The Hero King, Reincarnate to Master the Art of War (LN) - Volume 10 - Chapter 5

Chapter V: Inglis, Age 16—Far-Off Highland (5)

Two days later, Inglis and Rafinha returned to the beach together in the evening. Leone and Liselotte were apparently already in bed, but for these two, it was dinnertime. They were hungry, so they had caught some fish and were eating them. After grilling their catch, they enjoyed the meal under the stars and by the waves.

“Honestly...I’m getting a bit tired of these,” Rafinha said, having already reduced several fish to bones.

“Well, that’s natural if this is all we choose to eat,” Inglis replied.

“But I don’t want to eat any food using mana extract...”

Technically, they could order food whenever they wanted, but that was just another function of the city’s mana-extract-powered systems. Whether it came from a desire to boycott how the food was made or just an inability to really enjoy it, the four had primarily subsisted on fish during their stay in Illuminas. So in a way, being so close to the ocean was a blessing. In the end, they could always rely on Mother Nature.

“Should we head back to Karelia for a while?” Inglis asked reluctantly. Illuminas isn’t back online, and we haven’t been able to get Rin checked out yet, though...

“I’m not sure. I’d really like to help Rin, but...” Rafinha picked up Inglis from next to her and plopped the girl into her lap.

“I don’t think Ambassador Theodore was expecting Illuminas to fall from the sky, so I don’t think he’ll be too mad.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. And I don’t even know what to say to Myce the next time we see him.” Rafinha clutched Inglis like a rag doll, as if this would calm her worries, a duty Inglis was happy to perform.

“Yeah. That’s going to be hard.”

Officially, Illuminas was against the enslavement of people from the surface and had taken a more friendly approach. However, behind the scenes—unbeknownst to Myce or an average citizen—they were quietly gathering surface dwellers and converting them into mana extract to power an extremely advanced city built around the machinator.

Would Myce believe them if they told him the truth? And if he did, how badly would that shake him? It might be too hard on him. When Inglis considered that, it would probably be difficult for them to be honest with him. Plus, they had only heard Yuber’s side of the story. They of course hadn’t broken into the mana extract processing facilities, nor had they confirmed it with Wilma or Chief Academician Wilkin—nor could they do so carelessly. What kind of consequences would await them for pressing them on this dark truth? Eris was in Highland’s custody. They couldn’t afford to endanger her.

“So the surface and Highland really can’t be equals, huh,” Rafinha muttered.

“That’s what Yuber said.”

“Looking at Rin...at Cyrene and Ambassador Theodore, I couldn’t feel that way...but this is Illuminas, where she came from. Maybe he’s right.”

“That’s his opinion. You’re entitled to your own. In fact, it’s probably easiest to have none at all.”

“I don’t want that to be true. It’s not right... Plus, if I’m not careful, there’s no telling what you’ll do.”

“Indeed. As your squire, it’s my job to do what you say, Rani.”

“Same ol’ Chris—no worries at all.”

“Yeah. All I want is to be with you and to fight strong foes.”

No questions of good or evil there, no ideology or advocacy.

“You never change, do you? Life’s more complicated than that... You should try looking sad or being hurt sometime, just a little bit, I feel like.” Rafinha pinched and pulled at Inglis’s cheeks.

“Hahr hahr hahr. (Ha ha ha.)”

“I think we’ve really tried our best. We’ve beaten plenty of magicite beasts around Ymir, stopped the flying battleship from landing on Chiral, saved Ripple, prevented His Majesty’s assassination, traveled to Alcard, and even taken down a Prismer.”

“Hfeh, Rahi, yuray. (Yeah, Rani, you’re right.)”

“But after all that...I guess nothing’s really changed?” Rafinha’s voice cracked weakly as she looked up at the stars. “The Prism Flow still falls, and we need Artifacts to protect ourselves from magicite beasts. But that comes at the cost of the surface’s food stocks, and sometimes even our lives... Whether it’s the Triumvirate or the Papal League, being turned into mana extract or held as slaves, it’s all the same. Maybe it doesn’t matter whether we’re killed by magicite beasts or by Highland... Even if Karelia’s banned selling slaves to Highland, Venefic treats it like it’s normal. As long as people like Yuber are willing to work with them, and people still get sold to Highland, nothing’s going to change...” Rafinha let go of Inglis’s cheeks and hugged her tightly. She was shaking, barely holding in tears. “And...even if every country and every person on the surface stops selling slaves to Highland, that just means life in Highland becomes impossible. That’ll just lead them to kidnapping, and if we tried to stop that, I guess that’d mean war with Highland.”

“Yeah. If that happens, a lot of people will die, and we won’t be able to get Artifacts... And if we win and take the technology to make our own Artifacts, it’s at the cost of people like Myce.”

“And that’s what the Steelblood Front is after, isn’t it?” That was a necessary part of anti-Highland groups like the Steelbloods and people opposing all Highlanders, after all: to seize Highlander technology. “That just changes who’s doing it to who, not what it is.”

If the Steelblood Front did succeed not only in seizing the technology to make Artifacts but also in spreading it to the surface, the Highlanders might lose their ability to live above the surface. If things got really bad, it wasn’t like they’d be able to survive below due to their susceptibility to the Prism Flow. Without supplies from the surface, even Highlanders who didn’t starve wouldn’t be able to maintain their standard of living. They would go on the decline at some point, maybe even die out in the worst case. None of these options appealed to Rafinha.

“Ugh! I don’t understand! What do we do?! No matter what we try to change, I know there are going to be costs! But I really don’t want to just keep going like we are now!” Rafinha scratched at her head in exasperation.

“We’ve learned a lot, haven’t we, Rani?” Inglis stroked Rafinha’s frazzled hair back into place. “Reality is complicated. There’s no getting around that.”

These complications weren’t present for no reason; they existed out of necessity. But there were so many different processes and factors at play that it was difficult to grasp them all. And even if someone did, there was no guarantee that it would match the next person’s reality. Surface dwellers were essentially prey for the Highlanders, to whom they were a necessary if regrettable sacrifice. Others might have vehemently disagreed and believed that Highland must be crushed.

Perhaps other perspectives and paths were on the horizon.

All Inglis could say was that the people of this era had to be the ones to move forth its history. To put it coldly, no matter what conclusion they reached, what world they built, it would eventually fade away. The passage of time had a cruelty all its own, and nothing in this world was eternal or unchanging. There was neither trace nor shade remaining of Silvare, which she had built up in her past life as King Inglis.

However, that did not mean action was pointless. If there was anything Rafinha felt was necessary to live life to her satisfaction, Inglis would see it done. Inglis would live alongside her as she did, and she’d watch over her.

And if she dared to hope, it would involve as many strong foes as possible.

“I don’t think we should just do nothing, you know?” Rafinha said. “But I don’t know what to do.”

“We don’t need to rush. Even just knowing the truth makes all the difference in the world. I think Ambassador Theodore wanted us to discover it for ourselves. That’s why he sent us along with Eris.”

If he hadn’t wanted them to know, he would have insisted Eris go alone. There was the matter of Rin, but that hardly required the presence of Inglis or her friends specifically. He had wanted them to know, or at the very least, he didn’t care if they knew.

“So...you think Ambassador Theodore knew everything?”

“Yeah. He is the machinator’s son, after all. He could perhaps even be the next machinator. I would be surprised if he hadn’t known.”

“The next machinator... So you think he’s going to become one with Illuminas?!”

“Maybe someday. I don’t know if he wants to, though. Maybe we should talk with him about that when we get home.”

