Chapter 16: The Path of the King(2)

『Now, quickly offer me your blood.』

“Don’t rush me. I’ll give it to you.”

Comet returned to his room and organized the information about the blocker and relay into a report.

As he returned, he added a few more statistics he had gathered using blood magic several times, making the report quite impressive.

He printed the report and headed to the committee.

The committee was still busy.

He peeked into the semi-transparent chairman’s office and saw the chairman deep in thought, holding his forehead.

It was understandable. The government’s future looked bleak.

Comet knocked on the door and entered once permission was granted.

“Comet? What’s the matter?”

The chairman gave him a curious look.

“Do you need something?”

“If you ask like that, it makes it sound like I only come to you when I need something.”

The chairman chuckled.

“Has there ever been a time when that wasn’t the case?”

Comet scratched his cheek.

“True, but I didn’t come for that reason today. Would you like to take a look at this?”

“What’s this?”

The chairman began reading the report with a casual attitude, but as he grasped the content, his smile faded, and his expression hardened.

“Since I owe you a favor, consider this a gift.”

The chairman quickly skimmed through the report and stared intensely at the statistical data.

“Where did this come from?”

“From an alien.”

『Hm? Are you talking about me?』

Comet took out the soul bead containing the princess and handed it to the chairman.

“Right after the crack incident, I went around collecting souls and happened to acquire the soul of a non-human intelligent being.”

The chairman carefully examined the soul bead. Since he wasn’t a necromancer, he couldn’t hear or sense the presence of the princess, but he seemed lost in thought regarding the report.

『What is this rude gaze?』

The princess asked in a perplexed voice.

“Since it’s a being from the multiverse, I figured there must be intelligent creatures, and this one shared some magic from a school I had never heard of before.”

The chairman glanced over the report again.

“It’s not just magic; it was explained with specific circumstances in mind, so I thought I’d organize it into a report and bring it to you.”

The chairman nodded and pulled out the soul press that Comet had borrowed once and returned.

『Wait! You… no way…』

The soul bead was placed at the center of the soul press.

『Are you planning to sell me off?』

“Normally, when you hand over an invader to the government, it’s not called selling them off.”

“So, you’ve grown close to this alien?”

“Yes. I’ve grown a bit attached. Besides, it looks cute. Since you can’t hear its voice anyway, shall I do it?”

“Please.”

Comet grabbed the handle of the soul press.

Turning the handle would increase the machine’s pressure, squeezing the soul.

『Wait, wait, wait!』

The princess had experienced this before.

“If you tell us everything you know, it will end without pain.”

『You really are heartless!』

“That’s that, and this is this.”

The handle turned.

『Aaargh! Why without even asking…!』

“Oh. I forgot. I’m not very experienced with these national interrogations. Just a moment.”

『Aaaargh! You wretched fool!』

The princess resisted, causing sparks to fly from the soul bead. Comet, unsure of what to ask, glanced at the chairman.

“What should we be asking?”

『Ugh!』

“It might be best to release the pressure for now.”

The handle was returned to its original position.

The princess panted heavily.

『…I will never forget this humiliation!』

“That’s good to hear. It means you’ll remember when you see the press, so we won’t have to do this twice.”

『You damned… you insane…!』

The chairman cleared his throat, interrupting the conversation. Then, he looked at the soul bead and spoke.

“Let’s start with an introduction.”

『Hmph. You uncivilized peasants. I am the Princess of Blood and Shadows! Show respect!』

“She says she’s the Princess of Blood and Shadows.”

“What is your full name?”

『It’s none of your concern, filthy peasant!』

“She says it’s none of our concern.”

The chairman tapped the desk, thinking for a moment, then gestured to Comet. Comet grabbed the handle of the soul press and turned it.

『Wait, wait! Aaaargh!』

Time passed. The princess screamed in pain, but no matter what questions were asked, she refused to answer. As the minute hand moved once around the clock, the chairman chuckled.

The handle was returned to its original position.

『You inferior humans! Torture only reduces the accuracy of information and eliminates the possibility of persuasion! How do you not know this?!』

“Isn’t this supposed to be a device the soul can withstand? It doesn’t seem to be broken… huh.”

The chairman inspected the soul press.

“She’s just a princess with an unusually strong willpower. From a necromancer’s perspective, a soul that can endure this much can keep holding out.”

The princess huffed, her voice somewhat calmer now.

The chairman nodded and put the soul press away. He handed the princess’s soul bead back to Comet.

“There’s not much more to gain from this, unfortunately. Take good care of this alien. Let me know if anything comes up.”

“Will do.”

The chairman skimmed the report again and chuckled.

“Comet!”

“Yes?”

Comet was suddenly pulled into a tight hug.

“I knew you’d come through for me!”

“Really?”

Comet hugged back in surprise.

“Of course! My judgment was right all along!”

The chairman, sneaking in some self-praise, spun around with Comet in his arms.

“Those who doubted you will finally shut their mouths. Hahaha!”

It seems there was some disagreement among the high-ranking officials about giving special treatment to Comet.

The chairman, in an extremely good mood, ignored Comet’s attempts to be let down and continued to spin him around. Comet, unsure of how to gauge the emotions of a man who had found a breakthrough while defending a collapsing government, simply stayed still.

After calming down, the chairman finally set Comet down and gathered his papers.

“We’ll have to discuss it with the military, but we can’t immediately begin operations to destroy the transmitters and blockers. We’ll need time to wrap up the current strategy.”

“I see.”

Comet had a feeling he knew what the chairman was going to say next and remained silent.

