Chapter 561

Ellen seemed peaceful as she slept, without any worries or concerns. But it was only for a moment, as she began to suffer and sweat coldly. She would inevitably have nightmares, whether intentionally caused by Ailee or not. It could be because of the vengeful spirits trying to swallow her, or the many deaths she had witnessed, or her guilt. Ellen couldn't help but have nightmares, and I could do nothing but approach her and crouch down. Strangely enough, just by doing that, Ellen hugged me in her sleep and soon began to breathe evenly. This is animal therapy... or something like that... Of course, it's a bit... too close, maybe. Um... Yes, that's right. * * * The next day, Ellen woke up with cloudy eyes and got up. Ellen looked at me with empty eyes, as if her consciousness had been eroded by something. It wasn't that we couldn't communicate. In fact, I knew that she went on missions like this and always came back safely. Ellen went to the bathroom with her cloudy eyes, washed up, got dressed, and activated the armor stand. With the armor's seams connecting automatically, Ellen put on her magnificent warrior armor. The sun's cloak and the moon's sword were summoned on her shoulders and waist. Ellen left the tent without looking back at me. After repeating these events, will Ellen eventually disappear as the time her consciousness is maintained becomes shorter and shorter? I can't do anything. It's impossible for me to forcibly extract the souls embedded in Ellen's body. Only Lucinil can do that. Not only that, but all the other Lord Vampires of the Council must also be present. And, of course, Lucinil and the other Lord Vampires of the Council will not proceed with the ritual no matter how much I ask. Especially Antirianus, who is sure to refuse or make a fuss. Even if I extract them, someone has to bear the burden of those huge collective spirits. Whether it's in the body of someone who hates me or someone who loves me, it's a problem. The fact that there is only one person in the world who can withstand it, Ellen, does not change. Someday, I will have to risk everything and do something. Hoping to save Ellen at that moment. I watched the back of something that looked like Ellen leaving the barracks without a word of greeting. * * * Ellen left the Royal Class base as soon as morning came. Ellen in that state may seem like a machine, but she doesn't harm or hurt anyone. Even most people don't know what's different. Unless you know Ellen well, who speaks little and silently does what she's told, you wouldn't even know what's strange. I don't know if someday I'll have to fight Ellen or if something has taken over Ellen's body. The preview of the future is me losing to Ellen and Ellen committing suicide in front of my body. I don't even know if that Ellen is really Ellen or if it's Ellen's body possessed by the spirits. I'm doing image training to not lose at that moment, but I'm just losing. If I can win once in reality for the thousands of times I've died in my dreams, that's enough, but I don't know until the situation arises. I'm doing what I have to do, just like whoever is controlling Ellen's body. Ellen's condition isn't serious, but I've seen it deteriorating slightly. I went back to Anna's tent, but it was still empty. I could tell right away if she hadn't returned or if she had left early in the morning. The inside of the tent was no different from what I saw yesterday. Anna didn't come back yesterday. Because of the nature of magic research and experimentation, it's common to stay up all night, and even professional researchers sometimes sleep in the lab. And just like yesterday, the Royal Class students who saw me don't know that Anna is missing and talk about cats instead. And, it's a bit strange that Ellen talks to me and says various things as if she's talking to me. Most of them just pet me or talk to each other when they see me. There is an inevitable limit to information gathering in the form of a beast. That's because questioning is impossible, so I can only collect information in conversations between people. Therefore. If I were in human form, I could ask where Anna went and solve the problem, but because I'm in the form of a cat, I have no idea where that guy went or what he's doing if he doesn't become a topic of conversation among people. And the problem. "When did this guy come back?" "He's grown a lot too." -Meow People come and talk about cats, but they don't talk about what I'm curious about. Even if I eavesdrop, it's exhausting to wait for a topic about Anna to come up for centuries. Should I just call Kono Rint? If it's him, he might know where Anna went. But. I don't really want to tell him that the cat in the Royal Class base was actually Reinhardt. Well... I don't really care if he finds out now. If I tell him, it's like I've already told him, so what's the difference if he knows more? I'll spare you from hearing any more from this weird pervert. As usual, there's no need to reveal myself as a cat and just act like a beauty... I could somehow run into her outside the Royal Class base. If I just say that this woman who's interfering with your life is either Sarkergar or me, you'll understand, right? But Kono Rint is a non-combatant from the start. So his usefulness is always present. He's someone who can move to any place in an instant, so in fact, if you try to find him with a grudge, Kono Rint is the hardest person to find. And he told me not to find out what's going on, but if I call him again, I'll be in trouble. But this guy isn't really trying to find out on his own, is he? He might get into real trouble if he pries too much. It's certain that Anna hasn't returned to the base. But that doesn't mean she's really involved in this. Sarkergar is also gathering information in his own way, so even if my side is empty, there may be information on his side. For now, my limits are clear and I was only in the Royal Class base. If Sarkergar, who is looking at the entire Allied Forces base, had obtained some other information. * * * At the designated time and place of contact, I met Sarkergar in a remote area of the supply warehouse in the Allied Forces base, in human form. "It's difficult to gather information." "...As expected." It wasn't easy to get information about the Titans. But in this case, it was research or experiments that should never be revealed. So it was supposed to have a level of security different from that of other places. "Basically, magicians have a habit of not wanting to let others know what they are researching. So security is more thorough than other places." "Habit?" "Yes, it's like a dog burying a bone in the ground." Sarkergar's words were funny even in this situation. Magicians have a tendency to be obsessive about security because they hate to disclose their own research results to others. So even if it's not a secret research that doesn't have to be a secret, they do that kind of thing. "Also, magicians tend to encrypt documents themselves. Even in joint research, and especially in personal research." "...These nobles live their lives so tired." "Therefore, I confirmed that each magician group's base has a large number of confidential documents, but the number of documents that can be understood is extremely small." "These confidential documents may have nothing to do with this incident, right?" "Yes, Your Highness." The magicians' security obsession and encryption are now obstacles. In the case of the Titans, it was an oversized project that was too difficult to hide. Originally, since each part of the Titan itself was huge, a huge workforce was needed just for transportation. "Finding the place where research or experiments are being conducted?" "As I mentioned earlier, most of the magician groups' bases are much more strictly managed than the Royal Class base." "There are too many potential locations and most of them are difficult to access, so we don't know where to go. The Allied Forces are a moving army, yet they have strict access control zones even within this base, which shows how strong magicians' obsession with security is. And of course, it would be difficult for Sarkergar to infiltrate the Royal Magician Corps' base, and even if he succeeded, it would be even more difficult to obtain decisive evidence. In the end, Sarkergar still doesn't know anything. 'Hmm... This situation isn't much different from the Titans...' 'If such a thing is actually happening, a huge area that is difficult to hide is needed.' It's an experiment on thousands of corpses. Although the size of the result may be comparable to that of the Titans, the scale of the experiment itself must be as huge as the Titan project. Security is very important for the experiment. But the environment has too many people's eyes. Where on earth is the experiment being conducted in the Allied Forces base? We simply don't know. If Anna is involved in this experiment, she could know where the research site is just by following her. But she may not be staying at the research site and may not even return to the Royal Class base. 'We have to keep investigating. Don't do anything too dangerous. I'll do my own research.' 'Yes, Your Highness.' Sarkergar nodded quietly and disappeared somewhere as a black cat. Something... Is it really such a complicated problem? Should we say that we are missing something very simple? It was a strange feeling."