Chapter 103

Forgotten Truth (1)

The Sovereign of Darkness, one of the six Sovereigns who served the Emperor.

The allied army called this Sovereign [The One Never Seen].

Exactly as the name implied, no one had ever observed this being. Beyond all perception and records, the Sovereign of Darkness made people forget its appearance and prevented them from knowing of its existence.

That was why it was the Sovereign of “Darkness.” The title did not mean a Sovereign with the Authority to wield darkness. It meant the same thing as “Dark” in the Dark Merchant Company: a name that used “dark” to mean “hidden from knowledge.”

In fact, there had been no Dark Merchant Company as far as the allied army was concerned. I had uncovered its true name: the Devotees of the Fallen Souls. Within the allied army, “Darkness” referred only to the Sovereign of Darkness.

We had been unable to discover anything about who the Sovereign of Darkness was, where it operated, what it did, or what abilities it used.

We knew only one thing: it possessed an Authority of Oblivion that instantly erased the very awareness of thinking about it.

And, astonishingly, that Authority—

“Even made Ian forget.”

Ian had been capable of standing against even the Sovereign of the Abyss. Yet even he could not resist the Authority of Oblivion.

Fortunately, he had remained aware that the Sovereign of Darkness existed. Otherwise, both I and the allied army would have believed there were five Sovereigns, not six.

In any case, there was no information about its identity.

Who was the Sovereign of Darkness?

Merely entertaining that question instantly erased every related incident, circumstance, person, and piece of information from memory.

It was the worst possible variable, with no telling when, where, or how it might come into play. In my previous life, I had been duty-bound to uncover its identity. I had investigated thoroughly, only to fail time and again. Every conclusion I reached was forgotten.

The One Never Seen.

I had never been able to dispel the darkness surrounding the Sovereign of Darkness.

But Iliana, the allied army’s Archmage, had told me:

[“A being that isn’t observed cannot exist in this world.”]

For something to exist, observation by someone was absolutely necessary.

[“It’s not that the Sovereign of Darkness isn’t observed.”]

Its true nature simply could not be observed accurately.

Thus, Iliana had called the Sovereign of Darkness the Being of Observational Uncertainty.

In other words, it could not be observed beyond a certain degree of accuracy, but observation itself was possible.

Her advice had given me a clever idea: reverse the question. Instead, I would deduce who the Sovereign of Darkness was not.

Investigating who the Sovereign of Darkness was caused the relevant information to be forgotten. But information about who it was not remained.

If I established who it was not and eliminated those possibilities one by one, might I discover who it was? Even if I couldn’t identify it precisely, perhaps I could learn something.

Based on that hypothesis, I had gathered information about the Sovereign of Darkness. The hypothesis proved correct, and these were my findings.

1. The Sovereign of Darkness is not invisible.

In other words, it had a physical form. This had allowed me to determine that it was a tangible being that could be seen and touched.

2. The Sovereign of Darkness is not a machine.

From this, I had learned that it was an individual with a sense of self, capable of thinking and acting independently.

3. The Sovereign of Darkness is not weak.

That was obvious enough. The six Sovereigns were beings the Emperor had acknowledged, rather than raised like livestock or slaughtered. As a Sovereign, the Sovereign of Darkness could hardly be weak.

Yet the fact that this information had been imprinted on my mind could be interpreted to mean that it was not weak even by a Sovereign’s standards.

The strongest Sovereign.

I had discovered that the Sovereign of Darkness was the most powerful of the six.

That naturally raised a question. If the Sovereign of Darkness was so powerful, could it actually be a false identity the Emperor used to conceal himself?

Even within the special task force, this had been a subject of debate.

The Sovereign of Bitter Cold, the witch who had taken Ian’s left arm.

It was difficult to imagine a Sovereign who surpassed Seraphia. Only... the Emperor fit that description.

Perhaps the Emperor erased people’s memories so he could operate more freely. It had been a perfectly reasonable conjecture.

And the result was—

4. The Sovereign of Darkness is not the Emperor.

I had no idea why I had reached that conclusion. Unfortunately, the memories had been erased and no longer existed.

Perhaps... it had revealed itself during the final battle against the Emperor. I could only hazard a guess.

In other words, this was precious information I had gained by returning to the past. There was therefore no doubt that the Emperor and the Sovereign of Darkness were separate beings.

That—was everything I had discovered. Everything else remained shrouded in darkness, hidden from knowledge.

So if the Sovereign of Darkness was involved in the Kingdom of Battenberg, I had no way of knowing what would happen in the capital this time, either.

“... No wonder.”

I had thought something was strange. From the king’s summons to court society, there was no way I could know absolutely nothing about any of it. Apparently, this was also why I had briefly forgotten about Father’s will.

“So the Sovereign of Darkness has been involved.”

Its Authority of Oblivion was something even Ian had been unable to resist.

I had only recently learned that Player’s Will[EX] did not grant complete mental immunity. It merely reset things when they exceeded the limits of my mental fortitude.

Thinking of it that way...

“... Was that why?”

Why I had failed to think of the Sovereign of Darkness despite knowing there were six Sovereigns serving the Emperor.

The Sovereign of Bitter Cold. The Sovereign of Beasts. The Sovereign of Immortality. The Sovereign of the Abyss. And the Sovereign of Death.

I could recall all five. But I had never even considered who the sixth and final Sovereign was. I had merely been aware that a sixth existed.

Now that I thought about it, there were those messages that had appeared before my eyes whenever I reviewed what I knew about the Sovereigns.

