Chapter 4
SCORPION CROSSED her arms and cocked her head. “This might be a dumb question, but why didn’t they keep Johan under stricter surveillance to begin with? Then they wouldn’t need all those watchers around the mansion. Wouldn’t that have been easier?”
“A fair question,” Mira agreed. “Perhaps something prevented them from keeping watchers closer.”
Scorpion was right; Chimera’s surveillance of Johan seemed inefficient. If they were willing to abduct his family, then it would be easier to lock the man himself up than to put a collar on him. Yet they had let Johan stay in a mansion on the outskirts of town, with a few hired guards standing outside. What reason would they have for that?
Mira suspected it had something to do with the black mist ore. She turned casually to Millene. The young woman—who was sipping a cup of hot cocoa—jolted up straight.
“Millene, are there any necessary precautions involved in working black mist ore?” Mira asked. “If so, it would help if we knew what they were.”
“Precautions? Uhh…sure.” Millene hesitated, but in the end she agreed to share this secret information for the sake of saving her teacher. What she said next made it very clear why Johan had remained in a surveilled mansion instead of being held prisoner elsewhere. According to her, black mist ore had to be kept away from any spirit-related items before being worked…otherwise, it would destroy the spirit items. Furthermore, there were five steps in the process. Each step increased the ore’s area of effect.
“It starts off with a two-meter radius, but in the end, it can extend an entire kilometer in all directions. I can only do the first step, though, so I don’t know the full details…” Millene explained as she gulped down the remainder of her hot cocoa all at once. She exhaled deeply, as if releasing a lot of tension.
“Thought as much. Quite the troublesome material, indeed.” Mira hypothesized that performing alchemy upon black mist ore meant somehow catalyzing the curse stored within. Anything within range that used the power of spirits would be neutralized.
Chimera Clausen had kidnapped many spirits to use their strength, which presumably meant that their HQ was bursting with the power of spirits. Doing this kind of work on the black mist ore there would be disastrous. As such, instead of confining him in a place where it would be easier to monitor him, they used his wife and daughter as hostages.
“You said you can only perform the first step of the process. Would you be willing to show us?” Mira produced the black mist ore she’d taken as evidence from the War-Torn Burial Ground and placed it in front of Millene.
“Okay… Umm, if you say so…” Millene agreed hesitantly. She brought a bag from the corner of the room that contained her belongings, which Mira and Scorpion had recovered when they took her away. She took some tools from the bag and began setting up what looked like a chemistry experiment. The tools here were all treasures that Johan himself had gifted her, so she kept them close at hand. Once everything was ready, she retrieved a white bag from her luggage.
“You don’t have any spirit gear on you, do you?” Millene asked. Once the three confirmed that they had none, she said, “Okay, good,” and returned the bag to the corner with her luggage.
Now that Millene was back in her seat, Mira asked, “What was that bag you had?” She gazed at the white bag in curiosity.
“That bag is made of a special material that protects spirit equipment from the process,” Millene explained.
“Oho! I had no idea such a thing existed!” Mira piped up, impressed, and looked to the table full of equipment with interest.
“Like I said before, I only know the first step. I can only show you how it looks to turn the ore into liquid. Are you sure that’s fine?”
“Yes, that will do.” Mira nodded.
Although Millene was still learning, she had the bearing of a professional. She looked calmer and more serious than ever as she sat before her tools. Millene began processing. She shattered the ore, breaking one half down into fragments and pummeling the rest into powder. She then dissolved and boiled the powder in water. Black bubbles frothed, and she tossed the fragments in. Then, she mixed the solution until the fragments were gone.
This was all Millene could do—the first step in the process. Four steps remained, and it had to be left like this for a full day before one could proceed to the second.
“It’s like gross, creepy soup.” Scorpion furrowed her brow as she gazed at the viscous, black fluid on the table. Snake frowned as well.
As far as Mira and the others could see, the process itself was quite simple. But along the way, Mira noticed that black ripples were spreading from the container into the air—just a little, not even far enough to reach the edges of the room. Still, she could tell instantly that this was the spirit-devouring curse.
