There was just one thing I realized after hearing Agnes out.

Our creator wasn’t omniscient, nor omnipotent, but—

Simply kind.

"...So."

I held my aching head and went over everything Agnes had explained so far.

"What is this supposed to be?”

"Reasons to protect life. It’s what you wanted.”

"..."

What Agnes had scribbled across the paper with the tiny beak read as follows:

1. Whether lowly or great, we are all precious beings living in the same time. Cherish and bless one another.

2. Do not say to others what you would not want to hear. Treat others as you wish to be treated.

3. Greed is a natural emotion for all living beings, but it must be properly controlled…

Basically, the kind of gentle advice that might get a few dozen likes in some obscure corner of the internet.

It wasn’t that I disliked the statements themselves. They were just telling you to be a good person. There was nothing wrong with that.

But claiming this was the key to saving the world was something I couldn’t understand at all.

"There was a time when I, too, lived with baseless confidence like you.”

Agnes clicked their beak as if pitying me, adding one more comment to their already sufficient advice.

"Do you think I simply accepted the fact that the world would end? The reason I know all of this is because I once struggled desperately to save it.”

"You’re sure this isn’t some kind of spell disguised as something harmless? Like if I recite this in front of Scarlet Abyss, they start bleeding from all their orifices and die?”

"The creator was the first strong being to believe that even fragile lives deserve to exist and, at the same time, an entity with an almost childish mindset. The more I gathered information about them, the more I came to the conclusion that they created the world precisely because they were like that. In other words, I am sure.”

"...Even so, this can't be everything. You said there was more.”

"There is. Similar ideas were also spread in the form of fables.”

So basically the same thing.

Maybe the First Mage had dreamed of a beautiful world where Scarlet Abyss and everyone else reconciled and lived hand in hand. Not like we could ask the dead.

Either way, none of this was going to solve anything. I irritably shoved the collection of advice aside and asked again.

"Forget this nonsense. What’s something that’s actually useful?”

"There are a few things. Ancient monuments, places said to contain hidden weapons. I seared them all and found rocks, tablets, and old documents with similar passages written on them.”

"That’s really it?”

"There are things that cannot be achieved physically.”

"...Physically?”

"Proving that the prophecy is wrong.”

Agnes shrugged as if it were nothing.

"Scarlet Abyss follows something called the prophecy. I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s clearly the single guideline moving their leader.”

"Isn’t that just about returning the world to its primordial state?”

"That is the act of fulfilling the prophecy. The reason someone who already secured victory long ago still endures all of this just to move a little faster must be related to that prophecy. If we can prove it false, Scarlet Abyss might stop. It’s only a possibility though.”

"Hmm..."

It was a more reasonable approach than expected. As I nodded, my expression easing slightly, Agnes immediately crushed the hope I harbored.

"However, only three beings know the exact contents of this so-called prophecy. The creator, the leader of Scarlet Abyss, and the shrine maiden. We merely assume it’s about unifying the world into one. Perhaps they intend to do something after that…”

"The shrine maiden?”

"Yes. The Empire’s princess, right?”

"...Ah, Sharmia?”

Come to think of it, Scarlet Abyss had called Sharmia the shrine maiden.

But Sharmia had never told them anything.

If anything, she was doing everything she could to stop them.

"No. Scarlet Abyss created a false shrine maiden long before that to hear the prophecy. To be precise, Scarlet Abyss came into existence after the shrine maiden was created. Great Void, changed after hearing that prophecy, and decided to establish Scarlet Abyss.”

A false shrine maiden.

I had heard that term before.

Someone that had always stayed beneath the tower Scarlet Abyss had occupied. Someone eerily resembling Sharmia.

Heavenly Balance.

"I thought Heavenly Balance had just the same face as Sharmia..."

"If Heavenly Balance refers to the false shrine maiden, then that’s correct.”

"What do you mean by that?”

"For an immeasurable span of time, Scarlet Abyss’ false shrine maiden has always had that face. Perhaps even that appearance itself is part of the prophecy.”

Agnes let out a sigh and continued their speculation.

"The false shrine maiden likely set that face as the signal for when to act. If a shrine maid with the exact same face appears, then there’s no need to wait any longer. The beginning can commence.”

* * *

In the end, I didn’t release Agnes.

No matter what they said, they were a Knight murderer. There was no guarantee they wouldn’t do it again, so strict containment was necessary. Even if they demanded I honor our agreement, I wasn’t a Knight and just a poor orphan.

