Genius 34

Test

Chapter 34. Madness And Fate

After Hermes and Katia left the village, a few hours passed.

"Are you the village chief here?"

 Standing beside him were a silver-haired youth and a beautiful blonde girl, with a lavish golden-haired beauty followed by a large number of formidable soldiers.

Prince Aster, with an arrogant attitude, addressed the village chief.

"Yes, that would be me..."

"I'll be blunt. A duo, one with purple hair and the other with silver hair was supposed to have visited here. Answer when they left this village and where they went."

Rather than a question, it was almost an order. The village chief fell silent for a moment before responding.

"...I do not know."

He answered firmly.

"What?"

"At least, I am not aware of such a duo visiting. They may have secretly entered and left the village without my knowledge—or perhaps, it is a misunderstanding on your part."

"Hmm?"

Aster narrowed his eyes. His pressure increased, causing Chris, Sara, and the soldiers behind him to hold their breath.

"Is this a misunderstanding on my part?"

"There is a possibility. Perhaps someone in the village knows something. Shall I inquire? Though it may take some time..."

"..."

Despite the village chief's response, Aster fell silent.

"...Understood. Stand down."

"Huh?"

The voice of doubt came from one of the soldiers behind him.

No one reprimanded him. Because everyone shared the same thoughts.

The village chief's attitude could have easily provoked Aster's wrath under normal circumstances. Why—was the question.

A single sentence uttered by Aster as he left the village with the soldiers, out of earshot of the villagers, resolved everything.

"We'll burn that village."

Everyone momentarily froze in shock—gradually realizing the seriousness of his words.

"B-Burn it? Surely not—!"

"Yes, my magic will burn everything."

"Why!?"

"Because they deceived me."

To the soldiers who naturally raised their questions, he responded as if implying they shouldn't ask such things.

"As I've explained, a certain magic is cast on the prisoners in that prison to prevent their escape. It emits a special magical trace for a certain period. We followed it here, and they certainly visited since that magical trace is also in that village. Yet the village chief lied to me, didn't he?"

"B-But! There's also the possibility that the village chief didn't notice...!"

"No. That man is plotting against me. You can tell by looking at him; it's as clear as day."

His rare coincidence happened to be true, but the soldiers around him couldn't understand his decision to eradicate the entire village. Nevertheless, Aster continued.

"Moreover, what about the large pit around that fence? There seems to be some strange machinery on top."

"That is... probably a measure unique to that village against monsters. They drop monsters into that large pit and use the machine on top—probably a catapult—to crush and kill them..."

"Hmm? So you mean the villagers, as commoners without lineage magic, are trying to subdue monsters themselves?"

"W-Well, yes. Since they're in the borderlands, sometimes the nobles can't keep up with monster extermination, so it's a natural self-defense measure—"

"That won't do."

It was an accurate speculation by the soldier, but Aster dismissed it abruptly.

"What's that supposed to be? Us aristocrats must defeat monsters, and it's the duty of the commoners to be protected by us. It's presumptuous for commoners to imitate nobles. In other words, do they have complaints about the rule of the nobility?"

"I-"

"It's too conceited. Eliminating that dangerous element now is for the good of this country."

He justified it.

Using all sorts of excuses, he denigrated anything and everything, indoctrinating that the eradication of that village was the right thing to do.

Burning this village is for the country's sake. It wasn't that the disdainful gaze of that village chief, compared to someone else, didn't sit well with him.

Believing this, Aster solidified his determination to act.

"B-But! Couldn't we show mercy? After all, the top priority now is to search for Katia. Pursuing the magical trace regardless of this village would suffice—"

"Still thinking to argue back, are you, soldiers!"

Despite the soldiers trying to voice their opinions, they were interrupted by a stern rebuke from another direction.

"What His Highness says is undoubtedly right! Because His Highness's leniency that you're not executed yet!"

"Chris-sama..."

"Don't be impertinent, Chris. But what this guy says is right."

Aster's affirmation. Encouraged by it, Chris continued with a pleased smile.

"Thank you! So, are you going to execute the plan right away?"

"No, there are still people outside at this hour. We should do it when all the villagers return at night. We'll burn it down before they realize with my lineage magic."

Thus, despite still showing confusion, no one could stop Aster anymore.

The village remained peaceful on the surface as the villagers who were working outside gradually returned, the sun setting. 

And then.

