The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 402: Question Marks All Over the Place

Chapter 402: Question Marks All Over the Place

“…And that’s the whole story. Seriously, why is it that Pochi’s words are more trusted than mine?”

“Hahaha, that was really something else… Now I feel like I understand why people call you a ‘fool,’ Asley.”

“…Huh?”

This isn’t right.

I was just telling Warren about the conversation I had with Midors, so why’d he respond like that?

“Despite already being in wartime, you are able to talk about these things with your friends… Having friends sure is a nice thing. Hehehe…”

“Uh, Warren, did you even listen to my story?”

“I do agree with you, Asley. It is always best to assume the worst, which is why I will consider our chance of winning to be ten percent at most — a result of my careful analysis of all the Lucifer-related intel that you have given me. Miss Irene is of the same opinion, naturally. Still, it is quite interesting that Pochi considered our chances to be thirty percent, considering that she has seen Gaspard the Grey… I mean, Devil King Lucifer — up close with her own eyes.”

“Thirty percent IF I get my arcane energy back, that is.”

“There’s no need to worry, Asley.”

“Huh?”

“You’ll be back to full power soon enough.”

I wonder where he got that confidence from. Is it because he, the so-called Black Emperor, is a highly skilled mage?

“Look at this.”

Warren rolled up the sleeves of his jacket and held out his arms.

Hmm, not muscular enough. Has he been eating meat and getting enough exercise? Still, his palm strike is not to be underestimated — how the hell does he hit that hard with these arms…?

“Asley, you’re focusing on the wrong thing, aren’t you?”

“Am I not supposed to look at your arms?”

“Surely the goosebumps are more prominent than my non-existent muscles?”

“Normal people wouldn’t get goosebumps while they’re calm, you know?”

“Oh, so you think I’m a normal person?”

“Is this happening for no reason? Are you sure you don’t need to go get help?”

“Don’t worry — I would have already gone if I did need help, don’t you think?”

God damn it. This guy has a comeback for everything I say to him.

“So why are you getting goosebumps, then?”

“You could call it a… premonition, I suppose?”

“Just a premonition?”

“Now, why don’t we discuss this premonition first?”

“Can you two stop using question marks for ONE SENTENCE!?”

Whoops, I totally forgot that Irene was here as well.

Okay, it’s rewind time — we have returned from the Labyrinth of No Return. Heh, funny, I know.

And from the Labyrinth, we have successfully retrieved the Drynium Steel and brought it back to Eddo.

Using the outrageous amount of treasure that Polco and his descendants have gathered, we have started the project to transform Eddo, the capital city of T’oued, into humanity’s final bastion. In the process, we have summoned artisans and laborers from all over the land, promising them work, food, and a place to stay for those who had lost their homes. This would not have been possible without the Adams household’s funding.

Very recently, the Shogun of T’oued has delegated full authority over the mission to defeat the Devil King to Kaoru, one of the Shamanesses of T’oued. Subsequently, Kaoru has promised to cooperate with the Resistance to the best of her capabilities.

Don Laeus Kisaragi must have already begun instructing the T’oued swordsmiths by now. They’ll have to learn a lot to properly work with the Drynium Steel we brought back, processing it and turning it into weapons and armor.

As for me… I am here in the magic classroom’s head professor’s office to report our expedition’s results, and also respond to a summon.

But why am I, the head professor, standing up — while Irene is sitting in the head professor’s chair? The desk is way too high for her height, making it so that I can only see her from the neck up.

“Oh, Miss Irene… Since when were you here?”

“Since the beginning!”

Oh, looks like Warren also forgot about her.

“Well then, Miss Irene, would you mind giving him the explanation?”

“What explanation?”

“There’s no way she has not also noticed — Asley, from when you entered this office up to just moments ago, Miss Irene has been silent. This is the reason.”

While saying that, Warren did not point at anything in particular, only rolling his sleeves back down. That means it must be about the goosebumps.

I turned to Irene, who proceeded to lean against the back of the chair and cross her legs.

“Asley… your body is probably preparing you for something.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe you’re not seeing it right now, but your body is… experiencing a VERY unusual phenomenon.”

Now that’s a surprise. I don’t think I’ve ever heard Irene call anything ‘unusual’ before.

Well, doesn’t matter — that just means she doesn’t say it much. Because the only other people here are me and Warren, she totally can afford to relax a bit and say whatever is on her mind.

What’s this phenomenon that my body is experiencing, though?

“How should I put it…” Warren proceeded to say. “Hmm… Ah, yes. This should help you understand…”

“Huh?”

“Asley, you don’t intend to hog the entire world’s arcane essence to yourself, do you?”

“…I DON’T understand.”

