Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 42 - Chapter 2

Behind the Scenes

Tuesday, October 18th

Word that a base had been seized quickly reached Ralgwin. He’d been furious just the other day upon hearing that a factory was attacked, so the communications officer making the report now was trembling with fear... but Ralgwin took the news surprisingly well.

“Good work. That will be all,” he said calmly.

“Y-Yes, sir! Pardon me!” the officer yelped with a salute. He then returned to his seat with a perplexed expression.

His fellow soldiers looked at him piteously, but they also looked a bit mystified to see him unharmed. Several bases had now been captured since the factory fell, and Ralgwin had been alarmingly quiet in response to it all. Was everything really all right...? They exchanged looks, each one of them wondering the same thing.

“Hmm, it seems that our outermost shell is under attack,” Grevanas observed. He’d heard the report as well, but unlike the soldiers, he wasn’t surprised by Ralgwin’s reaction. He simply nodded as if it were a matter of course while looking up at the hologram projecting related data.

“Yes,” Ralgwin agreed. “We can safely ignore any attempt to breach that shell.”

After losing his factory, Ralgwin had instituted sweeping changes to logistics and information management in his army. The new structure of his network was like a multilayered eggshell, with people, supplies, and information traveling across the surfaces of their respective shells with limited access to the other layers. Any base that connected layers was moved regularly, and intel about any such connection was guarded with the utmost secrecy. This reduced the risk of losing critical locations and intel to the Imperial Army, whose latest conquests were limited to bases on the outermost shell and therefore posed no real threat to Ralgwin and his men.

“Splendid planning, Ralgwin-dono,” Grevanas offered.

“After the crippling loss of the factory, it was necessary,” Ralgwin replied.

“Indeed.”

“That said, this latest attack did exact a cost. We’ve lost the stockpile of magic weapons we had stored at that base,” Ralgwin continued.

“It was meant to be a key outpost in our next offensive, after all.”

Nefilforan’s hunch had been right. The magic and spiritual energy weapons she’d recovered from the captured base were intended for an attack on the royal families and the Blue Knight. Losing them was a blow all its own to Ralgwin’s plans.

“Speaking of our future plans, I bear good tidings,” said Grevanas. He had an idea of how to make up for the lost weapons.

“Oh? Has there been a new development in your research?” Ralgwin inquired.

The fall of the factory had entailed a long list of losses for the rebels, but they’d come away from the devastation with one gain—a black goo known as spiritual energy waste, which could store negative spiritual energy and give rise to living corpses. Grevanas had devoted himself to studying the substance of late.

“I’m now on the verge of being able to control the waste,” he proclaimed.

When Grevanas had first harvested the waste, it was only capable of infecting victims and spreading, making it mostly useless as a weapon. It had potential as a diversion, but its deployment would be fully reliant on an enemy completely eradicating it. If they failed to do so, the waste would continue to spread and make any area it touched unlivable for humans. That was a critical flaw. Even in situations where that was the desired outcome, nuclear and biological weapons worked faster.

But everything changed if the waste could be controlled. It would have extraordinary potential as a weapon if its range, its speed, and the way it targeted its victims could all be commanded—and Grevanas had found a way to do exactly that.

“In the process, I also discovered that the waste can be used to heal soldiers,” he said further.

Grevanas’s research had additionally yielded this rather unexpected finding—the spiritual energy waste had something of a regenerative power. In the process of propagation and infection, it could temporarily mimic the forms of organisms it absorbed, allowing it to substitute missing body parts and the like. This power could put severely injured soldiers back on the battlefield in no time, so Grevanas had been studying it in tandem with controlling the waste.

“‘Heal,’ you say? Wouldn’t it be more accurate to say ‘infect’?” Ralgwin questioned.

He had concerns about Grevanas’s supposed breakthrough. Subjecting soldiers to regeneration via the waste was as good as infecting them, and since living corpses only attacked on instinct, they had limited application as soldiers. Ralgwin felt it would be better simply to use Forthorthian technology and prosthetics to heal and treat the injured.

“That’s the case at present,” Grevanas conceded. “But I am on the verge of being able to control the waste completely.”

“Are you suggesting you could control it even during the regeneration process?” Ralgwin asked.

“I am,” Grevanas answered.

Indeed, Ralgwin’s concerns about infecting his own soldiers would be entirely mitigated by advanced control of the waste. If Grevanas could keep it from consuming patients, they would reap all of the benefits with none of the drawbacks.