“Mm... Ah! But then even Rin... Even Cyrene knew it all from the start, didn’t she!” Rafinha stared at Rin, who was perched on Inglis’s head.

“Yeah, that makes sense... She is the machinator’s daughter and Ambassador Theodore’s little sister.”

“I see... I guess she didn’t have any real way to tell us... Even if she wanted to say it, I bet she didn’t know how.” Rafinha patted Rin’s tiny head. Rin, who had a bit of a temper, normally hated this and would try to bite in response, but now she was accepting it calmly. “Did Cyrene really seem like she was desperate to make a change?”

“I think so. We saw how serious she was, didn’t we?”

Although, they hadn’t seen exactly what she was striving for. Nonetheless, they were confident that she took surface people, not just Highlanders, seriously. She had seemed a bit unsure of her footing, but definitely possessed a strong will and a pure heart. Like Rafinha herself, in that respect.

Maybe that’s why they hit it off so quickly, Inglis thought.

“I want to talk with her again. I want to talk with Cyrene, knowing what we do now... Isn’t that right, Rin?” Rafinha squinted back tears and rested her face next to Rin’s. In return, the tiny magicite beast snuggled up to Rafinha rather than biting at her. Somehow, it seemed like she really did understand how Rafinha felt.

After a pause, Rafinha’s tone completely changed. “All right, I’ve decided!”

“Mm? What will we do, Rani?”

“We do stay here until we can get Rin looked at! I want to talk with her as soon as I can!”

“Got it. Then we should probably do some more fishing.”

“That’s right!” Rafinha agreed. “But I really am getting sick of them. I want meat. Or at least some veggies!”

“But we’re in the middle of the ocean... Wait, I know, what if we gather some seaweed?”

“Yeah, seaweed! Great idea, Chris! Go get some!”

“Eh? Just me?”

“You’re the one who can run on top of the ocean and find it, right?”

“You could always fly the Star Princess low, Rani...”

“I don’t wanna! I’m all worn out from thinking, and I have to take care of Rin, so you do it, Chris!”

“C’mon... Okay, fine. Give me a minute.”

If Rafinha was acting selfish, then Inglis figured she was probably in a better mood. Rising from Rafinha’s lap, she focused her mana and dragon lore at the same time, as was necessary for dragon magic.

“All right!” Activating the dragon ice armor, she hopped out onto the water. The ice which froze in a snap supported her light weight. “Hmm, but it’s dark, so I can’t really see...”

“That’s okay, Chris, you can just glow!”

“Yeah, I guess there’s that.” If Inglis were swathed in the glow of Aether Shell, it would be so bright that it would even attract fish to the surface. Aether was truly a divine power, and of all the things it should be used for, finding seaweed in the dark was not one. But if it was for Rafinha’s sake...

Oh, fine.

“Here I go... Haaaah!”

At that very moment—

Kaboom!

A tremendous roar filled the still night air—one that Inglis, of course, had not produced. “Ah—?!”

Rafinha leaped up in shock. “Whaaaaa?! Wh-What’s going on?!”

“Rani! Look, over there! The central laboratory!” It was spewing smoke and flames.

“Wh-What’s going on?! Was it attacked?!”

“I don’t know. It could be an accident, but...”

Boom! Boom! Boooooom!

More explosions rocketed in succession.

“Rani, did you see that?!”

“Yeah! There was a flash of light from outside! That must have been someone’s attack!”

“I wonder who! They must be pretty confident to start a fight here! I can’t wait!”

Inglis’s eyes gleamed, but Rafinha immediately scolded her. “Don’t get so excited when people might be in danger! This is terrible!”

“Anyway, let’s go!”

“Yeah!”

The two hurried aboard the Star Princess. By the time they were close enough to see what was going on, the battle was already in full swing. Highlanders who had flown forth from within the laboratory were using magic to strike back at their attackers.

“Who would do this?!”

“We don’t have time to think about that! To the counterattack! The knights will be here soon!”

“Yes, ma’am!”

Wilma and her knights were still not on the scene, but Highlanders could use magic unaided. Their volley of spells came out as a cacophony of flashes, flames, and ice arrows aimed at the attackers.

“Wow! That’s incredible!” The power of the Highlanders’ magic was enough to make Rafinha’s eyes widen. Each of the individual spells seemed on par, in surface terms, with the Gift of an upper-class Artifact. And unlike Gifts, Highlanders could presumably control more than one spell. Elite though those in the central laboratory may be, a gathering of noncombatants on par with upper-class knights was a force to be reckoned with. It underscored the gap between Highland and the surface.

“Ooh! That one looks fun!” Inglis said. Taking it would let her test the hardiness of the dragon magic armor.

“C’mon, which side are we supposed to be on?!”

“If possible, I’d like to fight both!”

“Don’t do anything weird, Chris!”

“Okay, if you say so, Rani. Just taking on those ones sounds fun too.”

Inglis was referring, of course, to the attackers who still seemed to be alive and well, even veiled by a hail of fire. The Highlanders’ counterattack was like having dozens of the Rafinha-Leone-Liselotte trio open up at once. Well, maybe not Leone, now that she had a special-class Rune. Anyway, it was that powerful. And anything that could survive that had to be even stronger. In other words, something that would be a fun fight.

“Th-That should be enough!”

“D-Did that do it?!”

The Highlanders ceased their fire and looked toward the attackers. And from within the haze of smoke that obscured them...

Rrrrrrrrumble!

A gigantic shock wave came shooting back.

“What?! It didn’t work?!”

“Defensive barriers! Hurry!”

“Aaaaah!”

Its tremendous force threatened to swallow up the Highlanders who had sallied to the defense. If it hit them, it would wound those lucky enough not to be killed.

But directly before it flitted a tiny shape. “Sorry to drop in!” It was Inglis, of course. She couldn’t pass up an attack this powerful. It was the perfect chance to test just how durable her dragon ice armor was.

“Wh—?! Who are you?!”

“It’s just a kid! This is dangerous! Get out of here!”

As shrieks of dismay arose from behind her, Inglis turned with a smile. “There’s no need to worry. Watch this!” Spreading her little arms wide, she stood in the oncoming shock wave’s path.

There would be no dodging, no parrying. She would take it head-on. That was how she could gauge the dragon ice armor’s strength. She knew it could hold up to aether for a while, but she still hadn’t got the chance to try it out purely as armor and see what it could endure.

A crash arose, and a tornado swirled around her as the shock wave met the armor.

“What?! She’s taking it head-on?!”

“Th-The shock wave stopped?!” The Highlanders’ eyes widened at the sight before them.

Inglis chuckled. “That’s a nice attack! If I hadn’t have taken it seriously, I would have been blown away!” Her small feet, firmly planted, were still pushed backward a little. There’d been a real oomph behind it.

It was perfect for her experiment.

“Is that girl laughing?!”

“Wh-What’s wrong with her?!”

Just as the Highlanders’ shock turned to horror, the struggle between Inglis and the shock wave ceased. She’d stopped it in its tracks, and in return the dragon ice armor fell to pieces. The match was a draw. But taking that strong of an attack meant the armor could endure a lot.

“Hm. That’s pretty strong as armor. I guess it passes the test.” Inglis was satisfied with the results. And now she had a good fight with a strong foe to look forward to.

“Anyway, I’m not sure who you are, but I’ll take you on!” Inglis called out to a figure still half-shrouded in the aftermath.

“If you stand in my way...” a voice began.

