“Final summary of the ‘2nd Special Gathering Operation’. Casualties: 82 men killed, 23 missing, and 167 wounded or sick. Participating units: 223rd Penal Battalion and the 24th Scout Squadron. Items retrieved—62 pounds of ‘Redhill Moss’. Goodness…these herbs are quite the expensive buggers to acquire, eh?”

  “Based on our doctrine of maximizing the enemy’s attrition rate while minimizing ours, the calculus for this special gathering operation is indeed quite awful.”

  The old officer let out a puff of smoke as his subordinate finished his reply. The two other officers standing in front of his desk stood stiffly, watching as the old man stowed the report file aside on his desk.

  “Then, I suppose that means the 223rd has to be either disbanded or reconstituted,” the old officer said. “Unfortunate. They were supposed to replace one of our worn-down units for two weeks at the defense lines.”

  One of the standing officers nodded grimly.

  “If Major von Eisen’s report is true, then the agreement with the Crown Princess would eventually ensure that the Defense Forces will find recruits and resources to prosecute the war better,” the officer declared. “I believe the 223rd will, yes, need to be pulled back for the time being, but they need no disbanding. They’ll likely be reconstituted.”

  “Crime rates are rising from the interior, no?”

  “Indeed. We expect heightened recruitment numbers for our penal formations. It’s a good idea that we mostly threw penal units for this mission, considering the lowered recruitment numbers for our normal units.”

  “Regardless, these expeditions are costing us a lot, and all for the needs of a single woman,” the old officer laughed. “But I suppose the good Major is simply playing the long game. Should the Defense Forces regain the good graces of the Imperial Family, the chances of our funding being increased are more likely.”

  “It’s a surprise indeed. It was an Eisen noble who discredited us so badly that we couldn’t play court politics for ages. Now, it’s another member from that fallen clan that’s trying to get us closer not just to the court—but to the next Empress herself.”

  The old officer looked down at the report file on his desk for a good while. Then, he gave his orders.

  “Make sure a twelfth of that Redhill Moss reaches the good Major. We’re keeping the rest as a bargaining chip. Then we’ll hide it from both the Royal Guard and the Imperial Army in the meantime. If we manage to obtain the two other herbs, we’d be doing the same to those samples,” the old officer grinned. “We now have a golden opportunity to exert our influence on the Empire and we will use it. It’s all for humanity’s eternal defense in the end.”

  The two officers in front of him both stiffly saluted.

  +++

  Alexa walked silently on the hallways of the Hohle Dormitory, as behind her, Adele mindlessly followed her.

  Phoebe also doesn’t have an idea what her special skills are. At the moment, all she has are her normal skills and magic that everyone has.

  It meant that she wasn’t that useful yet.

  And the situation right now was such an annoying setup! Why was it that even after Alexa read the novel, it didn’t divulge much information about how her abilities were unlocked?

  It was strange. Alexa’s abilities would be unlocked the moment she managed to meet her quest’s requirements, but Phoebe’s abilities, it was only opened up during the novel.

  Much of what was depicted in the novel wasn’t exactly the specifics of the activation. It was only Phoebe trying to survive in the middle of a brutal battle, until she runs into Wilhelm, and he exposes her to the Archdemon of Sloth to ‘activate’ it.

  Is that it? What a cliche mechanic. The special powers only activate when she meets her opponent. That's so hard to navigate!

  What she wanted was to activate it pre-emptively, which was hard when Alexa was clueless about the mechanics involved. Even asking Phoebe directly proved fruitless, so that only left the monkey who activated it in the first place.

  Wilhelm. He knows too much than he lets on. He knows about my Rose Eyes ability, and he’s investing effort in me for some reason. And he’s doing the same to Phoebe.

  But even that guy, when she bumped into him earlier and asked him that question, he ignored her ‘because suspended students don’t exist’. The nerve on that man! He was so useless! Her annoyance grew so much that Alexa hid her face with her fan as two noble girls walked past them.

  “Your Highness,” Adele whined behind her. “We’ve been circling the hallways back and forth eight times now. Where are we really going?”

  Alexa stopped, turning to her servant.

  “Hmm…” Alexa silently tried to remember her original plan for today, before beaming as she closed her fan and aimed it at Adele. “Simple. I’d like to finish improving my physical stats.”

  “W-what? You’re still set on doing that?”

  “Of course. I need it to form my first magic circle. If I’m weak, then my chances of dying during the formation ritual are high. I need to improve all of my physical stats to avoid that.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. Now go inform my maids about it.”