“So if we get the waste under our control, we’ll have the capacity for instant healing and more... Not bad. I imagine we could make a tidy profit off of this too,” Ralgwin mused.

“Haha! Will you be entering the medical industry like the Blue Knight, Ralgwin-dono?”

“Instant muscle gain, changing appearances or fingerprints... A whole host of activities illegal under the current system could be achieved in the blink of an eye. It would be a shame not to cash in on that. That said, it’s best to keep our secret weapon to ourselves for now.”

“Indeed. It can supplement our lost weapon cache, so it would be unwise to show our hand too soon.”

“Carry on with your research, then,” ordered Ralgwin. He was pleased with Grevanas’s report.

“I shall right away,” Grevanas said with a nod before turning to leave.

With control and regeneration within my grasp, I’ll soon be able to bring back Maxfern-sama...

Once Ralgwin could no longer see Grevanas, the lich’s wrinkly face twisted into a horribly evil grin. Only the Gray Knight, who happened to be entering the command room just then, witnessed it.

“Oh, Gray Knight-dono...”

“Going back to your research, Grevanas?”

“Yes. I expect to be quite busy.”

“I can imagine.”

“If you’ll excuse me...”

After giving the Gray Knight a bow, Grevanas exited the room. The Gray Knight watched him go but ultimately said nothing. Instead, he turned his attention to Ralgwin.

“You called?” he said as he approached.

“I’m glad you could make it, Gray Knight,” Ralgwin replied, glancing at him and then pointing to the informational hologram. “One of our bases was attacked, you see.”

“It doesn’t look like there were any serious losses,” the Gray Knight commented.

“True, but I’m not fond of taking things lying down. So I was thinking of striking back, and I’d like to request your cooperation.”

“What are you planning, Ralgwin?”

“I want to avoid a situation where we’re just whittling each other down when we’re already outnumbered. I was thinking of crushing the enemy’s vanguard to make it harder for them to gain ground.”

The difference in numbers between Ralgwin’s troops and the Imperial Army was all too apparent. Even if Ralgwin chose to ally with other antigovernment factions, they’d still be no match for Forthorthe’s full forces. Hampering Elfaria’s conquest would take a different approach.

“To that end, I’m after a certain something. And I would like you to join the attack,” Ralgwin explained.

“I’ve agreed to cooperate, so let’s see what you’ve got.”

“Thank you.”

When Ralgwin received assurance of the Gray Knight’s aid, a small smile crossed his lips. He’d been forced to stay on the defensive thus far, but as long last, it was time to counterattack. Ralgwin was thrilled.

“Is that all you wanted to talk about?” the Gray Knight asked.

“Yes. Sorry for calling you just for that,” Ralgwin replied.

“Send me the attack plans later.”

“Of course. I’ll make the arrangements.”

Not one for conversation, the Gray Knight left the room as soon as the pertinent discussion was over.

“Good grief, he could stand to be more sociable,” Ralgwin muttered to himself once the Gray Knight had departed. He quickly pulled himself together, refocusing his attention on a holographic photo frame atop his desk displaying a picture of Vandarion with a young boy. “It’s finally time to fight back...”

Vandarion was a ruthless man, both harsh and wicked. He’d never once hesitated to do what was necessary for the sake of his ambitions. But Ralgwin was family. Vandarion had cherished him in his boyhood and trained him strictly, laying the groundwork for Ralgwin to learn to care for his subordinates—a trait Vandarion had sadly never developed himself.

“Just watch how far your nephew will go...”

Ralgwin had a gentle look on his face as he stared at the photo frame. He’d shared a special bond with his uncle, which had blossomed into a desire to avenge him. He’d also inherited Vandarion’s mission to overthrow the royal families and the Blue Knight.

The serendipitous acquisition of the spiritual energy waste in the factory fall had significantly advanced Grevanas’s research toward his ultimate goal—resurrecting Maxfern. He needed a way to bring back the dead, and the waste was his gateway to making that happen.

“How is progress?” Grevanas asked upon returning to his lab.

“Brain waves stabilized four minutes and forty-two seconds after the heart started beating. His current brain activity is close to that of sleep, but I think we’re nearing consciousness,” his new assistant reported. This new assistant was none other than the officer who’d served as Grevanas’s tour guide at the factory. He’d been demoted after the incident there, but Grevanas thought highly of his knowledge of spiritual energy and had taken him in.

“Grevanas-sama, will this really bring Dagbaran back?” asked a female soldier present for the experiment. Her name was Sansara, and she was the leader of the squad the fallen man belonged to. They’d just returned from a fatal reconnaissance mission.

