Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!? - Volume 41 - Chapter 4

Ralgwin’s Miscalculation

Thursday, September 29th

Dalgamaran lay slightly off a frequent warp route, but it had once been a major shipping hub. The system had had its heyday in the early period of Forthorthe’s space age, when warp technology was in its infancy. The system was rich in minerals, making it an ideal location to develop. Its fourth planet, Ikoran, was especially integral in that development. With minimal terraforming, it was habitable for humans without spacesuits.

But with the passage of time had come advancements in warp technology, making it easy to bypass the system completely. Thanks to that, Dalgamaran had waned. Nowadays, only spaceships trading in minerals passed through. If a battleship approached the system, it would be a clear and obvious declaration of attack.

“So our force is traveling by cargo ship. I guess there are plenty on the move right now,” Koutarou muttered, smirking in both admiration and exasperation.

He and the rest of the Corona House crew were currently en route to Ikoran alongside Nefilforan’s unit. Koutarou and the girls were aboard the Hazy Moon, while Nefilforan and her troops were split up among several transport vessels belonging to different companies acquired by DKI behind the scenes. The Hazy Moon’s incredible stealth abilities allowed it to travel without notice, but Nefilforan had had to forgo the use of her own personal battleship, Hidden Leaves.

“Her Majesty’s strategic insight is most incredible. She must have begun preparing even before hearing of your return,” Kiriha remarked.

She was honestly impressed. Elfaria had shifted gears after hearing about the PAF, although she’d undoubtedly had a plan all along. Things wouldn’t have worked out so perfectly otherwise.

“That’s my mother for you. Ever the strategist,” said Theia.

“You got lucky, Veltlion,” added Clan.

“Huh? How so?”

“If not for the PAF, you would have been cornered into a marriage,” Clan concluded after hearing what Kiriha said.

If Elfaria had truly been planning for battle prior to Koutarou’s return, that would explain why she’d sown the seeds of rumors about his marriage. That was her original idea to stir up the public and give them a reason to celebrate.

“Whaaaaaaaat?!” Koutarou hollered.

“Blue Knight’s reconstruction alone wouldn’t be enough, after all,” said Clan.

Economically speaking, the new Blue Knight and economic reform might have been enough to get Forthorthe back on track. In order to secure a cover for the mass deployment of transport ships, however, Elfaria had needed an even bigger excuse. The PAF had given her exactly that, but without it, she would have arranged the Blue Knight’s wedding. It didn’t even matter who his bride might be. That was Clan’s theory, and it was frighteningly believable.

“I can’t believe it! What was Elle thinking?! This is what I get as soon as I praise her a little!” Koutarou continued to shout.

“Master, do you really hate the idea of marrying one of us that much?” Ruth asked, worry visible on her face. She was troubled to see how angry Koutarou was.

“Th-That’s not really what I meant. I just don’t like the ulterior motive.”

“That’s true. I wouldn’t want to marry because of a battle either,” Ruth replied, smiling with relief. It wasn’t that Koutarou was against marriage—he just wanted to do it properly, and that made her happy.

“I’m going to give Elle a piece of my mind after this,” Koutarou grumbled.

“We need to win this battle first,” Harumi said as she looked at a hologram. The stronghold wasn’t yet in view, but the fight ahead was swiftly approaching.

“Sorry, but we should get back on topic,” Kiriha interjected to get things back on track. Naturally, no one objected. “While Nefilforan’s unit is creating a diversion, we will approach and storm the enemy’s command center.”

“They’d notice a transport ship getting too close, so we’re closing in with the Hazy Moon to launch the main attack, right?” Koutarou summarized.

He and the girls would be in charge of striking a decisive blow while Nefilforan distracted Ralgwin and his men. The transport ships would approach and surround the stronghold, then unleash their forces. While the enemy was preoccupied with that, Koutarou and the girls would stealthily disembark from the Hazy Moon right over the heart of the stronghold.

“That’s right,” Theia confirmed. “Nefilforan’s unit will also be surrounding the place to make sure no high-ranking officers with critical intel escape.”

