Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase02 (section)

===Part 8===

After that, they finally returned to their hideout on the bottom level.

“I’m tired. I’m going to sleep.”

Mamilis hopped into the old sofa. Her expression said she found this place more comfortable than the fancy palace. And Ayato felt the same.

Teleria asked a question while lending a shoulder to a limp woman.

When in Ayato’s pocket, she had been a bee made of black opal and goldwork, but much to his surprise she had taken humanoid form as soon as they returned to the bottom level. And just as she became a beautiful maid, she had been taken from him.

“Um, Ayato. What about this maid? Julielt, I think it was?”

“Yes. Since Miss Mamilis is currently occupying the couch, you can go take her to my room and place her in the bed.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, dangerous individual!? Were you trying to get an injured and immobilized woman in your bed!?”

Tch, busted.

The maid was taken to the girls’ room instead. It saddened Ayato how full that room had become.

But he had his own work to do.

“Now. I wonder what is going on with the 9th Prince.”

“Ayato.”

The Sorcery Hacker sounded a little too amused, so Teleria cautioned him.

But nevertheless, the four of them ended up gathering around the living room media summoner.

While they had been pursued by the Royal Guards (on Micha Angelos’s heartless command), the bug in the palace had been gathering up every word spoken in the 9th Prince’s room. The data was carried here by lines of intangible mana mist, so now they could analyze it at their leisure.

“Ksh, ksshh.”

This was not a realtime feed.

Ayato was only calling up the vast quantity of recorded speech data.

“…the Proving Ceremony.”

That was 9th Prince Roberat’s voice.

And his words were unmistakable.

Succession to the throne required several processes.

Especially if Guardeleo were to die unexpectedly.

“What I need is persuasiveness. Anyone can see it will devolve into a battle of words where each prince and princess tries to prove how they could serve the kingdom. ‘I developed such-and-such a land to such-and-such an extent’, ‘I earned however much money running my manor’, and so on. If anyone can prove their worth especially well, they might have a chance at taking the throne over those above them in the line of succession. Even if they had to cheat a little to do so.”

“So he’s guilty,” groaned Henrietta with a hand on her brow.

“Hee hee. So being the top dog on the throne isn’t all fun and games.”

Ayato felt dizzy.

Because he recognized the female voice that responded to the prince.

That was Queen Astaroth Revolver.

She was Ayato’s past. She was like the crystallized form of the personal history he would prefer to forget.

She really was here.

He had finally caught her.

“…”

After taking a deep breath, the boy regained the thoughts that were his greatest weapon.

That prince wouldn’t want the Proving Ceremony to become an endless argument with no clear winner.

Every participant would be trying to win, so they would all be trying to tear down the other candidates’ arguments.

That was why their high-class argument had been made into a formal system and ceremony.

“And?”

“It’s all about timing. If something happens that forces the Proving Ceremony to begin before the others’ letters can reach the capital, then only I will be able to make a proper appeal. The others will of course protest – and fiercely at that – but without the documents they need to prove their accomplishments, they can do nothing to threaten my victory.”

So was it like an entrance exam?

Even if every single other person trying to get in was a genius, they would all end up with a score of 0 if none of them could submit their answer sheets. Then an average person could end up with the top score as long as they managed to get a passing grade.

“Oh? But why are they using paper letters? Their proof would arrive instantly if they transmitted it over the sorcery network.”

“You know why. These documents contain critical secrets, so old-fashioned methods are used to prevent Sorcery Hackers from intercepting and altering them.”

“Heh heh,” laughed Henrietta, looking smug.

Ayato wasn’t sure why, but he didn’t want her being deceived by malicious actors, so he decided to comment.

“Even when carrying physical letters by hand, the central delivery management is reliant on sorcery devices. That leaves room for a Sorcery Hacker to intervene. Like having one particular letter sent to the wrong place, or swapping the letter for another.”

Henrietta petrified.

“Of course,” continued the prince in the recording. “The real reason is that so many people can’t seem to move on from the old ways.”

“I see. So the paper letters feel more historical and traditional☆”

9th Prince Roberat and Queen Astaroth Revolver didn’t seem too bothered by it.

They cared more about whether or not they could take advantage of the system than whether or not it made sense.

“So you’re assassinating the king to manipulate the timing of the ceremony. Now I see how your plan works, Prince Roberat.”

“I will do whatever it takes to to put an end to this irresponsible age in which humans and demons live side by side.”

Dark Elf Mamilis paled.

The foolish words of the powerful man continued.

“I will bring the capital’s beautiful and orderly class system to the rest of the continent. I will create a world in which we humans need never interact with those filthy demons. It is my responsibility to the people of our kingdom.”

