Alicization Turning

by Reki Kawahara

  So Humbert wasn’t just offering him a seat but a drink as well. Eugeo silently looked around the room, feeling even stranger. Gloomy though the room was, he could see no one else was there.

  Had Ronie and Tiese already left? Had they even been here? If they’d come and gone, why didn’t they at least stop at Kirito and Eugeo’s room on the other end of the hall? Questions raced through Eugeo’s brain, but the girls’ absence did at least remove some tension from his shoulders.

  “No, I don’t drink alcohol. More importantly, Disciple Zizek,” he said, moving forward and choosing his words carefully, “did you perhaps have a visit today from my page, Tiese Schtrinen, or Disciple Kirito’s page, Ronie Arabel?”

  It was not Humbert who answered him but Raios Antinous. He looked over his shoulder, still holding up the glass, eyes narrowed.

  “…Disciple Eugeo, you look pale to me. Why not take a glass to revive your spirits?”

  “No, thank you. Will you answer my question?”

  “Hah, what a shame. I’m only thinking of you—as a friend.”

  Eugeo could sense the slick sweat in the palm of his hand as it gripped the sword sheath. Raios gazed at him like he was a snack to go with his drink, took a tiny sip, and set the cup down on the table.

  “Ahh. So…those were your pages, were they?” he said easily, licking the moisture from his lips. “They are bold trainees, to pay an unannounced visit to the first and second seats who stand above all other students in this academy. Small wonder they’re yours. But you ought to be careful—sometimes boldness can spill into rudeness and disrespect. Don’t you agree, Disciple Eugeo? Oops…pardon me. I suppose I’m wasting my time lecturing you on the courtesy of the nobility. Ha-ha, ha-ha-ha…”

  So Tiese and Ronie had come here.

  Eugeo could barely resist the urge to grab the collar of Raios’s robe. His voice was low and tense. “I will hear your lecture on another occasion. Where are Tiese and Ronie now?”

  This time it was Humbert who languidly poured more wine and said, “Eugeo…was the burden too much for you to bear? How is a mere lumberjack from the most distant lands supposed to instruct a noble girl, even one of the lowest rank? Ha-ha-ha…you couldn’t. You didn’t know enough to teach them not to hurl disrespectful accusations at a fourth-rank noble like me. Distasteful as I found it, I had no choice but to fulfill my grand duty. It is the role of the upper nobles to correct the lower.”

  “Humbert, what did you…?!”

  Eugeo stopped short when the man held out his free hand, drained the glass, and got to his feet. Raios stood next and took a few steps farther toward the back of the room. Standing together, the nobles looked like brothers, wearing wicked grins as they shared a glance.

  “Well, Raios…shall we have Eugeo indulge in the finest pleasure of the evening?”

  “Indeed, Humbert. We’re missing one other audience member, but I’m tired of waiting. I’m sure he’ll catch up soon.”

  “Pleasure…? Tired of waiting…?” Eugeo repeated, numb. Humbert jutted out his long jaw, mocking him. The two disciples turned, robes fluttering, and headed to the bedrooms on the west side of the room. Eugeo walked unsteadily after them.

  Behind the door Humbert opened, the darkness was absolute, choked with the smoke of incense. Raios walked through first, followed by his partner.

  Eugeo stopped when he saw the lavender smoke wisping along the floor. The trail felt like the smoldering of true evil, a thing that should not exist at the academy—should not exist in this vast empire. It was even worse than the smoke of the campfire lit by those wicked goblins in the far northern cave years ago.

  His reflexes wanted him to turn away, but something in the smell caught his attention, something clean. A note like the familiar scent of solbe leaves.

  The smell from Tiese’s uniform.

  “…Tiese…Ronie!”

  He raced forward into the bedroom just as the lamp came on.

  The first thing he saw was a large canopy bed with two girls lying on it. No, laid upon it. Both were tied up with bright-red ropes on top of their gray primary trainee uniforms. Their eyes, red and brown, were staring absently into space, their minds apparently dulled by the thick incense fumes.

  “Wha…? Wh-why…?”