◆

"...What... is this..."

Red. The cruel flames glimmer in the darkness of the night. They spread over the place where a village had stood just half a day ago. 

Amid the flames, familiar buildings gradually blackened and collapsed.

Led by Lina, Hermes and the others arrived at the scene. Katia exclaimed in despair.

"W-Where are the villagers!? You don't mean—!!"

"Please, calm down, Katia-sama." 

A calm voice came from the side. When they turned, they saw the village chief there. Behind Hermes stood many villagers, including the men who had been digging the trench.

"I apologize for Lina's rash actions. Rest assured, we have just confirmed the safety of all the villagers. While there are injuries, there are no fatalities."

"I see... Th-There's no way His Highness would go this far—"

"No..." Despite Katia's hopeful speculation that Aster wouldn't do such a thing, the village chief mercilessly cut it off.

"Prince Aster indeed intended to burn us all to the ground. Hence, he waited until nightfall for that purpose. ...However, at that moment..."

"The blonde lady, she saved us." "Eh?" To Katia and Hermes' surprise, unexpected information was brought by one of the villagers.

"I thought she came alone in the evening, but she desperately said, 'Please flee now!'" "She said we'd be killed if we stayed, and at first, we didn't believe her..." "But when we asked, it seemed she was a friend of Lady Katia's."

"!" 

"She seemed so desperate, and her words... We thought we were being tricked, but we trusted her."

"Sara-sama, isn't it? For her to do something like that..." 

She's probably accompanying Aster. If she saved the villagers, it's undoubtedly something to be grateful for.

But, on the flip side. 

If Sara hadn't been there, Aster would undoubtedly have intended to burn down the village along with everyone in it. 

On the way here, I heard the situation from Lina. Indeed, falsifying information to the royals is punishable, but—to this extent?

Even if the villagers' lives were saved...

"Ah... Our village..." 

"That house... It held so many memories..." 

"Our fields are all ruined... Even the catapult we worked so hard on..."

The losses were undoubtedly significant.

"...Again..." Katia murmured quietly.

"Again, because of me... because I got involved, this..."

"K-Katia-sama, that's—"

I thought it was bad.

This disaster was caused by those pursuing Katia. But it was my mistake, not anticipating such accurate and swift pursuit, and Katia is not to blame. Just as I was about to interject with some words of comfort.

"Oh? Meeting you here again, huh?"

A voice filled with joy. Pushing through the grass, a young man with the same hair and eyes as Hermes appeared.

"Thought there might be survivors from the village, but... I didn't expect this! Seems like luck is on my side, huh!"

"...Brother." 

"Hah! How many times do I have to tell you? There's no way you can call me 'brother'!"

Chris von Flamburg.

Looking at his face in this situation, it was clear what he thought about his master's actions.

"...Did you not stop him?" 

So, Hermes asked.

"What are you talking about?" 

"His Highness's actions, did you not feel anything about them?"

"Haha! What, did you expect me to feel pity or sorrow!? There's no way I'd feel that!"

Without losing his joyful smile, Chris replied loudly.

"Listen, His Highness is undoubtedly the most excellent person in this country, and it's my duty as his right-hand man to understand him better than anyone and serve him closer than anyone! The ones at fault are you lot for not obeying His Highness's orders. This is just a natural punishment!"

"...!"

"Besides, these commoners living in the boonies, and there's probably only a hundred of them! What impact would their deaths have? If anything, they showed what happens if you defy His Highness, and I'm proud that it laid the foundation for His Highness's dominion!"

"..."

"Moreover, even if His Highness said you're next in line, he's resting now. If I were to bring these guys to His Highness now, it'd undoubtedly be troublesome. Yeah, it can't be helped, it can't be helped at all."

Muttering something to himself, Chris then spread his arms with a full-faced grin.

"Now, Hermes, let me give you one final lesson as your former brother! The difference in rank between you and the truly chosen humans!"

"I'm good. I've learned enough from you already."

Taking the bad parts as lessons, as counterexamples. 

Swallowing those words, they both increased their magical power.

"'Six are the holy bows, one is the magic bullet, their strings are the weapons of false gods'!"

"'Thus the world was created, and here is recorded the true truth of who created it, without distinction between heaven and earth, for the sake of one miracle'.''

Let's manifest each other's magic.

The fate that had lasted the longest in Hermes's life was the feud with his brother. The battle to settle it had begun.