Chapter 117 - Black Wedding (3)

"O-Ox That Harvests Ruins..."

Golden Silk Blossom prayed desperately.

"A new... Please grant me a new blessing!"

Humans grow small when cornered. Their minds, the scope of their thinking, rapidly narrow. They might flee, or cling blindly to someone else. Golden Silk Blossom was no different.

"In e-exchange... That's right. I'll offer you my existence in exchange! No, I'll turn this world into chaos, just as you desire! Ruins! Devastation! Destruction! Aren't those the things you love, Mutia?! I'm good at them! At those things!"

I took a heavy step forward.

"Eek."

Hearing my footstep made Golden Silk Blossom even more desperate. She backed away, looking up at the crimson sunset as though salvation would descend at any moment.

"I'm good at it! Lord Mutia! If there's one thing I'm really good at, it's smashing things...!"

But no answer came.

"This is..."

Her prayer quickly soured into resentment.

"This is a breach of contract!"

I took another step closer.

"You said you'd give me the power to create a new destiny! Then why! Why is some weird crazy bitch inside my body?! Give it back! Give me back my body!"

"Oh, you've misspoken."

The Inquisitor spoke cheerfully.

"If you mean me, I'm sorry, but my physical sex is male! So your statement is incorrect! You should call me a [crazy bastard], not a [crazy bitch]. Hmm. To encourage healthier language habits, I recommend correcting that to [a person who has lost their mind]! Healthy language houses a healthy mind, Miss Evanail!"

"You fucking bastard!"

The baron's daughter, Lady Golden Silk Blossom—no. Sylvia Evanail screamed.

"This is wrong! Yes, it's wrong! It's a breach of contract... I deserve to be empress. I'm going to rise to a position greater than Raviel Ivansia's. That's what's supposed to happen! It's destiny. A destiny I made! So... so it's a breach of contract, and... I..."

Another step.

"Urgh!"

Only then did Sylvia Evanail turn her eyes from the sky. I was now too close for her to ignore.

"You monster!"

Sylvia Evanail swung her hammer.

CLANG!

The iron hammer collided with the holy sword. She brought her hammer down wildly, while I stepped around her and easily deflected her attacks. The more she missed, the more frantic she grew.

A frantic mind was easy to break.

"Ah."

I seized the opening when Sylvia Evanail swung her hammer wide. I slashed her wrist.

"Aaaaaaagh!"

Naturally, there was no wound. No bloodstains, no flowing blood, none of the red that would bear witness to pain splattered anywhere, yet Sylvia Evanail screamed as though she were being torn apart.

She dropped her hammer.

THUD!

The iron hammer hit the ground with a heavy crash.

"Ah, ugh... Uhhh..."

I met Sylvia Evanail's eyes. The dust raised by the fallen hammer settled on both our knees.

"Choose."

"Ch-choose...?"

"You've already lost your place in this world. Even if you run away now, you're no longer [the baron's daughter, Lady Golden Silk Blossom]. You're merely a constellation's apostle."

"..."

"I'll give you a chance."

Sylvia Evanail glared at me, clutching her wrist.

"If you want to remain a constellation's lackey, do as you please. Run. I'll let you escape. But if you're still attached to this world, if you want to stay here and do something more, relinquish the constellation's blessing that surrounds you."

"Why would I..."

"And die by my sword."

I leveled my blade at her.

"You saw the battle just now. I can summon those who die by my hand, with all their memories from life intact. Sylvia Evanail. If you surrender of your own accord, I'll summon you into this world so you can live once more as [the baron's daughter, Lady Golden Silk Blossom]."

"..."

"Of course, you won't go on living exactly as you did before. I forbid any hostile act against my lover, Raviel Ivansia. But that's all. The rest is up to you. Marry the crown prince or don't. Live as you please."

"Why...?"

"Because you should be able to live your life again."

Purple was now mingling with the red of the sunset. In the Empire, weddings lasted from the arrival of sunset until its departure. I estimated that we had less than thirty minutes left.

"How... can I trust you? Wh-what if you turn me into your summon and work me like a slave? I wouldn't be able to defy you or resist."

"Think."

I looked at Sylvia Evanail.

"Why were 'you' and 'your butler' specifically chosen as bodies to possess?"

"Huh?"

"You offered everything to a constellation to make your wish come true. Your memories, your body—everything passed into the constellation's hands. So the place you occupied in this world became a blank."

A blank anyone could occupy, anyone could fill.

That was probably why the [Shut-In Librarian] had been able to have the Inquisitor and me possess these bodies.

"It's understandable that your place became empty."

But.

"Have you ever thought about why your butler became a blank?"

"..."

Sylvia Evanail lifted her eyes.

"I don't know the whole story either. But I became your butler once. I immersed myself completely in his life. What I realized then was that this man was utterly devoted to you, Sylvia Evanail."

With that in mind, I drew my conclusions.

"I guarantee that even if you had become empress of the Empire, you would never have been happy."

"What...?"

"You said it yourself. You wanted to become empress not because you loved the crown prince, but because you wanted to outshine Raviel. Would your life really work out if you became empress that way?"

I shook my head.

"You're quite capable. But not as capable as Raviel. You don't have the power and prestige of the family she was born into. You lack her ability to manipulate and command a crowd. Even if you managed to become empress, people would constantly compare you to Raviel and belittle you."

"..."

"For the rest of your life."

Suppose there was a butler.

That butler watched his mistress suffer her entire life.

"The butler I know is a man who would gladly offer everything to save you."

