Azi’s large, glistening eyes were fixed on me. I reached out to pat his head and muttered.

“Yeah, I remember.”

“Woof? You remember? Then, are we going to hunt wolves together?”

“Someday, yeah.”

Though Azi looked at me with complete trust as he spoke, he tilted his head and asked.

“Woof? Someday? When?”

“I’ll definitely do it someday.”

“When is ‘someday’?”

“When things calm down. Look, right now, we’re busy. See? People are coming over.”

I pointed to the approaching group in the distance—the soldiers from the military nation. Maximilien had likely given orders not to interfere here, but now that the battle seemed over and he was nowhere to be seen, they were approaching to assess the situation. Azi looked somewhat displeased, but he could only trust my words, as dogs are creatures made to trust.

“Woof! You have to promise it’ll be someday!”

“Yeah. I promise.”

If I can, that is. After soothing Azi, I looked toward the gathering soldiers beyond the gears. At the front of the group, a high-ranking officer in a speckled uniform led the way.

“…How carefree, smoking mana right in the middle of command headquarters!”

Ah, our eyes met. I quickly hid the mana stick behind me as the officer raised his voice with a stern expression.

“Signalman!”

At his command, a young woman in a uniform, who seemed vaguely familiar, stepped forward. It was the same face I’d seen at the signal module back in the communication headquarters. The signaler seemed a bit intimidated, casting uneasy glances under the officer’s formidable gaze.

“Signal Officer Captain Aipi of the military nation.”

“Is the no-entry order still in effect?”

“Please wait a moment…”

Captain Aipi closed her eyes and focused, completing a transmission before relaying her response.

“Yes, sir. The headquarters is maintaining the no-entry command for the current location.”

“We’re under attack, yet we’re supposed to do nothing?”

The signal officer flinched under the officer’s forceful tone. I nudged Historia, whispering.

“Hey, Lia. You’re a Hexastellar Officer. Can’t you do something about him?”

Historia glanced toward the signaler and muttered.

“That’s Major General Mexio. He’s a rank above me.”

“Damn it. Why is your rank so low when you’re a Hexastellar Officer?”

“Hexastellar Officers have independent operational rights, but rank is determined separately. The position doesn’t determine the rank.”

“The other five are all generals, though.”

“…They’ve been serving since the early days of the military nation.”

Ouch, that might have hit a nerve. Should I dig a bit deeper?

“I heard they’ve been generals since the early days of the military nation. But even though you’ve served for quite some time, you’re only a major general?”

“Since I’m just a major general, I switched sides and joined you. If I were a general, I would’ve captured you and locked you in the headquarters.”

Resorting to emotional manipulation, are we? I’ll consider that debt paid here and won’t owe it back.

“You have independent operational rights. Can’t you at least use that?”

“Who knows? We’ll see if he lets me.”

Probably not. I nodded sympathetically. Perhaps because we’d been ignoring his presence too much, Major General Mexio, red with anger, strode toward us despite the no-entry command.

“This is outrageous! First, the rations explode, then a mysterious snake crushes my soldiers, and now a traitor sits here, calmly puffing on mana? Am I supposed to just watch? This is absurd!”

“M-Major General Mexio, but currently, there’s a no-entry command…”

“Silence! Signalman, this is a quasi-wartime situation! Since when does a captain contradict a general’s orders?!”

“Hiic, I’m s-sorry…”

The signal officer, directly facing the major general’s wrath, was clearly struggling. She was supposed to firmly warn him off but, as a relatively powerless young woman, couldn’t withstand the pressure from a general. Hence, the reliance on a golem for communication.

“Of all things, an unreliable signal officer…”

The general’s rebuke landed heavily in Captain Aipi’s ears. With the communication headquarters destroyed and her having fled under some strange influence, she had no excuses left.

“All troops, assemble. Restrain the target. Use force if they resist. Hey, Historia! Are you listening? If you don’t want to face off against the entire military nation, quietly surrender! Otherwise, your boyfriend might be in danger!”

“….”

Hey, say something back! Why are you just turning away in silence?

Tsk. It’s tough to hide from him now; he’s got his sights on us. Should I stall until Mr. Shay gets here? I considered whether to bring up any of the information I’d gathered telepathically, like an affair with a female officer or faking her Qi mastery.

At that moment, Captain Aipi suddenly stepped forward as if possessed and saluted the major general, reporting in a clear voice.

“Major General Mexio, I have an urgent directive from a superior authority. I will relay the order verbatim, and you are required to listen.”

“What?”

Aipi’s unique magic activated. A faint aura enveloped her, lifting her hair slightly. After the synchronization finished, she recited the command with her own mouth, word for word.

“Report received. What are you doing, like a naked fool in a thunderstorm? If you’re clueless, stay put and shut up, Major General Mexio.”

