2
There is an old tale of the northerly winds and the sun.
To steal the traveler’s clothes off his back, the wind blows as hard as it can but fails to accomplish its goal. Meanwhile, the sun slowly roasts him, making him abandon his frock because of the heat.
The lesson is…to force others to serve you, use composed persistence rather than intimidation. The logic had held throughout history, and it had inspired a model that the Hydra had favored for generations. Even their institute had drawn its name from it.
The Hydra’s research institute. The leading edge of astral power engineering and research—better known as Snow and Sun.
An operation owned by the Hydra.
The research facility had been created to investigate ways of creating a fourth energy revolution by taking the astral energy from the planet’s core to use in place of electricity and gas.
“…At least, to the public. In actuality, it’s a place to hide the Hydra’s personal soldiers.”
From the lawn, Nami pointed up at the gleaming skyscraper, which was dark gray in color. Guards carrying anti–astral power riot shields stood on either side of the entrance. They didn’t look like astral corps from the field so much as the suppression forces Unit 907 had seen at the prison spires.
“As you can see, they’ve employed several soldiers that are not part of the official royal guards, passing them off as lookouts. I believe hundreds of them are permanently stationed here… What do you think, Sistia? Do you hear anything?”
“They’re on high alert. I hear conversations over radio.”
The other servant put her hand to her ear. The others were too far to make out anything, but she had used Echo to listen in on the mercenaries’ conversations.
“It seems they’re speaking in code; based on the frequency of what they’re saying and their reactions, however, it seems they haven’t noticed anything abnormal and are continuing with their regular defenses. But seeing how they’re communicating with each other so often, I think they’re being extra cautious.”
“Well, I suppose they would be.” Iska had been expecting as much. “We were attacked at the villa. They’re probably worried we’ll retaliate.”
“It’s eleven. It’s time. Shall we proceed as planned?”
“Of course.”
Far off in the palace, Talisman was starting his conference.
…Alice is watching over him.
…This is our chance to invade their facility.
Iska and the others had already been rendered invisible by Fog.
Thirty minutes had passed since they had entered the grounds. They would only be able to remain concealed for another three hours.
“Let’s go.” Nami led the group, heading to the research facility.
They looked straight into the eyes of the two guards flanking the door, observing their surroundings. The guards, however, hadn’t seen any of the people walking in front of them.
“They…they really didn’t notice us…”
“Hurry up, Commander. The automatic door is going to close!”
“Ah?! Wait, Nene!”
Before the door could snap shut, Mismis slipped through it.
The automatic doors used infrared and body sensor systems. Since their body heat couldn’t be masked using Fog, these doors would automatically open for them. That meant they needed to go through the doors with the researchers to avoid suspicion.
“Oh…that was close. I’m glad I practiced at the hotel yesterday…”
“You’re the only one who benefited from the practice, boss.”
“Really, Jhin?!” Mismis exclaimed.
“Inside voice, boss. The silencing has its limits. We’ve barely snuck into the enemy’s base.”
Jhin pointed at the lobby. Again, two soldiers were holding radio sets beside the pristine front desk. Even more guards patrolled the gangways.
A facility owned by the Hydra—Snow and Sun.
Like Alice had said, there was one place to hide her sister. It had to be somewhere under the direct control of Talisman—to escape the queen’s order to sweep all houses. Alice had said that would be this facility.
“Whoa. It kind of looks like one of the Empire’s research institutes.” Nene looked up at the floor map.
Astral power engineering—a form of astral power research, illegal in the Empire—was openly being pursued in the Sovereignty.
“Um, I assume the walls are thick in case the astral power goes berserk. This pipeline might be used to bring astral energy from an underground vortex up to here…”
“Nene, save the comments for later.”
“B-but, Iska, this facility is better than I expected!”
“…It really is.”
Nene had a point. Iska had been told it was a place to keep soldiers, so he didn’t think it would look like this. It was like they were in an Imperial research facility—scientists walking down the halls, monitoring entry points, and all.
…Maybe that works in our favor.
…If it’s a bona fide research facility, there won’t be a lot of places to hide Sisbell.
He highly doubted that all the hundreds of researchers had been let in on the scheme, though the mercenaries under Talisman’s direct employ might have been. In other words, they could only hide Sisbell in places inaccessible to researchers.
She had to be in a management center where the soldiers were stationed or in an electrical room underground or the garbage disposal facilities. Or…
“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.” Jhin peeled his eyes away from the map and looked at one of the servants. “Is the giant room at the top used by Talisman? Seems like the best place to keep her.”
“Yes. Miss Rin confirmed that in her research.”
“There’s no elevator that can make it up there.”
All public elevators didn’t go above the tenth floor. Those with clearance could go up to the fourteenth floor. According to the map, however, there were no entry points for the fifteenth floor.
