Chapter 35
The morning after repelling the raid. The excavation base, having seen its first battle, was steeped in fatigue.
"Move the machine-gun rounds to where the knights are. They'll handle the rearming themselves."
"Move the dead bodies inward! Put anything that might help with identification in there too!"
Nine corpses were loaded onto the convoy truck bound for headquarters. Judging by the wounds, they hadn't died fighting goblins but in a friendly-fire accident.
"I knew we needed maintenance staff, but I didn't expect you to co yourself."
"The techs are already assigned. I'm here for sothing else."
Ren, in a sleeveless shirt and uniform trousers, stepped down from the convoy truck and was greeted by Yaan.
She walked toward the pile of goblin corpses in the corner, dipped a finger into the blood of one, and sared it on her fingertip.
"What are you doing?"
"Analyzing the composition."
Ren's pupils flicked left and right as she gave the curt reply.
Watching her irises expand and contract like cara lenses, Yaan was once again reminded-physically-that she wasn't human.
"As expected. It's human tech."
"What?"
Yaan's face twisted at the unexpected answer. While Ren wiped the blood from her finger with a handkerchief she'd pulled from her trouser pocket, she spoke.
"There's a stimulant compound in the blood. A component neither Alfraia nor the Empire can synthesize."
"There were reports of red eyes-was that from the drug too?"
"Strictly speaking, it's not a drug."
"Not a drug?"
Ren rose and approached Yaan.
"The genetic information in the blood isn't goblin. They didn't inject a drug-they transfused blood."
"Blood laced with drugs?"
"Yes. Elf blood mixed with drugs and nanomachines."
Needle marks dotted the goblins' bodies.
And the carvings surrounding those marks suggested the transfusion had been perford with the solemnity of a religious rite.
"Nanomachines-you an they were injected with the Key's blood?"
"It was pre-processed before injection. The blood's narcotic transformation is a side effect."
"So the original purpose wasn't narcotic?"
Ren turned to look at Yaan when he pressed the point.
"The stimulant component is a mutated by-product of the goblin blood rejecting the injected nanomachines. The injector's intent lies elsewhere."
"Which is?"
"Re-creating the blood of ancient humanity."
'Just like you standing right before now! It ans you've been recognized as the Creator's successor!'
Recalling Rael's crazed laughter, Yaan grimaced.
"Then these goblins are effectively test subjects."
"Exactly."
Having grasped the full picture, Yaan exhaled deeply.
The one saving grace was that Rael still couldn't handle the weapon called Tauros.
"If they can run experints on this scale without interference, the forest elves must be cooperating with Rael."
Muttering that, Yaan looked over the pile of goblin corpses.
Roughly ten thousand goblins had attacked.
If all of them had been transfused, the volu of blood required would be enormous.
How on earth had they procured that blood-Key blood, no less?
"Company commander!"
Yaan's gaze shifted toward the voice calling him-Dandel.
"Report just ca in: we captured one goblin alive. It's asking for you, sir."
"A goblin wants to be interrogated?"
One had actually survived that chaos?
And a low-caste goblin had specifically asked for him?
The report was absurd, yet it piqued his interest. Perhaps he could learn Rael's whereabouts.
"Looking for ?"
Under the watch of Greyhound squad mbers, the trembling goblin let out a shriek-half cheer, half scream-the mont Yaan arrived.
"Keeek! Keeek! Human! Different sll! Guest!"
"Huh. Goblins have a concept of guests?"
The ones he'd killed daily for ten years had never shown any such thing.
As Yaan thought that, the goblin spoke.
"Forest goblins know! When the guest cos, we protect! Must protect the guest!"
"Then why did those guys attack ?"
"The guest who ca to the forest said so! Said there's a human pretending to be a guest!"
Guest?
Puzzled, Yaan suddenly recalled the blood he'd taken and let out a dry laugh.
"Ha. So that's how he slipped in."
He now understood how Rael had managed to amass forces inside the forest.
"Let's go."
"Go where?"
Ren tugged at Yaan's collar and he asked back.
"Another preservation facility. The elf called Rael gained tech by moving between them. We need to follow the trail."
"Those facilities are mostly managed by elf-village residents. If our company leaves now, we won't stop the next invasion."
Ren wasn't the only one thinking of moving to another village.
Hearing Yaan, Ren slowly shook her head and spoke.
"Just the two of us-you and ."
"If I leave, what about Glaepnir?"
"With your authority we can use it as a fixed turret. That's more efficient right now."
Yaan folded his arms, lost in thought.
The operation was risky, but if Rael succeeded in his experints while they defended the excavation base, the consequences would be worse.
'From the start this whole setup is Rael's trap. We have to leave and shake the board.'
Reaching that conclusion, Yaan nodded to Ren.
"Fine. Let's go."
As if she'd expected that, Ren pulled sothing from her trousers pocket and handed it to him.
"What's this?"
In her hand was an exquisitely crafted elf ear.
"Disguise."
***
"Ughhh, I'm so sleepy I could die."
The border guard post of the northeastern elf village.
An elf, stepping out into the chilly dawn air, began his patrol with a languid yawn.
"You hear? About ten more from the western village showed up."
"So how many's that now? And the ones from the other villages keep living in that mansion."
"Yeah. They say they pray to the Creator."
"I'm so jealous. If I had that bloodline I'd be living in luxury too."
The two elves giggled and traded jokes.
Rustle-
But the mont the sound ca from the forest, they pricked their ears and aid their guns.
"Who goes there!"