The smoke cleared. As her foe became visible, Inglis realized she had misspoken. She knew this person very well. Before her stood a slender, beautiful woman with long, gleaming blonde hair.

“Huh?! L-Liselotte?!”

“No way! Liselotte?! Wh-What are you doing?! You can’t be—!”

Inglis wasn’t mistaken; Rafinha was yelping in dismay from the Star Princess as well.

Liselotte, meanwhile, was blasé about the whole matter, just turning her head to ignore them. What was pointed their way, though, was the tip of her halberd.

“Liselotte?! Can’t you tell it’s us?” Inglis called out.

“Liselotte! What are you doing?! Come on, listen! Liselotte!” Rafinha said.

As the two called out, something ate at Inglis—a sinking feeling that something was amiss. This person didn’t seem like Liselotte at all. Neither this woman’s intensity, nor her presence, nor her aura was that of a knights’ academy student.

“No! This isn’t our Liselotte!”

“Huh?” Rafinha asked. “What do you mean, Chris?!”

“She’s like Eris! She’s a hieral menace, Rani!”

The halberd Liselotte held did not have its usual appearance. Instead, it had a golden gleam and a larger axe-head. It was the weapon version of themselves that hieral menaces could summon to use on their own.

“What the heck?! Liselotte became a hieral menace?! They said she had the aptitude for it, but wouldn’t she tell us if she actually became one...? Wait, did the process make her forget us?! Is that why she’s attacking us?!”

“I’m not really sure, but...!”

When someone became a hieral menace, did they lose their memories or change somehow? Judging by Eris and Ripple, that didn’t seem to be the case, but Inglis couldn’t know for sure. She hadn’t known them before they became hieral menaces. Nonetheless, there was definitely something off about Liselotte here; she was even attacking the central laboratory. If they had manipulated her memories, it had obviously gone very wrong.

“If you do not intend to fight me, stand back. I am not here merely to chastise a child,” Liselotte said.

“In no way will I just stand back!” Inglis replied.

Not that fighting Liselotte under these circumstances would be all fun and games. Inglis needed to safely subdue her and find out what had happened.

“Then, I will show no mercy!” Liselotte announced as she leaped forth. The wings of her Gift did not sprout from her back, nor did her footwork resemble anything Inglis would have expected from the Liselotte she knew.

“You’re fast!” Inglis had thought she’d dodged the thrust, but a lock of her hair shredded and fell away. That was solid proof that Liselotte’s attack was more than she had expected. The follow-up flurry also managed to land a few scratches on her clothes and skin.

Inglis would have easily handled even Eris’s or Sistia’s attacks at this point. Small as she was, Inglis wasn’t weaker. If anything, her ceaseless training, day in and day out, should have made her even stronger now without aether than she was then with. Yet Liselotte’s attacks still caught her.

“In that case—!” Don’t just dodge. Block. Parry. I have my own weapon—the dragon icebrand.

But that would take a bit of time to activate. Inglis sprang backward while avoiding the attacks. But at that very moment, Liselotte closed in.

“Got you!”

She swung her halberd in a sweeping arc, like an axe, and another shock wave struck Inglis dead-on.

“Ah!” It immediately sent Inglis flying, and she crashed against the wall of the central laboratory.

Slammmm!

The wall shattered, leaving a large hole.

Rafinha gasped. “Chris?!”

The Highlander onlookers were just as surprised.

“Whoa!”

“That was so powerful!”

Liselotte swung her halberd toward the terrified Highlanders.

“We’re next!”

“Everyone, scatter!”

But the shock wave did not come. A high-pitched clang arose as Liselotte’s halberd stopped dead in its tracks—stopped by a clear blue blade in the form of a dragon’s claw. It roared like a living dragon.

Inglis had activated Aether Shell for just a moment while escaping the shock wave, then cast her dragon magic and closed in again with Liselotte.

“Don’t. If you keep this up—!”

“You don’t look like you’re seriously trying to stop me.”

Inglis chuckled, amused. “It’s because you’ve gotten stronger, Liselotte.”

The challenge presented had brought an involuntary smile to Inglis’s face. And a challenge it was indeed—as their blades clashed, Inglis felt like she might be pushed back. Liselotte was far stronger than she had been, stronger even than the other hieral menaces, Eris, Ripple, and Sistia. Chief Academician Wilkin had spoken of her aptitude to become a hieral menace, and it seemed that exceptional aptitude had made her a cut above the rest.

But that wasn’t what would shock Inglis most.

“That is not my name!”

“Huh?! What do you mean?”

Were Liselotte’s memories so confused that she had forgotten even her name? Or was it possible that she actually was someone else? Taking a close look at her foe, Inglis noted that she looked a few years older than Liselotte. It was noticeable enough, but perhaps it was a normal part of the process of becoming a hieral menace.

“What’s wrong, Chris?!” Rafinha asked.

“She says she isn’t Liselotte!”

“Whaaa—?! Th-Then who in the world is she?!”

What Rafinha was saying made sense. Her voice, her face—the resemblance seemed too strong for it to be anyone else, but she claimed to be someone else. That seemed far more likely than this person truly being Liselotte, her memories clouded by the process of becoming a hieral menace—but what was the truth?

The answer came at that moment.

“Inglis! Rafinha!”

“What in the world is happening?!”

Two voices rang out from above her head: Liselotte on her pale wings in confusion and Leone cradled in her arms, as they both called their friends’ names.

“Liselotte?!” Both Inglis and Rafinha were astounded.

“Y-Yes... Why are you so surprised?” Liselotte asked.

“Well...!” Inglis began.

“Look at the person Chris is fighting!” Rafinha said.

It was only then that Leone and Liselotte paid attention to Inglis’s foe.

“Huh?!” Leone gasped. “There are two Liselottes?!”

“Sh-She looks just like me!” Liselotte said. “What’s going on?! Wh-Who are you?! Why do you look so much like me?!”

Comparing the two, Inglis thought that the hieral menace looked a bit more mature than Liselotte. Maybe it was just that she looked a little bit older, but next to each other Liselotte possessed a more youthful cuteness while the hieral menace had a more refined beauty.

Refined or no, though, the hieral menace’s eyes snapped open in shock. “I could say the same of you! Why do you look so much like me?!”

“Whatever the reason is, that means she definitely isn’t you, Liselotte! And that means I can go all out on her!” Inglis put all her strength into pushing the halberd back from its clash with her sword.

“Ugh! For how tiny you are, you’re strong!”

“It certainly doesn’t do to have a hieral menace attacking Highland, now, does it? Does this mean the Triumvirate and the Papal League have come into direct conflict? That sounds fun—let me join in too!”

If this hieral menace wasn’t Liselotte, then a rival faction must have sent her. The Papal League was the only one Inglis thought might attack Illuminas, the home base of the Triumvirate’s machinator.

Perhaps she was from the Steelblood Front, but if a hieral menace who looked like Liselotte’s twin was in their service, surely either their black-masked leader or Sistia would have reacted when they’d seen Liselotte before. Besides, when considering how she might have gotten there, the most likely scenario was that she had been concealed aboard Yuber’s ship.

Illuminas was a remote island for the moment, and Wilma and her knights had control of who came and went. The only two recent arrivals had been Inglis with the other knights’ academy students and Yuber with his ship. Maybe even the magicite beasts’ attack had been a ploy to avoid arousing suspicion. After all, Yuber had been transporting surface-dweller slaves bound for Illuminas. Inglis’s group had seen Venefic’s Imperial Princess Meltina and even briefly heard from her. Even if it was a way to strike at Illuminas, it was hard for Inglis to imagine the Steelblood Front, dedicated to surface liberation, using such tactics. They almost certainly had nothing to do with this hieral menace.

