The back alleys of District 14 were always filled with acrid smoke.

The wind blew in from the west and flowed east. Humans, swimming through the air, were no freer of that current than anything else. The stench and dust they gave off, along with every filthy thing too foul to put into words, drifted east on the wind, toward the outskirts.

The great incinerator in District 14 was where all that filth converged.

Large motor carriages arrived loaded with garbage, followed the road, and dumped their loads into a vast pit. Convict laborers, looking scarcely different from the refuse, then approached to burn what needed burning and pack what needed burying into containers, which they sent away on the meta-conveyor belt.

Occasionally, when a rotting corpse emerged from the heaps of garbage, the laborers sent it into the incinerator, retching all the while.

The reason was simple. Corpses burned.

About forty-five minutes later, a thread of roasting-meat smell mingled with the pitch-black stench.

Was the clear drop gathering at the corner of a laborer's mouth at that smell saliva, or stomach acid?

The massive city's harsh exhalation. The strong cigarette smoked by an Amitengrad worn down by life's trials.

In a building with an unobstructed view of the incinerator, where once-radiant glory and glittering dreams were scorched with equal cruelty, the Umbra, Wolfen, sat in a chair and muttered gloomily.

"... I have seen true darkness."

Wolfen Fenstein.

The evil of a bygone age, hiding in the Military State's shadows, continued in an even more somber tone.

"Be humble. We are shadows. Light is our enemy, and true darkness devours even shadows. We must know our place and tread cautiously."

At his words, the Seventh Penumbra sprang to his feet and shouted.

"Umbra! How can you, who should be leading us, be so afraid?"

Wolfen turned his dull gaze on the Seventh. With his ears and tail standing rigidly upright, the Seventh Penumbra spoke.

"In your absence, we suffered internal strife. Because your heart did not stop, we lost our rallying point, unable to unite! We scattered into hiding and slowly withered away! Now that you have returned, you must reward our patience!"

"What reward would you have me give?"

"Gather the Penumbras. Make a plan and restore our former glory! Umbra, only you can do this, and you alone must do it!"

His thunderous cry echoed through the empty conference room.

Was it frank counsel, loyal advice, or simply an outpouring of resentment over the years he had endured? Having fiercely rebuked the Umbra, the Seventh breathed heavily.

Yet Wolfen showed not the slightest anger or agitation. He merely watched the Seventh with dull, sunken eyes.

"Seventh. Have you seen Tantalus?"

"... I have not. But is it not merely a prison built by the Military State?"

"No. Tantalus is far more than a mere prison."

The Seventh shuddered at Wolfen's emotionless eyes.

In his days with the Kingdom's Shadow, Wolfen had been a heartless demon.

Ruling the back alleys as a tyrant, he would slaughter entire families without so much as a change of expression. Once, he had even assassinated an extraordinarily capable knight simply for breaking a contract.

Yet no one had been able to stop him.

Wolfen was a shadow. When night fell and darkness engulfed the kingdom, he was nowhere and everywhere at once. The Penumbras obeyed him, never daring to question his power.

After the Military State captured him and imprisoned him in Tantalus, that fear had weathered with time, but...

"It was... an arena of demons, filled with beings that nothing short of a bottomless pit would dare contain. My blood was not my own, and darkness was not on my side. Power, weapons, life, will—even faith betrayed me... It was a dreadful place where common sense broke down and powers tangled together."

Now he seemed almost enlightened, and that unfamiliarity frightened the Seventh.

It was different from terror: fear and awe of someone reborn as an unknown being.

"There, I was able to reflect upon myself. Upon how insignificant and paltry this being was compared with true monsters. You might say I learned my place before them."

At a glance, his eyes looked clear and transparent, as though all his malice and venom had settled during his twenty years in Tantalus.

But they had merely separated into upper and lower layers. Deeper in Wolfen's heart surged an even thicker, stickier malevolence.

"The red-haired demon asked me to join him. He offered me a chance to change the world. But I... chose to be the head of a cat rather than the tail of a tiger. I refused his offer and returned here... I shall be content to rule this insignificant city."

Unable to bear any more, the Seventh slammed his hand on the table.

"Umbra! Watch your tongue. Are you calling us cats?"

"Less than that, Seventh."

The Seventh flinched.

The voice that had come from the chair at the head of the table a moment ago was suddenly whispering into his ear.

Startled, he tried to raise his arm. A blackened blade sprang out, tearing through the darkness.

THUNK.

The blade burst from the shadows and gouged into the Seventh's chest. The sound was dry and brief. His eyes flew wide.

"Seventh. Much time must have passed. What became of the body parched with hatred? Only a fat beast remains... Tell me. Did your family welcome you?"