A shadowy elf figure erged from the trees. Hard to see the face under the shade, but he raised his hands overhead and stared at them.
"Challenge phrase! Rifle!"
One of the elves shouted for confirmation.
Yet the figure glanced around and imdiately bolted back into the forest.
"Hey! Hey!"
"Forget it. Don't shoot. If we hit him by accident who knows what trouble we'll get."
The elf who stopped his shouting comrade twisted his lips and said.
"So villages refused guests, claiming they couldn't trust them. They're probably from one of those."
"Hah, so now they're sneaking around looking for a place that'll take them in?"
"They'll open fire and then try to squeeze whatever they can out of us. I hear so villages are cooperating with the Empire."
"Ugh, that's low. Don't they have any pride?"
Soon the two elves' chatter grew lively with news from other villages. Before long they had completely forgotten the shadow that had erged from the forest.
And a little later, the shadow spotted the young elves returning from their night hunt and approached them.
"Hm? Who's that?"
The elves, strings of martens slung from their shoulders, looked puzzled at the figure that had appeared from a dark corner of the forest.
"Rifle."
The shadow spoke softly.
"What, patrol?"
"Doesn't recognize us. Must be reinforcents from another village."
While they chattered among themselves, the shadow addressed them once more.
"Rifle."
With a grunt the elf reluctantly gave the countersign.
"Shell! Happy now?"
At the reply the shadow nodded and motioned for them to pass.
"From the Black Forest? Why won't you show your face?"
So speaking, the elves hurried on toward the village.
Watching them recede, the shadow sighed quietly and stepped into the sunlight, revealing his form.
"Those pointy-eared brats, no progress at all. No wonder the other villages are riddled with holes."
"Irregulars with only basic training. That's the norm."
Having learned every challenge and countersign, Yaan shook his head and moved on to the next village.
"Halt, halt! Rifle!"
"Shell."
Confirming the telepathic challenge from the large village, the elf nodded and let them in.
"Never seen you before. Guest from another village?"
"No, from further back. I'm from the Church."
So saying, Yaan and Ren entered the village.
In the middle of the night the village was busy dressing the martens they had hunted.
"What brings you here?"
When an old elf asked, Yaan answered.
"We've co seeking the Creator's relic."
"Ah! Judging by your robes, you're pilgrims! Welco!"
Yaan and Ren wore brown monastic habits embroidered with the seal of the Creator Church.
Seeing them, the elder raised a hand and pointed to a corner of the village.
There stood a door to a facility smaller than Rana's village.
Unlike the ruin they had seen before, the door stood open.
"The door is open?"
"Thanks to our guest! Our village shaman's blood opened it, but it would close right away. The guest splashed sacred blood and it stayed open!"
"Oh?"
Yaan's eyes lit up at those words.
Ren, beside him, asked the old woman.
"Then where is that shaman now?"
At that the kindly old woman smiled and spoke.
"She went to the guest. They took her, saying she would et the Creator. Truly heaven has blessed us."
"Then where are the guest and the shamans?"
"All went to the large village. Not only ours, but the shamans from the next village and the village after that all went to the guest."
Hearing the old woman, Yaan nodded.
'So that's how they secured the blood for the keys.'
After giving the distant old woman a perfunctory wave, Yaan and Ren entered the ruin.
As Ren touched the wall of the ruin a screen appeared before her.
"Facility QE-33. Preserved items: basic seed modification thods and samples."
"Agricultural products?"
"Yeah. They withered when the ruin was first opened centuries ago. The modification script is in a language different from Elvish, and the samples can't be restored."
"They erased the clue that could have solved the village's food shortage right in front of us."
Conversely, it ant Rael had used this knowledge to build his power.
The footage showed seeds that sprouted in two hours and yielded harvest in a week.
The elves, starving, would have welcod it with open arms.
"So the other villages were shown ruins like this, and in exchange received Ancient tech."
The data before them was knowledge that could revolutionize Imperial agriculture.
Had it been weapon blueprints or manufacturing thods, in a few generations Janskarl might have beco an arms exporter.
"I should have killed him then."
Why hadn't he pulled the trigger?
If he and Rana had shot Rael together, everything would have been easier.
'Yaan! Let's hide this and eat it later!'
'The chef gave it to to eat! It's delicious!'
Whenever he thought of Rana, her face surfaced alongside it.
To pull the trigger on that image of Yanika was impossible for him.
"Yaan."
Startled from his thoughts by the voice calling him, Yaan turned toward the source.
"Don't regret what's already over."
Looking at Ren's resolute face, Yaan slowly nodded.
"Find anything?"
"I checked the search logs. What Rael's looking for is human blood samples or information about its composition."
"Which ans he hasn't yet managed to recreate the blood of the Ancients."
With that thought, Yaan checked the pistol and flare in his pocket.
"We know the situation and Rael's location. The operation is a success."
"What now? Straight back and storm the village?"
"That would feel good. But..."
The village elves who revered Rael as "the guest."
After studying their faces, Yaan spoke to Ren.
"If I kill him like this, Rael becos a martyr. If we shoot a religious leader without cause, the elves of this forest will turn against the Empire for real."
If the Great Forest of Kerdan, the bridgehead to the Church, beca hostile, the entire central front could ignite.
Then his day of reaching the capital would be delayed even further.
.
His goal was the fall of the Belkuth family.
To achieve it he needed to reach the capital and be knighted.
Knighting required deeds and achievents to back it up. Killing Rael rashly and harming the Empire would tarnish his record.
"Before I kill Rael, I must destroy his status as 'the guest.'"
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