Chapter 10
THE HOUR WAS LATE, but Mira’s group didn’t plan to wait until morning to report their findings. The principal members of Écarlate Carillon gathered in Cyril’s room to meet with the returned Mira and Aaron.
“Looks like everyone’s here,” Aaron announced. “Perfect. I’d like to introduce you all to someone before we start.” He turned and looked toward the person who’d come into the room just behind him. It was Uzume, clad in her shrine maiden’s outfit with a knee-length skirt and a cat-patterned chihaya overcoat.
“It is a pleasure to meet you, Écarlate Carillon. I am Uzume, a…founder, of sorts, of the Isuzu Alliance.” Uzume calmly introduced herself under everyone’s curious gazes. She then slowly bowed. “I would like to thank you all for your help in this matter.”
Emella and the gang gaped in amazement. The chief of Isuzu had suddenly come to their meeting—their surprise was to be expected.
“My name is Cyril, and I’m the leader of this guild. It’s an honor to meet you,” Cyril replied stoically. “And you’ve no need to thank us; the issue of Chimera Clausen concerns all of mankind, so it falls to us to do what’s right.”
Emella and the others managed to pull themselves together and nodded alongside him in agreement.
Once the leaders of both sides had completed their introductions, everyone else took turns doing the same. With that out of the way, the meeting finally began.
***
“I suppose I’ll kick things off then.” Mira was the first to speak. She shared everything that had happened since she’d first left for Roslein to investigate the War-Torn Burial Ground: the events at the burial ground and the Melville Commerce warehouse facility, the black mist ore and the alchemist who worked with it, and the abduction and rescue of Johan’s family members. She then summarized what had happened after her return to Sentopoli, the battle she’d witnessed in the mountains, and the truth about Isaac and the government of Sentopoli. Thus, she concluded her report.
Emella and Asval spoke up first.
“Wow… This can’t be real!”
“Hey, you’re kidding, right?”
It was pretty unbelievable—how could the entire country they were in be created by Chimera Clausen? The others couldn’t hide their shock either, but they were more easily convinced; perhaps they’d already had an inkling that something suspicious was going on here.
“I see… I had a feeling a lot of these government workers had dirty hands. That explains it.” Zef chuckled in exasperation. He had been tasked with searching the dark underbelly of Sentopoli, so he’d witnessed many government officials taking bribes, embezzling, and the like. About half of them were bureaucrats like Isaac.
“The heavy presence of spirits here made me think they favored this land. But knowing the truth now…” Flicker murmured sadly. Spirits would occasionally bless lands where humans resided. This blessing imbued the land with the spirit’s power and provided many benefits, such as bountiful harvests. The Three Great Kingdoms were all blessed lands, so Flicker was quite familiar with the feeling of the air in Sentopoli.
It was normal for mages to see spirits, but how well they could see spirits’ power depended on each mage’s abilities. Flicker had yet another skill: she had a sixth sense that allowed her to feel the presence of spirits to a limited extent. Because of this, she realized that the spirits’ presence here had a different quality than those in the Three Great Kingdoms. This new information had confirmed her suspicions. Sentopoli was the opposite of the kingdoms. Its land wasn’t blessed; Chimera Clausen had merely imprisoned the spirits here.
Flicker clenched her fist, a complicated expression on her face. She was filled with a mix of understanding and betrayal.
Cyril chimed in, “The fact that there are so many Melville Commerce facilities near the government buildings did seem odd to me… Well, I’m convinced.” He had focused his search on the nation’s government buildings and their surroundings. Now that he knew how Sentopoli, Chimera Clausen, and Melville Commerce were all connected, things clicked into place.
Ostensibly for the sake of crime prevention, people weren’t allowed too near Sentopoli’s national government buildings. They couldn’t build near them either without a special permit. The background checks to get said permission were very strict…but an awful lot of these permits were given to Melville. Now that Cyril has heard Mira’s story, the reason for this was obvious.
Mira’s information lined up perfectly with the results of their own investigation. When they put it all together, they suddenly had a much more vivid picture of their enemy’s true identity.
Uzume was next to speak. “First, know that no one can keep secrets from me.” She began by divulging the capabilities of her magic, especially the spell that allowed her to hypnotize people and force them to answer questions truthfully. With that out of the way, she shared the rest of the information she’d obtained from the two captives.
Since all of Sentopoli’s public government officials were only figureheads, the gang couldn’t expect any force applied against them to get results. As for the elites behind them, they almost never left HQ; to expose the puppet masters, Isuzu would have to go in themselves.