That left only a strong probability that this was a direct attack by the Papal League. They must have been trying to use the cover of Aethelstan Trading, but would that story hold up? If it didn’t, this could expand into a direct war between the Triumvirate and the Papal League.

Or had they taken a chance on this because war seemed inevitable? Until now, the Triumvirate and the Papal League had been engaged in a proxy conflict, using surface countries as pawns, but perhaps the situation was developing beyond that now. On the surface, Ambassador Theodore and Prince Wayne were the core of a thrust to leverage the creation of the Rangers into reconciliation between the powers. This may have been retaliation or a counterthrust to that. Illuminas was Ambassador Theodore’s homeland.

From a surface-dwelling perspective, both sides were Highlanders, and it may have been best to have it made clear which faction would be dominant, the one which they must fall into line behind. At least, as long as the surface didn’t bear the brunt of the fighting. But as for Inglis, she wanted nothing more than a lineup of powerful foes to test her might against.

“A war with the Triumvirate? Surely you’re mistaken. His Holiness the Pontifex does not desire such barbarism. And there would be no reason for such a move.”

“No meaning? What’s that supposed to mean?!”

If that’s true, then what was this attack? Was it not by the Papal League taking aim at the Triumvirate? 

“You prefer chatter to battle, then?!”

Inglis had only one answer to that. “No! Take me on! Please!”

“Then!” the hieral menace announced. “Taaaaah!” She delivered a furious flurry of halberd thrusts.

“Thank you! Haaaaaaaaah!” Inglis’s dragon icebrand rose in response.

Rat-tat-tat!

The high-speed series of clashes produced a deafening racket and a shock wave to match. Inglis’s speed was superior, but her weapon’s durability was not, with the ice chipping away bit by bit every time they met.

Soon, though, that balance was broken.

“Bind her!” The hieral menace tapped the heel of her halberd on the ground, and in that very moment Inglis felt her body suddenly grow heavy.

“Enhanced gravity?!” She felt the same sort of magic that she often cast on herself to help with her training spread over the area around her.

She was, of course, not utilizing that gravity magic right now. Dragon magic was a combination of magic and dragon lore. While using it, she could not secretly increase the gravitational pull on herself. In other words, this would have an unavoidable effect on her movements.

“Ooh! Impressive!” The shock wave which had blown her away and this enhanced gravity appeared to be completely separate forces. She had seen Eris and Ripple wield powers similar to higher-tier Gifts, but each had only had one. Meanwhile, this hieral menace had two separate ones. She was obviously distinct in some way. Beyond that, she had seen bursts of light before she arrived. That might be one too.

Those weren’t the full extent of this hieral menace’s powers, though.

“Tailwind!” 

Whoosh!

A swirling gale covered the hieral menace. It constantly changed its flow and direction according to her movement, accelerating her halberd’s thrusts. It was, as she’d said, a tailwind. Inglis herself was weighed down, and her foe’s movements buoyed. In just a moment, the situation had turned to her disadvantage.

Clang!

When she blocked the halberd’s axe-head at an awkward angle, her dragon icebrand rang out and shattered.

“Heh heh heh... Wonderful!”

If Inglis were to fight using only the dragon icebrand, she would be at a clear disadvantage, but she had no regrets with that. If anything, she was overjoyed. The more powerful foes she could face, the better.

“Is this a time to smile?!” The hieral menace’s expression was cruel as she leveled her halberd, aimed between Inglis’s eyes.

“It just might be! Haaaaah!”

Aether Shell!

As the pale blue light of aether surrounded her, Inglis casually grabbed the oncoming tip of the halberd and shoved it away.

“What?! Guh!”

As the hieral menace went pale, Inglis had already continued on to her next move. Letting go of the halberd’s tip, she moved in close and twisted, winding up a knee strike.

Clong!

It was the unmistakable sound of a blow striking against metal. The halberd’s shaft had blocked Inglis’s knee.

“Agh...?!” The hieral menace was overwhelmed and forced back. Her sabaton footwear dug grooves in the paving stones below.

“I knew it! You’re out of the ordinary even among hieral menaces, aren’t you?” Inglis said.

Inglis had used this attack before; she’d caught Sistia from the Steelblood Front off guard with the same technique, knocking her off her feet. But this hieral menace, while pressured by it, had managed to react in time. The difference was obvious.

Inglis had thought that all hieral menaces were on the same level, but now she knew that wasn’t the case. This one was clearly a cut above. Inglis wasn’t sure exactly what her limits were, but the true power of hieral menaces was revealed only when they transformed into weapons. It could vary depending on who ended up wielding her, but she might even show power comparable to Dux Jildegrieva.

Inglis’s recent worries about finding a new foe after her victory over the Prismer had been unfounded. The world was still full of powerful foes—and it was unstable, as well. The hieral menace had said that this wasn’t a war between the two factions of Highlanders, but everyone would say that until the war began. That they didn’t want to fight, but they were compelled to. Redefining that war in terms of “self-defense” was the first step in causing fighting to break out. So Inglis had a lot to look forward to. Her arms were almost calling out to her.

“I am no hieral menace!” her opponent declared.

“Huh?” Inglis asked. “You aren’t?” She certainly had the aura and the power of one.

“‘Hieral menace’ is the name for those failures discarded to the surface! But I am different! I am an archlord in His Holiness’s service!”

“An archlord...? Like Lord Evel, then...” The title brought him to the forefront of Inglis’s memory. He’d transformed the ancient dragon Fufailbane into a mechanical ancient dragon before bringing it to Highland. Inglis had heard of no archlords among the Triumvirate, so this person must have been with the Papal League. She must have held quite the high rank among them.

Inglis wondered if particularly apt and capable hieral menaces might be kept in Highland rather than being sent down to the surface. Inglis surmised that she was even under the direct command of the Pontifex, not merely working with the organization on the whole. She asserted this with a point of pride, distinguishing herself from the hieral menaces sent to the surface. Inglis could only imagine the look of displeasure on Eris’s face if she heard such a statement.

“So you say you’re no mere hieral menace. You’re definitely stronger than Eris and the others... If you don’t mind, may I ask your name? This is a bit late for introductions, but I’m Inglis Eucus. A student of the knights’ academy here on business.” Inglis bowed politely.

“Charlotte. Archlord Charlotte.” The response was blunt.

Even her name is similar to Liselotte’s, Inglis thought.

Liselotte gasped in shock. “What?! Th-That’s impossible!”

Inglis quickly turned around. “Liselotte?!”

“Wh-What’s wrong?!” Leone asked.

“Charlotte... My mother’s name is Charlotte!”

“Huuuh?! Your mother?!” the other girls exclaimed.

It was true that the two looked so much alike that it seemed they had to be related, but their apparent ages were too close to be mother and daughter. They seemed like sisters. But a hieral menace didn’t age once they became one. Or, if they did, it was extremely gradual.

“I— I was told my mother passed away almost before I could even remember! That’s what I’d always heard, but...what if she were taken away to Highland and made into a hieral menace?!”

“That seems...almost possible!” It was making more sense to Inglis. Charlotte appeared to be around the right age to have given birth to Liselotte and separated before Liselotte could form clear memories. Around Eris or Ripple’s apparent age, maybe a little older. And her power, beyond that of other hieral menaces, may have stemmed from an especially high aptitude to become one.

