"Everyone, raise your battle cries! His Grace the Archbishop Johann and the hero Lord Lucius return in triumph!"
A certain fortress in the north.
Until just a few days ago, it had been the picture of peace, and until only recently, it had been run by the soldiers of the noble who held this territory.
And now—this very moment—at the fortress whose ownership had just passed to the Northern Alliance, a single soldier's voice rang out, and the entire garrison erupted in a thunderous cheer.
Greeted by the roar of welcome, two men made their entrance.
First, the white-haired Archbishop Johann—a man of early middle age, his copper-red eyes blazing bright—stepped forward and opened his mouth.
"The apostates have all retreated. Not one remains."
The moment he spoke, the crowd fell silent.
His intonation, his attire, his gestures—all were calculated to draw attention with ruthless efficiency. This was the bearing of a man long accustomed to swaying crowds with words.
The effect was extraordinary; every last soldier hung on his words.
"They cunningly called for mages as reinforcements... but even they were no match for Lucius's martial prowess. In the end, they fled in terror of my divine punishment. —It was an overwhelming victory."
An air of eager anticipation swelled among the soldiers.
As if answering that expectation, Johann raised both hands toward the sky.
"One stronghold remains. And with that, every northern lord down to the last earl will kneel before our Northern Alliance!
"This, too, is a gift bestowed by the grace of the God of Stars. Hold fast to your pride, and offer your prayers and devotion—for so it shall remain henceforth, eternal victory and prosperity shall be granted unto you!"
The cheers erupted once more.
Following behind Johann, Lucius too raised his voice over the unceasing roar.
"This victory was, of course, bestowed upon us by the God of Stars... but it is also the result of your own valor. Well done, my elites. Rest up now, and lend me your strength again when the time comes!"
His words lacked polish, but he possessed overwhelming strength—and for that reason, the soldiers' admiration ran just as deep, earning him an equal measure of cheers.
Two figures who could be called the pillars of the Northern Alliance. Their popularity, as such, knew not the slightest shadow of decline.
And then.
Following those two, a lovely girl with silver hair.
The moment Nina von Frodaite set foot in the fortress—
"—There she is.
Succubus.
"
The quality of the murmuring changed.
From goodwill, trust, and reverence... to malice, loathing, and contempt.
"That devil who has wandered from house to house, ingratiating herself only to crush them."
"Truly, her appearance is needlessly adorable. She uses that to catch people off guard—who knows how many she has led to ruin."
"And now she's infiltrated the Frodaite family, aiming to sink her fangs into Lord Lucius himself?
Oh, how shamelessly audacious!"
And so they gossiped, swallowing without question the tale of Nina's background—the account "explained to them by Archbishop Johann."
"But Lord Lucius was never swayed in the least. As expected of him!"
"Indeed. And what's more, His Grace the Archbishop intends not to punish such an evil existence but to reform her! As expected of an Archbishop—one must surely possess a heart filled with benevolence."
At the same time, their goodwill and reverence toward Lucius and Johann swelled. By using Nina, they fortified their faith just as they had planned.
"...But I have my doubts. Can someone like that really be reformed?"
"I don't think it's possible either. After all... that magic she uses, isn't it?"
"Right.
Enchantment
The magic of enchantment — magic "to bewitch a desired target." Simply possessing such Bloodline Magic meant the soul must have been corrupted from the very start.
"They're rotten to the core. No matter how magnanimous Archbishop Yohan's heart may be, there's nothing to be done about someone who acts like that. Honestly, I'd never want to become like that—"
Words of utter contempt for Nina echoed from every direction.
No one stopped it. Not Lucius, not even Yohan. If anything, there was an air of endorsing it, as though parading Nina before everyone on purpose.
With conflicting emotions thrust upon them, the three continued forward at a slow pace.
"—To unify the hearts of the people, two elements are required."
As they passed through the great hall where soldiers had gathered and reached a deserted corridor, Archbishop Yohan spoke once more.
"First is an object of devotion. Only when there exists something to which one can entrust one's heart without question can people unify their will—no, without clinging to such a thing, the feeble of spirit cannot stand on their own."
In a flat tone, yet with words dripping venom—hardly befitting a man of the cloth.
"And the other is—an object of contempt."
Yohan turns around. With a disdainful, narrowed gaze, he fixes his eyes on Nina.
