第十一章：教皇暗殺編「１５１．未遂」 (Pixiv Fanbox)

※The English version is also below. ※글자수 제한으로 한국어 번역은 별도 페이지입니다. 　教皇様とドロテーアの会談の日まであと三日となった朝のこと。 　私はなんとか影武者の役割を全うしていた。 　相変わらず細かいボロは出してしまうものの、それでも少しずつこの生活にも慣れてきた。 「でも、食事にはちょっと慣れないなあ」 　精霊教会のトップという立場でありながら、教皇様の食事は非常に質素である。 　固いパンに何かの豆を煮込んだ薄味のポタージュ、ゆで卵に少しの果物というシンプルさ。 　革命直後のクレア様や私たちとあまり変わらない食生活だ。 　別に精霊教会は動物の肉が禁止というわけではないはずなのだが、これも修行なのだろうか。 「それでは、毒味させて頂きます」 　お付きの女性がそう言って食事に手をつけた。 　ただでさえ質素な食事を、さらにまずく感じさせているのはこれのせいである。 　教皇様は世界的なVIPであり、なおかつ今は命を狙われているということもあって、食事は全て毒味されている。 　水魔法の解毒を使えばいいのではと思われるかも知れないが、帝国にはカンタレラという前例がある。 　セイン様暗殺に使われた旧型のカンタレラなら私が解毒出来るが、ルイが使った新型や、もしかしたらさらに新しい組成のカンタレラが使われる可能性だってある。 　万能に思われがちな魔法という技術にも、限界はあるのだ。 　毒味役は私の身の回りのお世話をしてくれる修道女さんである。 　名前はサンドリーヌさんというらしい。 　彼女は教皇様の厚い信奉者だそうで、かなり幼い頃からこういうお仕事をしているのだとか。 　見た目はごく普通の修道女で、私と同じくらいの背丈の人だ。 　優しい目をした、人の良さそうな二十代くらいのお姉さんである。 　少し痩せ型なのは、やはり食生活が質素だからだろうか。 　そういえば教会関係者で太った人を見たことがない。 「……大丈夫です。お召し上がり下さい」 　サンドリーヌさんは食事を一口ずつ食べてからそう言って、また側に控えてくれた。 「ありがとう、サンドリーヌ」 　私が礼を言うと、サンドリーヌさんはこれもお仕事ですから、と柔和に微笑んだ。 　ポタージュを口に運びながら、私は少し罪悪感を感じていた。 　サンドリーヌさんは、入れ替わりのことは知らされていない。 　彼女は教皇様のために今日も命を懸けて毒味をしている。 　仮に彼女が毒で命を落としたとして、助かるのは彼女が敬愛する教皇様ではなく、赤の他人の私なのだ。 　それがとても申し訳なく思う。 「本日はまずリーシェ様が面会にいらっしゃるそうです。三日後の会談の最終打ち合わせをしたいと仰っていました」 「分かりました」 　替え玉のこともあって、私と直接接する人は限られている。 　事務的な報告はほぼ全てリーシェ様がしてくれている。 　リーシェ様は仕事の出来る人だった。 　会談の段取りなど教皇として必要な各種の情報に加えて、本物の教皇様やクレア様、そしてメイとアレアのこともマメに報告を上げてくれる。 　おかげで私は安心して影武者のお仕事が出来るというわけだ。 　本日の公務の予定を聞きながら、私は食事を終えた。 　メニューのバリエーションを増やす提案でもしてみようかな、などと思いながら、着替えに移る。 　今日もまたこの重たい法衣を着なければならないのか、と少し憂鬱になりながら。 「教皇様、少しお太りになられましたね」 　サンドリーヌさんの言葉にぎくりとする。 　顔こそそっくりだが、やはり体つきなどには違いがあるのだろう。 「帝国の食材がいいのかもしれませんね。教皇様に万一のことがあってはいけませんから、きっと最高のものを提供しているのでしょう」 　ありがたいことです、とサンドリーヌさんが自己完結してくれた。 　危ない危ない。 「後ろのボタンを留めますね」 　サンドリーヌさんが背後に回る。 　どうでもいいけど、この法衣って自分一人じゃ着られないよね。 　ジッパーならまだしも、背中側のボタンなんて手が届かない。 　ブルーメからジッパーを売り出せないかなあなどと考えていると、背後から小さな呟きが聞こえた。 「玉体に触れる栄誉を賜りましたことを、感謝致します」 　サンドリーヌさんには教皇である私の身体に触れるときに、神への感謝を口にしながらロザリオに口づけする癖がある。 　恐らく今も、彼女はそうしているのだろう。 　ただ、今日はやけに時間が掛かっている。 　どうしたのだろうと私が訝しんでいると、突然背後に強い魔力を感じた。 「っ……！？」 　振り向こうとしたその瞬間、首が絞まり呼吸が出来なくなる。 　何か細い紐のようなものが巻き付けられているようだった。 「サンドリ……ヌさ……ど……して……！」 　疑問はすぐにかき消え、どうしたらこの窮地を切り抜けられるかに頭が切り替わる。 　真相究明は後回し。 　今はまず自分の命を繋がねば。 　私は背後に向かって威力を極小に絞ったつぶてを放ち、サンドリーヌさんの身体を跳ね飛ばした。 　その身体が壁に叩きつけられる。 「はあ……っ……はあ……っ……！」 「……」 　あえぐように酸素を吸い込みながら、私は油断なくサンドリーヌさんを観察した。 　先ほどまでの温和な表情はそこにはない。 　目は光を失い、手にはロザリオが握られていた。 　恐らく、あの紐の部分で締められたのだろう。 　普通の紐ではちぎれてしまうはずなので、あれは絞殺を目的とした特別製のはずだ。 　よく見ると、ロザリオが怪しい光を放っている。 　ひょっとして……魔道具……？ 「……」 　私の疑問をよそに、サンドリーヌさんが紐を構えて突っ込んできた。 　足取りはそれほど速くない。 　恐らく彼女は、運動オンチの本物の教皇様を想定してこの殺害方法を選んだのだろう。 　しかし、 「よっ……と」 　私は彼女の右の手首を掴むと、関節を極めて捻り上げた。 　サンドリーヌさんは少し抵抗したが、すぐに紐から手を離した。 「安眠」 　私は続けてサンドリーヌさんの額に指をつけると、水魔法の安眠を強めにかけた。 　平民運動の時に、クレア様を眠らせたあの魔法である。 　私の安眠は魔力の強いクレア様ですら昏倒させる威力がある。 　ただの修道女であるサンドリーヌさんは、抵抗することもなくその場に崩れ落ちた。 「ふう……」 　ひとまず窮地は脱したようだった。 　誰か人を呼ばないと……と、サンドリーヌさんのロザリオを拾い上げながら考えていると、 「教皇様！」 　ドアが乱暴に開けられ、人影が飛び込んできた。 「リーシェ様……」 「ご無事ですか！？　何やら大きな物音がしましたが！？」 　リーシェ様は息を切らしている。 　きっと全力で走ってきたのだろう。 「血が……！」 「ああ、跳ね飛ばしたときに切れたようです」 　どうやら私の首回りに傷痕がついているらしい。 「これは……サンドリーヌが？」 「ええ。でも彼女、正気を失っていたように見えました」 「彼女はまだ生きて……？」 「ええ、気を失わせただけです」 　事情を聞くまで、サンドリーヌさんの命を奪うわけにはいかない、と思ったのだ。 「こんなに真っ赤に痕がついて……。ごめんなさいね、武器や暗器の類いは調べていたつもりなのですけれど……まさかロザリオに細工をするなんて」 　リーシェ様は気遣わしげな顔をしながら、治癒魔法を掛けてくれた。 　おや、と私は思った。 　