“One thing comes to mind. That bag is made of a special material, isn’t it? Could you not perform this process anywhere if you covered the area in this material?” Mira gestured with her eyes toward the luggage in the corner.
“I think you could do it anywhere, yeah. The base materials to make the bags are expensive, but people as evil as Chimera would spare no expense to do more harm.” Millene stood up, then went over to her luggage and picked up some small white shards and a coat. “But I don’t think they know about the material. Johan made this himself, and he’d never tell people like them about it.”
She certainly had quite a lot of faith in her master.
Millene returned and dropped the white fragments into the black goop. The dark black of the liquid lightened, dyed by the white stuff until it was a light gray. Mira confirmed that the accursed ripples had ceased.
“What was that? What’d you just put in there?” Scorpion demanded as she strained her eyes to look into the container. The black liquid had now turned pure white; of course she was surprised.
“Um, those were fragments of white spirit ore. They suppress black mist ore, and that’s what the bag is made of,” Millene said just as she stopped mixing.
The liquid began to harden and soon turned as solid as a rock. The trainee alchemist picked it up with a smile and said, “Now you can just throw it out with the rest of the trash. By the way, this coat is spirit gear, but it’s been soaked in liquid white spirit ore, so the black ore doesn’t affect it.” Millene proudly showed off her gift from Johan.
“Wow, it can even do that? Cool!” Scorpion said.
“Yep. This is super important.”
If Millene’s claims were to be believed, then this ore could be the perfect defense against Chimera Clausen’s abominable weapons. As allies and protectors of spirits, most members of the Isuzu Alliance wielded spirit gear—the yang kind, of course. This made it difficult to stand against Chimera Clausen’s black weapons. But this revelation was a source of hope. Scorpion and Snake looked optimistic.
“Hrmm, I see…” Mira sat deep in her chair and put a finger to her chin, nodding in understanding as she summarized the important points:
The black mist ore refining process had to be performed in a place where it wouldn’t affect spirit power, which Chimera Clausen HQ could not provide. The material that would solve this dilemma was developed by Johan himself, yet he had not informed Chimera of it. This meant that he couldn’t have been taken to their HQ; they must have taken him to a place that didn’t contain any items with spirit power.
With those conclusions drawn, Scorpion could surmise their basic course of action. “So do you think one of Melville Commerce’s facilities would be the best place to look, since they don’t use spirit power?”
“I believe so. That is the only reasonable first move,” Mira agreed.
That would be much easier than searching Chimera Clausen headquarters. But Melville Commerce was the fastest-growing company in all of Roslein. They certainly had countless facilities all over the place, including ones currently under construction. The radius that would need to be searched was growing exponentially.
But they wouldn’t shrink back from this challenge. If all they could do right now was to narrow down a list of places through investigation, then they would do just that.
“We might also be able to keep an eye out for any signs of black mist ore being used,” Mira added. “If the last steps of processing give it a kilometer-wide radius, then those black ripples must go through walls, no? In that case, we’ll know right away if we see them from outside. The only problem is figuring out when Johan—”
“Hold it!” Scorpion cut Mira off with a confused look, “Wait, wait, wait!” Snake and Millene looked just as perplexed as Scorpion.
“Hrmm? What’s the matter?” Mira cocked her head and looked around at the group. Had they not been paying attention during the first step?
“There’s a lot you just said that I don’t understand, but…black ripples? And what do they have to do with the ore?”
“The ripples came from that thing while Millene was cooking.” Mira pointed at the white mass Millene had made and went over what she’d just seen, gesturing to mimic Millene’s work. From the moment she’d put the fragments into the powder solution, black ripples had begun spreading with a steady rhythm, like a heartbeat. That had stopped when Millene dumped the white spirit ore in.
Moreover, the black ripples seemed to be the very thing that devoured spiritual power. If their effects extended beyond walls, then it would be easy to spot them from outside as they grew larger during the later stages of processing. Mira explained this was how she could find Johan.
Scorpion, Snake, and Millene looked at each other, then back to Mira.
“I didn’t see anything like that…”
“Neither did I.”
