WM – Chapter 102: Mayhem in the capital of Symphonia (2)

“I am Isaac. The son of the great ruler, Evelisse, and the Archbishop of the Snake Church.” 

The son of the Great Demon Lord, Evelisse…?

In other words…

“A Demon Lord?” (Makoto)

“No, Makoto-san. All the executives of the Snake Church call themselves the son of the Great Demon Lord.” (Leonard)

“There’s no other Demon Lords aside from the 3 in the demonic continent.” (Sofia)

Prince Leonard and Princess Sofia retorted.

Sorry, I am ignorant.

“Stupid! I don’t know if you are a Archbishop or whatever, but your comrades have already been defeated!” 

The first prince was taking a strong stance.

Well, the attack failed after all.

Isaac didn’t respond to that and just raised his right hand up.

His hand was holding something.

A silver craft of a snake coiling around an apple?

“Be careful!” “He plans on doing something!” 

The knights shout.

But from what I see, that magic tool has no mana.

It is an empty shell. It has already been used.

“This, you see, is a preservation tool like the one we used in the Water Country’s capital that allows us to save the voice of our great father.” (Isaac)

“What…?” 

“What is he saying…?” 

The highland soldiers were confused.

Could that possibly be…

“An item that makes Taboo Monsters?” (Makoto)

At the time when the almost dead giant turned into a Taboo Giant. 

When he refers to the Great Demon Lord’s voice, he is referring to the voice at that time, right?

“Hero Makoto! Is that true?!” (Sofia)

“Hoh…I am surprised you could tell.” 

Princess Sofia raised a voice of surprise, and Isaac seemed to be impressed.

“Before the Taboo Giant was raised, I heard a childish voice. I think it was saying ‘Let’s go against fate’, ‘brave warrior’.” (Makoto)

“…There’s no doubt that’s the voice of Evelisse.” 

It seems like the word ‘fate’ is a catchphrase of the Great Demon Lord according to the Great Sage-sama.

“Right now the monsters that we of the Snake Church have tamed are all heading to the capital at once.” (Isaac)

As if matching the words of Isaac…

*Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan…*

The sound of bells ring from the gates of Symphonia.

“Reporting! Monsters are gathering in front of the gates in every direction!” 

“All directions, you say?!” 

“Impossible. The monsters should have been gathering only in the forest side.” 

“There’s no problem. We had the Sun Knights and Four Sky Knight Orders stationed in all the gates last night. We have also sent the templars to protect the gates aside from the minimum to maintain public order in the city. We won’t let the monsters attack.” 

The General of the knights calmly explained to the worried royals and nobles.

General Yuwein, was it? The superior of Sakurai-kun.

As expected of the top of the sun army.

“Hoh…I was sure we hid the fact that we had monsters on the sea side. You are nicely prepared.” (Isaac)

Isaac maintained his composed attitude.

“Ha! You are just a gathering of imbecile devilkin in the end. There’s no way you can break through the defense of the Sun Country!” 

“Great job, Yuwein-dono. The filthy church of the devilkin is nothing to fear!” 

The nobles of the Sun Country have calmed down it seems.

“Hmm, there’s Taboo Monsters mixed in the mob, you know? I used this to awaken a number of them.” (Isaac)

Saying this, Isaac throws the silver snake craft lightly in the air and catches it back.

“Taboo Monsters…” 

“No need to worry! We have the Light Hero-dono here. He defeated 3 Taboo Dragons in Laberintos already!” 

“In the first place, they are monsters that even the Water Country’s Hero can defeat.” 

“That’s right! We are going to beat them back!” 

Aren’t you guys dissing me as if natural?

“They are talking like that about you, Makoto.” (Lucy)

“They are so rude. Don’t you think so too, Takatsuki-kun?!” (Aya)

“Hero Makoto, it seems that we have to remind them.” (Sofia)

“…No, let’s just ignore it.” (Makoto)

Leaving aside Lucy and Sa-san, even Princess Sofia got angered by that.

Now now, calm down.

“Is it okay to not capture that Isaac guy, Great Sage-sama?” (Makoto)

“Let’s have him talk a bit more. He seems to like talking.” 

The Great Sage-sama is crossing her arms and watching.

If the Great Sage-sama says so, I guess it is fine to be on standby for a while.

“But is it okay to only be protecting the gates? I heard that the beastkin are planning a rebellion, you know?” (Isaac)

The Archbishop says with a grin.

How barefaced. You are the ones pulling the strings from the shadows, right?

“Too bad! The leaders of the beastkin have all been captured!” 

The first prince says with a proud face.

But Fuji-yan was the one who investigated most of it, you know.

And Princess Noel was the one who captured them.

I glanced at Princess Noel, and she had an unfazed expression, not saying anything.

