Trying to keep her troops orderly and alert was difficult on the trip down, but to Kano’s surprise, she found herself enjoying the task. There was something novel about ordering these silly creatures around and seeing them do as she said without question. It was a nice change after all the complex thinking she’d been doing lately. Having people do what she wanted without any argument was far more relaxing.

It was a pity ghouls tended to be so horribly dull, or a world full of them would be almost perfect for Kano. Maybe that was what An was trying to do. It would certainly be a worthwhile goal. Kano felt full of determination. She couldn’t let Eomonsa stop such wonderous progress. Supposedly he had some goal of his own, but whatever it was, it was probably much worse than An’s. He seemed more like an obstacle than someone whose point of view was worth considering.

As Kano made her way down yet more stairs—she couldn’t seem to be free of the infernal things—she wondered what anyone would want down here. What was even down here other than the prison cells? And those stood empty and unused. She didn’t know much about the actual functions of the citadel, but that didn’t really matter right now. Whatever Eomonsa was trying to do, she could stop him without understanding it. Hopefully.

They continued without encountering a living soul until they reached the ground floor, where Kano heard movement. It sounded like ghouls or things of similar size, and quite a number of them at that. But whose side were they on? Presumably they were fighting for Eomonsa, but she couldn’t say for certain without looking at them. She instructed her own ghouls to only fire if she did and crept forward.

A long column of ghouls, dressed like factory workers or store people, were walking past. They stared straight ahead as they walked, like they were hurrying somewhere on the street rather than storming an enemy stronghold, holding their rifles casually in one hand or leaning against their shoulder, almost like they didn’t know they were carrying weapons.

It was no wonder they hadn’t had much success against An’s soldiers when this was how they behaved, but there was also something worrying about it. Was Eomonsa really pulling random people off the street and forcing them into service somehow? And if so, was there some limit to the number he could control? Or would the entire town soon be marching on the citadel?

Kano wished she could interrogate one of the ghouls to find out what happened to them, but it would be a waste of time. From what she’d seen, they ignored everything unrelated to their orders. Which begged the question: What was this group focused on? They were heading deeper into the citadel, but beyond that, Kano couldn’t tell much about their destination. But while she may not be able to interrogate them, she could still follow them. It might be her best chance to learn more about what their master was planning. Besides, she could always engage them later.

Kano waited until they’d left the corridor and were out of sight before moving out. There was no need to keep them within sight. She could easily track their movements from the amount of sound they were making. The ghouls continued downward until they reached the floor above the prison. Kano had passed through it before, but she’d had little time or inclination to take a look around.

What were they looking for? Did the citadel store some kind of valuables down here or something? Kano really had no idea what there might be, or what Eomonsa might want. All she knew so far was that he needed electricity, and a lot of it. But there was obviously none of that here. Not after he took over the power plant.

Kano kept following until she heard one of the ghouls break off from the rest of the group and head into an adjoining corridor. Unless they’d received some very specific orders, they must be acting independently. Curious, Kano quietly sprinted after them. Catching up in a matter of seconds, she slammed them to the ground and stuck end of her gun barrel against their head. “What’re you doing here?”

They struggled, and Kano hissed, “Don’t move, or I’ll splatter your brains across the ground.”

They stopped moving and said, “Wait, it’s me.”

“Himin?” Kano asked, recognizing the voice as Himin. “Are you working for Eomonsa now?”

“Who?”

“The man behind this attack that you’re part of.”

“I didn’t know who was responsible for it, I just saw it as an opportunity to sneak inside. I swear.”

Kano mulled it over. Himin wasn’t being controlled like the other ghouls. Maybe she really was here for her own agenda. “Then what are you doing here?”

“You know that orb we took from your house? The golden one?”

“Yeah.” Kano vaguely remembered it, she’d taken it from Gresitosis’s lair and then largely forgotten about it. “What about it?”

“I came here to grab it, before these ghouls or anyone else gets their hands on it.”

