Alice snapped her head to the side to avoid the spittle flying from Chudelkin’s apoplectic lips, but she did not otherwise react to his insults. “It was the Axiom Church that turned us into puppets,” she stated coldly. “The Synthesis Ritual blocked our memories, instilled loyalty into us by force, and made us believe the lie that we were knights summoned to earth from Heaven.”
“Wha…?” Chudelkin’s face went from red back to white, his large mouth flapping helplessly. “Why…? How did you…?”
“Blocked or not, there are a few memories I still retain. When we stepped into the senate room, I caught a glimpse of an image…A terrified girl tied up in the center of that chamber, subjected to three days and nights of the senators’ multilayered spells to crack open the walls of her mind. That was the truth of the Synthesis Ritual…and the stone floor of that chamber is most certainly stained with the tears of lamentation and despair of that girl I once was.”
Alice’s voice was controlled, but it cut like a steel blade. Chudelkin’s face bounced back and forth between red and white at a dizzying speed. Ultimately, the only person in the senate with his own will regained his swagger and leered at us.
“Oh yes…that is correct. I can recall the scene quite clearly, in fact. You were so young and innocent and sweet, and you pleaded with tears in your eyes so many times…‘Please, don’t let me forget…Don’t let me forget the people I care about!’ Hoh-hoh-hoh-hoh!”
When he put on a hideous falsetto to mimic a little girl’s speech, Alice’s eye grew bright with flame. This did not threaten Chudelkin into stopping his mockery.
“Oh-ho! Oh-ho! Yes, I remember indeed! Even now, I could spend an entire night basking in the delicious memory! They dragged you out of that rural hellhole you called a home, and I put you to work as an apprentice sister for two years. You were the kind of tomboy who would slip through the curfew regulations and go see the Centoria solstice festival, but you really truly believed that if you studied hard, we’d let you go home again. Of course, that wasn’t true in the least! Just when you raised that sacred arts authority level to a good solid amount, boom! Forced synthesis! Oh, you should have seen the look on your face when you learned you’d never go home again…I wish I could have turned you into stone and kept you around as a decoration in my chamber forever! Hoh-hoh-hoh!!”
Even I couldn’t stop my sword arm from trembling. I heard Alice grinding her teeth over Chudelkin’s jabs, but she kept herself under control and said, “You mentioned something odd just now: forced synthesis. That makes it sound like there’s a voluntary version of the Synthesis Ritual.”
The prime senator’s eyes narrowed into slits. “Hoh-hoh, very shrewd of you. Yes, that’s correct. Six years ago, you steadfastly refused to recite any of the secret commands that are necessary for a typical Synthesis Ritual. You actually had the nerve to tell me your calling was still back in your home village and that you didn’t need to obey my orders!”
That sounds just like what young Alice would say, I thought, despite having not known her back then. The memory of this experience caused the prime senator’s lips to curl into a nasty sneer.
“What a disgusting little shit you were. I wished so badly to have my lady awaken early, but the rule is that she’s not to rise until all the preparations for the ritual are completely done. So I had no choice but to temporarily pause the automated senators and have them pry open the door to your most precious secrets through magical force. I suppose I shouldn’t complain about getting such a juicy show, however! Hee-hoh, hoh-hohhh!”
His gale of laughter stopped the instant she moved the tip of the Osmanthus Blade an inch closer. But the ugly smirk on his lips and in his eyes remained.
Chudelkin had boasted several crucial bits of information. I wanted to pry out some more intel, assuming Alice could maintain her composure, but something about it felt wrong. Would this clown really reveal core secrets of the Church without even being prompted? He wouldn’t taunt her this way if he was afraid for his life, and he didn’t seem to be waiting for a chance to take her by surprise, either.
While my mind raced on, Chudelkin resumed his story. “When the first stage of the forced synthesis ended and you blacked out, it was none other than I who took you to Her Holiness. Regrettably, I was not allowed to witness what happened next, but when the ritual was done and you awoke as an Integrity Knight, you had total belief that you were a disciple of God, dispatched from Heaven. Just like all the other knights. Boy, when I hear you folks drone on and on about the celestial realm, I have to hold my sides in to keep them from splitting! Ohhh…”
He babbled and chattered away, dangling in the air, and I gradually noticed that his eyes were jittering slightly, as though he were waiting for something. Was he carrying on like this in order to keep us here in the room with him…?
I was about to warn Alice, but she spoke first. The golden room rang with her voice, even icier now than in the Great Bath: “Prime Senator Chudelkin, you may be just another victim like the Integrity Knights, a sad little clown whose life was a plaything for Administrator like everyone else. But regardless of that, you have enjoyed your circumstances immensely. Surely you have been satisfied with your life. I am done listening to you.”
The Osmanthus Blade’s tip pressed against the center of the bulging clown costume, right above his heart. The shining material dipped inward with one final show of resistance.
If Chudelkin’s goal was to buy time, he would bring up some new piece of information now, I assumed—perhaps Eugeo’s location.
But one second was all it took to prove me wrong.
As the prime senator froze, his mouth half-open, the golden sword plunged deeper and deeper. His narrow eyes shot wide open, and the red-and-blue outfit bulged out even farther, testing its limits. Alice turned her face away, anticipating a spray of blood.
There was a tremendous bang! and Chudelkin’s body popped like a balloon. A massive gush of blood landed on Alice’s armor and did…nothing.
“What…?”
✦ ✦ ✦
