The Pope.
A position above the Archbishop of the Church, held by members of the royal family's extended bloodline, whose role was to stop the Archbishop from running unchecked.
Naturally, the Pope and the Archbishop were not on good terms. Throughout history, they had always clashed with one another in some form or another.
……Yet despite that, the current Pope was comparatively meek. He would often accept the Archbishop's proposals without a single word of protest──
──But.
After Aster fell from grace and a succession slot opened up, the Pope's attitude did a complete about-face.
As though his previous demeanor had all been an act, he suddenly began brushing aside the Archbishop's opinions and imposing his own will through his subordinates.
As a result, tensions with the Archbishop(s) escalated rapidly. Apparently, the whole sequence of events led to this
power grab
and the resulting split within the Church.
And that Pope was……
"……Princess Laila's mother."
"──When you address her, call her 'Her Holiness Ortesia.' She dislikes being called 'Your Highness.'"
Laila continued guiding the way toward the Pope's location──where the name had just been casually revealed──as she delivered this information.
Even so. The head of the Church, the Pope, being Laila's mother.
Ermes hadn't known──but what about the others, he wondered, glancing at the members of the Third Princess's faction besides himself.
"…………"
……Most of it was written all over their faces.
At the very least, people like Yurugen, Sara, and Liliana, who were close to the royal family and the Church, had known all along but simply never had the opportunity to bring it up──or something to that effect.
Well, if someone told me it wouldn't change anything no matter when I found out, they'd be right.
No one... especially Yurugen.
Deliberately
Didn't say a word.
──Was there some reason behind that?
As Ermes walked along, mulling that over...
"We're here."
At Laila's words, the group came to a stop. An especially large door swung open, and following their guide, they walked to the center of the room.
After waiting for a short while... a soft rustle. Accompanied by the quiet whisper of fabric, a single figure emerged from deeper within.
Every pair of eyes turned toward the person who appeared.
...The first thing that caught the eye was a voluminous mane of deep navy-blue hair.
Her features were somewhat narrow and sharp, bearing the age-appropriate marks of being Laila's mother──but she could certainly still be called more than beautiful enough.
She was draped in a lavish dress befitting royalty. It was quite flashy for a woman her age, yet she wore it with absolutely no sense of incongruity.
──This was her.
Laila's mother... and the current Pope, Ortesia.
(...What could one even say?)
Seeing her, Ermes was filled with a certain emotion.
The same one he had felt before, in the royal castle's audience chamber. The same one he'd felt upon seeing the King.
(She's more... ordinary than I expected.)
...However.
Whether or not she had sensed those thoughts of his.
Pope Ortesia's pale violet eyes quietly locked onto Ermes—
(—!!)
—
Instantly,
,
all the
impressions he had held just moments ago were overturned.
"Herme…?"
Noticing the abrupt shift in his aura, Katia was about to call out to him. But paying that no mind… the Pope, who had settled into her seat with a languid air, spoke.
"…When meeting someone for the first time, one introduces oneself, yes? Allow me to do the same… Second Queen Consort of the Kingdom of Yustia… though I suppose I can't guarantee I'll still hold that title come tomorrow.
…And Pope. Ortesia."
…Overall,
her tone, her attitude, her very atmosphere—everything about her carried a vaguely decadent air.
Confusion spread through the group.
Only natural. Going by the Pope's deeds they had heard about up to this point, they had expected someone far more commanding. Could this woman truly be the one who had decided on a full confrontation with the Archbishop?
Paying no heed to the bewildered Third Princess faction, Pope Ortesia continued.
"…What should we talk about, I wonder… though I imagine Laila has already told you the broad strokes. Hasn't she?"
"Oh… y-yes!
Mother!"
"…This is technically an audience chamber, so address me as 'Your Holiness.' …Well, fine."
Ortesia showed no particular displeasure at Laila's hasty rudeness. It was less that she doted on her daughter, and more—
"—Then, Your Holiness. Why have you called us here today?"
At that moment, Yurugen spoke up with a clear, poised voice, cutting through the group's confusion.
Receiving the question, Ortesia quietly narrowed her eyes.
"…Trachia… You've always been a sharp one. …Yes, that's right. Since Laila has already told you about our proposal, there is no need to restate it."
She spoke in an unhurried manner.
"There is just one thing I wanted to ask directly."
"—Hey, you there. The silver-haired boy?"
"! …What is it, Your Holiness Ortesia?"
After glancing at the Pope, she turned her attention to Ermes, who looked somewhat tense. Ermes flinched involuntarily but calmly asked in return.
"Judging by appearances… you're the strongest mage here, aren't you?"
