Chapter 160: Claude Lucanrant’s Fragments (part two)
After losing his mother, Eduard often went outside of school.
It is being said that his interest has widened and he is also dabbling in ancient ruins investigations.
Taking along Elric or Brad to field investigations seems to have brought him some troubles.
He might have completely forgotten his deal with me, as he hasn’t even searched for the archive.
Perhaps he didn’t want to fulfill his promise to me, but that couldn’t be helped.
When he was sad, I was useless, wasn’t I?
Even someone like me still has such humane thoughts.
To begin with, searching for the Golden Wolf Prince is like catching clouds.
☆
Then time passed and it was the third spring since I became friends with Eduard.
“Yo, Eduard.”
“You’re late, Claude.”
I met up with Eduard and we walked around the school at midnight.
When we passed by the gazebo in the park near the West Dorm, I could smell the fragrant scent of flowers.
“…You mean, it moves underground periodically?”
“Aa, there are two possible reasons for that. First, an altar that hasn’t been dealt with yet may be operating underground.”
Just as I was about to give up, this guy approached me with a story about the headless prince.
“The other possibility is that an underling of the Lunatic King Cain is staying underground.”
“‘Underling’, are you serious??”
“It appears that the wolf returns to the Lunatic King once its hunger is sated, so there is a chance that the school staff are experimenting on it.”
“Satisfying its hunger? What do you mean by that?”
The hunger of a creature created by the Lunatic King.
Something like that can only be satisfied using human flesh and blood, which means—
“It’s possible that they offer him blood in small quantity…or something. It’s pretty dangerous.”
“You mean, those Lindis’ guys, they offer human blood to that monstro?”
That’s a very blasphemous deed.
How are they going to take responsibility if something happens?
This is why those Hafan wizards cannot be trusted.
They are evil from their very core.
But, why did Eduard suddenly come to keep such a shady deal?
I wonder what made him change his mind, for some reason I’m concerned.
For a long time, he has been running away from everything that reminded him of his mother.
“Hey, you. Why did you suddenly find out about such a thing?”
Eduard smiled at my question.
Ever since his mother died, his smile had become unfathomable.
“I just got my hands on the materials. Currently, I’m making sure that the materials are usable.”
“Then, as promised, lend them to me.”
“Of course. But, because the security of the materials is low, could you give me a little bit of time?”
The security of the materials.
The way he said it made me a little bit uneasy, but I ignored that feeling.
“Aa, that’s fine.”
I still have a lot to ask.
But right now, there’s no way I can broach the subject.
“So, how about it? Do you want to go now?”
“Haa?”
“I mean, I’m inviting you to sneak in and take a look at the face of the headless prince. Well, it doesn’t have a face to look at though.”
Eduard winked while whispering an unpleasant joke.
“Is that even possible? Or rather, if it is possible, aren’t those Lindis’ guys too careless?”
“Even if it’s located underground, it is at least 400 meters below the ground. If something unexpected happens, there will be no immediate effect on the ground above.”
In case of an emergency, the basement will be sealed and the incident will secretly be dealt with.
The exit can be sealed promptly, so they actually have a risk contingency, Eduard continued.
But, it also means that they are going to leave all the experimenters to die.
“…Doesn’t that mean if someone makes a false report or something which leads them to seal the entrance, the guys from the school won’t be able to come running in that easily?
“…Yeah, I think you’re right about that.”
Eduard looked as if he noticed it only after I told him so.
“Heeh, how convenient. We can use this to call out the guys we don’t like and kill them.”
“Don’t ever use it for lynching. I hate that cruelty of yours.”
Heh, I see.
I also hate your unhesitating humane righteousness and kindness.
You, who are favored by everyone, won’t understand the depression of the unfavored me.
“Haha, then, why did you even agree to become my friend?”
I laughed at Eduard who scolded me while glaring.
“There’s a lot to learn from you.”
“Ah? What’s with that. What are you learning from me?”
“That’s a secret. If you hear it, you’ll probably laugh.”
