Chapter 7
“ZELL SCHEDAL? Heh, like I’d know.” Isaac turned his eyes to the sky and told an obvious lie. But the moment he finished
his sentence, he shrieked from pain. His other knee had been pierced by a crossbow bolt.
The amaranth-robed man calmly loaded another bolt on the crossbow, never taking his eyes off of Isaac. He showed no hesitation.
With all four limbs injured, Isaac grimaced at the burning pain and looked back up at his assailant. As he peered into the eyes of the man before him, he shuddered. Twin abysses of raw hatred peered back. Nobody would look at a fellow human like that.
“I’ve made it clear that I have testimony,” the amaranth-robed man said coldly. He pressed his sword against Isaac’s leg. Seconds later, blood flowed out, and Isaac shrieked again. “Okay, fine! I’ll talk… I’ll talk!” Isaac’s defiant attitude disappeared, replaced by pure terror.
Upon closer inspection, the sword in the man’s hand seemed to gleam with a dark-red light. Mira recalled a certain spell. That gleam… Could it be Fatal Pain?
Fatal Pain was an Ethereal Art that magnified pain to deal additional damage. In the old days, players couldn’t really judge its efficacy in-game since there was no real pain—but based on Isaac’s reaction, it must have been pretty bad.
As the amaranth-robed man drew his sword back, the gleam subsided. In its place, blood flowed from Isaac’s knee.
“Speak quickly, now. Where is Zell Schedal?” The amaranth-robed man pressed the tip of his slender sword against the man’s other leg and retrieved a small vial from his pocket.
Mira recognized the green liquid within; it was a recovery potion sold at Dinoire Trading’s shop, one of the more expensive ones at that. It could easily heal all of the crossbow and sword wounds on Isaac’s body.
It seemed that Isaac knew that as well. His eyes roved from the drug, to the Skyfolk man, to the faraway mountains, and finally back to the drug. With a look of resignation, he finally spoke. “Right now, he’s…”
Just then, an arrow flew toward Isaac’s neck. It collided into a white tower shield that had suddenly appeared a split-second before impact. After the clash, the tower shield faded away.
“What the—?!” the amaranth-robed man gasped in surprise. He looked down at the red arrow on the ground, instantly calculated the trajectory of its flight, and glared back toward the source.
Standing among the rock mountains ahead of him was a single man, clearly furious that his perfectly aimed shot had been blocked. “What the hell is going on?!” the man spat. Clad in a discolored cloak, he nocked a second arrow onto his bow.
Mira stepped up behind him. “Silencing prisoners is a bit unfair, don’t you think?”
“Rgh! Who’s there?!”
But Mira wasn’t interested in pointless chitchat; a moment after she spoke, she planted a foot forward and slammed an [Immortal Arts Heaven: Pulse] squarely into the new man’s back. It was a torrent of pure destruction. The shockwave struck the helpless man, taking him fully by surprise and pummeling him mercilessly.
The man somersaulted and rolled down the mountain, as if knocked away by a humongous monster. Yet he still managed to move with the quick reflexes and acute balance of an assassin. In no time he’d righted himself, jumped off of the rock face, and fired another arrow back in Mira’s direction.
Yet as the arrow flew, he was speechless from wide-eyed shock. “What in the…?” He had aimed at a hulking white knight with a matching tower shield in hand. The tower shield bashed him backward, sending him falling to the ground with a thud.
Mira landed next to him and spotted the dagger at his hip—an item made from black mist ore.
“Hrmm. You seem to be Chimera, then.”
Due to the powerful blessing on the man’s spirit gear, he’d only lost consciousness instead of dying. However, he had taken one of Mira’s full-power attacks; one couldn’t be too sure. After a quick inspection of the man’s belongings, Mira decided to use her newly bought binding cloth right away. After securing the man, she instructed her Holy Knight to carry him and approached the amaranth-robed man.
The Skyfolk man shot a glance at Mira and said, “You’re the one from the Citadel of Scales. So you came, after all.” He seemed to lower his guard somewhat as he turned back to Isaac. He must have remembered that she was a member of Isuzu.
Mira looked down at Isaac and replied, “I’m in need of information as well.” She then looked the robed man squarely in the eye. “Apologies for interrupting your little fight, but I cannot afford to let that man die so easily.” Especially after she’d failed to get any information at the Citadel of Scales, thanks to a certain someone killing all of her party’s targets.
