I asked Fairy to summarize the documents for me.
Even so, the sheer volume was absurd. There probably wasn't much high-quality intel available, which likely explained why they had compensated with quantity.
"To put it simply, it’s internal strife within the Pirate Guild," Fairy explained.
"Is this about Old Man Eyens?"
"It’s a faction trying to sabotage Lord Eyens."
"What do they gain by dragging him down?" I asked. "He finally secured an opportunity to negotiate with a legitimate nation."
Technically speaking, Eyens had acquired Planet Proone and held actual territory. He had reached a scale that could be recognized as a sovereign state within this galaxy. For any member of his organization to sabotage the man acting as the bridge to our nation was essentially a death wish for the Guild.
At the very least, it was easy to foresee a future where the Pirates were wiped out on Planet Proone and its surrounding sectors, as well as in the friendly Ogre God Nation, the Battle Dome Member Nations, and—if things went well—Latarnia itself. There was absolutely nothing to gain from killing me.
"I don't think they understand that part~" Fairy chirped.
"Give me a break..."
"It seems you are fated to keep fighting groups like the Duke Association and the Pirates, Leo-kun..."
"Seriously, stop it!"
I certainly couldn't defend the Duke Association, but still...
Putting that aside, the report detailed the movements of various factions. The Ghouls' influence was shrinking faster than I had expected. This was largely due to the Battle Dome Member Nations cracking down on Pirates and Ghouls with the support of the Galactic Empire. After all, while you could at least talk to a Pirate, Ghouls were treated as nothing more than slightly intelligent vermin.
Besides, they had lost their "friend" on Planet Proone. The Turtles and Rabbits, who had been hunted by them for food, were now retaliating against the Ghouls with a terrifying, single-minded ferocity. We had neither the right nor the desire to stop them.
I was deep into the summary of the Incident Report when a transmission came in. It was Claire.
"Leo, come here immediately."
"What’s up?"
"The Rabbits captured a high-intelligence Ghoul. We believe it’s an executive. They just arrived at the facility."
Well then, time to gear up. I had a feeling this would be as mired in darkness as Zork's situation. The key detail was that it could actually communicate. Until now, we hadn't been able to have a dialogue with them at all. They hadn't even been on the level of the Proone, who could at least offer basic responses; they were more like Crab-chan—abnormally low intelligence.
Since I wasn't going to conduct the interrogation personally, I watched the remote feed from the conference room. Wifey was there with me.
"At last, we shall see what kind of creature they truly are," she remarked.
"Yeah."
We didn't know much about the Ghouls. They were made up of various races—Latarnians, people from the Ogre God Nation, and others—but they were all incoherent. They underwent mechanical modifications, and most suffered from various diseases. Even when captured, they didn't last long, usually dying within a few months. Given how they maintained their numbers, it was suspected they were kidnapping Latarnians and others for conversion. That was the extent of our knowledge.
Furthermore, their surgical modifications didn't align with the technology of the Galactic Empire or the Ogre God Nation. There was no clear enhancement to their combat capabilities; the machinery seemed to simply erode their physical bodies. Then there was the matter of the parasites. Every Ghoul had a small parasite inside them. What purpose did it serve? We didn't know. We only knew that the bodily modifications were designed to provide nutrients to the parasite.
On the screen, the Interrogator was wearing a Protective Suit as a precaution. Armed soldiers, also in Protective Suits, stood guard. Facing them was the Ghoul—a Latarnian male. Exposed machinery was bolted all over his body.
"State your affiliation," the Interrogator commanded.
"Mainland Army Marine Corps Captain, individual designation: Leland."
"Mainland?"
"The nation you people refer to as 'Ghouls.'"
"You look like a Latarnian to me."
The man calling himself Leland began to laugh.
"Still! You’ve only figured out that much?! This is a masterpiece! To think that you of the Galactic Empire—who understood the Proone so thoroughly—have failed to grasp our nature! Heh... heh... puh-hahahaha! Then I shall tell you nothing! At most, you should let it rack your brains! Connection Terminated!"
[Connection Terminated]
The moment he shouted those words, Leland collapsed. The Interrogator rushed forward while the guards raised their weapons, a buzzer sounding to signal an emergency.
"He’s—he’s dead! Get a Medical Officer in here!" the Interrogator screamed.
I was completely lost. What just happened?
I immediately opened a channel to Saria. When in doubt, call the expert.
"About the Ghouls? Honestly, we were hoping to ask you," Saria admitted.
"I figured as much."
"Our research hasn't progressed. We can almost never take them alive, and even when we do, they die immediately."
So it was the same everywhere. Next, I contacted Latarnia. I made sure to emphasize to their side that this was "just an inquiry." I really wanted to stop their Ambassador from sweating buckets for once.
"We’re contacting you because, by all appearances, the subject is a Latarnian."
Usually, Ghouls had collapsed features or were no longer recognizably human. Since this one was clearly Latarnian, it warranted a call. I had already sent the data over in advance.
"He appears to be one of our missing citizens," the Ambassador replied. "A crew member from a civilian ship that vanished along with its vessel."
"Does he have a military record?"
"He does not."
I was starting to get an incredibly bad feeling about this. A terrifying thought took root in my mind. Since I was already feeling miserable, I decided to share the sentiment with the Ambassador.
"Um... is it possible that with the Ghouls... the parasite is actually the primary entity?"
The Ambassador broke into a fresh waterfall of sweat.
"T-That's impossible!"
"I hope so."
But we had the footage of a rare, coherent conversation. It wasn't just mindless babbling; it was a real exchange. The Ambassador couldn't stop sweating. If his citizens were being kidnapped specifically to serve as hosts for parasitic organisms... it would be a massive scandal. It would mean the state had failed in its fundamental promise to protect its people. There would be an uproar, and heads would roll.
"That is a possibility we once considered... but the parasite’s brain is so small that the theory was dismissed... No, could it be...? We will investigate this on our end as well."
"Please do. We’ll keep looking into it here, too."
Based on his reaction, I didn't think Latarnia was in on it. It didn't seem like they were using the Ghouls strategically. For us, this would be the litmus test for the Latarnia Constitution. If the Ambassador was silenced and they became hostile toward us, then they were nothing more than a nation of thugs. If he became hesitant and stayed quiet, they were a standard, flawed nation. But if they actually helped us hunt down the Ghouls, maybe we’d find ourselves on the Friendly Nation Route?
Even if they knew the truth and decided, "Let’s wipe out the Ghouls to bury the evidence," I was fine with that. Honestly, that would make them even more reliable in a fight.
Zork-chan... between the Proone and the Ghouls... your starting location really was the worst. Then again, Zork also had terrible compatibility with Latarnia. He was pretty much doomed the moment he ended up in this sector.