Arc 3 Side Story 1 : Mier Tribe

[Raul PoV]

Ten days after the attack by the Demons and monsters on Cataluna Fortress City, the city had begun to recover.

The rubble that had once littered the streets had been cleared away, while food supplies, tents, and medical teams from the Capital had finally arrived to aid in the recovery effort.

Because of the attack, our field practicum period had been extended by at least another ten days. Originally, all of us were supposed to return home today, but the city still needed our assistance if it was to recover as quickly as possible.

After finishing my duties for the day, I visited the Soul Room to speak with the original Raul.

After fighting that Noble Vampire alongside Ariel, I had realized that my current strength was still insufficient to face enemies of a much higher level.

Without Ariel's help that day, I would have died several times over during that battle.

"Seriously? Ariel actually became a Saint!?" Raul exclaimed, looking genuinely shocked.

"That's right. Her coronation ceremony will take place in a few days. They're waiting for all the leaders of nations that follow the teachings of the Temple of Goddess Diana to arrive," I told him. "Are you interested in meeting her?"

"Huh? You already know how I can meet and speak with her, Evans?" Raul asked excitedly.

"That's right. There's an artifact that can make it possible," I replied. "You can take control of this body for a short period of time by using it, but it can only be used once."

"I see..." Raul muttered.

Soul-manipulation magic could only be used by high-ranking Demons, with only a handful of exceptions.

Long ago, the Demons had invaded this world several times. When they were eventually forced to retreat after being defeated by alliances of humanity, quite a few of them left behind artifacts capable of manipulating souls.

And I knew the location of one such artifact.

"So, did you come here to raise the level of the Profound Codex you possess?" Raul asked again.

"Of course. Is the Mental Codex I possess powerful enough to unlock it?" I asked.

"Indeed. For some reason, your Mental Codex has increased drastically compared to before," Raul explained. "Have you been picking fights with a lot of people? Besides that, I've also detected the emergence of a new Profound Codex. What exactly happened?"

So that's why...

Apparently, becoming a wanted criminal of the Temple of Goddess Diana and killing one of their Holy Knights had caused quite a few people to hate me. That must have been why my Mental Codex had increased so dramatically.

"That's right. I've recently gotten myself into trouble with several major organizations, and they've decided they want me dead," I explained. "That's why I want to increase the level of my Profound Codex, just in case."

"I see. Your Mental Codex can currently raise all the Profound Codices you possess to Level Two," Raul revealed.

Level Two, huh?

For Prince of Darkness, reaching Level Two would loosen many of its previous restrictions.

At Level Two, I would be able to use the power of Prince of Darkness at night. Previously, it could only be used effectively in places completely devoid of light.

The upgrade to Level Two of Mirror Force was fairly simple. The barrier I summoned would increase from a single layer to two, allowing it to withstand stronger attacks from my enemies.

As for Level Two of Full Vengeance, it would allow me to transfer the pain I experienced onto a targeted enemy.

That would be extremely useful as a form of self-healing whenever I didn't have a Healer around.

"Raul, what is the Level Two ability of the Profound Codex Phantom Thief that I possess?" I asked.

In the game, there was indeed a character who possessed this Profound Codex.

However, that character never unlocked Level Two of Phantom Thief throughout the entire game story.

"Emmm... If I remember correctly, the Level Two ability is called Neutralize," Raul said. "It can erase someone's short-term memories within a period of one minute."

So, all the abilities within the Profound Codex were Non-Combat Skills, huh?

I wanted abilities that would let me unleash powerful and flashy attacks like the protagonists in ordinary stories.

"All right. Close your eyes, Evans. I'll begin the process of upgrading your abilities," Raul said.

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After the ability enhancement was complete, I left the city on horseback.

My destination was the Montana Mountains, where I intended to prepare for my plans in case war truly broke out.

However, before heading toward the Montana Mountains, I would visit the ruins of Mieren City—the city where the Mier people once lived.

Stolen novel; please report.

Today, however, those ruins were better known as Vermontoir.

Vermontoir was known as the former headquarters of the Devil Cult.

Half of the area lay within the territory of the Empire, while the other half belonged to the Republic of Venetia.

Both nations had forbidden their citizens from approaching the area, claiming that traps and dark magic were still hidden throughout the ruins.

But that was actually false information designed to conceal a massacre that had taken place there.

Neither nation wanted anyone investigating the atrocities committed by their governments at the time.

Around two hundred years ago, the Republic of Venetia attacked the Mier people and annexed their city.

However, their victory came at the cost of what could only be described as a Pyrrhic victory for the Republic of Venetia.

As a result, the Republic imposed heavy taxes upon the Mier people under their rule to increase state revenue after the nation's treasury had been drained by the war against them.

Several years passed, and the Mier people fell deeper into poverty because of the oppressive taxes.

On top of that, the Venetians frequently discriminated against them because a considerable number of Mier people possessed the ability to use magic.

The Venetian people, whose entire population consisted of Non-Sorcerers, deeply resented Sorcerer races such as the Mier.

Long ago, before the Venetians had established their own nation, they themselves had often been discriminated against by other peoples because they could not use magic.

Driven into desperation and feeling increasingly alienated by the nation that now ruled over them, the Mier people eventually rebelled and started the Second Mier–Venetian War.

However, unlike the previous conflict, the Venetian forces found themselves overwhelmed by the Mier resistance.

The Mier people even managed to capture two cities belonging to the Republic of Venetia.