Chief Academician Wilkin had said that Liselotte’s own aptitude was extremely high. Perhaps it ran in the family? It seemed that way to Inglis. Eris had apparently taken months, years, to become a hieral menace, but Wilkin had said that Liselotte would take, in the worst case, around half a day. Was it possible that Charlotte, within a few years of Liselotte’s birth, had been transformed into a hieral menace, and then, due to her performance, been kept in Highland as an archlord rather than being sent to the surface? Without hearing the details from either her or former Chancellor Arcia, it was hard to be sure.

“What nonsense are you spewing?!” Charlotte did not react like Liselotte, but instead frowned uncomfortably.

“Um, well...! What is your family name?! Arcia?!” Liselotte asked. “Are you Charlotte Arcia?!”

“Arcia?! I’ve never heard that name!”

“Then, where were you born, who were your family?! Surely, even if you’re a hieral menace, you were once human, with parents and a hometown! Didn’t you have a family?!”

“I don’t know! I am an archlord! Not like you!”

“But...! Look, we share a face! Don’t you think we look too similar to be unrelated?!” Liselotte landed close to Inglis, holding her halberd toward the ground so as not to point it at Charlotte. She took measured steps toward her. “If you don’t want to speak, I will! So please, listen!”

“It’s true that you look like me... Too much like me for it to be a coincidence.” Charlotte did not appear to be readying an attack as Liselotte approached. It seemed even she recognized some relation to Liselotte.

Leone turned to her friends and said what was all on their minds. “I-Is this going to be okay? Just walking up to her defenseless like that...”

“We’ll keep an eye on things, and make sure she’s okay. If she’s really Liselotte’s mother, we shouldn’t stop this,” Inglis said. If she had met Serena under the same circumstances, she would be doing just what Liselotte was now. It was only natural to do so. And thus, Inglis was content to support Liselotte here. Rafinha had to feel the same way.

Slap!

Inglis felt a pat on her back. It even stung.

“That’s right! Sometimes you say just the right thing, Chris!” Rafinha had just gotten down from the Star Princess.

“Ah ha ha... That hurt a little, Rani. I think I’ve been doing the right thing the whole time, though.” After all, hadn’t she been listening to Rafinha and consoling her after she learned the truth about Illuminas?

“You’re right, Inglis,” Leone said. “Liselotte’s done so much for us. Now we need to be there for her!”

“Yeah, that’s right!” Rafinha agreed. “I just know that’s Liselotte’s mom! We need to get her back somehow!”

“And wouldn’t it be wonderful if she became an instructor at the knights’ academy too?” Inglis asked.

“Stop just using our teachers as your personal menagerie of strong people! You already have Mr. Rochefort and Miss Arles, don’t you?!”

As Inglis and the others watched over her, Liselotte spoke to Charlotte. “I am Liselotte Arcia. The only daughter of Duke Arcia, of the kingdom of Karelia. Do you know of Karelia?”

Charlotte paused before answering. “One of the larger surface countries. One that’s had the misfortune of falling under the sway of the Triumvirate.”

Inglis suspected that was the way the Papal League thought of Karelia, but that it might not be Charlotte’s personal perspective.

“There’s a grand city on the west coast of Karelia named Charot. It’s famous as a sightseeing destination for its white cliffs and beautiful beaches. The Duchy of Arcia holds many fiefdoms spreading out from Charot. And Charot was where I was born.”

“Charot...” Charlotte said, testing the word.

“Yes! Could you have heard of it?!”

“Why would an archlord know of any surface town?! Is that all you have to say for yourself?!”

“No, it’s just—! My father’s name is Albert. Albert Arcia. Actually, he married into the family when he wed my mother, and inherited the title of duke,” Liselotte rattled off nervously.

“Huh, so that’s how it went down,” Rafinha said.

“I never knew,” Leone said.

Inglis hadn’t known either. But when she’d met the former chancellor, she’d gotten the impression from him that he was more of a capable administrator than an aristocrat.

“And what do you mean by that?!” Charlotte asked.

“So, my mother was also from Charot! And her name was Charlotte! I was always told she passed away before I could remember, but people that knew her told me I looked just like her! Don’t you recognize the names Albert or Liselotte?!”

“I don’t! I don’t know who you are, but...somehow...something... Ugh?!” Charlotte wavered as she held her head. Her halberd clanged to the ground.

“Ah! A-Are you okay?!” Liselotte reached out her hand, having no idea what was coming for her.

Liselotte’s peaceful intent was met only with hostility—but from somebody new. An intruder slipped in to grab the halberd and sent it flying at her. It caught Liselotte completely on the wrong foot.

“Ah—?!”

Charlotte’s golden halberd plunged toward her chest as if drawn in. Its force was extraordinary; only someone with superhuman strength could’ve thrown it with such speed.

“Liselotte!” her friends cried.

Fwap!

But the projectile stopped just short of her, stuck between Inglis’s hands clapped around it. True to her word, she’d kept an eye on the situation. With Aether Shell kept at the ready, she’d been prepared to intervene at any point.

“Inglis...!” Leone began.

“Chris! Nice!”

“Y-You saved me, Inglis!”

“Pay it no mind. We’re here to ensure that you can safely have your conversation. You can just keep talking. If that really is your mom, I think it’s only natural that you’d want to bring her back. Rani and Leone feel the same way too.”

“Th-Thank you, everyone!”

“But in exchange, when we do make it back safe and sound, could you ask her to join the knights’ academy as an instructor?”

“Huh? Er, okay...”

Despite Inglis’s softness, Rafinha had overheard, which meant Inglis wasn’t safe from a scolding. “C’mon, Chris! This is enough of a mess without you trying to slip extra conditions in!”

Inglis cleared her throat and turned her attention to the intruder. “This is an important family moment. You mustn’t intrude.”

Plus, if Liselotte’s conversation with Charlotte went well, it would be a great chance to acquire another excellent instructor. Inglis wouldn’t allow interference.

A girl with blue-green hair in cute braids spoke, her eyes wide in shock. “I’m amazed anyone could catch that so swiftly...much less a child like yourself.” Her visage was refined, but her clothing revealed feminine curves. She was both lovely and bewitching—a frighteningly attractive combination. Her aura carried the unmistakable presence and power of a hieral menace. And her face was familiar.

“You’re...Tiffanyer?!”

A hieral menace with the Papal League, she’d made herself known during Inglis’s expedition to Alcard. Inglis had put an end to Tiffanyer’s ravaging of the Leclair region. She was Archlord Evel’s subordinate, and she’d taken over command there after his departure. Evel himself had shown his cruelty visiting Karelia and demanding Carlias’s arm, and Tiffanyer’s own personality marched to the same drum. Her depredation of Leclair had been abhorrent.

And not only that, but she had tried to take Rafinha’s life. Even Evel had not dared to try. From that perspective, at least, Tiffanyer’s sins ran the deepest. Inglis had not forgiven her and never would. Never.

“You know me?”

“Well, yes. Circumstances have me stuck as a child, but I am Inglis Eucus. It’s been so long! How are you?” Inglis grinned calmly at Tiffanyer.

“Ah! I see. It certainly has been a while. Still as inexplicable as ever, I see.” Tiffanyer reflected the same calm smile, as if her loss to Inglis had never happened. She was a tricky, unreadable opponent.

“I’m glad to see you’re well.”

