Ch.593Side Episode – Camilla’s Bizarre Adventure

Has there ever been such an absurd moment in my life?

In the Kiyen Empire, where social control is at its extreme, especially in the strictly regulated North, to think that a secret organization would operate so brazenly.

Committing acts so evil that only demons would dare.

“…Am I supposed to believe that?”

Camilla tilted her head skeptically.

“It’s the absolute truth! This is clearly a conspiracy meticulously planned and executed by villains seeking to overthrow the Empire!”

There are supposedly all kinds of people in the world, but this fellow must be severely delusional.

The professor stared at the security officer, who kept asserting his claims with conviction, with an expressionless gaze.

Like a doctor consulting with a patient who firmly believes that vaccines will allow Bill Gates to control their brain.

As if watching to see how long he would keep ranting.

Well… seeing him so adamant makes it hard to completely dismiss the possibility.

But still, isn’t this all a bit too far-fetched?

“Um, Professor…? I know it’s not my place, but do we really need to hear more of this?”

“I agree, this seems like a waste of time.”

Alexandra Petrova brushed herself off, showing no regret about making this pointless trip.

“Claims without evidence are nothing but empty words. If you truly care about the Empire’s future, you should face the reality…”

Just then,

A single statement from the security officer caught the Archmage’s attention.

“I have evidence!”

The gazes of master and disciple locked in midair.

Side Episode – Camilla’s Bizarre Adventure

The roaring engine sound seemed to shake the world.

On a mountain road in the North. The vehicle raced down the winding steep slope before reaching an icy highway.

As snowflakes tapped against the window, the military vehicle resembling a jeep kept rattling as it turned onto the opposite road.

The engine noise, still running, filled the foothills.

The driver shifted to neutral and cautiously said, “We’ve arrived.”

-Thud, thud…

Guards approached the vehicle. They appeared to be a group of soldiers.

They brought lanterns close to the windows, shining lights here and there to search the interior.

As the yellowish-white lights scattered chaotically across the frost-covered windows, Camilla instinctively furrowed her brow while carefully examining the guards’ appearance.

Epaulet jackets and boots. Black military caps without any insignia.

They didn’t quite look like soldiers, but

the items slung over their shoulders were definitely automatic rifles.

“Identity confirmed.”

As the guard who adjusted his weapon opened the door, mysterious silver hair began to flutter.

“I’ve told you countless times not to do this. Even after decades, you still insist on these useless formalities.”

The Grand Duchess’s face showed clear displeasure at the excessive ceremony.

As she stepped out of the car and brushed off the settled snowflakes while muttering quietly, Camilla’s bright, curious eyes surveyed the foothills.

A building standing alone in the rugged mountain valley.

The eerie atmosphere surrounding it made it look exactly like a secret base.

The solitary facility seemed less like an observatory that had moved to a remote location to avoid pollution, and more like something built with the intention of escaping public attention.

Though the specific reason for its construction in such difficult terrain remained unclear, Camilla chose not to dwell on that aspect.

Perhaps she instinctively knew that taking interest would entangle her in troublesome matters.

Her curiosity was directed elsewhere.

The rising curiosity was like a kind of thirst that she could hardly bear without satisfying it.

“Why did you come here?”

Camilla, who had been looking around, scratched the back of her neck and asked.

“You said we were going to see evidence. Is that evidence here?”

Could they uncover the details of this mysterious conspiracy in this remote mountain valley? That was what Camilla wondered about.

Alexandra Petrova, who had been standing silently despite the biting wind, gave a slight nod to her disciple’s question.

“You’ll know soon. Is the director inside?”

“Here I am.”

The moment the ruler of the North called, the facility’s supervisor appeared before the two mages.

He was a man in an impressive black coat.

Like the guards, the man in the coat wore no identification badge. He seemed to have neither the identity nor the affiliation that a civil servant would typically need to prove.

Finding something oddly familiar about his stiff appearance, Camilla began to stare suspiciously at the man.

“You seem to be a new face.”

Alexandra Petrova, pulling out her gloves, gave him an expressionless look. It was a silent gaze demanding he identify himself, and the man finally stood at attention.

He saluted the Grand Duchess of the North.

“I am the Security Commander currently serving as Acting Director of Nikolayevsk Detention Facility No. 3.”

“Security Commander? I remember personally appointing the facility director, yet I see an unfamiliar face.”

