A corner of the Imperial City. In one of the hideouts that existed in the decadent capital district, Noto Kocurea was scratching his head.

A few days after his research facility was exposed and he was overwhelmingly defeated by a thousand changes, the simmering anger he harbored showed no signs of abating.

The Tower of Akasha is a notorious sorcerous society. The methods it employs in its quest for truth deviate greatly from common ethics.
I understand that they have many enemies. If it had been a group of hunters or an imperial order that attacked Noto and the others, even if they had been captured, Noto would not have been tormented like this.

But that was not even a battle.

If you close your eyes, the scene comes back vividly.
The eyes of the man known as the Thousand Transformations did not see Noto and the others as enemies. He even humiliated Noto and the others with ridiculous words like "Sand Rabbit researcher".

For Noto, who had always looked down on others, but had never been looked down upon, these words were unbearable.

The disciples looked at Noto with uneasy expressions, unable to hide their annoyance.

The mages, who had repeatedly conducted unethical research, were frightened of a single hunter.
Their confident offensive spells had all been nullified, and they had even been struck down with a single blow by a hunter without a staff. It was understandable that he felt uneasy.

Mages are highly resistant to attack magic. This is because the powerful magic power they possess is a strong resistance to attack magic. If you are a mage of the Akasha Tower, your resistance has reached the point where you cannot be harmed by ordinary magic.

But the magic that Senhen Manka unleashed was so powerful that it could subdue all of his disciples except Noto in a single blow, even though he did not recite.
If Noto and the others had not been mages, they would have been crushed to death by that blow.

There was no information that Senhen Manka was a mage until now. I can't deny that I was careless. But even taking that into account, it was obvious that the man's magic was at least as powerful as the magic of Akasha's mage.

'Shouldn't we leave the Imperial City?

'Are you ...... telling me to turn tail and run away, is that what you're saying?

'No, no, but--'

I blackmailed the disciple who spoke weakly.
I can't just run away. Even if I can't win, I have to give him a shot. It's not like I've been hiding for a few days.

Noto is a mage. I don't mean to say he'll fight to the death or that he's proud. But it would be too miserable to run away now.

The research is going well.
The Empire knows we're here, but our cover is complete. Akasha is a large organization. They even have allies in the Empire's upper echelons.
If it weren't for the man who suddenly attacked Noto and the others like a disaster, we'd still have a chance to win.

No, ...... even if you leave the country, you can't just leave Chika in there.

'There must be a trick to it. ...... Sofia will be back soon.'

The first apprentice who had gone on vacation had been given a precious sympathetic stone for emergencies.
It hurt Noto's pride to ask for help from his protégé, even though he was an excellent student, but it was unavoidable since the survival of his research was at stake.

I don't know where he is now, but he said he'll be back soon.
The outside research facilities have been destroyed, but that's not the only strength Noto and his team have. With Sophia's return, we'll have enough strength.

'But no matter how much Sofia--'

'Too much. What we should be thinking about now is ...... that--'

Taking a deep breath, Noto looked around at the faces of his students gathered in the room.
The Thousand Transformations had missed all of Noto and the others, so none of them were missing. The wounds caused by the gravity magic (pressure) have completely recovered after the last few days of treatment.

This is a good thing for Noto and the others, but it also raises a big question.

What is the purpose of the Thousand Transformations?

If it's to stop the research, there's no way they could have missed Noto and the others at that time.
Some of the members are still working in the Imperial Capital, but those who were there are the core of Noto's research. If all of them had been captured, the nearly completed research would have been abandoned.

The fact that they had taken the trouble to appear in front of Noto and the others meant that they must have had some purpose. It wasn't to insult them, was it? I don't think a level 8 hunter would do such a useless thing.

To warn them and drive them out of the Imperial City? But that's no reason not to catch him.
Or - is he trying to bring down not just Noto, but the entire Akasha Tower?

Noto laughed off the thought that came to mind.

The Akasha Tower is a huge organization. Its members are spread all over the world. Noto, who had made a name for himself in the imperial city of Zebrudia, was but one member. It's not something that a single hunter can handle, and even Noto doesn't know the full extent of the organization.
If Noto and the others are captured, their hands will not reach out to the others who are conducting research.

'...... Oh well. What we need to do now is to take out the pus inside, huh?

'? That's--'

Noto turned his dark and murky eyes on his buzzing disciples.

'Unfortunately, it seems that there is a traitor in .......'

'What?

His disciples gasped as he looked at them with eyes that reminded them of the abyss.
Noto stood up and slowly approached the disciples present.

They were all excellent mages who had studied with him. They had ambition, but more than that, they had a thirst for knowledge, and Noto would not have considered betraying them if he had not had this opportunity.

'Just out of curiosity - did any of these men leak any information to anyone?'

'That's impossible. We are all in this together! Master...'

The second disciple objected to Noto's words.
Noto thought so too. The research Noto and the others were doing was unacceptable in any country. And everyone here has had their hands dirty, to one degree or another. Unless you were suicidal, you wouldn't have leaked the information to the outside world.

But the reality is that information is leaking out.

'The location of the lab was leaked. The experiment that produced you was also breached. I heard a thousand transformations came to the store upstairs today. No matter how strong he is, he's not human. I can only assume he has an informant on the inside.

The disciples fell silent at his calm words.

Akasha's cover-up is perfect. He's been doing this for nearly ten years without anyone noticing.
I don't think even a level 8 hunter would find him that easily.

What's more, when I asked him how he knew the golem's name, he said.

-- "A friend told me.



'Looks like you've got a thousand and one 'friends' in here: ......'

'......'

