The Fanatic's Trail
Simon and Kazhan moved to a secluded spot.
A narrow, dark alley where no one passed and no one was likely to.
Kazhan leaned against the wall with his arms crossed and his eyes closed. Simon's own thoughts were anything but quiet.
Of all people, Kazhan comes to find me here.
The Saintess incident. And then the Blood Heaven Sect incident. Every major event that had shaken the school to its core had been investigated with Kazhan's involvement. That was how much Nephthys trusted him — and by the same measure, whatever he had come to say this time was almost certainly dangerous.
"You said there was a case. What's going on?"
Curiosity won out in the end, and Simon was the one to break the silence first.
"...There's no hard evidence yet."
Kazhan's eyes slid open. Those famously sharp eyes of his looked keener than ever today, as if honed to a razor's edge.
"I've set the information guilds in motion and dug into this from every angle. At this point, I'm reasonably certain."
"Tell me. If there's anything I can do to help, I'll do it."
"Thank you."
At that simple reply, Simon felt something tighten in his chest.
Every time before, when Simon had offered his help, Kazhan had drawn a hard line — you're just a regular student, enjoy your school life. And yet this time, Kazhan had been the one to come asking.
So I've finally been recognized as a real asset. The thought made his chest feel warm and restless at once.
"Regarding the case—"
Kazhan finally spoke.
"We've received information that a fanatic from the Holy Federation has slipped into the Dark Festival."
For an instant, Simon felt every hair on his body stand on end.
"A fanatic?"
"Yes. And not just any fanatic — a 1st Class Dangerous Figure."
Since the war had ended and the people of the Dark Alliance had settled into the Era of Peace, nothing had inspired quite so much terror as the fanatics who crossed over from the Holy Federation.
They were terrorists beyond prediction.
By day they disguised themselves as decent, ordinary residents. Then they would detonate explosives in a public square, set whole villages ablaze, commit indiscriminate massacres and atrocities too unspeakable to put into words. Wherever they went, only tragedy remained.
Unmotivated murder was the most terrifying kind.
The residents could not understand fanatics who laid waste to everything in their path while chanting one thing and one thing only — the will of the Goddess. Terror attacks had declined considerably in recent years, but the fear of them still ran deep in the Dark Alliance's bones.
And now one of those very fanatics—
...is somewhere on this island?
Simon's expression darkened.
He had taken only a brief walk through the Dark Festival, but every corner had been packed with people. If an explosive or a destructive spell powered by holy energy went off in one of the stadiums, the carnage would be unthinkable.
"It's not as though this has never happened before."
Kazhan slipped a hand into his pocket as he continued.
"Every kind of person flows onto this island during the Dark Festival. But every infiltrator so far has been caught in Kizen's investigation net — either stopped before they could act, or limited to minor damage."
"That's a relief."
"But this year is different. This year is genuinely dangerous."
Kazhan ground his teeth.
"A 1st Class Dangerous Figure — and one who is exceptionally skilled at hiding who they are. The scale of the catastrophe he could unleash is beyond anyone's imagining."
"A 1st Class Dangerous Figure... how dangerous is that, exactly?"
Kazhan looked Simon dead in the eye.
"A Saintess."
"...!"
"The same threat class as the Seven Saintesses of the Holy Federation — the ones you'd meet on an open battlefield. I trust that answers your question."
Memories of the Saintess incident came flooding back, and a chill ran down Simon's spine.
"If someone like that launches an attack in the very heart of the Dark Alliance — on Roke Island, no less, in the middle of the Dark Festival itself—"
"Yes."
Kazhan let out a long breath.
"It means war."
War.
The weight of that single word turned Simon's stomach.
"Then there's no time to waste!"
Simon bolted for the mouth of the alley as he shouted.
"We have to shut down the Dark Festival right now! If a Holy Federation fanatic got in, the festival can't matter more than—!"
"I already told you."
Kazhan shook his head.
"There is no conclusive proof that this fanatic is on Roke Island. All we have is circumstance and suspicion."
Simon stopped in his tracks.
"Kizen headquarters will push the festival forward unless the issue is extraordinary. If they suspend the Dark Festival — the one already postponed a full year because of the Saintess incident — over another Holy Federation matter, Kizen's reputation will be dragged through the mud."
"...I suppose that's true."
"Suspicion isn't enough. We need irrefutable evidence."
Simon's hands clenched into fists.
"The best outcome is that we capture the fanatic ourselves. Failing that, we expose the fanatic's identity, find the proof, and use it to shut down the festival."
"Right."
Kazhan gestured toward the back of the alley.
"I'll share everything we've uncovered so far. We can talk on the way."
As student council president, Simon couldn't stand apart from this even if he wanted to.
No — the presidency existed precisely to stop disasters like this one.
Simon nodded once and steeled himself.
Clatter, clatter!
Simon and Kazhan were traveling by carriage.
Its interior was etched with soundproofing circles and every manner of security magic, and the driver was no ordinary civilian — he was a necromancer operative, just like Kazhan.
Click!
Kazhan released the seal on the jet-black briefcase resting on his knees and drew out a black document envelope.
Simon had seen that envelope before.
The 1st Class classified file a headquarters staffer handed me before I was dispatched to the Ivory Tower.
Ivory Tower Lord Vermund is targeting Kizen.
Whatever was inside belonged to that same tier of crisis.
"Read it, Simon."
