Even though the Indeterminate Polyhedron had shattered into pieces and its original form was ruined, it still gave off an ominous aura.

“If you don’t mind me asking, why were you looking for the Indeterminate Polyhedron? Everyone had a hard time finding the pieces of the shattered gem from the ruins. It would be nice to know the reason,” Opert asked.

“It’s because of Rietto,” Juan answered.

“You mean Bishop Rietto…? Isn’t Bishop Rietto dead?”

Bishop Rietto was found dead with his head exploded. While everyone thought that he had died from the aftermath of performing an extremely powerful Grace that was beyond his limit, Juan’s thoughts were different.

“I entered his mind for a short moment when I was fighting against him. His mental world was completely broken.”

“As expected. I have also heard stories about Bishop Rietto before. I was told that his mind had shattered from directly hearing His Majesty’s words… well, it seems like that wasn’t true.”

“No. There were traces of the Crack behind his mind shattering.”

“The Crack?”

Opert opened his eyes wide. In the current era, when gods had disappeared, the only thing that could pose a practical threat to the empire was the Crack, located to the north. The Crack was so powerful that even His Majesty had died of betrayal during the war against the Crack. General Nienna Nelben and the northern populus of the empire, who had been fighting against the crack for a long time, had been blocking their attacks very well so far, but the empire was severely damaged at times by the occasional appearance of the beasts from the Crack.

“It seems like you’re having a hard time believing it.”

“I apologize. It’s because I barely know anything about the Crack. All I know is the exaggerated stories about the huge cliff which completely tears up the northern territory, the unidentified monsters crawling up from the gap between the cliff, and the ability of the crack to pollute and corrupt the minds of those whose name has been mentioned by the Crack.”

“Exaggerated? I feel like they didn’t even describe a quarter of the horror,” Juan said with a grin.

“It’s that bad?”

“Just from what I saw in the Crack, it… nevermind. It’s an unnecessary story. Just think of it as a place where things from different worlds crawl up. Not only is their existence unusual, but their forms and strengths are also unfamiliar. You can’t communicate with them nor can you understand them. Compared to those bastards, Nigrato’s existence seems much more reasonable. Anyway, what’s important is that the traces of the Crack could be found in Rietto, even though he isn’t in the north, but in the south of the empire.”

Juan lifted up the pouch that contained the Indeterminate Polyhedron.

“There was a stranger who attacked me recently. When I felt the power of the Crack from him, I knew for sure. Although I don’t know if this gem came from the Crack, it seems like this gem was what shattered Rietto’s mind. Maybe he saw a glimpse of my power through his fragmented mental world. That’s why he…”

Juan tried to say something, but smiled ambiguously and closed his mouth.

Opert seemed to know what Juan wanted to say—that this was the reason why Rietto’s fragmented mental world couldn’t hold out and ended up scattering when Juan had exerted his power as the emperor.

“I would’ve looked into how the Indeterminate Polyhedron had been obtained if Rietto was still alive. But I guess that’s not possible anymore. So I’m planning to separately investigate whether the Crack was involved with it or not.”

“Is that all?”

“What else do you want?”

“The threat of the Crack is being averted by General Nienna Nelben, and the Order of Penlil is making sure to prevent the power of the Crack from growing within the empire. But you are abandoning Anya, no, the Order of Huginn—no, are you abandoning all of us just over a piece of gem that appeared around the border?”

Juan silently looked at Opert, and Opert felt his throat drying upon meeting his gaze.

“I have no chivalry nor faith in the emperor. But the light and power you’ve shown has changed everything about the people who witnessed it all. I think I finally know what the people have been waiting for. We need you right now more than ever—” Opert took a big gulp. “...Your Majesty the Emperor.”

Opert uttered the words that had been at the tip of his tongue for a long time. Opert had thought that he should never say it out loud, but it was hard for him to not at this point.