“…It’s fine. We’ll leave that one last. Let’s head underground.” Jhin turned to a special-service elevator in the back of the first floor.
They found an empty car with an open door and slipped in together. When the elevator started moving down, Nene looked up nervously at the ceiling.
“Hey, Jhin. There was a surveillance camera in the hallway earlier. Do you think it saw us? I hope they don’t see we pressed the button…”
“They won’t notice us. Elevators are automatic. They have no way of knowing intruders are operating it.” Jhin’s eyes never left the lit panel above their heads. “Hey, Nami. You said Fog lasts for three more hours?”
“Yes. To be more accurate, I cannot guarantee anything beyond three hours. It might last four, but it might run out if we go five minutes over three hours. I don’t have any control over that.”
“And you said you have a two-hour recovery period?”
“Two hours and seven minutes. After that, I can activate it again.”
“Okay.”
The large elevator stopped. They were on the first underground level. The thick metal door opened. As soon as they saw the scene waiting before them, Nene and Commander Mismis let out strangled cries.
“Eep?!”
“Th-that’s…!”
Soldiers were carrying guns.
Flanked by burly men, a thin old woman donned in bright red was heading toward them.
Grugell, the Witch of the Midnight Sun. The assassin who had attacked them at the villa. She had disappeared when the villa collapsed, but she must have been rescued by Talisman’s cronies. The witch was heading straight for the elevator.
“……Jh-Jhin!” Commander Mismis cried.
“Shh, boss. It’s fine. They weren’t waiting for us. They were just waiting to get on the elevator.”
The six of them attempted to get out as the witch and soldiers boarded the elevator. Their clothes grazed one another. The group turned around to see the elevator carrying the witch close.
“Looks like they’re headed to the fourteenth floor. If that old lady’s going there, something’s probably up…” Jhin looked straight forward. The underground area must have been the standby area for the guards. Men holding guns were stationed in the halls. “I see. The floors above ground can be accessed by the public, so they’re only using anti–astral power shields as their form of defense. But underground, they don’t need to hide that they’re armed to kill. This is a hangout for their mercenaries.”
“I can hear several voices.” Sistia crossed in front of the soldiers and walked ahead, activating Echo. “According to them, there are five conference rooms total. Two large inner conference rooms.”
“You got all that just from listening?”
“Yes. And below us—I think the floor below—I hear someone breathing. It seems like someone entirely different from the soldiers.”
All of them gasped.
“M-maybe that’s Sisbell?!” Mismis said.
“…Let’s go.”
Iska nodded, and they started to walk with hurried steps.
Snow and Sun. Fourteenth floor.
Grugell left the elevator and walked down a deserted hallway. She’d instructed her soldiers to wait behind for her.
“Oh, Granny Grugell. Could you hold up a moment?”
“Hmm?” The woman—thin and old—twitched when she heard the voice behind her. “…Vichyssoise, is that you?”
“Sure is. I’m glad you’ve made a full recovery. How’s that bump on your head? I heard some Imperial soldier named Jhin punched you and gave you a mean bruise.”
Grugell had no idea when Vichyssoise had appeared.
The girl with red hair and prominent piercings peeled herself off the wall, seeming rather reluctant, and headed straight toward the old woman.
She stared at Grugell. “Hmm.”
“What?” Grugell barked. “Alas, I don’t like young waifs. Come back to me in forty years.”
“Ha-ha,” the witch snickered. “It’s actually you. I thought you were a fake.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You smell.” Vichyssoise placed a finger on the tip of her nose, looking positively jubilant. “Ever since I became a witch, I’ve become sensitive to the smell of astral power. You had some odd energy around you, so I had my doubts.”
“This is an astral power research center. Why wouldn’t—?”
“I smelled the same astral power at the villa. Where’d you go today? Did you run into anybody suspicious?”
“Oh?” The woman’s wrinkled eyes crinkled. “I’ve been in the facility all day. I just came up above ground.”
“Yeah? Then they might’ve already gotten in.”
“Even with the surveillance cameras in place?”
“That’s where astral power comes in. They were chosen by the Lou to be servants, after all. They’ve gotta have something useful. Plus…” Vichyssoise crossed her arms. As though she were scheming, she stared into the air, immobile. “Granny, you said you were just underground, right?”
“Mm-hmm.”
“That’s where we’ve got a certain someone tucked away, right? Y’know, Sisbell’s—”
“Hmm!” The woman’s eyes opened wide. Her eyes, once closed, widened. “So they’re here on a rescue mission.”
“No time to react. Gonna report this first.” Vichyssoise stopped the woman. “Could you tell Lord Talisman? Also the next in line. She’s the heir after all, and her power might come in handy.”
Vichyssoise held up her pointer finger, jabbing it in the direction of the top floor, and snickered.
“Well, she’s such a show-off. I’m sure she’d sniff this out even without anyone telling her.”
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