In the empty space, alone in the fortress.
Johanna analyzed her own heart, weighing the value of emotions.
But it wasn't going well.
She just sat there numbly, replaying that bastard’s recording over and over.
—...Perhaps you’re right, as you say.
It’s strange indeed.
The time that bastard had to know her was short.
Incredibly short.
It probably didn’t even amount to 3% of her life.
—Beckman. You should not be by Lady Johanna's side.
Yet, he risked his life to save her.
He accepted the mission to monitor Beckman, knowing the dangers involved.
—For her sake, if nothing else...
For her sake, he exposed Beckman's fall from grace.
Johanna quietly looked up at the ceiling.
Was he dead?
Probably, that would be the case.
But she couldn’t believe it until she saw it with her own eyes.
After all, he had come back to life ‘that time’.
It wasn’t the first time he had saved her life.
“...Was I foolish?”
She muttered as if to scoff at herself.
Yes, it wasn’t the first time.
Despite that, she doubted him.
Her doubt has made things this way.
Her doubt...
It killed him.
She infused her fingertips with mana.
Tap- Tap- She tapped the air.
Sending a signal to the forces of Libra.
"An assembly order."
Beckman saw ‘him’ from a trench he had prepared separately.
The nearly bisected, pathetic corpse. He wanted to destroy it completely if possible, but he planned to present it as it was, maintaining as gentle a demeanor as he could.
This bastard would soon be covered by dirt anyway.
"Act like you just fought, if you can. Turn on the Magic Body now."
Ben, the bespectacled one, said.
"Will do."
"And I’m tracking the third team leader on Beckman’s orders to locate him?”
"Of course.”
"Phew!”
Ben pushed up his glasses with satisfaction.
Beckman opened a large duffel bag. As he swept the bastard's body inside, he asked.
"How about the other third team members?”
"They’re just doing their missions in their own way. After all, all the information is transmitted through my glasses."
"Make sure to track their locations. I’ll have to send someone to kill them later.”
"Yes, sir!"
The position of managing information holds tremendous power when it comes to manipulating and controlling it.
Those who are controlled become blind and deaf.
It was Shion Ascal, a meticulous rookie—Beckman hated to admit it, but indeed, a balancer with potential, who was sent to his grave in an instant so fatally.
"You can look forward to your reward.”
Ben wore a pleased smile.
“It's an honor to serve. I hope the rest goes well too."
"The rest... It will go well. Definitely.”
Hahahahaha.
Beckman laughed heartily.
Chuckle, chuckle, chuckle.
Ben added his own chuckling in the mix.
Hahaha—chuckle, chuckle, chuckle-
Like frogs exchanging croaks on a rainy day, the trench was filled with the sound of their laughter.
"The identity of the third team leader has been confirmed.”
Beckman arrived with those words. He was tinged with a strange magical residue, and a duffel bag hung over his shoulder.
The moment she saw it, a peculiar tremor stirred within Johanna. It was like the flickering of ash in incense.
"Put it down.”
"Yes.”
Beckman placed the duffel bag on the conference table.
Zip, he tore open the zipper.
Johanna saw the one contained within.
Shion Ascal.
"The third team leader. The audacious Shion Ascal who dared betray our lord.”
Beckman declared.
Johanna nodded quietly.
For a long while, she just stared at him.
She reached out and placed her hand on his cheek.
It was cold. The chill seeped into her fingertips.
"It’s cold."
Now, she found her own heart to be strange.
She had seen too many human corpses before. She had felt that touch countless times.
Rather, she was someone who enjoyed the process of humans becoming corpses.
Cutting off arms, legs, severing waists, slicing necks... She used to enjoy watching the warmth-filled skin turn blue.
"This time... you’ve come back dead.”
It’s different.
Too different.
This guy’s death is too different from the others’.
So much so that she didn’t even want to accept the fact that it was a corpse...
Johanna looked at her own trembling hand with pity. Unknowingly, she found herself caressing him.
