king’s third concubine, and Leston’s mother his second.
“Your mother was from a weak noble family without any connections, but when Julius became the hero, many factions tried to use that to their advantage. Julius objected to that, so he spent most of his time traveling around as the hero and rarely came home. Well, the king’s wife and Cylis didn’t like that. There were movements to use you to get to Julius, or to curry favor with you yourself, so the queen and her people did everything in their power to keep you away from that.”
Seriously?
This is all directly related to me, but I had no idea it was going on.
“You never thought it was weird that you never had to take classes on politics or anything, despite being royalty?”
“No, not really. I mean, Sue didn’t, either, so I figured it wasn’t a big deal…”
“Well, Sue’s a special case, too. The queen wanted her to be close to you, since it would make you easier to control, so she made a point of keeping you together. I bet she instructed Sue to keep a close eye on you.”
“What?!”
For real?!
Then Sue’s whole “I love you, Big Brother” shtick was just an act to hide her real motives?
I don’t know how to deal with that.
“Oh…but she really has always felt strongly about you, so don’t worry about that.”
“No, but…”
“If that wasn’t real, I’ll eat my hat. Seriously, a younger sister who’s secretly a yandere or whatever? She’s one powerful rival.”
O-okay then.
Katia reassures me with such intense confidence that I guess I better believe her.
Though I get the feeling I shouldn’t ask what she means by “rival.”
“At any rate, you wouldn’t have been able to do anything about this situation even if you were involved in politics. Don’t feel bad.”
“How can I not feel bad?”
“Well, we know for a fact that the power of a duke’s entire household turned out to be useless here, so there’s that at least.”
“Ah…”
That’s right.
On top of Katia being brainwashed and used by Hugo, her parents are being framed as part of the rebellion.
My brother Leston isn’t the only one who’s been captured.
Katia’s parents are also being charged with crimes they didn’t commit.
This is all because of Hugo and Cylis’s schemes.
Even if I’d tried to make allies or gain political favor, everything would’ve been turned over in an instant thanks to Hugo’s brainwashing.
“I’m sorry your family got mixed up in all this, too.”
“Nah, that’s not your fault. It’s because of that bastard Hugo. You know, you always try to take on everything by yourself. This might not mean much coming from someone who got brainwashed, but you should really try to rely on other people more.”
That’s true.
Katia is right, as usual.
“Thanks. I feel a little better now.”
“Yeah, that’s right. You better be grateful!”
When I give my genuine thanks, Katia replies with a smug grin.
She’s probably pretty stressed herself with her family being captured and all, yet here she is trying to cheer me up.
She’s such a good friend, I almost feel like she’s wasted on someone like me.
“I really can’t do anything without you, Katia. This just proves how much I need you all over again. Don’t ever leave my side, okay?”
“Wha—?!”
Apparently embarrassed by my words, Katia sputters and turns bright red.
“Shun, are you in there? Oh, sorry. Were you confessing your love or something?”
The door opens, and Hyrince peers inside.
Apparently, Katia’s red face gave him a weird misunderstanding.
“No, nothing like that.”
When I correct him lightly, Katia’s face falls a little.
“Yeah. Right, of course. That’s just how you are. Gotcha.”
“Katia?”
“I find that side of you terribly annoying, you know.”
“What? Why?!”
I don’t understand.
“Uhhh… Are you two just about done?”
Hyrince calls from the other side of the mosquito net.
“Oh, right, yes.”
At my reply, Hyrince reenters with a tense expression.
“Leston, the duke, and the duchess are set to be executed in three days.”
Katia and I both catch our breath.
Leston and both of Katia’s parents…are going to be executed.
“The announcement has been made pretty grandly. Most likely, the execution is a trap meant to lure us into their clutches.”
Our pursuers haven’t been able to find us yet.
Does that mean they’ve changed strategies from chasing us down to luring us to them?
“So keeping that in mind…what do you want to do?”
Do we plunge in knowing it’s probably a trap, or do we abandon Leston and the others?
The answer is obvious.
“Let’s go.”
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