CHAPTER 4

Snow and Sun

1

10:00 AM.

Placing a hand over her beating heart, Alice walked down the palace halls, Rin right next to her. Her attendant had been with the Imperial unit until late last night, verifying the final plans; she had returned to the castle right before daybreak.

“One more hour,” Alice said.

“We’ve done what we must. Please focus on the conference, Lady Alice.”

“…I know.”

The fate of her family hinged on this plan. If Iska could determine her sister’s location, they could expose the Hydra’s plan and restore the people’s faith in the current administration. A single misstep would mean defeat. If the queen were deposed, Alice would have difficulty winning the conclave.

“” Her mouth was zipped closed as she headed to the general hall.

They would continue the conference from the day before. By the time Alice and Rin arrived, the queen, her ministers, and the important members of the Zoa and Hydra were already seated at the table.

“I apologize for my tardiness.”

“You’re right on time. In fact, I believe we were early,” reassured a man’s melodious voice. Among the grim faces, Talisman’s grin made a sickening impression. “Why, Alice. You were absent from our earlier conference. Are you sure about attending this one?”

“Yes. I scanned the proceedings.”

“That’s what’s important.” He waited until she took her seat. “You look nervous, so I thought something might have happened.”

“Wha—?!” A strangled cry escaped her lips.

…Did he somehow detect what’s going on from my expression?

…He must have realized our plan—or at least picked up on it.

If that were true, he was already expecting Sisbell’s rescue.

He didn’t have the full picture, however. He had only guessed she would rescue her sister. He had only made his comment as a means of gaining more information based on her reaction.

“Thank you. It’s my first time dealing with such a situation, and I’m racking my brains trying to think of how to deal with it.”

“I see. Please don’t push yourself.” Talisman’s smile did not falter.

Lord Mask, who sat farther into the room, was whispering to the royal guards surrounding him.

…Same goes for him.

…Lord Mask and Lord Talisman have had a long history with their silver tongues.

She had no means of winning against them intellectually.

The same held true if she were to fight them with words. Alice might try to speak, but they would manage to coax her in a direction favorable to them. She knew that because it had been the same when she had spoken to her older sister.

Silence would be her best friend. It didn’t matter whether they shook her up enough for her to show it as long as she said nothing. She couldn’t let the plan be revealed in any of her words this time.

“……” Alice bit her bottom lip.

She placed her fists over her thighs and silently clenched them.

2

There is an old tale of the northerly winds and the sun.

To steal the traveler’s clothes off his back, the wind blows as hard as it can but fails to accomplish its goal. Meanwhile, the sun slowly roasts him, making him abandon his frock because of the heat.

The lesson is…to force others to serve you, use composed persistence rather than intimidation. The logic had held throughout history, and it had inspired a model that the Hydra had favored for generations. Even their institute had drawn its name from it.

The Hydra’s research institute. The leading edge of astral power engineering and research—better known as Snow and Sun.

An operation owned by the Hydra.

The research facility had been created to investigate ways of creating a fourth energy revolution by taking the astral energy from the planet’s core to use in place of electricity and gas.

“…At least, to the public. In actuality, it’s a place to hide the Hydra’s personal soldiers.”

From the lawn, Nami pointed up at the gleaming skyscraper, which was dark gray in color. Guards carrying anti–astral power riot shields stood on either side of the entrance. They didn’t look like astral corps from the field so much as the suppression forces Unit 907 had seen at the prison spires.

“As you can see, they’ve employed several soldiers that are not part of the official royal guards, passing them off as lookouts. I believe hundreds of them are permanently stationed here… What do you think, Sistia? Do you hear anything?”

“They’re on high alert. I hear conversations over radio.”

The other servant put her hand to her ear. The others were too far to make out anything, but she had used Echo to listen in on the mercenaries’ conversations.

“It seems they’re speaking in code; based on the frequency of what they’re saying and their reactions, however, it seems they haven’t noticed anything abnormal and are continuing with their regular defenses. But seeing how they’re communicating with each other so often, I think they’re being extra cautious.”

“Well, I suppose they would be.” Iska had been expecting as much. “We were attacked at the villa. They’re probably worried we’ll retaliate.”

“It’s eleven. It’s time. Shall we proceed as planned?”

“Of course.”

Far off in the palace, Talisman was starting his conference.

…Alice is watching over him.

…This is our chance to invade their facility.

Iska and the others had already been rendered invisible by Fog.

Thirty minutes had passed since they had entered the grounds. They would only be able to remain concealed for another three hours.

“Let’s go.” Nami led the group, heading to the research facility.