“I was assigned to the North just this year, so it’s understandable that Your Highness wouldn’t recognize me.”

The man who introduced himself as coming from the military security unit clarified that he was the temporary acting director of the detention facility.

“The previous director who commanded this facility has been summoned to the Imperial Capital. During his absence, according to military law, I am temporarily in charge of this detention facility.”

Camilla and Alexandra Petrova moved inside the facility through a heavy iron door. The acting director and security commander greeted them with a respectful attitude.

As she watched the man in the coat leading the way, Camilla spoke to the Grand Duchess in a low voice.

“What is Detention Facility No. 3, Professor?”

“Novo Nikolayevsk Detention Facility No. 3. It’s a custody facility for special criminals.”

“Special criminals?”

“Generally referring to heinous offenders.”

Serial killers, cannibals, terrorists, and so on.

As the Grand Duchess said, those imprisoned here were clearly special criminals. However, it seemed that not all who came here were simply lawbreakers.

“All those who threaten the Empire’s security are detained in this facility. The underground fortress below was built hundreds of years ago, and even teleportation magic is blocked by the rock layers imbued with strange magical power, making escape impossible even in dreams.”

The Archmage spoke with a matter-of-fact expression.

Camilla understood without difficulty. Or rather, she guessed.

That the category of ‘criminals who threatened the Empire’s security’ would also include political prisoners.

And,

that the ‘evidence of conspiracy’ she was about to face would probably belong to that category as well.

*

“It really was true.”

As the professor had said, the detention facility was underground.

It was at an unimaginably immense depth for something supposedly built hundreds of years ago, and so vast that voices echoed.

The wise Archmage’s words were indeed not false. Even simple magic quickly lost its power here.

Flick, only a faint flame rose from her fingertips like a burner running out of fuel.

Even that instantly extinguished and turned to smoke, making it more accurate to say it was spat out rather than bloomed.

“When have I ever lied to you? Why can’t you trust what your master says?”

“Well… I thought you were exaggerating.”

“Honestly.”

Alexandra Petrova let out a disgruntled sigh. Her face seemed to ask why Camilla had to test it for herself.

With an awkward smile, Camilla scratched her head sheepishly, trying to hide her goosebump-covered arms.

Though it had been less than three years since she began learning magic, she had always felt confident in her magical abilities.

Whether fighting desert sorcerers for survival, burning demons trying to devour the North, or felling blood-drinking trees.

Magic had always been a great help, a weapon, and a wild card that could turn situations around.

But today was the first time she couldn’t properly use that magic.

She finally felt a chill. The thought of being imprisoned here filled her with dread.

Why did people of the past create such a facility?

The one who provided a clear answer to Camilla’s private wonderings was none other than her master.

“It’s a product of the era when we were at war with the demon race.”

“…The Magical Border Conflict?”

“No. Not a conflict, but a war. It’s history from over hundreds of years ago.”

The Archmage, who had protected the North from the demon race for 100 years, began to carefully trace the history of conflict she knew.

“Demons have always used magic superior to humans. From ancient times, magic was a unique characteristic of the demon race, and they used it as a weapon to stand above humans. Throughout the Age of Knights.”

The Archmage, walking with her hands behind her back like taking a stroll, recited like a sage from a novel.

“The reason we mages were branded as witches, devil worshippers, and heretics in the barbaric age was because of the demons. Using magic with a human body was interpreted as being connected to the demon race in some form. Naturally, the Papal Office had no choice but to be wary of mages.”

“Was this facility built then? This place?”

“Yes. This fortress was built during that barbaric and knightly age to defend the North against the external threat of demons.”

She said it wasn’t built solely for defensive purposes.

“I’ve heard that when demons invaded, the residents of the North would take refuge in this fortress along with the soldiers. Countless such fortresses were built as the Empire’s history began. Of course, only a few have survived.”

“So it was like an underground city, a catacomb.”

“An underground city. Now that I hear it, that’s an apt expression. Though I don’t know what a catacomb is.”

The fortress, once built to defend against external threats, now seemed to be used to imprison enemies.

The underground city, like Burj Khalifa turned upside down, had countless caves and rooms, and what was once used by residents and soldiers was now utilized as a prison for heinous criminals.

As she walked down the stairs along the wall, Alexandra Petrova suddenly asked the man in the coat who had volunteered to guide them.

