As the crimson sun rose into the sky and sunlight filtered through the clouds to shine upon the capital of Midgar, what startled people awake was not the crowing of roosters in the countryside, but the cries of alarm coming from the heart of the royal capital.
Just last night, Baron Stergang and Earl Azukay, two of the thirteen leaders of the [Thirteen Nightblades] society that stood at the pinnacle of power in this country and could be called the Kingdom of Midgar's unseen rulers, had been found dead together inside a mansion.
Once the news was confirmed, every perceptive person in Midgar's capital realized at once that the situation had become extremely serious. Whether it was the mysterious organization that had already proven itself hostile to the Nightswords, or the enraged [Thirteen Nightblades], who had now lost three of their leaders in succession, both had turned the royal capital into a vortex that could swallow anyone caught within it.
Unrest spread through the streets. Large numbers of the Island Guard and members of the Knights' Order began screening everyone passing through the city gates, and a grim tension settled over the entire capital. This time, however, a new rumor began circulating among the people. The "Nightswords" had been killed by a Vampire wearing a terrifying mask.
"Whoosh..."
The curtains were pulled open, and bright sunlight flooded the cramped room, falling directly across the face of the sleepy black-haired girl standing by the window. She immediately raised a hand to shield her eyes from the glare.
"Hiss..."
Akane Nishino sucked in a breath and used her palm to cast a shadow over her face. Looking down at the crowds moving through the streets below, she quickly noticed the unease running through them. After failing to do their jobs properly for two nights in a row, the Guard and the Knights' Order had imposed a city-wide lockdown, instantly making the atmosphere far more severe.
"Isn't this a little over the top...?"
Akane muttered under her breath. She came from a peaceful modern world, and even after living through the Spiritual Awakening, she still could not understand why the deaths of a few thoroughly despicable nobles had caused such an uproar among the Guard and the Knights' Order, much less why the entire city had become so tense.
"Don't you think so too, Millia?"
Still surprised by the atmosphere of the city-wide lockdown, Akane turned to Millia beside her. The girl had a piece of bread between her lips and was nibbling away at it like a hamster. Akane hoped to get at least a little agreement from her companion.
To her surprise, Millia lowered the half-eaten bread, gave her a puzzled look, and thought for a moment before answering.
"I remember that even before I joined Shadow Garden, the Thirteen Nightblades already held a position in the Kingdom of Midgar comparable to the royal family. Among the nobility, they were even more influential than the royal family itself. Three of them dying within only two days is a very serious matter."
"Uh... I still don't really understand the way you people think."
Akane had not expected to be contradicted by someone she trusted. She fell speechless for several seconds before silently mourning the state of this country.
"I really have no idea where a rude person like you came from. You couldn't even speak the kingdom's language, and you don't have the slightest respect for authority. What, does someone on the level of your country's prime minister die without anyone making a fuss?"
Millia stared suspiciously at Akane Nishino. As her former roommate in Shadow Garden, she had always found Akane herself deeply mysterious.
From the moment they first met, Akane had spoken in an entirely different language system and could not understand the kingdom's language at all. Then there was the special treatment she received in Alexandria. In Shadow Garden, where nearly everyone had lost their family and suffered from Demon Possession, Akane stood out far too much. Even Millia herself was sometimes sent out on missions or assigned to help care for the children in Alexandria, yet Akane alone had been kept isolated by the Seven Shadows.
"Well... maybe? Compared to some prime minister getting assassinated with barely any resistance, a powerful person with a tragic backstory and the self-made gun used in the assassination would probably get way more attention. At the very least, a dead guy isn't beating the living on the trending charts."
The topic made Akane instinctively remember the nationwide news story that had suddenly erupted when she was still an ordinary high school girl, and she could not help laughing.
"I heard the killer left behind the weapons he used to kill the two Nightswords last night. If this happened back where I came from, those two weapons would definitely end up getting names and become national treasures."
"You people... what kind of place did you live in? Just listening to you gives me chills. The way you describe it, I can't sense even the slightest bit of humanity."
Millia swallowed hard and stared at Akane in shock.
