Juana heaved a deep sigh on the sofa. Her legs were sprawled out and her languid posture was a far sight from the noblewoman she was meant to be.
“We got any booze here?” The words coming out of her mouth were extremely unladylike as well.
“What? At a crucial time like this?” One of the mages working under her asked, not even making mention of her unladylike behavior.
“That’s exactly why I want it. Bring it out already.” In the castle, Juana had to pretend to be an underage noblewoman, so she was always on edge. She’d been under even closer observation than usual lately, so she couldn’t even relax when she was in her own room. She’d finally made it to this day. She felt she’d earned the right to bask in this freedom.
The mage who worked directly under her, upon seeing how exhausted Juana was, didn’t ask any further questions and simply prepared a drink for her as she asked. He removed the cork from a bottle and filled a glass with the red liquid in a practiced motion. “Here you are.”
Juana’s eyes lit up when she saw the label on the bottle. “Oh, now this is the good stuff. The Western Empire certainly didn’t skimp.” The wine the mage had poured her was a vintage that even a mage would normally have difficulty getting their hands on. It was a symbol of just how important this mission was to the Western Empire, and it put even more pressure on her. “I suppose they would have to spend more for a mission this important.”
Juana had always loved wine. She didn’t just love the flavor. She loved learning about the different colors, scents, and history. The more she learned, the more she enjoyed it. She never tired of it.
Or so she thought.
“Damn it all!” What a cruel joke at the expense of Juana’s single hobby. The moment she had wine before her, her body moved on its own. It didn’t matter how expensive or how cheap the wine was, she’d gulp the whole thing down with the enthusiasm of someone drinking water after a long day laboring under a hot sun. It didn’t matter that this was the kind of wine where even a sip would cost several silver coins. Gulp...gulp... “Aaaahhh. Ugh... This body did it again...” All that remained was the empty glass in her hand.
“Lady Juana, you should know after countless tests that it’s impossible to control that. Instincts and desires are the strongest things in a body’s memory. Your body’s original soul departed, leaving you an empty vessel to force a new soul into, so that makes it even more difficult to control.” The mage filled the empty glass to the brim, giving Juana a pitying look as he told her to just give in.
She couldn’t even take the time to enjoy the scent in the empty glass now. This body only cared about quantity, not quality. Contrary to the careful way Juana used to enjoy wine to its fullest extent, she was forced to down the whole thing without any resistance, whether she wanted it or not. “While it’s nice to be young again, I really hate this part...”
To make matters worse, no matter how much she drank, she couldn’t get drunk. She’d tried to see how much it would take to get her tipsy before, but her wallet gave out before her tolerance did. If it hadn’t been for the accident back then...
“Did you bring them with you?” Juana asked as though she’d suddenly remembered once the bottle was empty.
“Indeed. They can’t live without us, after all. I told them when we would be firing the cannons as well. Despite their appearances, they’re still proper mages. They’ll do the job.” The mage furrowed his brow. Though it was only a matter of time, they were still keeping their existence a secret, so he lowered his voice.
“Well, I guess it’s fine. I suppose they’re better than nothing. It’s about to get dark, so...let’s step outside.” Juana got up, though her body felt heavy. She sighed. It was almost time for them to attack the castle. This plan that she had been preparing for so long was finally about to be put into motion. That being said, she wasn’t all that enthralled about carrying it out. Her sigh, her gait, and her feelings were all heavy. If she could have, she would’ve loved to give up on this whole thing. She knew that the Western Empire’s orders were absolute...but she also knew that countless people would die at her command. She wouldn’t have been able to do it without drinking.
She was after the castle. With how accurate the cannon would be, the cannonballs would be raining down on the surrounding area without mercy too. The center of the capital would be a sea of fire, and in the barrage of cannonballs, the people living in the capital would be desperately trying to escape. It was easy to imagine such a hellish scene.
Magic was normally never to be used to kill a person. She’d always been taught and had taught others that power, magic included, was meant to be used to protect people. But now... No matter how much energy she tried to put into it, she fundamentally didn’t want to give the orders to her underlings. She was a mage, but she was also human. And now, the time had come for humans to attack other humans for their own benefit.
“Lady Juana?” The other mage had gone pale with worry or nerves.
“Let’s go.”
Because the Western Empire had been gathering mages from all over the world, there were more of them there. The more mages there were, the more magic stones were being used. Research on new magic tools was progressing as well. Yet the more they progressed, the more magic stones were being used. Magic stones were able to amplify or store magic within them. This was especially crucial when it came to barrier magic. Without magic stones, mages would be relegated to beings who did nothing but cast barrier magic at the border until they perished of exhaustion. Either they’d use up every last drop of their mana or they’d be eaten by the monsters in the area.
Without a barrier, humans couldn’t survive in this world. That even applied to the illustrious Western Empire. They had to sacrifice the kingdom for the Western Empire, and for all mages. It was survival of the fittest, after all.
“Ah... Huh? Wha...?”
“What’s the matter?”
The mage stood frozen after he opened the door.
“Nobody’s there.”
“What?”
Mages always had members of the Western Imperial military guarding them. They were less there to protect the mages and more to keep an eye on them. They were under constant surveillance so any mages who’d been practically bought from other countries didn’t try to run away, and so mages born in the Western Empire didn’t try to run from any cruel treatment either.
“This has never happened before.” When he’d gone to get wine for Juana, the soldiers had been standing in front of the room as stoically as ever. Yet now, there wasn’t a single person there. “Lady Juana, there aren’t any soldiers or sailors or mages eith— Mmph!”
Slam!
“Hey!” The mage fell prostrate on the floor right before Juana’s eyes. It was like someone had pushed him over, but she couldn’t see anyone there. “Wha... What in the world...?”
Slam!
Right after, Juana was also toppled over by something. Yet once again, she couldn’t see what.
“H-Hey! S-Someone he— Mmgggh!” No matter how she strained to see, nobody was there. Nobody was there, yet Juana could feel her body swiftly being wrapped in some kind of thread. Even when she tried to shout, her mouth was covered by the same thread.
“Mmngh! Mmmmngh!” No matter how she screamed, nobody was there to help her. Her body was wrapped in the thread and she couldn’t move as she pleased. Then she heard a fwssh sound, her vision went blurry, a strange sound began ringing in her ears, and she was assaulted with dizziness. While her vision was still blurry, she realized she was being moved somewhere at very high speeds. The scenery went by in the blink of an eye, but with her body wrapped in the thread, she couldn’t fight back even if she wanted to. It looked like nothing more than a very fine thread being wrapped around her, yet she couldn’t move. She didn’t sense any mana from it, and it didn’t appear to have any magic properties, which made her even more confused about what in the world it could have been.
Slam!
The shock of her body being thrown to the ground and the hard floor upon her cheek made her realize she must have arrived at her unseen assailant’s base. She still couldn’t move, so all she could do was lie on the ground exactly as she’d been thrown.
“Mmngh! Mmmngh!”
When she managed to move her neck enough to face the muffled voices, she saw her underling and the other three mages hog-tied on the ground with their mouths covered, just like her. How could these people have kidnapped all the mages so easily? What were those Western Imperial soldiers even doing? They were always glued to the mages, refusing to be apart from them for a moment, yet they were completely useless at a time like this.
“Why, if it isn’t Saint Juana. I’m surprised to see you in a place like this.” Juana heard the voice of the person who must have kidnapped her over her head. Her mind was still foggy from the high-speed transportation and it caused her a lot of pain while she couldn’t move, but she mustered the strength to raise her head to see a freckled boy she somewhat recognized.