[169] 1. Kergo Autonomous District (1)
Amy's group, having sent Shirone to the Chamber of Accomplishment and Sacrifice, arrived at the eastern altar.
When Jis showed the transit pass, the local opened the stone gate.
Jis translated that the ore cart had arrived.
Amy's group nodded, but Canis and Arin didn't seem interested.
One of Arin's telepathic abilities—telepathy—let her understand the local's words.
The tunnel the cart ran through wasn't deep.
Rails had been laid over volcanic-ash soil, and a local who'd been waiting with the cart greeted them while chewing gum.
His expression was mild, but the intense gaze typical of the Kergo remained. It felt alien, as if someone else's eyes had been grafted on.
Jis felt the chill too. Still, a professional hawker, he approached with a smile.
When he reached out for a handshake, the local took it.
"The loop contact changed. I'm Jis, the new liaison."
"Jis? You don't look like someone for this job."
The Kergo sized him up at a glance. Loop trafficking could be a capital crime in some cases. Jis looked far too gentle for a contact role.
"Where's Palkoa? He always used to come and collect it himself."
"Ah, that man is dead."
"Dead? Deceased?"
When Jis mimed slicing his throat, the local nodded.
He looked incredulous. Palkoa was strong, and he had traits that matched the Kergo temperament. It was hard to believe someone like Jis had stepped in for him.
"You have the pass, right?"
"Of course. Here—look."
The local's smile vanished as he snatched the pass.
Amy's group tensed. They'd thought the pass would settle things, but the local was more suspicious than expected.
Besides, they hadn't come to buy loops.
Palkoa was dead; there would be no more loop trades. If the locals learned that, the outcome was obvious.
The pass was genuine.
The local's doubt couldn't stand against visible proof.
He led them to the ore cart.
It was large enough to seat six with room to spare. A seesaw-like lever system that pushed the cart with mechanical advantage had been installed.
The local grabbed the lever and set the cart in motion.
Normally it took two people; Rian moved to help, but the way the local glared made him back down sheepishly.
The strength used to move the cart was impressive. But it was over twenty kilometers to Mount Toa. If they exerted themselves all the way, they'd be exhausted before they arrived.
As the rails dipped, their speed increased. It felt as if the air in their stomachs dropped together.
The slope eased into a flat section, but the speed didn't lessen. The gradient had been fine-tuned so gravity would keep them moving.
With that design, they would reach the autonomous district faster than by wagon.
"Ugh! This is insanely fast."
"Yeah. Hang on tight."
The cart shook violently. If it flipped at this speed, survival wasn't guaranteed.
Amy's group slid down to sit. The local pursed his lips and muttered something.
The noise drowned it out, but it was clearly not a friendly remark.
Rounding a curve, one wheel felt like it lifted. The bend wasn't that sharp; the acceleration was just too great.
Arin grabbed the cart's rim with one hand and pulled on Canis's lapel with the other. As they straightened onto a straightaway, she asked Jis, "When will we get there?"
"I don't know. I think another twenty minutes or so. It's my first time here too."
"But you've at least heard stories, right?"
"Not at all. Like I said, this route is secret enough that Palkoa used it personally. Informers don't even get near it, and even the higher-ups don't know much."
Arin estimated roughly twenty minutes. She needed time to explain their abilities before they reached Mount Toa.
Telepathic magic sits on the border between eavesdropping and forced confession.
If you dominate someone with a psychic assault, you can penetrate their innermost thoughts—but the drawback is that the ability reveals itself.
By nature, mental magic weakens if the target realizes they're being probed, because they'll put up mental guards.
So practitioners usually send a faint psychic wave that won't be noticed and listen to thoughts that surface of their own accord.
She extended her Spirit Zone and slipped into the local's shadow. Then she sent out five additional tendrils, linking them to everyone in the group except Jis.
When Arin finished preparing, she asked the local, "How much farther?"
Hearing Kergo, the local glanced at Arin. If they'd been facing each other she might have noticed differences in lip shape and pronunciation, but Arin wasn't the sort to make that mistake. The cart's noise and speed helped scatter attention as well.
"We'll arrive in about ten minutes. But we have to go further in. The autonomous district side is too steep for the cart."
They were surprised at being able to understand the local through Jis's translation. Still, none of their faces changed—their training kept their emotions in check.
From Jis's interpretation they realized his translation skill wasn't exceptional. Perhaps Arin's telepathy was simply very good.
- Arin, did you do that?
Amy had pointed at Arin because Arin's crimson eyes had flared on their own a moment earlier. The way the Spirit Zone had slipped in felt like a light breeze.
If it hadn't been a memory of herself, Amy might not even have noticed while her surface thoughts were being read.
- Yeah. I linked the psychic channels.
- Don't tell me you're reading my mind?
The idea that Arin could read very private thoughts was terrifying.
She shook her head.
