Though in Duanmu Huai's eyes that Mi-Go research station hadn't seemed particularly valuable, in this world he was the only player, and it was quite possibly the first Mi-Go research station to be fully recovered and cleared. It had not only raised Duanmu Huai's rank to [Class-C], but also rewarded him with a substantial number of [points] and unlocked quite a few special technology projects.
But for Duanmu Huai, the most important thing was still the Scranton Reality Anchor.
However...
"Hmm...…how should I go about this...…"
Staring at the project listings on the computer screen, Duanmu Huai sank into thought. One option was to use [points] to purchase it outright. After all, the Reality Anchor was itself a consumable item, and just buying and using it wasn't particularly complicated.
It was like going to a gun shop to buy a firearm — a bit of a hassle perhaps, but hand over the money and you had it.
That approach was relatively convenient, but Duanmu Huai didn't like it. He needed to fight Evil Gods, which meant purchasing Reality Anchors in bulk — you could walk into a gun shop and buy one or two without issue, but if you wanted thousands or tens of thousands, you'd have to go through an arms dealer and buy wholesale.
Setting aside whether the production capacity even existed, Duanmu Huai also had no desire to entrust something so critical to his survival to another faction.
The other option was naturally to purchase the blueprint and manufacture them himself.
That would cost more [points] — though the cost wasn't what worried him. What worried him was whether the Inquisition's technology was capable of producing such a thing.
Players in the game weren't fools either. Many had redeemed Reality Anchor blueprints intending to manufacture their own, but in the end they all failed due to technological or material limitations. Later, some players risked everything to investigate the mystery, and the conclusion in simple terms was: if you could obtain "Deus Ex Machina," manufacturing Reality Anchors would be no problem.
But conversely, without "Deus Ex Machina," manufacturing Reality Anchors was extremely difficult.
Of course, players weren't so easily deterred.
There were players who tried both legitimate and illegitimate means to obtain "Deus Ex Machina," but unfortunately it appeared to be a top-level secret, and no matter what methods were tried, no further information on "Deus Ex Machina" could be obtained.
Among the research staff currently under Duanmu Huai, Sherry specialized in biotechnology, Lumière specialized in electronic technology, and Ranni specialized in magic and astronomy. There was simply no expert in physics or anything of that sort — and even if he brought a blueprint back, Kukuru and Maria, who only knew how to make weapons, would probably just stare at it blankly.
Getting them to build a cannon or an aircraft was one thing, but anything involving eleven dimensions and reality hourglasses might as well be in a foreign language to them.
If all else failed, should he just go and look for it himself?
Though players in the game never ultimately obtained "Deus Ex Machina," they did discover that it was located in a secret base beneath Yellowstone Park. Duanmu Huai figured if it really came down to it, he'd just slip over there quietly — after all, with the Raven's Heart, he might be able to "borrow" it without anyone noticing?
"Knock knock knock."
Just then, a knock came at the door, and a moment later the maid stepped in.
"Master, Miss Mary is here."
"Oh? Show her in."
"Yes, sir."
Before long, Mary came into the study. Her expression looked somewhat serious, and somewhat tense.
"What brings you by today?"
Duanmu Huai looked at her with curiosity and asked. Mary hesitated, was quiet for a moment, then finally spoke.
"I would like to ask...…may I join the Inquisition?"
"Oh? Weren't you quite hesitant about it before?"
"That's true, but...…what happened at Baskerville Manor made me realize...…this world is actually quite dangerous, isn't it."
As she spoke, Mary looked at Duanmu Huai.
"Honestly, I used to believe I lived in a very peaceful, ordinary world, but...…there are real dangers in this world, aren't there?"
Whatever one might say, after having lived through the City of Darkness, the Antarctic Shoggoth, and the Baskerville demon hound incident, Mary was no longer naive enough to dismiss all of it as coincidence.
"There are dangers, certainly."
"Then...…if I join the Inquisition, will I gain the power to eliminate those threats?"
"If that's what you want, you'll need to train for it...…but what made you change your mind so suddenly?"
Duanmu Huai looked at her with curiosity — he remembered that Mary had still been quite hesitant before.
