Interrogation
Stanashila Berga, the ducal family's pride and eldest son, kicked open my door and radiated a murderous aura that drenched the entire room.
"Stanashila Aljen. Where did you get that information? How in the world did you know any of that?"
"...Does it matter?"
Gulp.
I swallowed a mouthful of strong liquor, then chewed thoughtfully on a small wedge of cheese. The pungent, musky aroma unique to aged cheese filled my sinuses, while its rich salt and savory umami soothed my burning tongue.
"Delicious..."
"Stanashila Aljen. Answer me properly. Where and how did you acquire that intelligence? Tell me you haven't sold yourself out to the demons."
"You worry too much, dear brother. Do you honestly think the demons would even take me? I'd be utterly useless to them."
"...Which is precisely why you're suspicious. Those bastards possess means to make even a commoner formidable."
"Hmm, demonic energy infusion, you mean? Or perhaps demonic mutation? If you're suggesting I couldn't resist the temptation out of an inferiority complex... heh, well, who knows? Given the chance, maybe I would've jumped at it."
"......"
Berga scowled deeply and bared his teeth at my blatant mockery, but I merely took another leisurely sip.
"Whew... By the way, brother. Don't you have anything else to say? An apology, for instance, for doubting your younger brother's sincere words?"
"Bullshit. Spill everything you know."
"Sigh... You're no fun at all."
"...Do you have a death wish?"
His murderous intent flared even sharper, so I chuckled and knocked back another drink.
"Aah... So, you want to know my source?"
"Yes. And tell me everything else you know."
"Hmm. Honestly, all I can say is that I know because I know."
"Are you playing games with me? Must you see blood before you come to your senses?"
"Good grief, like father, like son. Spouting the exact same nonsense."
Shaking my head, I sank deep into the cushions of the sofa.
"Brother. Where I got the intel isn't what matters right now, is it? Isn't thwarting the demon's unveiled plot a little more pressing?"
Inhale, exhale.
Plumes of cigarette smoke billowed into the air as I grinned slyly, causing his expression to harden further.
"From here on out, the knights alone won't cut it. You'll need to mobilize the mage order and the Church into an all-out war to minimize casualties."
To make matters worse, Urtega, the head of the house, was half out of his mind under a curse, which would make the battle all the more grueling.
"...So how do you know that?"
"I told you, that isn't the point! You really are relentless. Your useless prejudices are blinding you to your priorities... Brother. Does the ruin of our ducal house look like a fucking joke to you?"
"Mind your tongue, Aljen. I have tolerated you thus far, but your insolence and foul mouth are testing the limits of my patience."
"Pfft. As if you ever cared before. Whatever. Just shut up and take the intel."
"...Once this is over, you will talk."
"Heheh. Then I guess I'll just use the Duke as my shield. I'll tattle on my scary big brother for bullying me."
"Does Father trust your information?"
"Nah. Seems he's still half in doubt."
Well, part of that was because the old man wasn't in his right mind. Still, how on earth was I going to deal with that curse? Even if we managed to save Terabaon, the ducal capital, everything would be doomed if Urtega succumbed to the curse and lost his mind completely. ...Well, it would work out somehow.
"Anyway. I'm going to recite the locations of the dark magic circles and the doppelgangers right now, so memorize every word. It's a pain, so I'm only saying it once."
Gulp.
Inhale, whoosh.
A swig of hard liquor followed by a rich drag of smoke seemed to oil my tongue nicely.
"Ah, should I give you an overview of the situation first? Right. The one threatening our ducal house right now is a high demon named Cambello. He's a nasty piece of work—a formidable necromancer, a curse-caster, and a shaman all rolled into one. The magic circles he planted across the Duke's Castle and Terabaon are for corruption, plague, and malice gathering. By now, the ground underneath us is probably crawling with undead and ghouls."
"...?!"
At my words, his already rigid face froze completely.
"With his magic circles exposed, he must be panicking quite a bit. Normally, they wouldn't have been discovered, since he was using his Soul Gears, the 'Soul Pit,' to curse the key figures and warp their perception and awareness."
"...And you're saying that whole scheme was overturned by your intel alone?"
"Yep. Exactly. He's probably tearing his hair out in rage right about now, completely baffled. Anyway... he doesn't have many cards left to play. A plan that was supposed to take weeks or months more of prep work has crumbled before it even got off the ground. But that also means he'll be that much more desperate."
Gulp.
"What you need to watch out for most are the doppelgangers disguised as townsfolk and the altars hidden in the basements of the houses they took over. If things get desperate, they'll offer sacrifices on those altars to spread dark mana or summon other demons."
"...I'm leaving."
Looking pressed for time, he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and turned on his heel.
"Hey, wait, where are you going? You need the locations of the dark magic circles and doppelgangers first. And I'll give you the positions of the undead lying in ambush underground, so listen up."
"You know that as well?"
"Only what I know. All right, here it comes. Memorize it properly."
My mouth ran non-stop as I spilled every scrap of information I had. As I tossed in Cambello's personality quirks and favored tactical maneuvers off the top of my head, Berga massaged his temples as if fighting off a migraine.
"Is that all?"
"Everything that came to mind. Got it all memorized?"
"Yes."
"Impressive. Heheh... Oh, right. While you're at it, you should have the mage order activate a Mana Wave Blocker."
"A Mana Wave Blocker? What is that?"
