—She threatened to throw herself from a building.
—Jump…
—Yes. One day, instead of attending class, she sent a letter to the professor: "I'm at the top of this castle and I'm about to jump from it. It's your fault."
Volkwin smiled and shook his head. —That's crazy.
—You think so, don't you? But my friend's madness didn't stop there. The follow-up is always the most important part. Shortly after catching people's attention, she began to be accompanied by a fierce dog everywhere, at all hours. An aggressive dog with a very tight leash. All this allowed her to win her father's protection from her siblings. "Leave her alone before you drive her more crazy." Thus, she broke free from her siblings.
—…this story. I think I've heard it somewhere.
—That's right. It's an anecdote of Princess Natasha. You knew, right? Only a few members of royalty lived a life as turbulent as Natasha's.
Natasha, who was a silly and naive imperial woman, became a completely different person after the incident. She dedicated herself to studying magic to gain power and during the magic war she joined the Magic Allied Forces to consolidate her position as a combat mage and even became a commander. Finally, she defeated her siblings and even won the role of crown princess for herself. Unfortunately, she didn't seem to have reached the throne.
Volkwin let out a hollow laugh. —In other words, you're asking me to go crazy.
—But Volkwin, the people around you don't change easily without a certain degree of madness. The same goes for her. If she hadn't made such an uproar at the expense of her own reputation, her siblings would have squeezed her dry and would never have left her in peace.
—Madness is the only way to change… Volkwin brushed his forehead with a thoughtful expression. —Ha, ha, I certainly hadn't tried to behave like a crazy person. At least until now. Thanks for your advice, Yeager.
—Excuse me? —I asked with a slight laugh —. Do I look like Yeager to you?
—Eh? Of course. Because you are Yeager.
The "exit" was a magical entity that arbitrarily restored the mental confusion of the magic's targets. Therefore, it was often modeled after something that provided stability to the target. Maybe what Volkwin thought was the reason to reach the exit was Yeager. The effect that Yeager's friendship had on him must be significant.
—Hm, his eyes must be damaged. No matter how you look at it, I have a landslide victory in the beauty department. Volkwin's figure was blurring and fading little by little since he found the exit. He was already out of there.
I passed by the remains of lights from Volkwin's presence and went deeper into the darkness. —This is all very well, but where is my exit?
Usually, if you were aware of a trap, it was inevitable that an exit from the trap would follow you. In my case, every time I fell into a trap, a younger and more childish version of myself followed me, a small and childish version of Andert.
—But why can't I see him now?
It was then. In the distance, I saw a young man with bright blonde hair running toward me. I wondered who it was, but it turned out to be Yeager. What, did you break the illusions yourself? That was a problem. My main goal was to get information out of Yeager, and only when Yeager's mental capacity was weakened by hallucinations could I get something useful from him.
—Father! I heard the professor visited our house today! I stood staring at Yeager, who stopped beside me. He was looking at a middle-aged man who had suddenly appeared in front of me with a reddened face. He didn't get rid of his hallucinations. He was running toward the hallucination.
The man, Yeager's hallucination, and also his father, nodded bluntly. —That's right.
—Did you accept my request? What about the schedule? Since the professor has become my fellow student abroad, shouldn't we review the schedule again?
—No, the professor won't join you. He'll stay here and help your brother with his classes.
Yeager's complexion gradually darkened. —Did my brother say he wanted to receive the professors' help?
—That's not true. Based on my experience, I've concluded that it would be more helpful if he helped your brother with his studies.
—But… wasn't I the one who invited this professor here?
—You're saying something strange again. The eldest son, your brother, will be the one to succeed in the family business, won't he? No matter who you invite, if it's for your brother, the right thing is that you leave it.
—Father, I've reviewed all the documents of this professor. There's a field I really want to study in the North Continental Association, and the professor is perfect for it…
—Stop right there, Yeager. Don't be so stingy. Are you trying to steal from your brother the teacher I personally chose?! Is that how I taught you?!
Yeager's position seemed to be one that was generally cast aside by his siblings. I felt sorry for Yeager, whose expression turned disappointed and seemed to have lost his vigor. I struck his father first. —I apologize for that.
Yeager, surprised, looked at me with his round eyes. —Hey, Yeager, you're angry because they keep taking all the good stuff you have from you, right?
—Why do you ask that? Of course I am.
—Do you want me to teach you how to make it so nobody can take them from you?
—I'm listening. —You just have to move heaven and earth to jump from somewhere.