"...My lord.”
Suddenly, Beckman called out to her.
She detested the title of lord.
"My lord.”
He called out to her again.
"My lord...”
Johanna turned to look at him. She glared at that damned, hideous face.
"Was this man. More precious to you than I?”
“...Precious?”
Her brow furrowed sharply. She retorted as if taken aback.
"No. There is nothing precious to me.”
There wasn't.
She didn’t know the meaning of such things.
The only standard for her was 'value'.
Either of great value or of little value.
"Things of great value receive everyone’s respect without needing to be treated as precious, and those of little value don’t even need to be considered precious."
"You’re the same. You just asked if he was more precious than you, but don’t be mistaken. I’ve never considered you precious.”
At that moment, Beckman froze.
As if all life functions had ceased, he didn’t breathe, blink, or make any sound, just stood there as if petrified—
"You didn’t know that. To me, no one is special.”
Johanna bit her lip hard.
"This guy knew that”
He asked for nothing while serving her, guarded her side without preaching his own worth, and never sought to be considered precious.
Simply because he felt a kinship with her, he became someone she needed...
Shion Ascal.
Ironically, because he knew Johanna couldn’t treat anyone as special, he became special.
"This man risked his life to expose your sins.”
She pulled out a piece of coal from her pocket. She placed it next to the duffel bag, the switch still on.
—Mr. Beckman. Snooping or intercepting the private affairs of the direct line is a grave offense that can be summarily executed.
—Shut up. You won’t be able to get out of here alive anyway.
A twisted smile appeared on Beckman’s lips.
"You’ve shown me your downfall, that your value has plummeted.”
Johanna looked down at Shion again.
This man had saved her life twice.
“...His words were right."
She gestured lightly, and the door opened.
Beckman turned to look.
"Beckman. You're vermin that shouldn’t be by my side.”
Vitro, Sekunta, Zellia... The balancers Johanna had summoned entered.
Facing them, Beckman’s face was now soaked in sorrow.
“...Take him and kill him.”
Johanna commanded the balancers. They immediately activated their Magic Bodies, but in an instant
Beckman’s body blazed brilliantly.
"My lord!”
Kwaaaa !
He exploded first. A blue light dyed everyone’s retinas.
A torrent of magical power surged like a tsunami, engulfing both Beckman and Johanna.
Johanna abruptly opened her eyes.
"Oh, you’re awake?"
Her body jolted with a start.
"Are you alright?”
It was a familiar voice.
A voice that shouldn’t be heard, one that Johanna thought belonged to a man already dead.
She turned to look in that direction.
.What."
Beside the bed was Shion Ascal. He was looking at her with a small smile.
“It's good to see you. It’s been a while."
Johanna was momentarily dazed.
Why the hell is this guy here, alive?
"Ah, Beckman is dead. It seems he tried to pull off a suicide bombing or something-"
No."
A ringing
Tinnitus struck her ears. She quickly pressed her temples with her fingers.
"Are you okay?"
Despite the headache, Johanna looked at Shion again.
"You’re really alive?”
"Yes. I was hiding. I was under threat from Beckman.”
"The body?”
"I made it It was quite exquisite, wasn't it?"
He smiled. Johanna’s brow furrowed slightly.
.Son of a bitch.”
Suddenly, she felt embarrassed.
Angry too.
If he was alive, he should have said so, if it was a plan, he should have told her beforehand-
"More importantly, how are you feeling? That's what matters.”
He suddenly reached out and placed his hand on her forehead.
Johanna's functions momentarily halted.
"No fever.”
As if caressing, he brushed over once and then shrugged nonchalantly, while Johanna asked in a rather stiff tone.
"Where is this.
"The Libra mansion. You were brought out of the magic space for treatment.”
.And you?”
"As I said. I was just hiding. Haha.”
He chuckled.
Johanna was still a bit slow to grasp the situation, but anyway, this guy was alive.
The only person she could truly trust was alive and moving.
Not a bad outcome.
