The Misery of Getting a Taste of Your Own Medicine
When Keltazar wordlessly set his hand on his sword, Belin thought she might truly die then and there. Staring at the man, she scrambled for an excuse.
"Ke… Keltazar, you know me, don't you? I've always devoted myself to the Empire. Why would someone like me ever commit betrayal? Please believe me."
"Then why are you trembling like that? Why are you making me doubt you?"
If she said it was fear, Keltazar would obviously ask what she had to be afraid of when she had done nothing wrong — and then she would end up in the exact same position as the man who had just been dragged away.
No… I can't let that happen…
Belin forced a smile through her trembling. In that brief instant she gathered her emotions and prepared to act — just as she had once deceived everyone to cast Leos out. This time, the performance was for Keltazar alone.
"I'm happy, Keltazar. How could I not be glad when that idiot who might have been leaking Imperial secrets is being hauled off? I'm so happy my body is shaking on its own. How am I supposed to control that?"
"You were trembling from joy? Your eyes didn't look that way to me."
"I wasn't looking at you. I was looking at that piece of trash being dragged away. I've suspected him for a long time myself. I just never had the evidence to report him separately. The look I gave him must have seemed aimed at you because you were standing in the same line of sight."
Keltazar still fixed her with a hard stare. Belin stepped closer instead and whispered.
"Keltazar. I'm Belin. The same Belin who turned even Leos — the man who worked with us for years for the Empire — into a complete fool in a single moment. For me there is only the Empire. Nothing else means a thing."
"Then kill that man yourself."
"…What?"
When Belin asked, Keltazar handed her the blade without a change of expression and gestured to the surrounding knights. Moments later Orotas — the man who had just been seized on suspicion of spying — was forcibly marched back by the knights.
"When I think about it, the fact that this bastard never fled even after leaking information means he was confident he could keep the secret no matter what, doesn't it? So killing him should be fine. If you truly suspect him, if you are prepared to do anything for the Empire, then take the life of Orotas — your former comrade, now a suspected spy — with your own hands."
As if he had intended this from the start, Keltazar tossed the sword to Belin. She caught it at once and walked forward, footfalls heavy.
He doesn't believe a word I said. He meant to kill me from the beginning. I have to prove myself. If I don't prove it here…
Belin approached Orotas slowly. A comrade from the Imperial Shadow Group. She had shared more than a few conversations with him. She knew perfectly well that Orotas was not the kind of man who would betray anyone. Orphaned young, he had been taken into the Shadow Group and thoroughly brainwashed ever since. He behaved like nothing more than a dog of the Empire. She knew he was not the culprit — yet Belin raised the sword.
"I can prove it. As many times as necessary, if it's for the Empire."
"Bel… Belin… you… you know, don't you? How… how sincerely I've served the Empire. It isn't me… it really isn't!"
Orotas screamed in terror, but Belin's blade still came down toward him.
— Thunk…
— Thunk…
Just before the edge reached Orotas's throat, Keltazar stopped the sword with his own hand.
"You passed the test. Belin, I will suspend judgment on you for now. The rest of you, watch your conduct. The ones I suspect most are the people inside."
With that, Keltazar left without another word, taking Orotas with him. Whether he meant to kill the man or put him to some other use was anyone's guess.
Yet Orotas looked at Belin with far more hatred than he had ever shown Keltazar. Even as he was dragged away, he shouted at her.
"You piece of trash! You knew I wasn't the one and you still—!"
— Thud!
Keltazar's blow dropped Orotas unconscious at once. The commander glanced back once, then strode fully outside.
Only the members of the Imperial Shadow Group remained in the inner chamber. The others looked at Belin as if she were garbage.
"Belin, someone as sharp as you should already know. No one in the Imperial Shadow Group has the capacity to betray us. Even if they did, they would have fled long beforehand. Keltazar seems unable to think straight after the harsh words he received from His Majesty the Emperor. Must you get swept up in it as well? We're all comrades, after all."
The Imperial Shadow Group — a gathering of those who became the Empire's shadow and worked solely for its sake. They worshiped the Emperor with fanatic devotion, yet their bonds of fellowship ran deep. To be selected for the Shadow Group required a hellish process, and those who survived that long ordeal often remained together for years without dying.
