Chapter 44: Lots of stuff I don't really get, but it looks neat!

Middle Fire Month, 2nd Day, 600 AGG

"Yuriko, put that down," Draudillon blankly stared at the angel shaking a vial of Gilded Vitriol. "What if you drop it?"

"Eh, okay…" the angel placed the vial on the check-out counter where the Armat clerk was busy smarming up to Ithit. "Can we buy it? It reminds me of um," Yuriko repeatedly snapped her fingers with a contemplative frown. "Lava lamps! Yeah, it reminds me of lava lamps!"

'Lamps that use lava?' Draudillon felt like she was misunderstanding something—another topic to ask the angel about when the two could find more free time. "Fine. We aren't paying for it anyways."

"Those slaves of yours, High Vizier, simply exquisite taste," the Armat's eyes darted back and forth between them and the three beastmen. "To think you would be able to find humans so well trained in the appraisal of magic items truly awes this lowly one. And for one of them to be able to operate an item I've never seen before either!"

"Mm," Varush grunted, eyeing the『World Item』hovering above Yuriko's shoulder. In all honesty, Draudillon was surprised it didn't draw more wandering eyes—staring into the orb was like gazing up at a starry night sky. Maybe the High Vizier's presence dissuaded beastmen from looking too closely. "They're competent. Now, I believe this is all…?"

The Minotaur's eyes flicked towards the two women. Draudillon glanced at a distracted Yuriko busy browsing through the other wares, sighed, and nodded.

"Yes, that's all," Varush confirmed. "How much would all of this be?"

"Gilded Vitriol, Srivasta Pavise, Crescent Asp, scrolls of 『Lightning』, 『Shatter』,『Reduce Animal』..." Draudillon tuned out the Armat's voice as they waited for the ratman to finish checking over the selected articles. "『Light Healing』. Is that all you wanted, sirs? We have a new batch of combat concoctions brewed from Saramati Wyverns that came in—"

"It's fine," Varush put a halt to the Armat's attempt to peddle the Archive's products. "Just give us the bill."

'The Saramati Mountain Range,' Draudillon distractedly turned over the name in her mind. 'That's Lesser Dragonspine for us, isn't it? I wonder what else will need to be integrated or renamed after this.'

"O-Of course, right away," the Armat hurriedly scribbled a few calculations on a scrap of worn parchment. "Do you have a plaque, sirs?"

"We'll pay upfront," Varush dug around in his Bag of Holding and pulled out a handful of coins. "Will that be a problem?"

"No, not at all!" The Armat checked and rechecked the written sum. "Erm, this adds up to three-hundred eighty-six Dinars and five Denaree."

"One, two, three…" Varush counted to himself as he did the math in his head, plopping down an eclectic collection of—was that adamantite?—adamantite, platinum, gold, and silver coins. "Six Chamaks, two Dhusars, six Dinars, and five Denaree. Is that correct?"

"Y-Yes, High Vizier!" The Armat didn't dare inspect the coinage, not wanting to offend the Minotaur. Or that's what Draudillon thought at least, and what was Yuriko doing—?! "Would you like for this to all be packed?"

"Just hand it over to the slaves," Varush turned around to call them over only to see the dragon queen occupied with tugging the angel away from the spindly, many-armed golem assistant. "Ahem, excuse me."

"If it's golems you're curious about, I can find some for us to look at later," Draudillon muttered to Yuriko as she dragged them back towards the counter. "Try to avoid touching them; some constructs interpret that as hostile action."

"Oh," Yuriko awkwardly shuffled her feet while Draudillon dumped all the magic items into their own Bag of Holding. "Sorry. It just looked really neat, and um… sorry."

"Don't apologize," Draudillon shot the angel a quick smile—the levity of the situation helped settle her own nerves in a way, however slight they were. "You're nervous, aren't you?"

"N-No," Yuriko squared her shoulders. "I'm not. I'm—"

"You are," the dragon queen firmly shut down the angel's objection. "And there's nothing wrong with being nervous."

