HDBMTD 64

~Chapter 64~

“Yeah, it doesn’t seem like that monster has any human soul inside…”

The Princess turned and walked toward the small side room that Zhang had opened.

“Then, let’s destroy the chair first.”

Jason looked puzzled at that word again.

“The ‘chair’ they’re talking about… it’s not an ordinary chair, right?”

“You don’t know yet, Jason. Well, I guess you’ve never faced Cambiata directly.”

The Princess’s voice felt strangely heavy.

“It’s the secret weapon that allowed Cambiata to control the North from the shadows for so long.”

At those words, Jason’s body tensed.

He had always wondered—why was Cambiata so strong?

The Empire had the only S-rank Pair in history and the strongest military on the continent, yet Cambiata still thrived.

‘Do they have some incredible secret weapon that makes it possible?’

Images of destructive and dazzling weapons flashed through Jason’s mind. Containing his tension, he followed the Princess into the side room.

And finally, he came face-to-face with Cambiata’s secret weapon.

“This is… a person?”

There was a chair made of metal. Various wires and mechanical devices stretched out like tentacles, but it was clearly still a chair.

Sitting in it was a middle-aged woman wearing a steel blindfold.

The moment Jason stepped inside, he could tell—she was alive.

“Cambiata wanted to create an army of Eshafes. Especially mental-type Eshafes, which they saw as having endless potential.”

The Princess approached and began unfastening the belts restraining the woman.

“But the problem was the trait of mental-types. If they hurt someone, that damage would come back to themselves. It limited their use as weapons.”

“That makes sense.”

Jason nodded. Even when the Princess made the revenant vomit earlier, she had vomited too.

To control someone’s body, you had to go deeper. Giving an order that went against instinct would cause you to merge completely with them.

It was essentially the same as self-harm.

“So Cambiata tried to overcome this weakness of mental-types. And in the end… they found a way.”

Clack—with each restraint the Princess unlocked, a clear metallic sound rang out.

Jason wanted to help, but he didn’t even know which part to touch, so he just flailed his hands uselessly.

“They had one mental-type brainwash another mental-type.”

“…What?”

“This chair is a communication device. Somewhere, a mental-type Eshafe uses this to control other Eshafes. In a brainwashed state, the self disappears, so the side effects lessen.”

Jason’s hands froze in midair. Not that he was actually helping anyway.

“If you catch one mental-type Eshafe, you also get their Pair automatically. Repeat that a few times, and you have an army in no time.”

“That’s…”

“Mental-types brainwashing other mental-types, then using them to kill other Eshafes… really efficient, huh?”

The Princess let out a bitter laugh.

“The real name of this chair is the ‘Small Sacrifice Altar.’ The Eshafe sitting here is just a small sacrifice for the new world they dream of.”

“A small sacrifice for a new world…”

“Quite the grand self-justification, isn’t it?”

Jason frowned.

“Calling it something as ordinary as a ‘chair’ makes it creepier. It’s like offering people as sacrifices is just normal everyday life for them.”

“…True.”

The Princess muttered bitterly.

“It’s frightening, a society where an entire race is treated as tools.”

Jason ran his fingers along the chair.

“I could never understand it before. Eshafes have abilities Normers don’t have, so how could the North treat them as slaves for so long? But now I think I get it.”

For Normers to survive, they needed Eshafes. But they didn’t want to give up power.

To keep those necessary for survival under their feet, you first had to refuse to respect them.

Never acknowledge them as saviors. Never feel grateful. Insist their abilities are nothing special, that only Normers are chosen. And most importantly, never acknowledge them as the same kind of human—turn them entirely into tools.

So Cambiata claimed only Normers were the true “humanity” and that Eshafes were gifts given to humanity by the gods.

“Maybe the sacrifices on this altar weren’t just Eshafes.”

Even after doing something like this, could anything human remain inside them?

Jason imagined it—if his yet-unmet Partner were used like this… his fists clenched without him realizing.

“Monstrous bastards.”

“Ariado… No, I said the exact same thing once.”

“Did you?”

The Princess’s gaze grew distant.

“Back then, I thought I could understand everyone in the world. I was still young.”

She muttered softly.

“After meeting them, I realized I was wrong. There are some people you must never try to understand…”

Jason looked at her profile.

The one who uncovered Cambiata’s true nature, who faced them alone and nearly died, was standing right here.

Her skilled hands dismantled the chair with practiced ease. How many battles and sacrifices were behind those hands?

“Jason, cut this connector here.”

Finally, Jason had something to do. He nodded brightly and used his sword to cleanly sever the connection between the chair and the restraints.

“Uh…”

At that moment, the woman let out a faint groan. Jason quickly caught her as she slumped.

Her hair fell to the side, revealing her face fully. Her silver-gray hair was dry and brittle, her lips cracked—her suffering was etched into her features.

She hadn’t regained consciousness; she quickly drifted back into sleep.

“Then she’s a mental-type Eshafe.”

“Yeah, enough to put that revenant to sleep—so at least B-rank.”

“…A B-rank or higher would be welcomed anywhere in the South.”

Jason murmured, looking down at the unconscious woman.

“Why would someone like her be trapped here?”

“Probably kidnapped or threatened. Still, she looks to be in okay shape, which is lucky.”

“This is ‘okay’?”

“At least her life doesn’t seem in danger…”

The Princess glanced around, then picked up some work clothes from a desk. Jason thought she’d use them as a blanket, but instead, she began tying the woman’s wrists.

“P–Princess?”

“Standard procedure. When they wake up, they might try to harm themselves.”

At her answer, Jason frowned. The Princess gently leaned the woman against the wall.

“Jason, destroy the chair completely.”

“Yes!”

Jason’s ability was to infuse his weapon with power. As a child, he’d played happily, calling himself a Sword Master.

The blade glowed blue as it sliced through the chair, the tough metal splitting like paper.

When Jason had reduced the chair to thirty pieces, he turned around proudly—only to find the Princess opening the desk drawers.

Some were already open. She pulled out a piece of jerky, let out an “Oh,” and popped it into her mouth. Jason was shocked.

“P–Princess! You’re eating Cambiata food without knowing what it is?”

“It looked fine… want to try some?”

“No, and you shouldn’t eat it either.”

“It’s just regular jerky. I threw up so much earlier, I’m hungry…”

Her tired voice left Jason at a loss for words.

‘Well… she would be hungry…’

She had vomited several times while fighting the revenants. Even though she’d gotten more used to it later, her stomach was probably completely empty.

When Jason tried a bite of the jerky, it really was normal. He rummaged through the drawers again and found another piece.

“Princess, here’s another one.”

“Wow.”

At her small exclamation, Jason felt like he might cry.