Chapter 396: Fishing in Troubled Waters
Iron Fortress Territory – The Sovereign's Manor
When Sophia reached the massive obsidian gates of the castle, the two Skeleton
Sentinels snapped to attention in a synchronized salute.
"My Sovereign."
Sophia offered a curt nod, manifesting zero vocal output, and walked directly
into the interior.
She didn't dare speak more than necessary. Although she had manually tuned her
energy fluctuations to match Kaito's soul-signature with 100% fidelity, the
voice was a different variable. Timbre, cadence, linguistic habits, and rhythmic
pauses—every micro-detail was a potential Logic Error that could compromise her
infiltration.
During her vocation at the library, she had once intercepted a data-leak from an
Elven student: the Sovereign was notoriously taciturn, possessing a "Low Vocal
Output" protocol.
Perfect. Taciturnity is the optimal stealth mode.
She navigated the corridors, utilizing the architectural layout she had
memorized from public Imperial archives to locate the Main Hall. The hallways
were expansive, lined with Mana-lamps emitting a steady, warm amber glow.
Sophia walked slowly. It wasn't an intentional display of majesty; she simply
hadn't fully synchronized with the skeletal frame yet. The stride of a skeleton
differed from that of a human; the range of motion in the hip joints was
restricted, and the knee-flexion followed a different mechanical logic. As she
walked, she constantly recalibrated her gait, attempting to simulate a "Natural"
movement pattern.
Reaching the Main Hall, she pushed open the heavy doors.
The space was colossal. In the center sat a long table buried under a mountain
of files and reports: military deployments, economic spreadsheets, educational
reform whitepapers. At the far end stood a high-backed chair—the command node
where Kaito processed the Empire's variables.
Sophia approached and took the seat. The surface was unforgivingly hard.
She began auditing the documents. They were meticulously organized, categorized
by department, awaiting the Sovereign's review. She picked up a report regarding
mineral extraction in the Iron Fortress sector and performed a shallow scan.
Knock. Knock.
"Enter."
The moment Sophia spoke, her heart-rate (or the mental equivalent) spiked. She
had instinctively used her original tonal frequency. Although her vocal cords
had been replaced by a skeleton's resonant chamber—making the output sound like
Kaito—the inflection was her own.
Fortunately, it was only a single word. And Kaito's standard speech-mode was
characterized by a lack of emotional fluctuation.
The door opened. Skele-Lust entered.
Sophia recognized her immediately from the Sin-Generals' dossiers. Lust: Tier-6
Undead, Commander of the Arcane Legion, responsible for global monitoring and
intelligence.
Lust approached the desk, clutching a fresh stack of reports. "My Sovereign, the
results of the global sweep for the Iron Fortress sector are in. The result
remains a statistical zero."
Sophia took the reports, flipping through them.
Global sweep. Hunting me.
She suppressed a cynical chuckle. "Maintain monitoring," Sophia said, keeping
the output brief and authoritative.
Lust remained standing at the desk. She didn't initialize an exit sequence.
Sophia looked up, her soul-fire steady. "Further variables?"
Lust's soul-fire flickered with a curious pulse. "My Sovereign… did you manifest
in Orlando Town today?"
Sophia's internal "Warning" protocol red-lined.
She didn't know if Kaito had filed a "Travel Log" with the Generals before
leaving. If he had, she needed to confirm it. If he hadn't, her response
required extreme caution.
"Mhm."
A single syllable. Zero denial, zero surplus data.
Lust nodded, but she didn't move. She tilted her skull slightly, auditing the
"Sovereign" sitting before her. Sophia felt the weight of the Sin's gaze but
maintained her focus on the paperwork.
"My Sovereign," Lust spoke again.
"Status?"
"Your gait today… it manifested a deviation from standard parameters."
Sophia's hand, holding a report, paused for a micro-second. "Elaborate," she
said, feigning total indifference.
Lust considered the data. "I cannot define it precisely. It simply felt as
though your stride-length had decreased. Perhaps it was a processing error in my
sensors."