手の中に握りこんでいたロザリオをそのまま法衣の中にしまった。 　まだ結論は早い、と思いたかった。 　リーシェ様に続いて、教会の関係者がどかどかと部屋に入ってくる。 「これは……！」 「教皇様、お怪我を……！？」 「サンドリーヌが犯人だったのか……」 　何やら急に騒がしくなった。 「う……」 　僧兵に組み敷かれて、サンドリーヌさんが目を覚ました。 「私は……一体……」 「サンドリーヌ、教皇様殺害の咎でお前を拘束する」 「！？　そんな……、私、そんな恐れ多いことしていません！」 　サンドリーヌさんは潔白を訴えた。 　しかし、彼女が少なくとも実行犯であることは、私が身を以て知っている。 「この期に及んで諦めの悪い……。裁判を待つまでもありません。この場で処断してしまいましょう」 　リーシェ様が物騒なことを言い出した。 「待って下さい。彼女には色々と聞きたいことがあります」 「そんな悠長な……。彼女の犯行であることはもはや明らか。ここは速やかに――」 「大丈夫ですよ、私は」 　私はリーシェ様にだけ伝わるように言った。 　しかし、 「即座に処刑すべきです！」 　リーシェ様は強硬に処断を主張してくる。 　仕方ない。 「教皇である私の言うことが聞けないのですか？」 　私は最後の手段を使うことにした。 　リーシェ様と一対一ならなんの効果もない言葉だが、幸いなことにここには他の人の目もある。 「……かしこまりました。ご聖断に従います」 　リーシェ様を始め、一同が平伏した。 　うわー、これすっごく感じ悪いよね、私。 　その後、サンドリーヌさんは教会の取り調べを受けた。 　彼女によると、私の着替えを手伝っている途中から記憶がないということだった。 　自分を酷く責めているようで、理由はどうあれ教皇様を害そうとした客観的事実を突きつけられると、自ら処断されることを望んでいるという。 　取り調べには、必ず教会とバウアーの人間を両方同席させた。 　彼女の単独犯とは思えなかったので、口封じを防ぐためである。 　私の取りなしを聞いたサンドリーヌさんは、私が面会しに行ったときに、 「あなたに危害を加えた私などに、どうしてそこまでして頂けるのですか？」 　と、涙を浮かべて聞いてきた。 　私は上手い返しが思い浮かばなかったので、 「あなたがサンドリーヌだからに決まっているでしょう」 　と言ってみたのだが、彼女は感極まって泣き出してしまった。 　教皇様、なんかフラグ立ててたらごめんね。 　私は彼女の処遇をどうするかについては、背後関係が明らかになるまで待つようにと厳に言い含めた。 　そしてもう一つ、 「これも調べて貰わないとね」 　私はサンドリーヌさんのロザリオを、リーシェ様には内緒で密かにバウアーの関係者に渡して、解析して貰うように手配した。 *Translation below was made possible with the help of Angela. Thanks, Angela. Ch. 151 - An Attempt It was morning time, and three days before the meeting between the Pope and Dorothea was scheduled to take place. I’d somehow managed to fulfill my role as a shadow warrior. As usual, I’d have a few minor slip-ups here and there, but I was slowly starting to get used to this sort of lifestyle. “But I still can’t get used to the meals here.” Despite being at the top of the Spirit Church’s hierarchy, the Pope’s diet was extremely light. It was a simple meal that consisted of a lightly seasoned cream soup made with some sort of cooked beans and a bowl made of hard bread, a side of boiled eggs and some fruit. It was similar to the diet that Claire-sama and I lived off of for a while immediately following the revolution. On another note, it wasn’t like the Church prohibited eating animal meat or anything, but perhaps it was something that they practiced. “Now then, allow me to taste test for any poison.” The woman who brought the food in said as she prepared to take a bite. This was one of the reasons why the diet felt so light. Since the Pope was considered VIP status worldwide, and because there was somebody currently targeting her life, all of her meals had to be taste-tested beforehand. You might think that those potential toxins could just be detoxified with water magic, but the Empire set a sort of precedent when they introduced cantarella. I was able to cleanse the old type of cantarella that was used in an attempt to assassinate Sein-sama, but there was the possibility that I wouldn’t be able to do the same with the newer type of cantarella that Louis used before, or perhaps there was an even more evolved version of it by now. Even something as versatile and all-powerful as magic had its limits. The person who was checking for poison was a nun who personally waited upon me. It seemed that her name was Sandrine-san. Apparently, she was a devout follower of the Pope, so