Editing Unlimited Fafnir:Volume 10 Chapter 1

The sound of dripping blood returned to the quiet principal's office again.

With a knife stabbed in her belly, Charlotte looked up at the ceiling with a pale demeanor.

Her expression would twist in pain from time to time. Watching this, I felt very worried.

"There must be a better way to take out blood than this, right..?"

"...No, this is the most suitable."

Widening her eyes slightly, she showed a grin surfacing on the corners of her lips.

Only Charlotte and I were present in the principal's office. Everyone else had gone to the other room for a nap.

"But... when you stab that spot, it's very painful yet the bleeding is not that much, right?"

"If I bleed out too much, I'll still lose consciousness even though I won't die. Controlling multiple targets means I have to maintain concentration. The pain is also a necessary means towards staying conscious."

Charlotte answered with weariness on her face.

At this time, I finally noticed that she had already pushed herself too far. Her painful expressions reflected not only pain but also the accumulated fatigue she was enduring.

"What happens if you lose consciousness? Will the controlled targets be released?"

"No, so you don't need to worry about that. However, they might very well get killed by their opponents. If I don't give detailed commands, cases of death on my side might result."

Charlotte answered me indifferently.

"Killed? But didn't you say the people under your control are immortal...?"

"That's only a limited form. If they lose their head or a large part of their body, it's impossible to regenerate."

Listening to this, I understood why Charlotte was bearing all this pain.

"...You don't want anyone to die, Charl."

"I'll make myself clear. This is not out of mercy. I just find it's a pain to handle the aftermath of deaths. My friend—Is this really okay? You definitely won't approve of my actions."

Charlotte emphasized her point. Rather than putting on a front, it was a serious question.

Hearing her, bathed in her gaze, I sighed lightly.

"You don't want to be approved... In other words, what you're doing now, Charl—what you're going to do—isn't something you wish to do."

"...Well—"

Charlotte seemed inclined to argue back, but halfway through, she avoided eye contact and stopped.

Seeing her like that, I mustered my determination and brought up the main topic.

"My former superior officer—Major Loki at NIFL—said that you intend to commit a grave sin and deprive many people of their lives. Ariella also said she had a reason to kill you Charl... What on earth are you planning to do?"

After I inquired, Charlotte clenched her fist as though trying to endure something.

While she remained silent, I continued to ask from a different approach.

"An old dressing table in the underground cottage—It's yours, right? I saw the photo in the drawer."

"......Oh. It was taken with me and my father in the past."

After a while, Charlotte nodded lightly.

"So it really was your father, huh? To be frank, he looks very similar to the Major Loki I just mentioned."

I cautiously chose my words. Charlotte smiled wryly.

"...I know. I also jumped in surprise when I saw him visiting during the school festival. Although I've known of his existence long ago, I never expected such an uncanny resemblance. Seriously... Bloodlines are such unbelievable things."

"Bloodlines? In other words, Charl, you and Major Loki are—"

While thinking just as suspected, I gazed at Charl.

"That's right, we're blood relatives. That being said, it's the level of blood tie where one could consider each other strangers."

"...Can you explain in detail?"

Now was the only opportunity to step into her world. I insisted strongly.

Charlotte's gaze wandered a bit in hesitation but in the end, she gave up and said:

"A couple centuries ago, there lived a pair of twin brothers. They both obtained power simultaneously. At the same time, they also understood that this was an authority that had manifested to protect the world from humanity's hands."

"...Twins?"

After I muttered quietly, Charlotte made a slight nod.

"Indeed. The younger of the twins was my father—Leonardo B. Lord. To prevent humans from destroying the world, he had received the power to control and manage humanity. As for the elder brother, he had apparently obtained the power to eliminate humanity off the face of the earth."

"What...?"

Having developed civilization, humanity was regarded as the eighth calamity—the eighth dragon. Tia and Vritra had already informed me of this.

The eighth counterdragon born to oppose the calamity was the gray dragon—the "Gray" Vampire.

However, according to Charlotte, the world apparently gave birth to two counterdragons at the same time.

Vritra had said that after so much time had passed, humanity was already regarded as a part of the world and hence did not get eliminated. But perhaps... The part of the world recognizing mankind as an external threat still remained.

Due to a division in the world's will, were two authorities, identical in ends yet diametrically opposed in means, produced...?

Charlotte looked at me in my puzzlement and continued.

"However, the older brother left the responsibility of protecting the world to Leonardo—my father—and apparently did not use his authority even once in his life. My father named this unchosen power the scrapped authority, Code Lost."

—The scrapped authority. The unused power of the eighth.

Words I had heard during the previous battle against Vritra suddenly flashed through my mind.

'Mayhap 'tis the scrapped eighth—'

She had definitely said something similar. And when telling me about the eighth authority, she had been holding back.