“Here, let me try instead — So right now, your body is constantly pulling in a minuscule amount of energy — so small that it can’t be called arcane energy, but rather arcane essence. Which is, to be honest, useless for a mage. After all, the invoking of magic spells is performed by using the arcane energy that is generated within one’s body — and your body doesn’t have access to that energy. Do you get what the abnormality with you is now?”

“K-kind of…”

“To be honest, it’s not doing you any good, as far as I can see. Even if you gather a whole lot of the arcane essence, it’ll be good for only a handful of invocations. But I’ve never seen this phenomenon before…”

“Uh-huh…”

So my body constantly pulling arcane essence toward myself… I’m totally unaware of that happening, and on the way back here, no one has pointed that out.

Does Pochi know? Or is it just these two, because of how capable they are as mages?

And how did this even happen, anyway?

“…Hmm.”

“What is it, Warren?”

Warren, who had been silent the whole time Irene was speaking, let out a little murmur.

“This analogy might work…”

“What?”

“The arcane arts really, REALLY love you, Asley?”

For the first time ever, I feel like punching Warren in the face.

But I’m an adult. I’m a WAY older man than him.

Being a Philosopher means having self-control and making logical decisions.

I loosened my clenched fists and let out a sigh, as if to vent my frustration.

“Hah… So why did you call me here?”

Irene proceeded to take a letter from her pocket.

“What is that? The paper looks quite unnecessarily colorful.”

“Where do you think it’s from?”

While asking me that, Irene’s eyes looked calm and more serious than ever before.

“…This can’t be!”

“Oh, but it can.”

Then this has got to be about THAT.

Now I understand why the paper is unnecessarily colorful.

“It’s… from the War Demon Nation!”

“The letter’s content is quite simple,” Warren added. “So summarize… ‘We have information that rebels against our Nation are currently in T’oued. If you hide them, we will treat T’oued as an enemy Nation and act accordingly. We will send an envoy to T’oued shortly to explain the situation.’ Yes, I suppose that will suffice.”

“What the hell!? They’re totally ignoring the surprise attack they did the other day!”

“Billy may have been among the attacking force, but we have no means of proving that Billy was actually there. And that army did not act in the name of the Nation, but rather the Devilkin. You can’t let yourself get upset about every single thing. Besides, it doesn’t say when the envoy would be arriving, and we don’t even know if the letter itself is real or not.”

“What could the War Demon Nation want…?”

“I did not expect the Devilkin to resort to diplomacy, but… actually, no, this is too low to be called diplomacy, really. Long story short, they want to invade T’oued, so they have to come up with a justification for their just cause.”

“Justification… for a just cause…?”

“There are rebels in T’oued. T’oued is hiding the rebels. Therefore, T’oued is an enemy Nation. Then they attack — and if they win, they get to be the good guys in history books. It’s probably a move toward the Devilkin’s long-term goal of dominating over humanity, too.”

“We should just turn them down!”

“If I may interrupt, Asley… we actually have to accept their terms.”

What is Warren even talking about?

I mean, he must have had a good reason to say that… or, well, I have no choice but to think so.

“The letter did not contain the name of the envoy, but it did mention the group that would be their escort.”

“…!”

The Royal Capital Magic Guardians had already been dismantled, and its surviving members had joined the Resistance.

But the War Demon Nation still had their other Guardian brigade.

“The Royal Capital Warrior Guardians…!”

“Exactly. With the Warrior Guardians as the escort, this is in fact a hostage situation. There probably is a schemer like Cleath hiding among their ranks. The envoy will enter Eddo, and while the audience takes place, the Warrior Guardians will be waiting outside… with blades pointed at their throats. If we were to make a move, it would seem like we instigated it, playing right into the War Demon Nation’s plans.”

“…Wait a second. We may have no choice but to accept these terms, but doesn’t T’oued — as a Nation — have the option of simply abandoning the Warrior Guardians?”

“No, that is in fact not an option.”

“How come?”

“The enemy has taken measures to prevent it. They probably have always intended to release those hostages. If we were to agree to their terms, that is.”

“Considering just the end results, I can only see this whole thing not end well. So the easy way out would be to take the initiative — by using a large military force to rescue the Warrior Guardians brigade. But that will result in losses on the Devilkin’s side, too. If they do intend to release the hostages at the end of a favorable audience, then it’s better to avoid needless conflict…”

“That’s right. That means we have no choice but to accept the Devilkin’s terms.”

I cast my eyes down, and Irene fell silent.

Then, amid the silence that filled the head professor’s office, I heard a subtle, familiar sound.

The sound of Warren pushing up his glasses.

“…They don’t know who they’re playing with.”

Upon seeing Warren’s subtle smirk, I felt a chill run down my spine… and Irene probably did as well.