The city of Pritzenkaya was facing a simplified set of problems.
Daylight had disappeared. In fact, since the moon and stars had also vanished, calling it polar night would be problematic. The entire sky was covered in darkness.
Citizens were disappearing. Of course, it wasn't clear whether citizens were simply getting lost in the darkness and confusion, or if crimes were being committed under cover of darkness.
The entire city was in chaos. Crime rates were soaring and citizens were on edge. In this situation, the administration had become ineffective, and the city's defense forces were focused on guarding the gates.
Someone needed to restore the administration or persuade the military. Of course, the remaining forces in the city couldn't cover the entire area. Most had departed on expeditions.
The administration was in a similar state. The young legal nobles appointed to the administration since last year lacked the experience to control the various departments. Almost all those who might have had such experience had died in the previous coup.
Therefore, whether intended or not, Elizabeta couldn't escape responsibility for this situation. In retrospect, absolute power means holding all decision-making authority alone.
The reason she had to spend every night working was to maintain maximum control over all aspects of national administration. It was an unavoidable choice in the precarious situation where rebellion could break out at any moment.
Therefore, it was inevitable that the administration would collapse in her absence. Especially after purging most of the high-ranking officials during the coup.
She had pressured the military to swear loyalty and actively used the counterintelligence command's internal intelligence capabilities to attempt to control the military, turning the Krasilov military into the queen's puppets.
It was a rational choice in terms of preventing rebellion. However, the puppet military's fate was sealed by the fact that no officers remained who could conduct independent operations without the queen's approval and take responsibility for them.
The queen's reign had just passed its first year, and she had ascended to the throne on a carpet soaked with blood after executing her father and brother and purging officials from various departments. In other words, she had covered her insufficient legitimacy and authority with fear.
While terror politics might be the hallmark of the Krasilov royal family, it wasn't particularly useful in this situation.
...This was the discussion taking place among the Hero Party.
"So to summarize, we don't know who did it, how they did it, how many of them there are, the military officers of this country have no will to help, and the citizens are on the verge of rioting?"
"That's right."
"Let's retreat now and repent later."
Asidis's brilliant suggestion was quickly ignored. Oskar drummed on the table and spoke.
"I don't even know where to start. Anyone have any ideas?"
"Professor Enrique probably understands this situation best..."
"We can't go to the teacher. We were kicked out."
Lucia shook her head and continued.
"It means a vampire powerful enough to make our teacher hesitate has infiltrated, and if we all go rushing to find her, we'd only be revealing the teacher's hiding place."
"True, if Enrique sides with them, we're done for. They must be from the demon realm, right?"
"I suppose so. The teacher said there are no more Elders in Krasilov."
Elfihera cautiously raised her hand.
"If the kidnappings are real, what about using bait?"
"Bait?"
"Since elves are extremely rare and valuable compared to humans... how about I become bait and get kidnapped? Location tracking magic is possible, and being kidnapped means I'd be taken to their base."
"Rejected."
Oskar shook his head.
"The risk is too great. If the enemy is a vampire powerful enough to frighten Professor Enrique, you'll definitely die. And we don't have enough time to just wait around after setting bait."
"I have an idea too..."
Oskar looked at Yuri, who was hesitating in the corner of the table. For someone usually timid and quiet, she had an extremely determined expression.
As everyone's attention focused on her, Yuri blushed and continued.
"I think I might know."
"What?"
"Um. I may not know where the enemy is, what they're doing, what they intend, or how many there are... but I have a rough... feeling about what we should do..."
Ivan had said that Yuri never loses where there is a "possibility of victory."
She cannot face the Seven Dragon Generals alone. She cannot defeat an army by herself. Those are "impossible" situations.
In reverse, this means that if there is even the slightest possibility, she will not be defeated, which implies she can always "instinctively" recognize the solution.
If this situation is a kind of [Quest] with a [possibility of victory], then yes, there must exist an [optimal strategy].
Regardless of who the opponent is, what their purpose is, how many there are, or even without understanding "why this is the solution."
A compass points north not because the needle understands the magnetic field. It simply does so.
"Um... so."
Yuri speaks words she herself doesn't understand, but with conviction. She extends her finger to a map of Pritzenkaya.
Toward the site of a half-demolished building. To the grounds of an old military building in an area where redevelopment had begun.