So, as I was saying.”
Suddenly, he became serious.
"What is it now?”
"This.”
He rustled something from within his clothes. It was a document stamped with the seal of Libra.
"Miss Zia has granted her permission.”
Johanna looked at it.
A certificate reassigning Shion Ascal as a knight under Johanna, with Zia’s approval and Shion Ascal’s own handwritten acknowledgment.
"This document allows me to serve under you.”
“. Why do you have this?”
"Because I realized something from this incident. That I need to be by your side."
Johanna was momentarily flustered, but not displeased.
After all, she had not been without the thought of saying something similar to Zia once this was all over.
"Ahem. For now, go back.”
"Yes. Please rest comfortably."
“Just get out. Quickly.”
Shion left the room.
Johanna blinked for a moment, trying to make sense of the situation.
Shion Ascal had faked his death to confirm Beckman’s downfall and, having completed his mission, he had returned to the living.
That seemed to be the gist of it.
She placed her hand on her forehead.
“It’s hot."
Her forehead was hot.
This was a strange feeling.
Facing a living, breathing man, something felt odd. There was a discomfort around her heart that she couldn’t get used to.
Was it an aftereffect of the explosion, or perhaps-
reeeak.
A strange noise came from the window. It was a grating vibration, like nails on a chalkboard. Johanna furrowed her brow and turned to look in that direction.
There were letters there.
[Lady, Johanna.]
Creeeak.
As if these characters were trying to speak to her, they were etched there.
[Think carefully.]
Sentences forming on the window. As Johanna watched this inexplicable phenomenon, her eyes suddenly widened.
[Shion Ascal does not call you his lord.]
She recalled the words Shion had just said to her.
—This document allows me to serve under ‘my lord.’
—Because I realized it. That I need to be by ‘my lord's’ side.
My lord.
The man was not yet under her command.
Therefore, given the character of a man like Shion Ascal, it was unlikely he would call her his lord.
He was that meticulous and exceptional.
But then.
If that’s the case.
"Who the hell is.
Six hours ago.
I tapped my forehead as I watched the CCTV installed in the trench—connected to Johanna's conference room.
"Ah. Didn’t see this one coming.”
Beckman. That damned bastard made a bomb. A ‘Barrier bomb’ that could only be made in a magic space.
"Was it a kidnapping like this?"
—Exactly!
This place, the magic space, is a world made up entirely of mana. Therefore, interference with magic is much easier here than on the continent.
Using this property, by digitizing mana and then detonating it like a bomb, one can instantly create a ‘Barrier.’ Beckman used this technique.
—I’ve never seen this kind of implementation before! It’s amazing! This Beckman guy seems to be quite capable!
"Afterall, he’s a Balancer.”
I knew that Beckman would kidnap Johanna in the future, but I had no idea he would use a barrier to do it
“...More importantly. Is interference possible?”
—I’m trying to make it possible right now!
Grawl tapped away at his laptop and responded.
First, Beckman kidnapped Johanna with a barrier.
But it’s difficult to know exactly which vector she’s in. It’s even harder to penetrate that particular barrier.
So Grawl was looking for a way to simply ‘interfere’ with that barrier...
-Ah! Got it!”
"Got what?”
—Yes! Look at this!
Grawl showed me his laptop. A foreign wavelength had been caught on one of the many CCTVs I had installed.
—It's the barrier’s wavelength! If we hold onto this, monitoring might be possible!
"Can we get inside?”
—No. But... we might be able to touch something like a window.”
"...A window?”
-Yes!
"A window, huh... Can we write something like letters on it?
—Maybe? But we can't deliver information that’s too obvious! If there's an error, Beckman will notice first! For now, Beckman is the master of that barrier world!
Nodding, I looked at Grawl’s laptop screen. The footage from inside the barrier where Johanna was trapped was being broadcast
Inside, Beckman was...
"What the hell is this mess?”
—I know, right! This Beckman guy, he seems like a complete pervert!
He looked exactly like me.
