Epilogue 2: The Astral Jackpot

The Imperial capital of Yunmelngen.

In a meeting room on the base of Sector Three.

"Boss."

"…Yes?"

"Negative two hundred points."

"I'm so sorry!" Captain Mismis groveled on the ground as Jhin crossed his arms in front

of her.

"Negative one hundred points for putting yourself in mortal danger when you were

captured by the traitor Shanorotte. And then another negative one hundred for falling

into the vortex and fainting while we were fighting for our lives trying to rescue you."

"…B-but… that weird guy in the mask kicked me, and I had an ouchie…"

"Yeah, that's right. Which is why Iska ended up having to jump into that hole, too."

"...I'm sorry for causing so much trouble, especially for Iska." The captain seemed to

wither away, shrinking in size.

With Nene, Iska witnessed this scene, hunkered down on a seat at the edge of the table.

The captain bowed her head repeatedly to her subordinates.

"And you, Iska? How are you feeling?" Nene asked.

"I feel fine."

For all the winds whipping him in the vortex, Iska hadn't experienced any pain when

he'd returned to the surface. Though he had been separated from Alice after their brief

reunion, there was probably nothing he could do about it in that situation.

…Well, if I had to be nitpicky, I guess I have back cramps.

…I only narrowly escaped death because there wasn't any poison on that knife.

Coming to save the purebred Kissing, the masked man had appeared behind Iska

without any indication and vanished without a trace.

Did he have the astral power to teleport?

Even recalling those events made Iska's spine tense up. He hadn't suffered a fatal

wound for one reason: Luck was on his side. He'd had the smidgen of a feeling that

something was wrong and acted accordingly. He wasn't sure he would be able to do it

again.

How many unknown purebreds like that man lurked within the Nebulis Sovereignty?

"—"

"Oh… oh no!" Captain Mismis screeched, planting a hand to her left shoulder. "I need

to hurry and turn in the mission report…"

"I already turned it in a while ago."

"I love you, Jhin! I'll treat you to some barbecue!"

"No need. And while we're on the topic, eat a few vegetables. Stop eating meat all the

time," Jhin answered coldly. "The astral corps retreated. I don't know if the missile hit

the vortex directly, but it's not erupting light anymore. Now we need to deal with that

purebred Kissing and that masked guy who kicked the boss down the vortex."

There had been no mention in the report of Shanorotte, the Imperial army captain

who had betrayed them. After all, the Saint Disciple Nameless should have already

reported that to headquarters.

"Hey, Captain Mismis?" Nene had been sitting quietly, staring at the captain. "What

happened to your shoulder? You've kept your hand on it the whole time. Want me to

put a bandage compress on it?"

"…Huh? Oh sure, just a little."

"From when you fell into the vortex?"

"…Oh, n-no, Nene! It doesn't hurt… It just…" She scratched her left shoulder over the

battle uniform, speaking in a soft voice that seemed as though it would disappear. She

must have been really embarrassed. "…It's been itchy. It started this morning."

"Oh, a heat rash. You must have sweat when you overslept."

"That's not what it is, Jhin! I'm sure that it's just a bugbite! Listen up. Girls can't get

heat rashes. We don't get acne or dry skin, either. Got that?"

"A girl? You're twenty-two."

"JHIN!"

"Okay, okay, just calm down, Captain. You're still young… Nene, go get the medicine."

"Okay. Anti-inflammation meds."

Iska soothed his superior, who was smacking the desk.

On the other side, Nene was tugging off the top to the emergency kit equipped in the

meeting room. She picked out a disinfectant spray and anti-inflammation cream.

"All right, Captain, take off your jacket. If you leave a bugbite alone, it'll start to swell."

"…Ugh. A bugbite. How embarrassing." She hung the jacket on her chair, stripping

down to a lightweight white shirt, folding up her sleeve, and baring her left shoulder—

where there was an emerald-green pattern.

"Huh?"

It wasn't a swollen, red bugbite… but a strange pattern like a tattoo. That is, if tattoos

could glow.