Vritra probably knew about the duality of the eighth authority.

"When the eighth authority awakened, my father stopped aging and became immune to disease. In this manner, he lived for centuries. Undoubtedly, this was for the purpose of continued control over humans. Rather than the true nature of the power, immortality and eternal youth were likely the effects of the body adjusting itself to the ability."

Charlotte placed her hand on me as she spoke.

Transformation of the body as a result of obtaining power—this had happened to Iris recently. To accommodate power, the body of flesh evolved to become a different lifeform. Surely, Leviathan and Hraesvelgr must have gained their powerful appearances due to that.

"Due to eternal life and youth, my father always lived in solitude. However, perhaps his mind grew weary? ...He finally got married ten years before the first dragon disaster and had a child. And I am the child who was born. This was his first child in his long life spanning centuries—Hence, I grew up showered with love and doting. But on the day of my thirteenth birthday, a certain incident happened."

Charlotte gritted her teeth while holding back pain. However, it looked even more painful than stabbing a knife into her own body. Such was the torment she felt from recalling the past in her memory.

"My father had been traveling all over the place in his efforts to establish Asgard, but he came home to celebrate my birthday. However, due to one man showing up, dozens of guards... my mother... and father were all murdered."

Charlotte's father, supposed to be immortal and eternally young, murdered—Despite noticing this inherent contradiction, I refrained from raising this question in front of her sorrowful demeanor.

I took Charlotte's hand, clenched tightly in a fist, and held it, waiting for her to calm down. Her hand felt exceptionally cold because of her current bleeding.

"Hoo... You're so kind. Back when the tragedy struck, Mica was also holding my hand like this in the underground shelter."

Charlotte recounted nostalgically and placed her other hand on top of my hand.

"Mica-san?"

"Yes, Mica-san was originally my father's vassal. From the day I was born, she has always stayed by my side, in charge of my education and protection. On that day, Mica and I were the only two survivors. Locked in a posture of mutual stabbing, that man and my father drew their last breath... I did not witness what had actually happened."

Charlotte took a deep breath to calm herself before continuing with a solemn expression.

"Although I had no idea back then, all the guards were semi-immortals who had entered into blood pacts with my father. And my father was genuinely immortal in every sense of the word. Yet despite that, everyone died. Unable to understand what had happened, all I could do was cry and wail."

Charlotte spoke in self-deprecation. However, that was only to be expected for a thirteen-year-old girl to be confronted with that kind of situation.

"I can recall clearly what happened after that. I shut myself indoors and left everything for Mica to handle. But one day, I witnessed my own wound healing instantly. It was when Mica explained this that I learned about my father's power for the first time."

Looking at our overlapping hands, Charlotte recounted nostalgically.

"I knew I had inherited my father's authority... Starting then, I finally resolved myself to stand on the stage. The day I found out the truth was when I succeeded my father's legacy genuinely and founded Asgard."

"The truth..."

I repeated the word, prompting Charlotte to nod lightly.

"My father's killer belonged to the older brother's bloodline. He was apparently a soldier who had extraordinarily distinguished himself in battle due to United Nations forces intervening in civil war zones. Perhaps he had inherited the power for killing humans... The supposedly scrapped authority of Code Lost."

Was it due to a lack of concrete evidence? Charlotte spoke ambiguously.

However, since the man had killed people who were supposed to be immortal, this possibility was quite likely.

"And that man had been sent by a faction composed of people who felt that my father's control was a bad thing. These people established an independent military organization—NIFL—before my rule could touch them. I had already exhausted myself in taking control of Asgard. When I found out those people were revering my father's killer as a hero, I was so angry that I wanted to cook them alive."

Charlotte gritted her teeth hard with eyes burning in rage.

"So Charl, NIFL was hostile against you from the start huh..."

"Indeed. One could say that the current situation was inevitable."

Charlotte looked out the window, narrowing her eyes at the light of battle, then continued.

"Your former boss—Loki Jotunheim... is known as the 'son of the hero.'"

"..."

Although I was able to guess that from the assassin's bloodline, the weight from the revelation of Charlotte and Major Loki's relationship still forced my body to tremble.

"Although he had changed his family records, there can be no doubt. NIFL probably hopes for him to become the second-generation hero."

"Second-generation hero..."

Naturally, this was referring to the murder of Charlotte—

"—My friend, are you angry?"

Charlotte looked troubled as she looked at me gritting my teeth and asked.

"Of course I am."

"Although your feelings fill me with gratitude... Please note that what you just heard was the story from my perspective. The people who had my father murdered believe they are the side of justice. If you listen to their version... You'd think their actions were legitimate too. My father and I are enemies of humanity."