"Every mythology contains gods and demons. Why? —Because they are necessary.
Become a servant of the good, and attack, denounce, and cast out the evil. Through that ritual, one finds reassurance that 'what I am doing is right.' This, since ancient times, has been the proper way to sustain faith. Wouldn't you say?"
Yes. The soldiers' reactions from earlier.
For them, that was precisely the ritual Yohan spoke of. Revering what is right, despising what is evil—and through that, fortifying their conviction that they themselves were in the right, desperate to cling to their current position by thinking 'I'd never want to become like that.'
That was exactly why Yohan made no effort whatsoever to stop the soldiers' reactions. He endorsed them, even. Lucius was to be revered, and Nina was to be despised. That was the role the Archbishop had forced upon them in the Northern Alliance.
And so this man—this Archbishop who had one day suddenly barged into House Frodit and overwritten everything—
looked at Nina with a smile of reverence yet mockery, and spoke.
"My thanks to you, Frodit siblings. You are perfect idols, bearing both faces that faith requires—hero and demon. Thanks to you, it seems we can once again build God's paradise on earth."
"──It is an honor."
"......"
Nina fell silent as Lucius bowed.
She had been about to speak to him — to her own brother, who despite all that had been said offered not a single word of protest.
"Brother──"
"──Ah, forgive me, Nina."
But. Lucius thrust out his hand as if to reject her.
"──
I have been told
by his Excellency
the Archbishop
not to engage
in idle talk
with beings
of evil.
So,
even as my sister, I cannot hold pointless conversation."
So he declared.
Without a shred of doubt — in a tone that brooked no questioning.
"......Yeah. You're right. I'm sorry."
"So that's how it is, Nina. You too—"
"don't"
"go saying"
"anything"
"unnecessary"
", alright?"
He understood perfectly well that anything more would be a waste.
Nina fell silent... watching how she'd tried to do something about it but in the end was powerless, and how everything was going exactly as this detestably powerful High Bishop intended.
She glared at Johan as he pressed the matter with a smug grin, and clenched her teeth.
◆
Meanwhile, at another base.
Guided by the soldiers she'd shielded earlier, she arrived at a room inside the base she'd retreated to.
"Now then—let me organize what we learned from that skirmish."
Perhaps the gratitude for saving their lives also played a part.
After she revealed her identity and position, the soldiers—who had been deferential from the moment she did so—let her into the base without suspicion and provided her with a room of reasonable size.
And so, while waiting for the lord, with the Third Princess faction's people watching,
Ermes opened his mouth.
"I'm not sure where to begin... but first, something that isn't confirmed yet but is extremely reliable, and should be shared above all else—"
Katia, Sarah, Albert, Yurugen, Liliana.
Meeting the gazes of all five, he took a breath.
"Archbishop Yohan. He has—"
"'Brainwashing'—"
"—the"
"Bloodline"
"Magic of"
"brainwashing."
"He possesses"
"it.'"
Everyone's faces fell in shock.
"...Are you certain?"
"At the very least, that's the only explanation consistent with the information we obtained. Let me walk you through it—"
The first sign something was off had come during his confrontation with Lucius.
Their fight had been brief, but he'd gotten a solid read on Lucius's character. The man was quintessentially honorable and forthright—the type who'd carefully cultivated firm convictions over time.
In other words, he was about as far from blind fanaticism as a person could get.
And yet, when it came to the Star God faith, Lucius had shown unmistakable signs of cognitive shutdown. That was the true source of the unease he'd felt during their battle.
Keeping his focus on Lucius afterward, he'd become convinced that some strange form of magic power resided within him. Given the quality analysis, and the fact that its contents matched the Archbishop Yohan who'd appeared that day... that conclusion was the most reliable by far.
"To summarize—Archbishop Yohan's Bloodline Magic is brainwashing. Or at the very least, some form of mind manipulation. And Lucius... has fallen under its effect?"
"Yes."
"...I see. That explains everything. Lucius's behavior all along... and Niina's attitude too."
Ermes nodded at Yurugen's summary, while Katia simultaneously voiced her understanding.
"So you're saying──Lady Niina is essentially having her brother held as a hostage?"
