Chapter 54

"About... five times," I said, splaying my fingers.

"Six." Marjelo corrected without missing a beat.

"Y-yes... six. I nearly died six times. If it hadn't been for your magical tools, I'd have gone cold for good."

"You were practically dead weight," Marjelo agreed, nodding.

"G-go on. You said professors and students from Watermelon Magic University? And they came back to life?" The Knight Commander's voice was taut.

Kinzo pulled a set of blueprints from his coat. The cross-section of Wolf Castle was laid bare – a fortress shaped like a wolf, but in truth, a demon king's lair.

"At a glance, it's just a heap of scrap metal. But..." He pointed to the beast's chest area. A red circle marked a spot. "Here's the core."

"The core?"

"A mana core. That's where the driving force originates. Mana circuits branch out from it, moving the entire castle. That's the simplest way to understand it."

"What kind of power could move an entire mountain on just that?" the Knight Commander pressed.

"This is still a hypothesis, but... the Demon King's Army invaded Akuella, the nation of mages, first. That was the start of the war, wasn't it?"

"Of course I know that."

"I believe they did it to turn mages into cores."

"Hmm."

Simena, who had been silent, turned to Kinzo. "To be precise, they enslaved mages to maintain the core. Simple. Akuella's mages are powering the castle, injecting mana into the core."

"But they're all dead. Dead or missing. Even if any survived, they'd have no reason to help the Demon King."

"No. All of them are dead. That's correct. But they're dead and yet alive. That's why I said they came back. They're undead, following orders."

"Undead... that's..."

Simena's face flickered with recognition.

"That's Silver Hair..."

I opened my mouth to add something, but Simena cut me off with a whisper. "No, Mago. Not yet. Not now. She's still... not ready."

After a pause, Simena asked one more thing. "Kinzo Shua. If that core were stopped, the castle would lose its power, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, that's right. The method to stop it is simple, too. The undead mages injecting mana..."

He trailed off.

It seemed those mages held memories dear to him.

"Kill them all. You have to kill them twice."

"So if we get inside and neutralize the core, the castle sinks?"

"Exactly. No need to fight that giant pile of scrap metal. Captain Simena, just take out the core from inside. That's it."

"Hmm..." Simena avoided Kinzo's gaze, lost in thought.

"What's the matter?" Marjelo asked.

"Half of me is thrilled we finally know something about the Demon King's Castle—something I thought we'd never learn without tearing it apart. The other half is worried sick about how the hell we're supposed to infiltrate it."

"At least you're honest."

"No reason to hide it."

Then the Emperor spoke. "Marjelo Arnis, Kinzo Shua. For now, take your places with the Special Forces."

"Yes, understood."

The two of them stepped in behind me and Captain Simena.

Time to wrap up the meeting.

As the secretary—the man who came with the Emperor—put the final punctuation on his rapidly scribbled minutes, I carefully spoke up.

"To summarize... First, regardless of uniform color—navy, white, black—the Imperial Army needs to unite and retake the capital." The 7th Division and 8th Division commanders both gave a small nod of affirmation.

Only the Knight Order remained. But the decision didn't lie with the Knight Commander; it was the Emperor's call. If the Knights pulled out of Venus, the Emperor's security would be at much greater risk.

So the Knight Commander tried to persuade him.

"While the army advances... by another route. If the Demon King's Army gets into Venus, we can't stop them."

"Another route? You mean by air?"

"Yes, that's correct."

"And we have Captain Mago Stein, don't we?"

"Ah... a-about that magic tool..."

"You seem unfocused, Knight Commander. Need to get some fresh air?"

"No. My apologies."

He caved immediately.

At my surname—Stein—Kinzo's face twisted with an odd expression.

But that wasn't all.

"C-captain? A magic tool?"

He seemed more startled by that part. He grabbed my shoulder, about to press me for answers, when—

"Shh." Captain Simena stopped him.

Kinzo had no choice but to stand there, practically vibrating with the urge to speak.

"Right. Let the entire Imperial Army advance. The Knight Order can vacate Venus for now," the Emperor decided.

"Then I take it we're all in agreement. The second plan: infiltrate the Demon King's Castle and destroy the core."

Even the second plan drew questions. The 7th Division Commander spoke up.

"Are we supposed to climb up using a rope bridge or something?"

"As for the infiltration method... we'll need more simulations. But we do have one advantage," Captain Simena cut in from beside me. "Marjelo Arnis has returned. We'll aim to break one of their legs and force them to their knees."

Whether it was because of Marjelo's reputation or not, no one objected.

"Third—this is only relevant if we succeed in destroying the castle—but first, after retaking the capital, we need to reopen the nearby mines. If we mine copper and manufacture cartridge cases, revolvers can be supplied to the Imperial Army from that point on."

Last, the fourth point.

"Finally, with new arms, we advance north again. That's the Special Forces' plan."

The Golden Lion Conference wrapped up. The secretary's pen flew across the page without pause.

Meanwhile, Captain Simena told me I'd done well tying it all together.

Kinzo, on the other hand, had his brow furrowing deeper by the second. Every unfamiliar term made him twitch. Especially things like "revolver" and "cartridge case."

"For now, we focus on the first and second objectives. Destroy the castle," the Emperor agreed. "Speak up if anyone has other opinions."

No one spoke. Even after a long silence, nothing came.

