Typemoon: Starting Out as the Lion King’s Personal Knight - [Chapter 29]: Despair

“I can’t give an evaluation. I’ve never met anyone from Chaldea, so how could I provide an objective opinion on someone I’ve never encountered?”

Alaric shrugged.

“But if you’re asking for my personal view, I’d say Dr. Romani is a good person. As an ordinary man, he’s done his best to face the Incineration of Humanity.”

Holmes wasn’t discouraged by this response. Seeing that Alaric didn’t want to say more, he continued, “Romani is undoubtedly living as a human being. Though he isn’t a magus, he’s hiding something—something incredibly significant, something very close to the truth.”

“Chaldea is full of hidden talents, it seems,” Alaric sighed.

“How does Sir Alaric know so much about Chaldea’s internal affairs?”

Holmes asked abruptly.

It was a strange but not entirely unexpected question. Alaric had already demonstrated a level of knowledge almost on par with Holmes. Even now, his familiarity with Chaldea wasn’t outside Holmes’s expectations. Still, Holmes couldn’t resist asking.

“I’ve got good eyes, Mr. Holmes—”

Alaric lifted a finger to his temple after a brief moment of silence.

“Oh?”

Holmes raised an eyebrow, his gaze meeting Alaric’s straightforward eyes.

“That man, Marisbury Animusphere, got the Holy Grail, right? What did he wish for?”

Nitocris, who had been listening for a while, asked curiously.

Holmes shrugged.

“Who knows? Unfortunately, Hermes doesn’t record what Marisbury wished for—only the results. After the Holy Grail War, Marisbury achieved great success as a magus. Whether it was the once-unpromising research topics at the Clock Tower or the Heroic Spirit summoning system he later established, his achievements were groundbreaking. He created a system capable of observing the future and even hypothesized about spiritron transfer and time interference.”

Spiritron Transfer!

Alaric’s pupils contracted. He almost interrupted Holmes but held his excitement in check and continued listening.

“In 2004, Chaldea obtained equipment that rivaled experimental facilities, and based on that, I’d speculate that Marisbury’s wish likely involved wealth. Moreover, he had no reason to incinerate humanity. According to the records, his nature was described as ‘wise’; he had common human desires, jealousy, and loved ordinary happiness. That’s the kind of person Marisbury Animusphere was.”

Alaric looked at the triangular obelisk and continued, “A person like that wouldn’t destroy humanity. So either he was used by someone else or unknowingly opened Pandora’s box—perhaps someone like Professor Lev Lainur, who blew up Chaldea.”

Holmes smiled faintly.

“Lev Lainur was assigned to Chaldea in 1999, around the time when the observational technology from the Sheba lenses was implemented. It’s undeniable that Lev Lainur was a subordinate of the King of Magecraft.”

Alaric looked at Holmes.

“Lev Lainur infiltrated Chaldea most likely to target something specific. Chaldea had problems even back then. So, it’s possible that the 2004 Holy Grail War was merely a means to secure funding and had no direct connection to the Incineration of Humanity.”

“Exactly. As difficult as it is to admit, Romani Archaman—despite being a rather enigmatic figure who seems irrelevant and unnecessary—is more of an innocent bystander, someone who only causes trouble,” Holmes said with a hint of sarcasm.

“The doctor would cry if he heard you say that,” Alaric chuckled.

“Even though I’ve never met him, anyone who steps up during Chaldea’s crisis can’t be all that bad. Romani’s doing his best, after all.”

“In any case, Romani remains a key suspect in my view. Sir Alaric, I ask you to keep this confidential. Please don’t share this with anyone from Chaldea. Until Romani’s secret is fully uncovered, he cannot be trusted.”

Holmes spoke calmly, his expression composed.

Alaric nodded, unable to refuse such a request.

“Well, now that my inquiry is complete, it’s time for Sir Alaric’s question,” Holmes said, stepping aside with a smile, giving Alaric space to face the Tri-Hermes.

“My question…”

Alaric stood before the massive obelisk, his expression calm, while a series of keywords flashed through his mind—

Spiritron Transfer Technology. Time Interference. Humanity Restoration.

All the information about Singularities raced through his thoughts. This was what Alaric truly wanted to investigate. Even if King Hassan hadn’t pointed him toward the Atlas Institute, Alaric would have come here regardless.

Once a Singularity disappears, everything returns to normal, but those who die in the Singularity do not come back—they simply vanish from history. This is the correction imposed by the laws of the human order.

However, Chaldea’s Masters can escape a Singularity through spiritron transfer, returning to the Chaldea base, which exists outside of time, thus avoiding the effects of the Singularity’s collapse.

But Alaric couldn’t.

Alaric wasn’t a native of the Singularity, nor had he arrived via Chaldea’s spiritron transfer technology.

When the Singularity is concluded, what will happen to Alaric? Will he remain trapped in the past, or will he be erased by the correction of human history? Without the luxury of trial and error, Alaric had to consider the worst possible outcome.

Alaric didn’t want his journey to end here, so he was determined to survive by any means necessary.

Having become a knight of the Lion King in the face of death, having bet everything to meet the Old Man of the Mountain, King Hassan, and having obtained the Holy Grail from King Ozymandias—something he shouldn’t have had—everything seemed to be going smoothly for Alaric, as though fate was on his side.

He had reached the Atlas Institute, which had drifted here from 2017, and now stood before the world-class detective, Sherlock Holmes, in front of the Tri-Hermes.

After witnessing Holmes’s inquiry, Alaric had gained a deeper understanding of the obelisk’s functions.

To Alaric, the spiritron calculator, which recorded all phenomena, was an almost omniscient existence.

Once activated, it would answer all of Alaric’s questions.

Should I avoid it?

Alaric asked himself. The situation was now clear.

If he asked the right questions, what awaited him would be overwhelming despair.

The despair of facing certain death, where nothing could change the inevitable.

His breathing grew heavier. Even though he hadn’t engaged in any intense combat, just thinking about it caused his heart to race. His dragon blood instinctively stirred, and his magical energy surged uncontrollably.

The aura of the dragon burst forth and spread around the TTri-Hermes, flowing like both a raging fire and a calm stream.

This unusual reaction naturally drew the attention of Holmes and Nitocris.

Holmes quietly stopped Nitocris from interrupting, choosing instead to observe Alaric from the sidelines.

Watching Alaric’s pale gold, slit-pupiled eyes, Holmes narrowed his own and tightened his grip on his pipe.

At that moment, Alaric wasn’t paying attention to Holmes. His entire being was focused on the desperate decision before him.

Should he confront death, or cling to a faint hope?

Isn’t it obvious?

With his thoughts settled, Alaric raised his head, a smile tugging at his lips, and shouted:

“Tri-Hermes, bird that soars through the underworld! Answer my question! Provide me with data on the technology related to spiritron transfer! Tell me how to obtain the qualifications for spiritron transfer! Tell me the principle behind time interference and self-verification of existence!”

There was no hesitation in those bold words. For the first time, Alaric was directly confronting his death.

Beep-beep-beep-beep!

Suddenly, an urgent alarm rang out, and the once-blue Tri-Hermes turned a deep crimson in an instant.

Scarlet screens of light flashed before Alaric’s face as if warning him of his ignorance and recklessness.