-The Monarch of Yokai?
-Yes, he clearly stated with his own mouth that he is the Monarch of Yokai, Baltan.
I recalled the conversation with Jesse just a while ago.
One of the Five Monarchs of the Yokai Race, the Puppeteer Baltan.
I could recall the settings regarding him without difficulty.
That is why I could be certain.
This guy isn't Baltan.
He is just Baltan's puppet.
The round glint in his pupils proves it.
"Where is your main body… I mean, your master."
Illuid's eyes shook violently.
He had a look asking how I knew he wasn't the main body.
However, he changed his expression in an instant and flapped his tongue.
"Kukuk, the eyes of the great Lucas are no different from buttonholes. Where are you looking for the main body? I am the main body!"
Bullshit.
I raised the Aura imbued with Evil Crushing energy even further.
"Guh, Gaaah!"
Then, my Aura began to burn like embers on his arm as well.
Illuid writhed in agony.
It's disgusting.
That scream filled with pain felt like a pretense.
"Speak, Illuid."
"Kueuk, so, so…"
Right, the moment your main body's name comes out, I will kill you without pain. Hurry, answer quickly.
"Kueueuk!"
Squelch-!
'Huh?'
There was no time to react.
He used his remaining arm to pierce his own chest.
Blood spattered everywhere, and Illuid's body fell backward.
His vitality was fading, and the traces of the puppet remaining in his eyes were disappearing.
"Kueuk, cough, cough. P, Professor Lucas… Can you hear me?"
Unlike before, a voice void of demonic energy.
The unpleasant feeling also disappeared.
"P, please save me. Please s, save me."
I couldn't save him even if I wanted to.
The death a puppet of Baltan faces is not death but extinction.
His entire body was already turning into dust, breaking down and scattering.
Unless a Saintess performed a miracle, it was absolutely impossible.
And what Illuid was asking to save was not himself.
"I, I don't care what happens to me. My family, my family held hostage by him…"
Illuid could not finish his sentence.
He vanished without leaving even a corpse behind.
'…Right, I will keep your request in mind.'
"Professor Lucas!"
"Professor!"
The faculty members, including Heinz, arrived soon after.
They had grave faces, perhaps having heard the situation on the way.
"Illuid was a demon, is that true?"
Ronald shouted loudly, but I saved my words.
Because the 'real' Baltan is in here.
To manipulate a puppet to self-destruct, one must be within a certain distance.
And those gathered here are the ones who satisfy that condition.
Above all, the shell surrounding him shook for a very brief moment.
Rather than dealing with him, I need to avoid him for now.
My mind and body are too exhausted.
Crack-!
Clatter!
Just then, the sword I was holding cracked heavily and split apart.
Fragments didn't fly everywhere, but it was enough to break the meaningless silence.
"I will tell you the details tomorrow."
"R, right."
As I took a step, the crowd parted and made a path.
"Let's go, Rit."
"Yes? Yes!"
Rit, who was thoroughly intimidated, followed with short steps.
I memorized every single gaze watching our backs.
***
"Phew-!"
Lucas left.
Only then did I exhale the breath I had been holding back.
'What on earth is this energy.'
It is dangerous.
Not only this room, but the remnants of that energy that remained with Lucas until just a moment ago.
The powerful energy that felt like it was strangling my neck gave 'him' such a burden that it was hard even to breathe.
It is an energy that feels as if it wants to exclude my very existence.
"Mm? Are you alright?"
"Mmm, yes. It seems the news that Illuid, whom I trusted, was a demon came as a bit of a shock."
"Right. It's understandable. It is a huge shock to me as well. To think a demon was roaming under the roof of Glasco."
"It is a terrible thing."
"Anyway, this matter…"
"Right, it must not leak outside of Glasco."
This matter will be treated as a secret handled only within Glasco.
However.
'I am in big trouble…'
That probably doesn't apply to me.
Since it must have already reached Orpega's ears…
'I must find a way. Something that Orpega will accept…'
My head was throbbing.
***
"Ha, postpone the lecture schedule?"