Before being captured, she had lived in aristocratic society. Then she had become a test subject, and after being rescued, she had followed Victoria. To someone like her, the world Akane described sounded horrifying enough to be a nightmare. Merely hearing about it made her uneasy.
"Hehe, Millia-chan, don't worry about it. You know, overthrowing your superiors is practically a tradition where I come from. And if the person who died was some disgusting old bastard, there's even less reason to care."
Akane chuckled, picked up some bread from the table, and began eating.
"That's even scarier. No wonder you dared to attack the Seven Shadows while they were weakened and escape, and even had the nerve to run all the way to Itogami Island and take me with you. But if that sort of thing is a tradition where you come from, I suppose there's nothing surprising about it."
"Like hell it is!!!"
When Akane saw the sudden look of realization on Millia's face, she shouted and shoved the girl down, glaring fiercely at her.
"Shadow Garden is basically a powder keg. Whoever wants to deal with it can deal with it. I planned to run away from the very beginning, and I didn't even hurt a single member of Shadow Garden when I escaped. How does any of that count as overthrowing my superiors?"
"Mmph, mmph... milk, milk..."
Pinned down, Millia suddenly choked. She spoke indistinctly while pointing desperately toward the glass of milk on the table.
Seeing that, Akane hurriedly let her go.
"Ha... ha... You bastard! You really were trying to kill me!"
After grabbing the milk and washing down the bread lodged in her throat, Millia glared viciously at Akane Nishino.
Just as it seemed the two might actually start fighting, a knock came from the door.
"Mm... hmph. I'll let it go this time."
Millia hesitated and glanced toward the door as the knocking continued. The fierce aura around her immediately faded, and she gave a disgruntled snort without saying anything further.
"Sorry, sorry. That one was my fault."
Akane apologized. Once she saw that Millia did not seem genuinely angry, she walked toward the door, put on her mask, and manipulated the Slime Suit over her body until it formed a slime battle suit.
"Click."
The door opened.
Standing before Akane Nishino was a tall, broad middle-aged man. His face should have radiated dignity, yet it was currently covered with an ingratiating smile.
"Lady Nishimura, I trust you rested well last night. Were you satisfied with the servants' hospitality?"
"Ah... Despoht-san. You're far too courteous. Thank you for your hospitality. My companion and I slept very well last night. May I ask what brings you here?"
The man had worn that same smile from the first time they met, but Akane still had not gotten used to it.
Then again, anyone would feel uncomfortable seeing a middle-aged man so much older and larger than herself wearing such a fawning expression.
"I see. Then thank you again for your hospitality, Despoht-san. My companion and I will pack our things and leave right away."
"Not at all, not at all. It is my honor, as a marquis of this kingdom, to receive two such distinguished guests. Please, Nishimura-san, you and your companion should finish packing as soon as possible. That distinguished guest is already growing impatient."
"Right away, right away."
Akane forced an awkward smile and brushed off Marquis Despoht's urging with a perfunctory reply. She closed the door and turned toward Millia, who had already put on her slime battle suit.
"It's nothing serious. The person who came to pick us up is here. Pack your things and get ready to leave, Millia."
After giving a brief explanation, Akane picked up a leather shoulder bag and began collecting the various items she had placed around the room.
Anti-Surveillance Concealment Device, stowed.
Sleep Defense Device, stowed.
Alert Delay Device, stowed.
One by one, Akane Nishino retrieved the safety devices she had set up throughout the room the night before and tossed them into the storage bag she had taken from Alexandria.
Then Millia's voice came from behind her.
"I still don't understand how you managed to contact the [Thirteen Nightblades] society of the Kingdom of Midgar. Why do they treat you with so much respect? What exactly did you do?"
Unlike Akane Nishino, Millia had grown up in the Kingdom of Midgar and knew perfectly well how much power the Nightswords possessed.
That was precisely why she could not understand how, while the two of them had merely been searching for somewhere to stay, Akane had somehow convinced Despoht to invite them over with such extraordinary deference and act as though he would obey her every word.
Millia had asked Akane the same question before.
And her answer had been...
"I tricked them."
Akane smiled as she continued packing, making sure she had not missed anything, and gave exactly the same answer as before.
Yes.
It was an answer so ridiculous that it hardly sounded believable.
