Chapter 97: Chapter 80: Tournament Day 3 (Part 7)

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It had been a hard decision, I had faithfully served Queen Laura and her mother and grandmother for nearly 60 years now, my life extended by my magical talents. And in that time I'd never wavered in my loyalty. This latest decision however had been too much, I'd been asked for too much. 6 years before I'd been tasked with covering up the status for the Queen's niece at her Celebration of Birth, a slightly odd task but nothing strange enough for me to falter. I'd been asked to do similar things for various allied noble's before, generally to give their children an edge or headstart over non-allied noble children. I'd even been informed of her status as a reincarnator, a normally impossible claim but one that had apparently been verified.

Because of this I'd expected some weirdness, perhaps a strange title. What I hadn't planned on was what I'd find when I saw her true status page. The information, normally fully available to me, had been garbled, as if it was under some sort of recognition blocking magic. What I had seen however had terrified me. This child, the Queen's niece, was the successor to the Demon Lord.

Now a skeptical person might ask why I immediately assumed that, afterall didn't I say that most of the status was unreadable. Well if I were a normal mage you'd be correct, even I had difficulty breaking through the veil over that particular bit of information. Even I only saw a small portion of that title, but it was enough.

What happened next though had been shocking, to say the least. Concerned with my discovery I'd obviously immediately informed my Queen and former pupil but, instead of reacting with shock and horror like she should have, she'd acted as if the entire thing was expected. She'd told me to never speak of my findings to anyone and even asked me to plant false information within the magic community as a way of diverting attention from Rose. Reluctantly, I'd done as she asked, hoping that my discovery was just a mistake.

The next few years had gone by without incident, and, with no new problems cropping up, I'd assumed my initial discovery was just a fluke. A strange consequence of looking at a reincarnator's status page rather than anything malicious. That was, of course, until about 6-7 months ago when I'd gotten a report about an attack on the Prince and his future betrothed, Rose. Concern had, of course, gripped me upon hearing the news and I'd immediately rushed to get the full story from the Queen herself.

What she'd told me had been beyond my expectations and fears. Not only had the hostage situation been resolved but the method had been especially brutal. The images of what was left of several of the thugs when that girl had gotten through with them haunted me to this day. It was at this point that I once more attempted to bring up my concerns with the Queen, only to get ignored once more as she focused on covering up the incident rather than dealing with the problem at hand.

If I truly was honest with myself this was the moment that I realized my loyalty was no longer to the Queen herself. Despite this I had pushed down my doubts and ignored my conscience. The Queen had always made good decisions before afterall so it had to be the same this time right? It wasn't until that girl was kidnapped that I felt relief, unbidden relief but relief nonetheless. Most people would have assumed that Manic Blade had kidnapped the girl to demand ransom, or taken him at his word that it was for her own good.

But I knew better, I'd half-remembered old reports of some of the rare raids from demon-kind in the past. And in each of those raids Manic Blade was known to be especially brutal, to the point that it was well known in certain circle's that the ex-S Rank Adventurer was vehemently hostile to demon's, beyond even normal hostility. This knowledge, combined with my knowledge of that girl's true identity had left me with what I assumed Manic Blade's true goal was in kidnapping Rose. He was planning on killing her.

The next 5 months had passed quickly, my relief at finally being rid of someone I considered a threat to the world causing me to throw myself into my work in penance for what I viewed as a shameful reaction, even knowing that girl's identity. Imagine my shock when, not only had Rose shown herself once more, but it seemed that she'd been trained by the so-called demon-hater in the interim despite my expectations.

It was at this point that I seriously considered something I'd never thought possible, treason. It was truly a shame then that I'd heard the thing that finally made me go over that unspeakable edge. An offhand comment, one that wouldn't have meant anything to anyone not aware of that girl's true identity, overheard as I was on my way to report to the Queen. It had occurred after Rose had returned, when speaking with her family. She'd apparently told them all of the events that had occurred during her absence, without mentioning her identity as a successor of the Demon Lord.

My decision afterwards had been swift, despite my misgivings, I'd work with the only ones that I knew for sure would be able to fight against the second coming of disaster. The ones that had inherited the technique for summoning hero's from their predecessor's. The Church of Light.

Of course I knew what this would mean, my betrayal was especially heinous since I'd known Queen Laura since she was a little girl but I also knew that the safety of the world was more important than the integrity of my soul. I'd accepted that the God's would damn me as soon as I made this decision.

 

[I have to leave, before they discover my betrayal. I'm sorry Lil' Laura, I know you won't forgive me but I'm truly sorry.] - Court Mage Alphonse

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[Your Highness I regret to inform you that Court Mage Alphonse has gone missing with suspicion that he has defected to the Church of Light.] - Miriam

[Ridiculous. Alphonse has been with my family since my Grandmother sat on the throne. He can't hav-] - Queen Laura

[We discovered this my Queen.] - Miriam

 

I was incredulous, I mean I knew Alphonse was dissatisfied with how I've been handling my niece but to be suspected of treason? Incomprehensible. An unrelated butler is one thing but Alphonse practically raised me, it's completely impossible to think that he'd betray me. Refuting that idea as madness I wasn't sure what to think when as proof I was suddenly handed a recently unsealed letter.

