[V9 Bonus 1] Enemy of Humanity
Translated by Jodas 9: Battle for the TowerAnneliese Röhm, traitor to humanity, kept to a minimum her interactions with the Monster whose infiltration she supported — Finn.
Whenever she did interact with him, she would always do so as an instructor speaking to an Apprentice Mage. As he belonged to a different class for individual lessons, there was a chance that interacting with him too much might garner some suspicion.
As a result, she would only help prepare supplies for him and talk to him when it was absolutely necessary.
—I made some modifications to the mana measuring device for you. If you touch it in a particular way, a predetermined number will appear. Since it will be Mr. Sombart running the evaluation, I can’t be there to help you. Be careful.
—I prepared some mana-resistant paper for when you have to emit mana, just like I gave Tia. Use this for your lessons.
—You have to use inscription magic for the magic battle? …It would be best for you to drop out as soon as possible so you don’t have to be the one pouring mana into them.
According to Finn, Tia Vogel was apparently a Harpy. Yet she hadn’t heard anything about her from the Chancellor. Finn seemed to know nothing as well.
Judging from Tia’s behavior, it appeared like Tia herself hadn’t known that Finn and Röhm were traitors either.
(…Since Monsters tend to suck at pretending to be human, Is she there as a diversion to help keep Finn’s secret from getting out?)
As a traitor to humanity, Anneliese Röhm would inevitably have to face all of the Wedge Tower as her enemies.
Nevertheless, it was no lie that she wished to protect the growth of these Apprentices.
Whenever she saw a kid trying their best, she had an urge to cheer them on. Whenever she saw the Apprentices overcoming a challenge thanks to her advice, she truly felt proud and happy for them.
(But now, this is as far as it goes… I’ve got to find a way to get those kids out of here before the Monster attack begins.)
Yet, out of all times, Julius was arrested for treason just on the eve of the Monster attack.
As far as Röhm was concerned, Julius was one of her precious students. She tried pestering the higher-ups to see if there was any way they could let him go, but it sounded like the higher-ups were dead set on cursing and exiling him.
(If I could just get Agniol’s ring to Julius… but if I did that and Agniol went berserk, it could impact our plan. It would be a huge problem if ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ got destroyed by Agniol.)
If ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ was destroyed, the Western Wall would disappear. While she thought the Monsters would rejoice at that idea, apparently the Chancellor had different plans.
The Chancellor wanted to bring ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ under his control. By impaling Crystal Rivets into Chariclea, he said they’d be able to infect the Wedge Tower with crystal contamination.
(Crystal Rivets… They’re nothing like Modern magical devices. These are dangerous things; a lot closer to Ancient Magical Artifacts, if anything.)
Yet with these, Röhm’s prayers would be answered.
The moment she implanted these in her body, Anneliese Röhm’s wishes would come true, and she would become a true enemy of humanity.
As she held a trembling hand over the pocket where she hid the Crystal Rivets, she heard a knock on the door to the preparation room.
“Ms. Röhm, I came to help you… clean up the supplies…”
It was Finn who entered the room.
With Crystal Rivets embedded into the soles of his feet, Finn always dragged his feet as he walked. It was no act; it looked like it really did hurt to walk. Of course it did. Even a monster would feel pain if they tried walking around with thorns stabbed into the soles of their feet.
Thanks to that truly painful-looking leg-dragging gait of his, Finn could easily cover for his Monster-like traits. It was totally different from a Harpy’s obviously unnatural way of walking around.
“Then by all means, I’d appreciate the help. Could you pack the documents on this shelf into a box for me?”
“Aren’t these… the ones about mana organ damage…?”
“Yes, I was thinking… I should pass the ones that might be helpful on to Mr. Hütter.”
While she would be healing her body the wrong way, she hoped that Hütter would manage to heal his mana organs through a proper, human method.
(He’s not a traitor like me. He’s a good teacher at heart. That’s why… I want him to heal his damaged mana organs and put them to use for his students’ sake.)
She knew it was presumptuous of her, yet Röhm couldn’t help but project her dreams onto Hütter.
“Ms. Röhm, I… want to save Julius.”
“Yes, in fact I was on my way to pester the higher-ups about that just now. I fully intend to be as persistent as possible.”
“Rose is going to run away with Sophie and Julius tonight.”
Her hand, holding on to one of the documents, froze in place. Röhm put on a calm face and glanced at Finn out of the corner of her eye.
Finn was looking up at her with a tense expression.
“Tell me the details.”
