Twenty-Ninth Chapter
Emissary
A little while before the opening of the Seven Nations Friendship Magical Tournament...
The urban area of Balmes, one of the seven nations in humanity’s domain, was as lively as any other nation’s urban area.
There were all kinds of shops that lined the streets, which had been bustling in full swing since morning. Of course there were stores for food and clothing, and some for precious metals, magic-related goods and more. It was said that you could get just about anything at this market center. Having all these shops gathered in one city was something you’d never see in Alpha.
However, the buildings were packed and the narrow streets were crowded. And the unpaved sections of the road stood out.
Balmes had a smaller territory compared to the other nations. Yet the difference in population wasn’t that big. As a result the city was overcrowded, its populace bumping shoulders with each other as they got around. This was the kind of flavor Balmes had.
But once you stepped off the main streets to get away from the congestion, the atmosphere suddenly felt desolate and dreary.
In a corner of that part of the city was a place draped in a dark atmosphere. This was Balmes’ military headquarters, located some distance from the defensive lines.
Incidentally, it was typical for the nations to build their military headquarters in the vicinity of their defensive lines. This was done in order to take the safety of the population into consideration. Unlike the other nations, however, Balmes had a thick iron wall between its headquarters and the defensive lines.
Inside that thick-walled building one could normally hear the voices of military officials. But at present there were only a scattered number of Magicmasters. Balmes had fewer Magicmasters to begin with, but today the building was especially empty.
The Magicmasters that were in the building walked around with their eyes cast down, their expressions dyed with despair. The reason was that they were distressed over Balmes’ current state. Or more accurately—they hadn’t been informed of the situation, but they more or less had an idea. Unfortunately, their speculations were right on the mark.
The guards in charge of the most secure area in the headquarters would always glance at a certain door in the depths of the building when they patrolled. Everyone had a tacit understanding that the people behind that door were hard at work trying to devise a method to resolve the crisis.
A little past noon.
Five days had passed since the rulers conference. Excitement for the upcoming Friendship Magical Tournament was building in the other nations.
That was true in Balmes too, but there wasn’t a trace of it within the military headquarters. Behind that certain door, two men shared grim expressions.
The room was large, but right now it felt stiflingly small. The men were seated on luxurious cushioned leather chairs with glossy finishes. This alone was sufficient to show what high positions they held.
On the table between them was a map of the area beyond their defensive lines. In other words—the Outer World.
It was relatively detailed, but a portion of it was completely blank. Aside from a small section, the map of the world hadn’t been updated for almost 100 years. A dotted line in fresh ink had just been drawn across that null space.
One of the two men was the ruler of the nation, Holtal Qui Balmes. He glared at the map with furrowed brows, violently grabbing a decanter from the side table. Pouring the liquid into a nearby glass, he then drank it down to soothe his parched throat.
He had an average build, and his thinning hair was cut short. His look was the very definition of a middle-aged man. Despite the nonthreatening appearance, at the moment he had a sharp glint in his eyes, which were staring at the man sitting across from him.
“Gagareed, I obtained the approval for recruitment at the conference like you wanted.”
“Thank you very much, Lord Holtal,” the man politely thanked him.
Compared to Holtal, the man called Gagareed looked a little worn out. But as a man of the military, his body was well-trained. The military uniform looked tight on him, and with his short thick hair and alert eyes, he was the very picture of a martial artist.
Gagareed was the supreme commander of the military, Balmes’ Governor-General. Normally, he would have had to rush to Holtal’s side as soon as the conference was concluded, but in this crisis he couldn’t afford to leave headquarters. Because of that, Holtal had ended up coming to him instead.
However, Holtal took no offense at this. That was just the kind of situation they were in. Considering what Balmes was facing, his having to travel to the headquarters was neither disrespectful nor much work.
Holtal’s mind was full of concerns. “More importantly, what happened with the reconnaissance unit? I suppose it was no use?” he asked with a bitter expression. He already had a hunch about the result, but he couldn’t help but ask.
After a short pause, Gagareed cast his eyes down and shook his head. “We don’t know. The situation is unknown.”
“What is the meaning of this?!” Holtal slammed the table, grinding his teeth. The glass looked like it might fall off the table from the shock, but he didn’t care about that. The ruler stared directly at Gagareed.
Who painfully opened his mouth to speak. “... We lost contact with the reconnaissance unit. Not a single one has returned.”
“Wha—!!”
Holtal’s glaring eyes shot wide open. A moment later, he leaned back in his chair, thinking back over the recent past.