After sealing the cage in the deepest part of my workshop, I returned and shook Dercia’s shoulder. She was still staring blankly at the desk, completely motionless.

"Master, snap out of it.”

"…H-hm. Jern.”

She’d always been a bit off, but right now she looked like she genuinely had a screw loose.

I waved my fingers in front of her vacant eyes, but they didn’t track at all. Realizing how serious this was, I took a harsher approach.

"Get a grip. There’s no guarantee what that idiot said is true.”

"Huh?"

"If they’re a spy for Scarlet Abyss, they might’ve prepared that story just to keep you frozen in place. We don’t even know for sure whether Great Void has actually reached the Heavenly Realm yet. I get that it’s terrifying, but giving up just from hearing it without confirming anything feels a bit much, don’t you think?”

"...That’s…true.”

Letting out a sigh, she stood up sluggishly, then sat back down properly, looking a little more composed.

"It seems their words struck directly at something I’ve always feared, so I momentarily faltered. That was quite unbecoming of me. My apologies.”

"Something you feared? Were you afraid someone else would reach the Heavenly Realm first?”

"More precisely—I feared that I would never be able to reach it.”

Dercia clasped her hands tightly as she confessed.

"Based on everything I’ve learned walking the path of magic, there have been many moments where, had I truly reached this level, the heavens should have opened a path at least once. I don’t mean leaving it to luck. I mean that the Heavenly Realm is something that must permit one’s entry, as if granting access to a space…”

"Why’s that?”

"It never opened, not even once, and so consistently that I couldn’t dismiss it as mere coincidence. It’s as if someone was deliberately refusing permission. Until now, I thought it was that I simply lacked sufficient training or experience, since there were no wizards at my level I could have used as reference…”

Her bloodshot eyes drifted toward the door, and she bit her lip again.

"At one point, I even wondered if everything had already ended.”

"...Is it really possible for someone who reached the Heavenly Realm first to pull up the ladder behind them?”

"It is. That is precisely why I placed such importance on walking the path of magic. If I cannot reach the Heavenly Realm, then all elves are fated to perish. Not that their extinction weighs heavily on me, but in the end, I too would fall.”

"..."

"For those of us who live for nearly eternity, having the path forward cut off is, yes. It is quite frightening.”

It was the first time I had ever heard such weakness in Dercia’s voice.

Not knowing what to say, I stayed silent until she shook her head and stood up.

"In the end, these are nothing but me venting my weakness. I apologize for showing you such a side of me. What did Agnes say?”

"Ah, right. They said we should listen to the shrine maiden’s prophecy.”

That wasn’t exactly what they said, but the direction was clear.

First, we needed to understand what this ‘prophecy’ even was.

Only then could we try to change it or prove it wrong.

"The prophecy? You mean the one the Princess gives out?”

"More precisely, the false shrine maiden, the gloomy ‘princess’ living in Scarlet Abyss’ basement.”

I explained everything I knew about the false shrine maiden and her situation again.

Dercia, who had heard all of this before, quickly recalled it and nodded.

"That shrine maiden could very well be the starting point of all this. But can we even find her?”

True.

Scarlet Abyss was deeply hidden.

And now, they had even abandoned the base I knew. Which meant we had to find their next headquarters, then locate Heavenly Balance, and somehow get the prophecy out of her, which was obviously absurdly difficult.

Even from what little I had seen her before, she didn’t seem like she’d just spill the prophecy if we caught her.

"That’s what I’m struggling with too. What should we do?”

"Hmm..."

As we put our heads together, trying to think of something, Dercia suddenly spoke up.

"...What do you think Scarlet Abyss is doing right now?”

“They’ve been quiet lately but are probably acting to fulfill that prophecy, right?”

"I mean how they are acting to fulfill it.”

"Well? Moving their members around, I guess…”

I trailed off mid-sentence. Only then did I realize what she was getting at, and my eyes widened.

Scarlet Abyss’ members all shared a communication system.

"The Gospel!”

"That may not be the prophecy itself. But it likely contains instructions derived from it, used to direct their members. If we follow that we might be able to reach the source.”

Dercia said that, then rubbed her chin with a troubled expression.

"The problem is, we’d need to find a Scarlet Abyss member who has the Gospel. And so far, there’s no report of any combatant carrying it.”

"Ah, that’s fine."

I smiled reassuringly.

Because there was one useless person who had a copy of the Gospel even within the Empire.

A wicked fellow just waiting to betray them the moment things went south.

J