  “Understood, Your Highness.”

  Adele quickly bowed a bit, before leaving Alexa.

  Alexa understood why Adele was surprised. Most of her peers, noblewomen specifically, only trained their magic and skills. Physical stats were an afterthought. Usually, the only ones who gave heavy effort on it were workers, laborers, and soldiers. Well, noblemen too, but that was because many liked to join the Imperial Army and the Royal Guard and they needed to fit there.

  Alexa wasn’t that far from them. She wouldn’t be trying to exert herself and getting all smelly and stuff if that annoying system quest and Mr. Scary Face didn’t require it.

  But right now, she wanted to get things moving faster. If she practiced drawing glyphs and improving her understanding of magic theory at night, then at daytime, she could try to train her DEX, STR, and CON.

  “But what exactly should I focus on first? That Wilhelm peasant is too busy teaching his students for me to safely train my strength and constitution, so that leaves dexterity…”

  She remembered Wilhelm’s explanation about the physical stats business.

  Dexterity was simply just improving one’s ability to control the body smoothly. It was the one physical stat that most noblewomen eventually improved bit by bit, usually by their etiquette lessons, cooking lessons, or dancing lessons.

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  “Now that I think about it…dexterity is the only stat I have that isn’t at rock bottom,” Alexa smiled, curling her fist. “Indeed! As the crown princess, I had to train my etiquette and dancing skills, so it’s only natural that it’s decent. Not that it means I’m anywhere close to a swordsman’s dexterity, but still, this means this stat will be the easiest to improve to L plus!”

  She may hate dancing, but she also hates work she wasn’t familiar with! Better the tiresome work she knew and had already made progress in than the tiresome work she had no idea about.

  “Indeed, indeed,” she nodded to herself. “Dancing lessons it is.”

  “Your Highness, I leave you for a few minutes, and you’re already talking to yourself?” Adele sighed. “I’m starting to agree with Sir Alfred that Wilhelm really is a bad influence.”

  “Eep!” Alexa squeaked out, embarrassed and surprised at her servants suddenly appearing behind her. Quickly, she looked away and hid her face with her folding fan. “A-anyway. Let’s go to Ms. Lafayette. I’ll continue my dancing lessons privately. Even if I’m suspended, she would have no ability to refuse when I throw her money.”

  “Oh,” Adele smiled, and so did the two maids carrying fresh clothes behind her. “But I thought you hated dancing during parties, especially with a partner. Say, have you finally found your prince who changed your mind?”

  “Please. I don’t intend to use these lessons for such a lowly reason,” Alexa scoffed. “I merely wish to improve my dexterity stat, that’s all.”

  +++

  “Make sure that acquiring this is worth it. Even if they were mostly criminals, those were still living people who died for this.”

  “I know.”

  Wilhelm took the bag of Redhill Moss from an officer who had just arrived at the Academy with his carriage. The Defense Forces officer also coldly handed him a bunch of documents, bound together.

  “Is this the after-action report?” Wilhelm asked.

  “Yes.”

  “I see,” Wilhelm took a cursory glance at them briefly, as the officer waited silently. “In this case, tell the General to probe the areas near the former Fort Vilnia. Make sure to launch a diversionary attack on the right flank of the fort, and deploy the gatherers on the west flank’s forest. They’ll find Dragonblue Thyme near the small lake over there.”

  “When will that information become outdated?”

  Wilhelm stopped himself briefly, straining as he tried to improve the resolution of his mental map using his ‘Azure Eyes’ passive skill. He felt his mana surging as his eyes glowed, and the voices of those demons and the people around him growing, enough that it felt like they were stabbing his mind.

  Soon, he was able to track the demons and their concentration around Fort Vilnia.

  It was the curse of this ability. No matter where he was, no matter how far he was from those monsters, he could hear them, and whenever he strained this skill, it hurt.

  He’s used to it though, so he pushed on to fully confirm the details, until…

  Blood dripped down his nose as he stopped using his mana to heighten its sensitivity, and the screams and voices in his mind lowered in intensity. So did his mental map, its resolution dying into a blur outside of what was in the Academy and the city.

  “Yes,” Wilhelm nodded as he fetched his handkerchief to wipe the blood on his nose. “It’s unlikely for those demons to move out of that area. So long as the assault is launched before next week, and they tie down enough of the bastards, the gatherers should be able to slip in and harvest a considerable amount.”

  “I see,” the officer stepped back, before saluting. “Good luck in your mission, Major.”