  Eugeo rushed toward the bed to at least untie the ropes first. Then Raios cried, “Not so fast!” and thrust out a palm into his face. Eugeo glanced over at the man and rasped, “Wh-what do you think you’re doing, Raios?! Why are our pages being treated like—?”

  “This is a necessary measure, Eugeo.”

  “Necessary…measure…?”

  “Indeed. Primary Trainee Schtrinen and Primary Trainee Arabel visited this bedroom without a prior arrangement and displayed brazen disrespect for us.”

  “What kind…of disrespect?” Eugeo repeated.

  Humbert leaned away from the wall, leering. “You should have heard the things they said. You wouldn’t believe your ears. Those lesser nobles dared to accuse me of mistreating my page, without reason, to fulfill my own desires—me! When I, as second seat of this fine academy, am merely and rightfully guiding Frenica! Even a generous, understanding man such as I could not overlook this slight.”

  “And that’s not all, Eugeo. They also claimed that, as I share a common room with Humbert, I am complicit in the actions they accuse him of committing. And when I said I did not understand…Can you believe it? That sixth-rank noble girl asked me, a third rank myself, if I had no pride as a nobleman! My goodness, what a question.”

  Humbert and Raios shared a look and chuckled. It was clear now that they’d orchestrated the situation to produce this exact result. Humbert knew that Frenica was close to Tiese and Ronie and intentionally disgraced and humiliated her—until the other girls came directly to argue on her behalf.

  The girls would have minced their words at first, of course. But Raios and Humbert were too slippery, too coaxing to keep them on safe footing. Eventually, they would have said something that could be taken as rude and protocol breaking.

  …However.

  “But Raios, even if this is all true…tying them up and locking them in your room is clearly beyond the bounds of the disciplinary punishment powers we possess!” Eugeo snapped, just barely holding his thunderous emotions in check.

  The girls were tied up over their uniforms and didn’t seem to be wounded. But the only punishment allowed for acts of rudeness were cleaning, training, and duels. Abduction with restraints did not match any of those options. Raios and Humbert had to be breaking school rules—

  “Disciplinary punishment?” Raios murmured, leaning closer to Eugeo. “When did I say that I was making use of that childish, limited power?”

  “Wh-what do you mean? The school rules are quite strict in how they define the allowed types of punishment for trainee breach of protocol…”

  “That’s where you’ve made your mistake. Have you forgotten this part of the school rules? ‘In all cases, higher law takes priority.’”

  Raios’s expression swiftly changed. His red lips curled upward at the ends, turning sadistic to a degree Eugeo had never seen before.

  “Higher law means the Taboo Index and Basic Imperial Law. That means I cannot directly damage their life. Those ropes are made of fine eastern silk, very stretchy…They will not harm what they hold, no matter how tightly they are tied.”

  “B-but…there’s no way you can tie up a student for punishment, no matter how fine the ropes are…”

  “Don’t you get it yet, Disciple Eugeo? If higher law takes precedence, that means it’s not disciplinary punishment I’m inflicting on this sixth-rank girl for talking back to a third-rank nobleman…it’s my judicial authority as a noble!”

  Judicial authority.

  Eugeo instantly recalled his conversation with Tiese in the forest the other day. Only fourth-rank and higher nobles had the right to wield judicial authority, and the ranks below that were subject to its powers…

  Raios waited, clea
rly savoring the dumbfounded expression on Eugeo’s face. After a few moments, he spread his arms theatrically and declared, “Judicial authority is the greatest of noble privileges! It only applies to fifth- and sixth-rank noble families and the common people who live on our private estates, but the contents of the punishment are up to us! We must follow the Taboo Index, of course, but as long as it is not a taboo, we can do anything!”

  Eugeo recovered from his shock at last. “B-but Raios! Just because you can choose your punishment doesn’t make it right to tie up teenage girls like this! It’s too cruel…”

  “Ha-ha…ha-ha-ha, ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!!” Humbert cackled. He doubled over, yellow sleeves flying. “Ha-ha-ha! This is too rich, Raios! Disciple Eugeo thinks that our judicial review is merely to tie them up with ropes!”