“Haha! I see, I see. That’s a relief.” (Isaac)

He laughs as if this were amusing.

“What are you laughing about?” 

The second prince says displeased and is ordering his subordinates saying ‘should we kill him already?’.

*Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan…*

The bell for emergencies continues ringing.

“R-Reporting! A large revolt has occurred in the 7th and 8th District! A group mainly of beastkin!” 

A highland soldier jumped in.

The ruckus gets bigger.

The mouth of Isaac warped greatly.

“Ahahahahahaha! Oh? This is weird! Even though you captured the beastkin leaders! Just what is going on here?!” (Isaac)

“You bastard! What did you do?!” 

“Those animals wouldn’t cause a rebellion in a troubled time like this!” 

The royals and nobles lost their leisure of before and were agitated.

They really were switching from confident to flustered a lot right now.

(…Anyways…) (Makoto)

That’s impressive.

Everything is going as Furiae-san told us.

I glance at her, but the hood is covered way down and I can’t see her expression.

“I will predict your future here! Today, Highland’s capital of Symphonia is destined to fall!” (Isaac)

The Archbishop-san of the Snake Church spreads both arms widely and announces.

He is really into it.

“N-No way…” “Nonsense!” “There’s no way the Highland capital will fall…” “B-But…an army of monsters and the rebellion of the beastkin at the same time.” “W-We must escape.” 

The uneasiness and ruckus was reaching its highest.

Isaac looks down on us.

The only one calm aside from us would be General Yuwein.

“It won’t turn out like that.” 

A clear voice.

The owner of the voice that resonated as if it were through a speaker was Princess Noel.

Her timing is perfect.

Is she a movie director?

“Oh? You are the Sun Oracle, no, the reincarnation of the Salvation Saint Anna, Princess Noel?” (Isaac)

The Archbishop says as if he had noticed just now.

“The one at your side is the Light Hero-kun? We will deal with you guys in the future. Until then, wait while trembling. And so, what do you mean by ‘it won’t turn out like that’?” (Isaac)

“Exactly as I say. Symphonia won’t fall.” (Noel)

Isaac doesn’t break his leisure attitude, and Princess Noel was still calm.

“Noel, what in the world do you mean?!” 

“Explain, Noel.” 

The second prince and first prince demand an explanation.

“The beastkin rebellion is related to the weed that has been spreading around the 7th and 8th District.” (Noel)

“Hoh…” (Isaac)

Isaac shows an amused expression at the words of Princess Noel.

“We learned that, by commonly spreading the weed, they became more susceptible to be hit by the Moon Magic: Brainwash.” (Sofia)

Princess Sofia took over.

“What?! This is the first time I’ve heard of this!” 

“Loosening the regulations for weed in the 7th, 8th, and 9th District to serve as their outlet for dissatisfaction ended up biting us instead, huh…” 

“But to think there would be a use like that.” 

“No one has been researching Moon Magic after all…” 

The people of highland were voicing their surprise.

Well, we learned that just yesterday as well.

“It took 10 years. Brainwashing the demi-humans of Symphonia little by little to make them cause a rebellion. Curse magic takes time to activate, but it isn’t easy to remove. A curse that has activated once doesn’t go away until it has achieved its objective. The curse I put was ‘if you hate the humans that are oppressing you, destroy Symphonia’.  There’s no demi-humans in the Sun Country that haven’t experienced oppression from the humans. This curse affects all demi-humans. And the activation signal is ‘the bell sound that notifies of an emergency’. The sound to notify of an emergency that hasn’t rang not even once in 10 years.” (Isaac)

Issac-san explains with a peculiar face of his.

It is true that he is a talker.

He told us everything.

*Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan Kan…*

“Someone, stop the sound of the bell!” “We are sending a messenger at once!” 

The highland people are flustered.

“Ahaha, it is too late. An activated curse won’t stop anymore!” (Isaac)

The Archbishop seems to be having fun.

“But is it okay to tell us that much, Archbishop-san?” (Makoto)

I didn’t have much to do being silent all this time, so I retorted.

“Oh, the Water Country’s Hero-kun. This plan has been completed. Didn’t I say already? Symphonia is destined to fall. No one can overturn this.” (Isaac)

Looks like Isaac-san has absolute faith in his plan.

(But we heard about this from Furiae-san yesterday, you know…) (Makoto)

◇Returning to the previous day◇

“I have a condition.” (Furiae)

Furiae-san smiles suspiciously.

“But before that, I will explain just how Symphonia will fall.” (Furiae)

The Moon Oracle explains the plan of the Snake Church.

They were all things that no one expected.

“The brainwash curse magic due to the weed…” 

“Creating Taboo Monsters…” 

“The condition of activation is the sound of the bell for emergencies, huh.” 

“If we stop the sound of the bell beforehand?” 

