It was a partial success.

I managed to get Jiekhrund to reveal his identity and abilities of his own accord. He was convinced that I possessed some kind of mystery, and thus saw no point in hiding his identity any longer.

The problem was, he had the same idea.

‘A mystery becomes easier to deal with once it’s uncovered. Its origin, its abilities, its weaknesses, and its limits. Once you know those, you can formulate a countermeasure. Just like with the progenitor, Tirkanjaka.’

A mystery is something that comes from outside the realm of humanity. Because of this, a mystery tends to have glaring weaknesses alongside its strengths. Even the immensely powerful progenitor Tirkanjaka could be temporarily trapped in a light-based snare.

Though bloodcraft is her own power, the darkness she manipulates is a mystery created by history and karma.

‘It’s no wonder the Military State kept losing to the progenitor’s darkness. Piper, I will unravel your mystery.’

Hmm. But my mystery doesn’t come from outside humanity.

I glanced around. Neither Tyr nor the regressor was here. They must be busy rescuing the dying laborers and quietly sneaking them out.

As for the people present here… revealing this to them wouldn’t cause any major harm.

Alright. This time, I have to handle it without the help of the regressor and Tyr.

‘A mystery? Huey has one?’

Historia hesitated for a moment, but her uncertainty was brief. She was a seasoned soldier, one who wouldn’t lose sight of her objective.

‘He’s always had a lot of random knowledge. Whenever we asked him something, he usually had an answer. Maybe he really does have something like that. But what does it matter? What’s more important right now is the identity of the person in front of me. That thing’s true identity is….’

If she thought about it for a moment, the answer would come to her.

The person in front of her looked like Historia. No matter what powers they had, if they had transformed, they couldn’t be in perfect condition.

Someone not in perfect condition, yet holding their own against Historia? In the Military State, only six people have that kind of power. Of those six, only one remains shrouded in mystery.

“Jiekhrund, Head of Public Security. Is that you?”

Jiekhrund smiled.

“You were slow to figure it out, Historia. You should’ve noticed the moment we crossed swords. As expected, you’re terrible at spy work.”
“You were introduced as a specialist in covert operations and assassination techniques. I guess the stealth part was a lie.”
“There’s a saying: to deceive your enemy, you must first deceive your allies. The fact that I use transformation techniques is classified. My targets can’t know that. What I want is—”
“And now?”
“There’s no point in hiding it anymore.”

Jiekhrund gestured toward me, standing behind Historia.

“There, right in front of me, is someone who can see the future. What’s the point of keeping secrets?”

“Are you trying to sow discord? It’s pointless. I’m not so incompetent as to ruin everything over unverified suspicions.”

“You, perhaps.”

This time, Jiekhrund gestured over his shoulder. Historia looked in that direction and her eyes widened.

“But is everyone else the same?”

Standing there was Siahti.

Siahti was more confused than anyone else. One moment she was debating whether to destroy the refinery or not, and the next, Carrafald betrayed them and triggered the trap. Immediately after, the world was engulfed in light.

When her vision returned, Carrafald had disappeared, and the Military State’s forces were closing in. While everyone else was busy, all she could do was protect the princess in a safe spot.

However, even in her confusion, Siahti realized one thing when Jiekhrund transformed into Carrafald.

The mastermind behind all of this was Jiekhrund.

“You…!”

Siahti pointed her finger at him. Dark magic swirled around it.

There was no strategy, no plan. She simply wanted to make her hated enemy feel the same pain she did. Driven by pure rage, Siahti clenched her left index finger.

At that moment, Jiekhrund spoke, using Carrafald’s voice and tone.

“Siahti. Dark magic isn’t all-powerful. I don’t want you to use it….”

Humans are easily swayed by what they see. Even if Siahti knew intellectually that he was the enemy, she hadn’t yet fully internalized it. She hesitated.

It was only for a brief moment, but that was enough for Jiekhrund. Historia, seeing Jiekhrund dart toward Siahti, shouted urgently.

“Siahti! Fall back!”

But before she could finish her sentence, Jiekhrund was already right next to Siahti.

It was a strange martial art. As if he and his opponent had rehearsed the movements beforehand, Jiekhrund flowed smoothly, naturally. Before Siahti could even register what was happening, Jiekhrund slipped behind her.

Before she could react, Jiekhrund twisted her arm and subdued her. Even her metal prosthetic arm was like straw in the face of a Six-Star General’s ki. Bone and steel creaked together under the pressure of his single grip.

“Gghhh…!”

As Siahti struggled, Jiekhrund whispered to her.

“Calm down, Siahti.”
“Let me go! Don’t call my name with that face…!”
“Calm down if you want to save Carrafald’s life. Don’t you care about your few remaining friends?”