When I had been on guard against the Sovereign of Bitter Cold in the county. When I had followed traces of the Sovereign of Beasts in the snowy mountains. When I had recalled the Sovereign of the Abyss in Frecce. When I had obtained information about the Sovereign of Death in Violess.

◆Player’s Will[EX] resists Erased Traces!

◆Player’s Will[EX] resists Devouring Darkness!

◆Player’s Will[EX] resists Void of Memory!

◆Player’s Will[EX] resists Stolen Awareness!

I hadn’t been able to recognize anything at the time, but... apparently, I had remembered it. As I reviewed information about the Sovereigns, I must have naturally thought of the Sovereign of Darkness too.

But even the awareness that I had thought of it had immediately been erased.

Player’s Will[EX] hadn’t granted complete immunity. Still, it was thanks to Player’s Will[EX] that I had known the Sovereign of Darkness existed at all.

“It must have been the same for Ian.”

That was why he, too, had failed to uncover the Sovereign of Darkness.

“But things are different now.”

Successor’s Will[EX], which I had recently acquired through Iliana’s teachings.

Now, at last, I could recognize the Sovereign of Darkness.

The limit of my mental fortitude was aleph-null. In other words, it was infinite. With an infinite limit, I would no longer forget.

Right now, I was thinking clearly about the Sovereign of Darkness. The fact that none of my memories or awareness were being erased was proof.

With Player’s Will[EX], I had forgotten. But ever since it became Successor’s Will[EX], I no longer did.

If the Sovereign of Darkness was intervening in the Kingdom of Battenberg, it would certainly reveal itself this time.

“If I can just observe the Sovereign of Darkness in the capital.”

If that allowed me to use Predatory Instincts[S], the darkness concealing it would be torn apart, and the forgotten past and truth would be laid completely bare.

Then the Emperor’s greatest and most dangerous variable would finally be in the palm of my hand—and from that moment on, I could bring Aucta From Afar, the being who existed far beyond understanding and perception, onto a board of my own devising.

The Emperor of the empire himself.

* * *

Darkness lay thick over Whitewolf Castle.

Seated at a small worktable, Seraphia carefully plied her needle. Her fingertips were covered in needle pricks, yet beneath them, beautiful embroidery was gradually filling the silk.

In the quiet room, her healthy, pale-pink lips were pressed tightly together, concentration evident in her face and fingertips. The only sound was the faint rasp of thread passing through the fabric, stitch by stitch, when—

KNOCK, KNOCK.

“May I come in?”

Adrian’s voice accompanied the knock.

“Eek...!”

Her concentration shattered, and her entire body jolted. She pressed a hand to her chest to calm her racing heart.

“... Oh, yes! Come in!”

She hastily stood and cleared the things scattered across her worktable. Just then, Adrian entered the room.

“What were you doing?”

“Pardon? J-just...”

Flustered, she threw a cloth over the worktable. Adrian looked at the covering, then at her. His expression asked what she had been up to.

... She felt she ought to say something. But her mind had gone completely blank. Whatever happened... she couldn’t tell him she had been making a handkerchief for him.

“B-but what brings you here?”

She dodged the question, pressing firmly down on the covering with her hands. Fortunately(?), Adrian did not pry.

“A royal messenger came by earlier.”

He got straight to the point. Tension settled over Seraphia’s face, still flushed from her intense concentration. She knew what a visit from a royal messenger meant.

“His Majesty the King has summoned you and me regarding Father’s will.”

“His Majesty...?”

“Also, Her Highness the Queen has invited you to attend the social season.”

“... What?”

Seraphia abruptly tilted her head to the left. An invitation to court society? And from Her Highness the Queen herself?

“Huh...?”

She was having considerable trouble understanding the situation. It wasn’t just that he had left out much of the explanation—he had skipped it entirely.

“So prepare to leave for the capital.”

But Adrian merely spoke with finality.

“We’ll travel there by carriage. We’ll take only the minimum number of soldiers needed for an escort, and maids to attend to you.”

“Do you mean it will be just you and me, Brother?”

“Yes.”

“...”

“We can’t spare many people from the county right now.”

The county had only just taken its first steps toward recovery. What would happen if they pulled people away now? It would disrupt their work and projects, dealing a significant blow to the county’s revival.

“R-right. That would be difficult, given the county’s current situation.”

“You’ll have to put up with any inconvenience.”

“No! That isn’t what I meant. It’s just a little...”

Unable to finish, Seraphia lowered her head. But she couldn’t keep the corners of her lips from trembling—

“... A little what?”

“Nothing! It’s nothing!”

She waved her hands frantically, clearing her throat for no reason as she tried to brush it off. Fortunately, Adrian showed little interest this time, either.

“We plan to leave in a week. Make sure everything is ready.”

With that, he turned away. Once he had left, Seraphia hurriedly shut the door, covered her face with both hands, and pressed her back against it.

‘What am I going to do...!’

Her heart was pounding as if it might burst. And no wonder—

‘Just Brother and me...!’

How could something so dreamlike be happening?

Even at the fastest possible pace, traveling from Whitewolf county to the kingdom’s capital took at least two weeks. That meant a month just for the journey there and back. She would be traveling with Adrian for at least an entire month.

And that was the minimum. Depending on what happened along the way, it could take even longer. Add the time they would spend in the capital...?

‘Oh, what am I going to do...!!’

Just thinking about it made her face burn with excitement. Merely imagining it filled her body with so much energy that she felt it might overflow.

‘C-calm down. Just calm down...!’

She made a conscious effort to contain her excitement, but—

‘Eee...!!!’

There was simply nothing she could do to stop her heart from fluttering uncontrollably.