Before dawn broke, Forlena Village was silent enough to chill the bones. Several hours had passed since last night's covert struggle. Kai kept Renka bound against the wall, sitting on the floor, while he remained awake in the corner of the room with a dagger resting on his knee. He hadn't slept. Or rather, he hadn't wanted to sleep. When the pale morning light began filtering through the window, Kai stood up. Renka was still conscious. His silver hair was disheveled, his broken right arm pressed against his body. Ice-blue eyes looked up at Kai. They glistened slightly with pain, but still held something hidden. Kai said nothing and knelt before him. He slowly lifted the broken right arm. The displacement of bone transmitted through his hand. He could feel it just by touching with his bare fingers. "[scared]—— stop" Kai pressed his thumb slowly into the break. A dull crunch echoed through the room. "AAAAAAHHHHH——!!" He hadn't wanted to cry out. But it came—a scream wrenched from his throat. Renka clenched his teeth, his fists white-knuckled. Kai didn't move. His expression didn't change. He kept his thumb in place. "[scared]I understand—— I understand, I'll talk!! I'll talk, so——!" His voice had become rapid. When cornered, he spoke quickly. Kai had noticed that since last night. Kai quietly withdrew his hand. He stood and leaned his back against the window frame. "Your employer's name" "The Third Finger—— a leader of Veilhand. I'm directly under him…… guys like me at the bottom don't know his face, but orders come. They always come" Veilhand. Kai's eyes narrowed. After the Trias civil war ended, even the intelligence agencies of various nations couldn't grasp the true nature of this secret society—yet its name had just come from the mouth of an assassin in a small village. "This 'Third Finger' is one of the leaders?" "Yeah. There are five Fingers. Each one commands an independent unit—— I don't know anything beyond that" "Why target me?" Renka fell silent for a moment. He pressed his fingertips to the floor, as if wrestling with something inside himself. "Your name was on the elimination list. It was…… near the top. But not elimination. Recovery. You're being treated as material" Material. Kai rolled the word around in his mouth. He showed no reaction. But his hand moved slightly closer to the dagger's hilt. "What does 'material' mean?" "I don't know. That's all I know—— but…… I've heard the word Neugestalt. I think it's some kind of device. I really don't know anything beyond that. I swear" His voice was trembling. Not the tremor of a lie. Fear. Fear of speaking that word. Kai looked at Renka's face. Sixteen years old. Still bearing traces of childhood. The burn mark on his neck, professional assassination equipment, a broken arm—— what had happened to bring this child here, Kai didn't know. He didn't want to know. But the fact that this child was also being squeezed dry by the organization was quietly reflected in Kai's eyes. That didn't mean he would help him. Kai crouched down again. "[cold]I'll ask one more time. Do you truly not know what Neugestalt is?" "I don't know——!! I really don't know——!" "Understood" He stood. Outside was now completely bright. Kai lifted Renka's left arm and checked the unbroken bone. Then—— A sharp crack. A short, dry sound. "——!!!" No sound came. The pain was too intense. Renka's face turned ashen, his body beginning to tremble in small spasms. "You won't be able to move for a while" There was no emotion. It was a businesslike confirmation. --- When Kai visited, the village chief Thoma Helgen opened the door immediately. He glanced at the silver-haired girl being brought in. Both arms broken, face pale, body bound. Thoma said nothing. He asked nothing. "Keep him. There's no risk of escape" "…… Understood" That was all. The old retired soldier knew the weight of such matters. Not asking questions was this village chief's way. Kai seated Renka in a chair inside and went back out. The morning air was cold. Millgrove Forest lay shrouded in mist, white and hazy. Kai returned to his house and packed the bare minimum. One change of clothes, a few silver coins, one dagger from beneath the floorboards. That was all. He paused at the open door, looking back. Five years in this room. The table where he'd eaten grain porridge. The floorboards he'd checked every night. The stacked firewood—— all of it entered his eyes. Kai looked at it for one second. Then he turned away. If they would keep coming even if he ran, then he had to move. His mind had decided long ago. But something inside his body—— something that had tried to sever its ties with conflict—— ached just slightly. Five years was a weight of that magnitude. Kai walked on. He didn't look back. --- At the same time, approximately 60 kilometers southeast of Halbern. In the depths of an abandoned mine, in a stone cavern—— a secret facility of Veilhand constructed beneath the old Karant Mine. The mine entrance was disguised as a collapse, the true entrance 300 meters away at the bottom of a dried well. Beyond the stone passages lay the room. Underground Level 2, Experimental Section. Dimly lit. Only one lantern burned. In the center of the room stood a chair-like device. Metal, with countless thin needles extending from the backrest. A metal helmet covered the head section, with a human head fitted beneath it—— the face was not visible. Both hands and feet were fixed with metal bands. The needles piercing the body reflected light faintly. The restrained body trembled slightly, very rarely. Standing with his back to the device, a man examined documents. Dolg. Around fifty years old, 183 centimeters tall, thin-framed. Silver hair thinning at the crown, swept back. Cold gray eyes moved quietly across the documents. A black scar ran across his right shoulder. His appearance was gentlemanly. His manner was quiet. But his eyes—— never