Editing Tytania:Volume 5 Chapter 6 (section)

=== III ===
As Count Elman gripped his sleeve, Jouslain perhaps should have offered at least some token of comfort to the middle-aged noble. However, he simply could not bring himself to do so.

“Count Elman, if you will excuse me, I have no business with you.”

“Out of our way!”

Idris barked with arrogant bluntness. Count Elman stared back at Idris, his expression wiped clean, then looked at Jouslain once more before bowing his head.

“I shall do that. I apologise for disturbing you.”

“Wait a moment.”

It was not Count Elman’s behaviour that caused Jouslain to speak up instinctively. Rather, it was a foul odour seeping through the half-open door that had piqued Jouslain’s suspicion.

Idris noticed it too. Keeping his muzzle trained on Count Elman, he demanded:

“What is that smell? Who else is in that room?”

“That’s…”

Balamy spoke up, as if he had realised something.

“Surely, the Clanner isn’t in that room?”

Count Elman’s complexion changed because he had been taken aback by Balamy’s misunderstanding, but that only served to further mislead Idris. A fierce light ignited in both of his eyes.

“I see. So he was skulking around in a place like this? Hmph. How far the Clanner has fallen.”

“That is not it, Duke Idris. The one who is there is…”

“You’re in my way. Move!”

Idris grabbed Count Elman by the collar and shoved him away violently. Staggering back, Elman’s spine hit the wall, and he looked toward Jouslain and Balamy as if pleading for help, but at that moment, neither of them had any intention of adhering to etiquette or decency.

First, Idris stepped into the dark room with heavy strides, wielding a drawn charged-particle gun. Jouslain and Balamy followed him. Hyulick followed as well. In a panic, Count Elman followed them too.

“Has someone arrived…?”

A woman’s voice, quite unexpected, brought Idris to a halt. Jouslain raised a hand, and the lights automatically brightened, illuminating the room with the clarity of daytime. The furnishings were elegant and antique. Someone lay reclined upon a magnificent canopy bed.

“Duchess Theresa…?”

The three of them spoke aloud, while the fourth swallowed the words he was about to utter and instinctively took a step back. There was a good reason for that. For Fan Hyulick, who had murdered both of Lady Theresa’s sons, reuniting with the mother of Zarlisch and Arses was something he wished to avoid as much as possible.

Whether it was Jouslain or Idris, once they realised the Clanner was not in the room, they should have made a swift exit. Beyond having no business with Count Elman, they had no business with Lady Theresa either. Along with Balamy, all three of them disliked Lady Theresa, and they could not have cared less what happened to her. Nevertheless, as if drawn to the scent of death and decay, all three of them had gathered by the lady’s bedside.

“Why must there be such a fuss?” muttered Lady Theresa. “… Tytania is Tytania. Nothing has changed.”

Jouslain looked back at Count Elman.

“What is Lady Theresa’s condition?”

“You can see it for yourself. The toxins from the alcohol have spread to every organ in her body. It is only a matter of time before her heart stops due to severe alcoholism.”

“Come to think of it, she was a pitiable woman.”

“There is no use in dwelling on the past now. Or shall I avenge her sons here and now?”

Idris replied with cold indifference. Balamy remained silent, but he was sweating from the sheer horror of the moment, truly experiencing what one might call a “hair-raising<ref name="ftn17">The expression used here is “a feeling that makes your hair raised” (身の毛のよだつ思い), which refers to feeling great disgust or fear.</ref>” sensation. Was Theresa’s figure the wretched end of the “noble blood of Tytania” that had once been so full of glory and power?

Jouslain spoke once more:

“Count Elman.”

“Y-yes.”

“Please keep yourself hidden in a safe place. Before long, the time will come when your existence will matter.”

Count Elman struggled to grasp the meaning of the latter half of the sentence, but he decided to follow the advice in the first half without question. He did not want to die. He was not capable of combat. To reconcile these two propositions, there was no choice but to follow Jouslain’s suggestion. The only issue was the possibility that Uraniborg itself might vanish, regardless of where Count Elman chose to hide.

“How kind of you.”

Idris gave a thin smile. He had found an outlet for the negative emotions he had been brooding over in solitude. Because this was so evident, Jouslain did not take offence.

“We are all from the same Tytania Clan. It is better if he survives.”

“Is that all? You make it sound as if you are promising Count Elman a high position.”

“If you do not wish to see Count Elman placed in a position far beyond his station, then you must ensure your own survival.”