Rather than playing an offensive role in the operation, Nefilforan was shoring up the team’s defenses. She’d been tasked with the difficult mission of holding the line around the stronghold. It was a job only she and her men could do, so Koutarou had obligingly left it to them while spearheading the main strike with the other girls.

“You can bet the soldiers protecting the command room have magic or spiritual energy technology too, so leaving the assault to us makes sense,” Koutarou mused.

Nefilforan’s unit had now trained against combat magic and spiritual energy weapons, but Koutarou and the girls had far more experience with them. The operation thus played to their strengths.

“Lord Veltlion!” Nefilforan suddenly called in over the comms.

Her tense voice reverberated across the Hazy Moon’s bridge. She’d skipped her usual formal greeting, so Koutarou knew immediately that something was wrong.

“What’s the matter, Princess Nefilforan?” he responded.

“Take a look at this footage from one of our cameras!” she cried.

Nefilforan’s transport ships were some distance ahead of the Hazy Moon. They now had a visual on Ralgwin’s stronghold, and she relayed the video feed to the Hazy Moon. Koutarou could hardly believe his eyes.

“It’s on fire?!”

Indeed, red fire and black smoke billowed from the refinery attached to the mine. They spread wide, threatening to consume the whole facility.

Spiritual energy technology was integral to Grevanas’s ultimate goal of reviving Maxfern. He needed to reconstruct his fallen lord’s soul, and doing that with magic alone was an impossible task. Magic was capable of almost anything—but there was a limit to what Grevanas could do by himself. Spiritual energy tech would give him the edge he needed. It connected directly to the soul, which the People of the Earth understood even better than magicians.

Grevanas had accordingly come to Ikoran to broaden his own understanding of spiritual energy technology. He was desperate to learn anything that might help restore Maxfern’s soul, so he’d asked for a tour of Ralgwin’s factory.

“These crystals are made from refining ore from the adjacent mine. Effectively, they’re batteries for storing spiritual energy,” his guide explained to him.

“So they’re a key component for spiritual energy technology,” Grevanas observed.

“Yes. With these, even people without psychic powers can use spiritual energy,” the guide explained. “The People of the Earth also use them as vessels for the artificial souls of automatons.”

“A vessel for artificial souls...? Tell me more about that.”

“Of course, Grevanas-sama. Right this way, please.”

One of Ralgwin’s subordinates was showing Grevanas the factory. He knew Grevanas was undead, but in order to prevent panic in the facility, Grevanas had cast an illusion on himself to appear as he had in life.

If not for my alliance with Ralgwin-dono, this would have been considerably more difficult... I shall thus continue our partnership for the time being.

Grevanas only needed a simple illusion to fool the factory at large. But if anyone other than Ralgwin’s subordinate—who knew his secret—had served as his tour guide, the old wizard would have needed a much more powerful spell to fool someone he’d be in such close contact with for a prolonged period of time. Similarly, Grevanas would have had a much harder time getting his hands on spiritual energy tech without Ralgwin’s help. Grevanas appreciated that. He knew he could always use magic to manipulate Ralgwin directly if he needed to, but that would require much more effort than simply working together.

“These are the automatons that the People of the Earth use. Their exteriors are completely cosmetic, but underground dwellers prefer to model them after traditional objects of worship,” the guide explained.

“It might be the other way around,” Grevanas interjected.

“Huh?”

“Perhaps the souls prefer these forms.”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant. You very well may be right.”

“In the early days of the technology, artificial souls were probably stabilized by external spiritual energy directed to them,” Grevanas speculated.

“I see,” the guide mused. “We’ll take that into account when we try to replicate this technology.”

Grevanas learned more and more as they proceeded through the factory. He already had an advanced understanding of the mind and necromancy, so he was quick to catch on with spiritual energy. His guide was frequently left flabbergasted. Grevanas was also picking up more about industrial technology and manufacturing, although in a more generalized sense. He’d yet to master modern science, after all. He was such an avid learner, however, that it was only a matter of time.

“Don’t these move?” he asked about the automatons.