"…Then, was it you who defeated Archbishop Johan?"
"—The one who settled it directly was someone else."
A question difficult to answer. Given his personality, it would not have been out of character for him to say "I am not the greatest contributor," but… here and now.
For a particular reason, Ermes chose to answer this way instead.
"Yes. On the whole, I think it's fair to say I was the one who defeated him."
"…I see. …Well, first I should thank you. That—appalling Archbishop was the most despicable person, and defeating him was an enormous help. …Now, there is one thing I would like to ask."
Having received that answer, Ortesia cut to the heart of the matter.
"—How did it feel?"
"…Huh?"
"Archbishop Johann. How did you feel about that monstrous creature who declared all emotions worthless and devoted himself to building a realm of darkness fueled solely by malice… and what did you think when you defeated him? …That's all I was curious about. So, I'd like you to tell me."
"…"
…I didn't really understand what the question meant.
Realizing this wasn't the kind of situation he could deflect, Ermes paused for a moment before speaking.
"…Archbishop Johann was"
"Yes."
"A terrifying existence. A monster who declared every feeling worthless, and staked everything on malice alone to construct a realm of darkness.
—And precisely because of that,"
He raised his head and spoke quietly, but with conviction.
"—That was the one thing I felt I had to destroy.
…Because feelings are never something that should be trampled on, or denied."
"…I see."
As a mage. As a wielder of Creation Magic.
Those words, carried by unwavering conviction… drew the faintest smile from Pope Ortesia.
Then, she uttered the following:
"You're rather appealing. I think I've taken a bit of a liking to you. How about joining my service?"
"Wh—" "What—" "—?!"
Ermes's voice rose in surprise, Katia's in instinctive rejection, and Laila's in something even sharper than anger or refusal—all three cried out at once.
…Even he was completely thrown by that one.
Even so... when it came to the answer itself, there was no room for doubt.
"S-
Master.
"
After giving Liliana—who had let out a sorrowful voice—a reassuring smile, he turned to face forward and spoke.
"...Your offer is exceedingly generous, and I am most grateful for it, but I'm afraid I must decline.
At present, I serve under Her Highness Liliana."
"...I see."
Whether this could be called fortunate—Ortesia furrowed her brow only slightly, but without putting up much of a fight, she withdrew.
"...That's all I needed to hear. The offer has been made. Accept it or reject it—as you please."
"..."
"Should you choose to accept, you will be most welcome. Should you choose to refuse, I won't interfere—so long as you stay out of my way.
...From the very beginning, I've had only one objective. After all, everything else is—"
And then, at last, Ortesia—
Her attitude until now, her entire demeanor—captured in a single phrase—
"—nothing but trivialities."
The audience came to an end.
◆
"Well, how to put it... she turned out to be quite the unexpected person, didn't she?"
On the way back from the audience.
As if to ease the heavy atmosphere laced with bewilderment, Nina addressed them in a light tone.
"That's... right..."
"Her competence is surely real, but it's equally true that the impression she gives doesn't match it."
Whether they caught on to her intent or not, Sara and Albert answered in alternation.
Meanwhile, Laila appeared to be mulling something over — she'd been guiding them the whole way yet had gone quiet.
In the midst of that same subtly awkward air——
"—So, El."
Cutting straight through it, Katia spoke.
"You've seemed a little off ever since the audience... What happened?"
"Um..."
"No, let me put it this way instead."
Gazing at Ermes as he raised his head, she wore a slightly intensified — but unmistakably worried — expression.
"The moment your eyes met His Holiness the Pope. —
What did you feel
?"
"!"
——So she had figured it out after all.
Led along by a tone that left no room for refusal, Ermes spoke quietly.
"...I'm sorry. It's entirely based on instinct — I can't give you a concrete explanation."
With a preamble that was extremely unusual for him ——
——And spoke.
"Um, His Holiness the Pope's eyes——
the same
eyes
as
Kerberos's."
"——Wha—"
The shock of it.
Beast Tamer of the Prison Realm.
A Monster of the Phantom Species that had been encountered at the end of fighting with Aster, and fought in a desperate struggle to the death.
The purest incarnation of hostility and killing intent.
——To think those were the same eyes.
Katia and Sara, who understood the implication, held their breath. Yurugen's eyes widened. Albert, Niina, and Liliana, sensing something was gravely wrong, fell silent as well.
And then.
"...Heh."
Lyrir, who had been silent until now, turned and spoke.
"From the sound of it, that thing called Kerberos is a Monster, right?
The same eyes as that, you say? ——
What a way to talk about someone's mother."
"……Ah."