"Because...…I don't want my friends to end up in danger."
Mary hesitated for a moment, but still spoke quietly. That was the conclusion she had reached after wrestling with it since returning. Just like before — if Duanmu Huai and Lorena hadn't been there, and she and her friends had accepted the invitation to Baskerville Manor on their own, would they have run into danger? Mary couldn't say with certainty that they wouldn't. In fact, Shirley had already encountered danger once before — she had simply forgotten it.
Though Mary understood that doing dangerous work would worry her friends, when she considered just how many hidden dangers this world contained, she felt it was better to proactively learn how to deal with them rather than wait until they showed up. That way, even if danger came, she could protect her friends from harm.
So in the end, she had decided to join the Inquisition.
"Whether it's fighting or anything else — whatever I'm capable of putting in the effort to do, I will do it!"
Seeing Mary this earnest was, honestly, a little troublesome for Duanmu Huai — but if she was willing to join of her own accord...…
"You're sure? That means you'll be training under Lorena."
"...…Hm?"
Hearing that, Mary's expression immediately froze — understandable, really. Lorena's Spartan training methods were something no ordinary person could endure. The reason no one in the Inquisition dared to train with her was exactly this.
"I'm joking. You can choose a different training method as well."
After all, Lorena's training was genuinely beyond the average person — even Duanmu Huai himself wanted no part of it.
"Haah...…"
Mary let out a breath of relief. If she had genuinely been told to train under Lorena, she would have had to start wondering whether she'd survive the experience.
"So...…what should I do?"
"Hmm...…"
Hearing Mary's question, Duanmu Huai found it somewhat hard to decide on the spot, but as it happened...…
"For the time being, let me take you to the Inquisition and have a look around first."
"Hm? Is there anything I need to prepare?"
"Nothing at all — just follow me."
Returning to the Inquisition was a simple matter of opening a portal for Duanmu Huai. For Mary, however, the moment she stepped through, the sight of the enormous Gothic-style metallic structure shimmering in gold and splendor, and the wholly unexpected landscape beyond it, left her completely stunned.
"For now, go and watch the footage first. We can talk about the rest afterward."
Duanmu Huai gestured for the maid to take a dazed Mary to the screening room to experience the Inquisition's "corporate culture," while simultaneously dismissing the system notification that had appeared before him — [Do you wish to settle [Special Mission Points]?]
Of course not. These [points] weren't even enough for a ten-pull. What was the point of settling them now.
"Ah, my lord, welcome back."
At that moment, Odelle walked over and gave Duanmu Huai a bow.
"Mm, Odelle, it's been a while. Anything to report?"
"Yes — a report concerning Colonel Shepard of the Systems Alliance."
"Oh?"
Duanmu Huai took the document Odelle handed him and began reading through it. In short, it was a report from the Shepard siblings. According to them, a Cerberus operative had gone rogue within the Citadel Council shortly before — and upon tracking them down, they had discovered the operative had been indoctrinated by the Collectors. In the end the operative had even commandeered a Collector warship and launched an attack on the Citadel...…of course, the Shepard siblings had ultimately repelled the attack, the indoctrinated operative had been killed, and the warship destroyed.
The problem, however, was that the Citadel Council refused to accept their investigation report. The Council concluded that the Collector warship was simply a Geth product, unrelated to the Reapers of legend...…both Shepards were at a loss for words.
"Hmph. If the Council wants to court death, let them. Better that they don't believe it."
Having finished the report, Duanmu Huai let out a cold snort. As an [Inquisitor], he had long since entertained the idea of using the Reapers as a blade to wipe out all the other races on the Citadel Council. Now that the Council was foolishly courting their own deaths, that suited him just fine. When the Reaper fleet came, those idiotic races getting wiped out would be entirely their own doing — nothing to do with the Inquisition.
After all, the Shepard siblings had already issued the warning. Whether anyone listened was their own business.
Or rather — it was better that they didn't listen. Because that way, when the Reaper fleet arrived, the Citadel Council couldn't turn around and use that as a pretext to make trouble for the Systems Alliance. Of course, once the Reaper fleet came, whether they had pretexts or not would no longer be Duanmu Huai's concern — dead men's pretexts were worth nothing.