“These are being dismantled for technical analysis. The operational units are currently being tested for combat over at the base,” the guide explained.

“It’s easy to miss what’s right under your nose, I suppose. When I return to the base, I shall have a look at them.”

“I’ll notify the person in charge.”

Grevanas had been touring the factory for nearly half the day when the computer in the guide’s hand began blaring an alarm. It wasn’t the normal notification sound either. It was the signal for an emergency.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Grevanas demanded.

“Th-The Imperial Army has discovered us!” the guide replied.

The emergency notification was the message that the army was approaching. On the Gray Knight’s advice, Ralgwin had enhanced surveillance, and several transport ships had just been detected. They appeared to be perfectly normal cargo vessels... but they were all veering off their registered routes. And there was nothing wrong at the local spaceport. It was unthinkable that a group of ships had all accidentally taken the same wrong turn at the same time. There was no doubt they were undercover army ships.

“So they’re here already... Prepare to attack,” Grevanas ordered.

“R-Right!”

In addition to surveillance, Ralgwin had also enhanced the facility’s defenses. He’d known there was a chance the enemy might come, and he wanted to be prepared. Since the Blue Knight’s arrival in Forthorthe, he’d doubled the stronghold’s already sizable forces. It was now armed to the teeth. As long as they kept their cool, they could repel an entire regiment... But that wasn’t in the cards, for a sudden explosion shook the entire facility.

“What now?! Are we under attack already?!” Grevanas immediately assumed the enemy was upon them.

But his guide shook his head. “No, it was an accident! Part of the refinery has collapsed!”

The explosion was apparently a factory accident. A section of the line refining ore into crystals had blown up. Reports were coming in one after another of mass casualties.

“An accident?! That would be truly tragic at a time like this. No, we can use this... Have the uninjured retreat. That includes everyone here,” Grevanas commanded. With the enemy closing in on them, he’d made the swift decision to withdraw when he heard the grim reports. If a battle broke out now, the chaos would prevent them from putting up much of a fight.

“But there are still so many people in the collapsing zone!” the guide objected. He’d dutifully followed Grevanas’s orders before now, but he couldn’t this time. He couldn’t just abandon his comrades in danger.

“We can’t rescue anyone right now! To do that, we need to retreat and regroup! If you want to save your comrades, then hurry!” Grevanas argued back.

“Y-Yes, sir!”

In the end, the guide heeded Grevanas. The damage to the factory was so extensive that there was no denying what the old wizard had said. They’d need to regroup to organize any meaningful rescue effort.

As the Hazy Moon approached Ikoran, its cameras relayed a clearer picture of the devastated factory. There had been an explosion deep within the facility that blew away the roof. The interior of the building was now exposed, but no one could see through the fire and smoke billowing out.

“What in the world?!” Koutarou couldn’t hide his surprise as he beheld the flaming factory.

Ralgwin’s forces weren’t fanatical enough to blow up their own stronghold just because the army was upon them. The facility was reproducing technology they’d stolen from the People of the Earth, so it wasn’t like they had anything proprietary to protect by getting rid of the evidence. Critical intel was a different story, but it didn’t make sense to destroy the entire factory just for that. All Koutarou could assume was that there’d been a tragic accident.

“I know what happened!” Clan called in answer. “Based on the temperature of the flames, there was some kind of chemical combustion!”

The tech savvy princess had run all of her observation equipment and concluded that they were dealing with a chemical fire. The conflagration was far hotter than any normal fire, and the billowing black smoke contained complex compounds. A tank storing chemicals had to be burning somewhere.

“Master, it appears the factory is in a panic. The employees are lining up to escape,” Ruth reported.

“This is no time to attack them,” Koutarou lamented. “What do you make of this, Kiriha-san?”

“If I were one of Ralgwin’s soldiers, I would use the panic to escape. However, we’re in no position to chase them down. We should immediately contact the local fire department and help put out the blaze. Chemical fires are messy.”

Even if Ralgwin’s own men hadn’t started the fire, they’d all be desperate to get away from it. And if they fled amid the chaos, Koutarou and the others couldn’t catch them. Instead, Kiriha wanted to focus on rescuing civilians. She understood just how dangerous chemical fires were.

