Chapter 158: Past (8) |
TL/ED – Miso
I watched Sharmia leave and sank into thought.
That is, the last time I had spoken with the present-day Sharmia.
She had suddenly shown me a strange sentence.
[From now on, please don’t say anything to me.]
“…Huh?”
As I sat there wondering what on earth she meant, Sharmia pulled out another sheet of paper with a serious expression.
[You probably already know this, but I’ve seen Jern before. Jern looking like that. And the things you’re about to do from now on.]
“You’ve seen me? But then there’s no way you wouldn’t have recognized me.”
If Sharmia had seen me in the past, the moment she saw me in the present, she should have known it was the same person.
[I’m sorry. The moment I tell you that, I’ll know, and… I know that too.]
“…Ah.”
[From now on, I have to not know how Jern operates or how he acts. I already know what you’re doing, but if I learn that much on top of it, I’ll end up devising countermeasures.]
Only then did I understand.
Everything the present-day Sharmia thought and did, the future Sharmia also knew.
Because that was her past self. If Sharmia and I properly exchanged information here, the future version of her would learn it too.
“Then from now on…”
[Yes. For the next two weeks, you’ll have to act entirely on your own judgment. I’m sorry I can’t help.]
It was effectively a declaration of abandonment.
Still, her reasoning was sound, so I nodded. I was confident I could manage that much.
“Understood. I can endure two weeks or so.”
[…]
At that, Sharmia suddenly glared at me as if the sight of me irritated her.
“What’s the matter?”
[…That, it was me who said that, wasn’t it?]
“Pardon?”
[Never mind.]
Having left that cryptic remark, Sharmia let out a sigh, then looked at me with a faintly worried expression.
[Good luck, Jern. Though I’m sure you’ll manage just fine.]
That was what had happened before.
I lightly dusted myself off and, still wearing the mask, headed toward where Sharmia had gone.
It felt like I was completely on my own now, but at the same time, there was a certain sense of relief.
‘Manage just fine, huh…’
What that meant was,
it should be fine to use somewhat rough methods.
***
Where Sharmia was holed up was the Imperial Treasury.
Of course, even if it was called a treasury, being one that belonged to the Imperial Household, it wasn’t some gloomy, pitch-dark place. The Knights were bewildered by the Princess suddenly barricading herself inside the treasury, but they stood guard resolutely all the same.
Let’s see, what should I do…
After a moment’s deliberation, I casually knocked over a flowerpot in the adjacent corridor using Current.
-Crash!
“…Who goes there!”
“Go check it out!”
The Knights didn’t all leave; only a portion drew their swords and rushed toward the corridor where the sound had come from.
They couldn’t dare abandon the door behind which the Princess waited, but the reduction in their numbers alone was more than enough.
After waiting briefly, I carefully made my way along the ceiling, checked every Knight’s line of sight, and headed for the back door of the treasury.
The back door was firmly locked, but,
locks held little meaning for me.
Click. The lock came undone the moment I touched it. I set it down nearby, opened the door without making a sound, and slipped inside.
“Sniff, hic…”
The first thing I saw upon entering was Sharmia, sniffling as she crammed various treasures into a bag.
Crouched down and stuffing things into the bag, she looked like, how should I put it.
A hamster packing its cheeks full of seeds. I watched for a moment, then cleared my throat to get her attention.
“Ahem.”
“…!”
Sharmia whipped around in shock, and upon seeing me in my mask, hastily pulled a golden dagger from the bag and thrust it toward me.
“Wh-who are you?”
“That has poor resale value.”
“What…?”
I walked over and rummaged through the bag.
Sharmia flinched, but seemed to understand who held her life in their hands in this situation, so she said nothing. Before long, her expression turned despondent again.
“…If you’re going to kill me, just do it. It might actually be better that way.”
“Are you sure about that?”
I picked up the golden dagger she had dropped and brought it to the back of her neck.
“Ah…”
Fear crept across Sharmia’s face.