“It is a foregone conclusion that I shall survive,” spat out Idris, his voice more pointed than sharp.

Count Elman was no heavyweight. Certainly not when compared to the previous Clanners, nor to the members of the Council of Five Families held a year ago. But what was the problem with that? If the scale of Tytania shrank to a size that could be governed by Elman’s talent and capacity, and if it became stable, then that should be enough, shouldn’t it?

These were Jouslain’s thoughts on the matter. Balamy, who was far too young, looked at Jouslain with a bewildered expression, but Idris keenly perceived Jouslain’s mindset and let out a low, mocking laugh.

“So now that Ariabert is gone, it’s Count Elman’s turn?”

“…”

“He is a suspicious fellow. Why is it that your name or mine didn’t come up?”

“…”

“It would be far more natural that way. The position following Clanner is Duke, and even among those, you and I are the heads of the Five Families.”

“You may not know it, but I have neither the intention nor the right to become Clanner.”

Murderous intent infused Idris’ voice.

“Do you have no ambition? Or is it simply that you do not wish to bear the burden of responsibility and mission?”

“Interpret it however you wish.”

Without answering the question, Idris suddenly pressed the muzzle of his gun against Lady Theresa’s left temple and pulled the trigger. There was no time to intervene. Lady Theresa did not even suffer a final convulsion.

“What have you done, Idris!?”

“Tytanian nobles may be destined to die, but they are not permitted to rot while still living. Call me a murderer if you must.”

Silence was the only reply. Leaving Count Elman behind in a state of vacant shock, the four of them exited the room and its stench. Of the four, three offered a bow to the deceased at the doorway.

Before long, they emerged before the stairs leading to the upper floor. Six guards, their faces contorted with tension, levelled their guns at them.

“I cannot allow either of Your Graces to proceed any further.”

“By whose command?” questioned Idris with affectation, all while idly fiddling with his charged-particle gun.

“By the command of His Clanner Highness himself.”

“There was no need to ask.”

As Jouslain spoke, Idris glared at his opponent with white eyes, but he offered no verbal reply, merely ascending the first step with heavy, rhythmic footsteps. Remaining silent, Jouslain ascended the step as well. One more step.

While keeping their guns levelled at them, the soldiers appeared overwhelmed, casting pleading glances toward their superior officer.

“Both of you, stop right there!” shouted the officer, his voice drenched in cold sweat. “Otherwise, if I may be so bold, we shall be forced to restrain you by force!”

“Try it,” declared Idris with sheer bravado, and a bead of genuine sweat rolled down the officer’s forehead to his cheek.

“I—I am warning you. I have been granted permission to shoot. Please, value your lives!”

“A warning full of nothing but polite language lacks any real impact,” muttered Fan Hyulick.

He was positioned behind the two dukes, though not because he intended to use them as shields, but simply because of the width of the staircase that had placed him there.

“There is no way he will shoot,” declared Jouslain, though his tone was strange, possessing both a certain gloom and a striking clarity. “If the Clanner were to let him shoot us, it would be right before his very eyes. He would likely want to witness our deaths firsthand.”

“You are quite right. Guards, there is no need to follow the Clanner’s orders at this late stage. Do you not realise that almost everyone else in this palace has already fled?”

The guards were visibly shaken.

Countless contradictions and paradoxes had dulled Jouslain’s judgement. Yet, once they were resolved, the mist would clear, and a fragment of the truth would reveal itself. Once he reached the top of these stairs, Clanner Ajman would be waiting. Jouslain was certain of this. It was useless to ponder there what he could do or what Idris might do. He simply had to press on and ascend the stairs.

“Move aside. I must see His Clanner Highness.”

It was Jouslain who spoke, though Idris was the one who began walking first. Overwhelmed, the guards parted to the left and right without a word, allowing them to pass. Balamy followed and ascended as well, yet the guards remained unmoved. However, when Hyulick attempted to follow, a beam of light burst into rainbow colours at his feet.

Clinging to the staircase handrail, Hyulick narrowly avoided a fall.

“Why did you only shoot at me!?”

“I was obviously going to shoot at you. You aren’t a Tytanian noble, are you?”

“So you think it’s alright to shoot ordinary citizens, you bigot!”

“Ordinary citizens? I am appalled by what I hear. You’re a vermin who dared to oppose Tytania, and I shall dispose of you right here.”

As Hyulick attempted to retort further, it was not words that rained down upon him, but titanium bullets, accompanied by flashes of light and the roar of gunfire.