The amaranth-robed man seemed to consider this for a moment before finally consenting. “Fine. Once I’m done with him, he’s all yours.”
“Thank you. We wouldn’t want a repeat of past mistakes,” she said with a smirk.
Given the horrific scene at the Citadel of Scales, the Skyfolk man must have harbored quite the hatred for Chimera Clausen. If left alone, he probably would’ve snuffed out Isaac’s life without a second thought. But if he tried to do so now, he knew that Mira would interfere. And perhaps more to the point, he knew that he would have poor odds in a battle against her.
Before long, he began his interrogation of Isaac. But to Mira’s surprise, he didn’t question him about Chimera; instead, he focused his questions on a certain elite, Zell Schedal. According to Isaac, the man named Zell was a top-ranking member who was deeply knowledgeable about spirits. He was also the one behind many of the tools Chimera used to take advantage of the extracted spirits’ power; in fact, he was the very man who’d developed the spirit bomb.
According to Isaac, Zell currently lived in a small village at the base of a mountain range east of Sentopoli.
“A small village, hm? And what is he doing there?” the amaranth-robed man finally asked.
Isaac claimed that he did not know. Unfortunately, only the top-ranking elites or people close to him would have those answers.
With that, the amaranth-robed man sheathed his sword and turned to leave, as if to say that he had all the information he needed.
“What? Going alone?” Mira, who’d watched from a pace behind, asked as he passed her.
“…No. Before, I might have, but I’m not alone now.” He stopped next to Mira and looked down at her with his cold eyes. For a mere instant, an almost imperceptible smile seemed to appear on his face.
“Oho. Then I’ll—”
“Not you. And not your friends. A more…troublesome acquaintance has attached herself to me. We’re acting separately at the moment, but she’s such a ferocious beast that I doubt I could escape her if I tried.”
Mira’s momentary hope that he’d finally decided to work with Isuzu was dashed. He promptly and flatly denied that. But what did he mean, then? Mira asked, but he simply replied, “That is none of your business.”
So he doesn’t mean to actually tell me who this mysterious acquaintance is.
The Skyfolk man plus one. Mira didn’t know who the newcomer might be, but she did know his next step: he was about to use this information to go after this man named Zell.
“Then you intend to execute your own plans, after all,” Mira said quietly.
“Yeah. Gonna try and stop me?” the man responded with utmost calm. If he attacked a top elite carelessly, it could affect Isuzu’s strategy.
That was Mira’s first thought, at least, but she soon realized that this could lead to an even greater opportunity. “Not at all. If you attract Chimera’s attention, that ought to take eyes off us for a while.”
If this Skyfolk man and his unknown friend could cause enough trouble, Chimera would be forced to focus on them—even if it meant that they were warier as a whole. Meanwhile, Isuzu would have more room to work in the shadows.
“Though to be frank,” Mira added, “it would be ideal if you’d coordinate with us to divert them.” It was a casual request for his aid, though Mira didn’t expect much.
“That doesn’t matter to me…but I suppose I will need time to prepare, regardless. I will end his life in ten days’ time. If you wish to work in step with me, then that is your timeframe.”
Surprisingly, the man had agreed—though he made it clear that he wouldn’t go out of his way. He handed the healing potion to Mira before walking off.
A Skyfolk priest, steadfastly pursuing a particular Chimera Clausen elite… Mira couldn’t help but wonder why. She turned and shouted after his retreating back, “By the way, who is this Zell Schedal?”
Without turning to face her, he replied, “He’s a traitor.”
With that, he left for good.
***
Before feeding Isaac the potion, Mira removed the crossbow bolts stabbed in his joints. He groaned in agony with each pull, but he didn’t complain—he knew this was necessary. He did, however, continue to moan that the Skyfolk man from before was “just not human, man.”
After restraining Isaac with her binding cloth, Mira fed him the healing potion. Since it was a high-quality one, it healed him quickly and well. The lines of pain faded from Isaac’s face, replaced with a measure of calm.
“Oh, uh… You saved me, huh?” he grumbled. “Or not. Guess you wanna interrogate me too, right?”
“Indeed. Do you plan to tell the truth?”
Isaac sat slumped in surrender. “Yeah, I will. What do you want to know?” Then he seemed to realize something and brazenly demanded, “Also, you came out of nowhere; who even are you?”