“The emperor, you say…” Juan smiled bitterly. “You’ve misunderstood something. Opert, I’m the one who’s putting all of you in danger. My existence is attracting the unknowns that tried to kill me. Also, I’m not yet ready to take responsibility for all of you.”

“What do you mean you’re not ready to take responsibility?”

“It means that I don’t want to be the emperor again. Don’t be surprised and hear me out. I’ve been feeling that the title of the emperor is not as light as I had once thought. It’s just like how someone can’t become the emperor by simply claiming themselves to be the emperor. I still have a lot to learn about, and have lots of work that I must finish. Until I take care of everything, please forgive me even if I act a little selfish. But if you need my help, I’ll help at any time.”

“Your Majesty…”

“Until that day comes, I hope you call me Juan. And I ask the same for others.”

Soon, Opert silently nodded with a stiff look on his face.

Juan jumped on the horse with ease. One of the good things about growing taller was that Juan no longer had difficulties in handling horses.

“So where are you headed to now?” Opert asked.

“The place within the empire where the Crack had most deeply infiltrated is… the east.”

The eastern empire was a land connected with the sea, where the sun rose from, and where dragons used to fly in the sky. It was also a territory that Gerard Gain and his knight order had loved the most.

The eastern territory was Gerard’s, and it had long been known as the land that had been eroded by the Crack. Juan didn’t consider all this to be a simple coincidence. If the Crack really was involved in any way, Juan felt that he must check it.

“If you are headed to the east for just that reason, I recommend going to Durgal, Your Majesty.”

“Durgal? Is it the name of a place?”

Juan had never heard of such a place. Opert nodded his head and continued explaining.

“I heard it was the place where the Indeterminate Polyhedron was found. It’s known to be a city within the eastern territory, though I’m not too sure about its exact location. I never thought of it having the traces of the Crack. Maybe you’ll be able to find a clue there.”

“Thanks, I’ll take that into consideration. Oh, also… do you know about the name ‘Qzatquizail’ by any chance?”

“Qzatquizail? Did you say it was a name? It sounds like a word from a language of a different world. No, I’ve never heard of it, Your Majesty.”

“Hm. That’s fair…”

At that moment, Juan felt as if he had been hit on the head.

‘A name? Did I tell Opert that it was a name? Why did I think that it was a name?’

Qzatquizail was certainly an unfamiliar word to Juan. As Opert said, it might be a word from a language of a different world or a rune. However, Juan had been aware that it was a name ever since he heard the word, even though it was his first time hearing it.

Juan bit his lips as if he was confused. Juan suspected that the unidentified stranger had planted a strange concept in his head—the beings from the Crack were extremely good at doing such things anyway.

“...Nevermind. Tell Dilmond to take good care of himself on my behalf,” Juan said to Opert before he headed off on his horse.

“You shouldn’t be asking others for a favor that might get them kicked,” Opert complained.

“Oh, also tell him to not get mad at me, since I really meant every word of the praise that I said to him.”

“Any words you want to leave for Anya?”

Juan paused for a second, then soon snorted.

“She’s a child that Ras chose to be his successor. I’m sure she’ll do well on her own.”

After leaving the message, Juan kicked his horse to head off without looking back. The black horse obeyed Juan’s command, galloping away.

Opert wanted to see Juan off until the end, but Juan’s figure completely blended into the darkness even before the sound of the horse hooves grew faint.

Opert adjusted his clothes and turned back. There was a lot of work to be done—his first job had to do with what Ras tried to protect until his end.

Mananen McLeir’s heart had to be completely cloned.

***

Someone approached the entrance of the alley Opert had just been in. It was a female knight with blonde hair who was wearing a deep hood that covered her face. She stared toward the darkness where Juan had disappeared for a long time.

Her lips quietly muttered a name.

“Juan.”

Sina Solvane didn’t know what to do. All the comrades she knew had already died, and the Templars who she grew to respect and follow turned out to have completely different values from her. Furthermore, Juan, whom Sina refused to acknowledge as the emperor until the end, clearly exerted the power of the emperor. The fact that Sina herself helped him to prove this power felt even more ironic to her.