Draudillon rubbed the back of Yuriko's pale hand. "We're almost done. After this we can find something less…" Less what? How did one describe mass slaughter, regardless of how much the victims deserved it? "Stressful to do together."

The words felt dry in her mouth.

"Yeah," Yuriko took a step closer, close enough that Draudillon could count her eyelashes. "Yeah, that sounds good. Maybe we can go and, and like, fly around, see some cool places—"

"Ahem," the pair startled at the sound of Varush uncomfortably clearing his throat. "We're leaving. Did you pick out everything you—I wanted?"

"A-Ah! Yes sir!" Yuriko pulled her along as they followed behind the three beastmen who were waiting before the door behind the counter. "Sorry!"

Their group went through the unassuming entrance and up the spiral stairwell behind it with only the sound of footsteps against stone to accompany the monotony of their ascent. For all their magical expertise and resources, it appeared even the beastmen resorted to stairs instead of some gratuitous arcane convenience.

The thought didn't make climbing the steps any more pleasant.

"Hey," Yuriko broke the silence. "So y'know the items we just bought?"

"Yes?" Varush looked back towards her. "Did you need more?"

"Oh, no," the angel waved both hands in denial. "I was wondering more like, do y'know what all of them do? Besides the scrolls 'cause I already know what those are."

Draudillon refrained from pinching Yuriko's cheeks. It wasn't the time for self-indulgence, especially now when she didn't deserve it. Not when the angel was already pushing, forcing, themselves to an outcome they were struggling to stomach.

Couldn't go back now. Couldn't turn around. It wasn't right, wasn't fair to all her people who dreamed of this.

But, what about Yuriko?

"You… had us buy those, and you don't have any idea what they do?" Ithit's face contorted in an expression of agony. "Why, I—Ha… I don't know. If you really need information on them, we can go back downstairs and ask."

"Hm, guess we keep going up then," Yuriko chewed on her lip, and a tense quiet fell over the group once more. Why did the damn staircase have to be so long? Did the beastmen derive some feeling of superiority from placing all their important sites high up in the sky?

'Of course they do,' the dragon queen bitterly thought to herself as they finally reached their floor. 'Why stick a waygate, a locus of transportation, somewhere so difficult to access otherwise?'

Draudillon suddenly noticed her vice-like grip on Yuriko's hand and immediately loosened her hold. Gods, her knuckles were still white from how tight she had been clenching her fingers. She supposed it spoke volumes about the angel's own anxiety if they hadn't noticed.

"Arcanist," Varush hailed a thin, cloaked beastman. "Transportation to Kruurat, heart of the Archives."

"As you desire, High Vizier. Please follow me," the spellcaster hoarsely replied and lowered his head before leading them to the waygate—a smooth-cut stone ring glowing through the work of unknown enchantments and laced with pink crystal veins. "I must admit, we didn't expect you to be back so… soon."

"It seems no one was," the five stepped over the rim of the waygate and into its center. "Where are your coworkers? Or do you intend to power it alone?"

"Nothing of the sort," the spellcaster waved and Draudillon winced as the grating of gears assaulted her ears, raising the gates for two hidden enclosures. "We've managed to refine the designs for the Mac'tal Mana Golems."

A pair of clunky, cubic golems constructed with a crystal similar to the filigree of the waygate skittered out on spindly metallic legs and plopped themselves down next to the arcanist.

"That quickly?" Ithit mumbled, uncomfortably shifting his weight across his four feet. "It hasn't even been a month since we left."

"You and the High Vizier provided excellent data on the performance of the previous prototypes," the spellcaster laid his hands on the golems and shivered in cadence with the tinted lightning arcing into him—and from his form, into the waygate. "Ahhh… What a rush."

Draudillon grimaced. His tone, expression, the way his body shook; it all evoked images of the Laira addicts she saw during past visits to Re-Estize and Baharuth. She wasn't under any illusions that the insidious substance hadn't made its way to her kingdom, but at least the problem wasn't as prominent as it was for the other two nations.

