Inside the Wandenreich, the ice palace Silbern where Yhwach resided.
It was both the emperor’s living quarters and the place where the Sternritter were housed.
Unlike ordinary barracks, this empire was essentially one enormous military organization, so the accommodations, command rooms, training facilities, supply depots, and even a few leisure areas were all gathered here.
Treated as a vast communal residential district, this place was centered around military institutions.
But that was only a secondary aspect.
Since this society’s national function was heavily focused on war, most ordinary soldiers, with only a few exceptions, lived the kind of harsh life people imagined when they thought of soldiers.
An suspicious outsider had entered this military district.
Soldiers lined up on both sides were holding the ropes binding him as they marched in a straight line.
This treatment was not exactly a positive sign, but initiating an armed clash with that man who seemed to be in command carried a considerable risk.
He did not think he would be helplessly defeated, but neither did he think he could win with certainty.
And although he knew how to enter this place, he had no memory of how to return to Soul Society or the World of the Living.
Even if he fled from here, it did not seem easy to secure nourishment or a place to live in such a barren space, like a vast open sea.
If pursuers appeared, his mental and physical exhaustion would only grow, so instead of the worst choice of fighting on the spot, he chose the second-worst one.
Of course, he still kept a little hope that he could escape if things went badly, just like in the laboratory before.
Step, step, step.
Only the sound of boots echoed through the angular corridor, with not a single voice spoken.
Before long, they arrived in front of a certain door.
"That’s far enough. Only this man and I will go in. The rest of you disperse."
"Yes, sir!"
One officer handed the end of the rope he had been holding to Kirge.
Taking it, Kirge led the intruder forward.
"Please come in."
He opened the door and followed behind the man who went in first.
It was a fairly large office-like room, but the atmosphere was extremely dry.
It did not feel desolate, but rather like a minimalist room that had stripped away everything unnecessary and compressed only the essential items to the extreme.
A large desk stood in the center.
And across from it sat a man with long blond hair and a cold expression.
"The intruder has been restrained."
Jugram Haschwalth.
"So it was you. The one who opened Schatten Bereich from Soul Society."
He rose from his chair as he spoke.
Their gazes met at roughly the same height.
Normally, one intruder would not warrant one Sternritter personally standing before him for a private audience like this.
He would either be punished according to the rules, executed outright, or interrogated for information.
But the current situation in Seireitei, which they were observing, had a strong chance of developing into something highly significant for the Quincy as well.
Even if it did not amount to the Wandenreich’s existence being exposed, the Soul Reapers were already growing wary of the Quincy and conducting investigations.
They were keeping tabs on the Wandenreich’s people, of course, but also on most of the Gemischt Quincy in the World of the Living, including the Ishida and Kurosaki lines.
That was why the first thing they did after ordering the intruder captured was compare him against the personnel records they currently had.
To identify the other party, they checked the roster of active personnel, but no blank spots or errors appeared.
In other words, the man was an unknown existence absent from their data.
Of course, their data was not perfect, and there could always be Quincies quietly carrying on a lineage in some remote village that they did not know about.
But the fact that he had opened Schatten Bereich on his own meant he had Wandenreich entry rights.
Aside from the one-time access pass even Ishida had once been granted, there should be no other route.
Much less would this place be so free as to allow it for someone living so inconspicuously that even the Sternritter’s investigations had not caught him.
An investigator was stationed separately, but since they could not know what information might come out, he had decided to see for himself first.
From the mouth of the man who always thought efficiently and coldly, a question came.
"Who are you?"
"··· ···."
****
A tree on a mountainside.
A fish in a river.
A broken spiderweb blown by the wind.
A horse running across the plains.
A Hollow that lured people in.
Even the brush used to write a name.
Everything has a name.
And yet, paradoxically, the first name is always given by someone else.
Nicknames one gives oneself are only byproducts that come afterward.
That was why everything in this world had to exist through one another.
There had to be someone or something other than me.
But he could not do that.
Not even the thought of a name had crossed his mind before the other person asked him.
"···I’m a nameless plant."
At the absurd answer, the elegant brows of the man called Seryu twitched slightly.
"A fish scale under water, filthy overgrown protein, four legs with hooves, something that isn’t a seductive Hollow."
"···Unnecessary words. Answer directly."
He did not know who he was.
He could kill Hollows, and objectively he was strong enough to face even a captain of the Gotei 13.
But he could not describe himself in simpler terms.
No, perhaps he could.
My very first memory.
That too would be me.
"I am the child of the beheaded."
"··· ···Hm?"
"The fetus of my father’s dream and imagination."
"··· ···."
For a moment, something like understanding flickered across his face.