It all began two months ago. They had received a report from a reconnaissance unit about the discovery of a certain mineral deposit twenty kilometers northeast of Balmes. When the unit returned, they had come bearing an unfamiliar metal with them.
It hadn’t taken long after comparing it with old records to realize that what they had found was mithril.
They didn’t know how deep the deposit went, but mithril was extremely valuable. This discovery would have a massive impact on Balmes. However, high-classed Fiends were also reported to be in the area along with the discovery.
When they heard this, Holtal and Gagareed immediately decided to send out an extermination force to eliminate the Fiends. Taking the danger of unknown Fiends into account, they gathered a large number of high-ranking Magicmasters to form their force.
That included their only Single, Duncal, as well as the former Single and current ranked No. 20, Gileada, making it clear just how motivated they were about this undertaking.
The reason they included over 400 Magicmasters was to clean up all the Fiends along the way and in the area around the deposit. If there were high-classed Fiends as was reported, they would be a trifling matter for that number of Magicmasters.
Yet as for the results...
“Gagareed... When was the last we heard from the extermination force?”
“Fourteen days ago.”
“What are the chances of even one of them coming back alive?”
“... A few percent at best.” Gagareed hadn’t said zero because of his own pride and sentiment. They were almost certainly wiped out, but he didn’t want to put that into words.
“... Realistically speaking, what is the total damage?”
“The Magicmasters we’ve sent out are seventy percent of Balmes’ total forces.”
“...” Holtal stared down at the table, and pinched and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He brushed away his frustrations and regrets to regain his calm, trying to focus on how to come back from this situation. It was kind of like psychological first aid.
Eventually he spoke with resignation mixed in with his tone. “I suppose we’ll have to request aid from the other nations.”
“But if we do that, Balmes would be indebted to all the nations, Lord Holtal... We might even become the puppet of another nation.”
“Yet at this rate, Balmes will be in danger! Several hundred Magicmasters... No, I can’t say it’s all of them, but I have no choice but to assume the extermination force has been critically damaged. And if there are Fiends dangerous enough to do that, Balmes might not be the only nation in danger.”
“I believe we don’t have to worry about that right now,” Gagareed said. “The battle took place in the area of the deposit. That is also where we lost contact with our rapid-moving reconnaissance unit. In other words, it’s safe to assume that the Fiends haven’t moved after the battle.”
“Even then, they will move at some point. And if we’re not in a position to deal with them then...”
“I can agree with that. But I believe it’s possible to gather more Magicmasters with enough time, so we should prioritize getting an accurate understanding of the situation and restore our national power.”
“We don’t have the time to take it that slowly,” Holtal said.
“According to the last report we received before losing contact, the strongest Fiends there were six A-class Fiends. While we can’t be overly optimistic, with Duncal there they should have had a 100 percent chance of winning. So we can’t write off that there was some kind of natural disaster or mistake...” Gagareed had all but accepted the fate of the extermination force, but once more tried to escape from reality by grasping at straws.
Finally, Holtal stopped trying to hide his irritation as he literally spat out, “Then why has nobody come back?! Why are there no reports?!”
“Perhaps they are unable to move, or...”
“How horrible!”
Gagareed finally resigned himself. He didn’t want to believe it, but it was highly likely. They would have to deal with it somehow. “Regardless of what happened, we might need to consider making a request to Kurama...”
“Gagareed!!” Holtal screamed out in a reprimanding tone at Gagareed, who’d spoken the taboo name.
“Considering the remaining Magicmasters, it is a reasonable decision. Indeed, we don’t have the leeway to keep up appearances. They are a force to be reckoned with, and they at least move with money. Even if we expose this disgrace to the other nations and have them protect us, there might only be six nations left after this.”
“But if it ever comes out that the ruler of a nation relied on a group of felons... I can’t afford that!”
There were groups of criminals and outcasts that lurked in the darkness, and the one regarded as the most dangerous was Kurama.
The known members ranged from criminals who committed large-scale magic, also known as first-class criminals, to former Single Digit Magicmasters who had had their licenses revoked, making them a very troublesome bunch. Among the many criminal organizations, they had an especially large number of members that could handle magic well.
The group was on the international black list, but the six executives leading the organization were all said to be on a par with Singles. Because of this, no nation could deal with them carelessly.
Not only that, but Kurama had its own powerful information network, concealing its true form, and no one in the nations even knew the location of their headquarters.
