Judgement Corps

"You alright? Hang in there…"

Nordhausen caught Arcia just before she collapsed, stopping her from hitting the ground and risking further injury.

"…"

Arcia didn't respond. She leaned against him weakly, her face pale and breath shallow—she was clearly in bad shape.

"This girl…"

With a helpless sigh, Nordhausen quickly administered Type-2 and Type-4 stimulants. Then he called Edwin over to help him extract the longsword still embedded in Arcia's abdomen.

"Get ready. One, two—"

"—!"

Nordhausen kept his hands steady, pulling the blade free in one swift motion. Edwin braced Arcia tightly to prevent her from thrashing or injuring herself. But aside from a slight grimace and a stifled moan, Arcia didn't react at all.

"Is she… going to make it?" Edwin asked, alarmed. For such a long blade to be pulled out with so little response—it couldn't be a good sign.

"She should be okay for now. This kid always tries to tough it out…" Nordhausen replied, immediately binding the wound with gauze. Even with the healing properties of Type-2 stimulants, a wound this deep needed time—and tight bandaging to keep her stable.

With Arcia's condition temporarily under control, Edwin moved on and found Inaya, who was being looked after by Otto and Sennia.

"How's she doing?" Edwin crouched beside them, inspecting Inaya's injuries. After a round of treatment and some water from Sennia, she seemed much better—conscious now, and able to speak.

"What do you think?" Inaya replied, voice tinged with mock pride. That signature bratty attitude was back, and Edwin could tell she was truly alright.

"Just a moment ago, you looked half-dead…"

Sennia was still in disbelief. If this was magic, it had to be absurdly overpowered. Even the burns had vanished without a trace.

"Miss Inaya, if it's not too much… could you help treat my squad?" Otto finally asked. With so many second-generation Night Knights in critical condition, he didn't want to lose anyone if it could be avoided.

"No problem," Inaya answered briskly. She spent another minute tending to her own injuries, then stood up unaided, not even needing support.

"You sure you're okay?" Sennia asked, still skeptical. She had seen Inaya's condition up close earlier—if she'd been in her shoes, she wouldn't have bet on survival.

"I'm fine, I'm fine. I've been through worse, believe me—way worse," Inaya said with a casual wave, her ears perking up, tail swaying with restored energy.

"Thank you," Otto said sincerely, and even Edwin's opinion of Inaya seemed to improve a little.

With Inaya's help, most of the critically wounded were stabilized. Those who had lost limbs couldn't be fully healed here, but at least their conditions were no longer life-threatening—they would be sent back to Altasa later for "full reconstruction."

"Does your magic have any limits?" Otto caught up to Inaya at the rear of the marching column.

"Limits? What kind?" she asked.

"Like… how many times you can use it a day. You were badly hurt earlier, and I still asked you to treat my people…"

As their commander, Otto felt responsible for getting everyone home alive—including the so-called emotionless second-generation Night Knights. But he couldn't help but feel guilty for relying on someone who had just recovered.

"Oh, that? No limits," Inaya replied, completely unconcerned.

"That's good to hear… Thank you." Otto nodded and returned to the front.

"What's the principle behind your magic, anyway?" Sennia sidled up again, her curiosity growing with every minute.

"Principle? You chant a spell, and it happens. That's it."

"Spells? As in… a language?"

"Sort of. One spell can be expressed with multiple chants. Long incantations don't work in combat, so we simplify them. Refined syllables can express more with less."

That was a completely different school of thought from Sennia's education. But she had one pressing question left:

"What's the source of magical energy?"

In the South, science dictated that energy couldn't come from nothing. If magic had effects, then the power had to come from somewhere.

"Now that's too deep for me. I'm a user, not a scholar. I don't know the theoretical stuff…" Inaya said with a shrug.

"…"

Sennia was momentarily speechless. But thinking about it, it made sense—if you could cast a spell just by saying words, studying the mechanics behind it probably wasn't essential for everyday use.

"So, have you thought about my offer?" Inaya suddenly changed tone, a sly smile playing on her lips.

"Oh, I completely forgot," Sennia said, slapping her forehead. "So much happened these past few days…"

"You forgot?!"

Inaya looked genuinely shocked. Magic wasn't something people just forgot about—especially in the North, where only select members of the Church were deemed worthy to learn it.

"Yeah, sorry. That's on me."

"So what's your answer now?"

"I can't make that decision. Letting you go isn't up to me," Sennia replied.

Of course I knew that! That's why I brought it up early! And you still forgot…

"Well, talk to your superiors again for me…"

No matter how hard her mouth twitched, Inaya had no choice but to accept the fact that she was still a prisoner. Just like yesterday—she had thought she'd get her chance, only for the Church to ruin everything…

"Still, if it weren't for you guys, I might really be dead right now…"

Inaya's voice softened, her tone laced with a hint of gratitude.