“Sounds like a plan,” Koutarou replied. “Are you cool with that, Theia?”

“I am! It is a royal’s duty to protect their citizens—even if that means having to take the long way around sometimes!”

Koutarou and Theia had no objections to Kiriha’s idea. At the rate the fire was going, doing nothing would only mean more deaths. A knight and princess couldn’t leave innocent people to perish while they chased down Ralgwin’s men. They both took after Alaia in that regard.

“Hold on!” someone called, stopping them both in their tracks.

“What is it, Sanae?” Koutarou asked.

“Something’s strange... There’s lots of this kinda wriggling thing. And it’s on the move!”

Specifically, it was Sanae-chan who’d yelled out. She had a serious look on her face as she stared at not the monitor, but a wall in the direction of the factory. She was looking beyond it with her psychic powers... and she sensed something present there other than the people in danger.

“Is it spiritual energy weapons? Or some other device?” Koutarou pressed her. Since the factory was producing spiritual energy technology, he figured Sanae had detected something like automatons.

But Sanae shook her head. “Neither. I don’t feel the same emotions I do from the haniwas. I don’t feel the raw energy I do from weapons either. It’s just kinda... wobbly and vague.”

Sanae was perplexed. She struggled to describe what she was sensing. It was neither the clear emotions of a living thing nor the concentrated force of spiritual energy weapons. She couldn’t even feel the malice of someone trying to attack. If anything, it was similar to the gray mass that the Gray Knight had summoned—but without all the power and in several places. It had to be something different entirely.

“Sanae-chan,” Sanae-san called. “Let’s show everyone.”

“How?”

“Like this!”

Sanae-san offered a solution by projecting next to Sanae-chan and focusing on her forehead. When she did, their sword crests began glowing purple. Their connection to Signaltin and Saguratin had been activated, and thanks to that, Koutarou and the others could also see what the Sanaes were looking at. Like she’d said, something mysterious was wriggling.

“What the heck?!” Koutarou shouted, instinctively sensing something was wrong.

“Could it be?!” Kiriha went pale. She alone had a terrible hunch about what the presences might be. “Clan-dono, send your probe over there!”

“On it!” Clan didn’t know what she was feeling either, but she took Kiriha’s sense of urgency seriously and immediately launched a probe from the Hazy Moon. Since it was built to function in space, it would last a while even in the chemical blaze.

“Ueeegh, gross! What is that?!” Yurika wailed when she saw the footage from the probe.

Displayed on the monitor was a murky puddle. It was hard to tell what color it was in the inferno, but it was plain for all to see that there were things moving around in it. It looked like various creatures—a dog, a horse, a monkey, a cow, humans. More accurately, the flat puddle was rising up to give shape to such things. It was a disturbing sight to all who beheld it, not just Yurika.

“I knew it...” Kiriha hissed. She rarely let her emotions get the better of her, but palpable anger flashed on her face. She knew what they were looking at. Her terrible hunch had been right. “What were you thinking, Ralgwin?!”

“Kiriha-san, what are those things?” Koutarou asked.

“Byproducts of making spiritual energy capacitors or batteries,” Kiriha replied, slamming her fist into the wall. She was furious. How long had it been since she was this angry? The sight in front of her had her blood boiling. “And they’re using live animals to do it! Maybe even humans!”

“What?!” Koutarou gasped. He suddenly understood why Kiriha was so livid. The lifeless, amorphous blob had been created in the quest for spiritual energy technology.

“Positive spiritual energy is absorbed in the process of refining ore, leaving the negative... This is what you get when you don’t take care of it!” Kiriha explained.

There were two kinds of spiritual energy—the positive spiritual energy of the living, and the negative spiritual energy of the dead. Positive spiritual energy was the simplest to use, so it was more desirable in batteries and capacitors. The ores needed to make such devices stored both types of energies, however, effectively canceling each other out. In order to collect only positive energy, the negative energy had to be filtered out. It was more or less waste material.