Tiffanyer’s wounds from her previous encounter with Inglis appeared to be completely healed. And her willingness to suddenly throw a halberd at Liselotte when she was defenseless showed that she still had no time for a fair fight. As elegant as she looked, her personality was anything but.

“I can’t say I very much appreciate your attacking without so much as a greeting, though,” Inglis added.

An attack like that could finish a fight before it really got fun. Betrayal or surprise were dangerous tools, ones which could conquer a foe before they showed their true strength. Even if the victory was easy, it took from one the chance to truly learn from the fight.

“That’s right! You’re still as rotten as you are cute!” Rafinha said.

Tiffanyer laughed. “More ineffective yapping from the puppy?”

She and Rafinha had personalities like oil and water. Rafinha, with her sense of justice and belief that people were fundamentally good, and Tiffanyer, with her willingness to embrace any means to an end, seemed to push each other’s buttons just by existing.

“What did you call me?!”

“Am I wrong? Without your squire, you can do nothing. Every ounce of authority you have is borrowed. But if you object, perhaps you’d like to take me on alone?” Tiffanyer laughed again, a smile as beautiful as a flower becoming a provocation in its own way.

“I’m not borrowing anything! What’s Chris’s is mine, and what’s mine is hers! We’ve always been together, and that’s what matters!”

“Rani’s right,” Inglis agreed. “Your assessment isn’t quite accurate.”

“What Chris said! Blehhh!” Rafinha stuck out her tongue in a childlike manner. It may have come from honest rage on her part, but Inglis found it adorable.

And Rafinha wasn’t the only one who had objections to Tiffanyer. “What are you—?! What is the meaning of this?!” Charlotte glared at Tiffanyer. The halberd that Inglis had grabbed disappeared from her hands and appeared in Charlotte’s own, as if it had blinked across space to her. Charlotte really did wield a wide variety of powers—unfortunately for Inglis, as she’d wanted to keep that halberd for herself if possible.

“I could ask the same of you! Here you were, disarmed by the enemy, and all I did was come to help.” Tiffanyer gave Charlotte a choreographed blank look.

“I don’t need help from a failure who was cast down to the surface!”

“Ah, apologies, then. Why don’t you finish off these girls all on your own, then? I didn’t come here for playtime.”

Charlotte paused. “Our orders say nothing about killing them.”

“Oh? You don’t want to kill someone who resembles you so closely? And why may that be?”

“If I knew, I wouldn’t... Why does she look...?”

As Charlotte gritted her teeth, Tiffanyer sighed ostentatiously. “If you don’t even understand yourself, how can you expect to be a reliable pawn for His Holiness? I wonder which one of us is truly the failure.”

Inglis could see that Charlotte and Tiffanyer weren’t on good terms. A coordinated pair of hieral menaces presented an alluring challenge, but even aside from their being best friends in the mold of Eris and Ripple, Inglis was concerned that they wouldn’t cooperate at all. Specifically, she was concerned about whether they’d pair well in combat. As always, Inglis wanted to fight relying on only herself, in order to learn the most she could from it, and it was all the better if she faced multiple opponents at once, especially these two. A hieral menace that was a cut above the rest in Charlotte, and a hieral menace of uncommon shrewdness and ruthlessness in Tiffanyer—that would be a fascinating fight.

“Anyway, why don’t you worry about Liselotte later, and fight me now? I don’t think there’s any reason to hold back from that,” Inglis said.

“Why?” Charlotte asked.

“I would so much prefer if you didn’t try to derail the conversation,” Tiffanyer said. The two were in unison on one point—the point of not engaging Inglis.

“But why not?! I’m your enemy, aren’t I? You’re supposed to defeat your enemy!”

“We did not come here to strike down enemies,” Charlotte said.

“Then why? Why else would you attack here? And you were willing to fight me at first!” Things had just started to get interesting. She didn’t want them to cool off.

“You should understand very soon,” Tiffanyer said. “Now do be quiet and watch.”

“Tiffanyer, if you’re here, that means the preparations are complete, then?” Charlotte asked.

Inglis wondered if Charlotte had been buying time for Tiffanyer to work.

“Yes, all according to plan. In five, I believe.” A charming smile rose to Tiffanyer’s face. “Five, four...” She put fingers down one by one as she counted.

“Wh-What?!” Rafinha gasped.

“What’s going on?!” Leone asked.

“Just brace yourselves!” Inglis said. All they could do was wait to see what happened.

“One...zero.” As Tiffanyer finished counting...

Rrrrrrrrrrumble!

“Wh—?!” Inglis gasped. The deafening roar was followed by the ground shaking. It came from all sides, loud enough that she couldn’t hear what the others might have said. But the shaking was so strong that they couldn’t keep their footing.

And the cause—explosions. Countless explosions. They felt unrelenting, and flames rose from all over Illuminas. In a moment, the chalk-white city had been transformed into an inferno.

“Rani! Is everyone okay?!” Inglis reached out a hand to Rafinha, who had fallen flat on her butt.

“What’s going on?! This is the heart of Highland, isn’t it? How could this have happened?”

“How did they do this?” Leone asked. “I mean, the whole city! All at once!”

“I-If any civilians were left above, how many of them must have been...?” Liselotte trailed off.

The hellscape which had unfolded before them in the blink of an eye left Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte quivering in shock. That wasn’t surprising. Even Inglis was surprised. Illuminas, as grand in scale as Karelia’s capital, Chiral, had become a sea of flames in an instant. It was destruction on an incredible scale.

Highlanders from the central laboratory screamed in shock. “Wh-What?! What’s going on?!”

“Our Illuminas!”

“I can’t believe it!”

Tiffanyer smiled ecstatically in heartfelt glee. “And what wonderful orders these were, to allow such destruction in Highland. Now the people who thought they could rise above it all are dragged down into the mud with the rest of us. You should be smiling too! Isn’t it exhilarating to see the Highlanders who looked down on you swarm in panic?”

“Wh-Who could feel joy at this?!” Rafinha protested.

“That’s right!” Leone said. “We can’t just overlook something like this, no matter who’s the victim!”

Liselotte turned to Charlotte. “Why?! Why would you do such a horrible thing?!”

“I am an archlord! I do His Holiness’s will. That is all!” Charlotte said.

“But—! An indiscriminate attack like this!”

“Charlotte,” Inglis said, “you said this was not a direct war between the Triumvirate and the Papal League, but these are clearly the flames of war... Do you really think this won’t trigger a confrontation?”

“If we had done it...I suppose,” Charlotte said.

“We just lent a hand,” Tiffanyer added.

“Huh? Then—?” Inglis replied, confused.

The deep, clear voice of a man broke in. “I don’t believe it’s anything to get too worked up about.” He was a young man with auburn hair and wearing a monocle.

“Yuber?!” Rafinha gasped.

“A-Are you...?!” Leone asked.

Liselotte was just as stunned as the rest of the group. “Is he cooperating with the enemy?!”

“Ah, Yuber, so you are working with them,” Inglis said.

“Oh? You saw through me?”

“Not exactly. I had a hunch based on circumstantial evidence. The easiest way for two hieral menaces to get into Illuminas had to be aboard your ship.”

“I see... I should note, I can assure you that everything I told you aboard the ship was true. And if I may ask you something...”

“What is it?” Inglis asked, but Yuber’s eyes turned, not to her, but to Rafinha, then Leone, before finally resting on Liselotte.

“Who is your enemy? Is it not those who threaten your very lives? You call us your enemy, but here in Illuminas, is that the right choice? What I told you of mana extract is true. They may have the faces of innocent civilians, but they are the most fearsome Highlanders to exist. The world would be better off without them... Don’t you think so? I certainly do. After all, I hail from the surface.”