“That is the purpose of this experiment, yes,” Grevanas assured her. “I cannot guarantee the outcome, but we are working to bring him back to life. So continue calling out to him, Sansara.”

“Does my presence here really change anything...?” she asked uncertainly.

“Resurrecting the dead is a delicate procedure. Surely you understand that, do you not?”

“Y-Yes, even I can appreciate that.”

“Your memories of him are critical to reconstituting and grafting his soul. Have a little more faith, Sansara. You are what will stimulate him and call him back from the dead.”

“Okay... I’ll do my best.”

Sansara nodded, took Dagbaran’s hand, and called for him. The electrodes and other devices attached to her head were channeling her brain waves and spiritual waves to resuscitate the subject.

“Wake up, Dagbaran... You never paid me back for that one time.”

The soul naturally began to deteriorate upon death. Because the body served to maintain the soul, once it expired, the soul gradually lost its ability to remain in the mortal world and would move on to the afterlife. This meant two techniques were required to revive the dead. The first was to resurrect the body, and the second was to reconstruct the soul. Resurrecting the body was the easier half of the equation. Grevanas could simply use his magic to mend wounds and force the heart to beat again. The real crux was recovering the soul.

A deteriorated soul needed to be reconstituted and then grafted to its host body. This was an exceedingly tricky task, almost guaranteed to fail under anything other than ideal conditions. But Grevanas now had the advantage of spiritual energy technology and the latest technology from Forthorthe. Both greatly improved his resurrection technique, and the waste he’d acquired from the flaming factory helped even further. While studying it, Grevanas had learned that the waste’s ability to absorb and fuse souls could be used to reconstitute them. The experiment on Dagbaran now was to see how well it worked.

“Grevanas-sama, his brain waves are increasing!” his assistant reported.

“Good!” Grevanas called. “Sansara, focus your mind on him!”

“Dagbaran, wake up! I’ll never forgive you for sacrificing yourself to protect me! Wake up this instant so I can see your stupid face again!” Sansara shouted desperately. Dagbaran was a comrade from her hometown and much, much more to her.

“Brain activity is rising! He’s waking up!”

“Dagbaran-kun, please! There’s so much more at stake here than your own life!” Grevanas implored the lifeless man. Even the old lich was desperate, although he was only thinking of his former master. Grevanas was using everything at his disposal to revive Dagbaran, so if the resurrection were to fail, it would mean he was that much further away from bringing back Maxfern. In his eyes, everything was on the line with this experiment.

“Hngh... ah... Huh?”

“Dagbaran!!!”

“The test subject has awoken!”

“How is he?!”

As Grevanas, his assistant, and Sansara watched on, Dagbaran finally woke up. His eyes opened and he stared at the ceiling blinking before slowly looking down at his right hand. When he saw Sansara was firmly holding it, he looked up at her.

“Captain...? Huh? Where...”

“Do you recognize me, Dagbaran?!”

“Of course I do, Captain Sansara. But what in the world happened to me? I was sure I was dead...”

The now conscious Dagbaran was confused. He had no spiritual powers and he had died without regrets, so rather than becoming a ghost, his soul had patiently been waiting to pass on to the afterlife. That being the case, his memory of what happened to him cut off at the moment of his physical death.

“You were dead, Dagbaran! But Grevanas-sama brought you back to life!” Sansara instinctively squeezed Dagbaran’s hand harder. Large tears were spilling out of her eyes. The joy of having Dagbaran back was too much for her to bear.

“C-Captain...?” Meanwhile, Dagbaran was still confused. He didn’t know anything about coming back from the dead, but Sansara was crying over him. He felt like he was dreaming.

Captain Sansara recognizes him as Dagbaran-kun. That’s a good sign. Grevanas glanced over at his assistant, who instantly understood what he was asking for and promptly sent him the data. The spiritual wave is a 99.98 percent match... This is a massive success.

Grevanas felt relief wash over him as he reviewed the numbers. The spiritual waves of the resurrected subject were a near perfect match for his spiritual signature prior to his death. There was variation, but it was an acceptable margin of error. Before Grevanas had gotten his hands on the spiritual energy waste, he’d never been able to achieve results like this. He’d only been able to manage partial matches, where someone close to the subject would easily be able to tell something wasn’t right about them. So given Dagbaran’s awakening and Sansara’s response to him, Grevanas was prepared to say he’d perfected his resurrection technique.