Then, while cracking a joke with Eduard, I sneaked into the Phantom Beast Museum.
“This seems to be the blind spot. It’s my first time entering this place.”
“You’re not interested in this kind of facility, huh. Like this museum, the library, or the alchemist’s workshop.”
“Aah? Did you say anything?”
“No, nevermind…ah right, you do bring some kind of snowsilver tool with you, no?”
“Aa, is this okay?”
I showed him my necklace.
A snowflake-shaped necklace I got from my father.
“That’s enough. Now we will be able to break through that thing which even I can’t dispel.”
“That thing?”
“You’ll understand once you see the real thing. Can you keep it in this pouch until halfway through?”
I put the necklace in the pouch I received from Eduard.
It seems to be a pouch that blocks the effect of snowsilver.
“Naturally, tonight is just a preliminary inspection. Do you understand?”
“Getting right into it now suits me just fine though.”
“We’ll formulate a thorough plan for next time. The remnants of the Lunatic King era, which are just within a day trip distance, are waiting.”
Eduard grinned.
“Can’t be helped. It will do for tonight.”
“Yes, then, first of all, could you use the snowsilver necklace to break the magic that seals this door?”
Eduard pointed at the door at the end of the hallway.
It was physically chained.
When I put my hand on my sword intending to cut it off right away, Eduard shook his head and pointed at his wand.
Right, right, the wand of Unlock.
I don’t like it, but since this is just a preliminary inspection, the iron rule is to leave behind as little evidence as we can.
I pressed my necklace against the door which had its chain unlocked.
I could hear the sound of glass breaking inside my head as I felt something invisible was broken.
Now then, the door is open.
“Haah~ for some reason, this feels kind of nostalgic.”
“It’s been a long time since I have done any kind of mischief with you, huh.”
That night, I enjoyed doing some mischief with my bad friend after a long time.
☆
Before the door was fully closed, I caught it and snapped the knob.
I silently slid into the room while the other party was under the illusion that the door was closed.
This is the most basic infiltration technique in Lucanrant.
I followed Brad and reached a pure white library.
“Heeh, so this is your secret.”
Brad and Eduard finally noticed me and turned around.
“Sorry, Ed.”
“No, it’s not your fault. Since we don’t normally consider that there is a classmate who is good at tailing.”
“Eduard, you’ve promised to lend me the materials. Don’t skulk around anymore.”
I ignored their interaction and pulled a book out of the nearest bookshelf.
I flipped through the pages of the white book, but everything was blank.
What the heck is this?
“I said I would lend it to you, but I never promised to invite you here, Claude.”
“You know that I need to find out more about that thing.”
The headless corpse under the Phantom Beast Museum.
I know where it is, but I want to make sure that it really is the Golden Wolf Prince.
That’s why I need to find out about what happened after the downfall of the Lunatic King’s domination.
“I want to investigate a little bit more about the safety of the materials here.”
“Heeh~ is it that dangerous?”
“Apparently the vampire-related things are the real deal, and it seems it will be life-threatening if one carelessly gets involved.”
Genuine materials about those bloodsuckers?
Exactly what I needed.
What I wanted to know is the tendency of those bloodsuckers and wizards.
“I’m not interested in letting those bloodsuckers prowl around everywhere. You know that.”
“Besides, the librarian is a tough nut to crack. And I think her compatibility with you is especially the worst.”
“Librarian?”
Eduard silently pointed upwards.
There was a girl who was hanging upside-down from the ceiling.
『Don’t steal, you savage.』
The woman said as she looked at me with an air as if looking at garbage.
—Not a human, huh?
Instead of answering, I jumped lightly and slashed her with my steel sword.
『What do you think you’re doing! You nasty savage! 』
The woman, who I thought was done for, had moved to another spot.
The reaction is surprisingly fast.
『I’ll tell you this, you stupid fool.』
“Seriously, you’re so annoying…”
『Those who laugh at fate will be ridiculed by fate! You should lament over your own self now!!』
After saying that, the upside-down woman disappeared without a trace.