“Those are totally different things!” Rafinha fired back, but as she did, Yuber’s eyes gleamed.

“They are the same in the end! That’s the wishful thinking of a child! All you’re doing is watching the world go by! If we let this continue, our brothers on the surface will have their will, their dignity, their very lives and forms snatched away! Don’t you want to stop that?”

“Ugh...” Rafinha fell silent.

“Well...” Leone muttered.

“That’s true in its own way, but...” Liselotte frowned. The three wilted in the face of Yuber’s tirade.

“I see...” Inglis said. “So you meant to discourage us? Clever.”

Rafinha, Leone, and Liselotte were all kindhearted girls. Of course the revelations about mana extract had come as a huge shock to them, and that had been reflected in their hesitation when he linked the idea of letting him continue with that of stopping the production of mana extract. They thought that it might indeed be true. And effectively, that played directly into Yuber’s hands as he sought to avoid interference. Leaving aside the ethical issues, he had skillfully manipulated his adversaries.

“How ungrateful you are. I simply felt that it would be unfortunate for you to know nothing about the situation, and thus informed you,” Yuber said.

“Your spite calls into question everything else you’ve said.” Inglis hadn’t completely corroborated his story about mana extract. It seemed to be true, but it was hard to say that he’d told them just out of kindness.

“Then...shall I present proof?” Yuber turned to Inglis’s right. There lay the arsenal and the flying battleship dock.

Boooom!

The walls of the facility shattered, and from within arose a titanic figure.

Rafinha gasped. “What is that?”

“A g-giant?!” Leone stuttered.

Liselotte stared up at it. “No, that’s—!”

It was far bigger than a mechanical dragon, nearly the size of the ancient dragon Fufailbane. Like Leone had said, its form was nearly perfectly human, certainly enough to be called a giant. But what was most remarkable was not its striking size. It was its palpably disgusting corpse-blue color. And more than anything, its bare visage—lacking in hair, eyes, ears, and a nose—was terrifying. It was bereft of anything that should be on a living creature’s head. It was a disgusting-colored puppet.

A faceless giant.

“Grahhhhhhhhh!”

Inglis couldn’t tell where its thundering roar came from.

“A faceless giant?!” Rafinha yelled.

“Y-Yes! It rose from the arsenal!” Leone said.

“And it’s extremely off-putting!” Liselotte said.

“You recall the armored soldiers you met?” Yuber asked. “This is what was inside! It’s just a bit bigger, since that was all the mana extract there.”

The faceless giant smashed its fist over and over into the flame-wreathed arsenal, beginning its indiscriminate destruction. The very land around it began to crumble as its blows, impressive even for its size, fell.

“Behold! The rage of those whose pride, whose very forms were taken along with their lives, comes to fruit! Isn’t it wonderful? Beautiful, in fact!”

“That isn’t all there is to it, though, is it? I can only assume you’ve added your own twist. I can sense something else,” Inglis said.

“What do you mean, Chris?” Rafinha asked.

“That may well be all the mana extract...but I also sense an undying in there!”

“Undying...? You mean like the people who attacked us at Leone’s mansion?! And that attacked Liselotte too?!”

“What?!” Leone gasped.

“So that’s the same?!” Liselotte asked.

“I think so,” Inglis said. “The undying we saw before were normal corpses reanimated with an Artifact’s Gift...but this one is that same Gift applied to a large amount of mana extract.”

Yuber laughed. “Mana extract is a terrible thing. Humans turned to fluid. Corpse juice, you could call it. I did so want to see what would happen if it were to be used as a base for the undying.”

Between the explosions around Illuminas and the giant’s rampage, a corner of the arsenal was destroyed completely. The ground itself crumbled away, falling from Illuminas and sinking into the deep sea below. Once separated from Illuminas’s flotation, it was simply rubble to plunge to the depths. The faceless giant, meanwhile, swiftly spun around and jumped high to avoid the collapse.

“Th-The arsenal!” Rafinha said.

“It’s sinking!” Leone said.

“That giant is so swift!” Liselotte said.

They watched the giant pensively, but Tiffanyer smiled and clapped like an adult watching over a children’s play. “Ooh, that’s it! That’s it! Go for it!”

“Yes, Lady Tiffanyer. A combination of the foulest material in all Highland, and the foul Gift of defiling the dead. Its sinfulness grants its power... And what tremendous power it is.” Yuber brushed his monocle as he smiled calmly, just as he had while talking to Inglis and the others.

“It looks like that monocle is an Artifact. And it seems to be quite a powerful one as well,” Inglis observed.

It didn’t have the appearance of a weapon, which struck Inglis as a good way to conceal what it truly was. It must have been an Artifact on a level with Karelia’s Dragon Claw or Dragon Fang, a super-class Artifact.

Those two Artifacts were distinctive because they were made from the fang and claw of a dragon comparable to Fufailbane. That was the source of their power, which outstripped normal Artifacts. That meant this Artifact must have been of similar provenance. If its Gift was to create the undying, it must have been made from the body of a lich, the ultimate undying.

But Inglis could only think of one lich. Unlike dragons, their stronger form didn’t seem to be common. More importantly, she had sealed away that one lich in her past life. Just like Fufailbane, she had only been able to seal it rather than completely defeat it. If that seal had been broken, people had been careless with what had been sealed away. However, if a part of it had been turned into an Artifact, they must have been able to defeat it. Compared to turning the divinely created liminal sepulcher—that which they called a Greyfrier sarcophagus—into a facility for creating hieral menaces, it may not have even been a big deal.

“Quite perceptive indeed. You’re everything I’d expect from the hero who defeated a Prismer, Lady Inglis Eucus.”

Inglis didn’t recall having given Yuber her full name. Yuber must have known who she was from the beginning. And if he had an Artifact which could control the undying, she had some idea who he was as well. Rochefort and Arles had told her before she left for Illuminas.

“Yuber Aethelstan isn’t your real name, is it?”

Rafinha gasped. “Huh?! It’s not?! Then who is he?!”

“C’mon, Rani. Remember talking to Mr. Rochefort and Miss Arles before we came here? They said Venefic had a general with an Artifact that could create undying... I believe his name was General Maxwell.”

“Ah! Yeah, I think they did! But didn’t Mr. Rochefort say he had a face as ugly as his soul, and we’d loathe him at first sight?”

“Presumably that was figurative.” Inglis wished she had been able to hear more.

He laughed. “I suppose it’s all in how you look at it. Which is really worse—a loyal general like myself, or one who turned coat to Karelia?”

“Leone and Liselotte were attacked by undying under your control, and I have to say, that was a fight I’d like more of.”

“Ha ha ha. Quite the demanding one, I see.”

“Then there never was a Yuber! You’re General Maxwell!” Rafinha insisted.

In response, Yuber—rather, General Maxwell raised his hand to interject. “No. Well, I am Maxwell Rockwell, a general in the service of the emperor of Venefic. But there’s one point I’d like to correct: Yuber Aethelstan really did exist. As did Aethelstan Trading. My cooperation with these two necessitated taking control of Aethelstan Trading. Though its previous ownership was...less than compliant, shall we say, so there was a situation.”

Rafinha’s brow furrowed. “So you just killed them and took it?!”

“Ha ha ha, of course not. They’re alive and well—right over there.” Maxwell pointed to the rampaging faceless giant.