I slipped up. No matter how you looked at it, this was something that Laila should never have heard.
Naturally — but the shock must have been so all-consuming that she hadn't even had the presence of mind to consider that.
"……Well, I'm not going to tattle or anything. ……Even if I did, Mother probably wouldn't listen properly anyway."
Ermes and the others panicked, but to their surprise, Laila merely let out a light sigh over the matter.
"……But we're done here, right? I did everything Mother told me to, and she said it didn't really matter whether I accepted it or not."
——So since I've come this far, let me say what I want to say.
However.
There, Laila — having finished her duties as the "Pope's envoy" —
Stepped forward as the "Second Princess" herself and declared.
"——I. I dislike all of you."
"……"
"People who have power. The arrogant ones who think they can do whatever they want with nothing but strength. And those who are too blind to even notice their own arrogance while playing the good guy — I find them all utterly detestable."
……At that moment. Drifting with an atmosphere reminiscent of their first confrontation in the royal palace —
"Especially"
In the end, Laila —
Took several steps forward and thrust her face right up close to the blonde girl behind Ermes — the one wearing an even deeper look of confusion than before.
"Sara von Hartmann. ——I despise you."
——Stunned.
After casting one more look over Sara and the Third Princess faction, who stood frozen in disbelief, Laila
"We've arrived. My guiding duties end here."
"Well then, see you tomorrow. When you're ready to cooperate—no, actually—"
Having thus declared the end of her work—
"—When you're ready to be put to work for me, just let me know."
Flashing a cutting smile, she turned on her heel and departed at a brisker pace than before.
"...Big sister."
That was her, until the very end.
—Not once did she so much as glance in Liliana's direction.
◆
"You're really hated, huh."
The members of the Third Princess faction had returned to their assigned room.
There, before they could examine the conditions the Church had proposed and reach a decision on whether to cooperate—
Yurugen brought up Laila's earlier attitude. The group fell silent without a word of dissent, but then—
"...Um, Lady Lily."
Sara spoke up.
Hesitant, yet brimming with a quiet resolve. With an expression that said this was the time to ask—the time to press forward.
"Could you tell me?"
"...Tell you what?"
"Why Her Highness Laila hates me so much. Why she's hostile toward us. And why she's somehow avoided by even the Church's people. And—"
She delivered one final, decisive sentence to Liliana, who kept her lips sealed yet wavered.
"Recently... no, ever since we first met."
"That Lady Lily has been— avoiding me. This is related to that, isn't it?"
"Ngh!"
A reaction that struck the mark dead center.
Liliana continued to show the kind of inner conflict only she could display, but... in the end.
"...Very well."
She had probably realized that there was no avoiding involvement with Laila from this point forward regardless.
After letting out a breath, she raised her head decisively and began to speak.
"...I should note that I have not heard the reason in clear terms myself. There are things I don't know, and much of this will be speculation."
"Yes."
"Even so, if you're willing... I'd like to start with the greatest reason."
Everyone listened intently.
After scanning over them once more... Liliana began, her voice low.
"...The cause is most likely Laila's Bloodline Magic."
"Bloodline Magic?"
"Yes. You wouldn't... have any way of knowing, I suppose. Because if you did, it would be obvious."
From her expression, her tone, her words.
(...No way.)
Ermes, whose sensitivity to magic was exceptional, connected a certain deduction in his mind.
"I see the Master has realized it. Yes, that's right. My sister's Bloodline Magic is—"
Liliana returned a sorrowful smile to Ermes's reaction, then—
She declared it all in one breath.
"'—
Spirit Veil.
...To put it more directly, right here—
...
Spirit Veil
only
...that is all.'"
"...!"
...
Spirit Veil
.
A powerful magic that generates barriers.
And one of the Bloodline Magics possessed by Sara, who held Dual aptitude.
In contrast, Laila's—and her only—Bloodline Magic.
In other words, what Liliana's words implied was—
The existence of the Second Princess, Laila. If one were to frame it in this country's terms, then magically speaking—
—
—
A Strictly Inferior Copy of Sara
—and that's what it would amount to.
"……Th-that is—"
Sara's voice rang out, trembling violently.
……Yes. By this point, they had more or less already guessed at the Second Princess's circumstances.
The group—all at once—let their thoughts drift.
Next time, we'll have Laila's story. Please look forward to it!
And now, some announcements!
The cover art for Volume 2 of Creation Magic, releasing March 25th, has been revealed!
It's been posted on the activity report page. It turned out wonderfully, so I'd really appreciate it if you'd take a look!
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I've also been receiving so many positive impressions from readers on Twitter—I'm truly grateful…!
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