Berserk of Gluttony (LN) - Volume 4 - Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

The Military District of Seifort

I LEFT BARBATOS MANOR at midnight as the light of the moon rose to its peak. The Vlerick family would never let me into their facility through the front door, so I had to do things the way I had back when I was known as the adventurer Corpse: sneaking in under cover of night.

I could get to the Military District from the Holy Knight District, but as expected, guards were stationed at each gate. I needed to find another way in. I looked up at the high walls that marked the border between the two quarters.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been out solo like this,” said Greed. “Are you sure you didn’t want to ask the old man and Myne along for support?”

“We’ll be fine. I can handle this on my own.”

Aaron wasn’t suited to stealthy work, so I’d asked him to report the Vlericks’ suspicious activity to the king. The nun had gone with him, but neither had returned by the time I left. Talks were probably still ongoing. Everyone in Seifort lived under the rule of the king. Nobody could get away with herding hundreds of people together and slaughtering them for personal gain without his say-so.

Myne had wanted to come with me, but I’d asked her to wait for Aaron at the manor. To be frank, she just wasn’t any good at stealth. Her tactics began and ended with smashing through the front door and breaking everything on the other side. Plus, with her giant axe, we’d be spotted right away. Despite her obvious displeasure, I managed to convince her to stay behind, but she stuck by my side all the way to the manor gates as I left, glaring the whole time. I hoped that she’d be in a better mood by the time I returned.

“Well,” I muttered, “let’s get past this wall and see what things look like on the inside.”

“Think you can climb it quietly?”

“Just you watch. I’ve had a lot of time to get used to the Domain of E!” I kicked gently off the ground and sprang skillfully up the face of the wall, landing at the top of it with a delicate footfall no louder than a whisper. “How about that?”

“Eh, sixty points out of a hundred,” said Greed. “I could feel my sheath shaking as you landed. You’ve got work to do.”

“That’s more than good enough. You’re the absolute pickiest critic. Impossible to satisfy!”

“I expect nothing less than perfection from the wielder of the mighty black sword Greed! By the way, look down.”

Whoa, I thought. That’s really cool.

Buildings towered neatly side by side as far as I could see. All of them glowed with an enchanting light. It was significantly brighter here than in any other district at night. I realized then that I’d never seen past the Military District’s thick walls before—so I’d never known the buildings there looked nothing like anything else in Seifort. The vast majority of structures in the Merchant, Residential, and Holy Knight Districts were constructed from red brick. But here, not only were none of the buildings made of brick; none of them had windows either. They were vast structures composed of what looked to be seamless walls that pulsed gently with constant light. In fact, these walls were what illuminated the district.

“What…are these buildings?” I asked.

“That, my friend, is Galian tech. They’re special plates that draw in energy from the atmosphere. The energy is then used to power everything inside the building.”

“So the Military District has access to Galian tech, then…”

The empire of Galia had fallen a long, long time ago. Most of their technology was lost, so I’d never imagined I would find it on the other side of a plain wall separating city districts.

“Well, even if the civilization is dead, that doesn’t mean they took everything with them to the afterlife,” said Greed. “Their home is still chock-full of their old technology. You saw it yourself. I imagine all this was brought straight here from Galia.”

“In that sense, Galia is a kind of treasure trove, isn’t it?”

“That’s why Envy left the Divine Dragon to do its work and did their own business from the shadows. I’m sure it had reasons for doing so outside of controlling the monster population.”

When I’d killed the Divine Dragon, I had carved a monumental scar into the land itself. That ravine now separated Galia from Babylon, the city at its border. The monster population could grow all it wanted, but very few would ever make it past that ravine. I’d taken other protective measures too, so I didn’t think the monsters of Galia would be much of a problem going forward.

I frowned. “But if people started going to Galia to look for more of these relics…then what Seifort does here could be done elsewhere too.”

“I doubt the kingdom wants that. I suspect they’d prefer having a monopoly over Galian tech.”

“That would explain why they’ve gone to such great lengths to hide it behind these walls.”

But now that the roads to Galia were more open, there would be no end to the people searching for old, lost technology. And Hausen was positioned to be at the front line of that forthcoming progress. While the Barbatos estate was still undergoing reconstruction, it was relatively close to the Galian border. It excited me to think of all the tech that might one day fill our city. However, I put my dreams aside to focus on the Vlericks.

“I can’t see the Vlerick facility from here,” I muttered.

“According to the nun, their facility should be north of this location.”

“She also said we’d recognize it as soon as we saw it…”

The Vlericks were one of the five esteemed families, and they ranked high among the other holy knights. According to the nun, their research facility was both considerably larger than the others and adorned with their family crest. She’d heard this from the lone survivor, who had little reason to lie.

“Well, let’s head north, shall we?”

“Don’t go getting spotted, Fate. We’re here on reconnaissance only. No matter what happens, don’t get involved.”

“Why so worried all of a sudden?”

“As far back as I can recall, nothing good has ever come of humans mixing with Galian technology.”

It was unlike Greed to speak with such gravity. Concerning too. Nevertheless, I looked down from the top of the wall to make sure nobody was around, then jumped. The moment I hit the ground, I rolled to soften the impact and moved on silently.

The paths I ran were like the buildings around them, made of something I’d never seen that pulsed with a dull light. At least that made it easy to navigate at night. Together with the illuminated buildings, I didn’t need to use my Night Vision skill at all.

I slipped silently around the patrolling guards and headed farther north. Eventually, I came across a curious clump of steel surrounded by a group of people. Some were soldiers, but another group of ten or so were dressed in white lab coats. They stared in fascination at the steel object, which had two wheels positioned linearly, as well as a seat between them for a person to sit on. The object’s narrow frame made it seem like it would fall to either side at the slightest push, yet somehow it stayed upright and maintained its balance.

“What is that thing?” I asked, peering from a distance.

“It’s a two-wheeled vehicle known as a motorbike. The people of Galia once rode them to get around. Those researchers must have found one in Galia and repaired it here.”

“A vehicle? Are you telling me you can ride that thing? It’s just chunks of metal, though.”

“Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. But that ‘thing’ you’re looking at is a hundred times faster than any horse. Doesn’t get tired either.”

I frowned at the object. The “motorbike.” I just couldn’t believe such a thing could be faster than a horse. But I could see how it wouldn’t get tired: it wasn’t alive. “How do you ride it?”

“You see those handles attached to the section near the front wheel? That’s how you control it. It has built-in balance control, meaning even beginners can ride it without fear of falling over.”

“So why aren’t any of those guys riding it?”

Greed chuckled. “Because none of them have the necessary magic level to do it. The bike is fueled by arcane energy. If any of them even sat in the seat, they’d find themselves on a one-way trip to hell.”

As I got a little closer, I noticed three men lying on the ground by the bike. Their eyes were rolled back in their heads, and white froth bubbled from their mouths. They were the very embodiment of Greed’s warning.

“Could I ride it?”

“Of course you could. You’re in the Domain of E. You could ride it for as long as you wanted and you’d never end up like those guys. But that’s not why we’re here tonight.”

He was right. But the Military District was proving to be a world full of the unknown with an abundance of distractions.

“Yeah, I know.” I sighed. “Let’s keep moving, then.”

I held back the urge to explore and pushed myself ever northward.