“If we do, we won’t be able to tell the citizens that the monsters are approaching.” 

“Also, even if we stop it tomorrow, we won’t be able to solve the root problem…” 

“Right, this is troubling…” 

There were a variety of opinions, but there wasn’t a clear solution.

“Furiae-san, you have a countermeasure, right?” (Makoto)

I talked to the Moon Oracle that was silent.

“Yeah. I can remove curse magic. I have Saint Rank Moon Magic after all.” (Furiae)

Ooh…Saint Rank Magic.

It is said to be the highest rank a human can achieve.

“And so, about the condition.” (Furiae)

Furiae-san looks at me.

“Rozes Hero-san, become my Guardian Knight.” (Furiae)

“Eh?” (Makoto)

That’s sudden. Her Guardian Knight?

“What are you saying?!” (Sofia)

The one who reacted the most was Princess Sofia.

“Moon Oracle, Furiae-dono… Please explain the reason to everyone.” (Fuji)

The face of Fuji-yan was a face that understood.

He already read her mind.

“The future will change with my help. If chaos doesn’t happen in the capital, I won’t be able to escape. I would need a hostage, right? If you become a Guardian Knight, you have to protect the Oracle.” (Furiae)

“H-Hostage, you say…” (Lucy)

Lucy says shocked.

Aah, hostage, huh. I see.

Wait, huh? 

“Why does being the Guardian Knight of the Moon Oracle mean being a hostage?” (Makoto)

“When you become a Guardian Knight, if you abandon the Oracle, your lifespan gets halved. If the Oracle dies, you lose all of your Skills.” (Sofia)

The one who responded was Princess Sofia.

“Don’t just tell him the demerits. By becoming a Guardian Knight, you can obtain the Divine Protection of the Moon Goddess.” (Furiae)

“Dark Magic, was it?” (Makoto)

“Or it might be Curse Magic or Necromancy.” (Furiae)

When I questioned Furiae-.san, she responded in that way.

I would like Dark Magic…if I can choose.

“But why Makoto-san?!” (Leonard)

“That’s right! There’s other people!” (Aya)

Furiae-san simply smiled at the words of Prince Leonard and Sa-san.

She doesn’t answer.

At any rate, I shouldn’t be the one that Furiae-san wants as a Guardian Knight.

“Furiae-san, don’t you actually want Sakurai-kun to become your Guardian Knight?” (Makoto)

“D-Don’t be stupid! There’s no way that would be possible! Ryosuke is the Light Hero!” (Furiae)

Furiae-san overreacts at my retort.

I don’t know if she has composure or not.

(Hero Makoto…does the Moon Oracle like the Light Hero Sakurai-sama?) (Sofia)

Princess Sofia whispers to me.

(Yeah, and it looks like Sakurai-kun also likes Furiae-san…probably.) (Makoto)

(H-How can this be…) (Sofia)

Princess Sofia was on the verge of collapsing, and I support her.

The Light Hero and the Moon Oracle being together is obviously a bad thing, huh. It certainly would be for the people of this world. 

“Now, what will you do?” (Furiae)

“Makoto…” (Lucy)

“Takatsuki-kun…” (Aya)

Furiae-san was still smiling, and everyone around was looking worriedly at me. 

I fell into thought for a while.

What to do…

[Will you become the Guardian Knight of the Moon Oracle?]

Yes

No ←

Hmm…

I honestly wasn’t expecting this choice.

Also, Furiae-san looked at me and stepped back.

It happened before too.

This time around, it is a normal choice though?

(Makoto, I don’t recommend you becoming the Guardian Knight of the Moon Oracle.) (Noah)

Noah-sama, you are against it?

(Not to the point of being against it, but…there’s no knowing what the Moon Goddess Naia thinks, and the Moon Oracle is an existence hated by the whole continent. It will affect your movements from here on, you know?) (Noah)

Yeah…

The Sun Country is obvious, but looking at the reaction of Princess Sofia, being too deeply connected with the Moon Oracle won’t be a good option.

I look at Furiae-san once again.

She is a beautiful person.

Looking at her like this, she doesn’t feel like she is the Cursed Oracle.

She does have a bit of bad luck though.

(Furiae-san is trembling?) (Makoto)

The Moon Oracle’s hand is trembling lightly.

She seems like she has so much leisure, but she is actually putting a tough front?

She did say that she had no allies in this world.

Also…

(Sakurai-kun did ask me…) (Makoto)

“Now, what will you do? Water Country’s Hero-san.” (Furiae)

She tried to not show her trembling and tried to say this calmly.

But her eyes were slightly damp, which was something that only I who was seeing from right in front of her could tell…

I am weak to this…

“Got it, Moon Oracle-san.” (Makoto)

I decided.

Previous Chapter l Next Chapter