CHAPTER 3

Path to the Sun

1

Kamilish Hotel. Forty-first floor.

Five in the morning. A time before room service served breakfast.

Iska caught sight of a girl walking down the hall.

“Rin? You’re up early.”

“I woke up an hour ago. I’m used to it…and it seems you are, too. I was thinking of beating you awake if you’d fallen asleep while on watch.”

Iska was standing in front of the room on guard duty.

Rin sounded incredibly surly. “Time to swap.”

“…?”

“I’m saying I’ll trade with you. We have another strategy session at noon. Rest until then.”

“No, I’m fine. I trade with Jhin in two hours anyway.”

“The fate of Lady Sisbell is in your hands,” Rin whispered. She looked down the hall as she spoke in a low voice so that no one would hear in the off chance they were being monitored. “I genuinely feel this way after talking to Lady Alice yesterday. It doesn’t sit right with me, honestly, but just this once, I’ll support you no matter what.”

“Thanks, but we’ve been taking turns resting.”

“Go train or something,” Rin said, because she was a first-rate fighter. “It’s not keeping guard so much as standing in the hallway for two hours. I’ll take over, so devote yourself to making sure you’re in the best shape.”

“……”

“You can take care of your swords or examine your equipment. At any rate, I’m sure there’s something better for you to do than standing around.”

“…I get it already.” Iska was the first to surrender when she stared him down. “But I don’t get to call the shots. I’ll ask Commander Mismis.”

He turned around to leave when his exchange with Alice the day before flashed in his mind.

“Oh…”

“What? I’ll stand guard, so hurry off and get to your room.”

“About yesterday. I wanted to ask you something.”

It was about the strategy session with Alice, during which they’d discussed potential locations where Sisbell might be held captive. Iska was concerned about something else: Alice had revealed a secret to only him before her departure.

“I know it’s strange of me to ask, considering our positions…but did the queen really fight against that Joheim during the raid three days ago?”

“…What do you mean by ‘that’?” Rin’s voice contained hidden barbs.

“I take it that you’re the queen of Nebulis?”

“I’m Joheim. I’ll have you know that I’m the Saint Disciple of the first seat.”

“The queen said she fought someone by that name,” Rin told him.

“What did he look like? You saw him, right, Rin?”

“Obviously. He was a tall man with a thin, long sword. His hair was red, and he wore armor and a coat. It was different from the usual battle uniform, so it must be a special order.”

“…Then I guess it’s true.”

Joheim the Saint Disciple. In this era when guns and artillery were the primary form of battle, he was the only Saint Disciple who was a swordsman like Iska. Not that Iska had never fought against him.

“Hey, Iska. Answer me this: Are you trying to say that the queen was wrong? Or that the guy was someone other than Joheim?” Rin practically snapped at him.

Iska slowly shook his head. “That’s not what I mean.”

The Saint Disciple of the first seat had attacked the queen. Iska was surprised to hear Joheim had left his master’s side, but no one else could have brought her down.

“It had to be Joheim. I can’t give too many details, considering my position.”

“Then what’s your question?”

“It’s about how Elletear had been struck down.”

“What?!” Rin’s shoulders quivered. “…What are you trying to say? Lady Elletear tried to protect Her Majesty, which resulted in her sustaining considerable damage. Lady Alice and I both saw it.”

“And Joheim took her?”

“Correct. She was taken away by car, but no one knows whether she is alive—”

“That’s what’s suspicious.”

Alice’s older sister—the one who was beautiful in inimitable ways.

Iska had heard something about her, however. Just before Vichyssoise had taken Sisbell, the witch had declared that Elletear was behind everything.

“What concerns me is the fact that no one knows if she’s alive.”

“What? What about it? After a grave wound like that—”

“It has to be fatal. That’s why it’s so strange. If she was actually taken down by a Saint Disciple, no one would question her condition. Even I would be beyond hope if I was on the receiving end of his sword.”

“What?!”

“If she was taken by Joheim, that means he thought she was still alive. Except all serious attacks dealt by a Saint Disciple are fatal. He had to have missed on purpose.”

“…But it wasn’t fatal. Then you’re trying to say…” Rin knit her eyebrows together.

A dozen seconds of silence passed.

“You think Lady Elletear was acting?”

“She was one of the people who might have been behind this whole thing. We basically know she’s connected to the Hydra. Plus, she was expecting us, and she threatened Sisbell to get her to the villa.”

“…So you think she was acting out the part of a tragic princess by saving the queen?”

“And didn’t that tug on Alice’s heartstrings?”

