[V9C4] A Schwarzenberg’s Duty
Translated by Jodas 9: Battle for the Tower“Sophie Schwarzenberg, I order you to use your power to place a curse on Julius Löwenich.”
“……Eh?”
Sophie tried to put on a gentle smile, but failed.
The duty of the Shamans of the Schwarzenberg Family was to curse people to death. But she was told that, so long as she fulfilled her role at the Wedge Tower, she wouldn’t have to do her family’s duty. That was the whole reason Sophie came to the Wedge Tower.
(Was the role at the Wedge Tower not using the Ancient Magical Artifact…?)
This was unreasonable. There was no way. However, without the courage to boldly shout ‘You’ve gotta be kidding!’ Sophie forced a smile and spoke.
“U– Umm… I– I can only… use curses that k– kill people…”
“I am aware. ‘A painful death.’ That is the essence of the Schwarzenberg Family curses, is it not?”
She felt her stomach tie itself into knots. She was about to throw up.
Desperate for help, Sophie looked to Director Linke. She only silently and solemnly followed Miriam’s lead. Library Office Director Linke was one of Assistant Headmaster Miriam’s staunchest supporters.
With the pomp befitting a priest preaching the teachings of God, she lectured Sophie.
“The Wedge Tower is humanity’s final line of defense against a Monster invasion. It has long been determined that those who have committed grave crimes against its continued existence are granted the trial of the Schwarzenbergs and exiled from the Tower.”
Granted a trial and exiled from the tower. Just hearing that, it sounded like a very generous way of handling things.
But the truth was, they would be cursed to a painful death as they were driven out from the Tower. Precisely because she knew the strength of the Schwarzenberg family curses, Sophie understood just how gruesome a punishment this was.
Miriam continued her speech, indifferent to Sophie’s reactions.
“This is a long-standing arrangement between the Wedge Tower and the Schwarzenberg Family. After suffering the persecution of the Emperor long ago, the Schwarzenberg Family has chosen of their own volition to work as the Wedge Tower’s executioners. The Wedge Tower has done nothing more than honoring the Schwarzenberg Family’s request.”
Without the Emperor’s protection, a family of Shamans who can do nothing but curse people to death would be a target for persecution. Therefore, the head of the Schwarzenberg Family back in the day suggested offering an executioner to the Wedge Tower so that their family could survive.
(Wait, now that I think about it… wasn’t Julius’ dad exiled from the Tower?)
Sophie’s body, drained of all color by this point, trembled.
After all, there was just no way. It would be too cruel.
She didn’t want to hear this. She didn’t want to know this. But now that she’s connected the dots, there was no way she could pretend not to know.
“…Does that mean, Julius’s dad also…?”
“Exactly. Samuel Löwenich committed a grave sin that shook the foundations of the Wedge Tower. As a consequence, your grandfather placed a curse on him, and he was sentenced to exile.”
She wanted to collapse onto her knees.
That meant… Sophie’s grandfather was the one who killed Julius’ father.
And now, Sophie was being ordered to kill Julius too.
(No way!… I don’t want to…!)
She came to the Wedge Tower because she didn’t want to kill people with her curses, but it was all just a scam. It was just too cruel.
Sophie desperately forced her trembling throat to work and strung out her thoughts.
“I–I– can’t… I can’t do that sort of thing…”
“If you say you cannot do this, then you only need to return to the Schwarzenberg Family and have them send a different Shaman who can.”
No matter what she did, she couldn’t prevent Julius from being cursed to death.
No matter what, Sophie wouldn’t be able to avoid her fate as a Shaman.
(Why? …Why does it have to turn out like this? What did I do wrong?)
Her welling teardrops and drops of sweat formed a puddle on the floor.
(I knew I could never be a normal girl. But still… I thought I’d at least have the freedom not to have to kill anyone, right?)
And on top of that, the person in question was her own classmate.
The Schwarzenberg Family truly had been abandoned by God.
Sophie bawled and sobbed, but Miriam neither lost her temper nor expressed sympathy.
Hers was not the coldness of a heartless villain. It was the cold and calculating nature of one who has given their all to the duty of protecting the Wedge Tower as it was.
“Tomorrow morning, I will come to ask you once more. I want you to make a decision by then.”
With that blunt instruction, Miriam gave an order to Linke, who stood behind her.
