Arknights, but the sickly pretty girl starts

As if granted permission, many thin figures appeared in the sunset.

Under the setting sun, the figure, like countless strands of silk, saluted the Lord of the Lich King's Court with one hand on their chest. They had probably been standing there all along, pretending to be ordinary students and teachers. But from that moment on, they no longer worried about being different from other Leithanians.

The liches all raised their hands.

Countless faint threads extended from their bodies and disappeared into the thick clouds in the sky.

The star-like light descended, and many students, looking up, saw dusk, night, and dawn simultaneously.

Amidst the splattering starlight, the black flames on the ground retreated silently. Soon, the entwined shadows also disappeared into the dreamlike rain.

That was the liches' farewell, and they also cleared away the last remaining flames.

From then on, there was no trace of the lich in the tower of Leithania.

-

"The rising Utica Chamber destroyed the original land of Ludwig University. Coupled with the influence of Herhunzollon's spell, the school is temporarily unable to operate normally. Currently, the Queen's Voice has taken over the cleanup task from the military police. Teachers and students who were not affected have also been moved out of the school and relocated to the nearest Ostendorf block. The cleanup work will last about a week, after which they will be able to return to campus..."

The engineer in charge of the report reported the specific damage to the two queens, but when mentioning the repair suggestions for Ludwig University, Helinmart spoke.

"No need for that. The Ludwig University Library will be moved to the New Leopold District and placed under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Museum. The remaining school buildings will be merged with the Imperial School of Magic in the Bach District. The remaining old plots belonging to Utica will be destroyed by the Golden Rule Guards."

"But Your Majesty..." The engineer's expression changed. Something about this... didn't seem right. "In that case, Ludwig University..."

"Ludwig University will become history," Herinmart replied. "This is my decision..."

"...But..." The engineer himself was a student from Ludwig University. Naturally, he could not accept the fact that his alma mater was about to disappear. However, when he looked at the White Queen, Liselotte, beside him for help, Liselotte also slowly shook her head.

It seemed to be saying that there was nothing he could do.

"This incident has caused great losses to Leitania, and naturally someone will be held responsible—but this is a disaster, but also an opportunity. Ludwig University has also been exposed during this attack. This school has always been too independent, almost independent of Leitania. Students who have left this school have always called themselves Ludwig students, not Leitanians. This is not a good thing."

Helinmart has always been so decisive. Viviana, who was standing by, had just woken up from a coma. After learning from Kola that Noah was safe, she regained some spirit. This time, she came to report.

But before she returned, she still saw such a heartbreaking scene...

"Your Majesty..." After the engineer left, Viviana also came to the front of the hall and bowed according to etiquette.

"Your work is well done. Liselotte thinks highly of you." Helinmart's attitude towards Viviana was much better. "You were also very active in this incident. In my opinion, you completed your work perfectly, even exceeding my expectations of you."

"Your Majesty, I'm too kind." Viviana shook her head. "This whole thing... I didn't make any decent decisions, and I also have unshirkable responsibility for the Ludwig University incident."

"There's no need to bring up closed cases." Helinmart shook her head. "There's no need to be so hard on yourself—"

"Your Majesty, I'm here to ask for your help on an important matter." Viviana thought for a moment and decided to ask, "Arturo, can I meet with the woman involved in the case, Sacotta?"

"reason?"

"...It's to satisfy my curiosity. After all... Arturo can be said to be one of the first masterminds to be arrested in this incident... I want to know if she has any connection with my father's death. Can you allow me..."

"I told you, Hochberg." Herinmart stopped addressing Viviana by her given name, her meaning clear. "The case of the Witch King's remnants stealing the copy of the Golden Rule is closed."

"……I see."

Although it was said to be completed, the real copy of Golden Rule did not return to Leitania, and Viviana knew it very well.

This incident...is not over yet.

After Viviana left, Liselotte sighed softly. "Helinmart, you don't have to treat Viviana like this. She's done her best. It's not impossible for her to go see Arturo. After all, we're ready to extradite Arturo back to Lateran, aren't we?"

"Lizelotte, that's what you should do." Helinmart shook her head. "I have my own ideas and plans. We don't need Viviana to get in the middle of our decision."

"...Hey, Helinmart..." Liselotte, the White Queen always appears gentle to the outside world, which is completely different from Helinmart. Many people also think that compared to the cold, hard and tough Helinmart, Liselotte can be called a "model of a benevolent monarch."

But...if you think Liselotte is easy to talk to, then that would be pure stupidity.

When the two queens jointly ruled Leithania, there were quite a lot of voices of opposition - but gradually, these voices gradually disappeared.

Besides the blood on Helinmart's blade, could the White Queen really avoid getting her white gloves dirty?

"The Queen's Celebration is coming soon. We shouldn't make any mistakes, Liselotte." Helinmart stood up, leaving Liselotte with her back. "This is all for Leitania, Liselotte."

"…Everything for Leitania."

Chapter 48: Storm is coming

Nothing happened...

