The Great Subjugation of Schytz (1)
Did they leave? Looks like the molted skin was well hidden after all.
For the moment, at least, he had succeeded in concealing the girl with the webbed ears.
"Mmh... mmph!"
"Oh. Kept my hand over your mouth too long, didn't I? Sorry about that."
"Phaaah..."
If he hadn't heard the warning from Lumia beforehand, this child would almost certainly have faced a brutal fate. He needed to make sure she understood the danger.
"You. Don't wander around this way again."
"Wh-what?"
"People pass through here all the time. And take this little guy with you, too."
"Ah, Chireu!"
"Chirr!"
The lizard scurried happily back into the girl's embrace. Ordinary lizards rarely showed such affection toward people; perhaps being a demi-human made raising a pet reptile second nature to her.
"Um... why did you help me?"
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Because... I'm a Siren."
Sirens. Unlike the elves and dwarves who had lived peacefully alongside humanity for decades, the Sirens had supposedly committed a grave offense long ago. When the Penarive barony lost their lawsuit, the Sirens were banished entirely beyond the borders of the Grand Duchy.
They said every last one who stayed behind was sentenced and executed.
Whatever the full story behind their exile was, they were currently on bitter terms with mankind. A branded race that had fallen alongside the Penarive family's legal defeat—that was the extent of the knowledge Junon had been able to gather. And because humanity and Sirens stood opposed, it was only natural for the girl to harbor doubts.
"If two sides don't get along, nothing good comes from running into each other," Junon said plainly. "That's why I stepped in. Nothing more."
Just as he said, there was no deeper motive. Letting them cross paths would only lead to senseless trouble. As long as neither side crossed paths, things would stay quiet, just like today.
"So go on now. Be careful not to leave tracks with that shed skin again."
"Ah... yes..."
Their encounter ended there. Yet Junon would meet that young Siren again before long—and under circumstances far more tangled than either of them could have imagined.
"Pardon the intrusion, Countess Beryl. An emissary from the Grand Temple has arrived. Could you spare a moment?"
An unfamiliar voice called out from beyond the office door. Denise glanced toward Dahlia, who was sitting with her, and Dahlia offered a reassuring nod.
"The door is open. Please come in."
Judging by the priest's breathless demeanor, he had sprinted the entire way on urgent business.
"Excuse me. Oh, Marchioness Emerald is here as well."
"Should I step out?" Dahlia asked.
"No, please stay. This concerns matters you should hear as well."
"What could possibly bring you here in such a rush?"
"The matter is... forgive me. Allow me a moment to verify our privacy."
The priest peered cautiously through the doorway to ensure no one was eavesdropping, then locked the door behind him before turning back to address the two women.
"The Grand Temple has concluded its initial interpretation of the oracle. The message... directly concerns this academy."
"Lebrant Academy...?" they murmured in unison.
An oracle was nothing short of a divine proclamation. In the past, oracles had warned of a monstrous tsunami approaching the Eastern Continent, allowing coastal breakwaters to be constructed in time to save countless lives. They had exposed notorious criminals through the revelations of the Arbiter, and that same compassionate deity had disclosed the hidden graves of victims to bring solace to grieving families. In essence, the gods used these visions to indirectly judge, govern, and protect mortal kind.
Because divine revelations almost invariably descended upon the Altena Empire, hearing that one had manifested at Lebrant Academy within the Grand Duchy was baffling.
"Continue," Denise urged. "What kind of oracle was it?"
The priest explained that the revelation stemmed from the constellations containing the Seven Stars—the sacred symbols shared by both the Altena Empire and the Ardellion Grand Duchy—originating from the brightest band of the celestial river. From those two stellar alignments, an oracle shaped like an immense clock had descended upon the temple. It was delivered by the highest gods: the constellations of Ursa Major and Sagittarius, ruling the northern and southern skies.
"Furthermore... a second oracle was bestowed upon us. It concerns..."
"Ah, Dahlia," Denise interrupted. "Let me hear this part alone. It relates to a project I was personally overseeing."
"Very well. I'll step back, then."
"Y-yes... if you would."
The priest leaned in, trembling with visible anxiety as he whispered the details into Denise's ear. In an instant, the color drained from her face, replaced by pure panic.
"What did you say?!"
"Sister...?"
"P-please, Countess, your voice is too loud!"
"The volume of my voice is the least of our problems!"
To an ordinary person on the street, such words might sound like sheer lunacy. But to Denise—a survivor of the horrific Mirum Island Decisive Battle, where countless imperial soldiers had been torn limb from limb as fodder for demonic beasts—the weight of this revelation could never be dismissed as an idle rumor. The warm composure she had maintained while speaking with Dahlia vanished, replaced by a grim, contorted scowl.
"Calm down and tell me," Dahlia said gently. "Sister, what's happened?"
"...This isn't something we can discuss here. More importantly, are you absolutely certain of what you heard?"
"Y-yes! While the Clock Oracle remains difficult to decipher... this second message has been verified beyond doubt!"
"I need to see it with my own eyes. We're going to the temple. Dahlia, you're coming with me."
An oracle bearing the face and hands of a clock, followed by a second, darker revelation. It heralded an unprecedented catastrophe bearing down upon the young Grand Duchy of Ardelion, a nation barely twenty years old.
