CHAPTER 2
THE IMPERIAL CAPITAL, CAMELOT
As the Imperial Government Tower, symbol of the capital, approached in the distance, the people of the Seventh Assault Garden cheered in joy and relief. There had been multiple mana furnace malfunctions that forced temporary pauses during the trip, but thankfully, no Voids had appeared during the voyage.
One hundred and twenty-eight hours had passed since the Seventh Assault Garden left the Dark Continent. At 10:30 Imperial Standard Time, seventeen hours past schedule, the Seventh Assault Garden, Terminus, along with the Sixth Assault Garden, Alexandria, successfully connected with the capital’s float bay area and coupled with Camelot.
“Did you pack what you need, Leo? You didn’t forget anything?”
They were in the float bay’s coupling terminal. Riselia, carrying a swollen travel bag, turned around to look at Leonis with concern.
The boy shrugged. “I’m fine. I didn’t have much to pack anyway.”
Most of Leonis’s belongings were in the Realm of Shadows’s treasure vault. There he kept the riches and valuables he’d pillaged from conquered enemy kingdoms and magical artifacts he’d obtained by defeating gods. The vault was filled with many spoils of war, but the repository’s manager, Shary, often criticized Leonis for carelessly tossing treasures into the pile.
“The hotel should have most things we’ll need, so don’t worry about that,” Elfiné said with a slightly exasperated smile.
“Yes, I hardly have anything on me,” Sakuya remarked.
“You hardly keep any possessions to begin with,” Riselia countered.
Voice low, Sakuya confessed, “I had to pawn off most of my room’s furniture because of underground gambling.”
“…Won’t the academy get mad at you for that?” Riselia inquired, concern in her tone.
“Yes, but all I need to buy everything back is one big score.” Sakuya nodded confidently.
She isn’t thinking of using her mystic eye for gambling, is she? Leonis wondered.
“Ah, it’s opening. It’s our turn.” Regina pointed ahead as the terminal’s gate rose.
The boarding procedure went by smoothly, thanks to their Excalibur Academy IDs. Afterward, Leonis and the girls were instructed to board a linear railway car that would take them into the capital’s Central Garden.
Leonis and Riselia took a booth seat by the window.
“Once we’re out of the coupling bridge, we’ll have a view of the city,” Riselia explained.
“Will it really be that different from the Seventh Assault Garden?” Leonis asked.
“Well…” Riselia paused for thought. “Our city’s an offense-oriented Assault Garden, built to destroy Void Hives. The capital was designed as a fortress to defend humanity, so it has fewer combat facilities…”
Camelot, also known as the First Assault Garden, was roughly fourteen times the size of the Seventh Assault Garden. On top of that, it was under constant expansion, with more residential floats being constructed. This meant it was slower than the Seventh Assault Garden. Most of the time, it was docked on the continent’s shoreline, usually somewhere in this sector of the ocean.
“The Second Assault Garden is charged with defending the capital,” Elfiné, seated opposite Leonis and Riselia, said. “The two cities always work together. If the Seventh Assault Garden is a sword, then the Second Assault Garden is like a shield.”
At present, there were seven Assault Gardens, collectively forming the most effective anti-Void strike force in the world. A total of twelve were planned, but following the Third Assault Garden’s destruction six years ago, focus had shifted to its restoration, a process that would take over a decade.
The linear rail exited the tunnel at last, and sunlight streamed in through the window. At last, the capital’s cityscape could be seen.
…So this is Camelot.
Rows of towering, laminated buildings. Massive pipes that ran between every structure. Leonis had had Shary scout out the city ahead of him, but there were many things he couldn’t have known about until he witnessed them for himself.
The capital—humankind’s greatest fortress and the first of the Assault Gardens. Leonis felt a kind of foreboding about this city. Something was waiting for him here.
The Central Garden was Camelot’s main government sector. As the core of the Assault Garden, it housed the Grand Cathedral, the hub for the city’s administration. It was also home to Palace Illuminous.
