Ameria's eyes widened in shock. She clutched her head with both hands.
"What did you just say? The letters didn't have His Majesty's signature?"
Shakky quickly calmed her.
"No, wait. I said there *was* a signature. But from the way it was written, I can tell it wasn't my father's."
Ameria slowly lowered her hands and placed them on her thighs.
"But if you could recognize the difference in the signature… couldn't anyone else have noticed it too?"
Shakky shook her head.
"No. I only noticed because I looked very carefully. What's more surprising is that when you read the letter, it feels exactly like something my father would have written."
She paused, her thoughts turning inward.
*(Who could still be hiding among us…?)*
She looked at Ameria.
"Is any of our relatives still alive?"
Ameria thought for a moment before answering.
"You already know, Princess. Because of the throne war twenty years ago, none of your relatives are left. During that war, your mother, along with Uncle Benjin and Derland, eliminated everyone. Your uncle even cut off the heads of the entire Barmithion family and presented them to the king. From the looks of it, no one should have survived."
Shakky nodded.
"Yes. Everyone died in that war. But looking at these letters… it seems there's still a traitor who managed to escape our eyes."
She fell silent again, thinking.
*(If it's not an outside enemy, then who is doing this? And what do they gain from it?)*
She continued speaking.
"Access to the royal seal belongs to Zaimol, since he's our financial minister. Grinnol, who handles the official letters, also has access to it. But right now, besides the seal and the different signature, we have no real proof. When we return, I'll ask Zaimol exactly who else has access to the seal. That might give us our next clue."
Ameria watched how troubled Shakky looked and became serious herself.
"You're right. But there's something even more important we need to do right now."
Shakky looked at her in confusion.
"What is it?"
Ameria reached into the bag and opened it.
"It's time for you to eat. Your body needs protein."
Shakky looked startled.
"Ehh? No, I don't want to eat."
Ameria refused to back down.
"I'm not listening to you this time. You *will* eat. Your health is more important."
Shakky let out a quiet sigh, knowing there was no point arguing further. She took the food without much resistance, though her mind was still stuck on the letters and the unfamiliar signature. Outside the carriage window, the snow-covered road stretched on endlessly. The further they moved from Lancer territory, the heavier the silence inside the carriage became.
---
Far away, under the bright midday sun, Benjin stood with one hand raised against the light, looking out across the ruined laboratory.
Beside him were Aerstrone and the government personnel. The ground was nothing but dirt and shattered debris from the blast, half-buried in the earth. Very few trees remained nearby. Most of the ones that survived stood far in the distance. Nearly a full kilometer of land had been completely destroyed.
Benjin had brought people here to collect whatever materials could still be recovered. They were gathering the rubble along with the others.
Lieutenant Shivali stood next to him, staring at the scene in disbelief.
"This doesn't look like just a blast… It looks like a fierce battle took place here."
She had seen battlefields before, which was why the destruction felt so familiar.
Benjin glanced at her and gave a small smile.
"We can't say for certain that a battle happened here. All we know is that a massive explosion took place… one strong enough to cause this much destruction."
Around them, people were collecting broken containers, glass bottles, and damaged samples, loading them into a large wagon pulled by three horses.
Silcha, the current head of the RDS group, stood over one of the dead bodies. Something about it felt wrong. The corpse had no clothes, and all of its skin had been removed. Yet there was no rotting smell, and the body itself showed no signs of decay — as if it was rejecting the environment around it.
She nudged the body with her foot while examining it.
"Strange… these bodies have been modified from the inside. They don't look like normal humans anymore."
She looked toward a pile of similar corpses a short distance away.
"But why weren't they destroyed in such a large blast? What does that mean? What kind of research were they doing here? If only we could find some documents…"
She was still lost in thought when Ranger suddenly spoke from behind her.
"What are you doing?"
Silcha jumped in surprise, her attention having been completely focused on the bodies.
"Wah—! Ranger, it's you."
She placed a hand over her heart.
Ranger chuckled.
"Haha, Silcha. You actually got scared."
She glared at him, and he quickly quieted down.
"Sorry. But what were you looking at?"
Silcha turned her eyes back to the corpses.
