[Lifespan Remaining: 2 days, 16 hours, 31 minutes.]
One would imagine that allowing a catastrophe to happen so close to the Royal Capital would cause many people to start questioning or maybe try to pry into the event.
Yet, no one managed to, mostly because Duke Amon had sealed Altaire behind a wall of bureaucracy before the floodwaters had even receded.
No one was allowed to enter the city while witnesses were placed under protection. While any sneaky dealings were quickly dealt with from behind the veil of shadows.
That was why the man himself left Altaire with barely a night’s rest, leaving the troubles behind for Amelia to deal with. And as promised, Noct had given up a ten-percent equity over to House Rosenthal, honoring the promise he made with Aurora prior.
As for Lenia, she really had decided to move her witch’s spire to the mines, acting as a "lighthouse" of sorts, as well as continuing her quest to contract with a spirit.
That, or she could be waiting for Undyne to show up again, all nice and healthy, so she could strong-arm the spirit into a contract. Either way, she was going to stay here, but Noct wasn’t sure if she was going to become a professor at Rexford Academy like she was supposed to be in the original story.
And speaking about Rexford Academy...
"I haven’t attended a single class," Noct muttered. "How the hell am I already the worst student in the Academy?"
Noelle replied from behind him, dressed in her usual maid outfit. "Your absence is precisely the problem, Young Master."
"Well, not my fault that Altaire was getting destroyed!"
"If I remember correctly, the reason you came to Altaire was to steal the crystal mines—"
"Hey! And I was also the person who saved it as well!"
"According to the records," Noelle shook her head. "It was Lady Lenia who stopped Altaire from being destroyed."
"Ugh..."
Noct slowly lowered the letter, a part of him already regretted allowing someone else to take credit for what he did. With nothing more to say, he climbed into one of the carriages prepared for House Arcadia. Noelle entered after him and took the seat opposite his own.
Noct looked back out the window, at the city that brought him many benefits that he would’ve never been able to gain alone.
Yet...it also exposed a huge problem.
He knew from here on out, the plot would be stirring, and they would finally step onto the main stage of the original game...Rexford Academy.
And its protagonist, who would likely transmigrate into the body of this world’s protagonist—Robin de Fortis, in just a few days. Meaning...this world would have two transmigrators.
Worse, Robin would awaken in a world that had already changed. Noct de Arcadia was still alive, Faust was dead. And the Altaire Crystal Mines belonged to someone it had never belonged to before.
But that didn’t matter really, as Noct never wanted to stick to the original plot in the first place. The story was terrible, and the way Robin did things was wrong.
If someone had to correct it, then Noct would do it himself—
Even if that meant playing the villain.
***
Inside a mansion on the outskirts of the Royal Capital, a knight staggered through the halls. Blood seeped through the gaps in his armor, leaving scattered droplets across the polished floor. A deep wound ran along his back, and part of the cloth that had been concealing his face was still missing.
It was clear that he had just gotten out of some kind of encounter, yet reporting on his duties seemed more important. He wasn’t afraid of the bleeding, but of failing his mission.
Pushing the double doors, a blonde man sat at his desk, and another with dark hair and red eyes sat in the guest chairs, casually drinking a cup of tea.
"Oh? If it isn’t Don?" the blonde man commented. "Tell me what happened? I expect good news?"
"Sir, Lord Faust is dead," he went on. "Leviathan has been banished, the Baron’s records were taken, and I was told the crystal mine has fallen under the control of Noct de Arcadia."
"But this wouldn’t have happened if the Royal Shadows didn’t show up! They ruined everything!" the knight captain explained.
"Oh?" the blonde man asked with amusement. "But I never sent any? Perhaps information leaked and my brother or that pesky sister managed to."
But it seemed the dark-haired man seemed more interested in something else. "Noct...? I did hear that he survived, but why was he all the way in Altaire?"
Don Maverick’s body trembled, expecting a punishment for breaking all but good news to his superior. But instead, a simple laugh carried itself through the room.
"Ha!" the blonde man laughed. "It is quite unfortunate. Still, a Disaster Spirit manifested within the territory governed by my brother’s greatest supporter. Father has already summoned Duke Arcadia to Rexford for questioning."
"What about the correspondence intended to implicate my brother’s faction?" the blonde man turned to ask.
"Lord Faust began the ritual before it could be placed inside the Baron’s records."
The prince’s smile diminished. "Then the primary objective failed."
He casually turned one of the documents resting on his desk, sighing softly. "Still, every noble considering my brother’s faction will now have to wonder whether House Arcadia can even control its own lands. Altaire may not have collapsed, but this was hardly a complete loss."
The dark-haired man, however, looked a bit more upset. "Really...after all those hints I gave Faust; how to summon Leviathan, how to build the mana extraction machine—"
"How did Noct even know where to look?!"
"A witness connected to Edward reportedly wrote Altaire in his own blood before dying."
The amusement disappeared from the black-haired man’s face as well. "So Edward failed to silence all of them as well...what a blunder."
"I practically spoon-fed Faust, yet he still managed to choke!"
His red eyes settled on Don, which prompted the scared knight to speak up. "If I may...Lord Faust decided to accelerate the ritual because he believed Lord Noct was about to expose him."
"So he panicked?"
"Yes, my Lord."
"Because of a terminally-ill brat?"
"I—I don’t know. It seems like he somehow got the Witch of Black Ice’s cooperation..."
"Tch..."
The red-eyed man clicked his tongue, looking up at the large family picture hanging just above the blonde man’s desk.
It depicted two branches of the same extended family. On one side stood the blond-haired members of Rexford’s royal household. On the other was the Arcadias, distinguished by their black hair and red eyes.
Among them stood a pale, sickly boy who looked as though he might collapse before the painter could finish capturing his likeness:
Noct de Arcadia.
"Does he truly intend to step onto the main stage now?" the black-haired man muttered. "He was supposed to die before ever reaching it."
"Whatever the case..." The prince leaned back in his chair. "Our plan remains unchanged. Anyone who gets in our way will be crushed."
His eyes moved toward the same pale boy in the portrait. "Whether he is your youngest brother...or my youngest cousin."
"As for you," the prince continued, glancing at the bleeding knight now prostrating on the floor. "It would seem that you are now a wanted criminal. And quite frankly, I can’t have criminals around as the prince, can I?"
"N—no sir. Please! I’ve served you well all these years!" Don Maverick cried out. "I’ll move to another country! You won’t ever see my face again, just please—!"
But the man could never finish his sentence. His skin began to decay slowly, with purplish cracks appearing on the surface. He tried gasping for air as his body slowly deteriorated, but after a few minutes, the man no longer existed.
He was now simply dust.
"Do you mind?" the blonde hair man said.
The black-haired man nodded, opening the nearby window, where the remnants of said dust simply drifted out of the room, leaving no evidence of the former knight captain of Altaire.
Then he slowly closed the window, sighing softly to his palm. "Are you still doing that numbers thing?"
"Yeah, it suits us. Doesn’t it?"