"Geez," one glance at Yuriko, and she could tell the angel was thinking something similar. "Reminds me of Glimmer junkies."

More and more light poured from the waygate, crystalline channels igniting and thrumming in the chilly, impersonable chamber. She was beginning to have second thoughts now; flying seemed far safer than whatever principles these waygates operated on.

"Glimmer?" Draudillon curiously asked, pushing away her worries. The angel didn't often bring up topics from their old world. "A type of drug, I presume?"

"Mhm, psy-psyche—psyche-something," Yuriko gave up on trying to pronounce the word. Psychedelic, Draudillon thought, unless there was another term native and exclusive to their old world. "Yeah, it's a drug. One sniff, and—"

The space around them bent, twisted, and warped into a similar room, different only by its size and arrangement. In a way, it felt like they hadn't just teleported across hundreds—maybe even thousands—of kilometers.

"—it's like your nerves get set on fire," Draudillon snapped back to attention. Had they not noticed the shift in environment? "Erm, not that I've ever used any! It's just what I've heard from coworkers and stuff…"

"Is that so?" She was glad to hear it, but the time and setting wasn't the best for this sort of talk. Later, she promised herself. Later when the beastmen weren't a cause for concern anymore. "I'm happy to hear that you've stayed away from those. And, ah, we're here by the way."

"Wha-" Yuriko jerked her head around and mirrored Draudillon's own observation. "It looks the same—!"

"We'll go down into the core where all their communication structures are kept," Ithit put an end to their small-talk. "Grab an archmage on the way there to control the system and prevent『Messages』from leaking through. Do you two have some way of keeping a spellcaster restrained?"

"Um," the angel propped one arm atop the other, scratching her chin with knitted brows. "Probably, as long as they aren't too strong."

"How strong is too strong?" Rasthdaan piped up, more curious than afraid in spite of Yuriko's showing at the plaza earlier today. "Archive's got a couple of Fifth-Tier spellcasters. Restraining sounds a little difficult when they've got『Teleport』, you know?"

"Fifth-Tier?" Yuriko tilted her head. "Well, it should be fine since that's as high as they go… 『Teleport』isn't a big deal either if I hit them with a『Dimensional Lock』or Anchor."

"We'll trust in your strength then," Varush led them out the chamber and past the spellcasters and assistants milling about the sanctums of the Vayul Archives. "Don't cast any spells until we arrive; I'm certain nearly every other part of the Archive is fitted with magical sensors."

"Why would that be the case?" Draudillon inquired. "Interference from all the spells and enchantments needed to run the structures?"

"Er, I assume so," Varush helplessly rubbed the top of his head. "In any case, we should get a move on. We've already been scried more than what would have been desirable."

Unsurprisingly, they weren't questioned on their descent into the lower reaches of the institute. Being the head of state had its perks after all, something Draudillon was well aware of. Though if the Archives was as secretive as the three beastmen had made them out to be, it felt strange that they only received a few odd looks here and there.

'Probably just surprised,' Draudillon decided. 'If they were truly aware of our intentions, allowing us to warp into the heart of their country would be the height of stupidity.'

She didn't get too much of a chance to mull over the thought; there were yet more stairs to climb. On the bright side, they were moving downwards this time.

"Hey Draudillon," she barely held in an embarrassing sound at the sudden warmth of Yuriko's whisper next to her ear. "Do you think『Antimagic Field』would be a good idea?"

"No," the dragon queen quickly shot down the suggestion. "Wouldn't that disable everything, including what they use for communication?"

"Ooooh, that's smart," Yuriko nodded with eyes full of admiration. "I would've messed up if it was just me. Thanks."

"It's, you don't have to praise me for that," Draudillon muttered as they passed by a sinewy beastman struggling to bear the load of countless books and scrolls. "You would've figured it out yourself anyways."

"I dunno—" Varush interrupted the angel.

"Almost there. Get ready."