"What do you think they were experimenting on with these bodies?"
Ranger studied them for a moment.
"You already know this isn't our job to figure out. Digging too deep into things beyond our reach can get us punished."
Silcha gave a small laugh.
"What kind of scientist doesn't take risks to search for answers? Just like *him*."
Ranger looked confused.
"Like him?"
Silcha spoke with clear confidence.
"I've read a lot about Dr. Bright's experiments. That's why I entered this field. My dream is to one day sit and work alongside him."
Ranger's expression went blank. He sighed.
"Keep those dreams to yourself. I never want to work with that mad scientist. Who even knows if he's still alive? People only ever hear his name."
While the two of them were talking, Lihana walked past carrying broken bottle samples. When she noticed them chatting and laughing, irritation crossed her face.
"Hey! I'm over here working, and you two are just standing around talking!"
Silcha smiled at her angry expression.
"Alright, we're coming."
Both of them started walking toward her.
But the moment they got closer, Lihana's eyes flew open in terror. Her jaw hung loose.
Ranger and Silcha looked at her in confusion. Ranger tried to tease her.
"What? Why are you making that face? Never seen someone handsome before?"
Lihana's voice trembled.
"You… you came over to me… but *that*…"
The two of them followed her gaze — and froze.
The dead body that had been lying motionless was now standing upright.
Its body jerked as bones cracked loudly into place. The sound of shifting joints was clear enough for all three of them to hear. A wave of fear shot through their bodies.
Silcha's thoughts stalled.
*(Impossible… It was completely still when I was next to it. How is it standing? What even is this? This isn't human…)*
The corpse turned its head toward them. Then its mouth began to split open — not just at the jaw, but all the way up toward the top of its skull. Rows of sharp teeth lined the torn flesh, as if a second mouth had opened from within.
Lihana screamed.
The moment the scream left her throat, the creature charged.
Panic seized all three of them. They stumbled backward, unable to think clearly as the corpse closed the distance in seconds —
—until a sharp slash tore across the ground and cut straight through its body.
The creature split apart and collapsed in pieces.
Before they could even process what had happened, the thick, dark blood of the corpse pulled the severed parts back together. Flesh and bone reconnected as if nothing had occurred.
They spun around and saw Benjin approaching with his sword in hand.
"Don't panic," he said evenly. "Just move back a little."
The three of them immediately ran toward Lieutenant Shivali and the others. Benjin stopped a short distance from the creature, his eyes narrowed as he studied it.
A skinless human body that moved like a monster.
A faint, unreadable smile touched his lips — not from fear, but from recognition of something dangerous.
The creature let out a distorted roar and lunged at him, jaws wide open.
Benjin stepped aside cleanly.
"So it can move… interesting."
His sword flashed in a rapid series of cuts. In an instant the monster was sliced into dozens of pieces that scattered across the dirt.
"Thousand Slashes."
Benjin looked down at the remains.
"It went down easier than expected."
He turned away, ready to walk back —
—but then he heard it.
A wet, dragging sound.
He looked over his shoulder, and his eyes widened.
The pieces were sliding across the ground, pulling themselves back together. Within seconds the corpse had reformed completely.
"…It can still regenerate."
Before he could fully react, the creature attacked again. Some of its body parts were still in the process of reconnecting, making its movements slightly uneven. Benjin barely managed to twist out of the way.
"Uncle!" Aerstrone called out in alarm.
Benjin steadied himself. A faint green glow appeared around his leg as he drove a sharp kick into the creature's torso, sending it flying backward. It crashed and slid across the ground, landing in the middle of the large pile of similar corpses.
Only then did Benjin look toward Shivali and the others. They were all staring at the same spot.
"What exactly are we dealing with?" he asked. "No matter how many times it's cut, it puts itself back together. Do any of you know what this is?"
The scientists all shook their heads. Shivali kept her eyes fixed on the creature.
The corpse slowly stood up again and let out another distorted cry. Then it did something none of them expected.
It looked down at the pile of bodies beneath its feet. Its arms sank into the corpses it was standing on.
The moment it did, every body in the pile lost its solid form. They melted like thick liquid and began flowing into the standing corpse, absorbed into its frame.