Everyone in that meeting room understood what it was immediately.

It was the astral crest of a witch.

The mark signifying that its host was infected by the planet's unfathomable energy.

And it was clearly emblazoned on Mismis's left shoulder.

"..." She cast her lovely eyes down at her own shoulder and blinked. "…Uh, ummm.

Ah-ha-ha… That's weird. I've never seen such a weird bugbite before."

With her right hand, she rubbed at her shoulder vigorously as though trying to scrub

off dirt until her shoulder turned bright red. Not that there was any way she would be

able to get it off. An astral crest was the product of a power inside her body.

Once it possessed someone, it could never be removed.

"...Uh… um… Huh… um, ah, ah...…" Tears formed in the corners of her eyes.

Her whole body trembled, and she opened her mouth as though she desperately

wanted to say something. Her face was locked into a smile.

"Ah, um… This… Isn't… that...?"

"Captain." Iska didn't say anything else as he held her close.

"..."

"Calm down. It's okay. Get yourself together."

She was panicking.

Of course. Even as Iska held her and tried to remain composed, he couldn't think of

anything else to say.

…I need to relax, too. This is a super-simple situation.

…It's unprecedented but not impossible.

For the last century, they'd known that people exposed to astral energy became

mages—or witches and sorcerers. And of course, this was common knowledge. After

all, this had happened in the Imperial city of Yunmelngen—the origin of the current-

day witches and sorcerers.

"Captain, just to confirm: Do you have any idea when it happened?"

"...Uh, uh…"

"At the vortex, obviously. As far as timing and logic go," Jhin answered, unable to just

watch, "you must have seen the astral spirit before you were blasted out of the vortex.

And that possessed the boss. That's gotta be it."

The sniper tended to spit out his comments with abandon, but in this moment, his

voice was tender.

"Ninety-nine percent of the general populace won't get infected, regardless of the

strength of the astral power. That said, the susceptibility to infections depends on the

person. We have no idea if it's genetic like alcohol or drug tolerance. The boss just

happened to be one of the compatible ones."

"…I—I…" Mismis slumped over, crouching right on the floor. "…Did… I… become a

witch…?"

"You're right on the money. Jackpot. I mean, you've got the astral crest. Well, the only

way to be absolutely sure is to have the guys at the research institute take a look."

"W-we can't do that, Jhin!" Nene ran over, ponytail swaying, and spread her arms as

though protecting Mismis. "If the Imperial research institute finds out that she became

a witch, they'll execute her!"

"If she turns herself in, they'll only give her lifetime imprisonment."

"We can't let either happen! If we lose the captain…" Nene hung her head.

If Captain Mismis was shackled, the whole unit would be disbanded. Iska immediately

guessed what was unsaid—Jhin, too.

"We have two options. But both are hell." Jhin sighed. "We can keep quiet and let the

boss continue being a captain. If the crest is ever brought to light, she'll be treated as

a spy and executed on the spot. They already know she's close to Captain Shanorotte.

Headquarters won't offer her any mercy."

On the other hand, if she turned herself in, the unit would still be disbanded. And if

they kept silent, the unit would be done for the moment someone outed Mismis's

astral crest.

…Think.

…How can we get through this?

Consider the extenuating circumstances.

Thinking back on it, he realized the vortex had ceased its volatile eruption because

Captain Mismis had sapped it of its energy. Taking into account that the Empire

wouldn't have been able to do anything if the Nebulis Sovereignty's agents had taken

its energy for themselves, they could make a case that Captain Mismis had sacrificed

herself in order to nip this problem in the bud.

…No, that won't work. That argument is too weak.

…At best, it'll only lessen her sentence if she turns herself in.

In that case, he had to let her decide.

"Captain." Iska crouched and looked into his superior's eyes. "We'll follow your lead.

Tell us what you want."

"…How…?"

"If you turn yourself in, you won't be executed."

She stared back at him with anxious eyes.

