The final words on the note were as follows.

‘When the supplies arrive, use them on me.’

He alone could answer all their questions, but he had lost himself and now sat staring blankly. The supplies were the only clue left.

Tyr went to the golem bound in the dining hall.

The golem was tethered by the ankle with a chain of shadow, like a pet. Tyrkanzyaka snapped her fingers, and the chain dissolved into smoke as though it had never existed.

Tyr handed the newly freed golem its speaker. It fitted the speaker into its mouth—it was loose now, after being torn out so often—and spoke listlessly.

『... What do you require?』

“I have a question. About the supplies.”

The golem's body creaked with anger. Slowly looking up at Tyr, it clenched its fists tightly and spoke.

『The supplies will arrive shortly. However.』

The communications officer's voice flowing from the microphone carried an unwavering resolve.

『I will receive the supplies, but I will not deliver them to Tantalus.』

For Tyr, who had been waiting for nothing but those supplies, this came like a bolt from the blue.

“W-why? Is it not your duty to give us the supplies?”

『When the trainees within Tantalus are uncooperative, I have the authority to delay or suspend distribution. I am exercising the powers granted to me appropriately.』

“U-uncooperative? When have I ever been so?”

『Even a child who has graduated from elementary civic school would consider restraining this unit and removing its speaker uncooperative behavior.』

She had no answer to that. Tyr had never had any intention of cooperating with the golem, either then or now.

“What...a cowardly trick.”

『Without such authority, how could we control a being as powerful as yourself?』

Tyr extended an arm. Countless black knights rose from the shadows and began filling the dining hall.

Displaying a fraction of the Progenitor's dominion over innumerable legions, Tyrkanzyaka threatened the golem.

“I am Tyrkanzyaka, the Progenitor. Queen of Shadows and the origin of all vampires. I bear the name of Kanzyaka, the monster said to devour the world. You dare threaten me?”

But the golem merely scoffed.

『I am Captain AB, a communications officer of the Military State. Communications officers accept orders from no one but the command staff. Even on pain of death.』

Those words held an indomitable will. The golem spoke with heroic resolve, as though death held no terror for it.

『If you have no need of supplies whatsoever, destroy this unit. I will lose my eyes inside Tantalus, but you will lose every supply shipment from this point forward.』

“You insignificant...! A mere golem...!”

『Even if you destroy my real body, I will not submit. For I am a communications officer of the Military State!』

Tyr was the one in urgent need. Without the supplies, she could not carry out his request.

To think that the Progenitor Tyrkanzyaka, a supreme being and the origin of all vampires, would have to yield to the threats of a single golem.

It wounded her pride, but she had no choice.

Tyr was a vampire who needed nothing to sustain her existence. He was not.

“I shall ask you one thing. You are certain you have the supplies?”

『Affirmative. The supplies arrived here a short while ago, accompanied by an inspector. I am scheduled to receive them once the inspector finishes assessing the surroundings. From that point onward, whether they are distributed is entirely at my discretion! If you wish to receive them, cooperate with my instructions!』

“... Very well. What cooperation do you require?”

『First! Cease all hostile actions against this unit. Answer my questions with sincerity and diligence. Provide regular opportunities to observe conditions within Tantalus! There are forty-eight additional details...!』

It happened then.

POP!

A faint bursting sound came from the air. It was the sort of sound a broad, thick sheet might make when shaken out.

Or perhaps the sound of a parachute opening.

Both the golem and Tyr fell silent. They stared at each other for a moment. Then Tyr opened the window and looked outside.

A supply crate was descending past the window, suspended beneath a single large parachute.

『... Huh?』

A dumbfounded voice emerged from the golem's microphone. A moment later came the sound of the crate striking the concrete ground. An unmistakable sound that shattered its hopes.

『Why? Who authorized that delivery?』

The balance of power reversed. Watching the parachute sink to the ground below, Tyr slowly closed the window. The latch clicked into place, sealing the dining hall once more.

In the dining hall, now submerged in utter darkness, only Tyr's sinister voice stirred the air.

“The supplies have arrived. What will you do now?”

『...』

After a speechless moment, the golem chose brazen shamelessness as its means of escaping the crisis.

『I-I valued your cooperative attitude so highly that I issued the supplies in advance. Accordingly, I hope you will honor the terms we agreed upon earlier.』

“Agreed? Did we ever reach anything resembling an agreement?”

But its voice lacked the confidence for true shamelessness, and the supplies had descended too soon for it to insist that they had reached an agreement.

Not that anything would have worked, really.

“Are those all your last words?”

『W-wait a moment, please. There has been some mistake.』

“You seem to be the one malfunctioning. That useless mouth is still making noise.”

『N-no... Mmph!』

Whips made of shadow coiled around the golem's entire body. Bound by whips tightening from every direction, it could only watch Tyr leave the dining hall.

Shei stood ten paces from where the supply crate had landed, glaring at it.