Mira ignored his tone and answered, “You ought to know the name ‘Isuzu Alliance,’ I presume.”
“Aha. So you’ve already extended your influence this far, huh?” Isaac sighed deeply and looked up at the sky in understanding. In his mind, the swirling storm of despair and defeat within him was like a portent of the end of Chimera Clausen itself. Isaac looked at Mira again with resolve, as if he’d made up his mind to cut his losses. “So, what do you want? Do you want me to tell you where someone lives, too?”
“Right. First things first, do you know the alchemist Johan? If you’re involved in research and development, I’m sure you do. He seems to have been abducted; do you know where he was taken?”
It was no coincidence that they’d passed Isaac while leaving the warehouse compound with Angelique and Anne. Mira stared searchingly at him.
“Yeah, actually… I heard they were moving him, but I don’t know where to. Personal stuff like that… Y’know, they’ve got these specialized departments that deal with that stuff. I don’t know anything else. I mean it.”
“Oho. You do understand what will happen if you lie to me, don’t you?”
“Yeah, of course. I know damn well. I may be second in command in development, but that doesn’t mean I get a lick of information from the higher-ups.”
“Hrmm, I see.” Mira had no proof, but one look at him seemed to confirm that he was telling the truth. So she backed off from that point and moved to her next question. “Do you know where we can find the leader of Chimera Clausen?”
Isaac realized she was asking where Chimera Clausen headquarters was.
“Uhh… Sorry, but I dunno. Just so you know, I really wouldn’t know that either. They’ve basically cut me off, so there’s no reason for me to keep my mouth shut at this point.” He shrugged his shoulders, a little sadly.
“It’s almost as if they’ve tricked us into seizing a disposable pawn…” Mira muttered.
“Seriously…compared to those bigshots back at HQ, guys like me really are pawns. They’ll find another guy to fill my shoes in no time,” Isaac muttered gloomily. He then added, “Hey, I dunno if this’ll help you much…” He told Mira everything he knew about headquarters. All of the information he gave her came from his direct superior, one of the highest executives: Zell Schedal himself.
First, Chimera’s HQ was enormous, but it was hidden somewhere undiscoverable through normal means. Furthermore, they had many weapons and items full of spirits’ power within. The locations of the HQ and its entrances were known only to a select few executives and trusted members who worked behind the scenes.
“You know that guy you just dealt with?” Isaac glanced at the assassin in the arms of Mira’s Holy Knight behind her. He then continued his opinionated explanation. The man with the bow was one of Chimera Clausen’s cleanup crew, known as the outcast hunters, and he was quite strong. His job was extremely simple: to dispose of members of Chimera Clausen who the organization believed could no longer benefit them.
Isaac added with a chuckle that they must have ordered a “cleanup” of him. He also confessed that, after seeing Mira topple the assassin so easily—someone specially trained for battle—he’d decided resistance was futile.
A decision like this was final. If Isaac tried to go back now, he’d be killed on sight. He had nowhere left to go, so he’d be better off seeking shelter as a valuable source of information for the Isuzu Alliance. With that, Isaac concluded his explanation.
“I thought you were getting rather loose-lipped,” Mira mused. “That explains it.” Mira had no evidence to determine whether he told truth or lies, but he didn’t seem to be lying—not that she trusted him entirely, of course.
“Yeah. At this point, I can’t do much but surrender. By the way, I bet that outcast hunter guy knows where HQ is. Good luck getting him to talk, though; that’s how closely connected he is to the top.” Isaac smirked triumphantly at the man, clearly excited to get his revenge on the assassin who’d tried to do him in.
“Oh ho ho. Well, how kind of him to come so obediently. Like a moth to flame.” Mira rejoiced; the perfect captive had delivered himself right into her hands.
“Shame he never even got to touch the flame, eh?” Isaac, who’d just sold out a former ally without hesitation, looked extremely smug.
***
“While we’re here, I have one more question for you.” Mira suddenly remembered something, squatted in front of Isaac, and peered into his eyes. “You introduced yourself as some…diplomat from Sentopoli, no? Layton, was it? Do you lot have hands in this country’s government?”
This question cut right to the core of a new and pressing issue. Layton Knox was a diplomat of the commerce nation of Sentopoli; if this cover identity was genuine, then that would be a major problem—it would mean that Chimera Clausen was directly in league with the nation’s government.