The butler must have thought:

'If only Lady Golden Silk Blossom hadn't become empress, she could have been happy.'

"That's what I think."

"The butler... My butler regressed?"

"No."

The butler was not a regressor.

"You made a wish for yourself. But he didn't. The butler made his wish for you. He didn't want to turn back his own life. He only wanted you to go back."

"What are you talking about...?"

"Do you remember your butler's name?"

"Huh?"

Sylvia Evanail furrowed her brow.

"Of course. My butler's name is..."

But.

"... Huh?"

Sylvia Evanail couldn't say his name. Her brow furrowed more deeply. A moment later, the crease eased. She stared into empty space in confusion.

"W-wait. This can't be. Huh? ... Huh? Wha...?"

I watched her calmly.

Yes.

In this world, the butler had never once been called by name.

Sylvia Evanail had never called him by name either. He should have been her sole attendant and childhood friend, yet she had only ever called him 'butler.' Even when they were alone in her room and there was no need for formality.

["Butler."]

Raviel Ivansia had never called the butler by name either. She held all the Empire's information in the palm of her hand, so she couldn't possibly have been unaware of the baron's daughter Lady Golden Silk Blossom's closest attendant.

["Butler."]

The man I had possessed.

The baron's daughter's servant had had his name erased from this world.

Because he had truly offered everything to a constellation.

Even I, who had immersed myself completely in the butler, did not know his name.

I couldn't remember it. I couldn't bring it to mind.

"..."

Sylvia Evanail's expression crumbled.

"Then what...?"

Like a solidly built tower collapsing from the top down.

"Are you saying the butler is gone altogether?"

"Yes."

Probably, this world had regressed three times.

First, Sylvia Evanail had wished for regression from a constellation.

The constellation that granted her wish was [The Ox That Harvests Ruins].

This constellation, said to govern destruction and re-creation, had allowed Sylvia Evanail one more life.

Sylvia Evanail had overtaken Raviel and become empress.

Next, the 'butler' had wished for regression from another constellation.

The constellation that granted his wish was... unknown.

The butler offered everything he had for Golden Silk Blossom's sake, and as a result, this world returned to the past once more. To a time before the baron's daughter, Lady Golden Silk Blossom, married the crown prince. To a past in which nothing had yet been decided.

Finally, Raviel had caused a regression.

The constellation that granted her wish was a fragment of the [Goddess of Protection].

This regression trapped the world in ten days that repeated forever.

And that brought us to the present.

"We can never know the butler's name. Ever."

"..."

"What feelings he held as he supported you throughout your life. What thoughts he had as he sacrificed everything and prayed for regression. We can't know. Because he's gone."

Only this.

"The butler must have wanted you to live a different life."

And therefore.

"I want to grant his wish."

"..."

"Sylvia Evanail. Somewhere you know nothing about, someone whose name you cannot know sacrificed himself solely for you. The person who loved you more than anyone, who wanted to be with you more than anyone, gave up everything."

That was how one nameless butler had loved.

"Live again."

It probably wasn't too late yet.

"Live again, just as he wished."

Sylvia Evanail said nothing.

Her hands trembled. Her mouth opened and closed. Her throat worked. A life was convulsing there. A cursed life. And yet, how cruel it was to know that someone wished you would live—that someone had wished it.

"..."

Sylvia Evanail slowly lowered her head. She no longer had the strength to look straight ahead.

Slowly, light began to seep from her entire body.

The constellation's blessing was lifting.

"Yes."

I raised my sword high.

I dismissed the Sword of Compassion and called forth the Sword of Idol once more.

The sunset blazed red.

My sword cast a long shadow on the ground.

The shadow swung its sword.

[The apostle of 'The Ox That Harvests Ruins' vanishes.]

The sunset faded.

All the apostles from other worlds had been slain.

The beings threatening this world were gone.

[Stage clear.]

A voice rang out to announce it.

A voice that probably only the Inquisitor and I could hear here.

[Today.]

[The 25th-floor stage has been cleared.]

It was the Tower's voice.

[Announcing once more to everyone.]

[Today, the 25th-floor stage has been cleared.]

[Calculating the number of participants.]

[Calculation complete.]

[Announcing the three clearers.]

People began groggily opening their eyes. Hungry Ghost, the cultists, the wedding guests. One by one, those who had been swept into dreams by the apostle's song rose.

"Uhhh..."

"What on earth happened...?"

Text appeared above them.

+

[Clear Contribution Rankings]

1st. Death King

2nd. Inquisitor

3rd. None

+

"..."

I looked at the text in silence.

Two people had been sent into this stage.

The Inquisitor and I were the only hunters the [Shut-In Librarian] had sent.

Yet the Tower listed three clearers.

'None.'

The third clearer, who couldn't possibly exist, had no name displayed.

I gazed up into empty space for a while.

"Hmm."

Raviel came to my side and took my hand. We leaned our shoulders together. Then she slowly looked around at the wedding guests.

"He is my husband and the wife of House Ivansia."

The guests, only just awake from their dreams, stared blankly at Raviel and me.

"Does anyone object to this marriage?"

No one could open their mouth.

There must have been people who were dissatisfied. There must have been people who would have objected. But all that had become a thing of the past.

The mere appearance of beings from another world was earth-shattering. And the guests had even witnessed me defeating those beings.

By keeping their mouths shut and remaining silent, the guests agreed with Raviel.

"Good."

The very person who had chosen today as our wedding day with precisely that outcome in mind.

Raviel, my bride, gave a deep nod.

"I declare that my marriage to this man has been successfully concluded."