The former counterintelligence command headquarters.
The counterintelligence command had now moved its headquarters outside Pritzenkaya. This began with Elizabeta's intention to deploy an intelligence network across the entire country, as she had already completely secured the capital region.
Therefore, the "former" counterintelligence command headquarters that had served its purpose was naturally demolished. While important documents and equipment had already been moved, the building itself still maintained its form.
As it was the building of the most notorious intelligence agency in the country, no citizens approached the area. Pritzenkaya was a city under reconstruction. Construction manpower was already scarce, and this was relatively low priority.
Naturally, the building's demolition was delayed. It remained half in ruins, in a deserted military sector.
"If you're suggesting they might be hiding there because it's deserted, this isn't actually that important a location."
Oskar recalled the urban doctrine he had learned in the knight faculty.
It's not a particularly good position for sabotage or infiltration operations. It wasn't in the city center, and there were no important government offices nearby.
But are "deserted ruins" rare in Pritzenkaya? No. Like most cities after the war, this metropolis had insufficient population compared to its building capacity.
So from a military perspective, the area Yuri pointed to could hardly be considered a high-value asset.
Of course, military logic is unnecessary in the face of transmigration privileges. Logic cannot perform reincarnation cycles. The hardships of transmigrators are best understood by fellow transmigrators.
Yu-jin nodded as if there was "great significance" to this.
"Then let's all search here first, and if we don't find anything, we'll head to the underground waterways."
"Underground waterways?"
"There's a railway line connected to the dwarf territory there. We could escape if necessary, and as Professor Enrique said, if we're dealing with vampires, they're most likely to be underground."
This reasoning was sufficient. Oskar briefly agreed and completed a simple tactical review. They immediately set off toward the sector where the counterintelligence command headquarters had been.
When the rasputitsa has ruined all the roads making even horseback travel difficult, and all train lines are broken, what's the fastest way to reach the target area?
Ordinary people would answer this question with "use carriages or horses despite the difficulty." However, a trained agent can reach a more rational conclusion.
Namely, "continental crossing on foot." After all, a well-trained agent should not have inferior mobility compared to a mere animal like a horse.
Based on this obvious fact, Ivan attempted to traverse difficult terrain (really difficult terrain) with Isabelle. From the Leonor-Krasilov border to Pritzenkaya, they managed to reduce what would normally take over two weeks on foot to half that time by running—that's what it means.
During this period, the maximum marching distance for an ordinary soldier is estimated at about 40km. That's if they forced a march beyond the average marching distance. If they spent about 10 hours a day, essentially most of the day, walking.
However, a transcendent can cover twice that distance in half the time. This means they can create a relative speed difference of about 4 times.
Obviously, reality is not the realm of arithmetic. The human body is not a machine that guarantees minimum performance, and long-distance marches are more affected by terrain, climate, and supplies than by the person themselves.
But a sufficiently trained transcendent can bring arithmetic into the realm of reality.
"I... never... really... NEVER!! If I follow your plan again, I'm seriously going to the castle!"
"Maximillian would be sad."
"...I meant I'm going to Yeremov."
Isabelle laughed despite panting. The two were running along the mountainside, covered in mud.
There wasn't even minimal time to tidy up boots stuck in mud or soiled clothes. The prediction that Pritzenkaya would be attacked was merely a "highly probable conjecture" until they reached Krasilov, but not anymore.
Almost all inland transport in northern Krasilov during summer depends on trains. This is especially true when there aren't proper ports and the roads are in terrible condition.
In such a situation, the fact that all train lines to Pritzenkaya were broken means some kind of incident had occurred. Given the characteristics of a large city, Pritzenkaya wouldn't last even a week with all transportation cut off.
So inferring the current situation in Pritzenkaya... even without an enemy attack, they'd be lucky if they could prevent riots.
"But, huff... Ivan. You said Krasilov's internal intelligence is perfect, huff... perfect. How on earth did they manage to sabotage the trains?"
If most of the means to feed citizens in summer depend on train transport, then naturally all counterintelligence resources should be focused on protecting train lines. Because they would be the most fatal weakness.
Even if Elizabeta took agents with her expeditionary force, the counterintelligence command is fundamentally an internal intelligence agency. Most agents are still active throughout Krasilov.
