Leave a comment

The seal was a way for Uzume to verify the veracity of his words. Everything he had said before had been prompted by hypnosis, but now he had spoken willfully, so she had a need to make sure it was true. While Isaac’s sincerity had been proven, Uzume’s voice still rang cold, mercilessly adding, 「I still won’t forgive you though.」

Uzume’s skill had also revealed his intentions though, that Isaac was expecting to lessen the severity of his sentence by revealing what he knew. But noticing that his plan had been noticed, he just forced a bitter smile.

「Well, that’s well and all, but there’s other things I’d like to know. Mind answering?」

Once they had extracted all the information about Chimera’s main base, Mira had other questions she wanted answered, details about the person mentioned by the man in long clothes.

When they had met in the Libra Fortress, Mira thought the conflict between the two groups had started because one revered spirits, making them antagonize Chimera Clauzen above everything. After meeting him again, Mira felt the man in long clothes was pursuing a slightly different goal. His hatred for Chimera Clauzen was not spread throughout all members equally.

Isaac was still sulky after Uzume shot him down, but he happily answered the new questions. Mira saying she’d put in a few words for him seemed to push him in the right direction. Thanks to that, a torrent of new unthinkable information arrived.

It was all about the man named Zele Schedar. He had a wealth of knowledge about spirits, putting his skills to work to help Chimera Clauzen manipulate large amounts of spiritual power, and had a knack for designing weapons and tools imbued with that power as well.

He was living in what looked like a small town, which actually concealed a very large workshop he employed. Most of the time he stayed there, building things in seclusion.

That was everything Isaac knew about Zele Schedar. But Mira would obtain more. There was another man who wanted to get on Mira’s good side as well. Jamal also knew important details, including Zele Schedar’s other role.

「The Spiritual Power Tuner. That’s his biggest accomplishment.」

Uzume and Arlon both glared at Jamal, but he spoke not minding them. A way to tune spiritual power. Finding that had raised Zele Schedar’s position to the top of Chimera Clauzen, and it was the source of Chimera Clauzen’s rapid development. The device had various uses, but one of them was keeping many features of the headquarters working properly.

But for some reason the device itself was not kept in the main base, but in Zele Schedar’s workshop, or a control room below it to be precise. The reason had something to do with ley lines and whatnot, but Jamal did not know the exact details. The important part was that taking the tuner out of commission would utterly cripple the main base’s defenses, making it easier to sneak in.

Or rather, if they left that device untouched, once they reached the main base the defenses would make it hard to get further inside, or in the worst case could destroy all allied forces.

In other words, in order to storm the main base, they had to take out the defenses first.

「Hmm, I see… I guess that place is more important than we thought then. If everything is reliant on it, then we should also send men there, and not hope that man can handle everything alone.」

From what Mira had seen, the man in long clothes was considerably powerful, but if that place was so important, then it was likely heavily guarded as well.

It was very possible that he would use up all his power and be defeated. He was fighting for revenge, so maybe that was a desirable death for him, but destroying that establishment had become a priority for the Fifty Bells as well now, so they could not allow that to happen. And if they delayed their attack, it was likely they would increase the defenses by then.

「Anyway, I know he’s described it as a small village, but that’s only a facade. It’s actually a fort in disguise, all the houses and the residents are all there with the sole purpose of defending the control room. You shouldn’t approach them unprepared.」

Jamal added some last words of wisdom, exhausting his remaining knowledge of the place.

「Is there anything else you’d like to tell us?」

Uzume turned a sharp stare to Isaac and Jamal. Her voice was harsh too, as if she was asking them for any last words.

「Ahh, what should I talk about then? Do you want the names of those involved with backroom deals? Exactly what kind of information do you want? Just ask anything and I’ll say everything I know.」
「Yeah, a more specific question would be helpful.」

Both of them seemed willing to keep talking. Obviously, the only reason why they were so compliant was because of a faint hope of diminishing their penalty. But that mattered little as Uzume’s skill would let her obtain information regardless. Having them speak by themselves was still easier though. The less effort needed the better.

「I have a question then. More or less, how strong are the troops stationed in the main base?」

Arlon asked them that. Knowing the enemy’s strength beforehand was an invaluable asset to achieve victory.

Isaac looked slightly distraught hearing the question, and looked to the side. He knew nothing of the main base, or the entrance, so there was nothing he could say. Jamal on the other hand, had frequently been in and out of the main base, so he even knew the place’s layout. But his response was of no help to Arlon.

He actually did not know. Only five people in total, including the heads, knew the full extent of the defense forces. He had never seen them himself, but he only knew there were Stalward Dolls equipped for combat deployed there.

「Stalward Dolls…those creepy puppets that move by themselves with mana, right?」
「Yeah, those. I saw a bunch of them filling a hall, equipped with all sorts of weapons. I’d estimate there were a thousand or two thousand of them, though I never saw them moving, so I can’t say how powerful they really are. Though I know all their weapons were spirit arms, so I’d estimate they’re at least as powerful as a medium class monster each.」

Stalward Dolls were mostly known for being used by some countries to guard their borders, or to hunt monsters. But two thousand of them moving together formed a rather powerful army.

「Two thousand and with spirit arms huh…that sounds dangerous.」

Arlon was confident he could defeat them in a one on one fight, but being surrounded by just a dozen of them could be tricky already. He forced a smile, but when he looked at Mira and Uzume, he saw they looked completely unbothered, which was slightly reassuring.

Then Jamal spoke again.

「Oh right, one more thing. I overheard one of the engineers, apparently those dolls can move independently, so even if you take out the tuner and control room, they’ll still be active. That’s all I know.」

With that, there was nothing more to add to the topic. Uzume’s seal still did not react, signaling he was telling the truth. In other words, in order to storm the main base, they would need to find a way to fight against those dolls. Arlon promptly began thinking of a strategy.

(Hmm, two thousand dolls he said? I won’t need to hold back then, this will prove to be a good fight.)

Meanwhile Mira was relieved hearing that. She still had an aversion against harming other human beings, even if they were members of Chimera Clauzen. But the main base was defended by lifeless dolls, so she would have much more peace of mind than having to worry about needlessly harming someone.

Uzume looked the same the entire time, silently listening to everything Jamal said. Meanwhile Isaac simply muttered 「Huh, that’s interesting」, as if it did not concern him at all.

Once they knew everything they wanted, they left Isaac and Jamal in Mattie’s hands as prisoners, and left the Fifty Bells branch. They headed back to the inn where Sero and the others waited, so they could update each other on what they found out.