Another headache was how Kurama’s organization functioned. They were definitely a criminal organization, but they also accepted the dirty work from nations in exchange for a high reward. They had connections with high-ranking people in all the nations and especially deep ones in the weaker nations such as Balmes and Hydrange. So while they were publicly denounced, they frequently operated behind the world’s political scenes.
Those kinds of complex circumstances enabled Kurama to hide their headquarters, and were the reason they still existed even today.
Holtal was the ruler of a nation. While he wouldn’t call himself broadminded to the point where he would associate with anyone, he had a grasp of the situation behind the scenes.
However—he found relying on Kurama to be unacceptable. It was far more risky than requesting aid from the other nations, and it was also a choice that could expose this disgraceful situation. If it only brought disgrace to Holtal personally that was one thing, but it might even linger as a dark stain on Balmes’ history.
Worst of all, there was no way to know what a criminal organization might do. They might not just settle for an exorbitant reward, but might feast on Balmes as well. Even though it was a deal that would be made with money in mind, a criminal organization simply couldn’t be trusted.
Yet Gagareed continued on, despite picking up on Holtal’s concerns. “Please make your decision. You can’t make an omelette without breaking a few eggs, as they say.”
“Gagareed, you—!”
“What is the point of keeping up appearances? A percentage of the nobility already has connections with Kurama. They of course do so with Balmes in mind. I don’t know if you were aware of this, but the top brass has requested help from people believed to be part of Kurama before,” Gagareed said. He was in fact calmly starting to accept the situation. As he had a deeper knowledge of magic and combating Fiends, he had an understanding of just how grave the situation really was. He’d spoken up with that in mind.
Holtal stared at the Governor-General in anger, but the realization that this might be their last resort sank in. Even so, his reasoning kept him from crossing the line.
He normally carried a handkerchief to wipe away his sweat, but right now an uncomfortable trickle of cold sweat ran down his back. “I will pretend I didn’t hear that. At any rate, we should prioritize confirming our current status.”
“Understood. However, Lord Holtal, my mind won’t change. I won’t stand for Balmes becoming a puppet or vassal of another nation. And I am not the only one who feels that way.”
“I don’t wish for that either. That’s why we must confirm where we stand now, we can’t dismiss the possibility of survivors, after all.”
“Yes, that’s true. It is still too early to give up.”
The two men tried to encourage one another, but in this needlessly luxurious and large room, it sounded somewhat hollow.
As the conversation came to a pause, the communications device in the corner of the room rang out.
Gagareed showed an irritated expression as he picked up the card-like receiver, after getting Holtal’s approval. “I told you that I am in a meeting.”
“Excuse me. There is an urgent matter I must report! A survivor from the extermination force has returned. He is currently being treated in the intensive care unit.”
“—What?! I’ll be right there!” Gagareed hurled the receiver away and told Holtal that a survivor had returned.
“I will accompany you.”
“Of course. Let us go right away.”
Holtal shot up from his chair, and together they flung the door open.
“Eeekk!!”
Just as Gagareed burst out from the door, a woman who happened to be standing there bumped into him and fell over backwards. “I-I brought some more to drink...”
Considering her feeble voice, she appeared to be a food service worker, and was wearing a familiar uniform. In her hand was a tray with a decanter on top. The liquid inside was swishing around.
“Get out of the way!” Gagareed roared.
“Excuse me!!” The woman quickly straightened her posture and repeatedly bowed.
Gagareed glanced at her and immediately took off running, not having the time to deal with her further. Holtal followed suit behind him. But as he led the way, Gagareed felt something pulling at him. That said, it was only a slight sensation that something was off, and he continued on towards the ICU instead of turning around for even a moment.
However... if he hadn’t been in such a rush, he would have surely noticed... that despite her having fallen on her bottom, the decanter remained on top of the tray. It had simply slid ever so slightly, making a small clinking sound.
The people in the hallway saw the Governor-General and the ruler running, and made way. Knowing how strict Gagareed normally was with regulations, it was clear that something serious had happened.
Upon entering the ICU, Gagareed looked down at the bed. A single man lay covered in wounds, groaning, as three Magicmasters cast healing magic on him.
While it was called healing magic, all they could really do was enhance the body’s natural regeneration. Healing fatal injuries was difficult, but with three of them, their spells were having some effect.
The survivor had several deep cuts made by something blade-like around one of his eyes. He must have been barefoot as the soles of his feet were scratched up, having gone from a bloody red to pitch black with mud.