  “Heh-heh. Can you blame him, Humbert? He’s fresh down to the big city from his home up in the hills, and the disciple he served was just as common as he is! But I think after today, Eugeo will finally understand just what sort of power we nobles wield!” Raios said, and turned away.

  He strode up to the bed where Tiese and Ronie lay and knelt atop the mattress. The frame creaked, and Tiese blinked blearily.

  Then her red eyes bolted open and took account of Raios as he descended upon her. Her frail voice filled the room. “No…no…!”

  She twisted, trying to escape, but could do nothing with her limbs bound. Raios extended a pale, clammy hand to trace her cheek. Next to them, Humbert climbed up as well, running his hands along Ronie’s legs. She awakened, too, took stock of the situation, and gaped silently.

  At last, from barely three mels away, Eugeo understood the nature of this judicial “decision.”

  Raios and Humbert were going to defile Tiese and Ronie with their own bodies. They were going to forcefully perform the act that Stacia granted only to a husband and wife—or so Eugeo believed—as a means of noble authority.

  In the instant of understanding, Eugeo screamed, “Stop!!”

  He took a step toward the bed, and Raios bolted upright, his eyes gleaming.

  “Stay back, commoner!!” he commanded, pointing at Eugeo with one hand while his other fondled Tiese’s face. “This is the just and absolute right of nobility, as ordained by Basic Imperial Law and the Taboo Index! Interference with our judicial authority is a crime in itself! One more step, and you will be a criminal in violation of the law!”

  “That’s…”

  That’s not my problem! Get away from Tiese and Ronie! he wanted to shout. He wanted to leap onto Raios as he screamed it.

  But suddenly his legs came to a stop, as definitely as if they’d been nailed into the ground. The halt in momentum was so sudden, he fell to his knees. His legs wouldn’t cooperate, wouldn’t help him stand up again.

  Inside his head, the phrase criminal in violation of the law repeated over and over. Eugeo didn’t care about the law. He didn’t care about anything other than helping Tiese and Ronie, but he was subject to the whim of a voice that was not his.

  The Axiom Church was absolute. The Taboo Index was absolute. Disobedience was forbidden. It was forbidden to all.

  “Hrgh…gah…!!”

  He gritted his teeth, gasped, and raised his right leg. It felt as though his familiar leather boot—and the foot inside—was as heavy as lead.

  Raios watched this display of will and hissed, “That’s right. Stay there and watch like a good boy.”

  “Rgh…rrrgh…”

  He ignored the taunt, desperately moving that foot back to the ground, but he could do no more. Even now, Raios’s filthy hands were reaching for Tiese and Ronie on the bed.

  “…Eugeo,” came a fragile voice. He moved his eyes, the only part of his body he could control.

  With Raios moving to mount her, Tiese had her face turned to look at Eugeo. Those apple-red cheeks were pale with terror, but her eyes shone with a meaningful willpower.

  “Don’t move, Eugeo. I’ll be…fine. I’ve earned…this punishment,” she said, her voice halting. Then she nodded and rolled her face upward again. She glared at Raios in defiance, then shut her eyes. Ronie had her face buried in Tiese’s shoulder but was no longer shrieking.

  Raios seemed a bit surprised, taken aback at the strength of their will. Then he grinned venomously. “Very impressive resolve for a sixth-rank noble girl. It’ll be interesting to see how long they can last, eh, Humbert?”

  “Let’s see which will break down into tears first, Raios!”

  There was no nobility or pride in their actions now. Their faces were full of vulgar excitement and lust.

  He’d seen that look before. Through dulled wits focused on moving his stonelike legs, Eugeo tried to remember. Yes—it was the expression the goblins wore back in that cave. They were the spitting image of the denizens of darkness who attacked Kirito and him with their scimitars.

  Raios and Humbert reached to touch the girls’ faces at the same time, running their fingers down foreheads and cheeks, savoring the fear and humiliation. They deftly avoided touching the girls’ lips, as physical contact there—before the kiss that sealed a marriage—was forbidden. But if that was forbidden, how could the law allow this kind of assault on an unmarried woman? What purpose could there be in such a law?

  Throb.