The Emperor cleared his throat and concluded the meeting. "Then the Imperial Army, after joint training, commences the Capital Recapture Operation. The 7th and 8th Divisions, the Special Forces—all of them. Ah, the Combat Division is exempt."

Everyone around the round table answered loud and clear.

"The Golden Lion Conference is adjourned for today."

The Emperor, looking worn, let out a sigh.

"Dismissed."

---

"Mago... you...... Did you knock someone up?"

Inside the wagon, Kinzo's voice was dead serious.

A heavy silence fell over the swaying carriage.

"What?"

"You did, didn't you?"

"What the hell are you—"

"Your mission was to hunt a vampire in the entertainment district."

"It was."

"The entertainment district. In that city of debauchery, you hooked up with some... beautiful woman."

"What the hell are you—"

"You had a hot one-night stand, but it was a mistake. And then bam—she got pregnant." He was dead serious, deep in his own twisted logic. "So you decided to man up and raise the kid. Only way to do that was to marry her."

"Shut up. Stop right there."

"No, keep going." Captain Simena held me back, barely containing his laughter.

"During the marriage, you took your wife's surname. She was a woman from the Stein family."

I'd just married the dog Captain Simena used to own.

"Congratulations, Mago." Marjelo clapped slowly, with exaggerated mock sincerity. She was clearly messing with me.

"There's speeding, and then there's this, Mago. I thought you were climbing the ranks at lightning speed, but turns out it wasn't your rank—it was your family tree that got rewritten. Wait... hold on. Didn't I hear you being called Captain?"

"Kinzo Shua. How do you think Mago got his Captain's bars? Keep going."

"Ahem, hem. So... Mago, you prepared to raise the kid after the wedding. But you were broke. That's when you begged Captain Simena for help. 'Promote me to Captain, and I'll—'"

I cut him off before he could start Act Two. "I didn't get married! The only thing in the entertainment district was one annoying old hag!"

"Mago... I mean, age is just a number, but still..."

"You were wrong from the start. Hanging around Marjelo has just filled your head with delusions."

"Marjelo?" She cocked her head, genuinely offended.

"I—I'm sorry! I got worked up because of this idiot... sorry."

"Mago, then why do you have a surname?"

"Captain Simena slapped it on me on the spot. The Emperor was going to kick out anyone of slave origin."

"Ah. That actually makes more sense."

"It's not 'makes sense,' it's the truth."

"Then how do you explain the promotion to Captain and the magic tool?"

"Kinzo, just how deep is that rabbit hole in your head?"

"Until every hypothesis fits."

"You're forcing them to fit."

"Well, maybe."

"Listen carefully."

I told Kinzo and Marjelo about Anaconda and the EX Revolver.

Then—

"You saw Silver Hair..."

"Yeah. Madam Anne wasn't the culprit. But I found someone even more... ghostly. No, I meant likely. The culprit is that silver-haired woman."

"Silver Hair... ghost..."

"That was a slip of the tongue."

"Doesn't matter if it was a slip. We're getting closer. Mago, I saw Silver Hair too while I was heading to the Demon King's Castle. She was riding a horse—a grotesque-looking thing."

Silver Hair.

A grotesque-looking horse.

The Ghost King. It had to be her.

"So you used clairvoyance..."

"I did."

"What did you see?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing...?"

"The place where her organs should have been was completely empty. She moves like a walking version of the Demon King's Castle – running entirely on mana, without any apparatus."

"I see... But Captain Simena, why did you tell me not to mention her at the Golden Lion Conference?"

"Hm?"

"You stopped me earlier, didn't you?"

"Ah, right. Why? Because she lost both her legs, didn't she? You told me that yourself, Mago."

"Still, whether that's the end of it—"

"Mago, give us more details."

Marjelo, who had been quiet, leaned in with curiosity.

"She was fast and strong. She cleaved a four-story brick building in two with a greatsword, and I'm not even sure that was her limit."

"She could be even stronger?"

"Possible."

Marjelo crossed her arms, deep in thought.

"And she can raise the dead. Literally bring them back to life."

Kinzo and Marjelo hadn't heard this part before, but they didn't look as shocked as I'd expected. They had already confirmed the undead inside the Demon King's Castle.

"Kinzo, the undead powering the castle – she raised them."

"I see... So she's strong enough that you couldn't land a hit, and she wields bizarre magic on top of that..."

The wagon fell into a heavy silence.

"See? Talking about it just leaves everyone somber like this. Rather than running our mouths about how terrifying the Demon King's Army is, it's better to prepare ourselves, little by little. We should take the lead on that."

Captain Simena's voice cut through the quiet.

Preparation.

I liked that word. It was exactly what I wanted to do.

"Speaking of which, Captain Simena."

"What now?"

"Can I sit out of the Imperial Army's joint training?"

"You want to leave again. Again." He waved his hand in exasperation, clearly tired of the request.

"Now that Miss Arnis is back..."

"We don't have both of you in the Special Forces just so you can take turns running off. Where are you going this time? What do you need now?" He threw two questions at me at once.

"I'm going to find the power to beat that silver-haired woman."

Two questions, one answer.

"I'll be honest with you, Captain. I can't beat Silver Hair. Not now. I'm completely outmatched. My 'Lake' skill is limited to fifteen minutes, and relying on the rain is just pathetic. Leaving victory or defeat up to the heavens... I don't want to do that anymore."