“Oh, so you heard me talking with that freak. Heh, guess that’s no surprise, given when you showed up.” Isaac began divulging even more secrets. Indeed, the government was involved. Worse, according to Isaac, a good half of Sentopoli’s government executives and mid-ranking officials were members of Chimera Clausen.
He then claimed that Sentopoli itself had been created by Chimera. He didn’t know the details due to his joining later in the operation, but he had heard that Chimera had used the spirits’ power to terraform this uninhabitable wasteland into a place where people could thrive. Commerce grew from there, and the plentiful money from the taxes collected by the government became operating funds for Chimera Clausen.
“So basically, this whole country’s guilty. Dang… I thought Layton was more famous than Isaac. I did my damnedest, you know.” Isaac grinned weakly in disappointment. A shadow fell over his face. He looked up at Mira once more and added, “Oh, by the way…let me tell you one thing, for my own safety. If you wanna keep me somewhere, don’t take me to the Guild Union or any places managed by the country, okay?”
He was sure that if he was put anywhere the government of Sentopoli could reach into, he would be in danger. If the country was owned by Chimera Clausen, then it would make sense that they would snuff him out the moment he was in their custody.
“Hrmm. I understand government facilities, but why the Union? As I recall, they should be an independent organization outside political interference.” The Adventurers’ Guild Union, an organization with offices in every country all over the continent, had sworn to never involve itself in political affairs.
“C’mon, it’s a no brainer! Chimera Clausen has plants in the Union too.” He shrugged a little and explained. Some member of Chimera who’d infiltrated the Guild Union would report his presence to an assassin, or just assassinate him themselves. He didn’t stand a chance there. He added that every major organization in the city had Chimera’s fingers in it.
“Dazzling though it may appear, Sentopoli truly is a place of darkness…” Mira muttered.
“Gotta agree with you there. Not that it ever did me a lick of good.”
The two chuckled dryly together.
Now, this is a much bigger harvest than expected. But what to do with it? If the other captive was tight-lipped, then he was best left to a professional. Mira decided to take both of them with her. But in order to avoid repeating the mistake they’d made with Millene, she first asked Isaac if he had any sort of magical tools on him that might reveal his location.
“They have devices like that? Hmm… Oh, they did give me this weird plate that they called a license to the conference hall. Think that might be it?”
“Oho! Suspicious, indeed. Do you have it now?”
“Yeah. It’s under my robe, in a pouch attached to my hip.” Isaac struggled to roll over and then added, “Should be around there.” He had no chance of success if he tried pulling something now, but Mira cautiously reached out her hand and fished around under his robe.
A cute girl had her hand in his robe. Isaac couldn’t help but offer his frank impression of the situation. “Heh… There’s something fun about this.”
“Cease your foolishness.” Mira punched him, and tears formed in his eyes; the little summoner was a lot stronger than she looked. “Hrmm, this it?” Within the pouch was a plate with mysterious symbols etched onto its surface. Isaac gazed at it and added, “The weapons and gear are the only things they’ve given me.”
Better safe than sorry. Mira hid the suspicious plate and Isaac’s short staff, dagger, and other spirit gear under a nearby rock. She opted not to use her Item Box; she was unsure whether the tracking magic would still function inside it.
From there, she searched the assassin’s belongings and hid what she’d found, a similar plate and spirit gear, in the same spot.
“Now, where will we go, and how will I get you there?” Mira looked to her two captives and wondered what to do next. The ideal destination would be the hideout in Irene, where she could hand the two over to Snake. But it was quite far. Hauling around two men would make her stand out quite a bit, so she would have to hide them with Wasranvel.
Mira, Wasranvel, two captives—Pegasus couldn’t carry all four of them. She could try making a second trip, but even carrying three people would be difficult. Garuda was too big for her to hide with the spirit of stealth given how weak their bond was right now.
Everyone’s just grown too big… Mira flipped through her mental catalog and excluded many of her other flying summons for the same reason. “Hrmm. I suppose we’ll have to ask for help.”
She ultimately decided that she couldn’t make this decision on her own. She had her Holy Knight carry the men to the base of a hill and set it up to keep watch. She also had Wasranvel stay there in order to hide them with optical camouflage. In the inconspicuous shade of the hillside, with optical camouflage, they wouldn’t be found unless someone knew they were there.
Mira turned, looked with satisfaction upon the camouflage, and rode Pegasus back toward Sentopoli.
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