"We'll help as much as we can to reduce your sentence. If we beg your friend Risya,

you might be able to get away with house arrest for the rest of your time in a remote

placement outside the Imperial capital."

Then, there was the other option: being an Imperial subject while continuing to

deceive the Empire.

"Or you can choose to continue being our captain."

If they got caught, none of them would be able to talk their way out of it.

The unit would be disbanded, and in this outcome, it wouldn't just be Mismis who

would be punished. The others would be prosecuted, too.

"…But if we get caught, you'll also be in trouble."

"Don't worry about us," Jhin replied curtly, continuing to cross his legs. "What do you

want to do now, boss? Let's start there. We're your subordinates. You say what you

want. We'll follow through. No questions asked."

"..." She ruffled her hair, clearing her throat in an apparent attempt to keep herself

from sobbing. "I…"

She touched her left shoulder with her right hand to hide the emblem of a witch—a

mark that would never disappear.

"We don't want to part ways, Captain… We just got everyone back together…"

"—"

"Can… I really…?"

"Yes," Iska answered, putting his own right hand on hers. "You can. If you say you want

it, there's no reason for us to disband."

"…Are you sure, Iska?"

"Of course. We'll keep this a secret from headquarters. Not just while you're part of

the unit, either. We'll do it for as long as you live in the Empire."

"O-okay…!" With some hesitation, Captain Mismis nodded earnestly.

"I shouldn't have to say this, boss, but you can't tell anyone other than us. Even if you

think you can trust another captain, if they let this slip, then it's all over."

"Medical examinations might be a problem. Do you want me to go with you and help

you?" Nene asked after Jhin had his say. "Ex-Captain Shanorotte had that skin-colored

sticker to conceal her crest. We might be able to use that. We can have the captain

wear one of those—"

"We just have to do the impossible." With folded arms, Jhin was looking absentmindedly

at the ceiling. "Our biggest concern is that Saint Disciple Risya. She's already appointed

as a direct adviser under the Lord, and we can never tell what she's thinking. She's

collected a butt ton of data on other people, but she never reveals her tricks."

"I agree! Plus, she's friendly with you. If she finds out that the captain is hiding

something—"

"Okay, Unit 907! How have you been?!"

The lock to the room was busted open to reveal none other than the Saint Disciple in

question, who sauntered toward them with long strides.

"Risya?!" Mismis's voice cracked.

Jhin stood immediately as though to hide her body, and Nene quickly put Mismis's

jacket back on her from behind him.

They did everything to keep Mismis's astral crest from being in sight.

If Risya had seen it even for a second, it would all be over.

"Wh… Wh-wh… What brings you over h-h-h-here…?"

"Hmm. Well, your unit was the only one that couldn't come to train for the special

mission. I read the report on Mudor Canyon. Seems you had a lot going on over there

yourselves." As the commanding officer for this mission, the Saint Disciple narrowed

her eyes.

"Oh, and how risque , Mismis. Flinging off your jacket and showing some skin? Were

you trying to seduce Isk and Jhin-Jhin?"

"That's right. And what did you want to tell us about the special mission?"

Jhin was the one to reply as he looked up at the Saint Disciple. "I'm sure it's not good

news. Did you decide when you'll have us train for the special mission?"

"Oh, I wouldn't come all this way to talk about something boring."

The Saint Disciple looked at Iska, Nene, Jhin, and finally Captain Mismis, who was

crouched down. Her beguiling lips squinched up into a smile.

"I came to tell you everything about the special mission. I'm going to have all four of

you infiltrate the Nebulis Sovereignty. Long story short, the target is Nebulis IIX. Good

luck."

"…Wait a second." Iska didn't even think this through as he put the brakes on Risya's

announcement.

That name. He could think only that he'd misheard it.

"You have to be joking."

"No, I'm serious. And this is an order. You don't have the right to refuse," she sang.

Risya In Empire had given them an unshakable order.

"Your special mission is to infiltrate the Sovereignty. Then capture the current Nebulis

queen. Now, how about we have some fun?"