One minute. Two. They were out of the stairwell, treading through a wide spacious floor, and towards one of the monolithic pair of gates that were strewn equidistant from its peers on the side of the circular wall.

"One moment," Varush brought out a flawless crystal orb. "Whichever archmage is in charge of the『Message』components of the Archives today, please head to the core immediately."

The orb hummed as mana flowed throughout it and cast its light on the human, angel, and beastmen. A few seconds later, the light died—accompanied by the sound of glass shards tinkling against each other.

"Sooo… we just wait?" Yuriko clasped her hands behind her head. "I can cast a quick 『Wind Walk』on all of us and just slip through."

"We would still need someone to manage the system for us," Varush shook his head. "Power alone does not grant the knowledge of how to operate the necessary structures."

"Right, right," Yuriko absentmindedly lowered her arms and clutched one of Draudillon's hands. "Makes sense. Login info and stuff."

Draudillon cocked an eyebrow at the use of the otherworldly term. Yuriko's mouth opened into an 'o' that quickly closed as the angel clammed up.

"Great. Waiting," Rasthdaan sat down on the floor with a grunt. "In Dyurga's name, I fucking hate going underground."

"Mhm," the angel's lips drew back. "Gonna keep that in mind the next time you try to break into a castle."

"It was scouting," Rasthdaan futilely tried to explain, but Yuriko had already reached the early stages of tuning out her surroundings. "Scouting."

"And you got caught," Ithit snorted. "So much for one of the fabled rangers of Clan Shadiya."

"You try sneaking around a bunch of those fucking angels. Er, no offense," he quickly apologized to a zoned out Yuriko. "But yeah. Don't act like you're hot shit when you got spanked at that city, bastard."

"Tch!"

"Could both of you shut up?" Draudillon, unable to bear their bickering for a second longer, snapped. "There's no good reason for you two to loiter around us, so at the very least try not to be a bother."

"Y-Yes, Queen Oriculus—!" Light flashed and a lithe, scaly demihuman that could've been a snake if not for its slender arms appeared in front of the gates. Naga? No, those had a human-like upper body. A Naga Raja then, like the ones she'd heard about from the Holy Kingdom's delegates.

'They never appeared in any of the raids,' Draudillon pondered. 'There must not be many of them in this country, and the few that call this place home probably occupy a higher station in society.'

If beastmen had their 'level cap' filled up with racial classes that weren't conducive for spellcasting, it would make sense for the ones who did have racials contributing towards magical ability to be valued more. That said, she found it unusual that the Beastman Country's magical infrastructure was so well-developed. Assuming most beastmen were predisposed to martial vocations, then shouldn't it be incredibly hard for them to create what they had?

'In terms of their history, they've only been around for about the same amount of time as all the other nearby nations. How did they advance to this point so quickly then?'

"High Vizier. You needed me for something?" A lithe, scaly snake with slender arms teleported in front of the gates, bringing Draudillon out of the depths of her deliberation. "And I see you've brought along some companions as well."

"Archmage Nushrik," Varush respectfully greeted. It was already obvious, but the Archives really did enjoy a high level of influence within the Beastman Country if even the head of state had to show them this much consideration. "I have need of your services in operating the communications core."

"Hm?" The Naga Raja frowned. "If it's to send out a『Message』to your peers, you should have a Vayul's Whisper for that, no? In any case, that black-haired human slave you have looks familiar for some reason…"

"Yes, well," Varush slowly stretched out his words as he nudged Yuriko with a hooved foot. "About that."

"『Dimensional Anchor』," a viridian beam shot out from Yuriko's index finger and surrounded the archmage in a similarly colored aura.

"Varush, what in the name of the gods—!"

"『Create Middle Tier Angel』," Yuriko took the opportunity to call forth an angel from the empyrean—a disturbing mess of warped cubic geometries with only its halos and four wings to denote it as a heavenly being. Two arms covered its mouth, and the other two remained clasped together in prayer as an unblinking, shining eye dispassionately stared at the archmage. "There we go. Shouldn't be able to cast any spells now. Uh, unless he can, I guess."

