Chapter 262: A Partial Success
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 262: A Partial Success
It was a partial success.
I had made Zigrund reveal his own identity and abilities. Convinced that I possessed some kind of Arcane, he decided there was no point in hiding his identity and revealed himself before us.
The problem was, he had the exact same thought.
‘An Arcane becomes easier to deal with once you uncover its secrets. Its origin, abilities, weaknesses, and limits. If you can figure those out, you can devise any number of countermeasures. Just like with the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka.’
An Arcane is something that comes from outside of humanity. As such, its weaknesses are often as pronounced as its strengths. Even the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, as powerful as she was, was briefly bound by a trap made of light.
Her Bloodcraft is her own ability, but the darkness she wields is an Arcane born of history and karma.
‘It's no wonder the Military State suffered defeat after defeat, not knowing about the Arcane hidden within the Progenitor's darkness. Pied Piper. I will dissect your Arcane.’
Hmm. But... my Arcane doesn't come from outside of humanity.
I looked around. Tyr and the Regressor weren't here. They were likely rescuing the dying laborers and sneaking them out.
The people here... it wouldn't do much harm to let them know.
Right. This will be difficult, but it looks like I'll have to do it without Tyr and the Regressor's help this time.
‘An Arcane? Huey has one?’
Historia hesitated for a moment, but her unease was brief. She was a seasoned soldier and did not lose sight of her objective.
‘He's always known a lot of trivia. If you asked him something, he usually had an answer. What he said might be true. But what does that matter? Right now, the identity of the being in front of me is more urgent than Huey's. That thing's identity is probably...’
The answer came with a little thought.
The opponent had Historia's face and body. Whatever abilities it possessed, it couldn't be at full strength if it had transformed.
To fight on par with Historia, even for a moment, while not at full strength? There were only six individuals in the Military State with that kind of power. And among them, unlike the others whose abilities were fully known, only one person was shrouded in mystery.
"Public Safety Chief Zigrund. Is that you?"
Zigrund smiled.
"You're late to figure it out, Historia. You should have noticed the moment we crossed blades. As expected, you're hopeless at espionage."
"You introduced yourself as specializing in sabotage and infiltration, skilled in camouflage and close-quarters combat. The camouflage part was a lie, then."
"They say to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your allies, don't they? The fact that I use transformation arts is top secret. The targets of my surveillance can't find out. What I want is—"
"And now?"
"There's no point in hiding it."
Zigrund pointed past Historia toward me.
"Not when an Arcane that sees the future is standing right before me. What good would hiding do?"
"Are you trying to sow discord? It's pointless. I'm not so incompetent as to ruin things over a suspicion that can't be verified in this situation."
"You might not be."
This time, Zigrund pointed over his own shoulder. Historia's eyes widened as she looked in that direction.
"But is everyone else the same?"
Shiati was there.
Right now, Shiati was more confused than anyone. One moment, they were debating whether to destroy the refinery, and the next, Kerapald had suddenly betrayed them and activated a trap. Immediately after, the world was engulfed in light.
When her vision returned, Kerapald was gone, and the Military State's forces were storming in from the other side. While everyone else was busy, all Shiati could do was protect the princess from a safe location.
But even Shiati, who couldn't grasp the full situation, realized one thing when Zigrund transformed into Kerapald.
Zigrund was the cause of all this.
"You...!"
Shiati raised a finger, which was immediately enveloped in dark mana.
There was no strategy, no plan. Driven by the sole desire to make her hated enemy feel the same pain, Shiati clenched her left index finger.
Just then, for a brief moment, Zigrund spoke with 'Kerapald's' tone and gaze.
"Shiati. Black magic isn't omnipotent. I wish you wouldn't use it..."
Humans are bound by what they see. Though her mind knew he was an enemy, Shiati, still inexperienced, hesitated.
It was only an instant, but for Zigrund, it was long enough. Seeing the direction Zigrund was dashing, Historia shouted urgently.
"Shiati! Get back!"
But by the time she finished speaking, Zigrund was already within arm's reach of Shiati.
It was a strange form of martial arts. His movements were as fluid and natural as water, as if he had choreographed them with his opponent beforehand. Before Shiati could even notice, Zigrund flowed behind her.
Before Shiati could react, Zigrund instantly twisted her arm and subdued her. Against the Qi Art of one of the Six Generals, even a steel prosthetic arm was no different from a straw. Bone and steel frame creaked together in his grip.
"Kugh...!"
Zigrund whispered to the struggling Shiati, "Calm down, Shiati."
"Let gooo! Don't... say my name with that face...!"