I intended to give it another shot, but I missed my chance.
Even so, that was an ominous remark.
I landed on the floor and asked Eduard.
“What’s with that weird woman? I mean, what the heck is she talking about?”
“That’s the artificial spirit that acts as the librarian in this archive. It seems that the artificial intelligence of the artificial spirit is a generous feature that will give you the most suitable advice.”
“Wha–”
“I need to borrow the material while keeping an eye on that girl’s mood, so do you mind having a conversation with that girl again?”
“What did you say~~~~?!”
My voice echoed in the white archive.
“…As I thought, they seem to have the worst compatibility, Ed…”
“Yeah. That is as clear as day.”
Brad and Eduard nodded while exhaling deeply.
“Aah–? You guys are talking like you knew something!”
“You see, Brad…”
“The person himself doesn’t realize it, huh…”
Both of them stared at me with a look that seemed to say ‘good grief’.
☆
The life of placating the shitty woman and grabbing the materials continued.
Although it was troublesome, the connection between the headless prince and the Golden Wolf Prince has finally turned up.
Several vampire cases have been tentatively concluded as done by someone called the One who greedily devours death.
The lines connecting the points of occurrence coincide with the places associated with the Golden Wolf Prince.
The place where the machining was performed on the Golden Wolf Prince.
The land where the decisive battle between the Golden Wolf Prince and the Eastern Witch happened.
The place where the Golden Wolf Prince was last spotted.
The gently curved line from there leads here, to Lindis—in other words, the Morgue of the Headless Prince.
As expected, and my conviction that the school is the hiding place deepened.
The last case related to the One who greedily devours death has occurred in a village near Lindis.
The vampire who devoured all the villagers disguised itself as a surviving nun and escaped.
That is also the origin of the ghost story about the Bloody Saint.
Seems like it can be used for something.
Maybe I can use it to smoke out the vampire in question, catch them and make them spit out the information?
“I don’t think that’s a bad idea, but I’m not sure. For the time being, guess I will proceed straightforwardly…”
I carefully examined the variations of the folktale about the Golden Wolf Prince.
And while at it, the anecdotes about the Seven Wonders of this academy were also examined.
I opened my red leather notebook and copied the information in clumsy letters.
Right after I closed the book, the resident of the room next to mine came over.
“Claude-sama, your luggage was wrongly delivered to my place.”
“Yo, thanks.”
I picked it up and looked at the luggage.
The sender is Earl Wynt.
If I remember correctly, the model for that librarian is called Dolores Wynt.
Then, this is the father of that Dolores, huh.
—Why the heck did he send this to me?
“Well, I suppose I should take a look.”
What was packed there was a bunch of letters.
Letters exchanged between the deceased Frederica Bort and the deceased Dolores Wynt.
And a set consisting of special ink and powders, that are also used in Lucanrant, was enclosed.
Were these supposed to be sent to Eduard but reached me by some mistake?
That kind of question crossed my mind.
Then I should return it.
But I was fascinated by Bort and Dolores’ brushstrokes.
Bort’s neat character and Dolores’ highly-strung yet pompous brushstrokes.
I began to look through the mysterious letters of the two women who died.
As for the contents, there were lots of miscellaneous things such as go here and there or buy this and that.
I read about forty of such trifling letters.
They were all very trivial.
I was getting tired.
I reached out for a slightly thicker letter, intending to make it the last one.
The characters of Dolores in that letter were very polite and beautiful, unlike in the other letters.
The content—it’s about the alchemist Oswald Bort.
The crazy alchemist who created aqua vitae and forged a philosopher’s stone from his own soul.
And, the man who hunted the Lunatic King Cain and was one step away from destroying him.
Why did he do something like that?
That’s because he was chosen as a pawn by the head of the Wynt family several hundred years ago.
It is said that he became an alchemist who would kill the Lunatic King due to the causal interference by the Wynt who looked into the future.