They looked straight into the eyes of the two guards flanking the door, observing their surroundings. The guards, however, hadn’t seen any of the people walking in front of them.

“They…they really didn’t notice us…”

“Hurry up, Commander. The automatic door is going to close!”

“Ah?! Wait, Nene!”

Before the door could snap shut, Mismis slipped through it.

The automatic doors used infrared and body sensor systems. Since their body heat couldn’t be masked using Fog, these doors would automatically open for them. That meant they needed to go through the doors with the researchers to avoid suspicion.

“Oh…that was close. I’m glad I practiced at the hotel yesterday…”

“You’re the only one who benefited from the practice, boss.”

“Really, Jhin?!” Mismis exclaimed.

“Inside voice, boss. The silencing has its limits. We’ve barely snuck into the enemy’s base.”

Jhin pointed at the lobby. Again, two soldiers were holding radio sets beside the pristine front desk. Even more guards patrolled the gangways.

A facility owned by the Hydra—Snow and Sun.

Like Alice had said, there was one place to hide her sister. It had to be somewhere under the direct control of Talisman—to escape the queen’s order to sweep all houses. Alice had said that would be this facility.

“Whoa. It kind of looks like one of the Empire’s research institutes.” Nene looked up at the floor map.

Astral power engineering—a form of astral power research, illegal in the Empire—was openly being pursued in the Sovereignty.

“Um, I assume the walls are thick in case the astral power goes berserk. This pipeline might be used to bring astral energy from an underground vortex up to here…”

“Nene, save the comments for later.”

“B-but, Iska, this facility is better than I expected!”

“…It really is.”

Nene had a point. Iska had been told it was a place to keep soldiers, so he didn’t think it would look like this. It was like they were in an Imperial research facility—scientists walking down the halls, monitoring entry points, and all.

…Maybe that works in our favor.

…If it’s a bona fide research facility, there won’t be a lot of places to hide Sisbell.

He highly doubted that all the hundreds of researchers had been let in on the scheme, though the mercenaries under Talisman’s direct employ might have been. In other words, they could only hide Sisbell in places inaccessible to researchers.

She had to be in a management center where the soldiers were stationed or in an electrical room underground or the garbage disposal facilities. Or…

“I knew it wouldn’t be that easy.” Jhin peeled his eyes away from the map and looked at one of the servants. “Is the giant room at the top used by Talisman? Seems like the best place to keep her.”

“Yes. Miss Rin confirmed that in her research.”

“There’s no elevator that can make it up there.”

All public elevators didn’t go above the tenth floor. Those with clearance could go up to the fourteenth floor. According to the map, however, there were no entry points for the fifteenth floor.

“…It’s fine. We’ll leave that one last. Let’s head underground.” Jhin turned to a special-service elevator in the back of the first floor.

They found an empty car with an open door and slipped in together. When the elevator started moving down, Nene looked up nervously at the ceiling.

“Hey, Jhin. There was a surveillance camera in the hallway earlier. Do you think it saw us? I hope they don’t see we pressed the button…”

“They won’t notice us. Elevators are automatic. They have no way of knowing intruders are operating it.” Jhin’s eyes never left the lit panel above their heads. “Hey, Nami. You said Fog lasts for three more hours?”

“Yes. To be more accurate, I cannot guarantee anything beyond three hours. It might last four, but it might run out if we go five minutes over three hours. I don’t have any control over that.”

“And you said you have a two-hour recovery period?”

“Two hours and seven minutes. After that, I can activate it again.”

“Okay.”

The large elevator stopped. They were on the first underground level. The thick metal door opened. As soon as they saw the scene waiting before them, Nene and Commander Mismis let out strangled cries.

“Eep?!”

“Th-that’s…!”

Soldiers were carrying guns.

Flanked by burly men, a thin old woman donned in bright red was heading toward them.

Grugell, the Witch of the Midnight Sun. The assassin who had attacked them at the villa. She had disappeared when the villa collapsed, but she must have been rescued by Talisman’s cronies. The witch was heading straight for the elevator.

“……Jh-Jhin!” Commander Mismis cried.

“Shh, boss. It’s fine. They weren’t waiting for us. They were just waiting to get on the elevator.”

The six of them attempted to get out as the witch and soldiers boarded the elevator. Their clothes grazed one another. The group turned around to see the elevator carrying the witch close.