Siahti was about to say that she didn’t care about her friends. That in Hameln, the children had vowed to cut off their own hands rather than drag each other down.

But the words wouldn’t come out. She wasn’t supposed to engage in casual conversation with the enemy, yet her body stopped itself, driven by the tiniest sliver of hope.

After all, she was still only human.

“How do you think I mimicked his appearance? His name, his speech patterns, even the secret codes. How do you think I knew all of that?”

“…”

“Obviously, I interrogated him until I got everything I needed. In other words, his life is in my hands.”

Jiekhrund laughed briefly and patted Siahti on the shoulder, casting a glance toward me and Historia.

“So, Historia. Huey. To save your precious friend, will you follow my instructions?”

It was clear he meant Siahti and Carrafald when he mentioned our ‘precious friends.’ Historia gritted her teeth.

“Are you really going to resort to taking hostages…?”
“It’s the most efficient way. But since we’re all backed into a corner here, we don’t have the luxury to be picky about our methods.”
“It’s pointless. We’re just bystanders.”
“But removing bystanders isn’t a bad idea, is it? Besides, you might just be able to convince someone.”

That remark was clearly aimed at Historia. But I knew the truth. His real focus was on me.

Oh, now he's openly targeting me? Looks like he’s determined to strip everything from me. I can’t pretend to be weak any longer.

Because…

“Siahti, Historia. Don’t fall for his tricks. You can’t believe a word he says.”

“Huey. Think carefully. Maybe this is an opportunity. Now that we’ve followed the Military State this far, we might finally have a chance to secure our safety…!”

“Carrafald is already dead. He’s using a corpse as a hostage.”

Jiekhrund let out a big, triumphant laugh. It was the kind of laugh someone makes when they’ve finally unraveled a tangled knot or caught a long-pursued prey.

In stark contrast, Siahti’s face fell apart. Standing behind her, Jiekhrund’s smile only served to highlight her devastation.

It was as if happiness had a limited supply, and Jiekhrund had taken Siahti’s share for himself.

Sorry, but we can’t afford to waste any more time here.

“The Military State has no reason to keep any Resistance members alive. They wouldn’t imprison them in labor camps. There’s a chance they’d incite the laborers to revolt. So the Military State would have killed him right after the interrogation.”

Carrafald is dead. After enduring all sorts of torture and interrogation, once they’d gotten all the information they wanted from him, they disposed of him.

The timing is relatively recent. By my guess, it was when Jisen came to Tantalos. The command had ordered the Public Security Bureau to inspect military facilities, and during that process, they arrested Carrafald. He underwent Jiekhrund’s ‘interrogation’…

That was the last time Jiekhrund saw Carrafald alive in his memories. So yes, Carrafald is definitely dead.

Siahti glared at me, as if I were the one who had killed him, and shouted:

“He could still be alive…!”
“No, he’s dead. The Military State doesn’t bother with facilities just for ‘holding’ prisoners. If they can’t put someone to work, they just kill them. That’s their way.”

My firm words caused Siahti to lash out angrily.

“Huey, how can you be so sure? Do you want Carrafald to be dead?”
“I’m just speaking reality. And even if he is alive, there’s no way he’d be in good condition after going through an interrogation.”

Siahti shut her mouth.

Every member of the Resistance had their own reasons for joining. None of them would betray their comrades easily.

In other words, if Jiekhrund had managed to extract a confession from Carrafald, that would mean Carrafald was in an utterly devastated state.

“…How do you know?! How can you be so sure?!”
“Didn’t I already tell you? He has a mystery!”

Even though his hostage ploy had failed, Jiekhrund didn’t seem bothered at all. He was satisfied, laughing loudly at how much information he’d extracted from me.

“Hahahahahaha! Of course, you know! Yes, there’s no way you wouldn’t know! Is it foresight? Did the future reveal itself to you and whisper the truth?”

Now he’s absolutely convinced. Damn it. If I were really a prophet, do you think you would’ve caught me so easily?

“I’m no prophet, and even if I were, I have no obligation to tell you.”

“Whether you tell me or not doesn’t matter. The more you withhold, the worse it’ll be for you!”

Ah, right. I almost forgot.

In the Military State, there’s only one department that deals with mysteries. A group that investigates historical records, analyzes, and deconstructs them—the mystery deconstructors. If I’d stayed in the Military State, I might’ve been assigned to that department.

Jiekhrund was the head of that group. In a state that’s vulnerable to mysteries, he’s the only Six-Star General capable of using them and fighting against them.

He knew exactly how to handle foresight.

Instead of focusing on me, Jiekhrund turned toward Historia and Siahti.

“Siahti. Historia. Your anger is misdirected. Why should this country endure your wrath? The one responsible for putting you in this situation is standing right in front of you.”