  A sharp pain jolted deep inside his right eye. The odd, familiar pain from whenever he questioned the law or the Church.

  Ordinarily, Eugeo would instinctually stop thinking when he felt it. But this time, this one time, as he crumpled to the floor, Eugeo’s mind kept racing.

  All the laws and taboos existed to ensure that every resident of the human realm could live in peace and happiness; it had to be so. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not harm. Thou shalt not disobey the Axiom Church. The obedience of the masses was how the world stayed at peace.

  But then, why did the many laws only “forbid”? Why create hundreds of pages of rules forbidding this and that, when you could simply write, “All human beings shall respect their fellows, treat them with courtesy, and act with good faith and benevolence”? One simple sentence in the Taboo Index, and these men would never have laid this trap to torture Tiese and Ronie.

  Because it was impossible. Even with the absolute authority of the Church, it was impossible for all people to act solely out of goodness. Because…because…

  Because all people embody both good and evil.

  The Taboo Index was merely suppressing a facet of human evil. That was how Raios and Humbert could easily slip through the loopholes of the law—in fact, to use the law to their advantage—to prey upon the innocent like this. And Eugeo had no ability or right to stop them. At the moment, the law allowed them to do this and forbade Eugeo from preventing it.

  The nobles had completely forgotten about him by now, their eyes gleaming with lust and power as they surveyed their helpless victims. They undid the front of their robes, growing closer to performing the final act.

  Tiese’s and Ronie’s faces quaked in even greater terror and revulsion as they sensed the men approaching. They shook their heads back and forth in futile resistance, but even that action only added fuel to the predators’ enjoyment.

  At last, Ronie gave in and begged, “N-no…no…no…!”

  Hearing her friend whimper broke down Tiese’s last bit of bravery. Tears spilled onto her cheeks as she wailed, “Please…help…help, Eugeo! Eugeoooo!”

  Tiese and Ronie had summoned all their courage to step up for the sake of their friend Frenica—and the law blessed this hideous treatment of them.

  Raios and Humbert had plotted and schemed to ensnare the girls so that they could humiliate them and steal their chastity—and the law did nothing to stop them.

  Was it an act of goodness to uphold this law?

  “I…”

  With every last ounce of will, Eugeo lifted his leaden body off the ground, stretching his arm across his side to pull the hilt of the Blue Rose Sword. The pain in his right eye had transcended into a lump of burning fir
e, turning his vision red. He ignored it and squeezed.

  Once he drew the sharp steel sword and turned it on the two men, Eugeo would lose everything he’d gained at this school—his fifth-seat position, his enrollment, his dream of being school representative and appearing in the Imperial Battle Tournament.

  But if he stood here and watched as they committed these acts, he would lose something even more precious—his pride as a swordsman…and his human heart.

  In the woods the other day, Kirito had said there were things that had to be done, even if they were against the law. Things more important than the law, than the Index, than the Axiom Church.

  It all made sense now.

  He knew why Alice had touched the dirt of the land of darkness all those years ago. She had gone to help the dark knight whose chest the Integrity Knight had pierced. She did that to protect what was precious inside her.

  Now it was Eugeo’s time. He couldn’t put what that precious thing was into words—in fact, most of the people in the world might even think of his action as evil.

  “But…I have to!” he screamed, the words inaudible. He tried to pull the sword from its sheath.

  Ka-ching.

  But it was as though both sword and sheath, and perhaps even his arm itself, had turned to ice. His right arm simply stopped moving. A tremendous jolt of agony shot from his right eye, back to the center of his head. Sparks burst through his bright-red vision. His mind took flight.

  …What…is this?

  ……Actually……it’s like back then.

  Eight years ago. In the clearing out in front of the church in Rulid. When he tried to stop the Integrity Knight from taking Alice away.

  Unable to move, unable to speak, sword a few measly milices loose.

  His legs felt rooted deep into the ground, impossible to move even the tiniest bit.

  Raios and Humbert sensed something happening and turned to see him humiliatingly frozen in place, hand on his sword. They leered at him, then slowly, theatrically, lowered their waists toward their wailing victims, watching his reaction.

  An odd phenomenon then happened between them.