“Ohoho, how are you feeling, Dagbaran-kun? Is anything peculiar, or do you feel unwell?” Grevanas asked. The success of the experiment had him in high spirits. His own resurrection had twisted his personality. He was normally far more stoic, so this was a rare glimpse of his original self.

“Thank you so much, Grevanas-sama! U-Um, I think my left hand feels a little numb...” Dagbaran was taken aback by Grevanas’s hideous countenance, but he quickly collected himself and expressed his gratitude. Grevanas had saved his life, after all—albeit not in the traditional sense.

“Hmm, your left hand was severely injured, so it was regenerated in the resurrection process. The new nerves will lack sensation and be difficult to use at first. Let me know if it lasts too long.”

In truth, Grevanas’s experiment was a test for more than just his resurrection technique. He had also wanted to see the spiritual energy waste’s capacity for regenerating the human body. Forthorthe had technology that could accomplish the same thing, but it was time-consuming to use. The waste’s ability to do it instantaneously was extremely attractive, especially in a military setting where wounded soldiers meant a weaker army.

“Grevanas-sama, I don’t know how to thank you...” Sansara wiped away her tears and bowed to Grevanas. She was truly grateful for what the old lich had done. She’d only realized what Dagbaran meant to her upon his passing, so she revered Grevanas like a god for being able to bring her love back to her. “Dagbaran! You lower your head too!”

“Ow...”

“This was just a part of my research. Thank your stars for being blessed with the opportunity to be a part of it,” Grevanas replied to Sansara.

“Th-Thank you very much, Grevanas-sama!” echoed Dagbaran. He was equally grateful. He’d died protecting Sansara, so being able to return to her meant the world to him.

Even though he’d just been resurrected, Dagbaran was well enough to stand on his own immediately. He needed an IV drip to replenish key nutrients in his body, but there were no other complications—yet another advantage of using the spiritual energy waste.

“We’ll take our leave now, Grevanas-sama,” said Sansara.

“Thank you for everything,” said Dagbaran.

With that, Sansara took the handles of Dagbaran’s wheelchair, and the couple left the laboratory. After a thorough checkup, Dagbaran was being released to the barracks to recuperate. Although he could stand and walk already, Grevanas suggested that he err on the side of caution and focus on recovering for now.

“Grevanas-sama is nicer than he looks,” said Dagbaran.

“A classic example of why you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But you’d better not take his kindness for granted, Dagbaran. You’ll have to repay Grevanas-sama with service befitting your station,” Sansara instructed.

“I know. I don’t want to come off as ungrateful.”

“Hmm, good. Then let’s start by nursing you back to health.”

“Say, Captain...”

“What?”

“I want to thank you too.”

“I-I don’t need any thanks, dummy!”

“Got it.”

The couple continued to banter as they headed for the barracks. The Gray Knight took note of them on his way to visit Grevanas’s lab.

“You certainly managed to win them over, Grevanas,” he remarked.

“I may not be as good as you once were, but there’s nothing wrong with having a few more pawns.”

Grevanas had been kind to Sansara and Dagbaran to further his own goals. He had few allies, and his appearance exacerbated that issue. No matter his strategy moving forward, he would need to put in the effort to win support. And for that, treating his test subjects and their loved ones kindly was extraordinarily effective. The same was true for the assistant he’d recruited.

“You could say I came here today to become your pawn,” the Gray Knight offered.

“...What’s this about?”

Grevanas narrowed his eyes slightly as he invited the Gray Knight inside. At the same time, he used his bracelet to send a message to his assistant in the next room asking to be left alone for a while. Grevanas had only recently learned how to use the bracelet-model terminal, and he’d mastered it in no time at all.

“Right this way,” urged Grevanas.

“Here is fine. I don’t intend to stay for long,” the Gray Knight replied.

“I’d like to make sure our conversation isn’t overheard.”

“I see.”

The Gray Knight nodded and followed Grevanas to the lab’s lounge. The lich had cast several spells on the room, shielding it from electronic interference and preventing sound from escaping. Understanding this, the Gray Knight took a seat without complaint.

“From what I can tell, you’ve practically perfected resurrection,” he began upon sitting down.

Grevanas thought some length of small talk was in order first, but he obliged cutting straight to the chase with a smile, for Maxfern had always been that way too. Granted, not many people could distinguish Grevanas’s smile from his normal expression. “Ohoho! I played my entire hand to make it happen.”

“Forthorthian science, spiritual energy, and that waste, huh?”