It was certainly true that she desperately wanted to help Juan when he exerted his power while in danger, since no one else could save Hiveden from the disaster other than Juan. And as she wanted, Juan eventually destroyed Nigrato.

‘So what is Juan to me now?’

Sina still couldn’t decide. Sina touched the tattoo of the rune covering her left eye. She still had a lot of questions left that she wanted to ask Juan, and there were a lot of things she had to find out about—she couldn’t just sit and watch him leave.

Sina began to ride her horse to the east.

***

Helmut couldn’t believe his own eyes upon seeing the Black Priest who had returned with a black eye. Unlike the Templars, the Black Priests didn’t wear any physical reinforcement or the armors of the Templars. This was because they already had powerful enough Grace which allowed them to faithfully fulfill their duties even against the Templars.

However, all twelve of the Black Priests Helmut had sent came back, lying on their sickbed due to fractures and bruises.

“Your Holiness, please forgive us.”

Helmut glared at the Black Priest who bowed his head at his feet.

“Are you trying to show me your grievances by showing up before healing yourself?”

The Black Priest made a face as if his conscience had been pricked, but rubbed his head on the floor to hide his expression.

“Not at all, Your Holiness. Not just me, but all the other Black Priests are suffering from similar injuries. Everyone has been saying that their wounds from the bastard’s ruthless attack are so severe, that the healing Grace isn’t working properly. Perhaps he used a heretical trick on us to…”

“Shut it.”

Helmut cut the Black Priest off. Holding his aching head with his hands, Helmut lit the incense again.

“You’re trying to tell me that the captain of the Imperial Guards who protects His Majesty uses heretical tricks? Are you telling me to declare that I have committed the grave sin of placing a heretic next to His Majesty with my own hands? I can already see the captain of the Order of the Capital deriding me.”

“Y-Your Holiness, that wasn’t my intention.”

“Why the hell would that bastard Lenly Loen protect the Saintess…?”

Things had gone completely wrong for Helmut. Helmut was well aware of Lenly Loen, as he used to be a rising star who even had a chance to become the captain of a knight order. However, Lenly Loen was too rigid—he had often clashed with Helmut, and was an extreme worshiper of the emperor and the doctrines, to the extent that it was dangerous.

For such reasons, Lenly Loen couldn’t get along with the Church. When Lenly said that he wanted to give up his position as a Templar to join the Imperial Guards, Helmut was rather relieved. Helmut thought that it was better for him to forever remain neutral while staying with the Imperial Guards rather than to have him join the Order of the Capital and allow him to go mad and be hostile to himself.

Helmut couldn’t believe that he was clashing with Lenly once again after all this time over a Saintess—it was a rather unexpected situation.

In principle, no one could mess with the Imperial Guards. Until now, Helmut had only been suggesting those that were upright and not greedy join the Imperial Guards. Never once did he think that this would come back to bite him now.

“...What’s the Saintess up to?”

“She is resting in her room, but the captain of the Imperial Guards hasn’t left the front of the room, standing there to protect her. We kept telling him that it is Your Holiness’ order, but he told us that ‘His Majesty’s order is his priority and it precedes everything.’”

Helmut gritted his teeth as he realized the Saintess had given yet another oracle. Helmut didn’t know exactly what was going on, but thought that he must sort things out as soon as possible to prevent everything from getting out of control.

Helmut blamed everything on the wind that blew from the south; the prophecy about the black emperor, the demon of Tantil, the annihilation of the Order of the White Crow, and the emperor’s oracle all seemed to be intertwined with each other as one.

It was time for Helmut to sort things out completely.

Helmut gave new orders to the Black Priest.

“Command Velkre, the captain of the Order of the Evil Snake, to pause all the other missions and focus on chasing Tantil’s demon. And declare a reward of ten thousand gold pieces under the name of the Church for the demon’s head.”