“Linke, make arrangements for her to spend the night in the Library Office.”
“Understood.”
That meant Sophie wouldn’t be allowed to leave the Library Office.
She wouldn’t be allowed to return to the other Apprentices.
The Guidance Office, within the First Spire: White Smoke, was filled with a heavy atmosphere.
The Director, Hegelich, in particular. Even though he projected a calm front, he kept fidgeting with his glasses, and could not hide his shaking.
Röhm and Armster, the assigned Instructors to the Apprentice Mages, acted similarly.
Among this group, the ever-smiling Sombart spoke with a face that said ‘Oh dear, this is quite the problem.’
“Sheesh, you know, things have really gotten bad, huh?”
“Please take this more seriously, Sombart. You do understand we are talking about a problem caused by your student here, yes?”
“Yes, of course! I am terribly distraught about the whole thing. Of course it must be some sort of mistake, Julius would never commit treason! I believe we absolutely must send an appeal to Spiremaster Abel and Assistant Headmaster Miriam at once!”
“…We’ve already done that, you.”
(Oh? He’s already done that, huh.)
It seemed like Hegelich wasn’t planning on doing nothing and just letting Julius rot.
But Sombart was convinced that his appeal would never go through.
The Wedge Tower was divided between the Modern School and the Classical School, and as it stood, the Classical School held all the power.
The Classical School mages in question were Assistant Headmaster Miriam and Spiremaster Abel of the First Spire: White Smoke. Hegelich had by far the weakest standing among the First Spire’s Directors.
To support Hegelich’s point, Röhm spoke hesitantly.
“The higher-ups only said that the cause for Julius’ imprisonment was the crime of treason, and obscured all the important details. This is something that has to do with the way the Tower itself is run, so they said they can’t share information with anyone of the rank of Director or lower…”
Röhm, who cared for her students more than anyone else, drew her brows together beneath her short bangs and muttered.
“I really want to find some way to have Julius released, but… It seems like Julius himself has been uncooperative with the investigation and has stayed silent the whole time…”
Suddenly, a thought struck Sombart. Julius had a powerful contracted spirit with him, didn’t he?
The Flame Spirit Agniol wasn’t very smart, but held nigh bottomless mana.
“By the way, what happened to Julius’ contracted spirit?”
“Agniol appears to be cooperating. Most likely, Julius has ordered her to stand by. At the moment, she’s had a seal placed on her and is being stored in the White Smoke’s treasure room.”
Röhm answered Sombart’s question.
It seemed like Röhm had been running around trying to negotiate and asking what people know in her attempts to have Julius released. That was something that his assigned instructor, Sombart, should have been doing.
She had to deal with her student Ella Frank’s surgery recovery, researching her own mana organ damage, teaching her own students, preparing teaching materials for the Guidance Office, and more. She had more work to do than anybody else, but even at times like this, Röhm would devote her all for the sake of her students.
Sombart didn’t care much what happened to Julius, but he would be in a lot of trouble if it came out that he was the one collaborating with him. Sombart had been the one to copy and give to Julius that key to the garden cabin.
(If it gets out that I made that key, things’ll get real bad for me… There’s a chance they might use mental interference magic in the interrogation too. Maybe I should start getting ready to flee soon.)
Sombart secretly scanned the faces of the other Instructors.
Hegelich looked exhausted, Röhm was thinking to see if she could find something she could do, and Armster was the same nervous-looking middle-aged man he always was.
(Actually, now that I think about it, Mr. Hütter did say he thought Mr. Armster had some hidden depths to him…)
It would probably be rude to ask about that himself.
If Armster was hiding something, then a true villain like Hütter should be the one to expose those secrets for all the world to see. He just wanted to watch that happen from a front-row seat.
Sombart checked the clock. It was just about time to feed the pigeons.
While Hütter had secretly brought one with him, there were no signs of that pigeon — Poppo Three or Four, he couldn’t remember — returning yet.
Sombart kept his ‘Instructor face’ up and spoke regretfully.
“If only Mr. Hütter were here at a time like this… I’m sure Mr. Hütter would have been able to alleviate the students’ worries.”
Then, the bad man who loves bad men whispered within his heart.
(If only Mr. Hütter were here, he could have made this situation a whole lot more interesting!)