"Gah...! W-why?"

Wolfen answered him.

"I discovered that you had joined the Family. Why? Were you worried about them? Did you fear I would attack those half-formed humans? Had they truly become your family?"

The Seventh's eyes widened. His ears and tail stood taut as well, his whole body betraying a terror that surpassed pain and fear.

"N-no. Umbra, you... Me..."

"One full day of following you was enough..."

"You... can't."

"There is nothing I cannot do. Nothing in this world is impossible. Impossibility is merely a line arbitrarily drawn by those in power. We shadows have no reason to abide by it."

THUNK.

The sound had been dry when the blade went in, but it was wet as it came out. Red stained the darkness. Staring at the wound in his chest, the Seventh staggered backward.

His strength apparently failing him, he swayed, about to collapse.

But at the very moment he began to fall, he unleashed his chest-voice roar and suddenly lunged at Wolfen, ferociously, as though heedless of the blood pouring from his chest.

"Rrrroooar!"

Sharp claws tore through Wolfen. Not content with that, the Seventh, still giving his chest-voice roar, swung his arms again and again as though intent on shredding Wolfen to pieces.

Chairs shattered in his path. The table split and collapsed. Overwhelming, tremendous force tore through the conference room.

And yet.

"Beasts. Such foolish creatures."

Once again, a blade burst out through the Seventh's chest.

Whether because the wound was fatal or because the attack into which he had poured all his strength had come to nothing, the Seventh Penumbra offered little resistance. Blood merely gushed from the hole in his chest.

Stealth that fooled even beastkin, renowned for their keen senses.

Wolfen withdrew his dagger. This time, the Seventh sank to his knees. Having melted into the shadows, Wolfen appeared before him again and murmured.

"Fade away, Seventh. Do not worry. The blades of the Shadow will not harm your family..."

With that murmur, Wolfen left the conference room without so much as looking at the Seventh. Though he walked on hard concrete, his footsteps were as quiet as if a carpet lay beneath his feet.

"... For this nation, once its taboo is exposed, will trample them in my stead."

CREEEAK.

As the dead man's life flowed out of him, the door closed with a metallic groan.

When the kingdom fell and the Military State took its place, the beastkin had great expectations. The hope that the evils of the old era would vanish and beastkin would receive equal treatment made their ears perk up.

But all it proved was that people's perceptions were even harder to change than a nation.

Even as the kingdom's remnants disappeared and the Military State extended its power, discrimination against beastkin persisted. People still shunned them, and crime rates among beastkin were higher than among non-beastkin.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Had they lost people's trust by committing crimes, or had they been unjustly cornered until crime was their only alternative?

Whatever the reason, the beastkin banded together to resist persecution.

That was how the beastkin organization known as the Family came into being.

"... The brother we sent to infiltrate them was found dead."

Jet-black hair, with ears and a tail to match. A heavy dark circle lay beneath one eye. She wore a patch over the other, which, combined with her distinctly black-cat features, accentuated her decadent air.

Even among the Family's exclusively beastkin membership, she had inherited particularly pronounced animal traits. She was their representative, serving as both enforcer and public face.

Editor in chief of Black Cat, one of the Military State's few private magazines. A paparazzo who hunted gossip and nothing else. And a loyal informer for the Military State.

Wearing a dress, Neru sat across from me, sipping fruit juice.

"He was quite a strong brother, too. Hmm. Such a shame. What do you think, darling?"

So one of their hidden assets had been exposed and killed. Hmm.

I had made up my mind.

"Wow. Scary. I'd better run. Bye, then."

"Darling, where are you going?"

The moment I made to stand up, Neru extended the claws on her hands and feet and seized my clothes. Above the table, she punched holes in my sleeve; below it, sharp claws tugged at my trouser leg.

Was this an interview or extortion?

"Darling. Once you've heard information, you have to pay an appropriate price, don't you?"

"I never asked you to tell me."

I had read all her thoughts the moment she sat down in front of me.

Her comrade, formerly of the Kingdom's Shadow, had joined the Family after the kingdom fell, and now some villain had killed him.

From her thoughts, the man had been powerful enough to master both Heaven and Earth. And he had died without putting up much resistance?

Just how strong was this Wolfen, the Tantalus escapee? What sort of monsters had been living in Tantalus?

Tsk. I didn't want to fight. I was bad at one-on-one fights.

For the record, I knew nothing about fighting one against many, and my pride would not permit fighting many against one.

Therefore, there was nothing I could do for her.

Frightened, I tried to make a quick escape, but Neru forcibly held me there and refused to let go.

She smiled as she answered.

"I know. But you won't exchange information unless I do this, magician."

"You call this an exchange? You're force-feeding me and making me throw up."