Alan, the top decision-maker of the Ermel Academy Conference, could not hide his absurdity at the single line of contact that came late at night.
The lecture scheduled for the very first day of the conference.
In fact, it is no exaggeration to say that all interest in this conference is focused on Lucas's lecture.
Given that tickets for that lecture are already sold out and scalped tickets are circulating secretly, one can see how immense the interest is.
'A guy with unknown origins…'
Contact came from that Lucas's side asking to postpone the lecture schedule.
Furthermore, they are showing the arrogance of saying they cannot give a reason.
"Tell him we will do it."
Even so, the initiative lies with that side.
Rather than refunding the tickets that sold tremendously, postponing the schedule is much better.
'I look forward to seeing just how great a lecture you have prepared.'
Right.
Since you have the initiative, I will allow it.
Instead, I will witness with these very eyes just how great a lecture you have prepared.
If you have prepared a terrible lecture and pulled this kind of stunt, I will make you pay the price dearly.
Alan stood up and picked up Lucas's thesis.
He intends to analyze every corner to embarrass him at the lecture.
***
"...."
The night was deep, but I couldn't sleep.
It was a very short moment, but he took off that mask.
It was an instant I couldn't even consciously register, but my 'eyes' saw it.
The 'shell' surrounding him fluctuating.
'Then where is the real 'he'?'
I never wrote that Baltan disguised himself as him.
This is because all of this, the setting of Glasco, had been pushed to the other side of my story.
I used it occasionally when introducing Lucas, but I didn't deal with the process of Glasco collapsing in depth.
That, that complacency was coming back to me like this.
'Wait.'
I stood up at a sudden thought and picked up a book.
Then I read it rapidly as if skimming.
It was abstruse and difficult content.
However, a massive secret was hidden within this.
"Did you call, Professor."
"Deyan."
I called Deyan very secretly.
"I have a favor to ask you."
"…A favor you want to ask me, Professor?"
"I am not simply asking Deyan. I am asking the 'Shadow' of Aeroc."
Deyan's posture straightened.
"Is it a serious matter?"
"It is serious."
"To His Majesty…"
"I know everything won't be hidden. It doesn't matter, so just do what I order properly."
"I understand. Then what is the favor?"
"…Find Heinz."
"Yes? What does that…"
"The guy acting like Heinz in front of us right now is a fake. Find the real Heinz."
"But how…"
I handed the book titled
"Isn't this Chancellor Heinz's book?"
"Right. It is the most recently published book."
"Why is this…"
"There is no time to explain in detail, so listen carefully. This book is unnecessarily abstruse."
"T, that is true. It is said that even the continent's greatest scholars clicked their tongues…"
"Heinz hates that kind of knowledge."
Heinz is a person who thinks all knowledge in the world should be distributed fairly.
But such a person wrote a book so difficult that even the greatest scholars felt a wall?
There must be a reason for this.
One could think that Heinz's ideology suddenly changed and he published such a book.
I can assert that would absolutely never happen.
The reason is…
'There is no way I could make a character that three-dimensional.'
Because I know my writing skills best.
Heinz is also a character I made.
He wouldn't show such colorful changes.
"There must be a massive code hidden in this book. Use Aeroc's intelligence agency to solve it."
"...."
Deyan was hesitating.
Because all of this is just my hypothesis, and there is no evidence.
Since moving the kingdom's intelligence agency without certainty can be dangerous.
I need something to make him move.
[A new notification has arrived.]
[Lehardt has registered a recommendation post.]
[Skill, 'Calling a Deer a Horse' is granted due to the registration of a recommendation post.]
===
Calling a Deer a Horse
Consumes gold to possess persuasion that makes even lies feel like the truth.
Trustworthiness varies depending on the gold consumed.
The more listeners there are, the more gold is consumed.
[k2929 has donated 100G.]
[Jireumaksin has donated 100G.]
[HUMI.S has donated 500G.]
[Komun has donated 100G.]
[kyh931124 has donated 100G.]