"Huh? You don't know? Why... Ah."
Only then did it hit me. The Mana Wave Blocker was a magitechnological device designed to isolate or trap specific wavelengths of mana—and it wouldn't be invented until the actual start of the original story.
"Never mind... If you don't know, forget it. My mistake."
"......"
Berga stared at me with an odd expression for a moment before silently nodding.
"Right... Understood."
I gave a lazy wave to his retreating back as he left the room.
"Well then, as for me..."
I had done my part, so I planned to spend the rest of the day thoroughly soaked in alcohol and tobacco. Could there be any sweeter gig? Smirking self-deprecatingly, I tipped another drink down my throat.
While I was leisurely passing the time with my liquor and smokes, someone else kicked my door open with tremendous force.
"Hey, Aljen. Spill it right now. What is a Mana Wave Blocker?"
"...Even dear sister has come. What did my door ever do to you people to deserve such abuse?"
"Shut up and spill it. What is a Mana Wave Blocker?"
The second daughter of the ducal house, Stanashila Weller, crossed her arms and haughtily tilted her chin up, looking as though even speaking to me was repulsive.
"Heard from Brother Berga? It's literally a device that blocks specific wavelengths of mana... But why the sudden interest? You couldn't build one right now anyway."
"What do you mean by that? Why couldn't I?"
"Well, there's technological limitations, not to mention materials..."
I froze mid-sentence. According to the lore book, the Mana Wave Blocker didn't actually require particularly high-level technology. As long as one had the raw materials, the tech from fifty years ago was more than enough to construct it.
"Hmm..."
And this place was none other than the Duke's Castle. There was likely an overabundance of whatever materials were needed. But was it really okay? Could a device meant to be developed during the original story's timeline be built right now?
"...Hah."
I pondered it seriously for a second, but it wasn't even worth fretting over. When I was already trying to save a ducal house destined for total annihilation, something like that was a trivial detail.
"Let's see..."
If I was going through with it, minimizing damage to the ducal house was the better move.
Gulp.
I took another swig and recalled the setting notes. ...The text came to mind in strangely vivid and specific detail. I had felt this eerie disconnect for a while now... was my memory ever this sharp? It was as if the entire lore compendium had been permanently engraved into my brain.
"Listen carefully. Fire ox testicles, spirit jade, mithril, the eyeball of a white-eyed horse, and the brain of a stormcloud cat. Mix those with alchemical reagents in any proportion, then quench it with mana—that's your Mana Wave Blocker. The trick is, when quenching, you have to use multiple mana wavelengths. That's how you block all energies except the programmed wavelength. That step will be a bit tricky. As you know, mana wavelengths aren't constant."
"......"
Listening to my explanation, she fell into deep thought before glaring at me with eyes full of suspicion.
"Are you certain?"
"Completely certain, so go test it out yourself. Though I wonder if you can even finish it before this crisis is over?"
At my provocation, she snorted contemptuously.
"Ha. A talentless hack like you wouldn't have the faintest clue what someone called a genius is capable of. Just watch. I'll have it made within half a day."
"Well, good luck with that."
Glowering with displeasure, she turned and strode out of the room.
"What a chaotic family..."
Gulp.
Tipping back another drink, I closed my eyes. Before long, faint sounds of combat drifted in through the window, but by then, I was already sound asleep.
Berga already knew all too well that knowing something in theory and experiencing it firsthand were two entirely different things.
"Kh...!"
But wasn't this a bit too extreme?
Readjusting his grip on his sword, Stanashila Berga ignited his aura. He took a steadying breath, keeping his guard raised against the undead circling around him.
"Groooaaar..."
"Gurrgh, gurk..."
These monsters defied all common sense. Usually, the term 'undead' brought to mind mindless hordes that simply overwhelmed through sheer numbers, their awkward, sluggish movements making individual combat prowess pathetic.
Yet the creatures before his eyes were different. As if deliberately engineered, their deformed bodies were specialized for distinct combat roles, moving with smooth, flexible grace as though their joints and muscles had been well-oiled. And on top of that, their numbers were vast.
"...Dammit. This is the worst."
Yet if that had been all, a curse wouldn't have slipped from Berga's lips.
"Kreeek, skreeeech...!"
"...This will be an uphill battle."
Locking eyes with the crimson pupils of the ghouls—the higher tier of the undead—Berga silently braced himself.
"What is the mage order currently doing?"
At his inquiry, his adjutant, Quino, who was sticking close by his side, pressed a finger to his ear and opened his mouth.
"They report that they are resting to recover their mana."
"...Hoo."
Frustration surged for an instant, but he could hardly blame them. After all, they had just unloaded immense firepower to pulverize hundreds of undead and ghouls in a single sweep. Even so, the fact that so many still remained was... frankly, bordering on despair.
"And the Church?"
"...They are deploying barriers across various sectors to establish safe zones while treating the wounded soldiers."
"I see... Just in case, tell them to prepare for combat as well."
"Understood."
Berga tightened his grip on his sword as he watched the ghouls and undead slowly close in. The information from the ducal family's third son—that scoundrel Aljen—of unknown origin lingered in his mind.
It made him want to voice an uncharacteristic complaint. Because according to that intelligence, this ordeal wouldn't end with mere undead and ghouls. The only silver lining was that they had already dismantled a significant number of the secretly planted altars and dark magic circles.