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It seemed like he was suffering from the chronic Mana deficiency that Philly mentioned.

‘No. That\'s strange.’

Frondier thought so at first too. That Bartello was just old, that he was tired because he had used up all his strength.

That\'s how the original game was, so that\'s how the current Emperor would be.

But the Mana that Frondier was feeling from Bartello right now, the rate at which his Mana was being depleted was too fast to simply be attributed to old age.

‘Is this a peculiarity of this world, or was Bartello actually in that state even when I was playing the game?’

In the game, Bartello\'s quick abdication of the throne was always planned.

The players didn\'t think deeply about it. Even though Bartello stepped down, he didn\'t die. They just thought it was because he was old.

But now Frondier\'s sixth sense tells him. A person couldn\'t become like that just by getting old.

‘Someone intentionally made Bartello weak quickly.’

Bartello isn\'t being robbed of Mana right now. He\'s just losing it. It\'s hard to call it a disease, but it\'s a power that definitely weakens the opponent.

──A curse.

“...Brother.”

Frondier called Azier. He had to tell someone about this emergency. And it had to be someone Frondier could trust.

However, since he couldn\'t tell the whole story, Frondier softened his expression a little.

“His Majesty looks very tired.”

Following that, Azier\'s gaze fell on Bartello. His sharp eyes scanned Bartello for a moment, and his brow furrowed. It was as if an unpleasant memory had come to mind.

“...Indeed. It\'s like,”

The next words were something Frondier hadn\'t expected.

“Seeing you in the past.”

“...Pardon?”

“The past you, who couldn\'t overcome laziness and annoyance and slept all day.”

Frondier thought Azier was joking. Comparing the Emperor\'s appearance to Frondier\'s past laziness, even as a joke, it required tremendous boldness.

But Azier\'s expression wasn\'t one of joking at all. Rather, it was as if he had realized something by looking at Bartello, and thus, he added one more sentence with displeasure.

“Frondier, I didn\'t tell you this, but Father once said that something intervened with you.”

“...Intervened? With me?”

“Yes. Literally something. Whether it was a god or a demon, I don\'t know, but your laziness wasn\'t normal enough to simply be dismissed as your personality.”

But neither Azier nor Enfer made a fuss about it.

They weren\'t sure if something had intervened, and whether it was a god or a demon, it wouldn\'t be good for them.

If a god had intervened, it would be blasphemy, and if they discussed the intervention of a demon, the entire family and lineage would be tainted with the name of a demon.

Not to mention, the family\'s image would plummet to the ground.

“He looks like you did back then.”

Frondier swallowed his surprise at Azier\'s words and looked at Bartello again.

Could Bartello\'s current state be the same as Frondier\'s past state? He had thought it was a curse, but if it was a curse cast by a god or a demon...

What did he want from Bartello?

Before that, what did he want from Frondier?

‘It\'s obvious what he wanted from Frondier. Any player who has played the game would know.’

Whether it was a god or a demon, even if the identity was unknown, if it was the same person who cast the same curse on Bartello and Frondier...

The players of Etius all know what happened to Frondier.

Frondier de Roach simply disappeared quietly.

Not dying, not vanishing, but literally losing everyone\'s interest and fading from memory.

From the players\' perspective, he became a completely insignificant character in this game, and from the world\'s perspective, he became a completely useless ordinary person, leaving his family and living an ordinary life somewhere in a corner.

Death attracts people\'s attention, and disappearance remains an eternal mystery.

He couldn\'t allow either, so he wanted Frondier to literally exit the stage. So that no one could pay any attention to him. Like a wildflower withering away without anyone noticing.

‘Is he trying to do the same thing to Bartello?’

Just as Frondier gulped,

His sixth sense sounded another alarm.

This time, it was a clearer detection, the sense that Frondier\'s sixth sense reported to him with top priority.

‘Killing intent’.

The moment Frondier felt it, he kicked off the ground. With one leap and his aura clad around him, he instantly closed the distance to Bartello.

Swoosh-

The short sword Frondier drew grazed past Bartello\'s face,

Clang!

The sword collided with something\'s claws, producing a violent metallic sound.

He had blocked something\'s claws that were about to attack Bartello just in time.

“Kyaaah!”

“Huh, huhh!”

The nobles who were dancing screamed and made frightened noises at the sudden sight.

Bartello, surprised while sitting on the chair, the area around Bartello in disarray due to Frondier\'s leap, people frozen in shock.

Screech, screech-

Frondier\'s short sword and the creature\'s claws engaged in a power struggle, making a noise. In the midst of a great silence, that sound alone relentlessly heightened the tension within the hall.

Everyone\'s frozen gaze gathered on Frondier,

And Frondier confirmed the appearance of the creature he had blocked with his sword.

‘What is this?’

The thing that attacked Bartello wasn\'t human. It wasn\'t a beast either. If anything, it would be a monster, but he couldn\'t be sure.

Frondier had never seen anything like this in all his numerous playthroughs.

It was transparent. No, it was slightly cloudy. It was also soft, almost like a liquid, and had a crude torso and limbs that seemed to barely mimic a human.

However, only the hand that tried to harm Bartello had claws that were sharp and hard.

If anything, it was like konjac or something awkwardly imitating a person.

And that awkward head wriggled and shuffled around,

“Baa.”

“...!”

It formed a human face and opened its mouth as it looked at Frondier. He couldn\'t tell if it was laughing or crying.

‘What is this...!’

It\'s not a member of the Shadow. Nor is it the god or demon he had been speculating about just now.

Something completely unexpected, literally ‘something’ had intruded.

He thought that destroying the Mana Injection plan and cleaning up the Shadow as the final step would be the end,

But Frondier had a hunch that a complex war he himself didn\'t even know about was unfolding beneath the surface.

A giant wheel was turning, something that couldn\'t be seen in its entirety from the perspective of just one person.