smiled. Not once. Once a military advisor to the Eldrain Kingdom. He had gone missing in the final stages of the Trias civil war. Now he was here. A subordinate entered from outside the door. A young man. "[serious]A report has arrived from the one sent to Forlena. The assassination has failed. Kai Halkross is alive" Dolg didn't look up from the documents. A long silence. "[cold]…… No matter" His voice was quiet. Not angry. Not disappointed. Dolg slowly placed the documents on the desk and walked toward the device. He stood beside the restrained body, his gaze falling upon it. Like a craftsman inspecting his work. "[cold]If that man moves, we can conduct a performance test of this material. Rather convenient, in fact" The restrained body trembled slightly again. Dolg watched it, his expression unchanged. "Continue surveillance. Report where that man heads" "[serious]Yes" The subordinate left. Alone again, Dolg returned to his documents. The lantern light flickered. The device's needles gleamed. Veilhand—— a name whose true nature even the intelligence agencies of various nations could not grasp. For Dolg, this was not a source of pride, merely reality. The organization moved. For its purpose. Means were irrelevant. The room fell silent again. --- The next evening, he arrived in Halbern. Approximately 120 kilometers northwest from Forlena Village—— a journey that normally took two and a half days on horseback, Kai had covered in one and a half. He hadn't pushed the horse to its absolute limit. He simply hadn't stopped. Passing through the east gate of Halbern, the bustle of the city struck him. Stone-paved commercial streets, the sound of cargo wagons, merchants' calls. Positioned at the southern edge of the Galenorg Federation, near the border with the Eldrain Kingdom, this trading city drew all manner of people. Former soldiers, traveling merchants, mercenary washouts—— fifteen years after the civil war's end, the three great powers of the continent still read each other's intentions. The tension this created fed the hidden economy that kept the city's underside thriving. He entered the eastern commercial district. He tied up the horse and looked up at a two-story stone building. Crossroads Trading Company—— the legitimate front that Gil operated. The first floor displayed bolts of cloth in the window. An unremarkable storefront. That was its true nature. He pushed open the door. A young clerk stood alone inside. Seeing Kai, he began to say "Welcome——" Kai simply said "Second floor" The clerk's expression shifted for a moment before he said "One moment, please" and headed to the back. Footsteps descended the stairs. The man who appeared had reddish-brown short hair. 175 centimeters tall, bright green eyes. A small scar at the corner of his mouth. His smile was striking. But his eyes didn't smile. They calculated. That was Gil. "[surprised]…… You're alive" His voice was casual. Gil's gaze fixed on the wound on Kai's left cheek. A graze from last night's struggle. Already closed, but the scar remained. Gil looked at it for one second and understood everything. "Come up" --- The second floor was a wall covered entirely with maps and documents. A desk by the window, two chairs. Stacks of papers, several pens. This was Gil's true workplace. The two sat. Gil spoke first. "Five years. That scar on your cheek—— yesterday?" "Yeah" "An assassin?" "Uh-huh" "Veilhand?" Kai fell silent for a moment. "…… How did you know?" "[serious]Three people disappeared in half a year. Former combatants. Not all near Forlena, but the circumstances of their disappearances are similar—— everyone involved goes silent. No information comes out. There's only one organization that makes people disappear like that" Gil stood and moved to the wall of maps. He pointed to three locations. Central, northern, and eastern Eldrain Kingdom—— scattered, but definitely there. "I'll tell you what I've gathered about Veilhand. A list of disappeared former combatants, unusual assassination requests that have increased in the last half year, and rumors of a leader called the Third Finger—— that's all. I don't even know if it's connected" "[serious]That's everything?" "Pretty much. But—— I'm not kind enough to give it for free" Gil returned to his chair and looked at Kai. A smile. But the eyes behind it were calculating as always. "Recently, a strange man has been appearing around Halbern. Seven eyewitness reports. He moves in an unusual way. Multiple former mercenaries have avoided contact—— that's all. Find out who that man is, and I'll give you everything I have" Kai considered for a moment. Or appeared to. In truth, he had no reason to refuse. "Understood" "Quick decision" "It's a pain, but I have no choice" Gil laughed quietly. A real laugh—— not calculation, just a slight relaxation. Ten years of association showed in moments like this. Not in the words themselves. In the way the laugh came, just slightly loosened. That night, the two stood before the wall of maps. Kai told Gil what he'd learned from Renka. The elimination list, the word "material," and Neugestalt. The lightness vanished from Gil's expression. "Neugestalt—— I've never heard of it" "Neither have I" "If the disappeared combatants are also being treated as material, things start connecting. There's a reason to keep them alive and take them" The two's gazes returned to the three points on the map. Gil added a new mark. Around Halbern. Where the mysterious man had been sighted. "[serious]If you die, I'll spread all this information. To every intelligence agency, every newspaper, everyone" "Count on it" A short answer. But the weight between them was sufficient. Gil looked out the window. Halbern's night city. Lights beginning to glow in stone buildings. Somewhere, the sound of a wagon. An ordinary night. But beneath this city's surface, something was moving. Kai also looked out