“Now that I’m here, I suddenly wonder. Is that thief behaving himself?”

“If you’re referring to the ‘Magic Thief,’ then yes.”

Magic Thief?

Camilla was puzzled by this peculiar modifier.

“Who is that?”

“Literally a thief who steals magic. His name is Periton.”

“Steals it?”

Could magic really be stolen? She couldn’t understand how that would work, but to be imprisoned in this fortress, it must have been an unusually heinous method.

Sure enough, the method of the Magic Thief that the Archmage revealed was atrocious even to Camilla’s ears.

“It’s common sense that one’s magic cannot be taken away, either physically or magically. But that fellow used a special magical tool to extract mages’ hearts and steal their magic.”

“…Their hearts?”

Alexandra Petrova placed her finger on her chest and flicked it as if pulling a trigger.

“Ugh… Where on earth did he get such a magical tool?”

“He didn’t make it, he acquired it.”

The acting director of the detention facility, who was descending the stairs with a lantern, calmly spoke up.

“During his time as an adventurer, he discovered a forgotten witch’s workshop and found it there. I’m not sure if this expression is appropriate for someone from 457 years ago, but the workshop’s owner would have been wanted as a black mage by today’s standards.”

“The witch probably died without ever using the magical tool she had meticulously designed? She never would have guessed it would end up in a mage’s hands 400 years later.”

Camilla hopped down a landing and asked again.

Why was the Magic Thief who acquired and misused that magical tool imprisoned in the North?

To this, the Grand Duchess answered.

“He’s here because I caught him.”

“You caught him, Professor? How?”

“I heard about someone with the strange talent of using various magics, so I went to find him, and there he was. He asked me for a duel, saying he still had much to learn, then suddenly tried to extract my heart.”

“So what did you do?”

“I stabbed a flame spear into his chest and shattered both his legs. Even teleportation magic requires intact legs.”

It was a truly absurd story. Both the Magic Thief who suddenly tried to extract a heart, and the Archmage who fractured someone’s legs without knowing who they were.

Honestly, it’s hard to tell who the black mage is.

Anyway, that Magic Thief was now imprisoned somewhere here.

Wearing specially made restraints to prevent magic use, serving a life sentence without parole, waiting only for death.

The explanation followed that this was also why they used lanterns instead of flashlights.

“Some of the heinous criminals detained in this facility can use magic. That’s why no magical tools or any machinery operated by magical batteries are allowed into the detention area. I’ve heard this regulation changed after several escape attempts occurred in the past.”

The acting director, illuminating the darkness with his lantern, shared what he had heard from the facility director.

It was an answer to the Grand Duchess’s question.

“The Magic Thief’s cell is currently being maintained without any issues. I’ve heard he occasionally provides consultation on special crimes at the request of the Magic Department.”

“Quite the model prisoner.”

Just as Alexandra Petrova let out an amused chuckle, there was a sound.

Drrrr, a side iron door opened, and several people emerged into the corridor. It was a group of people pushing and pulling mobile trays.

At first, Camilla thought they were guards, but they were all wearing civilian clothes. Having passed several guards in uniform on the way down, Camilla instinctively sensed.

Ah, these people are not guards.

“……”

From the group moving along the wall, Camilla could catch several distinctive elements.

For instance, tools like pliers visible under the white cloth covering the tray.

Or things like compression devices in baskets on the lower shelf.

“……”

As she stared at the group passing by silently, she felt a warm touch gently on her skin.

It was the Grand Duchess.

“Let’s go.”

With her hand placed on Camilla’s, she walked forward without looking back.

It wasn’t a forceful grip.

Nevertheless, Camilla couldn’t let go of the hand holding hers.

“……”

Her heart, which had momentarily swelled at the Archmage’s story about the Magic Thief, seemed to sink. It felt like being thrown back into reality.

Camilla matched her steps with the Grand Duchess’s lead and pondered.

Does a purely enjoyable adventure actually exist in reality?

The gloomy yet dreamlike atmosphere, or the catharsis of hard-boiled confrontations that shatter conspiracies head-on.

Though uncertain, such concerns probably weren’t important right now.

“This is the special unit.”

“……”

The acting director walking ahead said.

As the name suggested, the area was more heavily guarded than other detention units.

The guards occasionally seen elsewhere were armed with firearms here instead of batons.