Alice had suspected Elletear’s involvement in the scheme…but witnessing this tragedy had forced her to rewrite her version of the truth.

…What if that was part of her calculations?

…What if receiving the blow was her plan?

Alice and the queen had been deceived. Even her own family—her flesh and blood—couldn’t see through the princess’s devilish plot.

“There’s…no way. I refuse to believe Lady Elletear would purposefully do such a thing… You didn’t see all the blood.” Rin bit her lip. “The floor was red. I saw it. No one was acting or anything. It actually was—”

“Vichyssoise the witch.”

“What?”

“The assassin of the Hydra. The monster. She didn’t die even after being cut down by a sword. I know you saw that, too, Rin.”

“After feeling no resistance at the tip of his blade, Iska was the one who stopped.”

“It was like cutting through water—”

There were so many similarities between the witch that Iska couldn’t hurt and Elletear, who had been sliced through by a Saint Disciple’s sword.

“…Impossible.” Rin stood still in shock. The color quickly drained from her lips. “…Are you saying Lady Elletear…is like that monster…?”

“If she is, then she wouldn’t die from such an attack. It all adds up, huh? Especially because she’s still alive.”

Elletear had to know she wouldn’t die. In fact, if she were colluding with the Hydra, she might have known about the secret to becoming a witch.

“So basically, the Saint Disciple never would have hauled her off if she could have been dead. He must have known she was alive.”

“…B-but…”

“Elletear let herself be struck down so she could leave the palace. It all makes sense if you think of it that way. She wasn’t taken by the Imperial forces: She fled to the Empire voluntarily.”

“” Alice’s attendant didn’t offer anything in response.

“Just to be clear, we don’t care about Elletear or what she is.”

There was a very small possibility that Unit 907 would run into Elletear in the Empire.

“I have no idea what she’s thinking. I’m not going to look into whether she was a spy for the Empire, and I can’t tell you even if she was one. The only thing we’re working together on is saving Sisbell, and that’s it.”

“…I understand.” Rin finally nodded. “All we need is for you to save her. Lady Elletear will be dealt with by the House of Lou.”

2

Afternoon. In the suite hosting the strategy session.

“Okay, just to clarify: We can basically act like Imperial forces?” Mismis, seated at the table, faced Rin, who was standing in front of her.

“The Imperial forces are still hiding in the central state. And four of them just so happened to target a facility owned by the Hydra…”

“That’s right. And Lady Sisbell just happened to be there—or so we’ll pretend.” Rin exchanged looks with the attendants. “And these two will work with you.”

Two of the attendants bowed, looking incredibly tense, despite having shared meals and lodging with Iska’s group over the course of the past few days.

“I am Nami Orcast. It is nice to officially meet you.”

“I’m Sistia Quo-Katz. Though this is much too large of a role for me to fill, I will do my best to help you and risk my own life for Lady Sisbell’s rescue.”

Nami was a black-haired girl of only fifteen years old. Sistia was a sixteen-year-old with brown hair. Neither of them were military personnel, but as servants of the House of Lou, they possessed enough astral power to navigate emergencies.

Nami’s Fog would invade the enemy base.

Sistia’s Echo would locate Sisbell’s position.

Unit 907 and these two servants would make up the team executing the maneuver.

“I summarized their astral powers, but I believe it would be better to hear the details from them. Nami,” Rin called.

“My power is Fog. I think it may be faster to show you.”

The girl with black hair held up her hand. Her surroundings shimmered like a heat wave, and she melted into the rest of the room.

“You’re gone!” Commander Mismis yelled, but Nene had the bigger reaction.

“…Whoa! That’s even faster than Imperial camouflage,” Nene commented.

The newest technology developed by the Imperial forces used blurring for full camouflage, too. Nene looked in Nami’s direction, gaze deeply curious as an engineer, but…

“I’m over here.”

“Eek?! S-since when…?” Nene nearly jumped out of her skin when someone touched her shoulder from behind.

The astral mage had appeared right behind her. Nami had silenced her footsteps, but without context, it looked like she’d teleported.

“Could you see her, Iska?”

“…Not at all. I barely sensed her footsteps.”

“A waste of a power for a housekeeper.” Jhin seemed to have mixed feelings.

She could have been hired as an assassin on the spot. If the mood struck her, this tiny girl possessed the potential to assassinate the best of the Empire. Her short demonstration had given them another glimpse of the threat posed by astral mages.

“That’s a very Imperial way of thinking,” Rin murmured. “Astral powers are not as all-powerful as the Imperial subjects believe. Nami, please show them.”

