"Ugh…."
I looked down at him. He was still too overwhelmed by pain to respond.
Just then, I felt something warm trickling from inside my nose.
I instinctively grimaced for a moment, but I quickly realized what it was.
'The curse magic is similar to before.'
I wiped the blood off with the back of my hand and smiled.
If all I got was a nosebleed after using this much magic, it wasn't too bad.
I didn't know exactly how the curse caused the bleeding, but as long as it didn't rupture my brain or heart, I could keep pushing it further.
I grabbed him by the collar and lifted him up. His eyes, still unfocused from the pain, landed on the blood staining my hand.
"For a moment, I considered that you might not be a Pleroma… but you're clearly not human."
Strauch, who had remained completely unfazed despite seeing blood mixed with magic, seemed even more impressive now.
Regardless….
'It's about time I started the interrogation.'
From my earlier calculations, I should be able to use magic four more times.
Back then, I had condensed all my power into a single attack, but I couldn't afford to do that now.
Since I had already used magic once, that left me with four chances.
Two of those would have to be spent breaking apart his spatial magic.
But even those had to be conserved for now.
The upside was that if he didn't want his spatial magic to be destroyed, he wouldn't be able to attack me too aggressively either.
I hoisted him up and kicked the chair aside.
"W-Wait!"
Wait for what?
I channeled divine power into the hand gripping his collar, then slammed his head into the floor with all my weight.
Boom—! Crash—!
"Gah…!"
When magic couldn't be used freely, I had to be efficient.
A blow like that should have severed his connection to the space he was in.
—Enter through the narrow gate.
His pupils instantly dilated.
Success.
Since mind-altering magic had just triggered, it meant the spatial layering magic had been broken.
"Spatial layering magic—the one you were using. Is that what you call it too?"
"..."
He slowly nodded.
"Right. Instead of wasting time coming up with a new name, you were busy figuring out how to exploit it further. How far has this technique spread?"
He didn't answer.
It was a vague question, to be fair.
I exhaled lightly and rephrased it.
"Is this technique confined within the Diocese of Osnabrück?"
That seemed unlikely, but I had to confirm it step by step.
And then, I saw something that made me doubt my own eyes.
He nodded.
'…It hasn't spread beyond Osnabrück?'
It had already been a week.
That meant either the bishop of Osnabrück was stalling to claim credit or he was betraying the organization.
The former was far more likely.
"Can your master summon all the people under the Diocese of Osnabrück at once?"
He nodded again.
His master would be the bishop, but for a bishop's summons to gather an entire diocese in one place?
That was some serious hierarchy. A full-on cult, really.
I chuckled and tightened my grip on his collar.
This was likely my last question.
"What's your master's name?"
"…Ain…."
"The full name."
I asked again, but he repeated the same word.
Ain was equivalent to the indefinite article "A" in English.
Since he kept giving the same answer, it seemed like that was his entire name.
At that moment, priests suddenly teleported into the room.
They wore cassocks, each with a cross and Pleroma's emblem around their necks.
There was no point in resisting—I wasn't going to waste resources on a fight right now.
Before I could even lift my head, my vision went black again.
***
How much time had passed?
Once more, I awoke to a soft sensation beneath me.
A figure stood in the distance with their back turned.
'…Eli?'
No, that wasn't right.
They had the same stark white color as Elias, but even with their hair tied back, it still reached their waist.
As I blinked to adjust my focus, the figure suddenly turned around.
"Ah, you're awake."
They smiled, their eyes curving gently.
"I heard you were looking for me. So, what is it you wanted to say?"
"..."
A face that was hard to forget.
Not because it was particularly attractive—that was too subjective a measure—but because it was simply unnatural.
There was nothing human about this person's presence.
I opened my status window.
Ainsidel
Favorability: -10
Title: A _
Health: +9.5
Mental Power: +6
Magic Power: ?
Skills: +7
Impression: +1
Luck: +5
Traits: Charm (Lv.5), A _ (Lv.8), Permanence (Lv.10)
'Ainsidel.'
This was the master of the man I had just interrogated.
I had asked for someone with more authority, and the bishop himself had come.
What a stroke of luck.
'And… a favorability of -10?'
Interesting.
Even through the status window, only his surname appeared—no given name.
Ainsidel.
A noble surname from Prussia.
I sat up and spoke.
"You must have seen everything through your subordinate."
"Haha! You're quite suspicious. Good—I'm glad to see you living up to your name."
Ainsidel sat on the edge of the bed, continuing smoothly.
"I didn't see it myself, but I did hear about it. So, what was it you wanted to tell me? You called for me, after all. I cleared my busy schedule and traveled all this way… I'd be quite disappointed if this turned out to be nothing."
"What do you plan to do with me?"
"I'll make you what you said I would."
Well, there wasn't really a better option for them.
I studied his features one by one before asking.
"How?"
"Didn't Bern tell you? That kid is smart—he must have tried to turn you already."
Bern?
Who the hell was Bern, for him to speak like this?
I stayed silent, and he shook his head lightly.
Then, in a flash, his hand was around my throat.
Boom!
"..."
"This is the same thing you did to my subordinate."
His voice was languid, as if he were speaking about the weather.
But I had bigger concerns—namely, the back of my head slamming into the floor.
As expected, Pleroma pulled insane stunts without a second thought.
I met his gaze directly and spoke.
"Who's Bern?"
"Hahahaha!"
He laughed so hard his throat was fully exposed.
In that moment, I was certain.
I hadn't spoken to him properly yet, but I already knew.
This bastard was beyond reason.
Everyone I had faced so far had at least some grasp of common sense.
But this man? He was Pleroma itself—the embodiment of everything people feared about it.