“Looks like they’re headed to the fourteenth floor. If that old lady’s going there, something’s probably up…” Jhin looked straight forward. The underground area must have been the standby area for the guards. Men holding guns were stationed in the halls. “I see. The floors above ground can be accessed by the public, so they’re only using anti–astral power shields as their form of defense. But underground, they don’t need to hide that they’re armed to kill. This is a hangout for their mercenaries.”

“I can hear several voices.” Sistia crossed in front of the soldiers and walked ahead, activating Echo. “According to them, there are five conference rooms total. Two large inner conference rooms.”

“You got all that just from listening?”

“Yes. And below us—I think the floor below—I hear someone breathing. It seems like someone entirely different from the soldiers.”

All of them gasped.

“M-maybe that’s Sisbell?!” Mismis said.

“…Let’s go.”

Iska nodded, and they started to walk with hurried steps.

Snow and Sun. Fourteenth floor.

Grugell left the elevator and walked down a deserted hallway. She’d instructed her soldiers to wait behind for her.

“Oh, Granny Grugell. Could you hold up a moment?”

“Hmm?” The woman—thin and old—twitched when she heard the voice behind her. “…Vichyssoise, is that you?”

“Sure is. I’m glad you’ve made a full recovery. How’s that bump on your head? I heard some Imperial soldier named Jhin punched you and gave you a mean bruise.”

Grugell had no idea when Vichyssoise had appeared.

The girl with red hair and prominent piercings peeled herself off the wall, seeming rather reluctant, and headed straight toward the old woman.

She stared at Grugell. “Hmm.”

“What?” Grugell barked. “Alas, I don’t like young waifs. Come back to me in forty years.”

“Ha-ha,” the witch snickered. “It’s actually you. I thought you were a fake.”

“…What do you mean?”

“You smell.” Vichyssoise placed a finger on the tip of her nose, looking positively jubilant. “Ever since I became a witch, I’ve become sensitive to the smell of astral power. You had some odd energy around you, so I had my doubts.”

“This is an astral power research center. Why wouldn’t—?”

“I smelled the same astral power at the villa. Where’d you go today? Did you run into anybody suspicious?”

“Oh?” The woman’s wrinkled eyes crinkled. “I’ve been in the facility all day. I just came up above ground.”

“Yeah? Then they might’ve already gotten in.”

“Even with the surveillance cameras in place?”

“That’s where astral power comes in. They were chosen by the Lou to be servants, after all. They’ve gotta have something useful. Plus…” Vichyssoise crossed her arms. As though she were scheming, she stared into the air, immobile. “Granny, you said you were just underground, right?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“That’s where we’ve got a certain someone tucked away, right? Y’know, Sisbell’s—”

“Hmm!” The woman’s eyes opened wide. Her eyes, once closed, widened. “So they’re here on a rescue mission.”

“No time to react. Gonna report this first.” Vichyssoise stopped the woman. “Could you tell Lord Talisman? Also the next in line. She’s the heir after all, and her power might come in handy.”

Vichyssoise held up her pointer finger, jabbing it in the direction of the top floor, and snickered.

“Well, she’s such a show-off. I’m sure she’d sniff this out even without anyone telling her.”

3

Snow and Sun. Second underground floor.

Iska’s group had stepped into an accumulation center—or rather, a garbage collection area that went by that name. A gigantic shredder chewed through paper, cardboard boxes were piled high, and broken laboratory equipment glass had been left in containers. It really was a garbage center.

This sort of place shouldn’t require guards, but several were carrying guns and patrolling the place. An abnormal number of security cameras dotted the ceiling.

“Sistia, about the person you sensed earlier…”

“This way. We’re almost there.”

The brown-haired servant slipped by a guard. She turned to Commander Mismis, who walked next to her, and signaled with her eyes.

“Behind that heap of trash. In the back near the cardboard boxes.”

“…Would they put Miss Sisbell here?”

“It may not be Lady Sisbell. I just feel something coming from there.” The servant looked grim as she walked forward.

The cardboard boxes had been stacked precariously high. Commander Mismis peeked behind them. Iska held his breath as he came behind her.

They found an elderly man by himself, restrained with handcuffs.

He had been bound to a folding chair. He didn’t even stir. His eyes were closed as if he were asleep. They recognized his face.

…It’s him.

…Sisbell’s attendant, Shuvalts. So he was here all along!

He had disappeared without a trace on his way to the palace. They had suspected that assassins sent by the Hydra had attacked him. It was a stroke of luck they’d discovered him. They must have been keeping him as a hostage.

“Nene, take a picture.”

“Roger. I already got a dozen. We’ve got more than enough evidence.” Nene tucked away her small camera.