  “You too, Captain,” Wilhelm replied. “I’d really appreciate it if you could get me those herbs within this month. The last one can wait. I just…I just need one of them at least.”

  “I thought you needed all three?”

  “Technically, I do, if my goal is to help her reach multiple magic circles. For the first circle though, I remember managing with just Redhill Moss and Dragonblue Thyme. It should be enough for now.”

  “You seem like you’re rushing this then. Are we running out of time?”

  “...”

  “I understand. Besides, the princess must be getting impatient already,” the officer gave a gesture to the driver of the carriage. “I’ll take my leave then. Have a good afternoon.”

  Wilhelm tiredly sighed as he stepped away, walking back to the academy grounds silently, passing by professors, workers, and of course, noble girls and boys.

  As always, when he walked amongst them, he could hear bits and pieces of the thoughts they had about him. Some were directed at him, some weren’t. Those directed at him were always negative.

  Any normal person would hate such an ability, because it would only hurt one’s mind so much, then they’d snap from the pressure.

  Wilhelm didn’t mind that curse, not just because he’s used to it, but because of its utility. His Azure Eyes skill’s domain was telepathy, the ability to hear, locate, and understand what was in a creature’s mind.

  Against demons, it worked perfectly, way too perfectly in fact that he could hear and make out their hostile and deranged thoughts clearly.

  His ability was a bit defective on humans though.

  He could hear their thoughts, but even at the highest sensitivity, he only received scraps. Just enough to locate them, but not enough to make out anything but their general mood and intentions.

  This ability worked on almost everyone, save for truly powerful creatures like those Archdemons, as their detection was only possible if he strained the skill to its limits.

  Strangely, on people like Henry, Phoebe, and Alexa, no matter how hard he tried, he would always hear nothing from them.

  It was how he figured out if someone hid something important and powerful. Considering it was a special bloodline skill, it wouldn’t work on those with similar skills.

  And since Wilhelm cannot hear anything from these people’s minds, he approached them differently.

  Phoebe was the saintess, so Wilhelm assumed she must have the most important bloodline ability of them all, so she was his main focus. He planned to turn her into mankind’s ultimate weapon against demons.

  Henry was secretive. Wilhelm didn’t know what his bloodline’s skill was, but he knew that Henry must be extremely powerful, and no one had yet beaten him in combat.

  Unfortunately, that man already made it clear that he treated demons as nothing but an XP farm, not as a threat to be eliminated for mankind. He was therefore a strange, elusive character for Wilhelm to handle.

  Trying to use him was risky.

  That left Alexa Theresa. He didn’t know exactly what her bloodline ability was, except that it ran through the Von Wolgast family. What he did know though was that Alexa was an impressionable girl like Phoebe.

  With enough nudge and aid, she could blossom into something useful to Wilhelm’s goals since she held considerable potential power as the next leader of the Empire.

  Gaining what these two girls possessed was all that mattered. That was Wilhelm’s job after all, ever since his mentor took him in—to find people useful for the defense of mankind, and place them on the correct tiles of his chessboard.

  He looked down briefly at his hands as he ascended the stairs. For a second, it was red, drenched in blood. Most likely, it’d get worse.

  It felt strange too, because maybe…just maybe, his actions would mean it wouldn’t just be stained with the blood of young men like him, but of two young girls too, yet he felt nothing.

  That was odd.

  He previously believed that he’d feel regret at least now that he was about to use doe-eyed, naive girls too. Was he truly this numb?

  Whatever, no matter how innocent they were, everyone had their use on the chessboard.

  Devote everything to the eternal defense of mankind.

  That was Erwin Stahl’s mantra, and now, his as well.

  As his vision turned back to normal, he was staring at Alexa instead. As he’d expected after he heard from one of his underlings earlier, she was here in front of the theater practice room, thanking a middle-aged woman—a professor, no doubt.

  A little bit of a nudge too, and she’s starting to become more diligent. Little by little, she’s about to become useful.

  Wilhelm plastered his usual, lazy smile, the only other mode of expression he showed outside of his dead neutrality, then he walked in Alexa’s direction to gain her attention.

  “Your Highness, the first of the three herbs we need for your elixir has arrived,” Wilhelm called out.

  Alexa and her friend, Adele, turned to Wilhelm, surprised as he presented the bag to the two.

  “Say, are you up for some experimentation?” Wilhelm asked, as Alexa’s eyes suddenly brimmed with muted joy. Naturally, Wilhelm pushed further to exploit that. “Trust me, we’re very close to seeing your dream come to life.”

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