"You need to calm down if you want to save Kerapald's life. Aren't your few friends precious to you?"
Shiati choked back a sob, trying to say something. That she didn't care about her friends' deaths. That the children who had drowned in Hamelin had sworn they would rather cut off their own wrists than drag each other down.
But the words wouldn't come out easily. She shouldn't even be having a civil conversation with an enemy, yet the thought of 'what if' made her body freeze on its own.
Because she was, truly, an ordinary human.
"How do you think I copied his appearance? Your name, his manner of speech, even the passwords. How do you think I found all that out?"
"Ugh..."
"Naturally, it's the result of capturing and interrogating him. In other words, I hold his life in my hands."
With a short chuckle, Zigrund patted Shiati on the back and cast his gaze toward me and Historia.
"Now, Historia. Huey. For the sake of saving your precious friend, will you follow my instructions?"
It was clear that 'precious friend' included not only Shiati but Kerapald as well. Historia gritted her teeth.
"You intend to use hostages..."
"It's the most efficient method. But we're cornered too, so we don't have the luxury of choosing our means."
"It's useless. We're just side characters."
"But there's no harm in getting rid of the side characters. Besides, you two might be able to persuade them, don't you think?"
The remark seemed aimed at Historia. But I knew. His attention was now focused entirely on me.
Wow. He's openly targeting me now? He really plans to strip me bare. I guess I can't pretend to be incompetent anymore.
Because...
"Shiati, Historia. Don't be fooled. You can't believe him."
"Huey. Think rationally. This might be our chance. Now that we've followed the Military State to its doorstep, this is our chance to guarantee our safety...!"
"Kerapald is already dead. He's holding a corpse hostage."
Zigrund broke into a wide grin. It was the triumphant smile of someone who had untangled a knotted thread or captured prey after a long chase.
In stark contrast, Shiati's face fell, utterly devastated. The contrast with Zigrund's face right behind her made it all the more striking.
It was as if the total amount of happiness in the world was fixed, and Zigrund had just scooped up both their shares.
Sorry. But I can't let this drag on any longer.
"There's no reason for the Military State to keep a member of the resistance alive. They don't send them to the labor camps. They might incite the laborers to riot. So, the State would have killed him right after the interrogation was over."
Kerapald was dead. After all sorts of torture and interrogation, once they had extracted all the information they wanted, they disposed of him, as he was no longer useful.
The timing was relatively recent. Around the time the Earth Sage came to Tantalus. Headquarters, preparing for war, ordered Public Safety to inspect military facilities, and in the process, they arrested Kerapald. He was 'interrogated' by Zigrund, and...
That was the last image of Kerapald in Zigrund's memory. Kerapald was definitely dead.
Shiati glared at me as if I were the one who had killed him and shouted, "He could still be alive...!"
"No. He's dead. A facility purely for 'imprisoning' people is inefficient. If they can't be put to work, the Military State's way is to just kill them."
At my definitive statement, Shiati flared up and yelled, "Huey, how can you be so sure?! Do you want Kerapald to be dead?"
"I'm just stating reality. Even if he were alive, there's no way he'd be unharmed after an interrogation by Public Safety."
Shiati snapped her mouth shut.
The members of the resistance all joined for their own reasons. They don't sell out their comrades easily.
In other words, if Zigrund personally interrogated Kerapald and got a confession, it meant Kerapald's condition was anything but ordinary.
"...H-How do you know that?! How can you be so certain!"
"Why?! I told you! He has an Arcane!"
Even though his hostage ploy had failed, Zigrund didn't seem to care at all. Satisfied that he had baited me with this bit of information, he laughed heartily.
"Hahahahahahahaha! I knew it! Of course, you would know! Is it foresight? Did the future, destined to be revealed, whisper the truth to you?"
Now he's completely convinced. Tch. Wrong. If I were a real prophet, would I have been caught by the likes of you?
"I'm no prophet, and even if I were, I have no obligation to tell you."
"It doesn't matter if you don't. The more you hide, the more disadvantageous it becomes for you!"
Ah, right. There was that, too.
In the Military State, with its short history, there is only one department that deals with Arcanes: the Arcane Dissectors, who research, analyze, and deconstruct historical records. A department I might have been commissioned into, had I remained in the State.
And its head was Zigrund. The only one of the Six Generals with the power to use and fight against Arcanes in a nation so vulnerable to them.
He knew exactly how to deal with prophecies.
Instead of me, Zigrund addressed Historia and Shiati.
"Shiati. Historia. You are pouring your resentment in the wrong direction. Why must this nation endure your anger? The true cause of your predicament is standing right in front of you."