Seeing Comet’s expression, the chairman smiled meaningfully, then hugged Comet again and patted him on the back.

“You really did a great job! I’ll be busy from now on, so you can go.”

The chairman grabbed the doorknob, but then stopped and turned around.

“Oh, by the way, while you’re here, why don’t you go see Officer Dan? I think he had something to discuss with you.”

With that, the chairman hurriedly disappeared. Comet blinked and scratched his cheek. He had expected to be asked to participate in the operation, but that wasn’t the case.

Comet glanced around the now-empty chairman’s office, then left. As instructed, he went to find Dan Ga-yeon, who was immersed in paperwork and looked extremely busy. Comet hesitated for a moment before lightly tapping Dan’s shoulder with his finger.

“Are you busy?”

“Oh, Comet. No, I mean Comet. What brings you here?”

“I heard you had something to tell me.”

“Huh?”

Dan blinked in confusion.

“I don’t think so…”

“Really?”

“Who told you that?”

Dan’s eyebrow twitched in irritation, seemingly annoyed by someone playing a joke or making a mistake amidst her busy work.

“The chairman.”

Dan’s eyebrows relaxed back to their normal state.

“The, the chairman? Wait a second. Did I miss something? I don’t think so…”

Dan fidgeted with the documents in front of her, deep in thought. Then, she hastily put the papers down, pausing.

“Wait, could it be about that thing?”

Dan glanced sideways at Comet, clearly guessing what the chairman had meant, but hesitating about whether to say it.

“If it’s nothing, I’ll just ask the chairman later.”

“No, no. I think I just remembered.”

Dan hurriedly spoke up.

“So, um…”

She stalled a bit, speaking slowly.

“You remember when we tracked the necromancer after that convenience store murder case?”

“Yes. Your handling of that situation was quite cute, Officer Dan.”

Comet smiled.

Dan looked dumbfounded.

“A-anyway! So, we were waiting at the back entrance of the looters’ hideout with police assistance, right? Back then, we encountered a high-ranking looter and let him go. He managed to escape through the police perimeter. But now, after this recent rift incident, that looter has been captured.”

Comet thought back carefully. Now that he considered it, there had been a ranker who introduced himself as the guild master of one of the guilds sent to kill Comet during the Empire’s assassination order. Maybe he was the leader of the looters who had fled?

“How did he get caught?”

“It was because of the suspect we were chasing—the necromancer.”

Dan Ga-yeon hesitated at the word “suspect.” It seemed uncomfortable for her to talk about the real culprit right in front of them.

“The necromancer was the ranker’s subordinate, but during the recent rift incident, he betrayed and wiped out the looter group he was a part of. The ranker was injured in the process, passed out, and was arrested by the police who arrived to clean up the scene.”

“Oh…”

It was typical of a necromancer. With plenty of souls available due to the rift incident, it was the perfect time to clear out any troublesome people and gain some freedom.

“Interesting. And then?”

“…That’s it.”

Comet blinked.

“It was interesting.”

“Right? But I don’t think that’s what the chairman was hoping for.”

“Shall we go visit the captured ranker?”

“Do you want to? I’ll take you there after I finish organizing a few things.”

“Aren’t you too busy to escort me?”

“Of course I am. But I can’t ignore the chairman’s intentions…”

Dan Ga-yeon muttered something under her breath, criticizing the chairman. Comet pretended not to hear and looked around.

After Dan Ga-yeon led the way, Comet was able to speak with the ranker, who was now in restraints. The well-built man, bound, stared at Comet from across the room.

“We meet again, Comet.”

His demeanor was quite calm. It seemed the government hadn’t treated him too poorly.

“Indeed.”

“What brings you here?”

“I’m not sure.”

Comet scratched his cheek.

The conversation didn’t continue. Comet had come without much reason, and the ranker was suddenly confronted with an unexpected visitor, leaving little to discuss.

The silence was broken when the ranker spoke first.

“Did you hear how I got captured?”

“Yes. It was a very necromancer-like outcome.”

The ranker grimaced, the sound of his teeth grinding.

“Yeah, that bastard betrayed me.”

“Necromancers aren’t meant to be subordinates. Even the chairman doesn’t include necromancers in the council—they’re too dangerous.”

The ranker gritted his teeth harder, muscles tensing. His restraints twisted and creaked under the pressure, but, likely alchemically reinforced, they held up. Comet quietly examined the restraints.

“Did you come here to mock me?”

“No, not really. I just stopped by. Is there something you’d like to say?”

The ranker hesitated as he suppressed his anger, then spoke slowly.

“Do you have any intention of killing that necromancer who was once my subordinate?”

Comet twisted a strand of his hair.

“I do. What necromancer wouldn’t want to do that?”

There’s a famous saying in necromancy studies: *The quickest way to achieve greatness is through killing.* It applies specifically to killing other necromancers. Many necromancers misinterpret the saying, but at its core, it’s true. Once you kill, you can easily reap the benefits of someone else’s work.

“That’s good.”

The ranker leaned forward slightly and spoke in a low voice.

“I know where that bastard’s hideout is. The government doesn’t know about it yet.”

Comet wondered whether the chairman had anticipated this, but aside from that, it seemed like there was something that needed to be done.

“That’s intriguing. Could you tell me which branch of necromancy that necromancer specialized in?”

If it’s a close-combat build, the souls gained might be disappointing.

“I’m not sure, but he controlled strong souls. You could even see the souls with your eyes.”

So, he might have made a spiritual chimera. The details could vary, but one thing was certain: it was a small, elite build.

“That sounds good. I’ll avenge you. Tell me the location.”

Comet began to hum, feeling pleased.