"Your sensors are faulty."
Sophia's response was cold and absolute. Lust offered a click of her
mandible—Gah—and turned to exit.
Once the door clicked shut, Sophia set the report down and leaned back.
Stride-length deviation.
She was indeed struggling with the skeletal anatomy. Her stride was
approximately five to eight centimeters shorter than Kaito's original blueprint.
This microscopic delta should have been invisible to any biological unit, yet
the Sin-General had flagged it.
Sophia manually increased Lust's "Perception Tier" in her internal records.
High-risk variable. Exercise caution.
She stood up and paced the Main Hall, practicing the stride, compensating for
the narrow hip-rotation by adjusting the knee-angle. After twenty loops, she
calculated her gait was within the 98th percentile of accuracy.
She returned to the desk. She needed to map Kaito's daily workflow. What
required a signature? What required a delegation? What did he decide personally?
Fortunately, most files included "Recommended Outcomes" from subordinates.
Sophia simply needed to write "Approved" or "Rejected." But she needed time to
establish the logic behind those choices.
I will defer the audits for tonight.
She organized the files into logically categorized stacks. Then, she hit a
"Critical Logic Error."
Where does Kaito reside?
She possessed zero data on his sleeping quarters. The manor was vast; she had no
map of the private sectors.
Sophia sat in the chair, calculating. Eventually, she decided to pull an
"All-Nighter" in the hall. Skeletons didn't require sleep-cycles, and even if
Kaito practiced a meditative rest state, she could simply claim she was
"Processing Administrative Flux."
She stared at the ceiling. The heights of the Manor were etched with complex
runic patterns. These weren't decorative; they were components of a massive
Mana-Array. The defense, monitoring, and energy supply of the entire castle were
governed by these circuits.
The control Authority for these arrays belonged to Kaito. Or rather, to the unit
possessing Planar Authority.
Sophia attempted to touch the array with her mimicked signature.
Result: Zero Response.
She recalibrated the frequency and tried again.
Result: Connection Refused.
On the third attempt, she synchronized the frequency to Kaito's exact level. The
array flickered for a micro-second, then returned to a state of equilibrium. It
didn't reject her, but it didn't accept her as the Root User either.
Sophia's brow (or the bone where it would be) furrowed. This implied the
verification protocol wasn't just energy-based; it involved a deep-stratum
"Handshake" with the Planar Core itself. She could mimic the wave-form, but she
couldn't forge the actual link.
A logistical nuisance, but not a terminal failure, she calculated.
As long as no one manually verified her administrative access, the loophole
would remain hidden. No one audits their own master's permissions—unless they
suspect a Logic Error.
As the dawn approached, a knock manifested on the door.
Sophia initialized her soul-fire. "Enter."
It was Skele-Avarice.
"My Sovereign, a priority transmission from the Elven Forest," Avarice said,
placing a sealed missive on the desk.
"Elven scouts have localized the entrance to an Old Era ruin. Preliminary audit
suggests a high resonance with the Authority of Molag, the God of Death. They
are requesting Imperial assistance for a deep-stratum investigation."
Sophia's bony finger tapped the desk. Clack.
Molag.
The hidden map in the black vellum book. The marked node at the northern
foothills. And now, an Elven discovery.
Coincidence? Or a predetermined sequence?
Sophia opened the missive. The data was detailed: coordinates, initial sensor
readings, and the Elven request for cooperation. She had to manifest a decision.
"Approved."
Sophia set the letter down.
"State the deployment," Avarice prompted, his soul-fire focused on her.
Sophia felt the pressure spike. She didn't know Kaito's standard deployment
protocols. Did he name specific units, or allow the Sins to coordinate
autonomously?
"Initialize the logistics," she said, using a broad administrative command. "You
handle the arrangements."
Avarice nodded, showing zero signs of suspicion. He took the missive and exited
the hall.
Once the door closed, Sophia let out a long, silent breath of relief.
Logic check: Phase 1 survived. But the game has only just initialized.