"...That's right. And it's not just a simple hostage situation either. She's not merely being held captive──as a result of brainwashing, 'the hostage cooperates with the other side'──that's essentially what it amounts to."
"Yes. So even if Niina were to find an opening in the Archbishop's guard and escape......"
"Lucius"
"wouldn't"
"escape with her."
"And on top of that──as additional insurance, it wouldn't be strange if her other family members were being held captive too. ...It all makes sense now, why she'd feel completely cornered."
Albert, Sarah, and Katia each processed the information in turn. As expected of students attending the Royal Capital's most prestigious academy, they shared their understanding with remarkably sharp comprehension.
"I've heard that Lady Niina's relationship with the Frodite family──her current family──is a good one. Most likely, the Archbishop exploited that weakness and is forcing her to comply by holding Lucius and her other family members hostage... Or perhaps more directly, some kind of"
"constraint"
"has been placed on her."
"A"
"'constraint'......"
"El, is that also their magic?"
"No, it's most likely done through a magical tool. I've heard from my master that such things exist, and I could faintly sense that same type of magic power from Lady Niina as well."
"...The Church is indeed famous for possessing a vast number of magical tools collected from across the country. That part checks out. For now, we can use Ermes's assessment as our baseline."
With Yurugen's words, the speculation about the Frodite siblings' situation came to a temporary close.
"...W-wait just a moment!"
That was when Liliana, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up.
After confirming that all eyes were on her, she continued.
"Um, this person called Nina... that's the beautiful lady with silver hair, isn't it? I don't know much about her, so I'll leave that to all of you. However—"
"However?"
"...Archbishop Yohan's Bloodline Magic is brainwashing. Master said as much, didn't she?"
With those words, it was easy to roughly guess what Liliana would say next.
"Th-then... that 'Divine Punishment'... what exactly is it...?"
Just as expected.
"...I was actually just about to present my hypothesis on that very matter."
Ermes said quietly, and this time Albert opened his mouth.
"The first thing that comes to mind would be that the archbishop possesses Dual aptitude, but—"
"...I don't think that's it."
To that reasonable question, Sarah — who also possessed Dual aptitude — gave her answer.
"Lady Sarah, do you know something?"
"...I used to be involved with the church in the past.
At that time, I heard rumors about His Eminence Archbishop Yohan... but I never once heard anything about him possessing Dual aptitude."
"It doesn't seem like he was hiding it, then. If that's the case, there was no reason to reveal it in that situation. If he were going to unveil it, he would have chosen a far better moment."
Yurugen picked up on that. Having established that premise, Ermes began her hypothesis regarding the "Divine Punishment."
"First of all, that magic — let's call it 'Divine Punishment' for the time being — that"
"is not"
"within the scope of"
"Bloodline Magic."
"When you consider the power and performance together, it would be abnormally powerful even if it were Bloodline Magic."
He was probably the foremost expert on Bloodline Magic in this country. That was precisely why he could tell.
Rose's
Meteor Throne—
the most powerful Bloodline Magic he knew of. There was no technique that could shoot it down with greater power at will—it was impossible.
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"There's some kind of trick involved. Lady Lilim."
Ermes delivered his conclusion.
Lucius's technique of "slashing magic"—that was probably his own original skill, one that didn't rely on any special mechanism.
Johan's Divine Punishment, on the other hand, was different. That was what Ermes intuited.
"So there's a trick, and it's not Bloodline Magic... could this also be a Magical tool?"
"That's what I suspect, but..."
Ermes hesitated even as he agreed with Yurugen's hypothesis. Prompted by Yurugen, who had noticed, Ermes continued.
"First, let me state one empirical premise."
"Magical tools, as a general rule,"
"cannot surpass"
"Bloodline Magic."
"They simply"
"cannot."
"For instance,"
Ancient Magical Tools
"...even if it is one."
"That's the first I've heard of it... is that really the case?"
"Yes. I don't have a theory or conclusive proof, but at least among all the magical tools we know of, none have been an exception."
Having established that premise, Ermes spoke up once more.
"With that in mind, I've been thinking... about that Divine Punishment technique. If you combine the right magical tools, you could probably fire that devastating bombardment — but only that."
"'Only' that, you mean...?"
"Yes. However — being able to aim and fire at will, targeting any location the way it did when it struck us... That alone is impossible, no matter how you combine the performance of the magical tools I know of and can speculate about."