Finn acted like he was checking the contents of the documents as he laid out the plans for the night’s operation in a hushed whisper.
Roswitha and Ella would retrieve Agniol from where she was sealed within the First Spire: White Smoke. Then, they would send the ring back to Julius using a fish of water. Rose, meanwhile, would use a defensive barrier to build a ramp for Sophie to escape on, then link up with Julius and escape the Tower.
Once she’d heard the gist of it, Röhm spoke her honest impressions aloud.
“Your chances of success are quite low.”
“Eh…?”
“Agniol’s ring has been locked away with an anti-spirit seal cast by an advanced mage. Do you think just Roswitha and Ella alone would be able to dispel it? I doubt they would even be able to reach the ring in the first place.”
“Augh…”
“And even if you did get the ring to Julius, you’re relying too much on Agniol. Julius himself isn’t terribly nimble, so I can’t imagine him running away from anyone from the Golden Needle who chases after him.”
“Eugh… T- That’s why, I…”
Finn ground his teeth together. By doing so, the two missing upper teeth on his left side stood out.
Since Finn was short, kept his head down, and rarely spoke loudly, he managed to keep people from noticing it.
Those missing teeth represented his missing honor.
“Tonight, I’m gonna cause a scene during the plan. If I went back to Monster form and went wild… I think I could buy them some time.”
“That would mean all of the Chancellor’s plans would go to waste, though.”
“I– I know… but…”
Finn hunched over where he stood. He held his knees against his chest and sniffled.
“Julius taught me so much. And Sophie loves happy endings… I can’t just let Sophie curse Julius like that… Anything but that…”
Röhm fought back her instinct to let out a deep sigh.
Being so desperate for a peer’s sake. Searching for any way you can help.
How nostalgic. As far as Röhm was concerned, one’s ties with their peers were an irreplaceable treasure. Surely, Finn thought the same way.
“Let’s push forward our plan and kidnap the contractor then.”
“Eh?”
Originally, they were supposed to initiate the operation when the King of Monsters returned from Darwock.
When the time came, she would bring the Apprentices outside under the guise of doing some ‘field exercises,’ while Finn planned to remain at the Wedge Tower by claiming to feel unwell.
Yet at this rate, Julius would be cursed and exiled. The Apprentices’ plan to let Julius and Sophie escape looked unlikely to succeed.
(In that case, either way… we’ll have to push forward our plans and kidnap the contractor tonight.)
If the Western Wall disappeared, then the Wedge Tower would definitely fall into chaos.
And if the King of Monsters came back, then all they’d have to do was attack ‘Chariclea, the Wedge Tower’ again.
“I’ll drug everyone working at the First Spire: White Smoke to make it easier for Ella and Roswitha to sneak in. I’ll also undo the seal on Agniol’s ring.”
“Uh, um…?”
“Rose wants to let Julius and Sophie escape, right? If Monsters were to attack at that moment… I don’t think anyone would bother chasing after them.”
She’d already figured out where the contractor was hiding. The sealing formula was a bit of a pain, but Röhm, who had mastered both Modern and Classical Magecraft, had already worked out a formula to undo it.
“When the time comes, escape outside with the other Apprentices. I’ll keep an eye out to make sure the Monsters don’t attack the Apprentices, but it’s not like I can give orders to Monsters, so I need you to watch out, alright? Roswitha in particular has a grudge against the Primordial Beast, so…”
“The Primordial Beast doesn’t kill kids, so I think it’ll be fine…”
“I can’t trust what counts as ‘not killing’ to a Monster.”
Röhm used to be a member of the Extermination Office. She’d seen countless people suffer fates worse than death at the hands of Monsters.
Finn fell into uneasy silence at Röhm’s words. Right, this little boy was a Monster as well.
“Once the Apprentices get close to the outside, I’ll blow a hole in the outer walls. And if I’m going to be blowing a hole in the walls, I guess it would be best for me to position myself up on the roof. You on the ground, me on the roof. I won’t be able to support you much that way, though. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sure the Chancellor will have all kinds of complaints afterwards, but… let’s make this plan a success.”
“Yeah!”
Anneliese Röhm had one more reason for carrying out the plan for the Monster attack on the Wedge Tower early.
(Mr. Hütter is still out of town right now… If we carried out the mission tonight, we won’t have to get him involved.)
From here on out, the Wedge Tower would be thrown into chaos. Blood would most certainly be spilt.
That was precisely why she wanted the man she trusted, the Dream Mage Caspar Hütter, to guide the Apprentices Mages for her.