EP.167 Black Cat Neru
The back alleys of Sector 14 are always filled with acrid smoke.
The wind blows from the west and flows to the east. Humans swimming in the air are not free from that flow either. All the foul odors, dust, and unspeakable filth that humans exhale flow eastward, outward, following the wind.
The massive incineration plant that exists in Sector 14 was the gathering point of all that filth.
When large automated wagons loaded with garbage enter, they flow along the road and dump the garbage into a massive pit. Then laborers, dressed in rags barely different from the garbage itself, burn what must be burned, and load what must be buried into containers to send along the Meta Conveyor Belt.
Occasionally, when a rotting corpse appears from within the garbage pile, the laborers, despite gagging, send it into the incinerator.
The reason is simple. Corpses burn.
About 45 minutes later, amidst the pitch-black stench, a scent of roasting meat wafts through.
The single drop of transparent liquid that forms at the corner of a laborer's mouth upon smelling that scent—is it drool, or is it stomach acid?
The rough exhale of the heavy city, the harsh cigarette that the weather-beaten Amitengrad puffs away.
From a building where the incineration plant—that burns away once-glorious brilliance and sparkling dreams fairly and cruelly—is clearly visible at a glance.
Main Shadow, Wulfen muttered gloomily while sitting in his chair.
"...The Main has seen true darkness and returned."
Wulfen Penstein.
The past evil that had hidden in the shadows of the Kingdom was muttering in an even more melancholic tone.
"Be humble. We are shadows. Light is our enemy, and true darkness will swallow even shadows. We must know our place and preserve ourselves."
At his words, the Seventh Half Shadow leapt up and shouted.
"Main! You, who should lead us, how can you be so frightened!"
Wulfen looked at the Seventh with turbid eyes. The Seventh Half Shadow stood with ears and tail erect as he spoke.
"While you were away, we suffered internal strife. Because your heart did not stop, we who lost our center could not unite and hid in all directions, slowly withering away! Now that you have returned, you must compensate for our patience!"
"What does the Main wish to compensate with."
"Gather the Half Shadows. Make plans and achieve our former glory! Main, this is something only you can do, and only you must do!"
The resounding cry echoed loudly through the empty conference room.
Was it straight talk, faithful advice, or just venting for years of endurance? The Seventh, who had strongly pointed out to the Main Shadow, was breathing heavily.
Yet Wulfen, without the slightest anger or agitation, merely looked at the Seventh with turbid, sunken eyes.
"Seventh. Have you seen Tantalus?"
"...I have not. But it's merely a prison created by the Military Nation, is it not."
"No. Tantalus is not merely a prison."
The Seventh shuddered seeing Wulfen's emotionless eyes.
Wulfen during the Kingdom's Shadow era was a devil without blood or tears.
Reigning as the tyrant of the back alleys, he would annihilate entire families without changing his expression. He had even assassinated high-flying knights simply for breaking contracts.
Yet no one could stop him.
Wulfen was a shadow. When night fell and the Kingdom sank into darkness, he was nowhere and everywhere at once. The Half Shadows dared not question his power and obeyed him.
After being captured by the Military Nation and imprisoned in Tantalus, that fear had weathered with time, but...
"That place... was truly a wrestling ring of demons, gathered with existences that only the Bottomless Pit could dare contain. The Main's blood was not the Main's, and darkness was not on the Main's side. Power, weapons, life, will. Even faith betrayed the Main... It was a terrible space where common sense was broken and power was tangled."
Now he seemed like an enlightened person, and the Seventh felt fear from that sense of alienation.
It was not terror, but fear and awe toward a being reborn as an unknown existence.
"The Main could look back at himself there. How insignificant and worthless this existence is compared to real monsters. You could say he understood his place before real monsters."
The 20 years imprisoned in Tantalus seemed to have submerged all malice and toxicity, leaving eyes that appeared clear and transparent at first glance.
However, it was merely separated above and below. Deeper within Wulfen's heart, an even stickier, denser malice was surging.
"The red-haired devil asked to go with him. Said he'd give a chance to change the world. But the Main... chose to be the head of a cat rather than the tail of a tiger. Refused his proposal and returned here... The Main will be satisfied as the ruler of this insignificant city."
The Seventh could endure no longer and slammed the desk.
"Main! Watch your words. Are you saying we're cats!"
"Less than that, Seventh."
The Seventh flinched.
Because the voice that had been coming from the chair at the head of the table until just now, at some point was coming from beside his ear.
Just as the startled Seventh tried to raise his arm, a pitch-black blade painted in darkness tore through the shadows and rose.
Stab.
The blade that jumped from the shadows pierced the Seventh's chest. A dry, concise sound rang out. The Seventh's eyes widened.
"Seventh. It seems much time has passed. Where has the body dried tight with hatred gone, leaving only a fat beast... How about it. Did your family welcome you?"