Leonis’s group disembarked the linear rail’s terminal, boarded a large vehicle Elfiné had ordered for ahead of time, and set off for the hotel they’d be staying in.
“…There’s a lot of people around. Is there a festival of some sort today?” Leonis asked as he watched the scenery fly by.
The Seventh Assault Garden’s Central Garden had its commercial district, which was also very crowded, but not to this extent.
From her spot sitting across from him, Elfiné responded, “No, this is just typical pedestrian traffic here. The population density is greater than in the Seventh Assault Garden. Our home was made to launch offensives against the Voids, after all.”
“Just be careful so you don’t get lost, Leo,” Riselia cautioned with a little grin.
“I’m not a child,” Leonis retorted, exasperated.
“I’m no good with crowds,” Sakuya whispered, holding down her eye patch. “Looking at people too much makes me queasy…”
“W-we’ll have a little more room in a bit…,” Elfiné said with a slightly crooked smile as she rubbed Sakuya’s back.
After about ten minutes, the vehicle had made its way from the Central Garden to the float with the hotel.
“Hmm… Which way to the hotel?” Leonis wondered aloud.
The group stood before a large garden full of gorgeous blossoms.
“We’re here,” Elfiné stated. “All of this is the hotel.”
“Huh?”
“This entire float forms the premises of the Shangri-la Resort.”
“…” Leonis swallowed nervously, gazing up at the towers rising from the lush field. “Y-you own all of this, Miss Elfiné…?”
Elfiné frowned. “No, not me. The company does.”
“This is my first time at the Shangri-la Resort,” Riselia said, clearly amazed.
Nodding vacantly, Regina added, “Mine, too.”
“…”
All the girls looked stunned.
Just what is this…?!
Leonis had been taken aback by Sakuya’s estate in Old Town. Riselia’s old home in the Third Assault Garden had been even larger than that. During his time as a hero, Leonis had been invited to the Rognas Kingdom’s luxurious palace, which dwarfed both. And yet…
That’s absurd. This whole float is private property?!
…this great structure put all of them to shame. It rivaled Leonis’s castle in Necrozoa, Death Palace, in size. Of course, Death Palace likely won in terms of total space, since it had a vast underground dungeon. Yet the mere fact a comfort lodging facility rivaled one of the Dark Lords’ Armies’ greatest bastions was absurd.
“There are all sorts of training facilities on the premises,” Elfiné explained. “We should be free to use them as we please.”
“R-really?!” Riselia’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Elfiné nodded. “Yes, no need to feel shy. Use them whenever you please.”
“Hmm, I’m sorry if this is sudden, Miss Elfiné, but may I ask something?” Leonis pointed at a large marble sculpture standing in the center of the garden. “Can that statue move, by any chance?”
“Huh?” Elfiné blinked a few times. “I don’t think it does, no.”
“Really?” Leonis sighed in relief.
The gates of Death Palace were guarded by large bone statues that would attack whenever they sensed the presence of the living nearby.
My castle wins on that front, Leonis thought, feeling oddly competitive.
They walked past the garden and into a tall building standing in the center of the float. It rivaled the Seventh Assault Garden’s Central Tactical Tower in size.
“Ahhhh! Kid! Kid, listen!” Regina said, excitedly tapping on Leonis’s shoulder. “The Phillet Company’s Shangri-La Resort is a five-star hotel used by famous royalty and nobility!”
“M-Miss Regina, stop that, it hurts,” Leonis protested.
Still, he couldn’t fault her enthusiasm. The hotel’s magnificent interior felt like a king’s palace. Elfiné simply walked right in, without going through the counter for check-in. The hotel’s employees didn’t look bothered by her actions, though, bowing their heads to her reverently.
“…Miss Elfiné really is the daughter of a rich family…,” Leonis whispered to Riselia, who walked next to him.
“That’s right, Miss Finé is an heiress to Count Phillet’s noble house.”
Leonis nearly remarked that it was impressive Elfiné put up with their dorm because of how similar it was to a haunted mansion. He stopped himself at the last second, however. Riselia was a renowned duke’s daughter, after all.