She explained that there were several entrances that led to Chimera HQ, but that they were so well-hidden that finding them without the guidance of someone who already knew their locations was next to impossible. Worse yet, even if they were to find one, there was a chance that their path might be sealed along the way if Chimera caught on.
“We’ve come this far, so part of me wants to take it slow, but…” Uzume murmured and glanced at Mira.
Mira nodded and picked up the explanation from there. “Regarding the Skyfolk man I mentioned before—he told me he plans to attack a base that manages several functions of the Chimera headquarters. If he succeeds, I’m told it will nullify their most powerful defense mechanisms. However, he is a bit…difficult to work with. Our enemy may be the same, but our goals are different. If we want to act together, it’ll be up to us to follow his lead. As such, we’ll have to find one of these entrances in the next eight days.” She grinned wryly and added, “Apparently, he’s going there to confront someone he hates. It didn’t seem like he was willing to negotiate.”
“Eight days…” Cyril murmured.
They hadn’t managed to get any leads on Chimera’s HQ in ten years, and now they were expected to find it in eight days. Otherwise, whether the Skyfolk man succeeded or failed, after his attack, the enemy would soon redouble their security. Depending on the circumstances, they might go into total lockdown and make any chance of infiltration impossible. This deadline was firm.
But despite the difficulty of the situation, Cyril thought to himself for only a moment before announcing, “We can manage it.”
Everyone looked at him in puzzlement. That’s when Cyril revealed that he’d already thought of a few locations for entrances based on the information shared so far…
***
When Mira and Uzume finished their reports, Aaron went over his analysis of the minimum expected abilities and anything else of note regarding the stalwart dolls that guarded the Chimera headquarters. Normal stalwart dolls were often used for security; they weren’t exactly made to fight fair like a human opponent. As a result, when they showed up in duels and the like, even skilled fighters could end up getting trounced by them.
The dolls might be hidden in other vital places with entrances outside of HQ, so Aaron had decided to inform everyone at once, lest they be taken by surprise.
“Eugh… Soldiers that don’t feel pain, huh? I don’t wanna deal with those.” Zef usually aimed for monsters’ vitals when fighting, so it would be especially difficult for him to fight an enemy with no weaknesses. He looked fed up already.
***
From there, the other members of Écarlate Carillon gave their reports, and the group discussed next steps.
Aaron decided to team up with Cyril’s guild to perform an exhaustive search for any places that might lead to Chimera’s secret tunnel. Mira would leave Sentopoli to them and return her focus to Johan’s rescue. Finally, Uzume would return to the Isuzu Alliance base and devise a plan based on the documents Mira had received. She would need to come up with countermeasures against black mist ore to protect everyone present.
“I hate to be the one to ask, but will you be able to make it in time?” Mira asked. “I’ve only skimmed the documents, but they seem chock full of specialized jargon and the like.”
Black mist ore was a new material that had only recently appeared in the world. Isuzu might have Johan’s research on it, but that research would have to be deciphered and analyzed. Could they advance their understanding far enough to neutralize black mist ore in just eight days?
But Uzume smirked confidently and puffed out her chest. “I wouldn’t worry about that. We’ve got plenty of top-tier specialists from all kinds of fields. I’d bet on a day to analyze it and, hmm, maybe two days more to make gear for everyone here?”
It said a lot that Uzume believed her people could analyze the documents in a day, let alone fabricate gear based on the findings.
“Oho. Incredible,” Mira said admiringly. “Uzume” certainly had a wealth of connections.
Apparently happy to be praised by someone she’d once fought alongside, Uzume’s smile grew even broader. “Isn’t it?! If you can believe it, the Albatinus, one and only founder and user of the Magnus style of alchemy, is staying at our base!” Her boast was intended to impress Mira, but someone else was even more impressed.
“Magnus style? Albatinus? You mean the Albatinus, for real?!”
It was Flicker. She pressed Uzume, astounded by this information. It was rare for her to be so enthusiastic toward anyone but Mira. But Albatinus, founder of the Magnus style of alchemy, was so famous that anybody who even dabbled in alchemy knew his name. Furthermore, as a vampire, he was a living legend. He had to be over a thousand years old by now.
To be able to recruit someone like him, so experienced that he’d become obstinate in his ways, was quite the big deal.