"Cough...! W-why."
Wulfen answered toward the Seventh.
"The Main discovered that you had joined the Family. What, were you worried about them? Afraid that the Main, who has only half become human, would attack them? Were they really your family?"
The Seventh's eyes grew wide. At the same time, his ears and tail stood taut, and terror beyond pain and fear revealed itself throughout his body.
"N-no way. Main, you... Me..."
"A day and a half of tailing is enough..."
"No..."
"There is nothing that cannot be done. The impossible does not exist in this world; the impossible is merely a line drawn arbitrarily by those with power. We who are shadows have no reason to follow it."
Stab.
The sound that was dry when the blade entered was wet when it was pulled out. Red color soaked the darkness. The Seventh looked at the wound on his chest and staggered backward.
Eventually, as if losing strength, the Seventh who was about to collapse while swaying...
At the moment of falling, he gleamed with beastly nature and suddenly charged at Wulfen. Fiercely, as if not caring about the blood gushing from his chest.
"Roar-!"
Sharp claws tore at Wulfen. Not satisfied with that, the Seventh who spat out a beastly roar swept his arms several times as if trying to tear Wulfen to pieces.
The chair caught in the trajectory was smashed, and the desk split and collapsed. Overwhelming and powerful force overturned the conference room.
However.
"Beasts are... this foolish."
The blade jumped out toward the Seventh's chest again.
Whether it was a fatal wound, or because the attack that had exerted all its power was in vain. The Seventh Half Shadow, without much resistance, only vomited blood from the hole in his chest.
Stealth technique that deceives even beastmen famous for their keen senses.
Wulfen drew his dagger. The Seventh knelt this time for sure. Wulfen, who melted into the shadows, appeared before the Seventh again and muttered.
"Dusk, Seventh. Do not worry. The shadow's blade shall not harm your family..."
Muttering, Wulfen left the conference room without even giving the Seventh a glance. Even walking on hard concrete floor, his footsteps were quiet as if a carpet were laid beneath his feet.
"...The taboo-exposed nation shall trample them instead of the Main."
Creak.
While the dead's life flowed out, the door closed with a metallic sound.
When the Kingdom fell and the Military Nation came in, beastmen had great expectations. The hope that all the evil customs of the old era would disappear and beastmen would be treated equally made beastmen's ears perk up.
However, it only proved the fact that changing people's perceptions is harder than changing a nation.
Even with the remnants of the Kingdom gone and the Military Nation extending its power, discrimination against beastmen remained. People still shunned beastmen, and the crime rate of beastmen was higher than that of non-beastmen.
Which came first, the chicken or the egg. Did they commit crimes and lose trust, or were they cornered without reason and had no alternative but crime?
Whatever the reason, beastmen banded together to resist persecution.
That was the background of the beastman organization called Family.
"...The brother we sent for infiltration was found dead."
Jet-black hair with ears and tail not much different. Dark circles had deeply settled under one eye. She wore an eyepatch on her other eye, which combined with the facial features characteristic of black cats, emphasized a decadent aspect.
The representative who, among the Family composed only of beastmen, inherited the characteristics of beasts the most, serving as both the field leader and the face of the organization.
Editor-in-chief of 'Black Cat,' one of the few private magazines in the Military Nation, and a paparazzi who only digs up gossip. Also, a loyal informant to the Military Nation.
Neru, wearing a one-piece dress, sat across from me and slurped fruit juice.
"He was a brother who could use some strength, you know. Hmm. Too bad. What do you think, honey?"
So you're saying they died because the forces you'd hidden were discovered, hmm.
My mind was made up.
"Wow. That's scary. I should run away. Well then, goodbye."
"Honey, where are you going?"
The moment I showed signs of standing up, Neru immediately bared her claws and grabbed the hem of my clothes. Above the table, holes were punched in my sleeve; below the table, sharp claws pulled at my pants.
Is this an interview or a threat?
"Honey. If you've heard information, you should pay the corresponding price?"
"I never asked to be told."
The moment you sat in front of me, I read all your thoughts.
You, who were formerly under the Kingdom's Shadow, say your comrade who joined the Family after the Kingdom fell was killed by a bad guy.
From reading your thoughts, that comrade was said to be a strong one who had achieved heaven and earth. And such a person died without much resistance?
Just how strong is this guy named Wulfen, the Tantalus escapee? What kind of monsters live in Tantalus?
Tch. I don't want to fight. I'm weak in one-on-one fights, you know.
For reference, I'm out of my depth in one-versus-many fights, and many-versus-one fights are beneath my dignity.
Therefore, there's nothing I can do for you.
I tried to hurry up and run away because I was scared, but Neru forcefully held on and wouldn't let go.
Neru smiled and answered.
"I know. But, magicians won't exchange information unless you do this, right?"