In their manufacturing processes, the People of the Earth made sure it was disposed of properly so that it was rendered harmless. In simple terms, it was decomposed by applying pressure with heat and spiritual energy. But Ralgwin’s factory wasn’t doing that. It would have required a large disposal line, the idea of which was abandoned to save money and time. They simply threw the spiritual energy waste in with the other refuse and left it be. That was the source of the problem.

If left alone, spiritual energy batteries naturally gathered energy, albeit slowly. Having a psychic pour energy into the device or leaving it to charge at an altar built upon a confluence of natural energy sped things up considerably. The latter was why the People of the Earth had sought room 106 in the first place, but Ikoran had no such natural confluences. The Sanaes might have been able to find something suitable to use, but with limited resources, Ralgwin had instead relied on living sacrifices to quickly gather spiritual energy. So much death had transpired on the planet now that the Sanaes hardly knew what they were perceiving.

Another byproduct of Ralgwin’s terrible process was an endless supply of corpses—and there was no worse combination than negative spiritual energy and corpses. The negative energy refuse filled the bodies, turning them into undead. In a manner of speaking, the empty containers had overflowed to the point of rupture. The explosion at the factory was the direct result of a violent release of negative spiritual energy.

“You’re telling me they just let negative energy sit around and create monsters?! How could they do that?!” Koutarou shouted. He couldn’t understand why anyone would allow that to happen.

“We People of the Earth have taken pains to ensure the safe disposal of the negative energy in our manufacturing—but not Ralgwin. This is the cost of pursuing only power,” Kiriha explained.

“So he’s happy as long as he gets his weapons?!”

“If he and his men ignore safety, they can arm themselves quickly and cheaply. And they only care about getting the upper hand here. They don’t care at all what happens because of it.”

Ralgwin’s forces had chosen speed over safety. By spending the budget for the disposal facility elsewhere, they were able to get their weapons faster. They’d made a deadly gamble—and they’d lost.

“Kiriha and the People of the Earth developed spiritual energy technology to protect their homeland! They would never spew such deadly pollution! Even the radical faction processed their waste properly! But not these people! Even though they knew they’d be discovered eventually!” Theia shouted. She was angry too. Vandarion’s faction was poisoning the planet and putting people in danger for the sake of their selfish terrorism. She was offended to her core.

“This is ridiculous! Don’t you understand this isn’t how a ruler behaves, Ralgwin?!” Koutarou continued to fume. Now that he fully understood the horror of the situation, he slammed his fist into the wall the same way Kiriha had. Her fury was perfectly justified in his eyes. Ralgwin was desecrating Alaia’s dream for Forthorthe. He was spitting in the very face of what it meant to rule the nation. It left Koutarou trembling with rage.

“Perhaps we should consider ourselves lucky they chose a desolate region...” said Clan. She shared Koutarou’s sentiment, but rather than burning with rage, her fury was cold and inward. Ralgwin’s behavior wasn’t all that different from hers once upon a time. She was angry—both at him and herself. That thought flew from her mind, however, when a sharp pain struck her. “Ow!”

Koutarou had flicked her square in the forehead.

“What are you doing all of a sudden, Veltlion?!” she cried.

“You were just immature. This is different.”

Seeing Clan ruefully bite her lip had calmed Koutarou down to a degree. Being too emotional stymied rationality, and he believed that Alaia’s ideals had been the result of rational consideration. He wanted Clan to conduct herself accordingly.

“But...” she began.

“You can beat yourself up later! I’ll be your shoulder to cry on when this is said and done! But for now, you need to focus on what’s right in front of you and carry yourself like a royal! We need your power!”

“Veltlion...” Clan went wide-eyed. There was so much she regretted, but she couldn’t change the past. Her self-recrimination smoldered within her, but thanks to Koutarou, the light in her eyes changed. She had a little bit of her usual sparkle back. “You’re right! I’ll do what I can, Veltlion!”

“Well said! That’s more like my princess!”

The real problem wasn’t the chemical fire; it was the mass of negative spiritual energy. It was impossible to say what damage it would cause, much less what damage it already had. They needed to deal with it posthaste.