And instead of an arm attached to his left shoulder, he had countless bandages wrapped around it.
Gagareed turned his gaze onto one of the Magicmasters. Noticing his stare, a drop of sweat ran down the Magicmaster’s forehead as he shook his head.
“Make him last.” After saying this, Gagareed bent down and asked the survivor in a strong tone, “What happened? Where is the rest of the force?”
“... Dead.”
“What?!”
The man’s voice was terribly weak, like it could fade out at any moment.
Gagareed put his hand on the bed to lean in closer.
The man mustered up the last of his strength, opened his remaining eye and grabbed hold of Gagareed’s clothing. “Wiped out by a single A... I’m sorry, Lady Gileada... let me escape.”
Gagareed bit down on his lip and muttered bitterly, “I see, well done. Leave the rest to us and focus on recovering.”
However, the man didn’t let go. His eye was wet with tears of anguish, but he kept his gaze firmly on Gagareed. “A message... from Lady... Gileada...”
“!!” Gagareed brought his ear closer to the man to not let even a word slip by.
“New species... Devourer.”
“—!!”
In the end, the only ones who learned of his final words were Gagareed and Holtal who heard the truth from him.
***
While Gagareed rushed to the ICU...
The woman he had bumped into outside the meeting room watched as the two men ran off. When they disappeared around the corner, she immediately looked away. At the same time she swept the hem of her uniform clean.
She put her hand on the back of her head to make sure her pinned-up hair hadn’t come loose. And then she took off walking, her long side tails swaying as if nothing had happened. There was no trace of the unrest she’d shown just moments before.
Tray in hand, once she’d confirmed that nobody was around, she focused on her right ear hidden beneath her hair. “As expected of Lord Vizaist, rushing here was worth it.”
“It’s all thanks to your abilities, Lady Rinne.” The voice from the receiver in her ear let her know that her efforts had borne fruit. “The power of science can be pretty useful, too.”
“Yes. It can’t be underestimated.” The worker was in fact Rinne Kimmel, who had secretly infiltrated Balmes. When she bumped into Gagareed, she’d planted a listening device on him. Of course, she’d taken measures so that it wouldn’t be detected. “As we suspected, Gagareed’s room had countermeasures in place against eavesdropping.”
With Rinne’s special eye she could peer into the room, but couldn’t hear their discussion. Because of that, they’d used a simple device to listen in on Gagareed’s surroundings in the ICU.
While Vizaist wouldn’t have a hard time planting a bug on someone, his rugged appearance from countless experiences in the field prevented him from effectively infiltrating in secret. For these kinds of things, a service worker was a safe choice for infiltration, and a woman would have an easier time moving around, making Rinne the ideal choice for the job.
“We gathered the information we came for, so let’s meet up,” Rinne suggested.
“Then let’s meet at the inn as planned.”
With that, the communication came to an end.
Rinne elegantly walked down the hallway as a plain worker, disappearing from the headquarters as it got busy.
That night, all of Alpha’s operation participants were gathered in a room at an old inn in the suburban outskirts.
The building was—unusually enough—made of wood, with an old-fashioned look of wooden grain on the pillars and walls. The hallway floors creaked when anyone walked on them.
Vizaist and five of his subordinates, as well as Rinne, were gathered in this cheap inn, for a total of seven people having a secret meeting.
“This is a very shady situation,” Vizaist said. Based on Gagareed’s words in the ICU, Vizaist was more or less convinced that his estimation from before was correct. Unfortunately the listening device wasn’t very complex, and the returnee’s voice was so low they couldn’t hear his last words, but they’d heard a term they couldn’t ignore. They understood the severity of the situation.
Vizaist wore a solemn expression as he rubbed his chin. He focused on the room, thinking that he should hear his subordinates’ reports first.
“We’re doing well, too. There is no doubt that Balmes put together a rather large-scale extermination force. But all kinds of speculations are being thrown around as to what happened to them, making it very complicated to find out the truth,” said one member of the group.
Another spoke up. “I investigated in the suburbs and almost... or rather, practically no information at all has made it onto the streets.”
“So information is being locked up within the military headquarters. They’re covering it up from the public.” Vizaist was absorbed in thought as he put the details together. “As expected, we won’t be able to get a clear grasp of the situation like this. It’s almost certain that the outcome was bad.”
“What should we do, Lord Vizaist? Should we go confirm it for ourselves in the Outer World?” Rinne suggested.