Next to her, Nami clenched her hand into a fist, looking excited. “Sistia, you’re amazing. If her attendant is prisoner here, then Lady Sisbell must also—”

“Yes. But…,” Sistia muttered. “I can’t sense anyone that could be Lady Sisbell. I’m not sure she’s underground.”

“Then she must be on the top floor. That’s the one that’s suspicious,” Jhin answered and looked up at a surveillance camera. “I’m glad the old guy’s safe. Nene, could you do something about those two cameras? Ten seconds is enough.”

“…I can’t. I can block it from filming, but it’ll report to the surveillance center that it’s been tampered with. And they’d figure out that we broke in.”

“Then we’ve gotta put it off. If we save the old man, the soldiers will start a manhunt for us. We wouldn’t be able to save Sisbell.”

Saving Sisbell was the priority. If they had extra time, they could also save her attendant. In other words, if they didn’t have time, they’d leave her attendant behind.

“Right, boss?”

“…Yes. I know it’s cruel, but we’re not in a situation where we can save them both. We need to save Lady Sisbell.”

The commander called the shots. Mismis urged the servants onward, pointing at the elevator. “Let’s go up.”

“…Understood.”

The two servants seemed remorseful, but they spun around quickly, trying to shake off their guilt. They slipped past the guards into the elevator.

The fifteenth floor was their next destination.

Except the elevator only went to the fourteenth floor. They still didn’t know how to get to the top.

“The old lady went to the fourteenth floor, so we should probably start our search there.”

Mismis touched the panel for the appropriate floor. In the high-speed elevator, Sistia placed her hands over her ears and closed her eyes to focus.

“Miss Sistia, can you hear anything?” Mismis asked her.

“I think the guards are talking. But I don’t hear anyone saying Sisbell’s name. And it’s difficult to collect sounds while the elevator is headed up.”

Eight, nine, ten, eleven.

No time for any other floors. They were racing against the time limit for Fog. They didn’t have the luxury of searching every floor, so they had to be selective.

The fourteenth and fifteenth floors. Grugell—the Witch of the Midnight Sun—had gone to the fourteenth floor. They believed Talisman’s room would be on the top.

“We can hide for two more hours…,” Iska said to himself. “And we still don’t know how to get to Talisman’s floor. We don’t know if it’s a special elevator or emergency stairs or something else…”

“We need to divide and conquer. Even though we’ve only got six people,” Jhin continued. “Once we get to the fourteenth floor, we’ll split into two groups of three. Then we’ll comb through the area on our own to find a way to the fifteenth floor. Hopefully, we can find that old lady while we’re at it.”

The elevator stopped. The thick doors opened to a floor that looked just like the lobby. The sterile and spacious hall sported nothing but monotone walls and ceilings. Sunlight poured in from a gigantic glass window, giving the space a serene glow.

“Iska, isn’t it a little too quiet here?” Nene looked around the hallway and knit her eyebrows together.

There weren’t any soldiers around—unlike the underground space around the attendant that was swarming with them. That felt eerie.

“No one else is on this floor. And—” Sistia’s murmurs echoed. “There is one person on the floor above us.”

“One?! Uh…wh-what does that mean?”

“Someone different from the older woman. They don’t seem to be moving, so they’re either captive or sitting in a chair.”

“…Then it really might be Miss Sisbell.” Commander Mismis looked up at the ceiling.

Based on the circumstances, the probability was high. But would Talisman really be stupid enough to leave her unmanned?

“What do you think, Jhin?”

“It’s not strange if they were confident we’d never get to Sisbell. They might’ve covered the floor using a special astral power or used it to keep her locked up.”

Jhin walked forward, taking the lead. He headed to the end of the deserted hallway.

“First, we’ll figure out a way to get to the top floor. We can figure out whether it’s Sisbell or someone else later.” Jhin stopped when he turned to the right at a four-way intersection and clucked his tongue in irritation. “…At least, that’s what I thought. Now this is annoying.”

“What? What’s wrong, Jhin?”

“Look.”

They were silent as they looked in the direction he’d indicated. A hidden passageway. It was similar to the one at the villa. The wall was open, revealing a cavity. They caught a glimpse of a spiral staircase inside.

…Someone went up and left it open. No way.

…Is it a trap? But why would they lead us to the top floor?

They couldn’t immediately think of a reason for it. Iska stepped toward the staircase, attempting to break through the curtain of silence.

“I’m going up.”

“Iska?! A-are you sure…?”

“I’ll be careful. You all come after me.”

He headed up the stairs and got to the top floor in thirty seconds. He slipped through the open door.