“But why? What’s so important about this orb?”

“Honestly, I’m not sure, but Shorin seemed to think it was valuable. I thought maybe I could use it as a bargaining chip or some sort of weapon, depending on what it does, exactly.”

“Then you must know where it is. Take me there.” Kano also had no idea what the orb was supposed to do, but it would be better off in her hands than someone else’s.

“Fine,” Himin said, slowly getting to her feet and raising her hands in surrender. “Just don’t shoot me, okay?”

“Then move.” Kano prodded the ghoul in the back with her gun, and she started walking ahead of her. Her own troops stumbled noisily along behind her as they caught up, but she doubted the larger group of invaders noticed them.

After a short walk, Himin stopped in front of a door. “I think it’s in here.”

“Open it,” Kano said.

The door swung open, revealing a collection of miscellaneous junk stacked haphazardly on a wide table. Himin rummaged through it and said, “It should be in here somewhere.”

Hearing the footsteps of Eomonsa’s forces drawing closer, Kano set her weapon aside and joined the search. “Hurry up.”

“I’m trying. There’s just a lot to go through.” Between the two of them, they tore through the pile, tossing everything they weren’t looking for on the ground.

“Wait,” Himin said, taking something out of the soiled shirt it had been wrapped in and holding it up. Even in the dim light of the store room, the golden orb gleamed. “I’ve got it.”

Kano snatched it from her hands before Himin had a chance to get any ideas and stuffed it into her pocket before recovering her gun. “Then let’s get out of here.”

“What’re you going to do with it?” Himin asked, licking her lips nervously.

“No idea, but if it’s useful, I don’t want anyone else having it. Especially not until I know what it does.”

“But how are you going to find out what it does? It was made by a necromancer, right?”

Kano opened the door and jogged out, forcing the others to hurry to keep up. “Probably. What’s your point?”

“How are you going to figure out what it does on your own? You’re not going to give it to the necromancer who took over this place, are you?”

“No,” Kano said, sneering.

“Then what’re you going to do? There aren’t a lot of other options. It’s not like you’ll be able to figure out what it does.”

Kano turned back, pointing her gun in Himin’s general direction with one hand. “Yeah? And you can?”

“I never said that, but I have contacts who have a much better chance of understanding it than either of us.”

There was some merit to what Himin was offering, but there was no way Kano could entrust the orb to her. “Maybe, but there’s still no way I’m giving it to you. How am I supposed to know you won’t just run off with it the moment I let you out of my sight?”

“Well, come with me, then.”

“I can’t. I need to stay here and keep watch on An.”

Before they were caught, the pair and their entourage left the room. Himin followed silently until Kano judged that they were far away enough from the intruders for it to be safe to stop and talk, though she wasn’t sure there was anything Himin could say to convince her.

Clearly having thought about it while they were walking, Himin launched into a speech the moment they stopped. “Look, I get that you don’t trust me, and I don’t blame you, but I’m the best option you have of keeping the orb away from An and this… Eomonsa, was it? I’ll get in contact with you the second I know what it does, okay? We can figure out what to do with it from there.”

Kano fidgeted with her gun. “Why do you want this thing so much? What’re you trying to do?”

Himin hesitated. Apparently that wasn’t a question she’d been expecting. “Secure myself a position above the fodder? I don’t exactly have a lot of resources available to me right now. I need everything I can get.”

“So your only goal is furthering your own position?”

“I didn’t say that.” Himin coughed. “Though that is mostly it. But I’d also like to keep the necromancers out of Shorinstown. That’s something we can both agree on, right?”

It definitely seemed like she was going to regret this, but Kano also couldn’t think of a better alternative. Even if Himin was ruthless and self-interested, she’d still trust that over whatever the necromancers were planning. At least this was simple and familiar.

With a sigh, Kano gave Himin the orb. “Take it and get out of here. You’d better not get caught after all this.”

“I won’t,” Himin said, and after a brief nod to Kano, she ran off into the citadel.