she had been at this job ever since she was young. From the looks of it, she appeared to be a regular nun, and roughly about the same height as me. She had gentle eyes and seemed to be a very kind woman of about twenty-something years old. She was a bit on the thinner side, but perhaps that was due to the light diet around here. Speaking of which, I had never seen a single person on the heavier side among the church officials either. “...... It seems to be fine. Please enjoy your meal.” Sandrine-san said after taking a single bite before returning to my side. “Thank you, Sandrine.” When I thanked her, she replied with, “This is just a part of my job, after all,” while wearing a gentle smile on her face. As I brought the soup to my mouth, a subtle feeling of guilt weighed upon me. Sandrine-san had not been informed of our role swapping. And yet, for the sake of the Pope, she risked her life once again today to check for any toxins. If, for example, she were to die by that poison, the person she would be saving was not the Pope that she had always loved and respected, but a complete stranger. I felt very sorry for her. “You’ll be meeting with Lishe-sama today. She wanted to have one last discussion before the conference that is taking place in three days.” “I understand.” This was partly due to our role swapping, but the number of people that could meet with me directly was limited. All of the clerical work was handled by Lishe-sama. Lishe-sama was somebody capable of that sort of job. In addition to making all of the meeting preparations for the Pope and providing me with all sorts of necessary information, she also reported on how the real Pope, Claire-sama, Mei and Alea were doing. Thanks to her, I was about to carry out my performance as a shadow warrior with a peace of mind. I finished my meal while I listened to the rest of the schedule for today’s business. “Maybe I should put in some suggestions to add more variety to the menu,” I thought to myself as I got changed. I felt a little depressed that I had to wear this heavy robe again today. “Your Holiness, it looks like you’ve put on a little bit of weight.” Sandrine-san’s words startled me a little bit. Although our faces were identical, as expected, our bodies were somewhat different. “That must be because the food in the Empire is good. They don’t want to take any chances with the Pope in case anything happens, so surely, they are offering you the best service.” Thankfully, Sandrine-san covered up for me. That was close. “Let me get that button on the back for you.” Sandrine-san looped around to my backside. Not that this matters, but this was the kind of robe that you wouldn’t be able to put on by yourself. Maybe it could be done if it was fastened with a zipper, but the buttons on the back were unreachable. “I wonder if you can buy zippers from Blume,” I wondered to myself when I heard a whisper from behind me. “I am grateful for being bestowed the honor of being allowed to touch Your Holiness.” Every time Sandrine-san needed to touch my body, while disguised as the Pope, she would always express her gratitude towards God while kissing her