“Indeed. If the test subject is recently deceased and we have access to someone who knew them well, the procedure is nearly flawless.”

Forthorthian science could accurately replicate DNA, and spiritual energy and the waste made it easy to reconstitute a soul. Magic alone wouldn’t have been enough to resurrect someone so accurately, but with new tools at his disposal, Grevanas could bring the dead back to life with minimal sacrifice.

“So the problem now is how to reconstitute Maxfern’s soul since he’s been dead for two millennia, right?” the Gray Knight asked.

“Yes. I only perished seven hundred years ago, and look how I returned.” Grevanas smiled bitterly.

The tools Grevanas had just used to resurrect Dagbaran weren’t available when he himself was resurrected in Folsaria. His resurrectors hadn’t been as skilled with magic either. His rebirth as a lich was proof of that. His soul had only been partially reconstructed, and the image his resurrectors had of him filled in the blanks, resulting in a personality much closer to Maxfern’s.

“That’s where my offer comes into play,” said the Gray Knight.

“So you intend to help me solve this problem.”

“That’s right. I’ll collect Maxfern’s bio and spiritual signatures. I can also lend you the powers of chaos when resurrecting him.”

“That is an appealing offer...”

Grevanas’s hideous appearance and his lack of familiarity with Forthorthe made gathering information difficult. The Gray Knight offering to do it for him was an ideal scenario. Moreover, the possibility of borrowing the power of chaos was also alluring.

“That said, I will reserve resurrection via chaos as a last resort.”

“Because it affects one’s personality?”

“Yes. I want to resurrect Maxfern-sama as I knew him, so I will only rely on chaos after exhausting my other options.”

Chaos blurred the boundary between life and death, which made resurrection easier but also blurred the very lines of a subject’s personality, so Grevanas was rightfully wary of that approach. That was why he’d aimed to perfect his resurrection technique—to truly bring the Maxfern he knew back.

“If you don’t want to use chaos for it, that’s fine,” said the Gray Knight.

“I would greatly appreciate using it for other things, if you don’t mind,” replied Grevanas. He was thinking of eliminating any enemies that appeared while gathering the necessary information on Maxfern, making quick escapes, and the like. The power of chaos would make things very easy for them.

“I assume this means you’re taking me up on my offer?” asked the Gray Knight.

“I’d be happy to—depending on what your terms are.”

Grevanas was getting exactly what he wanted out of this exchange. The Gray Knight was capable, and Grevanas had no doubt he could gather the data he needed on Maxfern. There was likely no one better for the job. The only hitch was that Grevanas knew the Gray Knight wasn’t offering to help for free.

“No need to worry,” the Gray Knight assured him. “I won’t ask for anything too extreme. I only want you to provide me with the magic and spiritual energy technology you have.”

“Spiritual energy technology?” Grevanas’s eyes opened wide. He hadn’t expected that request.

“I will eventually drag Sanae into the whirlpool, but unfortunately, I’m no match for her psychic powers at the moment. So I want the support of spiritual energy technology.”

The Gray Knight was possessed of great strength after sacrificing eight girls to the whirlpool of chaos. But as far as his spiritual energy went, he was only drawing on what he’d gained from sucking in the haniwas as well. He was no match for Sanae-nee. He knew she might come at him with a surprise counterattack he’d be unable to defend against.

“And you want spiritual energy technology from me?” Grevanas asked.

“That’s right. I came to you.”

“Hmm...” Grevanas mused. Magic was one thing, but Ralgwin also had spiritual energy technology. So if the Gray Knight was specifically asking Grevanas for it, it could only mean one thing. The lich exhaled and grinned bitterly. “So you’ve seen through me.”

“Now that resurrection is within your reach, by the time I fight Sanae, you will already—”

“You needn’t say more. I may have measures in place, but I’d still rather not hear a word of it breathed aloud.”

“So, what do you say?”

“You’re a terrifying man, Gray Knight... Hahh, but I understand. Allow me to assist you as well.”

“Then we have a deal.”

“A deal? Surely you mean an arrangement under duress,” Grevanas said jokingly, although he saw no humor in the truth of the situation. His dry eyes watched the Gray Knight carefully.

“How rude. If you wish to decline, you can just say so.”

“The fact that you actually think that is the most terrifying part about you...”

Thus the Gray Knight and Grevanas struck a secret deal, by which the Gray Knight would supply Grevanas with information and Grevanas would supply the Gray Knight with magic and spiritual energy tech. At first blush, there was nothing terribly remarkable about the exchange, but it would pave the way for something far greater.