As the situation on the battlefield continued to deteriorate, the Republic of Venetia sought an alliance with the Aragon Empire, asking for their assistance in dealing with the crisis.

However, the Empire demanded half of the Mier people's territory in exchange for their aid.

Faced with no other choice, the Republic of Venetia reluctantly accepted the terms in order to prevent its nation from being destroyed by the Mier rebellion.

Once the alliance was established, the Knights and Mages of the Aragon Empire began attacking the Mier people.

Faced with the Empire's intervention, the Mier people were forced to abandon the two cities they had recently captured from the Republic of Venetia, as Imperial forces drew closer to Mieren City—the largest settlement of the Mier people.

But there was little they could do.

Attacked by two nations simultaneously, the Mier people were once again defeated in the war.

The great tribes of the Mier people were subsequently massacred to ensure they could never rebel again.

The surviving Mier were enslaved.

Eventually, the identity of the Mier people vanished from the continent.

Afterward, the territory that had once belonged to the Mier people was declared forbidden land.

The two nations spread false stories and propaganda about the destruction of the Mier people, while secretly exploiting the natural resources found throughout their former territory.

After a century of extracting those resources until the land had been thoroughly depleted, both nations abandoned the former Mier territories.

The land became a no-man's-land, gradually disappearing from the pages of history.

After several hours of traveling on horseback, I finally arrived in the former territory of the Mier people.

More precisely, I had reached their largest city—

Mieren City.

There was no sign of human life anywhere in the area after hundreds of years of neglect.

I began walking through the ruins, searching for a lost artifact.

My reason for coming here was to prove a hypothesis I had regarding Siena di Reginossa.

According to the intelligence reports obtained by Black's agents, Siena was the daughter of the thirty-second President of the Republic of Venetia, Luciano di Reginossa.

She was the only known descendant of the Venetian people in history capable of using magic.

She was also an exceptionally talented young woman who had introduced several reforms in the Republic of Venetia, ranging from the military and economy to technological development.

I suspected that she was also the person responsible for proposing the development of firearms and their implementation within the Republic of Venetia's military units.

Knowing this, I had to determine whether her soul had been reincarnated from Earth...

Or whether she was merely a Transmigrator like me.

The fact that she possessed magic despite being descended from the Venetian people made me suspect that she was actually a descendant of one of the great tribes of the Mier.

Why did I think that?

Because the Mier were one of the peoples on this continent with the highest rate of magical births.

The possibility that Siena was descended from them was not impossible at all.

After wandering around the area for some time, I discovered a cave whose entrance was almost completely covered in moss.

I cleared it away.

Beneath the moss, I found inscriptions written in the Mier language carved into the cave wall.

I cut down a tree branch, wrapped one end of it in cloth, and soaked it in oil.

Next, I struck two stones against each other until sparks flew, using them to create a torch.

Once the torch was lit, I entered the cave.

The secret chamber should not have been discovered by anyone else yet.

According to the game, players could explore this location and discover various artifacts left behind by the Mier people.

After walking several hundred meters into the cave, I found another carving concealed beneath a layer of moss.

I cleared it away as well, revealing the inscriptions carved into the cave wall.

But what stood before me wasn't actually a cave wall.

It was an entrance.

An entrance leading to the artifact I had been searching for.

I took a plastic bag filled with blood from the pack I was carrying.

It was Melissa's blood, which I had collected before she left Cataluna Fortress City.

If my hypothesis was correct, then there was a reason Melissa's mannerisms and the way she spoke reminded me so much of Liana.

It wasn't merely a coincidence.

I poured Melissa's blood over the inscriptions.

Not long afterward, the door began to tremble.

A faint light emerged from it.

I was right.

This door could only be opened by pouring the blood of a descendant of one of the great tribes of the Mier people onto its inscriptions.

That meant my hypothesis had been proven correct.

A moment later, the wall of the cave opened.

I stepped inside.

Several accessories rested upon a stone table.

Every single one of them was an important artifact left behind by the Mier people.

But my eyes were drawn to only one.

An artifact shaped like half of a crescent moon.

This was the artifact known as Crescent Shape, a relic belonging to Caligura, the Hero of the Mier people.

Its ability allowed it to absorb a spell, after which the owner of the artifact could use that absorbed spell once.

This artifact had a counterpart.

When the two were joined together, they would form a complete crescent moon and transform into an entirely new artifact known as Legacy of Mieren Tribe.

The counterpart of Crescent Shape was called Crescent Shift.

This artifact possessed the ability to alter a person's appearance however they desired.

Which meant...

Melissa, the woman who had so often spoken with me at her tavern, was Siena di Reginossa—the daughter of the thirty-second President of the Republic of Venetia.

She possessed Crescent Shift, the counterpart to the artifact I had discovered here, and had been using it to change her appearance so she wouldn't be recognized while conducting intelligence activities within the Empire.

This also meant that Siena's mother was a descendant of Caligura, the Hero of the Mier people.

My hypothesis about her had been correct all along.

There were two possibilities now that my hypothesis had been proven true.

The first was that Liana, my former lover, had reincarnated into this world and been given the name Siena.

Or perhaps only Liana's soul had been Transmigrated into this world, entering Siena's body at some point in time, just as I had entered Raul's.

The second possibility was that, somehow, Siena had gained access to information from my world and possessed the memories of Liana, my former lover.

There was only one way for me to discover the truth...

"I have to make her tell me about it..."