 

[This is... Have we confirmed that this indeed Alphonse's handwriting?] - Queen Laura

[Regrettably we have your Highness.] - Miriam

[...under duress?] - Queen Laura

[We are investigating every possibility but the chances are low, his office was in order and several items were missing as if for travel. We found no evidence of forced entry and the door was sealed with a timed spell. It's likely that he left within the last 2 days by our estimate, and all evidence points to it being of his own will.] - Miriam

<.....a-are you sure?> - Queen Laura

[Your Highness?] - Miriam

[Ahem! Nothing. With this new information I want your forces to move under the assumption that former Court Mage Alphonse is hostile and moving of his own will, capture the trai- the traitor, and bring him to me. We need to stop him from reaching Fos. I-If you're unable to capture him... hah... if you're unable to capture him lethal force is authorized.] - Queen Laura

[Yes my Queen!] - Miriam

[Oh Uncle Alphonse what have you gotten yourself into...?] - Queen Laura

 

I didn't want to believe it, it was unthinkable that he of all people would betray me. Alphonse had served for 3 different Queen's in his life, even acting as her tutor for most of her childhood. He was as close to her as family. She'd believed that the world would end before he even considered treason. She'd been wrong.

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The letter, ostensibly left behind by Alphonse himself, had been clear. He was leaving. His reason? Rose, apparently he'd never gotten over the shock of her identity, she herself had been initially surprised, scared even, but she'd chosen to give her new niece some time before making a judgement on whether she constituted a threat. She owed Lily that much at least. She'd thought that the old man would warm up to the sweet girl like she had, that he'd grow beyond his fear and see who she was as a person. She'd thought wrong.

The letter, clearly illustrating why he'd chosen to betray them, had also had one more thing. A call for forgiveness and.... a goodbye. He planned on perishing after this and she wouldn't allow that. She'd have him captured and tell her why he couldn't trust her, he owed her that much at least.

Nodding as she listened to her Queensguard list off the evidence she hardened her heart, giving the order that would end her beloved Uncle's life one way or another. Either at the hands of her Blackguard or executed in her dungeon. Miriam, receiving her orders, immediately saluted and left the room as I thought of the coming war and all those already lost before the fighting had even begun.

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It turns out that the revelation of my Demon Dragon God title wasn't as big a deal as I'd imagined. Sure my friends had been shocked when I told them about it, they'd even demanded to see proof with their own eyes, but after the initial shock had passed they'd decided it didn't matter. Demon God or no Demon God they were my friends and they told me that they wouldn't abandon me for something small like that. Even Shade, with her normally nonchalant attitude, had been unnaturally gung-ho about the title not mattering in the slightest. 

Unfortunately though, I hadn't been able to contact Aunt Laura, something to do with being busy with work, so I hadn't yet informed the only family that was available currently. I hadn't meant to even leave out that detail in the first place when I was bringing up the last 5 months so informing my family was obviously my next step. Despite that I had been forced to wait since Auntie Laura was busy and my Parents and Grandparents weren't even present in the city.

With nothing to do all of us had gone our separate ways for the rest of the evening, with Shade disappearing almost immediately after our discussion followed by Malaise and Veronica heading off for some "shopping". They'd asked me to come but I felt exhausted from my fight and the idea of just lounging around for a few hours was infinitely appealing so I'd turned them down. Annabelle, indignant at my treatment of my goth loli outfit, had left not long after to, and I quote, "Get a dress worthy of the Young Miss.". It wasn't until several hours later that I woke up from my nap and decided to hang out with Karen who was currently messing with some weird glass tubes.

 

[What are you working on there?] - Rose

[Ah? Oh this? Well you remember that Alchemy Book I told you about when you found me in that shack 5 months ago?] - Karen

[Yeah?] - Rose

[Well I figured since potions are supposedly magic that they might be absorbed by my new ability right?] - Karen

[Wait really?!?] - Rose

[Well I'm not sure yet, honestly the assumption that they are magic is only because of a couple of notes in the margin of that book. All of this might just be chemistry and be useless but something tells me it'll work.] - Karen

 

Poking at a fragile looking flask I looked over the assortment of plants spread out over the table with curiosity. Honestly the whole thing looked like a mad scientist kit from a movie so the entire thing caught my attention. Her answer through me for a loop though as I'd actually nearly forgotten the circumstances of our reunion. Sure I remembered the pain and then the happiness as I realized who this strange slimegirl was but I hadn't really thought about that moment in nearly the entire 5 months except for a yearning to see Karen again. 

Deciding to answer with an affirmative I was shocked when Karen brought up something I'd never really thought of, were potions magic in this world? I mean in most games potions are put across as a type of magical property of plants distilled in a tincture or something similar so if Karen's ability worked like we thought it did...

 

[Oh? So you'll be able to use that anesthesia that you used on me last time?] - Rose

[And more! If I'm right I might be able to make poisons and healing potions easily. Although I might need the ingredients, I'm not too sure honestly.] - Karen

[Well have fun then, don't cause too many explosions while playing.] - Rose

[That was only one time! And it was the teacher's fault!] - Karen

[Hehehehe! Sure it was...] - Rose

[Tch, fine! It was a little my fault.] - Karen

[Hahahaha! Anyways don't stay up too late, I don't know what not sleeping does to your body but it's probably not a good idea to find out right before the Semi-Finals.] - Rose

[Yeah yeah, I'll go knock out soon. Night beautiful.] - Karen

 

Excited at the new ability of my best friend I wished her luck before teasing her about a barely remembered event during college where she'd nearly blown the entire school up during Chemistry Lab. Smiling as we bantered back and forth I froze when I heard something I should have expected considering where our teasing was going. Beautiful? Did she mean me? O-Oh right she's just teasing me, pretend it nothing Rose! Act normal!!!

 

[...! R-Right, good night Kare Kare.] - Rose

 

Success! Confident that I'd hidden my shocked reaction I turned away from the slimegirl, completely missing the slight blush on her face as she watched me leave, my own blush hidden by my back.

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