Thinking about it, the reason why Thousand Transformations used a gravity spell with low killing power at that time was probably to avoid killing the insider.

The suspects are everyone in this room except myself.
There were more people who knew the name of the strategic golem Akasha, but only a few of them knew that she had changed her laboratory to the vicinity of the Alleyne Column Ruins.

It is fortunate that Sophia, his most disciple, is not a suspect. It hurts Noto to lose Sophia, who is the most outstanding among his students.

Noto peers down to check the expressions on the faces of each of his students.
Nervous. Frightened. Anger. The second disciple says, with an expression of mixed emotions.

'But, but even if there was an informant--the move was sudden. There are ...... many ways to inform a thousand different things.'

'There are ...... plenty of ways to do that. It's a lot easier than him finding the place on his own without any prior information.

I know my apprentice's history. As far as Noto knows, none of them have any connection to the Thousand Transformations.
But that's no longer relevant. Was he threatened? Was he coerced? That doesn't matter either.

The most important thing is to prevent any more information from leaking out.
There is nothing more deadly to a mage than to have his hand exposed. Even if you set a trap, it will all be in vain if there are collaborators inside.

Now that I think about it, the reason why all of the disciples' attack spells were nullified was because they had predicted in advance what spells would be fired.
There are few mages who are proficient in all kinds of magic. Even Noto's students had their own specialties.

Even if it is difficult to prevent all attacks, there are several ways to prevent certain types of attacks. The reason why they were attacked so unprotected was because they had taken countermeasures, wasn't it?

'I'm going to take action. I'm going to ...... kill that man who made fun of me as a rabbit researcher.

The disciples shook their shoulders in horror as Noto assured them.
Eyes filled with awe. But none of them behaved in any suspicious way.

No, Noto has no confidence in his ability to detect falsehood. He had never even had a suspicion before.
Checking the comfort of his beloved staff, he circled the disciples, who were waiting for him to speak, as if waiting for a moment of absolution.

Perhaps unable to endure the silence, the second disciple, the oldest of the group, spoke up.

'Well, then, Master. Who is this 'friend' of ......'s?'

'Bloody ...... tail not showing, huh? Oh well. ......'

My mind was made up a long time ago.

It is true that Noto has no power to detect falsehood. But if you don't know, then all you have to do is get rid of everyone you suspect.
I may be his apprentice, but I have no compassion. As long as I've been doing this kind of research, I've been expecting a time like this.
The research will be delayed, but the results are all in Noto's head. Even Sophia is there. If we can destroy her natural enemy, it won't be hard to get her back.

'......What?'

The eyes of the second apprentice, who had been standing up straight, widened. His stance slumped and he fell to the floor.
There was no one to scream. The only sound was that of heavy objects falling apart.

With this, the informant was gone. The existence of his research was known and he had lost most of his students. But the war is not over yet.
We'll start over when Sophia returns. Soon, all the changes will know of the death of their collaborator.

The next time you see her will be the last time you see her.

In the motionless room, Noto cast a cold stare at his disciples, who had fallen helplessly under his spell.


§§


Noto looked up at the sound of small footsteps caught by the intruder alert spell he had set up.
Bloodshot eyes. The dark circles underneath them showed the depth of fatigue that had accumulated in his body.

However, despite his exhausted expression, the depths of his eyes were shining brightly.

There was no one else who knew about this base anymore, except Noto and his only remaining disciple.

'You're back, Saphira.

'Yes ......, I've just returned ......, Master.'

The door opens. Entering was a woman in a plain gray robe--Sophia.

Her fiery crimson hair was pushed back into her hood. With her beautiful blue eyes and fragile appearance, she doesn't look like a very skilled mage - a mage who is engaged in the study of forbidden things.
Perhaps she had just returned to the Imperial Capital, Sophia was still dressed in her traveling clothes. She was carrying a large bag on her back.

Sofia. Sophia Black.

The most talented of the mages Noto Cochlear had taught over the years.
She is a woman with a natural talent that will eventually surpass Noto's as the years go by.
Even now, when she has no experience, she sometimes shows inspirations that would impress even Noto. The kind of inspiration that is never appreciated by the world, and is always shut down.

And the Tower of Akasha will nurture that talent to the fullest.

'Sorry to summon you so suddenly, but I'm your enemy.

'Master Noto's ...... will be done.'

Even though she was called away from her vacation without any reason, Sophia's expression showed no sign of blame.
She looked up at Noto with eyes reminiscent of the surface of a tranquil lake and asked briefly.

'What about the rest of you?

'...... There was an informant. We got rid of them. You're the only one left.'

Sophia's eyes widened slightly.
The turmoil was short-lived. Her cheeks twitch, and in a small voice she says pleadingly.

'It's - may I have the body ......?

'............ later. We'll take it now.

It was a smile that was quickly erased, but it was definitely a smile.

It wasn't that Sophia and the other students didn't get along. But even so, the emotion that preceded grief at the death of a brother student with whom she had worked was something that she had never seen in the other students.

Pure intellectual curiosity is sometimes as close to malice as you can get. This rare glimpse of a sensitivity so far removed from that of the average person was one of the main reasons why Noto Cochlear valued Sophia so highly.



Sophia dropped her bag on the floor and nodded reverently at her teacher's words.

'Yes, sir. Master, may I have a moment of your time before we speak?'

'...... Why?

This is a time-sensitive situation. Although the Thousand Transformations have not yet entered this base, there is no guarantee when they will.
As Noto breathed hard and asked, Sophia took a small box from her bag and smiled faintly.

'Master seems to be a bit tired. ...... I have some chocolates for you. Let's have some tea and talk about it.