The Inquisition only cared about humanity. What happened to every other race was none of his business. Duanmu Huai had no intention of going to the aid of those foolish alien races on the Citadel Council.
Incidentally, when the Citadel had come under attack, they had also appealed to the Inquisition for assistance — but since the majority of the Citadel Council's races were alien, the Inquisition fleet didn't so much as stir. After all, the Inquisition hadn't joined the Citadel Council. What did their lives and deaths have to do with the Inquisition? Rashly charging out and tipping their hand to the Reapers was something the Inquisition would never be foolish enough to do.
But looking at Odelle beside him, Duanmu Huai was reminded of something idle that had been on his mind.
"By the way, Odelle — you're from a noble family, if I recall correctly."
"Hm? Ah...…yes...…may I ask what this is about?"
"Do noble young ladies have a lot of troublesome rules to follow?"
Duanmu Huai still remembered Mary's two friends cornering him and complaining at some length. But honestly, he had met quite a few noble young ladies by now, and he really hadn't gotten the impression that there were any particularly burdensome rules.
Or was it different depending on the world?
Well, Anne was out of the question — she was technically a princess, but in front of Duanmu Huai she was just a wild girl.
Odelle, on the other hand, had nearly become a duchess and was roughly the same class of noble young lady as Mary. Yet Duanmu Huai always felt that Odelle had fewer restrictions than Mary seemed to.
"Ah, yes — things like curfews, how one must dress when going out, and proper conduct at social gatherings and dinner parties all have very strict rules. I received that kind of education from a young age as well...…"
"I've never noticed."
"That's because you almost never attend banquets, my lord. And even when you do, no one tends to pay very close attention to your manners...…"
After all, with his level of power, any noble with a working brain would never dare to interfere with or criticize the etiquette of a dragonslayer who could kill a great dragon single-handedly — let alone the fact that Duanmu Huai didn't exactly look like someone with a pleasant temper. If he took offense and slapped you on the spot, you'd only have yourself to blame.
"Nobles really are troublesome."
"Ahaha...…for ordinary nobles, etiquette is extremely important. But for you, my lord, and for the princess, it's rather less so...…"
Fair enough. Anne, as Manaria's most powerful magic princess, had no one who dared to comment on her behavior either. When all was said and done, it came down to power.
Come to think of it, lately Anne had been spending all her time in the Duel City world, helping Guleya push forward with the development of the dragon-kind nation. She had been so caught up in it she hadn't come back at all.
Was she really alright like that?
Well, there wasn't anything on this end that needed her help for now.
While Duanmu Huai and Odelle were chatting, a knock came at the door. The maid then entered, leading Mary behind her — Mary who now had a vacant, glassy-eyed expression, as if she'd been hypnotized.
"...what happened?"
"Miss Mary had this reaction after watching the footage."
"...…I can kind of understand it, but it also feels like a bit of an overreaction."
Looking at Mary's blank, hollow-eyed expression — like someone who had been thoroughly brainwashed — Duanmu Huai let out a helpless sigh. Honestly, people from near-modern worlds sometimes had the worst capacity for accepting these kinds of things. Take Anne, Guleya, and Lorena — their adaptability was excellent. In a world of magic, all manner of extraordinary things existed, and some spatial theories were even more developed there than in an ordinary scientific world...…
With that thought, Duanmu Huai reached out and clapped his hands.
"Clap clap clap."
"Hm?"
Mary seemed to come back to herself at that, blinking in surprise — much better than that glazed, vacant, otherworldly look she'd had a moment ago.
"Back with us?"
"Ah, yes — that is...…please forgive my rudeness, but all of that...…is it real?"
"It's normal to be skeptical. But yes, it's all real. If you still find it hard to believe, I can take you on a trip to the Systems Alliance."
"No no no no no no, that's quite alright!"
Mary waved her hands frantically, while her expression grew increasingly stiff.
"This, this...…I don't know how to put it, but is someone like me actually of any use? I mean...…I'm sorry, I don't quite know how to say this, but I feel like I might not be good enough...…"
But before Mary could finish, Duanmu Huai cut her off.