Yeager replied with a serious face: —What do you mean jump, man? Don't say those things! It's true that I have some problems with my father, but I love my family with all my heart! I'm not going to do something as terrible as suicide!
—No. I'm not telling you to do it. I'm telling you to make an uproar about doing it.
—And if my father faints from the shock? Uf! I don't even want to imagine such a situation. Don't say that again, my friend.
Well, not like that. Though they treat him like that, he still loves his family. I made a mistake in taking his family situation too objectively. Thanks to that, the crack I had caused in his illusion recovered quickly. At this rate, as a side effect, he would be caught in a stronger hallucination. I had to make a bigger crack than before.
What things can shake Yeager? A characteristic of his that left the greatest impression… what came to mind after remembering our moments together was information. I thought he handled information very well. He was extremely versatile regarding his level of information, even considering he was the son of a newspaper president. Information was a useful tool in social life. Didn't Yeager use information as a way to distance himself from the shadow of his father and brother?
Then I'll be able to use information to solve Yeager's current problem. It was easy to break the yoke. In short, his wound was a trauma from which he could not recover on his own. The target's trap was broken when they were reminded of a positive aspect of their life that was powerful enough to forget the wound. Therefore, the better you knew the other party, the easier it was to break their illusion. However, it also meant that, if you ignored the person you were trying to save, you could never break their illusion.
If it's an opportunity that Yeager would love to take. Information was an opportunity that allowed a person to take the initiative and get what they wanted. Let's see... a fact that fascinated Yeager and distracted him from this.
—Did you know, Yeager? Viscount Weatherwoods won the duel with Jean Berkley Gratten. In exchange for his victory, he enslaved Jean Berkley Gratten. They say he will lock her in his basement and force her to do laundry until she dies. —I didn't say it had to be real. Yeager, who was depressed, cheered up immediately. —Wh-at? Is that true?
He shook my shoulder with a new light in his eyes. I had hit the mark. He was a very calm type. —Where did you hear that news, Volkwin? Gray, that guy. He seemed strange from the beginning. [How could he lie without blinking?] Volkwin. His exit was Volkwin. One side is the eldest son and the other is not the eldest son. Did the two people walking opposite paths comfort each other? In the end, a person's mental limits were truly amazing. But unfortunately that's not what matters to me right now.
I felt sorry for Yeager, but he had to compensate me for having helped him. —Who are the dangerous people searching for the relics of Dian Cecht? The hallucination was the greatest type of mental magic that unearthed person's secrets as if they were candy. A hallucinated person was more vulnerable in front of the "exit" that broke their illusion. That's why they revealed their secrets without any hesitation... Just like now.
—The Duke of Berkley Gratten. —That was an opponent I expected. —And? Yeager replied with slightly clouded eyes. —From the North Continental United States… rebel. Rebel? I think I had heard that before. —What is the Rogue?
—Don't you even know who the Rogue is? Volkwin, how can you be an idiot who doesn't even know what's going on in the world? Sorry. I'm the idiot who didn't know it was Rogue, not Volkwin. Anyway, what a witty guy as always. You suspect me even when you recognize me as the exit. But thanks to Yeager, I got a certainty. I don't know what Rogue is, but it must be related to Rue in some way. The identity of Morian, which Rue stole, was also from the north of the Continental United States. Now that this Rogue has been mentioned, I can start by finding out more about them.
—Thank you, my friend. I patted him on the shoulder and turned my back. Then Yeager's voice called me again. —One more remains. The moment I turned my head, the dim starlight from where he was disappeared, leaving a brief word behind. —The Duke of Zenail. …If it was the Zenail Duchy. —Raphael Zenail Penrotta. Raphael was looking for the relics of Dian Cecht. This is undoubtedly the most unpleasant news of all. Doesn't that mean I might run into him one day or another?
I continued my steps into the darkness again. —Stop! Where are you going? Help me, Andert… —Andert! A traitor who survived alone! Soon you will die a terrible death like us! However, unlike before, I could no longer afford to look around. The moment I heard Raphael's name, my mind was filled with him. If he needs Dian Cecht's relics, that means he suffers from an incurable disease. Did he have a time limit, just like me? The question began to haunt me. I stopped when someone grabbed my hand. —Finally I found you after so long. A childish voice followed. I turned my head. No, I lowered my head, to be exact. A thin girl with a strange and familiar face was looking at me. Long brown hair that covered her back. Drooping corners of the eyes. Light green eyes. Small body. White face. The girl was me in my childhood.