That man was even dumber than they had thought if he was racing down the path of evil out of an invented responsibility no one had ever asked of him. Spreading bigotry out of a nonsensical feeling of duty could only be described as a nuisance of the highest order.

But with someone like that in the top position, it could distort history.

(Hm, so the world is facing a crisis so stupid it feels silly to even take it seriously.)

“But even if that is necessary for the world, isn’t this a little much?” asked the prince.

“If the king is assassinated, there is no covering it up. That won’t be as easy as abducting some wanderer deep in the woods and burying them. So it would be safest to provide a quick resolution.”

“Get to the point.”

“We frame 3rd Prince Hemmij. He is already a likely candidate for the throne, but he lost his armored train, children were put at risk while trying to repair it, and there was an attack by a Sorcery Hacker gang. Anyone could believe he holds a grudge against the king and the Combined Royal Family.”

''She’s crafty,'' thought Ayato in astonishment.

Needless to say, 3rd Prince Hemmij would argue his innocence. Some might find the evidence against him suspiciously flawless. But what would they gain by defending him? If he returned to his position near the top of the line of succession, it would hurt the other candidates’ chances.

No matter how suspicious it looked, far too many princes and princesses would ''benefit'' from saying he did it.

Was the truth really so cheap?

Ayato had chosen to be a Sorcery Hacker so he didn’t need to devalue the truth in that way.

“Is this…really happening in the palace?”

Henrietta wobbled unsteadily on her feet.

Hearing a plot to commit regicide may have left her feeling faint.

Mamilis tilted her head.

“But, coach, Prince Roberat plainly states his intentions on this recording. Can’t you show the king this and get him arrested?”

“Nope. They would ask how we got the recording. We’re the Sorcery Hacker gang that snuck into the palace. And we spied on Guardeleo’s time schedule, a national secret that could be used to take his life. But if we submit this anonymously, they’ll suspect it’s all faked and refuse to take it seriously.”

“Gh,” groaned Henrietta, forgetting to raise her usual protest. “Also, the palace receives hundreds of thousands of letters and messages from tourists every single day. If we sent a message to the general mailbox with the recording attached, they might not even notice it.”

“I suspect faked photos sent as pranks in poor taste are especially common before big events like this. Even with a fairly shocking explanation, they might just ignore it.”

“Don’t forget that the 9th prince might decide to track us down if he catches wind of it,” said Ayato. “And he would use all of his authority to mobilize a ton of benevolent but ignorant guards and Royal Guards so he doesn’t have to dirty his own hands.”

In the end, they would have to deal with this themselves.

They were up against Queen Astaroth Revolver, who could strip away all of the Combined Royal Family’s security. They couldn’t rely on others to settle things with her.

And eventually, 9th Prince Roberat’s interest shifted in a new direction.

“A leaked model of the sword of succession management devices, hm?”

His voice sounded skeptical.

No, it was more that he had no real reason to believe her in the first place.

Just hearing it was enough to make Ayato’s heart ache.

“That means you abandoned your humanity long ago and achieved immortality. So why are you involving yourself in such worldly matters?”

“Hee hee. I have my reasons.”

“You expect me to accept that answer?”

In this, Queen Astaroth Revolver’s methods were much like a woman performing a striptease.

She intended to reveal it all by the end.

But she boosted her own value as far as possible by throwing out hints and waiting until the last moment.

“I was originally a technical person, if you can believe it. I was even involved in the founding of the Academy Towers. But even after the research required to acquire this body, there is something I still don’t have.”

This statement carried great meaning.

It meant Queen Astaroth Revolver hadn’t started out as a villain. Long ago, she had worked for the government. It wasn’t clear when she had ''betrayed'' them, though.

In the worst case, it was possible the humanoid sorcery devices were an idea originally created by the Queen.

“And the key to that thing is found in the Combined Royal Family?”

“Ah ha ha. I am only a leaked model, after all☆”

Official knowledge and techniques.

That was the treasure the sweet devil had left behind.

And she might even know how to use them more than the Combined Royal Family did.

“What are you after?”

“Nothing that will interfere with your ambitions☆”

“Hm,” groaned Ayato with a hand on his slender chin.

They now knew that 9th Prince Roberat planned to assassinate the king.

To usurp the throne.

That was as high-risk as things got, but the return if successful was astronomical.

But why was Queen Astaroth Revolver helping him?

Saying she killed for pleasure and didn’t need any other reason was the same as refusing to think about it.

She had to gain something from this.

(If Guardeleo is assassinated, we don’t know if the 9th prince will actually end up on the throne. If the other princes and princesses are sufficiently upset, it could turn into a civil war within the Combined Royal Family.)

Ayato thought in silence.

(The history of war is the history of weaponry. Is she planning to update and evolve her identity as ''a revolver'' once the weapons development arms race heats up across the continent?)