Глава 12

I said, show yourself!

'Her name is Ascalon, is it? Impressive.'

Doctor, behind me.

Who are you?

'Please, there is no need to fret, dear Rhodes Islanders. A few of my colleagues just touched base with Alexandrina not too long ago. Alas, it did not go too well.'

You are... the man behind Allerdale.

Show yourself.

I won't say it again.

Please lower your hammer, Your Highness. You are merely wasting your strength.

As heir to the throne—from a certain viewpoint, at least—you should have a bit more patience.

You said so yourself not too long ago. That we should have... a 'conversation.'

You had the Self-Salvation Corps tapped.

Their evacuation plan will be successful. Do note that this is a promise, not sarcasm.

My sincerest pleasure to meet all of you, ladies and gentlemen. I hope there yet remains room for our objectives to coexist.

An ashen trilby...?

Very perceptive, Lady Isabelle Montague. I should have expected no less from a scion of the Count of Manchester. Indeed, we are often referred to as the 'Trilby Ashers.'

Should you have the chance, please send your mother my regards.

You—

Please, there is no need for alarm, Lady Montague. I harbor no ill will against you and your friends, at the moment.

Is the Arts gimmick you have over there a gesture of your goodwill, too?

I'm not fond of having conversations next to a pile of explosives.

This is merely a precaution.

Well then, here's a precaution, too.

Lower your weapon, Miss Ascalon. This is not worth it.

Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, made a series of passage and call permit requests for so-called 'industrial waste recycling and processing' purposes, currently hiding within the territory of the Duke of Gododdin.

Currently six hundred and thirty-one kilometers away from Londinium.

And what if we are?

Miss Amiya, I surmise your recycling work is proceeding apace?

You know Rhodes Island well.;......;Looks like the Victorian bigwigs aren't completely oblivious to us.

We do merely what must be done.

You have been very careful. You charted your course and built a well-hidden supply network around your ship. You wish to avoid Victoria's attention.

And you almost fooled us.

Regardless of whether your intentions are good or otherwise, wouldn't you agree that discretion is the worst quality there is to a ruler?

Who do you serve, Mr. 'Trilby Asher?'

If at all possible, I would say that I serve Victoria.

Alas, the reality is that I serve only a small part of Victoria. This small part is more than enough to keep me well occupied, however.

Which means you work for one of the dukes.

If the Duke of Wellington saw us as a threat—

Rhodes Island would already have been attacked.

The Duke of Windermere's control has yet to reach Duke Gododdin's territory. Not by a long shot.

From what I know, the Duke of Normandy is more interested in business.

Most other dukes are fence sitters.

You work for Caster.

'Doctor,' the commander of Rhodes Island... There exists very little information on you. We were under the impression that this was due to a lack of importance.

We will reevaluate our internal appraisal.

What is Rhodes Island worth to that 'part of Victoria' you speak of?

We actually do not have much of an interest in a so-called pharmaceutical company that deals in waste recycling.

But your operator has a very unique background. Moreover, she possesses something important.

You've failed once, but you still haven't given up.

This is my job, Your Highness. Let us not make things harder for each other.

This sword is nothing more than a heavy rod of iron in your hands.

What do you intend to do with it? Can you really cut through the Catastrophe that looms above us?

It is a mere tale. You cannot wield it to its true potential.

What does Duke of Caster want to do with it, then?

To fulfill a promise.

A promise?

To bring her followers peace and safety.

We do indeed have certain... technologies that can immediately put this blade to good use, just as the Sighs of Kings once sheltered Londinium.

The Duke wishes for this blade to become a turning point for unity.

In that case, those who aren't on your side will deservedly be swallowed by the Catastrophe.

That is how it will become that turning point.

(Doctor, I will make my move in three seconds. We must escape this situation.)

(Our operators on the landship are more than capable of taking care of the crisis that could soon unfold... and so we have to take this risk.)

(Three.)

(Two.)

(One.)

All of you seem pretty tense. Perhaps I came at a bad time?

Right on time.

Ines.

Mr. 'Trilby Asher,' you have to admit that you came well-prepared.

Thirteen small communication stations, with four of them triggered passively. They were set up to automatically send out orders if they don't receive your message after ten minutes.

I didn't want to venture a guess as to what orders they were meant to send out, so I took the liberty of crushing them all.

I hope you don't mind.

Your subordinates were very strong, even after they heard the word Vampire.

That said, I believe that aside from the Sarkaz Royal Court, there are certain others hiding in the city who would be very interested to learn of their existence.

Tell me, where do you suppose I should take them?

Ines, former Sarkaz mercenary... It's hardly surprising that you are still alive. We've determined for some time now that someone was behind all these little tricks around Londinium.

You've done very well.

We know that there is a sizable number of Sarkaz mercenaries inclined to leave the Military Commission's control, but we both know that does not come without a cost, don't we?

Your business partner... might be in fairly dire straits.

Perhaps we should be a little more blunt with each other.

I know you have more tricks up your sleeve, and you know we still have some trump cards in our hand. Let's stop probing each other.

Your shadow tells me you are wavering.

Very well. Let's make a deal.

I have a tricky mission, but as you can see, I am not much for fighting and adventure.

So you want someone to die in your stead.

I have faith in your abilities.

Certainly you have already seen the airship that is currently parked at the now-isolated Norport Borough.

Make your way there and get your hands on its schematics.

What's in it for me?

You get to live. For now.

You, your friends, your allies, your wounded, and your landship all get to remain alive for the time being.

This is no trouble at all to Victoria, but as for the rest of you...

Deal.