"Then… then should I have just let myself be dragged off and killed with him? You people… none of you did a thing either. Why is it only me? I… I have to live."
Chesiren of the Imperial Shadow Group looked at Belin as though she were an insect.
"Well, you've lived your whole life that way. Why would comrades be any different? Belin. You've betrayed countless people. At first I thought you forced yourself to act that way for the Empire. Then I realized you're simply that kind of person. You always were. The kind of trash who will do anything to survive, who will shove even a comrade into a death trap if it benefits you."
Chesiren turned and walked out. The remaining Shadow Group members began filing after her one by one. As she left, Chesiren added one last remark.
"I won't say your actions were wrong. But remember this one thing. Every single person here will treat you exactly as you deserve."
Belin sank to the floor and muttered.
"Why… why is everyone treating me like…"
Abandoned even by the members of the Shadow Group, she had become utterly alone. Darkness was gathering over Belin's future.
Leos entered the bunker and confirmed with his own eyes that Herisia and Bendict were all right. Bendict was exercising in a corner; Herisia was fiddling with artifacts.
"Both of you, come here for a moment."
Leos calmly explained everything that had happened — from his encounter with the Imperial Execution Squad to the temporary alliance he had formed with them.
"Is… isn't that dangerous?"
"That's why I never told them our location. Only we know the bunker's position, and I restricted them to operating only at the edges of the Safety Zone, so they won't run into the two of you in the center. I'll keep constant watch. Don't worry."
"No. I'm not talking about us. I'm saying won't you be in danger, Leos?"
The answer he had never expected left Leos staring blankly at Herisia for a moment before he replied.
"You're worried about me?"
"Of course! The Execution Squad means terrifying people, doesn't it?"
Bendict burst into loud laughter.
"Herisia! You idiot! There isn't a human alive who can threaten Leos!"
"Still, just in case, please be careful, Leos."
Ignoring Bendict entirely, Herisia spoke to Leos, and he nodded.
"I don't think there'll be any real danger, but I'll do as you say."
Immediately afterward Leos began drilling Herisia in the use of the Spirel. If he ever had to leave in a hurry, they needed to be able to answer external enemies with the Spirel even from inside the bunker.
"You have to react faster. Because you control it with mana, even if you move a beat earlier than you think you should, the Spirel will still follow your will."
"This isn't easy…"
The lesson stretched on for several hours. Herisia was drenched in sweat by the time she grasped the Spirel's operation. She could now fly it and circle through the air to a certain degree.
For the time being, mastering the Spirel is the only way these two can protect themselves.
Unless someone opened the door from inside, the bunker would not open under ordinary circumstances. Artifacts or other tools, however, changed the equation.
With a Spirel, even an attempt to force the bunker door could be intercepted from a distance, raising their odds of survival dramatically. Driven by the single resolve to teach her no matter what, Leos pushed Herisia hard.
"You can do this. Focus harder!"
Several days passed. Herisia finally reached the point where she could handle the Spirel with relative ease.
"I… I think I've got the hang of it now! Thank you, Leos!"
"Hyung-nim Leos! Does that mean I get to learn next?"
Bendict asked with eager eyes, but Leos answered flatly.
"Bendict, you're too thick-headed to learn this."
"What… how can you say something so harsh…!"
"I'll find you a different artifact later. One that suits you."
"Ooooh! Perfect! I don't need anything like a Spirel anyway!"
Leaving the bouncing Bendict behind, Leos stepped out through the bunker door. He walked at an unhurried pace until he reached the outer edge of the Safety Zone, then spoke in a near-whisper.
"Ready?"
Lacart emerged from the undergrowth and answered.
"Everything is ready. We've also finished pinpointing the positions of the ones the Empire sent. I thought they'd keep a low profile for a while, but they're dispatching troops quite openly. Some have already crawled this close in secret. What do you want to do?"
As if it were the most natural thing in the world, Leos wound the chain sword around his hand.
"They came looking for us. We kill every last one of them."