Even a grand mage of mental magic could dominate those at a graduate level, but they'd still pick up ego-layer memories.
Part of the reason Arin found Amy difficult was Amy's possession of the Crimson Eye.
- Don't worry. It's like a tunnel. Mentalists divide the human psyche into twelve depth layers; this is the eleventh—the superficial psyche. Only thoughts that pass the final filter are transmitted, so you won't get inner feelings.
- What's the twelfth layer then?
- That's the rational domain above the surface. Forced smiles, affectation. Anyway, if you resist strongly the channel breaks. If you tell me to stop, I'll cut it off.
- No. If you're only reading the surface, this is a really useful ability. Keep it on.
- Thanks. I excluded Jis. I blocked everyone's outgoing channels for now. I'll open them from here, but don't show any reaction.
When Arin opened the transmitters, Rian's and Tess's thoughts came through.
- …I wanna talk too! Why can't I talk…? Huh? Now I can hear.
- Me too. Tess, can you hear my voice?
- Yeah. I can hear it. Wow, this is so cool.
Amy realized how convenient Arin's power was. Though they were looking at different things, countless conversations flowed through the mental channel.
It was also interesting to encounter a kind of magic they hadn't seen at the Academy.
Dark magic was a fringe discipline. Despite its versatility, it had fatal weaknesses.
Darkness is vulnerable to light.
And mental magic is hard to use against someone with stronger mental power.
But at the level of an Arcane, things change. Canis and Arin were direct disciples of Arcane, who had become a grand mage through dark magic.
'Amazing. This will be an incredible help. Oh!'
Amy glanced at Arin. Her excitement had shown up as a surface thought.
Arin smiled in response. She was simply pleased by Amy's calculating thought.
A person's mind is far more driven by desire and selfishness than their outward behavior suggests.
For Arin, who'd spent her life reading such feelings, a favor-filled surface thought was nothing.
In any case, telepathy would be excellent in emergencies or even in battle. That was another reason Canis and Arin's presence felt so reassuring.
- Hohoho! This is so much fun! Amy, doesn't that local annoy you? He was totally sneakily checking out my cleavage earlier.
- Really? I thought he seemed to be looking down on us.
- I'm getting hungry. Think there will be food when we get there?
The mental channel filled with chatter, gossip, and grumbling.
Rian and Tess, unfamiliar with this magic, tried to squeeze out whatever thoughts they could just to use the channel.
Strictly speaking, some of those weren't thoughts. It was proof that environment shapes the mind.
- It's noisy as hell. Arin, turn down the volume. Or just shut it off.
When Canis spoke, the volume of voices over the channel dropped. It became like whispers in the ear.
Because it was hard to hear without focusing, the chatter gradually subsided.
Tess, who'd been enjoying the banter, protested.
- Hey, why lower it? I can't hear well. Turn it back up.
- Don't use the mental channel for anything that's not strategic. You think this is a girls' chat room? And it's Arin's ability—who are you to tell her to turn it up or down?
Tess clicked her tongue. But her unchanged expression showed she hadn't let her guard down.
When the idle talk died down, Arin explained why she'd demonstrated her power.
- As you know, this is telepathic magic. I didn't use it on Jis. He's an outsider and I didn't want my ability known; even if I trusted him, if he reacted to it there's a risk of exposure to enemies.
Jis could understand the local anyway, so if they didn't make a show of it they could slip by quietly.
- But this really is a convenient ability.
- Hmph. Consider it one of the benefits of joining the alliance. I don't know whether Shirone passed the exam gate or not, but if we form a party, using Arin's ability will be mandatory.
Canis's brag about their partner was irritating, but there was no denying how useful it was.
- And one more thing. The reason I deliberately used telepathy is that there's something I didn't tell you.
- Something you didn't tell us? What's that all of a sudden?
Amy's gaze sharpened. Even though Shirone's passing was a condition, having a late-arising variable in a temporary alliance was unwelcome.
- It's nothing major. I didn't hide it on purpose; I just thought it wasn't worth mentioning. Anyway—Arin and I had one more reason for trying to pass the exam gate. Contrary to what you might expect, the Kergo locals aren't friendly to outsiders. They're actually hostile.
It wasn't earth-shattering. They hadn't expected applause and hospitality.
Still, actual hostility was surprising.
The autonomous government and the Kergo tribe had chosen a symbiotic relationship, and many locals at the ruins had been influenced by civilization.
- The reason they're hostile is because the Galliant government made mistakes. One hundred years ago, when they came to the island, they promised hefty compensation. The natives judged they couldn't stop the tide of progress and entered negotiations. That business became tourism. You know, at first the native autonomous district was open too. But now exchanges have been cut off.
- Hmm, I can see that. My father also faced a lot of backlash when he first entered the colony. It's inevitable, I suppose.
- That's part of it. But the Galliant government went too far. They crossed the line.