"Anything else?"
"The one who killed a Hollow, the one killed by a Hollow."
"Specimen 103 of the Soul Society 12th Division human experiment."
"··· ···."
"And I am a Quincy."
****
"From today onward, you will be formally enlisted here in the Wandenreich as an Anwärter. From now on, serve the empire as a Quincy."
In the end, he, the intruding Quincy, was not killed.
Far from being punished, he was guaranteed the chance to interact with others, gain experience as part of the group, and above all, secure food, clothing, and shelter. It was more than enough of a gain.
"However, considering the damage your influence on Seireitei has caused to our grand design, any punishment or cleanup will be decided later based on the situation and your abilities."
After asking him a few questions, he let him go obediently.
"Also, reports about you will be delivered to me directly on a regular basis, separately from the other soldiers. If there is anything improper, I will dispose of you immediately."
But he was a man who thoroughly rejected uncertainty.
Rather than allowing additional variables to arise, he had chosen to keep him close and manage him personally.
"I will also inform the Sternritter and grant them the authority to kill you if they find you suspicious."
That was pressure enough to make him stay as obedient as possible, with strong men like Haschwalth and Kirge able to kill him at any time.
Restrictions that were excessive in how thoroughly they were laid out.
"You are also forbidden from speaking about your personal details. If anyone asks, just say you were born within the Wandenreich."
"···What should I say my name is?"
But there was no time to think about that any longer, and he was immediately transferred to the dormitory for the soldiers who had enlisted that day.
As soon as he arrived, the surgical gown he had been wearing was changed for a clean but plain white military uniform.
He had intended to throw the gown away, but they collected it as research material.
Before leaving that room with the news that he would begin regular training tomorrow, he mulled over the last words he had heard.
"I see. Yes, your name is—"
****
Knock, knock.
"Commander, it’s Kirge."
"Come in."
He opened the door and entered Haschwalth’s office again.
After answering the first question, Haschwalth had sent Kirge out of the room and continued the interrogation.
He had even soundproofed the office so not a single word could leak out, and conducted the meeting in private.
"And that man?"
"He’s already been moved to the trainees’ dormitory. But Commander?"
"Then I will resume the interrupted meeting. Gather the personnel and assemble them in the conference room."
"··· ···."
He doesn’t even try to hide that there’s a secret.
But he was the operations officer.
His rank was below the commander’s, and he was in a position where he had to obey his orders absolutely.
The others might act as if rank did not matter, but he was not like that; he was working to maintain stable order.
If he showed such an obvious attitude, even asking a question could be seen as insubordination.
People always found some pretext or another.
Still, separate from that, he did not seem to be considering investigating more deeply, or the damage that this information imbalance might cause.
Because Jugram Haschwalth was a man who existed entirely for the Wandenreich and His Majesty.
There was a belief that whatever he did was for some benefit, or to prevent some harm.
So from his perspective, resuming the meeting immediately was the rational choice.
****
"That was an interesting sight."
Mininya said as she recalled the scene she had just seen.
"Yeah."
Liltotto said it absentmindedly while chewing on an apple.
A room inside Silbern’s Sternritter residential area.
It was being used as a kind of communal space for the female Quincy.
The two of them were chatting there in low voices.
"Right? He was tied up with ropes, so he looked like a criminal. And then he came right back out after a private meeting with Haschwalth."
"And the restraints were gone too."
They were talking about the sight they had happened to see near the commander’s office while roaming around together.
In their experience, when a new face showed up like that, there was a strong chance he would be added to the Sternritter.
"Did you hear anything else?"
"There wasn’t any paper or verbal announcement, so maybe he just got killed?"
Head tilt, head tilt.
Giselle shook her head as she answered.
"That’s called an official notice and word of mouth, idiot."
"Hrk, so mean. Toto-chan."
"Don’t call me that."
Giselle made a show of wiping away tears with her finger.
When that still did not get much of a reaction, she quickly turned to someone else and spoke.
A curved figure lounging alone on the long sofa nearby.
"What do you think, Bambi-chan?"
"Hmph. You really care about something that trivial? Pathetic."
Still lying down, she spoke haughtily without even turning her gaze.
It was a remark that lumped everyone together and insulted them, but no one objected much.
The one most likely to object, Candice, was away for the moment.
"But if he’s a new face, maybe it’d be fun to teach him a lesson first."
"Wow! So Bambi-chan is interested in teaching someone too!"
"Interested? Don’t be ridiculous. I’m only saying it would be a decent way to kill time."
Still, if he really did join them.
"I’d have to make sure he never dared to defy me."
A sly, ferocious smile settled on her beautiful face.
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