The group boarded an elevator and rode to the thirteenth floor.
“Here we are,” Elfiné stated as she stepped out into the hall. “Use anyplace you’d like.”
“Anyplace we’d… Which rooms are ours?” Regina asked.
“I rented out the whole floor,” Elfiné explained with a self-deprecating smile. “Take any rooms you prefer.”
“Th-the whole floor?!”
“Yes. It’s all for the eighteenth platoon,” Elfiné replied coolly.
“Whaaaaaaat?!” The three other girls exchanged looks of surprise.
“Let’s make the biggest space our meeting room,” Elfiné decided.
Thus, the eighteenth platoon scouted out the largest chamber on the floor so they could use it to discuss their plans.
“…W-wow…” Regina marveled as she stepped inside.
At the center of the room, which was spacious enough to serve as a dance hall, were a round wooden table and sofas. The furnishings all looked high-class, and expensive-looking portraits hung on the wall.
Is this what counts for avant-garde art nowadays? Leonis pondered. The paintings all looked like childish scribbles to him, but they were probably crafted by famous artists.
“Fluffymaru! There’s a Fluffymaru here!” Sakuya exclaimed, immediately sinking into the sofa and hugging a soft cushion.
Evidently, everything fluffy counted as Fluffymaru to her.
“Let’s open the curtains.” Riselia approached the window and opened its velvet curtains. The balcony offered a view of the entire float.
“Ah, Lady Selia, there are pools!” Regina exclaimed, her twintails bouncing.
There were five large pools directly beneath the hotel. Incidentally, Death Palace had no water for swimming whatsoever, only poisonous swamps that spewed deadly miasma.
“What’s that giant device over there?” Leonis asked, pointing at something near the water.
“That’s a water slide,” Riselia told him. “You go down through the inside of that tube into the water.”
I thought it was some kind of weapon. Having learned that it was play equipment, Leonis lost all interest in the thing. Well, I’m sure Blackas would appreciate it.
Unlike Leonis, who was a poor swimmer, Blackas enjoyed the exercise. And if he were to do it in the middle of the night, he could avoid detection.
“The Shangri-la Resort is a leisure island that makes use of the entire float,” Regina said, reading from a guidebook. “It has pools, theaters, sport facilities, a concert hall, a stadium, a live performance venue, a casino, an aquarium, and an amusement park.”
“A casino…” Sakuya abruptly sat up, still hugging the pillow.
“Stop it, you two,” Riselia chided, her brow furrowed. “We didn’t come here to play around.”
“I rented out the sports facilities for us, so we can use them to train all we want,” Elfiné remarked.
“Thank you so much for all of this, Miss Finé.” Riselia retrieved a notepad from her pocket. “I already have our regimen planned out. We won’t have any time to goof off.”
Regina peered at Riselia’s schedule and frowned. “…Whoa, it’s jam-packed.”
Riselia spread out her notes, which were as meticulous as one might expect of her. Her plan included the training regimen, when the platoon would wake and go to bed, and when they’d take breaks and eat. A lot of the practice time had Riselia and Leonis training together.
I won’t have much time to investigate the capital myself like this. Leonis would have to entrust that to Shary, and only go out himself after dark.
“Let’s decide the room assignments,” Riselia suggested. “I want to be in the same room as Leo.”
“Ah, that’s not fair, Lady Selia! Stop hogging the kid all to yourself!” Regina protested, wrapping an arm around Leonis’s and hugging him tightly.
“M-Miss Regina?!” Leonis squeaked.
“I’m not hogging him; I’m his guardian,” Riselia said stubbornly.
“Boo! I want to toy with the kid, too!”
Don’t you mean “play with”?
“Hmm. I prefer being in the same room as Miss Selia,” Leonis stated.
Riselia beamed. “Leo!”
As far as Leonis was concerned, sleeping separately from Riselia was inefficient. Her vampiric impulse sometimes kicked in during the night, and she would unconsciously slip out of bed to suck Leonis’s blood.
…What if someone else saw that?
