Industrial Cthulhu: Starting as an Island Lord

“Family members, I am your most beloved special reporter, Nini, now live-reporting and writing from the gate of Castel Cathedral~”

“The Inspection Squad isn’t around, so I’ll write two more pieces.”

“The Lord went up to the rooftop, so today we’ll have an explosive update.”

“The theme of this report—of course it’s the untold story between our Lord and Chloe. This time don’t accuse me of making things up, the Lord himself is hanging up there!”

“What, no one said my report was fake? Just that it isn’t exciting enough? Don’t talk nonsense, I’m risking my life doing this live coverage!”

“And also—hmm? Do you need something?”

Nini stopped her exaggerated gestures and looked down. Someone had just tapped the scales at her waist.

The Prince was standing there with a smile, lowering the hand he had raised high.

“Hello, are you the famous Nini? I’ve seen your statue.”

Previously, a statue of Nini had been erected at the school gate. Later, during the Deep Sea War, it was lost. When rebuilt, Castel no longer needed a dedicated literacy school, but the statue had still been raised again.

Nini’s eyes lit up at his words, even the tip of her tail stood straight.

“It’s nothing, just old fame. Not as good as the me now.”

“Indeed. To stop progressing is no different from dying.” The Prince nodded, then raised his hand toward the top. “What is your Lord doing up there?”

A crowd had gathered below the cathedral. Some were watching Nini’s antics, but most had their eyes fixed on the top.

At this moment, Hughes was hanging from a safety rope, his whole body suspended by the cathedral’s monument, whispering to a diary in his hands.

“That—comforting the dead’s emotions.”

The Prince’s smiling face froze for a moment, almost breaking his composure.

“What?”

“That’s it.” Nini briefly explained Chloe’s matter. The Prince rubbed his chin, looking quite strange.

“I once heard rumors like that. They say certain secret arts can preserve an undying soul. As long as a suitable body is found later, one can return to the mortal world.”

“Oh? Really?” Nini’s face was full of gossip. “Can you tell me more? I’m planning to start a ‘Love Beyond Life and Death’ column, and I need cases like this.”

“Sorry, I’m just a mortal. I don’t know much about the extraordinary world. These are merely hearsay.” The Prince spread his hands.

He glanced a few more times at Hughes above, then turned to leave.

Nini, however, continued her antics in front of the cathedral, attracting quite a few gazes.

But within the Mind Link, the scene was different.

『This is Team Three. The target has left our sight. Should we follow?』

『Stay in place. Do not follow. Repeat, do not follow. The target may have other observation methods. Strictly no direct tracking!』

『Nini, the Banshee Inspection Squad will be coming down soon. Head southeast to escape. They’ll lose track of you halfway and then start searching everywhere. Someone will pick you up then. Understood?』

『Understood.』 Nini was performing a six-handed simultaneous writing act amidst the crowd, her eyes narrowing slightly, casually sweeping toward the direction where the Prince had just left: 『Lord, when the Prince was right beside me just now, I couldn’t sense even the slightest extraordinary power. Could it be true that he carries a second soul with him?』

Hughes was still dangling from the top of the cathedral. Without turning back, he softly asked Chloe.

【You’re certain you didn’t mistake it?】

〖Of course. My current perspective is different from when I had a body. You remember that time, right?〗

Hughes and Chloe had once studied whether her internal pollution could be purified. By accident, he had connected through her extraordinary senses.

It had been an extremely bizarre perspective, as if one could see both the inside and outside of things simultaneously. Information had poured into his mind like a torrent, leaving a deep impression.

【Alright, describe those two people to me.】

〖Hmm… One looked like the Prince—by that I mean the Prince as described in Nini’s reports. The other, however, was a woman.〗

【A woman?】

〖Yes. She looked about twenty, and her soul energy was very high.〗

【Soul energy? Do you mean she had extraordinary power?】

〖No. From my perspective I can see soul energy. It’s unrelated to extraordinary power, more like… whether someone is full of vitality, whether their mental state is healthy.〗

〖For example, that Galahad from before—he was an extraordinary being, but his cognition wavered, leading to loss of control. His soul energy was very low. Hmm… ‘soul energy’ may cause misunderstandings. I should say—she seemed very spirited.〗

Hughes neither agreed nor disagreed, pondering for a while before asking: 【Then how about the man’s soul energy?】

〖You mean the Prince? His soul energy was fine, a bit higher than an ordinary person, but not as high as the woman’s.〗

〖To be precise, that woman had perhaps the strongest soul energy I’ve ever seen.〗

That was strange indeed.

The Prince always had a woman by his side, unseen by others.

Hughes reopened the Mind Link.

『Did any of you sense anomalies near the Prince earlier?』

『No.』

『No abnormalities at all.』

Nini: 『He was right beside me, yet I felt not a trace of extraordinary power, like he was a completely ordinary man.』

Hughes: 『Alright, I see. What about the extraordinary ones of the Moths Chasing Fire?』

Inside one of the cathedral’s rooms, Richard was with a banshee. At Hughes’s words, the banshee immediately turned to him.

Richard, however, shook his head in confusion. “Nothing. No abnormalities. I already used the extraordinary perspective of 【Chrysalis】, but I could detect nothing.”

The banshee paused, then relayed the reply through the Mind Link, and asked aloud: “Lord, is Chloe’s perspective different from yours?”

“In theory, it should be the same. But she is a dead one, abandoned her body. Perhaps her senses are stronger in this regard? Still, it shouldn’t be that I sense nothing at all, while she sees it clearly.”

After much analysis with no results, Hughes sighed.

【Perhaps it’s one of Duke Tis’s methods. I’ll try to arrange secret surveillance. Chloe, I’ll trouble you to stay up there for a while longer.】

〖…〗

【Of course, Nini’s new report will be sent up for you to hang there—legal or illegal, you’ll have them all.】

〖…〗

【There’ll be someone to do your regular maintenance too—spine massage, page care, corner binding… And all your night shifts will be recorded. Once you’re revived, you’ll have endless overtime pay and unlimited compensatory leave.】

〖Overtime pay? H-how much will there be?〗

【A great deal.】 Hughes said with absolute certainty.