Chapter 58 Information Warfare
“Delphine’s testimony and this investigation make it clearer.”
La Rouge headquarters.
Inside the heavily fortified building, thanks to the recently acquired phosium, the three leaders were gathered together.
Lynn turned to Belly and Marianne at the round table.
“Pride returned to District 3 as a fugitive slave three years ago. Then, a year ago, he killed a thousand people and gained immense power.”
He then became the Marquis of Pride, a hero of the Empire, using his mysterious powers to manipulate the memories of people in the Empire.
“Yeah. That’s weird…”
Marianne asked in confusion as Belly mumbled to herself.
“Brainwashing that many people at once… How on earth does he have that kind of power?”
“That’s something we don’t know yet…”
Belly replied, her expression blank, as if she were far away.
“But I do know that they are different from the Veritas who use the Black Crystal…”
“Delphine asked.”
Turning to Gwen, Lynn asked in a calm tone.
“She was wondering why she was the only one who remembered the Pride intact, and if it had something to do with her ability to charge phosium.”
Belly’s otherworldly expression changed at that question.
“… Yes, that’s what I’m most curious about, too. I’ll have to do more research into his birth.”
Lynn asked, his brow furrowing slightly at the piercing look in those blue eyes.
“Belly, just out of curiosity, I hope you’re not thinking of something strange?”
Maybe it was because she was so smart, but sometimes she didn’t seem human.
Sometimes she seemed inhuman, like a god watching the chessboard from afar.
Lynn added in a slightly harsher tone.
“She’s not a chess piece.”
“…”
But Belly didn’t answer, a grim smile on her angelic face.
Marianne joined in.
“Lynn’s right, if we treat humans like chess pieces, what makes us any different from the Emperor and the rest of them?”
But Belly’s face did not soften at the words of her old friends.
“But Lynn, Marianne.”
Belly spoke in a low voice, her face as emotionless as a statue.
“We are fighting demons now…To read their thoughts, I must become one myself.”
***
It was a few days later that the radio rang after a long silence.
[“Look at the window.”]
Delphine immediately went to the study window.
A transparent pigeon was perched calmly on the window sill.
The Marquis of Pride seemed to have noticed something, and he said he would be on heightened alert…
Was he worried that someone might be eavesdropping?
Even the radio wasn’t reassuring anymore.
Delphine untied the note from the pigeon’s obviously magical leg.
Immediately, the invisible pigeon became a handful of light and dispersed into thin air.
Back on the couch in the study, Delphine read the note and muttered in a very low voice.
“Serial disappearances…?”
The note was about a recent spate of mysterious disappearances in Netherfield, District 3.
Delphine couldn’t help but think of the Blonde Devil immediately.
Even if District 3 was the site of many mysterious disappearances and deaths, could there be such a coincidence?
La Rouge also noticed the strangeness of the case, and after investigating it, he found a connection to a high-ranking nobleman.
It was the Duke of Purcell, one of the Three Dukes.
Her mission was to gather as much information and rumors about the Duke of Purcell as she could within District 1.
“Information warfare…”
After reading the letter slowly once more, Delphine burned the note in a candle.
After a moment’s further consideration, she pulled out another note.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
Delphine nodded slightly, and the user bowed deeply before exiting, closing the parlor door behind her.
The room was lavishly decorated to the point of blatant opulence.
The wallpaper was pink with flowers and the sofa was red.
The porcelain and tableware were all gilded.
As he stood admiring the room’s taste, the parlor door burst open.
“Mrs. Pride!”
“Countess Megan.”
Delphine smiled and greeted them.
Countess Megan came bustling in, her gorgeous feathered dress fluttering.
“My goodness, I’m so glad you’re here, I’ve been meaning to call you since I’ve finally recovered.”
She coughed out a rather raspy sound.
Delphine wasn’t surprised to hear that she’d been in shock for a while after the last fire, but she didn’t respond.
“Well. Are you feeling better now?”
“Much better. More than that, I want to thank you for saving my life that day, Mrs. Pride.”
She added, dabbing at her dry eyes with her handkerchief.
“I really should have followed my husband to his death… What would a widow do living all alone?”
“I don’t think you’re entitled to say that.”
Delphine sat back in her seat, trying not to remember the unfamiliar sounds that had come from beyond the waiting room that day.
“It was a terrible accident, and the violinist is missing, isn’t he?”
“Yes. But rumor has it…”
She said, lowering her voice unnecessarily.
“They say a burned body was found in that waiting room.”
“That’s too bad.”
Surprisingly, she didn’t seem too sad to hear that the man she’d fallen in love with was dead.
“It’s a shame, he was so big and good… I mean his violin, of course, you know?”
Countess Megan added hastily.
“Yes. We’ve lost a great musician.”
“Well, it’s a good thing none of the nobles were hurt too badly. In fact, who cares if a commoner or two die!”
Delphine merely smiled awkwardly, and took another sip of tea instead of answering.
The lady wasn’t a bad person, if a little overly frank. Such was the general perception of the nobility of District 1.
“By the way, did you hear the rumor? Well, Lord Daze…”
Luckily, she was a talkative woman, and was able to fill Delphine in on social gossip before she had to ask.
That was why Delphine had come to her today.
Delphine listened quietly, picking out the useful information from the chatter.
“… So, you do know that the Marquis of Humphreys’ lord is missing, don’t you, and it’s causing the Duke of Purcell a great deal of trouble.”
“Oh?”
Finally, after all the social gossip, the Duke’s name came up.
It was the topic she’d been waiting for.
Delphine swallowed hard on the ginger cookie in her mouth and asked slowly.
“If the Marquis of Humphreys is missing, why is the Duke of Purcell in trouble?”
Countess Megan chuckled and threw up her hands.
“Ho-ho. I know, it’s what you get when you’re old; I keep forgetting that your ladyship has been out of society for a while, and that’s…”
She whispered to Delphine, her voice unnecessarily low.
“Not long ago, the Marquis of Humphreys challenged the Duke of Purcell to a duel.”
“A duel?”
“Yes. For reasons I can’t say, but on the grounds that the nobleman’s honor had been grievously defamed.”
“My goodness. And what happened?”
Delphine asked, looking deliberately exaggeratedly surprised in order to draw more of the story out of her.
Duke Purcell.
Head of one of the Empire’s only three ducal families, he was a man who had never lifted anything heavier than a silver spoon in his life.
The Marquis of Humphreys, on the other hand, was a young changeling and war veteran.
“Well, to my surprise, His Majesty the Emperor arbitrated the duel.”
“What? His Majesty himself?”
Delphine asked, her eyes widening at the unexpected news.
Dueling was a tradition and custom of noble honor, and it was highly impolite for even the Emperor to interfere.
“Yes, it is!”
“Do you happen to know… Why?”
Delphine asked, her eyes shining sharply, and the lady shrugged her round shoulders.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? The Duke of Purcell has recently made a great deal of gold.”
The implication was that the Emperor had sided with the Duke in his coveting of the gold.
But as far as Delphine knew, it was far more likely the other way around.
It was possible that the Duke had gone under the Emperor’s secret society called Veritas, and thus had suddenly gained the gold and his favor…
“Anyway, after that suspicious duel, the Marquis’s son suddenly went missing, and people are suspecting that the Duke secretly retaliated.”
“I see…”
“They say the Marquis is nearly insane, as he cared so much for his only son.”
“…”
Delphine remembered the Marquis of Humphreys, whom she had met at a social party once.
Unlike most noblemen, he was imposing and flamboyant, not a man to be brought down by anything.
Then, for the first time since the conversation had begun, Countess Megan, who had been silent, suddenly added.
