The Guilty

Investigators, soldiers, police and adventurers had gathered en masse at the capital, surrounding the Imperial Royal Academy.

Anyone and everyone who arrived was questioned extensively, and anything that even seemed remotely suspicious was put under the microscope.

Lucien, however, snuck into the city through illegal channels.

“Maybe I should’ve taken a page from that stupid detective’s book and worn a disguise.”

Even if the Boss hadn’t ordered me to come, I would’ve.

When Lucien had first been ordered to save Peter and Matilda from their dark fates, Lucien hadn’t cared even a little bit about them. He just thought it’d be a fun distraction.

However, as he got to know them more and more, and they spent more time together, Lucien had grown quite attached to his young apprentice and his gang of misfits.

Well, if Peter ever found out the truth about me, I bet he’d be disappointed. Oh well. Lucien smiled a little melancholily. He’s going to find out sooner or later.

As he’d expected, Lucien found Peter with Sayla at one of the Justice Brigade’s dead drops spread throughout the city. Peter was saying something to her, she said something back, and he hit her on her head, before sending her off.

“Nice to see you guys haven’t changed.”

“Master Lucien?!” Peter lit up like the sun. “It’s been so long!”

“Yeah, it has. How have you guys-?”

“Peter…why are you talking to that man?”

Uh oh.

Without turning around, Lucien knew who exactly it was.

It’d been several years since they’d seen each other, but Lucien recognised her presence.

“Miss Emilia? What are you-?”

Emilia put herself between them and glowered at Lucien. “…What are you doing here, Lucien?”

Lucien, a little taken back by the fact that he hadn’t sensed her approached, grinned a little. “It’s been a while, little vampire. See? It worked out just like I said, right?”

“…Master? Miss Emilia? Wait, what does he mean by vam-?”

“Let’s carry this conversation on in that alley over there. Out of sight and mind.”

***

“Alright, now we can-woah now.” Lucien raised his arm to block Emilia’s sudden attack with a concealed silver dagger. “That’s not exactly a nice way to start a conversation.”

“Neither is lying to a student.”

“I never lied to Peter!” Lucien bashed the dagger out of Emilia’s hand and then gripped her wrist before she could retrieve another. “I just didn’t tell him everything.”

Emilia snorted, broke free and leapt back a few feet, her hand resting on the hilt of another weapon hidden in her clothes. “A lie of omission? That’s your defence?”

“Miss Emilia, Master Lucien, what’s-?”

“You heard about that bitch Samantha, right? The one who we found on the night the school was attacked?” Peter nodded, slightly confused. “He works with her.”

“…What?”

“Woah now, that’s a bit inaccurate,” Lucien said with a laugh. “We work for the same person, but I don’t work with Samantha. And I had no part in the attack at the school.”

“What crap.”

“It’s the truth.” Lucien relaxed his guard a little and sighed. “Do you honestly think that I and that woman would ever get along?”

“…Why wouldn’t you?” Emilia questioned.

“Ha! You know what she’s like! Besides, Samantha wasn’t-ah, let me start over.” Lucien flexed his shoulders and focused his attention on the still lost Peter behind Emilia. “My name is Lucien, former head of the Storm Eagles and resident of the Maximum Security Wing of Tartarus. I had about another few hundred years of my sentence left before the breakout; if you can think of a crime, there’s a good chance I or one of my men did it.”

“…No…way…” All coloured left Peter’s face and he nearly collapsed from shock. “But…but Ma-Lucien, you…you saved me…from-”

“Was this a part of ‘Onee-sama’s’ plan that Samantha loves to gush over?” Emilia asked.

“…Right, at the start it was,” Lucien said. “Back then, we all had our roles to play, and the boss asked me to save Matilda and train Peter, but then she stopped giving me those orders. So, I came back on my own to train you and help create the Justice Brigade. The boss didn’t give me any other orders beyond keeping Matilda out of harm and making you stronger, that’s the truth.”

Neither of them said anything, so Lucien continued.

“I will say this. I had no part in the attack at the school. I was offered a role, but I declined because I didn’t want that on my soul.”

Emilia snorted. “After everything you’ve done?”

“I had a lot of time to reflect in Tartarus and lots more after getting out,” Lucien said. “The boss gave me a chance for something better, I took it and I don’t regret it. If anything, it made my sins heavier to carry. After we got out, I’ve not killed anyone, and I don’t intend to. Samantha seems to like doing that though.”

“…I’ve seen plenty of examples of that.”

“…Those kids weren’t meant to die.”