“Yeah, me neither.”
They really had no idea what she was talking about.
“Goodness… Was I the only one to see it?” Mira murmured. She sighed, crossed her arms, and leaned back to look up at the ceiling. If they couldn’t see it while she could, then she would have to be the one to watch for ripples in the future. She wondered why she was the only one who could see it—then she recalled something she had that the others didn’t.
Hrmm. Is this another effect of the Spirit King’s blessing?
Through his blessing and the holy sword Sanctia, she could cleanse oni curses. If that was really the case, she would naturally need some way to perceive said curses.
Mira smirked to herself. She felt she was acclimating well to the Spirit King’s blessing. His blessing was unprecedented, so her imagination ran wild at the possibilities it contained. There were two general ways to acclimate to a spirit’s blessing: either place yourself in an area ruled by that spirit, or make use of the element governed by that spirit. The more one grew accustomed to a spirit’s blessing, the stronger its effects became.
Since she’d received such a wonderful blessing, Mira had endeavored to acclimate to it when she could. However, the method was rather simple; she simply played—er, trained with the holy sword Sanctia whenever she had free time.
Mira decided—without any real evidence—that her training must have given her the ability to see oni curses. With that, she proudly decided on her role in the upcoming operation. “Well, if that’s how it is, then I will be the one to keep watch. I should know shortly after the process begins.”
“O-okay,” Scorpion said. “We’ll have Mira look out for it while Snake and I will check Melville’s facilities one at a time just in case they’re not working with the ore. Does that work?”
“That seems best,” Snake agreed.
“Hrmm, agreed. That seems to be our best plan,” said Mira.
With that, their course was settled.
***
While everyone prepared for the mission ahead, Mira gazed at her map of the city of Irene and suddenly looked up. “Ah, right. Millene, might I ask you something?”
“What is it?” Millene stopped putting away her equipment and turned around.
“About that mask you were wearing…do you have any idea where it came from?” Mira was referring to the oddly designed mask with geolocation magic cast on it. They’d left it at the inn to avoid exposing their location.
“Where it came from? Umm, my teacher gave it to me and said it was like a badge to go into Melville Commerce properties, but…” Millene answered, looking up as she tried to recall the details.
“Hrmm, so you don’t know. That would mean that Johan didn’t make it, correct?” Mira asked. The mask had a feature that allowed it to bypass Melville’s mana-sensing device; Millene was right to call it a badge.
“He’s just an alchemist. He doesn’t know anything about magical tools.” That wasn’t his field of expertise. They were very different disciplines, after all, so that was natural.
“Then do you know of anyone who would be able to make them?” Mira pressed on. If the mask had been made on request, then perhaps finding the manufacturer might give them some clues.
Scorpion and Snake stopped in their tracks and watched Millene. The conversation was of interest to them too.
Millene crossed her arms and closed her eyes. She muttered to herself with a furrowed brow, “Anyone who’d be able to? Umm… Hmm.” After making a fair few funny faces, she suddenly gasped, “Oh!”
It seemed she’d unearthed something deep in her memories. She performed some odd motions, apparently trying to recreate the situation, and muttered incomprehensibly to herself, “You know, I got this box… The box… Umm, I took it, and… It was white. What was it, again? Someone’s studio…”
While they watched with bated breath, a door suddenly opened. Angelique peeked apologetically from behind it. “Um, excuse me? Anne is hungry…” Next to her was the girl, who looked to be a little confused.
Then…
The instant Millene saw Angelique, her eyes sparkled and she shouted, “That’s it! Flattract’s Studio!” She looked very satisfied, as if she’d had a eureka moment. But at the other end of her gaze, Angelique’s face froze over.
“Wait, Millene? Why did looking at me remind you of this…Flattract’s Studio?” In an instant, Angelique had closed in on Millene until she was right in front of the young apprentice. Quiet fire burned in her eyes.
“Huh? Uh, well, Mrs. Angelique, umm…” Millene stammered, and her eyes wandered down to Angelique’s chest. This was the decisive blow, as the sunny joy surrounding Millene turned to abject darkness. She shrunk before the roaring thunder of Angelique’s anger.