“Aww. Fine, I’ll just come to Lady Selia’s room to toy with you.” Regina pouted, but otherwise stepped down.
Following this, Regina, Sakuya, and Elfiné all picked their rooms and registered them in their terminals.
“Okay, now that we’ve got that settled, let’s drop off our luggage.” Riselia reached for her bag.
Elfiné stopped her, though, standing abruptly. “Selia, wait a moment.”
“Miss Finé?”
Elfiné looked around the room with a serious expression. “Activate.” Two Eye of the Witch orbs manifested overhead, and they began inspecting the room. The spheres lit up, with rows of numbers running across them.
“What’s wrong, Miss Finé?” Regina asked.
“I’m scanning for wiretaps…,” Elfiné replied gravely. “Looks like this place is clean.” She shrugged, and then the Eye of the Witch orbs vanished into thin air. Elfiné looked at her fellow members of the eighteenth platoon and steeled herself. “There’s something I need to tell you all.”
“The D Project?”
Everyone seated at the table exchanged curious glances. Elfiné had just confessed to them that the Phillet Company was behind the Demon Sword–related incidents.
“My family was involved with Liat going berserk during the Hive annihilation mission, and it was probably behind the Voids appearing during the Sakura Orchid festival recently. I’m sure of it.”
“…It can’t be…” Riselia breathed out, looking stunned. “I mean, the Phillet Company develops anti-Void weapons for the Integrated Human Empire. It’s a national enterprise.”
“Yes. And that’s why it’s safe to assume they have cooperators within the military. Or maybe the army is backing the project,” Elfiné replied, her voice hushed. “If the information my sister gave me is to be trusted, all the academy students who were corrupted by Demon Swords came into contact with one of the Phillet Company’s Artificial Elementals.”
“Are you saying an Artificial Elemental is turning people’s Holy Swords into Demon Swords?” Regina questioned.
Elfiné exhaled. “…I don’t know exactly, but I have enough evidence to suggest a connection.”
“…” Sakuya had been silent for a while, evidently considering something.
“…I want to discover the truth about the Demon Sword Project while I’m here in the capital,” Elfiné stated, clenching her fist.
“Why…?” Riselia whispered. “Why didn’t you tell us this sooner?”
“Lady Selia…” Regina looked at her, concerned.
Riselia bit her lip. A wise girl like her surely knew the reason. As the upperclassman, Elfiné didn’t want her friends from the eighteenth platoon involved in such a dangerous conspiracy. It had doubtlessly weighed on her for a long time.
However, this only made Riselia all the more frustrated. Why hadn’t she noticed Elfiné carrying this burden alone?
“…I’m sorry, Selia.” Elfiné gently placed a hand on the other girl’s shoulder.
Riselia shook her head gently. “No. It’s my fault for not recognizing the trouble you were dealing with. But please, you need to count on us more.”
“All right, I will.” Elfiné nodded. “I won’t hesitate to ask you again.”
“I’ll help you, too, Miss Finé,” Regina said.
“And I’ll lend you my aid as well. Limited though my powers may be,” Leonis added.
Getting such important information on these Demon Swords was a windfall. Nefakess, Zemein, and their ilk were definitely connected to it all.
“Miss Finé.” Sakuya finally spoke up. “The people you’re talking about—they’re the ones who gave the Kenki Gathering their Demon Swords, correct?”
“Yes. My brother, Finzel Phillet, hired the Sakura Orchid’s Kenki Gathering as guards. There’s no outright proof, but it’s clear he was involved.”
“I see…,” Sakuya responded, her voice thick with cold bloodlust. “Then I can’t stay out of this.”
“…Thank you.” Elfiné bowed before the younger girl.
“Does the academy know?” Riselia inquired.
“You guys are the only ones I can trust. The Phillet family has connections with the army, so making this public would be dangerous.”
“Was there a reason you picked a hotel that belongs to the Phillet Company, then?” Regina asked.
“Yes. My brother’s probably wary that I’m back at the capital,” Elfiné replied. “He’ll be following my every move. So I figured that if I intentionally go in under his nose, it’ll make it harder for him to interfere. Plus, since the Shangri-la Resort is used by nobility and royalty, he’ll think twice before doing anything reckless here.”