In other words, nothing that should have happened happened. Everything seemed to happen naturally. After Franz decided to extract the echoes of the world, Noah and Fremont joined forces. After an afternoon of preparation, the two of them worked together to extract the echoes of the world from Franz's head.

Everything ended just like that... It ended so suddenly.

There were no surprises, no changes, the voice completely left Franz's head without even causing any unexpected movement.

Franz was a little dazed. He had thought that extracting this thing would be an arduous and difficult battle. He had thought that he would have to fight against the will of the Witch King, and might even trigger the Witch King's resurrection again. But nothing happened. Everything was as normal as the wind blowing through the treetops, without even leaving any trace.

"I told you, this thing isn't a threat at all—" Flemont curled his lips, the small snippet of noise being absorbed by Noya's music box, completely fading away. "It's like a bunch of people nervously gathering together to light a fire and blow up the Twin Towers, only to unleash a claw beast no bigger than you in the sewers and listen to its muffled fart."

"Didn't they say... the melody in my head could summon the Horn of Origin? Could it be... they were lying to me?"

"Not necessarily." Noah shook his head. "It's certainly possible, but not every melody can do it."

"……What's the meaning?"

"Not every key can open the door! Don't equate Herhunzollen's research with the garbage they stuffed into your head," Fremont said disdainfully. "Those idiots who were bombing the infected didn't come up with anything! [Voice of the World]... Can anyone who gets this thing tell the difference between serious creation and a post-meal burp? Gerhard just stuffed this thing into your heads? I'll dig him out of the ground and beat him up, okay?"

"...Master, you've said this is indeed a piece of music from the Sorcerer King, but that's all there is to it—it doesn't mean anything from the Sorcerer King is a masterpiece. Even the greatest musicians don't always create the most unprecedented pieces." Noah helplessly defended his master, "Teacher's strength isn't based on earthly music..."

"But... they say that the Witch King's clone resides in the Voice of the World."

"...Uh..." Noya was also at a loss. She thought for a moment and then explained. "If the Witch King's soul could truly be carried by a single melody, then he wouldn't have been assassinated by the Twins... Because he's omnipresent, and no human soul could withstand so much fragmentation..."

"Stupid! So damn stupid! I really thought there was something special in your head, but it turned out to be just a bunch of noise! ​​This noise! ​​It's useless! They don't understand Herhunzollon at all!"

"Ahaha..." Noah smiled bitterly. In fact, Herhunzollon was probably speechless at this time. He and Fremont had the same idea. They felt that it was unlikely that the remnants of the Witch King would use a meaningless melody to force their descendants, but the facts proved... they had no ability to distinguish music at all.

As a result, both Herhunzollon and Fremont were fooled by the actions of the Witch King Echo.

As expected, if you want to plot against a smart person, you can only let a fool make the plan...

"...The noise...because of this..."

"...Mr. Franz, are you okay?" Noah looked at the young man who had finally cheered up with some worry. In fact, Noah was also deceived. She could understand Franz's feelings to some extent. Who could have known that the so-called echo of the world found by the Witch King's Echo was actually such a thing... To be honest, the purity of that noise was not as good as the one she received in Casimir.

"What about those voices in my head?"

"...Maybe...it's just an auditory hallucination?" Noah guessed. After all, that noise couldn't possibly convey any meaningful words. But it was obvious that for Franz, this was as shameful as admitting in front of everyone that he was a big-time chuunibyou. If Noah hadn't persuaded him before, he would probably be furious now.

But now - apart from the shame, he just wanted to find a place to hide.

Ridiculous, absurd, he would be driven to despair because of something like this... something like this...

"Mr. Franz, you are already free. You don't need to care about these things. You just had an illness. Now you are cured and you are free. Isn't this what you want?"

"……what?"

"You said you didn't want to suffer this because of your bloodline. Now, everything is over. Even if the remnants of the Witch King still exist, they won't be able to mobilize again in the short term. The echoes of the mortal world in your mind have disappeared. Now, you have nothing to do with the [Witch King]."

Of course, what Noah said was not just his own thoughts, but also the thoughts of Herhunzollon himself.

"You are free."

"...freedom..." Franz smiled bitterly, "I don't feel sad, I just... find it funny."

"Mr. Franz."

"No, Miss Noa, I don't mean to complain. I genuinely find it funny. I've always considered myself the protagonist of a tragedy, but now I realize that what I've been pursuing has been right beside me all along. I ignored it. From now on, I will live as Franz—you're right, I have nothing to do with the Witch King anymore."

"I'm glad you think so." Noah breathed a sigh of relief. In fact, she was worried that Franz would go crazy because of the huge difference in psychological expectations.

"What are you going to do next?" Noah asked curiously, "How are you going to spend the rest of your life?"

"I... maybe... I'll become a civilian... maybe go back to Rhodes Island?" Franz frowned. He hadn't really made up his mind. After all, he hadn't expected everything to go so smoothly. "Anyway... I probably won't stay in Leithania anymore."

"Although this is also good..." Noah sighed, "But, Mr. Franz, do you remember... you are not actually a white body?"

"..." Franz was silent. After all, he still had the identity of "Count of Utica". "I..."