***
Once the storm had passed, Angelique made a quick breakfast and excused herself back to her room. Millene watched nervously as she went. Once Angelique was out of sight, the poor trainee collapsed onto the table. According to Millene, the usually sweet Angelique could turn ferocious when it came to that particular topic. Mira prayed that she and Millene would never end up bathing together, before risking an envious glance at Snake.
After this minor ruckus, the conversation returned to the mask’s manufacturer. But it seemed its owner, Millene, knew nothing more about Flattract’s Studio.
Snake, however, did. She had investigated Melville Commerce’s connections in this city, and this workshop was among them. However, Snake claimed that they were not under Melville Commerce’s umbrella. Melville had tried to invite them, but their requests had been denied.
The studio ostensibly specialized in various kinds of magical tools.
“Hrmm, they specialize in magical tools? If Melville tried to seduce them, then they must be good.” Mira murmured. She hit upon a certain possibility: what if the mana sensor at Melville’s compound was also from Flattract’s Studio?
“So, Mira, why’d you wanna know about the mask?” Scorpion asked. Magical tool or no, the mask wasn’t exactly a threat in and of itself. Scorpion had to wonder why she’d asked about it right before their mission.
“Oh, I was just wondering who had created such a thing,” Mira answered. She then added that it didn’t just have geolocation magic; it had mana sensor-nullifying magic as well. The mana sensor they’d gone through at the vault compound could easily serve as the foundation of a security web. If the studio could make a tool that could deceive such a sensor, then one could theorize that they had also made the sensor.
In that case, such a complex device would surely require maintenance and occasional repairs. That made it likely that the workshop would have information on the devices’ locations and thus, information on their customers. That might help them discover the locations of vital Melville facilities that they wouldn’t be able to find through their normal means. They might even have a chance of gaining some information on places where the studio directly worked with Chimera—or even where Chimera was keeping Johan.
“That is the state of things as I see it. Trust is important when it comes to such things, however, so I doubt they’ll tell us if we just show up and ask.”
If this studio was what they thought it was, Mira’s group could gain quite a bit of information. But that was exactly the problem. If the studio was in league with Melville Commerce, then their work was probably not evil in itself. And according to Snake’s investigation, there were many customers who trusted it. The girls could play rough against Chimera Clausen, but a normal businessman was a different story.
“Then we’ll just have to infiltrate, huh?” Scorpion asked.
“I suppose so.”
Bothering civilians to this extent was out of the question, and they couldn’t expect to get straight answers anyway. Revealing the truth of Chimera in an appeal to the business’s benevolent side was an option, but there was a chance doing so would expose Isuzu’s operation to Melville. No to mention, they couldn’t guarantee that Flattract’s Studio had a benevolent side to begin with.
But they needed information. At this point, stealing it was the only way.
Scorpion looked around at everyone and said, “Well, conveniently, we have three options!”
Their current top priority was to rescue Johan, someone who could directly testify regarding Melville and Chimera’s relationship. Scorpion laid out the options for finding him:
The first was to spot the special ripples created through the process of working black mist ore. Unfortunately, only Mira could do this.
The second was to search based on the effects of said ripples. When working black mist ore, any tools nearby that used spirit power would be reduced to ordinary objects without power. This limited the locations where this sort of work could be done, making it easier to narrow down the search.
Finally, the third was to obtain information regarding the locations of any mana sensors provided by Flattract’s Studio. This would allow Mira’s group to find out whether there were other Melville Commerce facilities using them. If there were, one could assume they were protecting something worth such tight security. And if there was nothing relating to spirits around such a facility, that would make it a very likely spot for the site of Johan’s imprisonment.
“So I guess I’ll take the studio job?” Scorpion said.
“I shall search for any facilities that don’t handle spirits,” Snake added.
“And so I’m stuck observing…” Mira sighed.
The three settled on their roles and polished off the last of the hot cocoa on the table. Scorpion, a master of infiltration, would manage the studio. Snake, who was a mage and could sense spirits, would search for facilities without spirit power. Mira would simply keep her eyes peeled for ripples.