This was something she would have to do thousands of times over in the future. I scoffed and pulled the blade away.
“Death would be better, you say. Easy words, but when the moment truly comes, no one chooses death. Not someone struck with an incurable disease, not someone trapped in a cave with no way out. They all struggle to survive until the very end. Don’t speak so carelessly of death as an escape.”
“…Who are you?”
Sharmia asked the same question as before, but with a different meaning behind it.
Unlike before, when she had been asking whether I was an assassin, her expression now showed genuine curiosity about who I was as a person.
I had something prepared for that.
“Think of me as a guide arranged by your future self.”
“A guide…?”
“You’re not the only one who knows the future.”
At those words, a look of realization crossed Sharmia’s face.
I wasn’t sure what the Crimson Circle’s version of Sharmia wanted. Whether she wanted to create a future where this young Sharmia died in order to remove me from the picture, or whether she wanted to erase the future where Sharmia spent her life on the run and eventually stood against the Crimson Circle.
Since nothing done here could change an already fixed future, I leaned toward the former, but if that was the reason for the intervention, then I would simply make use of it.
“I’ll help you run away.”
“I-I don’t need help.”
Sharmia shook her head in refusal.
“I can do this well enough on my own.”
“Is that so? How?”
“I understand what you’ve told me.”
With an expression firmer than expected, she placed the dagger back into the bag.
“It’s true that this dagger might have low resale value. But it won’t draw suspicion.”
“Why not?”
“Unlike the other treasures, this isn’t something found only in the Imperial Treasury. There are a full hundred and twenty of them across the Empire. Even if I sell it, it won’t be easy to trace. And to reach the place my future self told me about, I shouldn’t need that much money… shouldn’t. That’s why I chose this.”
I’m not sure it’s the right expression for this situation, but you can’t keep a good mind down. Sharmia had shown exceptional promise even from a young age. She hadn’t been choosing solely for resale value; she had been selecting treasures that would be harder to trace.
But, naturally, she still had a long way to go.
“Hmm. Sharmia.”
“H-how dare you address a Princess by name so casually.”
“Let me tell you exactly what would happen if you took this dagger to a pawnshop. The owner would immediately drop to his knees and beg you to spare his life. Then he’d report it to the nearest Noble at once.”
“…Why?”
“Because in an empire this vast, a hundred and twenty is an extremely small number.”
“?”
“This dagger was distributed by His Majesty to the Nobles to celebrate the day of your birth. That’s why the design is so distinctive. In other words, any owner who isn’t foolish enough to judge it by its gold value alone would recognize it instantly, it’s that rare. This dagger is not something a mere pawnshop owner has any business handling, and simply expressing intent to purchase it could be grounds for severe punishment.”
I explained the realities to her one by one as she stood there, dumbfounded.
“It won’t be traced, no. Because it will be reported directly to the Emperor. And once that happens, the Emperor will ask why you attempted to run away. If you don’t answer, he’ll deem it a mental disorder and lock you in a far taller Spire. If you do answer, he’ll deem it a severe mental disorder and have the windows of that Spire nailed shut.”
“Th-then some other item…”
“If you were an ordinary Young Lady, perhaps it might be possible, but there is not a single item in this Imperial Treasury that isn’t precious. If there were, it would never have been placed here to begin with.”
I had checked personally. From the moment my connection with Sharmia granted me access to the Imperial Palace, I had once gone through the items in the Imperial Treasury and sorted out the expensive ones, just in case.
I hadn’t planned to steal anything, but I had entertained the thought of borrowing a little if money was ever needed for the greater cause. It fell through for the very same reasons I’d just explained.
“And even if there were a suitable item, do you really think it would be that easy to leave the Imperial Palace? You are a Princess, Your Highness. Knights surround you at all times, and when you go out, their numbers double. The places you can go are limited as well.”
“…”
Sharmia pressed her lips together as if mulling it over.