“Of course.”

The girl with black hair jumped, and the once-perfect camouflage vanished before their eyes. A forced dispersion of the spell. Iska had an idea after he’d seen everything from start to finish.

“Is speed the issue?”

“Yes. I cannot use Fog unless I’m basically still. If I try to run or jump, the camouflage would disappear.”

She couldn’t fight with the astral power invoked, which meant she couldn’t go into the battlefield.

…She can only use it to hide.

…I guess she wouldn’t be suited for an intelligence unit.

She specialized in protecting Alice, the queen, and others. Her powers made sense as a servant.

“I can conceal multiple people, but more people means less time. Assume I will only be able to help with Lady Sisbell’s search for a few hours.”

Nami thrust out her arm. She held the back of her hand—the location of the astral crest—toward them.

“As soon as you touch this astral crest, the camouflage will start. But if you leave my side, the effect will wear off, so please be careful.”

“I think I’ve got the gist.” Jhin looked at the other servant. “You’re next, Sistia. What’s your power?”

“Echo can gather sounds and analyze them. It can hear voices and breathing from far away.” The brown-haired girl pressed her finger against her lips, signaling for them to quiet. “I can use it in a fifty-yard sphere. In this hotel, that means anything within seven floors. For example, right now, I can hear tourists talking on the thirty-fifth floor.”

“Even behind closed doors?”

“Depends on whether the room is closed off. And I suppose the type of sound, too. It’s more difficult to detect metallic noises, while it’s easier to pick up on human noises and footsteps. Since astral powers dwell within humans, it’s sensitive to human sounds and—”

“Sistia.”

“…My apologies for going off on an unnecessary lecture about astral power.” The servant cleared her throat when Rin glared at her.

“To put everything together,” Sistia said, “we will use Nami’s Fog to enter the Hydra’s base. If we approach Lady Sisbell, we should be able to use my astral power to determine her location. But we don’t need to go out of our way to save her.”

They just needed to determine her location. Then the queen could start a compulsory search and enter the Hydra’s base.

“We will carry out the plan in two days and aim for a time when Talisman is busy in a meeting. Even if they catch onto our plan, the Hydra basically have their hands tied without the head of household… Any questions?”

“I have one,” Jhin immediately said to Rin. He was looking at Nami. “It’s about that Fog. Are you invisible to surveillance cameras when your power is activated?”

“Yes. Not even a lens can pick it up.”

“What about infrared and heat sensors?”

“They’ll pick up body heat. Automatic doors can pose issues.”

“So that means smells and footsteps can also tip the enemy off?”

“Yes. But Sistia’s Echo might be able to obscure some of those sounds. Collecting sounds means also preventing them from diffusing.”

“One final question.” Jhin directed this one at Sistia. “About Echo—can you use it to silence guns, too?”

“Unfortunately…”

“I got it. Then we’ll stick with the infiltration plan.”

They would avoid physical combat as much as possible. Nene’s and Mismis’s Tasers had a silencing function, but they weren’t actually noiseless. Jhin couldn’t use his sniper rifle.

“If anything happens, we’ve got Iska,” Jhin said.

“That’s the plan.”

Iska had also come to the same conclusion.

…My swords would be the quietest to use.

…And it wouldn’t be hard to take them by surprise if we got up close to them with Fog.

Of course, using force was their last resort. If they started something in an enemy base, they would be at a fatal disadvantage—in numbers and familiarity with the land.

“And, Rin, aren’t there purebreds there, too?”

“It’s possible. Especially those left in charge in the absence of the head of household, like Princess Mizerhyby.”

“A princess, huh…”

They had basically assumed the Hydra would have another candidate for the throne—just like the Lou. This was the first time, however, their suspicions had been confirmed.

“Rin, can you elaborate?”

“Sure. I’ll tell you more about the Hydra and their fighters, but…” Rin scowled before looking earnest to a point Iska doubted his own eyes. She hardly blinked as she stared straight at him. “This plan relies on you.”

“”

“I don’t know how to feel about this, but I trust your skills. Please save Lady Sisbell.”

“Um, Miss Rin? I hate to be so forward, but…” Nami seemed puzzled. “Do you know these people?”

“…?! N-no, um… I’ve made a mistake…” Rin’s face turned red. Or so they thought. She kicked up her leg. “Imperial swordsman! Because of you, they have the wrong idea about me!”

“How is this my fault?!”

“Shut up! Shut up!”

“Ouch!”

Iska launched himself away before Rin could kick him again.