Donations continued as if telling me to use it now.
Added to the 900G received just now, I poured in even the 100G I received before into Calling a Deer a Horse.
"The life of the scholar called the greatest in Aeroc's history depends on this."
Deyan's eyes became dazed, then soon regained their clarity.
"I will believe you. I will request the intelligence agency to decode it immediately."
"Find him as quickly as possible. There is no time."
"Yes!"
The reason I judged that there was no time was simple.
The contact between Jesse and the demons, which would have happened at least a year later in the original story.
The fact that it has been advanced considerably means that the other side also has a reason to move quite urgently.
In the worst case, the plan to invade Glasco could be advanced.
[LIFE TIME : 25 Months]
There is no big change in my lifespan yet, but you never know.
'I'll strike first.'
Now, while he believes his identity hasn't been completely revealed yet.
Now was the right time to expose his identity.
***
"Ronald, about the Illuid incident yesterday, I've been thinking."
"What is it?"
"How about requesting help from the Holy Empire."
"Let outsiders into Glasco? Mmm, that is a bit…"
"We cannot receive help from the royal family either, can we? Reducing the room for the royal family to intervene. Isn't that what you want most?"
Ronald fell into deeper thought at Heinz's words.
As he said, receiving help from the royal family poses problems for the aftermath.
Furthermore, in this situation where the clouds of war are thickening, it was also a question whether they could easily provide help.
"However, deciding on help from a third country without discussing it with the royal family could cause major problems later."
"I know you are worried. But now that the barrier Glasco boasts of has been breached, it won't last long. Relying too much on Professor Lucas will also be a burden to him."
"But to do that, we have to lower Glasco's barrier. That could be more of a risk."
"Wouldn't it be fine for a moment? I will go to Bert personally."
"You personally?"
"Right. I may not look like it, but I am counted as one of the continent's greatest scholars. They won't be able to refuse easily considering my face. I will also settle the negotiations with the royal family."
"Mmm…"
Ronald fell into even deeper worry.
"Why are you hesitating so mu…"
It was around that time that Heinz suddenly felt something was strange.
"Ronald, you… are stalling for time."
Heinz immediately kicked off his seat and dashed toward the entrance.
He cannot use his true power properly because of Glasco's barrier.
If other professors flock here… he is finished.
"Do not move, Yokai Race Baltan."
At that moment, a chilly voice pierced Heinz, no, Baltan's ears.
"Lucas…"
Baltan chewed his lip and called Lucas's name.
Other professors were also revealing themselves one after another.
Ronald stood up and asked Lucas.
"I did stall for time as you said… but is Heinz really a demon?"
"He looks like the Chancellor no matter how I look at it, aren't you mistaken about something?"
Lucas did not answer at all and pushed Aura into his sword.
Aura of a mysterious color illuminated the surroundings.
"Keut, Kueuk…"
The shell covering Heinz fluctuated noticeably.
Eventually, the shell oxidized into black mist, and from within, the demon resembling a puppet, Baltan, revealed his appearance.
"Haa, fine, I admit it, Lucas. But… you wouldn't have expected this either!"
A professor right next to Lucas rushed at him, then exploded to death immediately.
That won't be able to do anything to Lucas, but it is enough to buy a moment of time.
At this moment when flesh and blood blocked their vision, he started to run away with all his might.
"Huff, huff, huff…"
He ran and ran for a long time.
He scattered the puppets he had set up just in case in all directions to hinder the pursuit.
When he barely reached the outskirts of Glasco, Baltan caught his breath.
"Huff, huff… That bastard Lucas, how did he notice?"
Irritation soared.
His plan was perfect, but it was all being ruined because of that bastard Lucas.
"If that son of a bitch Orpega hadn't rushed me, I could have been fully prepared…"
At that moment, Baltan turned around at the chilly energy felt behind his back.
Orpega, with an amused look on his face, was staring at Baltan.
Baltan racked his brain to survive.
"…I will compose an acrostic poem with 5 and 4."
"5."
"Orpega, great existence!"
"4."
"…?"