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Back when Natalia encountered the first Shiki near the shrine, there was also a strange light shining deep within the forest housing the inner sanctum. It was a magic circle with a square frame within, but its shape was foreign to any magician, beginner or experienced. But that was to be expected, as this was a spell that had been created recently.

That square was used to display what was happening in locations far away, and currently it was showing Ryuka dancing within the inner sanctum. The creator of that spell and the only one who knew how to use it, Itski, watched that with curiosity.

“I see. So this is how the mana of this area is bound. Traveling all the way here was worth it after all.” As he watched through the spell, he realized that the kagura performance itself was also a form of magic.

“An ability activated through movements is closer to an Art… But ah, I guess in this world they don’t really make such distinctions.” Speaking to himself, he turned around and took out a gun from his pocket, and fired it into a nearby thicket without hesitation.

Together with a loud bang, the magic bullet shoots out.

“Why would you ever attack right away?” An adventurer from Seperion, Melody Enchantress Shirley, walked out of the thicket. She had taken it upon herself to spread the word about Olivia’s work, and she had arrived at Reibana through another route.

“It’s your fault for snooping around like that. Still, I was sure that shot would kill you, I’m surprised you avoided it.”
“Heheh, well I’m more knowledgeable than you’d think.”

Shirley had been using her Servants, insect monsters, to gather all sorts of information, which included Natalia’s magic guns. So she instantly knew what Itski was going to do when he aimed his gun at her.

“So anyway, who even are you? You kinda look like someone from Reibana, but that’s not quite it, is it?
“Do you really think I’ll tell you?”

“Not really, you seem like an enemy after all.” Saying that, Shirley took out her lute from her magic storage and placed her fingers on the strings. “You’ll die here.”

Together with a soft melody, countless bugs appeared from the shadows of the night. Beetles with sharp horns, wriggling centipedes with long legs, and wasps with poisonous stingers. At first sight, they simply looked like oversized insects, but each of them was powerful enough to defeat an entire party of average adventurers.

And all of them obeyed Shirley’s commands through her music, closing in on Itski.

“Oh, I’ll have to reject that offer.” But Itski did not seem to run. Instead, a black rift opened behind him, and he just stepped back into it.

The bugs attempted to follow him inside, but the rift closed right after with so much force that the bugs were torn apart.

“He got away, huh. He’s not too far…oh, he just got further away. I have no idea how he’s doing it, but I guess he’s just using the same spell over and over.”

Itski needed a lot of assistance and help if he wanted to teleport from one country to another, but he could travel shorter distances instantly. By doing that repeatedly, he was able to escape from Shirley.

“Hmm, I wonder where he learned that spell. But his weapon… I thought only the Ebony Witch had created those types of weapons before, so exactly what’s going on here?”

Since Shirley was constantly observing Olivia, it was unavoidable that she had also learned a thing or two about Ophelia. And so she knew that Ophelia had only built three magic guns when she was alive, and all of them were currently in Natalia’s possession.

It was possible that someone could have reverse engineered them, but doing that would have taken much more time, and not even Annabelle and Natalia, who had access to Ophelia’s research, had attempted to create more.

But the truth of the matter was something Shirley could not even imagine. Itski’s gun was completely unrelated to Ophelia, and he had created it on his own thanks to the knowledge he had from his past life.

And Natalia was also able to use alchemy within her magic storage, so she would be able to make a gun without anyone seeing it. She obviously did not have the skill necessary to make one on par with Ophelia’s creations, but making a basic gun was possible for her.

“Should I look into it more, or should I focus on my main task, what to do hmm… I think I’ll submit a report first.” Shirley looked annoyed at everything she needed to do as she turned around and left the hillside, where she stood alone now.

I run through the forest, relying on the moonlight to see the way forward. Ruri keeps her katana ready, and I also have my magic blades. A moment after we run past a Shiki, its head flies into the air spinning.

“I see you’ve gotten used to it by now.”
“I mean, it’s not too hard. That’s the weakness of all undead monsters.”

Decapitating an undead is basically the most cliche way of defeating an undead monster.

I tried tackling a Shiki earlier, and it was at least as strong as an ogre. They don’t seem to feel any pain, and their wounds heal really quickly. But their bodies are only slightly more resilient than a human’s. So unless they all gang up on me, I can defeat them without much issue.

“I hate that I can’t use my guns though.”

Back when I fought the Shaman Ape, I was able to get rid of the corpses it puppeteered with incendiary rounds from Black Hawk, but I can’t do that now. We’re trying to sneak in secretly, and the explosions from incendiary rounds would be way too loud. I just have to continue using my magic blades.

“How do you guys usually deal with all these Shiki when they’re so numerous?” As we continue running, I start to wonder about that.

“I told you, entry to the forest is restricted. The locals never get close, and the Shiki almost never make it out. There’s also Urado-Mori lookouts all around the forest, so no one gets attacked.”

Something feels off about what she just said.

The Shiki are like zombies that multiply by infecting people, so if they’re more numerous then it has to mean that a lot of people also entered the forest to begin with. But according to Ruri, no one goes to the forest, and usually there aren’t any victims either.

Then where did all these Shiki come from?

Maybe there are other ways for them to increase in number, though I doubt they have the capability to reproduce amongst themselves. Either way, something is missing.

Maybe there’s still unknown aspects to the Shiki, or maybe Ruri isn’t telling me the truth.

“What’s wrong?”

No, Ruri wouldn’t lie to me in a situation like this. I have to trust her, even if I feel like things aren’t adding up yet.

“Never mind. Is the inner sanctum nearby?”
“We’re almost there. We just had to go the long way around to avoid being seen by anyone else!”

Ruri uses her katana, Shisui, to cut the nearby Shiki into three. After a short while, we came out to a clearing. The inner sanctum was there, being smaller than Tatsuhiro Shrine, but still having a solemn air to it.

Ryuka was standing silently atop a platform there.

“Is that you, Ruri?”

A low but somehow really imposing voice reached us. The one who spoke was a man sitting on the edge of the platform in front of Ruri. Somehow, I didn’t even notice he was there until he spoke, but now I feel like it’d be impossible to miss him.

“Milord, why are you here…”

Milord? Does that mean he’s the head of the Urado family then? That would make him Ryuka’s father too.

“I thought you were supposed to be accompanying our guests. And instead you bring one of them here of all places.”
“I…”

Not even Ruri could talk back when addressed that way by her employer.

“Well, no matter. Just don’t get in the way.” Ryuka’s father says that, and then turns around to look at Ryuka. “Ryuka, is it done yet?”

“I’m already here, Tatsumasa.” Ryuka raises her face and replies. “I have to say, I feel rather hot. Probably from the dance earlier.”

Saying that, Ryuka unties her beautiful braids, letting her hair fall loose, and then takes off the upper half of her shrine maiden robes, revealing her chest wrapped in white bandages.

Wait what? Something’s strange with her. I doubt she’d ever refer to her father by name, and she’s not the kind of person to expose herself that way.

“Lady Ryuka…” Ruri also notices that, and just barely manages to call out to her.

“You…right, you’re the Urado-Mori tasked with serving Ryuka.”

That’s even stranger. She’s talking like she’s reminding herself of who Ruri is, and Ryuka would never do that. It’s almost like Ryuka has turned into a completely different person.

Soon enough, her own words would confirm that this was indeed the case.

“I’m Urado Tsuebe. But for you…” Ryuka stands up straight on the platform, glaring at us while declaring loudly. “I’m Dracula. The impaler, Vlad Tepes¹.”

1. Robinxen: Well… imaginative name.