“You-!”

“It’s the truth.” Lucien’s tonal shift made Emilia shut up right away, and she faltered a little. “The boss punished her severely for that.” He shuddered a little. “I won’t go into details, but I’ve never seen her that angry before.”

“…Then.” Peter looked up at Lucien with a little bit of hope. “Is the reason…you came today…because you were worried about us, or because you were told to?”

Lucien decided to answer honestly.

“Both.” Peter nearly fainted but Emilia caught him. “For what it’s worth, I do actually care about you and the Justice Brigade, but the boss wanted me to keep an eye on you and…some others too.”

“Others?”

“Reiss and-”

“I won’t say any more,” Lucien cut Emilia off again, angering her a little. “You can figure the rest out on your own.”

“Then, answer this and leave.” Emilia relaxed a little, but her glower remained. “If you really don’t like the idea of killing people, why didn’t you try and stop the attack? Why did you not say anything to anyone? Why not alert-?”

Lucien simply laughed, loudly and bitterly. “Do you honestly think I could have?”

“Yes, you cou-”

“No. No, I couldn’t have.” Lucien turned around.

***

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.”

“Huh?”

As Reiss and Arc were walking through the school grounds, a strange looking elderly teacher called out to them in Japanese.

“Who are you?”

“There’s no need to be so worried, Arc Luminous, Reiss Sunderland. My name is John Moriarty, and I think that you two might be the key to solving this great mystery we’re all facing right now.”

***

Duke Wilbert wanted to collapse.

He wanted to fall ill.

He wanted to slip and fall and never get back up.

All the pain, all the guilt, all the misery he felt weighed down his every step and threatened to drag him down to Hell.

How he’d welcome it.

Every day, he regretted his decision to go along with Samantha’s offer.

If he’d refused, he’d have died, but Grace might have lived a better life, even if that meant existing as the vampire’s pet.

At the very least, I’d be spared all of this grief.

The duke knew how selfish those thoughts were, but he no longer cared.

His heart was cold and empty.

Worse, his compatriots had grown bolder in their ambitions.

They wanted to escalate their attacks.

They wanted to target more and more key people throughout the kingdom, and they wanted to find others to join the cause.

This is getting out of hand and it could be far more devastating than even that Rose expected.

“My lord, our ally has just arrived with the new shipments.”

“Good. Check them over for me but send our ally up here once you’re done.”

“Of course. May I ask what for?”

“Something I need to discuss in private with him.”

***

“How bold of you, Duke Wilbert,” Stephan mused, locking the door behind him. “To what do I owe the pleasure of-?”

“I know that you work alongside Samantha, but how dedicated are you to the coup plans?”

Stephan lost his jovial smile. “…That’s a dangerous question to ask.”

“Yet you didn’t answer.”

“Of course. I like to keep my head firmly on my neck.”

“…Are you wearing a microphone or wire?”

“No, nor am I being tracked by one of Samantha’s little friends like your daughter is.”

“…”

“Oh?” Stephan chuckled and cleaned his glasses. “You weren’t aware?”

“I had an inclination, but that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. Answer me honestly. This chaos, these deaths, the insane notion of replacing the highly popular, talented and respected ruler of our kingdom with someone of lower blood, do you feel nothing? No guilt? No pain? No joy? No nothing?”

“…I wouldn’t say that, but I’d also refrain from answering how I feel.”

The duke grunted. “So, you do feel some guilt about your involvement.”

Stephan’s eyebrow twitched. “That’s-”

“I can’t take this pain any longer. I want it to end, but I know any attempts I take to disrupt the coup from the outside will fall apart, however.” The duke moved closer to Stephan and whispered, “It’s possible to make it collapse from the inside, especially if I have someone else to help me.

“Say, someone who is more familiar with Samantha and her boss’s actions and plans. Someone who also feels as awful as I do about our role in this tragedy. Someone who also is looking for a way to escape his fate, even if it means bringing about his death.

“I think I’ve found someone like that, but what about you?

“Are you willing to help me expose this coup so it’ll collapse?”

***

Just as soon as Queen Elisebeth had found the resolve to tell her husband the truth, she lost it just as fast.

After years of hiding the truth about Tartarus and Pandora’s Box, Elisebeth had firmly decided to tell her husband everything, from start to finish, and ask for his help resolving the incident.

As if reading her mind, a rose had appeared on her bed.

It hadn’t been there before the queen went to have her nightly bath, and there was no sign of forced entry, meaning it could only have been left by her.

A single white rose stained with blood. The queen shuddered.

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