Searchlights mounted on the ceiling poured sharp light in all directions, and heavily armed guards stood at regular intervals in a space with no blind spots.

The Archmage, looking around, spoke with evident puzzlement.

“I heard from the head of the Security Bureau that the suspects were kept in ordinary detention units?”

“That’s correct.”

The Security Commander nodded with a stern expression.

“That was the case until just a few hours ago.”

He gestured to call over the guards and took out a key hanging around his neck.

The guard captain who came from the post also took out a key hanging around his neck.

The two men inserted their keys into the upper and lower grooves, and without any signal, turned them simultaneously. Then, before the door opened, they quickly retrieved their keys and hastily stepped back.

Guards and officers scattered around gathered in front of the special unit. The forces, lined up as if to block Camilla and the Grand Duchess, aimed their gun barrels at the interior of the special unit.

And…

Camilla saw it.

A massive, thick glass wall that didn’t match the stone prison.

Something squirming in the darkness beyond, as if avoiding the sharp light pouring in.

The members of the underground organization the security officer had mentioned were all sitting calmly on chairs in the prison.

With their chins held high.

With writhing, grotesque lumps of flesh in their mouths.

Like flower pots made of humans.

*

When she came to her senses, she was already back on the surface.

Bile kept rising from her repeatedly turned stomach. She had to rinse her mouth for a long time to combat the rising nausea.

“…Child, are you alright?”

Camilla remained silent for a while, watching the water stream into the sink. Then, after washing her face with water cupped in her palms, she answered in her usual voice.

“Yes. I’m fine.”

“……”

A rustling sound came from beyond the door. It was the sound of shoulders leaning against the doorframe falling away.

Shhhh-

As the water sound continued, a conversation was in full swing outside the bathroom.

The area was quiet due to the remote mountain valley, so the voices of the two people were clearer than ever.

“What were those bizarre things?”

“They are the pre-rebellion detainees arrested recently.”

The Security Commander began in a small voice, as if afraid of being overheard.

Given the nature of the matter, his voice was extremely cautious.

“I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but there have been reports of intelligence about rebels operating covertly in the North.”

“As the blockade prolonged, dissent emerged among the literate class and some university students. Originally, they gathered as a group with the purpose of preserving knowledge. They started by helping Academy students with their studies, then began holding night classes for munitions factory workers.”

“It’s not exactly known when the study group transformed into an underground organization plotting rebellion… But according to the testimonies of arrested members, the atmosphere within the organization began to change roughly as the conflict entered its second year. There was a smuggler who supplied school supplies, and several executives who frequently contacted him began mentioning revolution…”

“At first, the smuggler provided items helpful for survival like oil, daily necessities, and medicines, but at some point, he brought strange cargo by the pallet. They said they didn’t know the contents themselves…”

“Only a few executives were allowed to access the cargo, and for unspecified reasons, they kept the cargo at their hideout for several days. There are also testimonies confirming that they witnessed the executives returning the cargo to the smuggler later and receiving new cargo…”

Click.

The bathroom door opened.

The Security Commander paused briefly, startled by the small sound, but soon resumed speaking after confirming it was Camilla coming out.

Camilla looked at the Grand Duchess who was in conversation with him.

“…I see.”

She nodded in response to the other person’s words while keeping her gaze fixed on Camilla.

“To think such things happened while I was away from the North. But why have these people transformed like that?”

“We don’t know either. But they were certainly normal until they were arrested by the Imperial Police Security Department and brought here after a brief interrogation.”

“So they became like that after arriving here.”

“Yes, Your Highness. That’s correct.”

Alexandra Petrova’s expression was dark.

Though she was nodding as if she understood, her face showed considerable confusion.

She seemed somewhat troubled.

“Was there anything unusual?”

“According to the testimonies of the unit members dispatched for escort, their condition deteriorated rapidly as they approached the facility. Some resisted entering, showing a level of strength that was hard to believe for people who had seemed too weak to hold a spoon just moments before… The guards explained similarly.”

“And yet it didn’t occur to anyone that something was strange.”

“I apologize. Since many criminals typically resist upon arrival here…”

Alexandra Petrova quietly looked at him. This was probably the first time since coming back to the surface.

That she had turned her gaze to someone else.

“We’ll hear the details later.”

The Archmage sighed faintly and gathered her coat.

Alexandra Petrova’s gaze followed the retreating figure as it flung open the door and left.