With so few in numbers one might call it reckless, but perhaps not so much with Vizaist and his elites. Rinne was rather confident in her own abilities, and in a way, it was the quickest solution. She wasn’t overestimating her own special eye, but she was sure they’d be able to manage.
“No, let’s not. It isn’t that I doubt your capabilities, Lady Rinne, but the risk is too high with these numbers and the lack of equipment.”
“Understood.”
“That aside, I hear the deadline is until the Friendship Magical Tournament, but are you sure about that?”
Rinne replied, “Yes. I hope to bring back some confirmed information by then.”
“That will be difficult.” Vizaist looked at one of his subordinates.
“Yes. It’s just as you expected, Captain. Security at the borders has increased, but it appears they’re not Magicmasters.”
“... Which means that they’re locking down the information so it doesn’t leave their borders. If possible, I would like for everyone to leave at the same time.” Vizaist had pulled some strings with a noble he knew to get them inside the nation, but that had only gotten them so far. Additionally, their method of entry had included illegally borrowing licenses from Balmes. It was also thanks to that that Rinne was able to infiltrate the headquarters.
He continued, “Then let us set our goal to gather as much detailed information as possible before the deadline. The highest priority goes to finding out how many Fiends there are, as well as how many of those A-class Fiends are still alive. It appears there’s a good chance that Gileada has been killed in the line of duty. The whereabouts of her remains are unknown... and don’t forget to gather information on Duncal, the ranked No. 9. Lady Rinne, please continue your infiltration of the headquarters. In the meantime, we will find a way out of Balmes.”
“Understood,” Rinne said.
Vizaist then spoke to her about a point of concern. “And Lady Rinne—contact me immediately if there are any actual moves to enlist Kurama to deal with the situation. If that happens, we withdraw at once.”
“I don’t know the specifics about Kurama, but are they really that bad?”
“Frankly put, they’re insane. They are erratic, dangerous existences. The small acts are one thing, but when they move on a national level, something will absolutely go wrong. They’re at the top of Alpha’s black list. There is no proof, but it’s possible that they’re behind many of the large-scale magic-related crimes. And their members are all first-class criminals, a truly troublesome lot. If they rely on them, Balmes might not be enough to pay the bill.”
“I will keep that in mind.”
“Whenever there is terrorism or huge magic crimes, Kurama’s involvement is always suspected. Just keep your eyes open.”
Vizaist went on to order one of his subordinates to secure an escape route. With that, he could finally breathe for a moment, and he thought to himself, I suppose we should pray that those at the head of Balmes’ government won’t be foolish.
He suddenly recalled something and added to his orders. “I also want to gather information on that deposit.”
“Captain, do you mean its location?”
“No, we know that there’s mithril at that spot, thanks to Lady Rinne. I want information on its size and internal structure. I don’t know if it’s a natural deposit or remains from the past civilization, but supposedly it’s a cave formation.”
Rinne quickly spoke up. “In other words, there might be Fiends lurking within the deposit. They would be undetected as it’s underground.”
“That’s right.” Vizaist had some thoughts as to why Balmes was keeping the deposit’s existence hidden. “It seems this deposit is the focal point of this incident, but there’s something that bothers me.”
“By which you mean...?” Even without Rinne’s question, everyone was already looking at Vizaist.
“Six A-class Fiends gathering in the same place is rare. Not to mention it’s a mere twenty kilometers out from Balmes’ defensive lines.”
Like Vizaist said, A-class Fiends rarely moved together. It wasn’t unheard of, but with six of them it was near abnormal. Examples did exist in history, but in those cases, there was an S-class above them that kept them in line.
That’s why—though he didn’t want to believe it—Vizaist suspected that there might be an S-class or higher Fiend among them. However, it might just be needless worry...
A few days later, they secured information that it was in fact a new species of A-class... though a feeling that something was still off was mixed in with Vizaist’s relief.
A high-ranking Magicmaster from Balmes had been the one to rate the new species, so there shouldn’t be any mistakes, but it was hard to believe that a mere A-class Fiend would be able to wipe out a force with Gileada and Duncal in it.
How would he judge this situation? Vizaist thought to himself, as he imagined Alus’ surly face.
He also thought of his beloved daughter. I can only hope that Feli makes the best of this chance...
While his daughter was brilliant, she was straightforward and clumsy when it came to matters of love. Vizaist wore a wry smile as he rubbed his chin.
He approached the window, looking out with a distant stare. That stare was directed at the neighboring nation of Iblis.
Soon, the Friendship Magical Tournament that excited all in the human domain would begin there.
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