“……”

Iska found a spacious hallway in front of him. There were three rooms in the back. The two to either side of him seemed to be conference rooms. The center one sported an ostentatious door with a mechanical device.

“Iska, what do you see?”

“Nothing dangerous yet. I want to get your take. What do you think, Nene?”

“Hmm? What have we got here?” Nene bounded up the stairs and stood next to Iska before narrowing her eyes. She stared at the center door. “Um, that looks like an optical device…so it requires three layers of authentication. Vein biometric recognition, a passcode, and an IC card. It won’t open unless you’ve got all three.”

“This is his room. It has to be it.” Jhin looked at the servant standing behind them. “You said you only felt one person’s presence on this floor. I guess it’s obvious, but where’d you sense them?”

“……” The girl pointed ahead…to the door with the three layers of locks. “They’re in this room. If Lady Sisbell is inside, then there might not be guards because security is so tight…”

“Maybe. Well, if we just need to get inside, we could break the door. Except that’ll call attention to us.” Jhin glared at the surveillance camera on the ceiling and shrugged. “Even if they can’t see us, the camera will see the door breaking. Then they’d seal off the building’s exits, and we’d have a whole load of trouble getting out. If we’re going with this plan, I’d like to know for sure it’s Sisbell on the other side.”

“…Based on the breathing patterns, it sounds like a young girl,” the servant said, looking cautious. “I can discern between whether it’s a man or a woman that way. And the rate at which a person breathes can differ based on age. Everyone’s different, but I believe this is a young woman.”

Like Sisbell.

“Um… What if we postponed this by an hour?” Commander Mismis offered. “We can hide for another hour and a half, and we just need thirty minutes to save Miss Sisbell and get her out, right? So I think we could push this back. I was thinking…we could cast a net here in that time.”

They would wait for someone to open the door.

Then they would follow the person through, which meant they could get in without breaking the door. They wouldn’t be seen on camera.

“Wh-what do you think, Jhin?”

“Now that’s a surprise coming from you, boss. Who taught you strategy?”

“No one!”

“It’s not bad. Whoever would come to this floor would probably have an IC card and would know the passcode. And we can steal them.”

Nami and Sistia didn’t object.

They decided to lie in wait on the top floor. And if anyone came—

At this moment, Snow and Sun rocked from its foundation—following a huge explosion.

It came from outside the window. With a flash of light, the detonation echoed from the ground level, piercing their eardrums.

“Wh-what?! An explosion…?”

“From outside?!”

It was enough to shake the windows. The grounds outside filled with dense black smoke and sparks carried off by the billowing wind.

Was it a bombardment? The flames were too powerful for them to confirm.

“Hey, you didn’t tell us about this.” Jhin ran to the window. “Who did that and what were they after?”

“I—I don’t know! This deviates from our plans!” shouted one of the attendants.

“What is that?” Iska caught a glimpse of something in the blast.

It hadn’t been light from the flames. It seemed to twinkle and melt away in the air in the blink of an eye.

“It’s astral energy!”

Did that mean the explosion had been caused by astral power?

So, an astral mage had attacked this base. It seemed that way from the state of things, at least.

…But wait. It’s not that simple.

…If someone were to do this to the base owned by the Hydra, they’d become an enemy of the royal family.

Even Alice hadn’t been able to do anything recklessly. That was why she had swallowed her pride and asked an Imperial unit to go through with this plan. In which case, how did that explain the explosion below him? Who in the world was it? Who would be bold enough to dare do something so destructive, knowing it would make them an enemy of the Founder’s bloodline?

“…Who is it?”

The warning alarm began to blare. Not a single person could piece together the whole picture. The situation unfurling in Snow and Sun had been unforeseen by Iska—and Talisman.

No one had expected this.

This event diverged from their carefully laid plans. At its source was a grudge harbored by a single man.

“Cheers and applause to mark my arrival.”

The great grounds of Snow and Sun.

The iron fencing had been crushed, unrecognizable now. It was being trampled underfoot by a handsome man with white hair who hopped over it and triumphantly made his entrance.

He had a bold look—wearing nothing but a thick long coat over his otherwise naked chest.

“I was hoping…the head of household would be here. Seems he’s at the palace. Whatever.”

Commanding eyebrows. A sculpted face. The man headed straight into the Hydra’s den, lit majestically by a stage of sparks—tens of thousands of them.

Salinger, the transcendental sorcerer.

He glanced at the soldiers running toward him.

The man who had once bared his teeth at Nebulis Queen VII declared as flames raged behind him, “Kneel. I’ll only let you live if you bow your head to me.”