"I have no intention of deciding whether you stay or go, but I believe you have indeed gained your freedom, but what about your subjects?" Noah sighed. "Utica Territory, I took a brief look at the situation before completing this treatment. The situation there is not good. In the dispute between the Witch King Yuyin and the Twin Queens, Utica Territory is more like a victim. The battlefield between the two..."

Franz fell silent at Noya's question. Indeed, no matter how much he hated his identity and his bloodline, what about those subjects?

Or in other words, what is his real hometown like?

In the end, he still wanted to escape... escape...

Although very gentle, Noah was actually asking him a very pointed question.

You despise the bloodline of the Witch King, but have you ever sought out those who were harmed by him over the years to help them and compensate them?

You resent your position as Count of Utica. But have you ever paid attention to the safety of your subjects, or noticed how Utica is gradually withering between the Twin Queens and the remnants of the Witch King?

You lament that you are the only one who survived. But you still don't cherish the life in front of you and put your life in danger at all times.

You said you were trapped in a tower, unable to be free. But who on earth has never cast his gaze on others outside the cage?

These questions were not asked by Noah himself, but... doesn't he know it himself?

"Those things... are not what I want..." Franz didn't want to face all this in his heart, so he retorted.

However, Noah sighed at this moment.

"...I know this isn't what you want, but...Mr. Franz. Leitania may not need a [Descendant of the Witch King], but the Utica Territory definitely needs the Count of Utica. Besides, are you planning to just give up like that?"

"Give up? Miss Noah...what are you talking about?"

"I mean...are you going to give up on your revenge?"

"...?"

Franz was truly bewildered. What was Miss Noya talking about? Was she urging him to seek revenge? Against whom? Against the Twin Queens? Or against Echo of the Witch King? But hadn't Echo of the Witch King already been completely destroyed? Was there still a need for him to intervene?

And what does this have to do with the Utica Territory?

Seeing Franz's confusion, Noah could only continue speaking.

"Yes, revenge. You can certainly go to Rhodes Island and hide. I'm sure the Twin Queens would be happy to see that. They expect you to become a wealthy man, never return to the circle of power, and not shake their rule. Your very existence is a threat to them." Noah was very blunt this time. "But you can run, but Utica can't. The Witch King's influence is not just his echoes—to put it bluntly, his legacy is everywhere. The next echo of the Witch King, the next person forced to become a test subject like you, could appear at any time."

"...You mean...I should take on this responsibility?"

"It's not that you should, it's that now, only you can do it..." Noya shook her head. "I'm just suggesting. You don't have to listen to me. I can't decide your future. But... Utica County is your home, right?"

"Home..." The word was so unfamiliar. He always forgot that his time in Utica wasn't completely dark, and he wasn't completely devoid of affection for it. But it wasn't those words that moved him so much as the two words before them.

--revenge.

Indeed, he seemed relieved, but in essence it was still a compromise with his own powerlessness.

In this Terra, if you don't master power... you will only be harmed by it—

"I understand." Franz nodded. "I'll do it. I have to try... At least there shouldn't be another chalk."

Flemont and Ermengarde didn't interrupt, as this conversation no longer concerned them. They were heading to Kazdel, one of the Ten Kings' Courts, and would return to Kazdel. Although the Ten Kings' Court was now in name only, who knew what would happen next...

The Sarkaz souls have disappeared, and the Sarkaz today are no longer the same as before.

For Fremont, this is also a major change that has not been seen in a thousand years. Perhaps, this is a new beginning, perhaps...

It’s not over yet…

"You are... Oh, sorry, sir, I didn't recognize you just now! Ms. Cora, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to visit the prisoner, Arturo." Cora, the tuner of the Leitanian Royal Orchestra, held a position not easily attainable by ordinary people. This was sufficient evidence of her standing before the two queens, and it was indeed not something a mere gendarme could touch. "Do you need to report it?"

"No!! It's just... Ms. Cora, my little daughter likes you very much. Can you give me an autograph?"

"...Of course." Cora didn't expect that she actually had fans, but it was true. After all, her position was something many people could only dream of. After signing her name, Cora was put into the cell. Through the iron bars, Cora also heard the sound of Arturo knocking on the iron bars.

"I thought it would be the Elector's daughter who would come first." Arturo smiled. Looking at this uninvited guest, she couldn't help but feel a little surprised.

"She is too old-fashioned. Many times, given her position, she doesn't even need to apply to the Queen first. The subordinates won't stop an elector, and they won't even stop me. She is very upright, which is a good thing, but being too upright makes it difficult to get things done." Kora shook her head and explained.

"What about you? Why are you looking for me? I can no longer use my Originium skills. As you can see, I am just a Sakota without halo and wings."

“…I came to say thank you.”

"thank?"

"...At the beginning, I invited you to actively play my inner voice...It was because of this performance that I was determined to do what I must do."

"...It seems that you are also an enlightened person. Well, what do you want? How can I help you?"

Arturo smiled, as she always did when facing the enlightened.

"...I want to destroy the Golden Rule."