Before long, apparently finding merit in my words, she bowed her head.
“Then, what am I supposed to do…”
Her eyes reddened as though she might burst into tears at any moment.
“There’s no other way, is there. I know it’s hard to get out, too. But I don’t want to just sit here and wait with nothing…”
“As I said, I’ll help you.”
“And I said, I can’t trust you.”
She still fixed me with eyes full of suspicion.
“Even if you say you’re from the future, I don’t want to follow a complete stranger. Even if this method is wrong, I’ll figure it out myself. I can do that.”
“I know.”
“…What?”
Young as she was, Sharmia had learned of a future where the world ended and everyone died in agony, and been told that her future self had prepared an escape route for her. She was not naive enough to just say “Sure!” and trust someone who showed up spouting things in such an irrational situation.
I had prepared for that as well.
“Instead of me, seek help from someone you trust. They will help you, Your Highness.”
“Wh-who do you mean?”
“How about the Head Maid?”
“Seril would never do that. There’s no way she’d let me run away.”
“You’re wrong. You don’t know your own Head Maid at all, Your Highness.”
“What? No, what would you even know about…”
“More than you do, Your Highness.”
I said only that much and rose from my seat.
“Go to her and simply tell her you want to leave this Imperial Palace. If her reaction differs from what you expect, you can always brush it off.”
“…There’s no way that would happen.”
“The choice is yours, Your Highness.”
Leaving only those words behind, I stood and left the treasury.
“W-wait a moment.”
Sharmia tried to stop me as I left, but,
“We can continue this conversation outside.”
I brushed her off without a second thought.
***
The treasury.
Left alone, Sharmia stared blankly at the spot where the masked stranger had disappeared, then furrowed her brow.
‘What was that…?’
He was no assassin.
He possessed the ability to secretly infiltrate this treasury swarming with Knights.
And despite that, he hadn’t killed her.
Above all, he shared knowledge of a future that only she was supposed to know.
As Sharmia pondered the reasons behind his repeated actions, none of which a simple assassin would bother with, she looked down at the dagger in her bag.
She let out a sigh and closed the bag.
“I’m so tired…”
Between that man and everything else, far too much had happened.
She rose from her seat and, wobbling slightly, made her way to her chambers under the Knights’ escort.
Along the way, a voice as piercing as a lark’s call reached her.
“Oh my, Your Highness!”
“…Seril.”
“I heard you were in the treasury. What were you doing there? If there was a piece of jewelry you wanted to wear, I could have fetched it for you…”
Wearing a weary expression as she walked alongside Seril toward her chambers, Sharmia recalled what the stranger had said.
That Seril would help her escape.
‘…That’s absurd.’
Seril had always been an exemplary Head Maid who put her safety first.
How could such a woman possibly utter the words to leave the Imperial Palace with her own lips?
She would obviously tell her to see a doctor, or report it to her father.
“You look terribly pale. Have you been having those nightmares again lately?”
“Yes, a bit.”
“I did bring some herbal tea. I’ll add a spoonful of honey for you, so…”
Sharmia stared blankly at Seril’s bright expression.
This loyal Head Maid, too. Someday…
would be crushed to death by the calamity.
The moment she realized that, words formed on her lips and spilled out on their own.
“It’s hard, staying in the Imperial Palace all the time.”
Every time she looked at the people she loved, their deaths played before her eyes.
What had come out was her true feelings, born from that very thought.
Sharmia, startled, covered her mouth. Those were words she should never have said. She had been swearing to herself just moments ago that she wouldn’t…
As she sat stewing in regret over her slip, Seril’s hand paused mid-pour over the tea.
“Ah, I’m sorry. What I just said was a mistake, so…”
“…Your Highness.”
Seril neither scolded her, nor expressed concern for her mental state.
She simply continued preparing the herbal tea as if it were nothing, and let the words fall casually.
“…How about, perhaps, taking a short trip?”
“…?”
Just as that stranger had said.
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