"We call that an exchange."

These bastards definitely played a part in giving beastkin a bad reputation. Especially with me. My hatred of beastkin was swelling again today.

Still, I was using the Family myself, so I couldn't simply shut them out. With a sigh, I sat back down.

"Honestly, I don't know anything. I've only been back in Amitengrad for three days."

This was my third day in Amitengrad. I knew scarcely more than a baby born three days ago...

That was what I meant, but Neru's one eye sparkled with interest instead.

"Oh, that's another thing all of us in the Family have been wondering. Darling, how did you end up getting dragged away by the military police? Does even a monkey fall out of its tree sometimes?"

"You already know the gist. That son of a bitch Anton betrayed me. They caught me before I could do anything."

"That's not what I mean. It wouldn't have been easy, but with your abilities, couldn't you have slipped away somewhere along the way?"

What a joke.

Two military policemen had guarded me, and I had spent most of my time in a restraint suit. When they took it off, I was generally in a courtroom packed with soldiers.

Mind reading and a little sleight of hand notwithstanding, my basic capabilities were those of an ordinary person. I couldn't remove a restraint suit by myself, nor did I have the strength to beat up all those soldiers. Of course I had been taken away.

But telling the truth would make her look down on me, and letting people look down on me was a way of shortening my own life.

I put on my biggest bluff.

"The moment I broke out, I'd be wanted as a serious criminal. Life gets rough when you're a serious criminal, so I figured I'd chalk it up to rotten luck and do the labor."

"Wow. The magician really is in a class of his own, huh?"

'Hehe. A big shot through and through. He talks as though he could escape easily if he set his mind to it.'

If setting my mind to it were enough, I'd have done it a dozen times. Did she think that was possible?

Even escape artists weren't made to perform with both hands tied and their eyes covered. Magicians were human too. Human! It wasn't that I was incompetent. The Military State had gone too far.

Had I bluffed too much? Thoroughly carried away, Neru lavished praise on me.

"Did you know? There was a breakout at Tantalus right around when you were arrested. When I first heard, I thought the Military State had finally gone mad and thrown you into Tantalus. I couldn't think of anyone but you who could incite its prisoners to break out."

"Don't be ridiculous. The timing doesn't fit."

"Hehe. True. You were arrested after the Tantalus breakout. Sadly, your chance to put on a Tantalus escape show is gone."

"I wouldn't want to."

I meant that.

I'd tried escaping once and nearly died. Did she know what it was like to fight a battle where the earth overturned, the sky split, and mountains of corpses collapsed? I wouldn't survive doing that twice.

'Hmm. Flattery really doesn't work on him?'

This wasn't about flattery. It was the wisdom of experience.

Please, just don't go into Tantalus in the first place.

"So. Is that all you wanted to ask?"

"Of course not. That was only the appetizer. My real question is... this."

TAP.

Neru placed a brief memo on the table. A short message was written like embroidery along the edge of a small handkerchief.

-Military State taboo. Intends to stir it up. Investigation needed.

"It's his last message. We lost contact after that, so we checked. He was found dead in a building in District 14."

"May he rest in peace."

"Thank you, but could you express your condolences with a funeral contribution? I'll make a special exception and let you pay in information."

Tsk. She wasn't letting that slide.

"What information?"

With an alluring smile, Neru asked,

"The Military State's taboo."

"The Military State's taboo?"

"Well? Do you know anything, darling?"

"Well..."

I drew out the word.

Because I didn't know? No. Because I knew too much.

This damned nation had so many taboos that a walking taboo had slept in my home just last night. A taboo so secret that the person in question had a duty to commit suicide the moment their identity became known.

Even the bottomless pit was part of a taboo. They had probably intended to use it as something like a trigger for war. That was why they were so serious about controlling information.

Knowing too much could be a problem, too. Even if she said "taboo," I needed to know which one she meant before I could answer.

An information broker's dilemma.

"Sigh. Even you don't know?"

"It's hard to pick just one."

"I'd love it if you told me all of them."

"Then the exchange wouldn't be worth my while."

"So stingy. Is that how things are between us?"

"Oh, right. We're not close, are we? Come to think of it, I didn't need to make a funeral contribution either. Bye."

TAP.

This time, I read the movements of Neru's hand and foot in advance and brushed them aside. Turning my arm over, I pushed the back of her hand away and gently stepped on her rising foot half a beat early.

With that, I promptly stood up, intending to leave without a backward glance. I had read everything with mind reading and had no further business here.

I'd already squeezed you dry.

"Darling, I hear you've been living with an officer lately?"

That was, until I heard those words.

I slowly turned my head. Neru was beaming like someone who had found my weakness.