“Yep. I found him retired to a hermitage, so I asked him to join us. He accepted pretty easily,” Uzume said quite casually. “I ask him to make stuff for me sometimes. Here’s one.” She pulled a pendant from within her clothes. It shone all colors—even black—based on the angle of the viewer. It was made of the extremely magical substance ethernanolite—a material that Albatinus was especially known for working with.
“Ooh, now that’s rare!” Mira leaned over and took a long look at the pendant, clearly a little envious. She didn’t know much of anything about alchemy, but she did know how rare this material was. It was especially conducive to Mira’s refining techniques.
“Cool, right?” Uzume showed off the pendant some more. Mira stuck her lip out and pouted in frustration as it swayed enticingly before her.
At the same time, Flicker returned to her usual antics and gazed greedily at Mira. Naturally, Emella struggled to hold her back.
The others watched in exasperation. It seemed Mira and Uzume were the only ones that didn’t understand just how incredible that pendant, which could easily go for a billion ducats, really was.
Cyril was impressed by the size and power of Isuzu—this organization allowed Uzume to acquire such an item with ease. At the same time, he saw hope: Isuzu had its priorities, assets, and personnel straight. If anyone could take down Chimera, it was them.
“So, we know that fabricating the materials won’t be an issue. The question is what we should work them into. Hmm, an axe for Aaron…and a staff for Mira is fine, I assume? Would everyone else mind telling me their preferred weapons?” Uzume asked. She had produced a notepad out of nowhere.
It seemed she would procure gear to suit each person. Some of the guild members still worried about whether they could really learn to use this unknown material in only a few days. But Uzume seemed certain of it, so she must really have had some incredible people at the base. Aaron agreed without complaint, and Mira replied with a, “Sure,” and a shrug. The others answered like so: a sword for Emella, a hammer for Asval, a dagger for Zef, a short staff for Flicker, and a long sword for Cyril.
“Okay, noted. I’ll have them make one of each.” After taking down each of their preferences, Uzume asked them for their heights and then closed her notebook. “Well, I’d better run. If anything comes up, just tell Tweetsuke,” she declared. Her business here was done. She was suddenly enveloped in light.
Out of nowhere, she’d turned into Tweetsuke…or perhaps it would be more accurate to say she’d switched places with it again.
“Wha—?! Uzume’s a bird now?!” Emella cried in surprise. It certainly looked that way to anyone who didn’t know better.
Mira decided to explain in the lazy Uzume’s place that she’d used magic to switch places with her shikigami. She was probably back home at the Isuzu Alliance base by now. As soon as Mira shut her mouth, the shikigami spoke in Uzume’s voice. “Thanks for explaining for me! There you have it; I’ll probably pop over again sometime soon. Until then, I’m leaving Tweetsuke with Mira. If you need anything, go through her first!”
Emella and the others were startled by the bird talking in Uzume’s voice, but perhaps because they’d just witnessed teleportation magic, this trick was a little easier to swallow. Mira simply frowned. She’d been stuck with Tweetsuke without any say in the matter.
“Anyway, laters!” Before the group’s collective surprise could settle, Uzume spoke up again, carefree, and her bird began to glow. This time, the shikigami shrunk until it was small enough to fit in the palm of a hand. It was now an orb-shaped version of Tweetsuke.
“Ooh, it’s all small now!”
The now tiny shikigami flapped as hard as it could and landed on Mira’s head.
“Aww, it’s cute!” Flicker cried. The rest of the group agreed that Tweetsuke’s new form was extremely adorable—but that wasn’t what Flicker had meant at all. She simply believed that the bird had enhanced Mira’s cuteness even more.
Cute girls and small animals were truly a perfect combination.
***
After this, the group proceeded to hammer out the nitty gritty details. Cyril listed off his ideas of where Chimera Clausen headquarters entrances might be, and the group discussed how they could investigate and confirm his suspicions.
Mira took this opportunity to tell them about the mana sensors at Melville Commerce’s compound, warning them that there might be more installed around the hidden entrances. She also added that there might be a silver lining to them—they might serve to distinguish important facilities from less important ones.
By the time night had overtaken the sky, the group had completely hashed out who would search where. They dispersed.
When everyone stood up to leave, Mira let out a big yawn and muttered, “Think I’ll take a nice bath and go to bed.” Flicker naturally champed at the bit, and Emella was dragged along for three-girl bath time.
As the rambunctious trio headed off to the baths, the men decided to follow suit and enjoyed a friendly bath among themselves.
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