“I see,” Regina said.
And she’d rented out the whole floor to ensure the group wasn’t overheard or in any bugged rooms.
She really is cunning, Leonis thought.
“There’s a Phillet Company research facility built here,” Elfiné continued. “The botanical garden and aquarium are for research purposes. And they develop Artificial Elementals, too…”
“So you think we might learn something about this plan,” Riselia concluded.
“I’ll be keeping up my investigation,” Elfiné told the others. “But for the time being, watch out for the Phillet Company.”
A white-haired priest stood at the back of a cathedral. He bowed his head respectfully with a faint smile. “Thank you for coming all the way here, Lord Phillet.”
This young priest was Nefakess Reizaad, cardinal of the Human Church.
“I’m honored to be here, and to meet the second-highest-ranking apostle of the goddess,” the other man replied.
“Given your accomplishments, it was only a matter of time until we met. The D Project’s success would not have been possible without your endeavors,” said Nefakess.
The tall young man opposite Nefakess responded, “I’m honored by your praise.” His hair was black and sleek, and he’d grown it out. This was Finzel Phillet—House Phillet’s second son and a successor to the family’s enterprise.
It’s ironic, Finzel mused. An apostle consumed by the emptiness serving as a clergyman for the Human Church.
The apostles formed a secret society that served the Goddess of Nothingness. Six years ago, they made contact with the Phillet family, whose members led the Void Gospel faction, shortly after news of the Third Assault Garden’s destruction shook the capital.
From the apostles, Finzel acquired knowledge that surpassed everything humanity was capable of. Finzel was the least talented of his siblings and possessed no Holy Sword. It was only with the apostles’ help that he had climbed to his current position in the Phillet Company.
In exchange for their wisdom, he supported their plan to invert the power of Holy Swords and produce Demon Swords in their place—the D Project.
“We need to advance our undertaking, so I’ve come to check on your progress,” Nefakess said.
“The D Project is progressing according to schedule,” Finzel replied. “The experiment in the Seventh Assault Garden was a success.”
The Sakura Orchid mercenaries Finzel had hired proved to be quite the worthwhile disposable pawns. Seraphim, the Artificial Elemental imbued with the Goddess Factor, was nearly complete.
“Yes, I’ve confirmed the Demon Swords’ transformation into Voids. The results are quite wonderful.” Nefakess clapped his hands with a smile. “However, you’ve yet to bring it to the next phase.”
“Yes—they still need to be tested in live combat,” Finzel replied. “We’ll have the results for that in the coming days.”
“The Holy Sword Dance Festival,” Nefakess remarked. “A human celebration of the Holy Swords’ power.”
“The most elite Holy Swordsmen will be gathering there. I can think of no better stage.”
“Indeed.”
Finzel’s voice turned suddenly uneasy. “Lord Nefakess… You will uphold your end of the bargain, right? Once the project succeeds, will I be given an audience?”
“Of course,” the apostle assured him with a serene grin. “Your meeting with the goddess will be approved.”
“Oh, finally…”
Their goddess was a deity born of the nothingness, which harbored infinite wisdom. She was the being that granted humanity its Holy Swords.
Soon… Soon I will surpass my brother. I will even overtake Father! Joy burned in Finzel’s chest.
“But do be careful…,” Nefakess added, his smile melting.
“Careful of what?”
“Of the Seventh Assault Garden. There’s something troublesome in that city.”
“Troublesome?” Finzel frowned. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. It’s a singularity of some sort. That presence could potentially throw the prophecy off-kilter…”
“Hmph,” Finzel huffed. “The Seventh Assault Garden, you say?” The image of his younger sister, who’d fled the family a few years ago, flashed in his mind.
Elfiné Phillet—the fool who’d discarded her position, despite being graced with a powerful Holy Sword.
It can’t be her. Finzel dismissed that foolish notion with a shake of his head.
“Understood. You can rest assured, wise apostle. All will go as planned.”
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