rosary. She was probably doing that right now as well. However, she was taking a long time today. Right as I started to wonder what was going on, I suddenly felt strong magic being used behind me. “Urk……!?” The moment I tried to turn around, there was something firm against my neck that made it difficult to breathe. Something that was thin and string-like seemed to be wrapped around it. “San…..drine….sa…… why……!” My need for an answer quickly started to disappear as my mind began to focus on how to get out of the situation first. The truth can come later. The first thing I needed to do was to save my own life. I mustered whatever little power I had and shot a stone behind me, which sent Sandrine’s body backward. Her body slammed against a wall. “Haah…… hah….... haah……!” “......” As I was gasping for air, I examined Sandrine-san carefully. Unlike before, she was no longer wearing a gentle expression. Her eyes were devoid of light, and she was still holding onto her rosary. Perhaps the string that was used for the chokehold came from that. If it were a regular string, it would’ve snapped quite easily, so that was probably something specifically made for strangulation. If you looked closely, the rosary seemed to be emitting some sort of suspicious light. Could that be…… a magic tool……? “......” As if confirming my suspicions, Sandrine-san readjusted the string and lunged at me. Her movements weren’t very fast, though. Most likely, this girl chose this method of murder in order to take advantage of the real Pope’s lack of athletic ability. However, “There we go…” I grabbed hold of her right wrist and twisted her joints extremely hard. Sandrine-san offered a little bit of resistance, but she quickly let go of her grasp on the string. “Sleep.” I pressed my finger against her forehead and forced Sandrine-san into a deep slumber with my water magic. It was the same spell I used on Claire-sama back during the commoners’ movement. My sleep spell was strong enough that it even made someone as powerful as Claire-sama pass out. Since Sandrine-san was just an ordinary nun, she collapsed without any resistance. “Phew……” For the time being, it seemed that I escaped from my predicament. ‘I should call for somebody,’ I thought to myself as I picked up Sandrine’s rosary. “Your Holiness!” The door was swung wide open and somebody flew right in. “Lishe-sama……” “Are you hurt!? I thought I heard a loud noise coming from here!?” Lishe-sama was out of breath. She probably sprinted over here as quickly as possible. “There’s blood……!” “Ahh, I must’ve gotten myself cut when I bounced her back.” In any case, it seemed that there were scars around my neck. “Was this…… Sandrine’s doing?” “Yes. However, it looked like she wasn’t in her right mind.” “Is she still……?” “Yes, all I did was make her pass out.” All I thought was, until I could get an explanation out of her, I wasn’t going to take Sandrine’s life away. “It left such red scars behind……. I am really sorry, I had looked into various types of weapons and hidden weapons, but….... to think that even a rosary could be used for this…” Lishe-sama administered healing magic on me