Shiyun began her story, her words coming in slow, halting fragments.
“I am Chan Min Shiyun. Until only three years ago, I was raised as the daughter of General Chan.”
Another family feud, then.
One of those societies where the children are encouraged to cull one another? A world where the lower-ranking offspring are shipped off for adoption to keep them out of the line of fire?
Hmm. If the goal was protecting a child from the dangers of a succession struggle, I suppose even Maro was slightly better...
No, that wasn’t right. Maro was just such a complete piece of trash that his children were forced to band together.
“I truly believed the Chan family was my own... but one day, I was ordered to return to the Imperial Registry.”
“Why?”
“The Crown Prince... my eldest brother, was rendered a vegetable in an accident.”
“An accident?”
“The Ghoul’s parasitism failed. My second elder brother realized the Ghouls existed; he told me everything and urged me to flee... but he was murdered. Now, his body has been stolen, and someone else wears his face. I fled to this planet seeking General Chan’s protection, but... one day, my parents returned from the palace as different people...”
Shiyun’s hands tightened, white-knuckled, against her clothes.
“Fortunately, they did nothing but monitor me... I stayed shut away on this planet, trembling every day in fear of when they would finally kill me...”
Tears spilled over, her voice dissolving into ragged, choking sobs.
To Shiyun, General Chan and his wife were her true parents.
Her family had been slaughtered, and something else was now puppeteering their corpses.
Her heart was likely a toxic slurry of hatred for the Ghouls and agonizing regret.
“When I was at a total loss, Lord Eyens suggested using a gender-swapped clone as a body double.”
“They didn’t realize the gender had changed?”
“...No. Those Ghouls didn’t even notice! That is how little they cared!”
Shiyun’s eyes were hollow.
It was an emotion that transcended mere hatred.
The Ghouls were likely no different from Zork. They possessed only a crude, superficial understanding of humanity.
Or perhaps it was simpler—any meat with the matching DNA was a sufficient vessel. They only intended to hijack the body and use it as a tool, after all.
There was a fundamental, categorical disconnect between us and the Ghouls.
“I was a spare for my brothers... officially, I was recorded as male. If the time had ever come for me to take the throne, I likely would have been forced to undergo a sex change. Eyens... he used the Ghouls’ own habits against them to buy me time to escape. B-but... I never wanted this! I didn’t want to sacrifice an innocent clone just to live! I should have been the one to die...”
Shiyun broke down, weeping openly.
Claire moved in, gently comforting her.
Ah, I see.
The soldiers who hadn't been infected by Ghouls had targeted Shiyun. They were likely the Imperial Guard. They knew the Third Prince was actually a girl—or rather, they knew her face.
But the Ghouls were different. They would likely just execute the clone, Min, and call it a day.
Wait... were they planning to take over Min’s body instead?
“Min was a clone born solely to expose the Ghouls’ conspiracy... what a horrific thing to do... especially since Min was only a week old. Min’s body was laced with a toxin provided by Latarnia. It was a modification of the Anti-Zork poison provided by the Galactic Empire. I was told that once they attempted to take the body, the poison would spread to all nearby Ghouls.”
Come to think of it, we did provide that tech.
It was the stuff we’d basically discarded because it was only effective against Zork—specifically, the non-humanoid variants from the Crab-type onwards. It had zero effect on One-oh-one, Despair, or Aoi-san. Taxonomically, those three were still considered human. It was a nightmare of a project—the kind where you’re forced to continue research despite having zero technical prospects, not even as an insecticide.
I see... so they actually managed to refine it into something that worked on Ghouls.
“I... I want revenge. For Eyens... no. For my parents... and not just them. For Min... and for everyone else who has been oppressed. The Ghouls... those things are not creatures that deserve to live.”
A chill ran down my spine. Her expression matched the one I'd seen in the eyes of the beast-people—the turtles, rabbits, and wolves—whenever the Proone were mentioned.
Right then, I made my decision.
“Alright, everyone, listen up! This is Private Second Class Shiyun, a local enlistee. Treat her well!”
The Latarnia soldiers stared at me, eyes wide with shock.
“Sorry, but the Galactic Empire is taking her under our wing. She’ll stay with us as a neutral party until she’s had time to recover. I know you're listening, Mr. Ambassador!”
A transmission clicked through immediately.
“Yes... I am indeed listening. In fact, we were considering making that very request ourselves. Are you truly certain about this?”
“I doubt His Majesty the Emperor will object. In fact, if I didn't protect her here, His Majesty would probably give me an earful.”
She’d probably kick me in the ass and tell me to show some backbone.
My wifey had always been a fan of a man showing some strength, after all.
Besides, this conversation was being relayed back to her anyway. She was probably already moving to make the necessary arrangements. My trust in my wifey was absolute.
“However... let me clarify one thing,” the Ambassador continued. “We were not aware of the specifics of Lord Eyens’s plan. We provided the toxin, but we only learned of the child’s role just now.”
That sounded right.
Naturally, they wouldn’t have signed off on sacrificing a child. If they’d known, they would have washed their hands of it, saying, “Latarnia cannot condone this. Reconsider, or we terminate our cooperation.”
It left a bad taste in the mouth, regardless of the results.
I suspected Old Man Eyens only thought of it because he was in a “nothing-to-lose” state of mind.
If that was the case... I knew the perfect person to look after Shiyun.
“Hey, Tatiana, you’re listening, right?”
I opened a channel to Tatiana, who was handling rear-guard duties on our battleship.
“...Yeah. I mean, ‘Yes, Brigadier General, sir.’”
Oops, she was in a bad mood too.
No surprise there, given the talk of clones. Even if it was another country’s mess, it had to be upsetting for Tatiana.
“Take care of Shiyun. She’s your subordinate now.”
“Wait! What?! Leo-ani! Me? A subordinate?!”
“Hahaha! The military is an unreasonable place! It’s high time you learned the joys of management.”
“Why, you little—!”
My, how rebellious.
But honestly, Tatiana was great at looking after people; she was the perfect fit. One way or another, I was sure they’d bond.
And as for the Ghouls...
I was currently feeling incredibly irritated.
To be honest, if Old Man Eyens were here, I’d probably punch him too. I was even a little annoyed with Latarnia. They might not have known the details, but I’m sure they’d anticipated some kind of tragedy.
Old Man Eyens was probably long gone by now. He’d slipped away! Too cowardly for my taste.
Thinking about it just made me angrier, so I forced myself to stop.
Right now, the priority was Shiyun.
I knew I couldn't leave her with Claire, Kevin, or Nina-san. They were far too kind; they’d end up coddling her into oblivion. Melissa, with her athletic focus, was also a bad choice—the “run until the trauma goes away” theory was dangerous. Ren was out too; if you peeled back one layer, she was a total muscle-brain. And if I left her with Eddie, Isono, or Nakajima, their three fiancées would probably murder me.
As for my wifey... she’d probably wear herself out from the stress of trying to be too considerate.
That left Tatiana. She could stay on a more friendly, peer-like level, which was exactly what Shiyun needed. I’d have Piggett and Katori-sensei help out too. Piggett had experience raising my wifey, and Katori-sensei surely had a girl or two among her students.
Yes. That was a solid plan.
Now, time to start brainstorming a way to show those Ghouls a very personal kind of hell.