'Virtue Silence,' Draudillon's gaze flitted from the summon to the terrified archmage. Was that piss? 'Fuck. I expected more from the preeminent spellcasters of the beastmen. This is pitiful.'

It wasn't like she had no understanding of the fear they were feeling. The fear of death, of the death of her people, or some beastman assassin she had no hopes of defeating breaking in and turning her to mincemeat.

For decades, she had to live under the weight of those fears. Decades.

Turnabout was fair play, but couldn't this archmage show a bit more spine? The sight disgusted her in a way the slaughterhouses of Caldevera and Almersia couldn't.

"Y-Y-Your… um…" Nushrik prostrated himself on the smooth tiled floor.

"Yuriko," the pale-blonde angel helpfully supplied before narrowing her eyes. "So, we've got a few things we want you to do."

"Y-Yes, Rajan Yuriko! This lowly one is at your command!" All of the archmage's pride had vanished like mist in the sun. "Speak but a word, and it shall be fulfilled!"

'What if he's only pretending to be subdued? Bit of a stretch to consider since he's… wet himself, but the Silence isn't meant for combat,' Draudillon suddenly realized. "Summon some more angels. He might be faking it."

"『Create Middle Tier Angel』," a many-armed angel this time, one with a skeletal body covered by a loosely-fitting robe and an unnerving mask that wept golden ichor. "『Create Middle Tier Angel』."

The archmage curled even further into himself as the two Principality Slaughters gently laid their longswords against his scaly body. Hm… was this going too far? If the demihuman was too scared to think straight, then that could mean they might forget a crucial detail while carrying out the tasks that were going to be required of them.

"Honored ones," he was facing the ground now, unwilling or unable to raise his head. "Your lowly servant would not dare lie in your sight!"

"So out of sight is okay?" Yuriko pursed her lips.

"N-No, I would not dare lie out of sight either!"

"Let's go inside first," the Minotaur put a comforting shoulder on the trembling Naga Raja and led them to the titanic doors. "Apologies for the rough treatment, Archmage Nushrik, but there's too much at stake here."

"You…!" Nushrik snarled. "Just what are you doing?!"

"If you're not gonna help us, we'll just find somebody else," Yuriko's quiet voice pierced the archmage more effectively than any sword. "Wanna do that instead?"

"Hiiiie…" An undignified sound squeezed past Nushrik's mouth. "I, I'll open the doors at once!"

The archmage drew closer to the gates, still surrounded by the three angels, and mumbled some sort of passcode. A moment later, the room shook as the massive twin doors slowly swung open, grinding against the smooth floor, and revealed a vast cavern filled with what were clearly magical items—though larger than any she'd seen before—arranged around a collection of swirling glass-like shards bound in the shape of a sphere.

"Cool," Yuriko's eyes sparkled, causing the archmage to pridefully preen until they remembered the situation they were in. "That's so cool."

'Automated?' Draudillon noticed the lack of people in the underground hall. 'Hm. Or they only need to check up on it every once in a while. Calibrations and other tasks of that ilk, I don't know.'

"Erm, forgive this lowly one's ignorance, but I'm not quite sure what is being asked of me…"

"We need you to prevent your fellow arcanists from using the communication structures until the next Council meeting is adjourned," Varush laid out their demands. "Also, disable the surveillance wards and defenses that have been installed in the Raswaran Dham."

"We can't do that remotely—"

"Don't take me to be a fool, Archmage," Varush patted the Naga Raja's shoulder. "Just do it."

"... Yes," they followed Nushrik to the shard-sphere as the archmage mumbled some more words that caused it to light up in some incomprehensible pattern. He paused before interacting with it any further and hesitantly glanced backwards at the group. "Then, if it's acceptable, this lowly servant has questions on what the honored ones wish to accomplish by doing this."

"Very well," despite her shorter height, Draudillon loomed over the archmage. "But you'll answer ours first."