With those words, her hair dropped back down. She looked up at the general, utterly baffled, as if she had no idea what she’d just said. Silence fell. A mere captain had just called a general a “naked fool” and told him to shut up to his face. Major General Mexio’s face turned red.

Of course, he knew those were orders from his superiors, which he had tested with a golem before. But hearing it directly from a human right in front of him was entirely different. Unconsciously, he reached out toward Aipi.

“How dare a captain address me like that? Are you prepared to face the consequences…?”

At that moment, a fierce aura cut through the air in two streams. Major General Mexio instinctively stepped back and looked over at Historia, who had drawn a pistol and was pointing it at him.

As he raised his sawblade shield to block the shot, something felt off.

‘Wait. There are two auras. The other one…?’

“It’s me.”

And “Maximilien” appeared.

“Maximilien” wore a unique monocle, a large hat, and a gear-covered cape, sliding across the ground. Gears spun on his shoes as he moved, leaving no doubt that he was the real Maximilien. General Mexio saluted without a second thought.

“Loyalty! Director Maximilien, are you safe, sir?”

With a slightly irritated expression, “Maximilien” spoke.

“I told you, didn’t I? I’d handle things here. You were supposed to focus on securing the perimeter. Didn’t I issue a no-entry command through the signalman?”

“Well, it’s just that nothing was reported back after the situation seemed resolved.”

“So you thought to meddle with the signalman who relayed my orders?”

Mexio fell silent, realizing where the command had originated. “Maximilien” shook his head.

“Major General Mexio, why would someone of your rank do this? A signal officer is merely a cog, relaying orders from central command without personal judgment. Not valuable, but crucial. They relay ‘my’ orders without bias. Don’t you understand what that means? I thought you were reasonably rational.”

“I apologize. But when I saw that your weapon was destroyed, I feared something might have happened…”

“What?”

Hearing that his prized weapon was destroyed, “Maximilien” stiffened, and a tense atmosphere settled in. Far more intense and threatening than before.

Even a general’s power, within the context of the military nation, pales in comparison to that of a Hexastellar Officer. Mexio’s words were clearly a misstep, especially given Maximilien’s attachment to his creations.

“Repeat yourself. Destroyed? What could you possibly know about gears? Do you think that’s destroyed? What matters in gears is not their shape but their structure. As long as it’s in place, any gear can be replaced immediately! What you see isn’t everything, you idiot!”

Maximilien, typically rational and magnanimous, has a hair-trigger for anger once he’s crossed a line. His fury erupted at Mexio’s words, and he crushed a gear in his hand, shouting.

“Do you even know who our enemy is or what I faced here? You couldn’t possibly understand! There are idiots with narrow vision, and there’s no helping it! But don’t be arrogant in your ignorance! Is that so hard?!”

Rarely do Hexastellar Officers simply end things with words. Predictably, Maximilien raised a finger, and a gear floated slightly above it, spinning fiercely.

With mastery of combat Qi, one can imbue Qi without physical contact. The gear, albeit slightly, was undoubtedly levitating. In the air, free of friction and resistance, it spun like a whirlwind.

Instinctively, Major General Mexio raised his sawblade shield to protect himself. A wise choice, as Maximilien hurled it at him without hesitation.

Thunk, click, click, click.

The furious gear crashed against the sawblade shield, the force of its spinning teeth reverberating. Mexio felt his whole body shake under the assault.

‘This force… this power…! He’s serious! Director Maximilien is serious!’

Gritting his teeth, Mexio held the shield firmly, deflecting the gear in an arc that flew far off. As he finally managed to shake it off and rise, he saw “Maximilien” holding two more spinning gears.

His gaze sharpened, realizing he needed to escape. Obeying his survival instincts, he shouted frantically.

“I will comply! Everyone! Focus on post-battle recovery! Let’s go!”

“Yes, sir!!”

Those who stay near an enraged Hexastellar Officer don’t last long. The soldiers had survived through selective survival.

Within less than a minute, the troops withdrew. Once they were out of sight, “Maximilien” dropped the gear he’d been holding.

“You shouldn’t aim a gun at someone’s back. Honestly, that almost made me slip up.”

Indeed, Historia had been aiming her gun at him. To her, it was a natural reaction; she had just faced Maximilien in a life-or-death fight. She barely defeated him, so seeing him here, alive, was bewildering.

“Maximilien…? That can’t be. He was definitely…! No, but that’s definitely Qi…”

I answered her question.

“Exactly. That’s Qi. Anyone could see that.”

“But Director Maximilien uses original magic! This one is using Qi…”

“It’s Qi, alright. But you’ve got the subject wrong. That Maximilien isn’t Maximilien.”

You should understand; you’ve been tricked too, Historia, when someone looked exactly like you but wasn’t you.

“Yes, Your Majesty! You recognized it immediately!”