"You don't need to say it. The reason I'm inviting you is partly that the Inquisition is shorthanded, and partly that we genuinely need your ability. Perhaps your ability doesn't feel particularly special to you — that's only because it hasn't been properly utilized. In reality, your ability is quite valuable to the Inquisition."
That wasn't a lie. The problem with Mary was that the power of the Golden Eye was so strong she couldn't even perceive how strong it was.
To put it simply — it was like someone living inside an anti-magic field, where all magic was rendered ineffective within their field of vision. Because of that, they assumed this world had no magic, and naturally never felt they possessed anything particularly powerful.
That was an exaggeration, but in truth the Golden Eye had a somewhat similar quality.
"Is...…is that so? But I feel like...…"
"Of course, the way things are now isn't enough. You'll also need to train."
"Yes...…"
Hearing that, Mary relaxed somewhat. Well — looking at her expression, Duanmu Huai could more or less guess. Before coming here, Mary had probably imagined the Inquisition as something like the Men in Black at most. She certainly hadn't expected it to be a cross-galaxy corporate empire. Of course, that concept was probably still a bit too vast for her to fully process right now.
"What sort of training will I need to do, exactly?"
"Hmm...…"
Hearing Mary's question, Duanmu Huai thought it over.
"Firearms training, close-quarters combat training — both will be necessary. And depending on circumstances, magic training as well...…"
"Magic?!"
Hearing that, Mary's eyes immediately lit up.
"There, there's really magic?!"
"Well...…of course there is. Though you don't need to get quite this excited — honestly, using magic in your world is actually rather dangerous."
Watching the ecstatic Mary, Duanmu Huai was a little surprised, though also not entirely surprised.
Well...…girls just loved that kind of fantastical thing, didn't they.
"Can I learn magic too?"
"Depending on the situation, it should be fine."
Looking at how excited Mary was, Duanmu Huai rolled his eyes helplessly, though he could certainly understand it.
But...…learning magic was not going to be as simple as Mary was imagining.
"In the most basic terms, actual combat experience is what matters most."
Among people in Duanmu Huai's circle who could handle magic instruction, there were only a handful. Anne was out — she was far too much of a genius. Even most of the Manaria Academy students couldn't follow what she was saying half the time, let alone someone like Mary who knew absolutely nothing about magic.
Though Shizuka was also a skilled mage, she claimed her own abilities were too far from the basics, and she wasn't well-suited to teaching.
That left only one option — Ranni.
Well, she was the Moon Princess to begin with, and the creator of Dark Moon Magic. So Duanmu Huai brought Mary to find her.
Ranni looked Mary over, then gave her answer.
"Real combat?"
"That's right. Dark Moon Magic itself isn't particularly difficult — it's easy enough to learn. But real combat training is essential."
"Now that you say it that way...…is it really that easy?"
"If all you want to do is learn how to use magic, it's simple."
As she spoke, Ranni reached out and placed a scroll in front of Duanmu Huai and Mary.
"Use this scroll, and you'll learn how to use magic."
"If it's that easy to learn, what exactly do magic academies spend their time teaching?"
Duanmu Huai hadn't forgotten that he'd once visited the Raya-Lucaria Magic Academy himself.
"The foundational theory of magical composition, of course. A mage isn't simply someone who can use magic — they also need to study the fundamentals, analysis, interpretation, and research of magic. What you receive from someone else is ultimately only a rigid spell and its instructions. Even if you're told how to use a particular spell, you still won't know how to use any other, will you."
"That's fair."
It was the same as the difference between driving a car and building one. Getting a driver's license didn't take very long — but learning to build a car from scratch was an entirely different matter.
Actually, Duanmu Huai himself could use magic, and did so via [magic cards]. Though he had studied at the Manaria Magic Academy for a period, he had only learned how to apply spells — the kind of ability Anne had, creating entirely original magic of her own, was something Duanmu Huai simply didn't possess.
"So I'll leave her to you?"
"Leave her to me."
At this point, Duanmu Huai had no idea what it would eventually come to.
(End of Chapter)