“What?! Then—! You captured them and put them aboard that ship, didn’t you?!” Leone accused.

In response, Maxwell nodded. “Indeed. It would be barbaric to simply purge those with differing opinions. Instead, they will become a shield with which to protect Venefic. They, like myself, are firm patriots... Isn’t such a spirit of cooperation beautiful?”

“How?! You turned people into a disgusting puppet for yourself! That’s worse than just killing them! How could you be so cruel?!” Rafinha asked.

“Ah, but it was the people here who turned them into mana extract. Every denunciation you could speak, every accusation of evil, should be directed at them first.”

“Well, yes, but...! But you’re working with them! How could you do that, knowing what would happen?!”

“It’s because I knew that I did what I did. My goal is to strike at the root of evil. I know there isn’t much difference with my actions. Still, we of the surface are powerless. We cannot afford to make principled stands. We must fight fire with fire... They will be the last to ever become mana extract. That was my determination when I made that creature. As I said, the destruction of Illuminas will save many more of our brothers on the surface from such a fate. That baleful technology will sink to the depths. Can you really call that cruel?”

“That’s not—! That’s not what I meant!”

“Enough!” Maxwell’s sudden bark made Rafinha cower. “Criticizing others for taking action when you refuse to do so yourself is childish! You’re an upper-class knight cadet! The future of Karelia is supposed to be in your hands! If you have a problem with what I’m doing, show me what you’d do differently! Show me how you can stop Illuminas right now with that brilliant leadership you’re supposed to exhibit! Otherwise, shut up and get out of the way! You’re comfortable if something’s out of sight, out of mind! I, on the other hand, will get results!”

“Ugh... No...but—!” Rafinha slumped, unable to find words. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Rafinha’s personality was incompatible with General Maxwell’s in a different way than it was with Tiffanyer’s. He was a man who was able to insert himself into the gap between her sense of justice and reality, and from there he clawed away at her pure heart. His words, his actions, weren’t precisely wrong. Not precisely, but—

“Then, I will take action.” Inglis smiled, and lifted her palm toward the giant.

Aether Strike!

Blammmmm!

The blast of aether tore toward the giant!

“What?! G-Get out of the way!” Maxwell called out as he lifted his hand to his monocle, but the giant couldn’t respond in time. Caught by surprise, it fell over sideways and rolled around the ground. “Gah! Open!” His command was somehow obeyed, as a gap was gouged in the giant’s flesh beginning where Aether Strike had hit it in the chest. The hole let the Aether Strike pass through and disappear beyond the horizon.

“Ooh, that’s some attention to detail! Since it was made out of liquid, you can shape it however you like?”

“What are you doing?! Don’t you realize what this means?!” Maxwell’s face went red as he raged at Inglis.

“You said to do something. So I did.” Inglis smiled back, all prim and proper.

“Yes, and the problem is what that thing is! If you take down that giant, nothing can stop Illuminas! Weren’t you listening to me?! Taking it down means that we can’t stop the terrible things that happen here! Yeah, you’re doing something—you’re doing something idiotic!”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily true.”

“Mm? What makes you say that?”

“Perhaps by saving Illuminas when it is threatened by the giant’s rampage, we can in exchange negotiate an end to the use of mana extract. The threat it poses is comparable to that of a gigantic magicite beast, so I imagine they’d be quite grateful.”

“You...! You’re using us as leverage?”

“Well, I can’t afford to make principled stands. I must fight fire with fire. And it is something... Right, Rani?”

“Y-Yeah, Chris! Exactly! You really are smart! Let’s go with that, Leone, Liselotte!” Rafinha said.

“Yes, let’s!” Leone said.

“I would prefer that as well!” Liselotte said.

“So...I’d like to fight that giant now,” Inglis concluded. That would give her a lineup of respectably strong opponents. Charlotte, Tiffanyer, Maxwell, and the giant.

Maxwell laughed. “You’re terrifying. The slayer of a Prismer with a sharp mind to match...but I do object to being lumped in with magicite beasts who destroy for no cause or goal.”

“Causes or goals can be made up after the fact. I’m sure they’re good self-motivators, but isn’t it a bit naively idealistic to expect others to judge you by them?”

“Shut up, you snotty little brat!” There Maxwell was, angry again.

Well, with the lecture Rafinha and the others had caught, Inglis didn’t feel singled out. “Did I not tell you that I’m actually sixteen?” she responded, imagining sticking out her tongue for extra fun.

“Exactly, a snotty little brat! You mean to tell me you don’t have any cause or goal?!”

“None at all!” Inglis quipped as she puffed up confidently. Watching over Rafinha and mastering the blade were all she needed.

“Ha ha ha, so you’re not going to discuss this seriously? A clever move, not revealing your true intentions.”

“I’m being completely honest here.”

Ah, well, it’s up to him how he wants to take it, Inglis thought.

“It’s because you keep saying weird things. What you consider normal isn’t what the rest of us understand, Chris. It’s kind of embarrassing.” Rafinha sighed.

“That’s not very nice,” Inglis objected. “But I guess that means you’re feeling better now, Rani?”

“Yeah! Time to do something! I’m no good at thinking in circles!”

“I’m not sure you should be proud of that... Anyway, that’s about how it lines up, Wilma. I trust I can rely on you to speak in my favor?” Inglis turned her head sideways and spoke, sensing that Wilma was there.

“Ah! Wilma!” Rafinha said as she saw her.

“I’m sorry... I realized what was happening, but I couldn’t do anything...” Wilma gazed downward rather than looking at them directly as she spoke. She had come off as brusque and unfriendly at first, but Inglis suspected that had been from guilt rather than contempt toward surface dwellers.

“We can talk about that later. I’d appreciate your aid in the negotiations as well.”

“Of course! Let’s talk with Chief Academician Wilkin...with my father about it! I’m sure he’ll understand after all this!” Wilma nodded.

Rafinha nodded along as well. “I’m so glad not all of Illuminas is rotten! Others will understand too. I’m sure even Myce will agree when he hears what we have to say!”

“Wilma, we can’t spare anything to help civilians or put out the fires in the city. Can you handle that?” Inglis asked.

“Yes, leave it to me. I know exactly what to do. Mechanical dragons, switch to firefighting!”

Wilma’s armor lit up with a pattern of sigils. As if answering her call, the mechanical dragons rose from the sea near where the arsenal had sunk. Jets of water sprayed from their mouths over the burning city of Illuminas. Seawater, presumably. They must have filled themselves with it to put out the fires. In any case, they could be relied on to handle that, and Inglis could fight without worrying about it.

“Negotiations? With Academician Wilkin, that guy in charge here? What a waste of time.” Tiffanyer cackled.

“We won’t know until we try!” Rafinha protested. “You can’t make us give up that easy!”

“Just consider it a fair warning. You’ll understand soon,” Tiffanyer said, assured.

“What’s that supposed to mean?!”

A voice entirely too relaxed for the situation rang out around them. “Oh my, oh my. Seems to be quite the party going here!”

They saw a boy with duotoned hair, refined features, and a calm expression; it was none other than the person they’d just been speaking about.

“Academician Wilkin?!” Inglis gasped.

“Dad! It’s dangerous! Get out of here!” Wilma yelled.

“Naaah. That won’t be necessary, Wilma.” Wilkin grinned at her and shook his head.

“Huh? What do you—”

As Wilma tilted her head in confusion, Charlotte, Tiffanyer, and Maxwell kneeled before Wilkin. “We have arrived, Chief Academician Wilkin!” they said in unison.