Two weeks had passed since the students arrived in Schytz Province.
Despite dedicating days to scouring the terrain, Junon had found almost no flowers that an apothecary could recognize as medicinal herbs. Even among the few rare blossoms he gathered in the hope that one might be the cure, none proved to be what he sought. Every specimen with a documented purpose turned out to be completely different from the plant Professor Dahlia had discovered in the original timeline.
Time slipped away mercilessly, and before long, the fateful day arrived.
Newspaper presses and intelligence networks erupted into chaotic frenzy.
Scourge. It was the provisional name given to the rodent-like beasts that hurled themselves into suicidal detonations to scatter their bodily fluids. The sheer number of victims infected by these creatures had paralyzed governing bodies across the province, leaving the Grand Duchy reeling from a phantom assault. Border garrisons, vanguard scouts, and anyone who had made contact with the afflicted fell ill without exception. The Ardellion Grand Duchy was plunging into the greatest crisis in its history.
The enemy had been identified, yet the regular soldiers and seasoned mercenaries meant to fight them lay incapacitated. The only forces remaining were academy students—cadets who had barely begun accumulating combat experience and were still fumbling with the first-stage manifestation of their Magic Armament, the Mirage State.
"Us...? We're being assigned to the vanguard subjugation force against demonic beasts in Schytz?"
"That is correct. Previously, your participation was merely under consideration, but the decision has been finalized. You are being mobilized in full."
"No way..."
"Can we really hunt beasts with our skill level...?"
"How should I know?! Stop asking me!"
The sudden deployment order sent ripples of panic through the assembly. As third-year students, their primary focus was supposed to be mastering their unstable armaments; the monster-hunting commissions they had undertaken so far were strictly limited to low-threat targets. Ordering such unrefined fledglings to serve as frontline soldiers naturally sparked bewilderment and dread.
Professor Muniherr's sharp bellow cut through their frantic muttering like a thunderclap.
"You honed your power to defend this principality! Does it make any sense for you to cower and tremble before a pack of beasts?!"
The harsh reprimand smothered the murmurs. Though confusion still lingered, discipline snapped into place. It was a stark reminder that even with raw conscripts, the presence of a true commander could alter the atmosphere entirely. Once a few sobering truths were laid bare, the students straightened up, ready to receive their marching orders.
"The crisis is dire. Those Scourges must be annihilated without exception. That is why every one of you is participating in this subjugation."
Amid the tense, pale faces, only one person stood deep in thought. Junon knew better than anyone that if the Scourges were not stopped here, the capital of Revrant would fall. He had been unable to teach them the precise techniques or the vulnerabilities required to slay the creatures effectively. Though those tactics would eventually become common knowledge, learning them then would be far too late—yet none of his peers had possessed the skill to master them early. While he had successfully gathered early samples to raise the alarm, it hadn't accelerated the development of a cure in time.
All that remained was a head-on collision.
"Squad assignments begin now. Pay close attention!"
Thus began the Schytz Great Subjugation Campaign.
As the extermination commenced, reserve teams were dispatched to forward positions. Team Tembris was no exception.
"Incoming! Six Scourges directly ahead!"
Because they weren't assigned to the absolute vanguard, Tembris met the Scourges slightly later than the initial wave. Facing an enemy whose full capabilities remained unknown demanded utmost caution.
"Should I blow them all away at once with my lotus?" Aris asked.
"We've never seen these things before," Goden warned, shaking his head. "Don't open with heavy magic, Aris. We observe first."
"I'll take them with you, Goden," Senia said, stepping up. "Cain."
"Understood. I'll remain on standby just in case, though I doubt anything will slip past you two."
Though the beasts appeared small and frail, Goden treated them with rigorous care, and Senia mirrored her party leader's vigilance. The two vanguards moved in tandem, each engaging three targets.
They cut the beasts down cleanly, yet an instant later, both vanguards sensed an unnatural mana surge erupting from the corpses and shouted at the top of their lungs.
"Senia! Get behind me!"
"Erika, put up a barrier over your group right now! Move!!"
A heartbeat after their screams echoed out, a wet, sickening splat tore through the clearing as all six Scourges ruptured simultaneously. It wasn't the fiery blast of common fire magic. It was a vile detonation of infection, spraying thick, viscous fluid in every direction.
"...I only sensed it by instinct," Goden murmured, his brow furrowed as he stared at the splatter coating his shield. "Senia, you saw what happened, didn't you?"
"Yeah. I tracked it with my lines."
Having witnessed the detonation at point-blank range, the expressions of both frontline fighters hardened into grim masks.
"They just exploded out of nowhere... Ugh, that stuff would have been disgusting to get on our gear," Aris muttered, shuddering.
"What's wrong, you two?" Erika asked, noticing the tension in their postures.
Goden shot Senia a glance, signaling her to explain.
"Inside the dead Scourges—specifically within their hearts—mana gathered at an explosive rate," Senia said quietly. "As if engineered specifically to disperse something."
"And?" Goden prompted. "There's more, isn't there?"
"...Yeah. These rats carry their brood inside their blood. If that spray had touched your bare skin, you would have been infected on the spot."
A cold chill ran down the spines of the entire team.
It was true. The Scourge was a demonic parasite—a creature that detonated its own flesh to scatter its larvae and burrow into living hosts.