"Is this an exchange? You're force-feeding and making them throw up."
"We call that an exchange."
These guys definitely have an influence on why beastmen's reputation keeps getting worse. Especially me. My beastman hatred fills up again today.
Anyway, since I was also in a position to use the Family, I couldn't outright reject them. I sighed and sat back down.
"Honestly, I don't know anything. It's only been three days since I returned to Amitengrad."
I'm on my third day in Amitengrad. I have about the same level of knowledge as a newborn baby born three days ago...
I said this with that meaning, but Neru rather sparkled one eye and showed interest.
"Ah, that's also one of the Family's common questions. Honey, how did you end up dragged to the military police? Does even a monkey fall from a tree sometimes?"
"You roughly know. That bastard Anton betrayed me. I was caught without being able to do anything."
"That's not what I mean. It wouldn't have been easy, but with your abilities, couldn't you have escaped in the middle?"
Ridiculous.
Two military police guarded my side, and I lived wearing a regular restraint suit. When I took off the restraint suit, it was a courtroom packed with ordinary soldiers.
Even if I have telepathy and some slight sleight of hand, my specs themselves are those of an ordinary person. I can't take off the restraint suit by myself, and I don't have the strength to beat down all those soldiers. Me being captured was a natural course.
But if I tell the truth, I'll be looked down on, and being looked down on is an act of shaving off my own lifespan.
I put on maximum bravado.
"If you escape, you immediately become wanted as a major criminal. If you become a major criminal, life becomes harsh, so I just thought I had bad luck and planned to do forced labor."
"Ooh. A magician is really different even among the different?"
'Hehe. A big shot is indeed a big shot. He talks as if escaping would be easy if he just set his mind to it.'
If setting my mind to it worked, I'd have chewed on it multiple times. Would that work?
Escape magic isn't performed with both hands tied and eyes blindfolded either. Magicians are human too, human. It's not that I'm incompetent; the Military Nation went too far.
Perhaps because I bluffed too much, Neru, fully taken in, praised me highly.
"You know? Right when you were caught, there was an escape incident at Tantalus. When I first heard that news, I thought the Military Nation had finally gone mad and thrown you into Tantalus. No one else but you came to mind as someone who could incite Tantalus prisoners and escape."
"Don't say ridiculous things. The timing doesn't match."
"Hehe. Right. You were caught after the Tantalus escape incident. It's a shame, but the chance for you to show a Tantalus escape show has disappeared."
"I didn't wish for one."
This was sincere.
I escaped once and almost died. Do you know a battle where the ground flips and the sky splits and a mountain of corpses collapses? If I did that twice, I wouldn't have any life left.
'Hmm. As expected, flattery doesn't work well?'
It's not flattery, it's the wisdom of someone who's experienced.
Don't enter Tantalus in the first place, please.
"So. Is that all you wanted to ask?"
"No. That was just an appetizer. The real question is... this."
Tap.
Neru set down a short memo note on the table. A short phrase was written like embroidery at the edge of a small handkerchief.
-The Military Nation's taboo. About to be dug into. Investigation needed.
"That's the last message he left. After losing contact with that as the end, when I checked, he was found dead in a building in Sector 14."
"May the deceased rest in peace."
"Thanks, but could you give condolences in the form of condolence money? I'll specially let you pay with information."
Tch, not falling for it.
"What information?"
Neru asked with a bewitching smile.
"The Military Nation's taboo."
"The Military Nation's taboo?"
"How about it. Do you know anything, honey?"
"Well..."
I trailed off.
Because I don't know? No, because I know too much.
How many taboos this damned country has, just last night a walking taboo was sleeping at my house. It was a person who had the obligation to commit suicide the moment they learned the identity of such a secret taboo.
Even the Bottomless Pit was part of the taboo. I think they were planning to use it like a war trigger. That's why they were serious about information control.
Knowing too much is also troublesome. Even if it's a taboo, I need to know what you're referring to in order to answer.
The information broker's dilemma.
"Sigh. You don't know either, honey?"
"It's hard to choose just one."
"I wish you'd tell me everything."
"Then the cost-benefit doesn't balance out."
"Cheapskate. Are we in that kind of relationship?"
"Ah, right. We're not close, are we? Come to think of it, I don't even need to pay condolence money. Goodbye."
Whoosh, tap.
This time I read and deflected the hands and feet Neru was about to extend. I flipped my arm to push away the back of her hand and stepped firmly on the rising instep half a beat earlier.
Rising quickly from my seat in that state, I tried to return without any lingering regrets. Because I had read everything with telepathy, there was nothing more to see.
You're all squeezed dry now.
"Honey, I heard you're living with a military officer lately?"
Until those words reached me.
When I slowly turned my head, Neru was smiling radiantly as if she had caught a weakness.