To replicate that level of power, you would need a carefully constructed fixed emplacement — investing all the time and effort to build one — and that was the absolute limit of the magical technology he knew.
Conversely, any technique that allowed for free aiming would inevitably sacrifice power. Reconciling the two was the great challenge, and that was precisely why Ermes had defined
the Meteor Throne
as the ultimate Bloodline Magic.
That was precisely why — Ermes voiced his final concern.
"I know this may seem to contradict what I said earlier, but... regarding that point. I cannot entirely rule out the possibility that something — some unfathomable technology beyond human comprehension, as the Duke mentioned before — was involved."
"......"
At that, the group was forced to once again confront the sheer enormity of the opponent they faced — but just then.
"I hate to cut short a thorough discussion, but..."
Yurugen spoke up, a wry smile on his face.
"Shall we go over everything from the top one more time? — It looks like His Highness is reaching his limit."
"Wh-what!?"
Suddenly thrust into the spotlight, Liliana let out a strange voice of surprise and embarrassment.
"I-I-I-I-I'm perfectly fine! M-my intellect can still handle even the most complex of discussions──"
"Your Highness, there is no point in putting on a brave face here."
She was chided by Yurugen. ...And indeed, Liliana did look like she was about to start smoking from the top of her head. Ermes reflected on his mistake and once again set about summarizing the situation.
"First... Archbishop Johann's Bloodline Magic is 'brainwashing,' and Lord Lucius is under its influence. As a result, Lady Niina has been forced to take an adversarial stance against us."
"Furthermore, regarding their 'Divine Punishment' Technique, it is likely powered by a magical tool, but there is a possibility that some... mechanism beyond our imagination has been built into it."
"When broadly categorized, the problems come down to these two points."
...Summarizing it all, there were far more unresolved issues than he had expected. The five children each groaned in their own way, but──
"Even so, there is, in a sense, some good news."
On that note, Yurugen stated firmly.
"──
If we can just
defeat Johann,
everything
will be resolved."
...Well, yes. That was certainly true.
Once he confirmed that everyone had nodded at this rather simple conclusion in its own way, Yurugen continued.
"Besides, the fact that you were able to analyze things to that extent in that situation is impressive in itself. There is no need to understand every detail of the current situation, and with what we already know, it is more than enough to formulate a plan going forward."
He praised Ermes's analytical ability sincerely, and they moved on to discussing their next steps.
"The 'Defeat of High Bishop Johann'. To put down the rebellion in the north, we now know this is an absolute condition. Then, from here on, we will move toward that objective.
First, we will rally the soldiers currently at this base and devise a strategy for his defeat. In parallel, we will ascertain the enemy's strength, further understand and deduce the details of their magic—'Brainwashing' and 'Divine Punishment'—and formulate countermeasures.
For the former, Lady Liliana will take the lead; for the latter, it will be Ermes. ...Something like that. Ermes, my thanks once again. Considering we lost the first battle knowing nothing, we've made considerable progress, haven't we?"
It was extremely concise and easy to understand the future course of action.
...This was probably due to the difference in experience from discussing and coordinating with many people.
"...I am ashamed of my immaturity, Father."
"Haha, of course I have expectations for you as well, but with your daughter doing this much already, I can't very well maintain my position as head of the house."
At Katia's words, Yurugen smiled lightly.
"—While I can't say we have plenty of time in this situation, what matters is to do what can be done properly and surely. If you do that, you will be fine.
As for the immediate next step—"
After showing a bearing befitting an adult, Yurugen turned his gaze toward the door.
At that moment, as if on cue, a knocking sound echoed: *thump, thump*.
"...It seems the lord of this territory has finished his preparations.
First, we'll confer with him and win the soldiers over."
At Yurugen's words, the children nodded.
To suppress the northern rebellion, they once again began to advance along a path that was steep but now clearly visible.
Analysis of the current situation and an explanatory session. It might have become more complex than I thought...!
I'll continue to explain things as they come up, like our enemy for this encounter, the mystery of their magic, our own situation, etc., but for now, just having the understanding that 'Johann is the bad guy' is probably fine... (laugh)
We've roughly grasped the enemy, so next time we enter the ally phase.
The discussion with the lord—will it go well? Look forward to the next chapter!