with a concerned look on her face. ‘Oh,’ I thought. While still gripping onto the rosary, I slipped it into my robe. I wanted to think that it was too early to jump to conclusions. As Lishe-sama continued, church officials began to gather into the room. “This is……!” “Your Holiness, you were injured……!?” “Is Sandrine the one behind this……” It suddenly became noisy. “Ugh……” As Sandrine was coming to, she was being held down by armed priests. “What exactly…… was I doing……” “Sandrine, you are under arrest for attempting to murder the Pope.” “!? No way…… I would never do such a horrid thing!” Sandrine pleaded for her innocence. However, even if she wasn’t aware of it herself, I learned the hard way that she was the perpetrator. “You refuse to admit to your crimes even until the very end…… There is no need to wait for a trial. Let us come up with a verdict right now.” Lishe-sama said something very frightening. “Please wait. I have a lot of things I want to ask her.” “That’s too easygoing…… It is already as clear as day that this girl has committed a crime. Let us quickly――” “Don’t worry about me, I am fine.” I tried to communicate with Lishe-sama with my own words. However, “She needs to be executed immediately!” Instead, Lishe-sama pushed her judgment onto the Pope. In that case, it couldn’t be helped. “Are you refusing to listen to me, the Pope?” I decided to jump to my last resort. If this was a one-on-one discussion between Lishe-sama and myself, that sentence would have no effect on her; however, fortunately, we were somewhere in front of other people. “....... I understand. I will obey your decision.” For the first time, Lishe-sama prostrated at my feet. Oh wow, this actually makes me feel really bad. After that, Sandrine-san was taken away to be investigated by the Church. According to her, she had no memory of what happened starting from when she was in the middle of helping me get changed. It seemed that she was blaming herself for what happened, since, regardless of the reason, the fact that she tried to hurt the Pope was the objective truth, so she voluntarily sought out a sentence. The investigation was definitely conducted by the Church and somebody from Bauer as well. They didn’t believe that she was the sole perpetrator, and that she was keeping her mouth shut to protect the other people. When Sandrine-san heard of how I intervened, she requested to meet with me. “Why did you go so far for somebody like me, even though I tried to hurt you?” She asked with tears in her eyes. I couldn’t think of anything good to respond with, so, “Isn’t that obvious? Because it was for you, Sandrine.” I chose to say something like that instead, which caused her to be so moved that she started crying. Your Holiness, if I just raised some sort of love interest flag for you, I’m sorry. As for how we were going to deal with her, I strictly insisted that we were going to wait until we could gather more details regarding whoever was behind all of this. One more thing, “I should look into this as well.” While keeping it hidden from Lishe-sama, I secretly handed over Sandrine-san’s rosary to Bauer officials for analysis.