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　Two days after Ars had attempted to escape.
　Choking up, the man labored over his subordinates with a sense of frustration at not being able to get around somehow.

'I'm sorry I had to put you in a role you didn't like.
Don't say that. I'm the one who bought it. My job and yours are different, but there are limits to what I can do alone. Don't be shy about what I can do.

　The two men stood still in the glassed-in room for roughly an hour. They watched the bizarre work being done on the other side of the glass in silence.
　A principle of behavior that was out of character, a distorted thought.

　Beric had failed to care for the victims of the mage training program he had dismantled. In Viziest's opinion, it can't be helped, but he carried out this drastic plan out of remorse.
　Knowing that it was impossible to rehabilitate Noir, Beric reached out a wrinkled hand. The first-time governor scooped up more lives than he could hold in his hands, but it was inevitable until the overflow. It means there is a limit to the number of lives one can save.

　But Beric also tries to pick up the overflowing fallen ones from his hands. That's why Vizayst still works for him, too. If you can't hold it with only two hands, then use your own.
　Four would still be better, he said.

　Hence, Viziest took it upon himself to buy into the idea proposed by Beric. Considering the girl called Noir, this was nothing more than a good idea.
　There is a limit to the number of lives that can be saved, but as for her, she must be saved. It felt like a mission, like watching someone else.

　Looking through the glass at the crumpled noir, crumbling like a piece of cloth falling limp, Beric let out a sigh.
　It was made to look like a mere wall from the other side.

'I hope this breaks the spell of Morweld.
It depends on what you're going to do. The administration of drugs that numb the sense of pain. Drugs that promote muddled consciousness. From now on, as soon as you're out of it, your memories will become more confused. I'm sure Noir will regain his memory little by little. But.........

　Viziest choked on the words beyond that due to his profession.
　But there is no such thing as an indefinite future, and Beric took over.

'I know. I know, she has reached a point where there is no turning back. You can't change a person's mind, even if they are sober. You know that, Vizayst.
'Of course. It's after Ars, it's heartbreaking, but it's also good for her.

　After the freezing of the mage training program, some of the children would enter a military facility, but they would basically be looking for a foster home. Noir was one of them. Morweld knew beforehand that Noir had the right kind of dark lineage. No, perhaps he needed him to be raised as a private army from scratch.

　In that sense, the military's mage training program was probably a perfect fit. He couldn't extract his memories to that extent.
　The cunning of Morweld was that he didn't dare to come forward himself, but instead used his parents, who he had hired for money, as his underwriters. He was careful not to put his foot down on that, either.

'I'm going to go now,'
Yeah, just take care of it.

　The adjoining room, which is a hidden room, has no door from the passage side. However, when Vizayst enters the authentication code from the inside, a rectangular gap is created on the opposite wall and the door opens.

　Through the glass, Vizayst carefully holds Noir and carries him back to his room.

'Enough is enough. How's your memory?
That's the best we can do.

　Behind him, his eyes snapped open and a gagged Morweld was strapped to a chair.

　He was dressed in his military uniform. The man removed his hands from his head.

'It's impossible to extract, as it's a memory from many, many years ago.
I thought maybe I'd remind you if I showed you the situation.
Hmmm!
Don't act so rough, former major general.

　Although interrogation by dark strain mages was basically forbidden, Beric had no intention of choosing his means. It's a good thing that you're not the only one who's interested in this, because Morwelde, who has been so badly beaten up and kept his tail between his legs, has dug his own grave for me.
　Besides, they had found some physical evidence in his mansion that couldn't be excused. Either way, Beric's anger had swept over the edge.

　But that's what stuck.

'Do you have any more questions for the former Major General?
That's enough.
Ha!

　The man takes a syringe from his pocket and sticks the needle into his neck and administers a sleeping potion. Morweld's eyes became increasingly vacant and his head drooped.
　Beric's expression tightens as he watches the forced sleep.

'Undoubtedly, there are those who have inspired Morweld.

　That fact was the only unconscious confession I could make, but I couldn't draw out any of the key features - who he was, his height, etc.

　-- the first thing we got was a harvest. There's no more room to move, right? I suppose I should be happy that I was able to protect Noir.

　I'm not sure I'll be able to get away with it. I am disgusted with my incompetence. Why does it always go wrong? Why do I always fail?
　Beric was also constantly looking for an unfulfilled redemption to keep himself together.

　She exhaled loudly and a vague white light lit up the room where Noir had rampaged. This is what she had been accumulating. That's what she told herself to think.

Behind the glass, what Noir had killed was an elaborately constructed Morweld dummy. There was no way he would be able to see every detail in that darkness. In the unlikely event that he tried to escape, he would have a mage waiting at each exit.
　Even so, I couldn't help but feel nothing for the devastation of the gore splattered to every corner of the room.

　Unless this was the case, Noir would continue to live on and depend on Morweld as a puppet of the Morweld. In fact, since Morweld was certainly involved in her parents' deaths, it could be said that she was the only one here who had the right to kill him.

　One thing first. Yes, one first.

　Controlling the will of the military was a necessary prelude to embarking on the issue of Ars.

　The card-shaped communication terminal he kept in his breast pocket made the sound of an emergency call ring out in the room. He touched the call button, and his hand pressed against his ear with a hint of determination.

'Just give me your requirements quickly.
"Ha!　As of this hour, the seven nations have been urgently summoned. The heads of state have been asked to present themselves as a united front.
Finally.

　Beric felt that this was sooner than expected. The anger of the Rusalka people was unstoppable as the country already had Ars that had thrown Rusalka into chaos.
　Therefore, martial law has been imposed on all seven countries in a state of emergency. Naturally, entry and exit was impossible except for the military.

　Otherwise, the other citizens who had turned into rioters would cause chaos to Alpha. That would be the opening of a barren war between humans that humanity had feared for years.
　At the same time as the appearance of the demons, someone proposed a term. It's a word that remains in the [Seven Nations' Joint Warfare Agreement] as a prelude to treason, saying that it will induce the acceleration of humanity's extinction.
　The literal translation is that humans should not be the ones who join the demons. It is a commandment that humans should not be the ones who destroy them.

　The caller continued to report to Beric, who was about to end the communication.

''Viceroy, and one more thing I have to report...''
What!
A few minutes ago, a fire broke out in the residence of Umm Luyna. We have dispatched a large number of water mages to extinguish the fire, but the fire is so strong that its destruction is inevitable.
...


　What will be endorsed and what will be decided in the discussions of the nations?
　Beric pulls himself together. The situation begins to take a sharp turn every minute, with no end in sight. It will be a decision that will be made by the seven nations in consultation.

　But now is the time to scramble to ensure that the outcome will not be the wrong one.

　Based on the various pieces of information, Beric's brain conjured up a vision of the trend. The look on his face suggested the possibility of even a cold sweat.
　All information must be shared with Cicerunia. What's more, it will have to be shared with each country.
　Who could have seen this day coming?

　For Beric, who had hoped it would never come, it felt like exposing himself. Correspondence with each country would be like threading a needle in a haystack.

　Sighs overflowed as the fatigue that seemed to age him all at once flooded his prime-age body like a toxin. But Beric had a last minute thought.
　We still have a long way to go. It's not possible to cross over if you show fatigue in this place. This time we have to get our act together.