“Maximilien” spun around, his cape fluttering dramatically, though some of the gears attached to it rattled and fell. Removing his monocle and shaking off the improvised gear shoes, his appearance as Maximilien diminished.

Bowing deeply, like taking a curtain call after a play, “Maximilien” spoke.

“How was my performance?”

He looked like a strong adult man, yet his voice sounded as graceful as an opera singer. Seeing the performance up close, I offered my honest opinion.

“It’s complete fraud.”

“Oh, Your Majesty! Calling me a fraud!”

The gears that had adorned his body had all fallen away, leaving him as merely a man in a thick cape. And he was gradually transforming back into a young woman.

Blood flowed into her pale hands, and her frame shrank. Her once-fitting clothes loosened, exposing her neck and shoulders.

The master of disguise, Zigrund… now Hilde, giggled as she approached. I quickly stopped her words.

“Don’t call me ‘Your Majesty.’ Are you trying to expose my identity?”

“Really? Isn’t it a bit late for that?”

“Late? This is supposed to be a secret.”

With wide, curious eyes, Hilde replied.

“Really? How odd. Then does that mean Shay and Tircanzaka work with you without knowing? How peculiar!”

“Some people are like that. And can’t you address me without using ‘Your Majesty’ or ‘Father’?”

With Tircanzaka, it’s not so much that she doesn’t know as it is that she doesn’t care. Though I imagine she has an inkling. Helping her reclaim her heart was no small matter.

Wow, seeing it this way, the only one left who doesn’t know my identity is the Regressor. Is that okay? You’re the Regressor, after all.

…No, I should consider it differently. While the Regressor may be clueless, he’s not a fool.

It’s not that he doesn’t know, but that he’s aware of something we don’t.

What could that be? I was pondering when Hilde reached the front of the Steel Beetle. Historia looked at her approach with hostility.

“Zigrund…”

“No, Historia. I’m Hildegarde. Zigrund is, well, something like an illusion. A title that signifies the light and shadow of the military nation, like Eimeder, but not my essence.”

Hilde laughed softly and leapt lightly onto the Steel Beetle. Although Historia glared at her, Hilde paid no mind, pressing her body close.

Historia’s hostility was evident, but she could sense Hilde held no ill will. Just as with Major General Mexio, her hesitation allowed Hilde to move close and gently push her down. In her exhausted state, Historia could not resist.

“‘I’ envy you, Historia. You don’t realize how blessed you are to have encountered such an extraordinary chance. Ah, what a pity. I wish I’d met Father before becoming this.”

“Ugh… How did you know Huey is the King of Humans…?”

“‘I’ am not entirely sure, but I have better insight than most. I have a way of confirming it, plus, Father told me himself.”

Hilde’s touch was both firm and gentle. She massaged Historia’s arm, infusing Qi into her acupuncture points. It was the art of healing through Qi, used to mend injuries.

And not just Qi…

“A wandering doctor from the East, a traveling sage, a lone mercenary, a hermit, a mendicant monk, a wanderer.”

In addition to the Qi, an unfathomable power radiated from her open palm. It was warm and comforting… yet somewhat oppressive.

“All those are titles once held by the King of Humans, as well as monikers. This time, it’s the Piper, right, Father? The titles only get grander!”

Not that I asked for it. I shrugged, and Hilde laughed, laying herself over Historia. As their bodies aligned, Hilde whispered in her ear.

“There’s no need to be so frustrated, Historia. Not knowing is normal. Even the past Kings learned by meeting someone like you.”

With that, Hilde closed her eyes, entering a brief meditation. Within the span of a breath, she whispered to herself.

‘I am a devout monk, faithful beyond measure, though my body and soul are far from whole.’

And thus, she reached the realm that faith alone can access. Her hands glowed with white light as she gripped Historia’s arm, infusing that energy into her bio-terminal.

The power to restore one to their original form, going beyond healing—restoration. The greatest reason for the “divine’s” existence.

Historia felt the energy surging within her and murmured.

“Divine… power.”

The gears that twisted her body recalled their original shape. The human body, like a rubber band, tends to return to its initial form once distorted.

For external injuries, divine power grants unparalleled healing.

Historia’s body was ‘restored.’ Hilde smiled, standing up.

“Healing complete! No need to thank me. This is just a goodwill gesture for future cooperation!”

The mana stick’s thin veil of pain was entirely washed away.

The strength hadn’t returned, nor was her fatigue gone… but Historia had recovered. Witnessing the miracle firsthand, she spoke with a trembling voice.

“Zigrund… Who are you?”

With a sly grin, Hilde answered.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself! I am Zigrund, in name, engaged in the service of the saintess.”

With a somewhat insolent salute, Hilde grinned widely.

“Supreme Swordmaster of the Sacred Sword Battalion, Hildegarde! Eh-heh, nice to meet you!”