Dolores repeatedly apologized from the bottom of her heart to Bort.
If we didn’t get him involved, you wouldn’t have suffered like this, she said.
Causal interference? The philosopher’s stone?
How ridiculous.
It’s a fantastical story that makes me want to disregard it as nonsense.
But, I feel suffocated for some reason.
The war hero Evil Eye Bort, and Dolores, a genius from the prestigious Wynt family of Hafan who died prematurely.
Would they really converse like this just for some fantasy?
At that time, I realized the meaning of the enclosed ink and powder.
The mechanism of this ink and powder is somewhat known to Lucanrant and Aurelia.
—So this dubious story is a camouflage while the real subject is written in hidden ink, eh?
I sprinkled the powder after reading through the letter once while feeling doubtful.
In the faint light that covered the letter, characters that were spelled in the dark became visible.
Emerging there was the truth of the death of the First Princess Eléonore.
It said that Oswald Bort’s failure to kill the Lunatic King Cain had distorted her fate.
The dying Lunatic King was in need of a new body.
The Lunatic King chose the twin prince and princess of Ignitia.
After many twists and turns, the target was narrowed down to the prince.
However, the Lunatic King found a more suitable body.
The lover who had been secretly dating the prince had a son who inherited not only the telepathic ability of the South but also the magical properties of the East—Brad Clochydd.
Eléonore tried to save her brother and sister-in-law who had been taken by a vampire, and caught the curse using her own body.
Then, she let Dolores kill her before she could fully become a vampire.
That is the truth of the death of the First Princess.
In another letter, addressed to Bort and Björndóttir, was a list of vampires to kill.
From townspeople to high nobles. From the Federal Kingdom to Gigantia.
The vast list certainly contained the names of those who have recently died suspicious deaths.
By the time I finished reading everything, it was late at night.
The moon illuminating the windowsill was round and bright.
I moistened my completely-dry lips with my tongue.
“If this is true—”
I remembered the face of the red-eyed Brad Clochydd.
If this is true.
Then he is the child who was chosen to be the vessel of the Lunatic King.
Moreover, a vessel whose body has already been given the blood of the Lunatic King and will be completed just by pouring the souls of sacrifices.
He’s a fire.
He can be a great fire that burns everyone in the world.
If it were Lucanrant—no, if it were me, he wouldn’t have been kept alive until he grew up like this.
Wouldn’t it be more merciful to finish him quickly?
I checked the letter again.
The last name on the list of vampires to kill is Brad Clochydd.
The witch gave instructions to Bort to take action if Brad ever posed a danger.
Protect him with your life, but when that time comes, kill him, she said.
The instruction was not only for Bort, but also for her son.
“—Isn’t this the worst?”
In other words, now that Frederica Bort has sunk into the sea.
Brad’s executioner would be Eduard.
That guy.
He has been raised to protect Brad and to kill him at that time.
But, one doesn’t usually focus their attention on the beast they plan to kill.
They should not feel compassion.
But that guy is not like that.
I know that better than anyone.
If everything was foreseen and this was an instruction.
This girl, Dolores Wynt, was much more inhumane than I am.
And as much cruel.
If that is the case, I—
Shall I substitute for that guy?
It was on that moment that such words spun in my brain.
☆
“Yo…Eduard isn’t here?”
In the evening I returned to Eduard’s room and only found Brad there.
He was reading an old scroll while taking notes at the writing desk.
“Aa, he has been called by the teacher just a moment ago.”
“Did he do something again? He’s the same as ever, huh.”
“No, there’s a change of plan for the upcoming field investigation, so they are adjusting the details.”
Brad answered without giving me a glance.
“I see. I’ll wait here then.”
It would have been better to return to my dorm, but I decided to observe Brad’s appearance from behind for a while.
The silhouette of his body was extremely thin.
Probably because Brad doesn’t eat much.
It is the exact opposite of Elric, who is surprisingly a glutton and eats everything without being picky.
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