"You know who those people were, don't you?"

Sennia followed up immediately, sensing Inaya had more to say. Nordhausen and Edwin also slowed their pace subtly to listen in.

"Yeah. I've dealt with their kind up north a few times."

Inaya tilted her head to the sky, falling into thought.

"The Church officially calls them the 'Judgement Corps'—a powerful military branch under direct control of the Central Authority."

"Direct control…" Sennia echoed, pondering the implications.

Historically, most contact between the Church and Southern nations came through warfare. But even that limited contact gave Southern scholars a glimpse into the Church's structure. Supposedly, it was divided into 43 provinces, each headed by a Grand Prelate who governed both civil and military affairs. Oddly enough, despite this semi-feudal structure, the Church remained unified—no recorded internal conflicts.

The reasons were still a mystery, but it pointed to some deeper force maintaining the balance. Unfortunately, the South knew far too little, and the Church had no interest in equal diplomatic exchange.

Still, a Judgement Corps unit acting under central command? That meant they were elite—no wonder just three of them nearly annihilated the platoon.

"The Judgement Corps is the Church's top fighting force. Even running into just one of them, I usually avoid battle if I can."

Inaya noticed Sennia had drifted off into thought again.

"You and your Lexomancer boss must've done some shady things, huh…"

Sennia quipped, snapping Inaya back to the moment.

"Yeah… shady's putting it mildly."

To Sennia's surprise, Inaya admitted it outright.

"How do they usually fight?" Sennia asked.

Their back-and-forth made Nordhausen finally jump in.

"Like you saw—Lexomancers launch spells from the rear while swordsmen engage up front. That was actually my first time facing a full team, and their coordination made them incredibly dangerous. Taking out the Lexomancers first was definitely the right call."

"So the ones with the floating spheres were Lexomancers? Like your employer?"

"Yup. Lexomancers study magic in-depth. My boss doesn't hold a candle to those in the Judgement Corps."

"Could someone like you be considered a Lexomancer, then?"

"No. I said it before—I'm a spellcaster, not a scholar. Learning spells is easy—most people can do it. But optimizing their use by understanding both magic and natural science? That's what separates real Lexomancers."

"Wait, you guys have natural science up north?"

That genuinely surprised Sennia. The North always seemed steeped in mystery and magic.

"What kind of weird bias do you Southerners have about us…"

Inaya rolled her eyes. Sennia, to her credit, realized how narrow-minded she'd been.

"Anyway, what are you people? I've never seen anyone outside the Church defeat a Judgement Corps team before."

After witnessing the Night Knights in action, Inaya was more curious—and much warier, especially of Shatiel. That woman did cleave two elite swordsmen in half…

"We…"

Sennia looked to Nordhausen for an answer.

"We're in the nation of Luvina. But we serve Dazilet, the empire currently at war with it."

"We're at war, huh? Got it!"

A military unit from one country operating in another—that, plus everything she'd overheard about "plans"—Inaya connected the dots instantly.

"That's right. We're the Night Knights of the Dazilet Empire. Think of us as special forces."

"Your combat strength… and your healing factor… I saw you inject something earlier. Is that related?"

"Yes. The stimulants help with healing and sensory enhancement."

"And this thing?"

Inaya pointed at the submachine gun slung across Nordhausen's chest.

"That's a 'submachine gun.' It fires metal projectiles using high-pressure gas from gunpowder combustion."

"…"

Clearly, Inaya didn't quite follow.

"Cool," she finally said. At least she grasped the basics—it shoots metal to hurt people. And she'd seen firsthand how effective it was, especially the 20mm autocannon…

"Stop!"

Otto's voice suddenly rang out from the front.

"What's going on?"

Everyone gathered around him.

"Look up ahead."

Following his gesture, they saw the military truck hidden in the woods. It had been camouflaged with branches and foliage—but now the disguise was pulled off, the doors wide open.

"Someone's been here!"

The platoon tensed, weapons at the ready.

They had moved faster on the return trip—only an hour and a half—but someone had still managed to find and tamper with the truck?

"I can go check it out," Inaya offered.

"You? No way."

Otto rejected her without hesitation.

"Just wait and see."

But Inaya clearly hadn't been asking for permission. She patted Otto's shoulder and stepped out of the underbrush. Before their eyes, she transformed—into one of the Judgement Corps soldiers they had just fought.

"Let's see what she's up to," Nordhausen said, holding Otto back. Sure enough, a figure in white robes appeared near the truck without warning.

"What are you doing here?"