In such a situation, is it even possible to damage not just one, but all train lines entering Pritzenkaya?
Ivan couldn't give a definitive answer to that question.
"It's impossible."
For a normal level of intelligence operation, certainly not. In civilized society, there is no intelligence organization that can penetrate the Krasilov counterintelligence network and successfully complete an operation.
But, well.
According to the cliché that 'a crisis must occur,' can one assert with certainty that it's impossible?
There have been three university attacks within the Krasilov metropolitan area. This too was impossible, yet according to cliché, wasn't the entrance train attacked, the field trip attacked, and the university festival attacked?
"So according to you, it's a vampire? The one that's appeared this time."
"Hmm."
"Could there be a vampire more skilled than Professor Enrique? Than the Hero Party's rogue?"
"There is no Elder who can guarantee victory against Enrique in single combat."
Ivan said, kicking away the mud that was swallowing his ankles.
"But even a transcendent's body can be pierced by a blade. Even against vampires, there are ways to fight back. People hunted vampires even in times when transcendents were rarer than now."
In the era when transcendents were "born" rather than "trained." Even in ancient times, people survived against vampires. If vampires were an invincible race, those immortal beings would have already ruled all of humanity.
But they didn't. No matter how powerful, there are always weaknesses. And if there's even a one percent chance of defeat, would Enrique really stand against "another vampire"?
It's difficult to be certain, but the Enrique he knows would never... never do that.
Unlike other adversaries where defeat means death, the struggles between vampires take on the aspect of conquest wars. Because the victor can take everything from the loser. Because they can demand consequences more severe than death.
She could burn Pritzenkaya with her own hands. The former idol of the great Hero Party might drink the blood of citizens who admire her and burn the city.
That could become a symbol that would terrify the entire civilized world. So if Ivan were in a position to be hostile to civilized society, he would certainly aim for such a thing.
From a position where one must always assume the worst and do the best, reverse-engineering the enemy's tactical objective would suggest this.
That they began the attack because they had prepared means that could certainly capture Enrique. Whatever it might be, it would surely be fatal to her.
Hearing these words, Isabelle sighed deeply.
-Grooowl...
-CRACK!!
Elfihera screamed as she crushed the head of an approaching zombie.
"Why are there so many undead?!"
"Vampires can... huff! Control corpses through blood dominion!"
"Is it necromancy? Magic?"
"It's blood thaumaturgy. I could—huff—do it too with enough blood—!!"
Hearing Lucia's shout, Elfihera said bitterly.
"In this case, holy spells like [Ashes to Ashes] would be good, but that's difficult, right?"
"Not difficult—impossible! Even the Saintess can't use holy spells in this situation!"
"Shouldn't zombies die when their heads are smashed? They're zombies!"
Oskar cut off the limbs of an approaching zombie with one strike and pushed it over with his boot.
"They weren't just created to increase numbers."
"I suppose not."
"What does that mean?"
When Asidis couldn't follow Lucia and Oskar's conversation, Lucia answered for him.
"Zombies can't suck blood. With blood dominion control, the one with stronger control wins, and if there's a vampire stronger than our teacher, she can't take the initiative."
"Yes, yes."
"So these were prepared as a trap to catch our teacher."
The act of producing undead who cannot drain blood for power, cannot usurp control, and won't die unless completely destroyed.
For Enrique to counter this, she would have no choice but to produce her own blood kin. If she directly confronted the zombies herself, she would catch the eye of the enemy Elder hiding somewhere, and if she wanted to avoid that situation, she couldn't do such a thing.
So this is a trap and an encirclement.
Not coincidentally laid before this group, but being deployed throughout the city even at this moment.
Five days into the polar night, the missing citizens were joining the army of the dead and increasing their numbers. Though not yet threatening, they were becoming a sufficiently large crowd.
If this situation continued for just one more week, if terrified citizens started a riot, there would be no way to respond. In the chaos, the vampire would more easily ravage among the people.
If only Ivan were here.
To face an "unknown vampire" who was attempting the worst tactics that Enrique could employ, at a time when Enrique was neutralized.
Similarly, wouldn't they desperately need a man who could perfectly recreate all the tactics Enrique could use?
The group crushed zombies that sporadically emerged from the city's darkness as they advanced toward their target.