Charlotte made the same expression as when she had said "You definitely won't approve of my actions" earlier. But to be frank, I could not accept her words.

"You and your father are described as enemies of humanity, Charl?"

"—What my father and I used our authority to maintain was world stability. In order to stop this weapon from causing a dramatic change to the planet's environment, I've kept intervention to a minimum level."

I frowned after listening to Charlotte's answer.

"I don't think that's a bad thing..."

My words brought a wry smile on Charlotte's face. She shook her head.

"There's no one who wouldn't find excessive meddling annoying. Previously, it was fine for me to limit my interference to countries armed with nuclear weapons, but with the current state of affairs, dangerous weapons developed in the name of fighting dragons have even spread to smaller nations. Consequently, large-scale control needs to be imposed in order to bring stability back to the world that has lost balance due to the disappearance of dragons, even to the point of suppressing civil wars in minor nations."

"But... maintaining world peace is the proper thing to do, right?"

I continued to argue, prompting Charlotte to speak in annoyance. Before she answered, she pursed her lips tightly.

"...Think on your own what part of my actions is evil. Or perhaps, you could ask Ariella Lu and the son of the hero directly."

Charlotte suddenly released my hand and replied.

"Charl?"

I did not know why she refused to answer, so I called her name. Then she looked up at the ceiling with a smile of self-deprecation.

"I am a coward. I don't want to say words, which might cause my friend to leave me, directly with my own mouth. Although I said you definitely won't approve of what I'm doing, I actually do hope for you to be my ally. That's why... although I find this very unfair, I won't continue to give you information that could make you hate me."

Charlotte cut me off forcefully and guiltily avoided eye contact.

For sure, she had said everything she could. Understanding that, I bowed me head at her.

"—Got it. I'll figure out the rest on my own. Thank you for telling me all this."

I thanked her then leaned on the table and looked out the window.

After watching the starry sky for a while, Charlotte said in surprise.

"We're done chatting, you know? You should take a nap for a while like the girls."

"No, I'll stay here. You need someone to talk to you and distract you from the pain."

I looked out the window and replied calmly.

Charlotte inhaled and said in exasperation.

"—What a meddlesome fellow."

"That's what they often say about me."

"In that case—Could you meddle a bit more... Umm, pat me on the head, please."

After some hesitation, Charlotte said with a blush.

"Pat you on the head?"

"...That would probably help me forget the pain."

"Sure, I'm on it."

I nodded and placed my hand on Charlotte's head.

"Your hand is so big."

"Really? I find it very normal—"

I inclined my head while patting her sleek blonde hair.

"Your patting feels great. My father doted on me too much. His way was more stiff."

Hearing that, I realized why she had made such a request.

While Charlotte closed her eyes partially in pleasure, the side of her face looked even younger than usual. She was probably remembering her father.

Then what I ought to say to her now was—

"You are so admirable, Charlotte."

"...Huh, why so suddenly?"

Charlotte looked up at me in surprise.

"Nothing much, I just think you need more praise, Charl. Although you're always making Mica-san mad all the time, you're actually working really hard."

Good work. Just as I finished patting Charlotte on the head, she pouted shyly.

"...I-It is only natural as the principal. There's no need for special praise."

"Well, that might be true for adults—But right now, Charl, you're like a child."

"Wha... H-How rude. E-Enough with this patting."

Going red in the face, Charlotte tried to get my hand off but I continued to pat her head.

"Sorry, I won't say unnecessary things anymore."

I used my fingers to gently comb through her hair. Charlotte's resistance slowly weakened and she sighed.

"Seriously... Aren't you making me more and more fearful of getting hated by you?"

She whispered in distraught but with a smile hanging on her face.

''Pururururu''.

However, this peaceful atmosphere in the room was suddenly broken by a shrill alert.

The phone on the work desk rang.

"...Faster than expected."

Charlotte's expression tensed as she picked up the receiver stiffly.

"——————I understand."

After responding to the caller, she looked at me.

"We have company."

"Understood. I'll go call everyone."

I nodded and walked to the door leading to Charlotte's private room.

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"—By the way, I've something else to tell you."

Just as I gripped the handle and was about to open the door, I heard Charlotte's voice from behind.

It must be something important if she was bringing it up in this situation. I turned towards her.

Looking at me seriously, she said:

"Recorded in the materials my father left behind is the name of a dragon unknown to me."

"The name of an unknown dragon?"

I repeated what she said as a question. Charlotte nodded firmly and said:

"I fear it probably refers to my father's older brother who possessed the scrapped authority of Code Lost..."

A chill suddenly ran along my back. Before I heard her, my hairs were already standing on end due to certainty in a premonition of what she would say.

"The clear dragon—'Colorless' Fafnir. This is the name of the dragon born for the sake of killing mankind."