But under the circumstances, Millia had no choice but to accept it. After all, with their combined strength, as long as they did not immediately run into an SS-level enemy, escaping should still be possible.
"Sorry to keep you waiting. Please lead the way."
Millia was about to say something else, but Akane had already finished packing.
She led Millia out of the room and followed Marquis Despoht.
When they reached the main hall, Akane Nishino and Millia met a middle-aged man who introduced himself as "Wicked Smile."
He said very little. "Wicked Smile" simply led the two of them into a car and did nothing else.
"By the way, why did you bring that syringe with you? Wouldn't drawing that much blood affect your body?"
Considering that they might end up fighting later, Millia finally asked about something that had been bothering her for quite some time.
After Akane Nishino raided Alexandria's collection of confiscated "Eta" experimental items, she had also taken the time to visit Eta's laboratory and retrieve a syringe.
When Millia first saw it, she assumed Akane had simply grabbed it along with everything else. But now that the syringe was gone, she guessed Akane must have used it.
"Hmm! Millia, you really are observant."
Akane had not expected Millia to notice even something so minor. She raised her eyebrows in mild surprise, then waved dismissively.
"I just had some blood drawn for testing. Those people aren't idiots, after all. There's no way they'd accept the goods without checking them first. Unfortunately for them, I really am from another world. Completely genuine."
Akane grinned proudly and touched the spot where she had drawn her blood.
Her body had healed completely long ago, yet touching it still brought a faint phantom ache.
There was nothing she could do about it.
It was a price she had to pay if she wanted to go home.
Still...
Things really had gone surprisingly smoothly.
Millia's constant questions along the way made Akane think about everything that had happened, and the more she considered it, the more she felt that her journey really had been almost too smooth.
First, she had taken advantage of Eta's absence from Alexandria to retrieve the communicator Eta had left in her laboratory.
Then she discovered that the communicator contained a group chat.
And in that group chat, there just happened to be an evil scientist conducting experiments involving other worlds, with the experiment already nearing completion and only the process of locating another world remaining.
After learning all of this, Akane secretly contacted the person calling himself the "Seeker of Truth."
Once she confirmed that returning to her original world might actually be possible, she raided Shadow Garden for all the tools they had confiscated from Eta, read through their manuals, instantly took down two of the Seven Shadows, and then escaped through one of the teleportation arrays built into Alexandria's defenses.
Even Akane herself thought her luck had been almost absurdly good.
Surely she would not...
Mess everything up at the very end, right?
Akane immediately shook her head hard, clearing the distracting thoughts from her mind.
No matter what, this might be her only chance.
She had to seize it and find a way home.
If she stayed in Shadow Garden, forget about finding that friend of hers. She would be lucky if they did not eventually catch her and dissect her.
They had never shown any intention of helping her return to her original world.
In the end, she had to rely on herself.
With her resolve strengthened, the car carrying them came to a stop.
Akane followed the person leading them through checkpoint after checkpoint, passing heavily guarded security until she finally arrived before a young boy.
He had silver hair and a beauty that seemed to belong in a fairy tale.
The instant Millia saw him, her entire body stiffened.
Akane did not notice the change in her companion.
She stepped forward.
"Hello. I assume you're the Seeker of Trut..."
"Stop. Don't call me that. I'm not Laugus."
"Huh? Then what about me?"
"Nishimura-san, rest assured. We are already making preparations for your experiment. We brought you here mainly because dangerous thieves have been running rampant lately, and we were concerned for your safety. Now, if you'll excuse me."
With that, the boy gave Akane Nishino a meaningful look, turned around, and left, leaving her standing there in complete confusion.
"What was that...?"
"Bang!"
"Do you know who they are?"
Inside the room they had been assigned, Akane had barely started complaining when Millia suddenly slammed her against the wall and questioned her in a low voice.
"Huh? Aren't they just some secret research organization?"
Of course they were not.
The silver-haired boy might have forgotten her, but Millia remembered him.
When her Demon Possession had flared up and transformed her into a mass of flesh, when she had been tortured by the Cult of Diablos, the last person she had seen before losing consciousness was that very boy.
Fenrir.
The Fifth Seat of the Cult of Diablos.
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