'A bishop of this level must be part of Pleroma's leadership. I guess you have to be this insane to reach that position.'
Still laughing maniacally, he suddenly locked eyes with me and spoke.
"We haven't properly introduced ourselves, have we? I'm Ain."
"In all my life, I've never met someone who asks to be called by a shortened version of their surname."
I scoffed, and Ainsidel tilted his head, as if he didn't understand.
"Your surname is Ainsidel."
"Well, well. How did you figure that out?"
He stroked his chin, intrigued, then pressed down harder on my throat.
"As expected. The one who killed Bern has to be this exceptional."
"..."
I understood now.
Without breaking eye contact, I processed what he had just said.
He was talking about Berner Strauch.
"I didn't kill him."
"No, you did."
"Well, I suppose it wouldn't be wrong to see it that way."
I had driven him to the brink of death.
Even after I admitted that, Ainsidel's grin didn't falter.
To him, my guilt was a foregone conclusion.
He was already looking beyond it.
That was the only way he could be this unfazed.
"What now?" he mused. "I guess it never occurred to you that even Pleromas might have family and friends, did it?"
"And you? Have you never considered that the people Berner Strauch tried to kill were someone's family and friends, too?"
He didn't respond.
He only smiled.
"That boy could have lived forever. What should I do? Hm? Should I turn you into Bern instead?"
"..."
Yeah. He was insane.
Abandoning our conversation midway to ramble about his own thoughts? There was no saving this one.
As I stared at him with disdain, he suddenly grinned and patted my shoulder.
"I'm joking."
Then, in one swift motion, he stood up and muttered,
"We have plenty of time… Let's get to know each other slowly."
"Must we?"
"We'll be seeing a lot of each other. I like you."
A favorability of -10 was as bad as it got. And yet, this lunatic still managed to frame it as affection.
But he wouldn't get to know me.
I already knew what I had to do.
I summoned the Retry Window.
As I fixed my gaze on Ainsidel, I whispered,
"Rewind."
***
"…Strauch's faction was based in Osnabrück, wasn't it? The contract was made with Pleroma's bishop there."
Everhardt was looking at me as he spoke.
I clutched my throat and took a deep breath.
"…Haa…."
At that moment, both Leo and Richthofen turned to stare at me.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
I brushed it off.
The dried blood that had crusted on my face was gone.
My vision was still hazy from the aftereffects of my ability, but the headache from the impact had vanished completely.
Everything had returned to its original state.
Taking a deep breath, I looked at Leo and said,
"You can return to your true form now."
"…What?"
Leo narrowed his eyes.
That was fair. It wasn't like I had suddenly stumbled upon useful information, yet I was acting as if I had.
'Return to your true form'—in other words, break the illusion cloaking you.
That was our signal to summon Narce.
The magic surrounding Leo was Narce's. If the illusion was broken, Narce would assume we were in danger and come to us immediately.
'There's one variable.'
Before coming here, we had explained everything to Marianne Baum.
We had also asked her to bring anyone resembling Michael Schulz to the Catacomb if they ever appeared.
She hadn't given an answer.
Understandable. We had used her.
Even if she refused to help, we couldn't blame her.
But first, I had to break Leo's illusion and find out if she had decided to keep her promise.
"..."
Leo stared at me, then snapped his fingers.
The illusion magic surrounding him dissipated, revealing his true form.
Everhardt and Richthofen weren't surprised—they must have expected it.
I turned to Everhardt and said,
"I'll go."
"Hm?"
"I'll cross over. But on one condition."
Everhardt tilted his head.
"Everyone here—except for you—must come as well. Is that possible?"
"The Pleromas are guarding the place. That's impossible."
Hmm.
I expected that answer.
I pointed my wand at his heart and said,
"Then make it possible."
"..."
I could feel Leo's incredulous stare, but he didn't need to overthink this.
This wasn't my problem to solve—it was theirs.
I continued,
"I'm going there to retrieve the technique your side handed over. You don't need me to explain how dangerous it would be if they grew stronger using your own methods."
"…Retrieve it?"
Richthofen looked dumbfounded.
Everhardt stared at me for a moment before saying,
"…If we stagger the timing, it should be fine. You cross over first. We'll arrive an hour later."
"Well, that would've been a nice answer earlier."
I turned to Leo.
"Tell Narce to grab whatever random person she can, steal their clothes, and come to where I am. Also, have her locate the cathedral and archives of the Osnabrück Diocese."
"Got it."
Fortunately, Leo didn't hesitate despite the morally questionable request. He simply nodded.
Without any more hesitation, I drank the drug.
***
Once again, I woke up in the same room.
"The strong drugs from the Catacomb must have upset your stomach. Starting with the next meal, we will prepare a proper course."
"Alright. Leave."
I quickly dismissed the attendant.
Then, I unfolded the piece of paper that had been in my hand since I woke up.
It was Narce's handwriting.
'Fast.'
She had written down the illusion spell formula used on Leo.
I had no idea when she had figured out what I needed, but it was perfect.
I memorized the spell's structure and visualized the form I had seen earlier.
Long, unbound white hair cascaded into my field of vision.
The illusion alone was enough to alter my perception of myself.
Carefully, I raised a hand and touched my face.
The bone structure was different from the Luca I knew.
It was my first time using this magic, but it seemed I had cast it correctly—even my voice had changed.
It felt disgusting, but this was the best approach.
I wiped away the lingering nosebleed and stood up.
Boom!
The same attendant as before burst into the room, his face filled with confusion. He looked at me, then at the empty bed.
"…My lord? Where is Lord Nicolaus…?"
Fast.
He must have sensed the magic surge from my core.
I recalled the bishop's relaxed tone and spoke.
"I sent him away."