However, it would probably take some time before Johan resumed his work. Judging by the evidence in the mansion, he appeared to have been kidnapped quite suddenly—he would presumably be lacking the necessary tools. Millene claimed that black mist ore required specialized equipment, so his new workspace probably wouldn’t be ready overnight.
That left Mira with a possible delay.
The three decided on the day and time of their next meeting, promised to Angelique and Millene that they would get Johan back, and left the underground hideaway.
***
On the first floor of the Ebatess Commerce’s warehouse and office, Mira’s group watched as the hidden door slid shut. Mira asked Scorpion to show her how to unlock it again and recorded the process on a sheet of paper she’d found in her Item Box. Memorizing puzzles never was her strong suit.
In the dark storage room filled with magical tools and documents, Mira and Scorpion looked it over and confirmed that Mira’s notes were correct. Mira returned the paper and expensive-looking fountain pen to her inventory. Just then, a document happened to catch her eye.
“Oh, yes. I forgot about this.” She retrieved the item. It was a bundle of dozens of sheets of paper.
“Ah! Is that…?” Scorpion seemed to remember it too.
But Snake was not present when Mira had received it. “What is this?” she asked.
“A collection of materials on black mist ore that Johan graciously provided us with.” Mira created light using Ethereal Arts and flipped through the documents. The three put their heads together and skimmed the notes. It listed how to work black mist ore, how to combine it with other materials, and various features that emerged based on Johan’s multiple experiments.
But the latter half was what really caught their eye: these pages explained in great detail how to fight against a foe who used black mist ore, among other things. It was clear from these documents that despite being coerced, Johan knew that he shouldered some of the blame for creating such an abhorrent material.
The word oni was written several times within the notes. The connection between oni and spirits was precious information known to a scant few, greatly increasing the credibility of this document. Johan’s sincerity and eagerness to help them in any way he could was obvious.
Once she’d skimmed the whole thing, Mira put a finger to her chin and grinned wryly. “This information could turn this whole war on its head. Perhaps we’d best deliver this to that brat…ahem, to Uzume as soon as possible.” This information turned out to be far more valuable than Mira’d initially thought.
“Yeah, agreed. There are lots of artisans back at the base. The earlier they get it, the earlier they’ll be able to replicate some of these countermeasures.”
“We should prioritize that.”
Scorpion and Snake agreed. Many of the potential countermeasures Johan listed might take a long time to construct. Analyzing the notes and preparing the materials would add to that time as well. They knew that they needed to begin preparing for the war as soon as possible.
“I might as well deliver it, since it will likely take a few days until Johan can begin any work again,” Mira offered. “Even if he begins the process, the effects won’t be widespread enough for me to see within the next day or two.”
If she rode over on Pegasus, she could be back in two or three days. With such sensitive information, hand delivery was the best option.
The black ripples created by the process of refining the ore spread wider as the process progressed. Even if Johan had started immediately after his abduction, it would take two or three days before Mira could spot them from the outside. She had plenty of time.
“Got it. Okay, Mira, it’s all yours.” Scorpion agreed without a moment’s hesitation and proudly added, “But I know a better way to deliver a parcel of that size!” She explained that the Isuzu Alliance had a special delivery system. Apparently, one could go to one of the many Isuzu offices all over the continent and request an urgent delivery to HQ. It was used for only the most important matters, but they could deliver an item to HQ in half a day.
“There are no offices in this city.” Snake produced a map and pointed at the location of their branch office. “The closest is in Sentopoli, outside the southern business district.”
“Hrmm, understood.” Mira peeked at the map, confirmed the location, compared it to the view of the city from above, and picked out an area that she thought fit the description.
“There’s a code phrase as well: ‘Light to the forest, peace to the spirits,’” Snake added. “Say that to the branch manager, and you will be able to use their communication line to HQ and order the delivery.”
“Hrmm,” Mira replied. She took out her pen and paper again and wrote the code phrase carefully. “‘Light to the forest, peace to the spirits.’ Understood.”
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