There was nothing wrong with the arrival of supplies in itself. Tantalus simply lacked people; normally, a facility of this size would receive several shipments a day.

Besides, he had already mentioned it in his note. Their eventual arrival had been a foregone conclusion.

But Shei was raising her guard now, because she sensed an incongruous presence within the supply crate.

Why on earth?

Why was there a person inside the crate?

“Has it arrived?”

“Yes. But something...is strange.”

Tyr flew over cloaked in darkness and landed beside Shei. Eager to inspect the crate, she immediately approached it, only for Shei to stop her.

“Wait, Tyrkanzyaka. There's something in there.”

“... Hmm? I know that as well. Is it not a box meant to hold things?”

“No, not an object... A person.”

Just as Shei muttered those words, the crate's lid shifted, and a stiff, sharp voice came from within.

“I was informed that a convict laborer is currently assigned to maintenance duties in Tantalus. It should still be working hours. Why has he not come to receive the supplies?”

The locks clicked open from inside the crate. The supply crate's lid opened to reveal a woman dressed in a Military State uniform.

Her crisp uniform bore not a single crease, its shoulders sharply structured. Two gleaming medals hung on her chest, whose contours were evident even beneath the uniform. Everything about her seemed to proclaim that she was a Military State officer.

Completely unlike a certain dubious Instructor, she was the very model of how an officer should dress. The sort that provoked an instinctive aversion in Shei...

Emerging with her service cap tucked under her arm, she surveyed everyone and spoke in a weighty voice.

“Tsk. Discipline in the Military State has grown lax. To think they would not even come to collect supplies intended for them.”

The mere sound of that voice filled Shei with distaste. Its stiff, authoritarian, formulaic delivery battered her ears.

‘Should I cut her down...?’

While Shei was seriously considering it, the officer put on her service cap with a precise motion. Her bobbed hair, cut as straight as a blade, formed a clean line. She adjusted the angle, raised her chin high, and spoke.

“Greetings. I am Lieutenant Colonel Callis Kritz, appointed Instructor of Tantalus as of today. I hereby report that I am assuming overall responsibility for this facility, effective immediately.”

“Instructor?”

“Correct, trainee.”

Something did not add up.

For a facility the size of Tantalus, having two Instructors would not be strange.

But there were currently only four trainees here at most, and even that number could shrink depending on how one counted. It was difficult to classify the dismembered undying one or the King of Dogs as people.

And yet they had dispatched two Instructors?

“Rest assured. I have no intention of harming the trainees. On the contrary, the ‘exemplary’ trainees who remain here may one day become collaborators of the Military State. I have come here to guide you all toward a better path.”

She was even behaving as though the previous Instructor did not matter at all... Normally, a new arrival would report to the person already in charge, regardless of rank.

Her growing suspicion suppressed her vague hostility. As Shei quietly watched events unfold, Tyr was occupied elsewhere.

Taking no interest in the person, Tyr was using her shadows to search the supply crate.

“More importantly, where are the supplies?”

Tyr searched for the supplies. A gigantic hand of shadow turned the entire crate upside down and shook it out, but not so much as a speck of dust fell out, let alone any supplies.

Puzzled, Tyr soon directed a peculiar look at Callis.

“Are you perhaps the supplies...? Hmm. How does one use a person...?”

Perhaps even a Military State officer as rigid as a machine could sense a threat to her life. With decidedly un-officerlike haste, Callis rummaged inside her uniform.

“If you mean the supplies, this is presumably what you are referring to.”

Callis took a rectangular paper box from her inner pocket. A nudge of her thumb pushed the top open, revealing thick cigars rolled in paper.

“Mana herbs. Level 3 luxury goods. Tsk. Even officers can scarcely smoke these without permission from their superiors, and yet they are being issued to a mere convict laborer... Military command is giving this place special treatment because it is Tantalus. In the end, it is only another place where people live.”

Muttering in apparent displeasure, she handed the box of mana herbs to the shadow hand that happened to approach. The hand snatched it up and immediately flew back to Tyr.

Mana herbs were psychoactive herbs that relaxed the body and soothed the nerves. They had a mild mana-restoring effect and were usually smoked rolled in paper.

Those were probably the supplies ‘he’ had requested... So Shei concluded.

She did not know whether they could truly restore his lost memories, but who knew? He might have hidden something in them.

“Wait. More importantly. A convict laborer?”

Only then did Shei notice something was wrong and mutter to herself.

A convict laborer? What did that mean? The only person here who needed mana herbs was that utterly untrustworthy Instructor...

Utterly untrustworthy...

Surely not.

“Yes. A convict laborer. Did none of you know?”

Callis clicked her tongue and spoke.

She revealed the truth about him that Shei had so desperately wanted to know.

“Hughes. That man is a convict laborer assigned to Tantalus. After being summarily arrested for gambling in Amitengrad's District 13-3, he was sentenced to hard labor in Tantalus.”