Kazhan held out the envelope. Simon accepted it carefully with both hands.
"Needless to say, not a word of this leaves your mouth."
"Understood."
"That goes for the student council, the professors, the Crows — even Kizen headquarters itself."
"E-even that far?"
Kazhan closed his eyes with a tired expression.
"That's the flaw in the Dark Alliance's structure. There's no telling who might be a spy leaking information."
Simon pointed at himself with a rather dazed look on his face.
"Then why give it to me, when even the professors can't access it...?"
"By Nephthys's order."
Kazhan answered evenly.
"Nephthys has judged that you are an ally she can trust."
"Ah...!"
Quietly moved, Simon broke the seal on the file at once. He wanted to be of use, however he could, to Nephthys and Kazhan — the two who had chosen to believe in him.
NOTICE:The contents of this document must not be disclosed to any third party.
There she is.
Simon flipped the page with a rustle of paper.
—!
There was a photograph of her.
It was black-and-white, yet the sight of it alone was enough to make his heart go cold.
A blank-faced woman, hollow-eyed, staring through the lens as if boring a hole straight into whoever looked at her.
...So this is the Holy Federation's fanatic.
Flip.
Simon turned to the next page.
- No records exist regarding her place of birth.
- Age 7. First divine affinity assessment. Result: unfit.
- By age 10. Three further divine affinity assessments. All unfit.
- Age 16. Divine power manifests — notably late.
- Age 16. Passes the 19 Asceticisms and the Holy Doctrine Examination on a single attempt. Examiners' assessment: a transcendent level of mental fortitude and faith.
- Age 17. Enrolls at Efnel.
Simon's mouth fell open.
She's from Efnel!
Flip—
He turned the page, and there she was in the very uniform he knew so well from watching Lethe wear it every day — the pristine white of the Efnel school uniform.
This was not the terrifying woman from the first page.
Just an ordinary girl of seventeen, the kind you could pass on any street.
It seemed to have been taken shortly after her admission — she stood surrounded by friends before a congratulatory flower wreath, flashing a V-sign with her fingers and laughing.
Flip—
What on earth happened to this person?
Simon turned to the next page.
- Age 17. Enrollment examination reveals a special ability. Joins Efnel's ability class.
- Age 17. Efnel professors report an ability of a type never before documented.
- Age 17. Midterm results: upper-middle tier. Shows particular strength in Pneumatology and Divine Mechanics.
- Age 17. Appears to struggle to adapt to school life and coursework. Repeatedly mutters strange claims — that she sees the Goddess, that she sees an angel. Classmates testify that it gave them chills.
- Age 17. Displays an abnormal obsession with religious doctrine. In class, becomes agitated and argues that the professor's teachings are wrong. Bursts into tears in protest, insisting, "The Goddess never said that."
- Age 17. Serves food to the ability class students at the Harvest Festival. Apologizes to them, saying she had been "too sensitive all this time." The students accept her apology and eat the meal.
Clatter!
"We've arrived!"
Just as Simon was losing himself in the file, the driver called out and brought the carriage to a halt.
Kazhan flung the door open and hopped out.
"Finish the rest later. We're at the scene."
"Ah — right."
Simon slipped the black file into his bag, stowed it safely in his subspace pocket, and hurried out after Kazhan at a brisk pace.
"Here."
It was a street stall near the waterfront.
Every stall around it stood empty and abandoned; only one vendor remained, bustling about, busy making something.
"Excuse us."
Kazhan strode up without preamble.
"Mm, welcome."
the vendor said. Receiving his cue from Kazhan, Simon glanced at the menu board.
"Could we get two green teas, please?"
"Oh my, sure, sure."
The vendor bent down and turned to prepare the drinks.
Simon tilted his head. It was just an ordinary street stall, wasn't it?
"Well look who it is, welcome! When did you get here?"
At that, the man lifted his head.
"We just got here, actually."
"Right. Right. What'll you have?"
"Two green teas..."
"Sure."
He crouched down, then popped back up.
"Oh my, welcome!"
"?"
Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome.
He kept repeating the same greeting, moving haltingly, like a body caught in a loop — over and over, endlessly, that same welcome.
A prickle of horror crawled up Simon's neck, and he took a step back.
"This is..."
"Yes."
Kazhan's expression had gone ice-cold as well.
"It seems the fanatic passed through this place."
What on earth could hit a person hard enough to turn them into... this?
Simon stood there a moment in a daze, then spoke.
"Come to think of it — you said that fanatic has a special ability, right?"
"Yes."
"I had to run out before I could read the whole report properly. What kind of ability is it?"
Kazhan shook his head.
"It would take too long to explain. Neither the Dark Alliance nor even the Holy Federation has ever managed to define the power she carries."
"...I'm sorry, what?"
Simon hurriedly pulled the file back out of his subspace and flipped to the remaining pages.
- Age 17. Serves food to the ability class students at the Harvest Festival. Apologizes to them, saying she had been "too sensitive all this time." The students accept her apology and eat the meal.
- Age 17. The following day, the ability class students come to their senses and realize they have been eating their own pen-reared rabbit, carved raw into steak cuts. They faint. Ever Kire insists that this is a tradition of the Harvest Rite.
- Age 17. Three of her classmates, unable to endure the psychological shock, withdraw from the academy.
...
Something told him.
He had a very bad feeling that he had just been dragged into something profoundly, unspeakably dangerous.