Transfiguration, in the classification of clock towers, is a magic technique that should theoretically be classified in the animal family (Chimera). When used seriously, it is actually close to the old curse of "turning the prince into a frog" in fairy tales, so there is a common impression among modern magicians that this type of magic is "profound and difficult".

- It's a pity that the impression of "high and difficult" does not exist for Fujimaru Rika, who accidentally drinks a bowl of porridge (shock on) on her day off and becomes a pig, and then cries at Circe and is turned back. Therefore, without this impression of the mountains, she dared to recreate the magic of transformation with the aim of "disguised as another person" based on the modern magic theory taught by Ermelo II and her own expertise, with the optimistic attitude that "all roads lead to Rome".

It can only be said that newborn calves are not afraid of tigers.

To put it simply, Fujimaru Rika managed to remove most of the "curse" parts that she had only learned about in theory, and filled the vacant space with the summoning and séance techniques that she was better at, and the stability aspect was left to the one-click fool-like Ortenus Lingji exoskeleton to maintain, and the "transformation technique" that could only be easily used by a third-rate magician (here specifically Fujimaru Rika) was completed.

That being said, if a magician with only third-rate practical ability, such as Ermeroy II, were allowed to perform this technique, the person would surely shout, "Why do you want me to do this kind of thing comparable to riding a bicycle upside down!" I didn't want to kill myself! "Then quickly flee - because Fujimaru Ritsuka's idea here is completely: if the result of the Peak Transformation Technique is as if I am possessed by the practitioner, then I can just ask me to possess it?

Carry out séance with yourself as a carrier, and after the descent, you must not only fully receive the effective information from the spirit, but also keep yourself conscious at the same time, especially, the above goal is to point to a human who lives in the present and is conscious, and there is a high probability that he will not actively cooperate - this is almost impossible in modern magic theory, but after staying for a long time in a place like Chaldea where monsters are gathered in every sense, Fujimaru, Shrine Maiden, Priest, Low Inspiration Medium, and any other similar words can be placed here. Rikka has long learned to treat all the "impossible" in modern magic theory as toilet paper.

For her, it's an average of at least three times a week. Even if she hadn't used the Lingji portrait to insert Ortenauth's engagement needs, and hadn't used the Emperor's psionic energy for daily education or in-ship suppression activities, she would have had to use similar principles to communicate with Ferus Manus and Conrad Coz on a regular basis and report on her work at a fixed time every week.

No matter how terrible the side effects are, once the operation becomes a fixed schedule that has been run many times peacefully, the "terrible consequences" that do not occur will gradually lose their due deterrent, and human beings are such creatures that are numb very quickly, or in other words, very terrifying in adaptation. Based on this, this is the most difficult part of the magic trick for ordinary magicians, and it is not an obstacle for Fujimaru Rika at all. And when she proudly recounted her so-called "plan", and at the same time, there were no professionals in the relevant fields, and no one was aware of the hidden dangers hidden under this haphazard modified technique—therefore, the proposal of "Rika Fujimaru disguised Judge Verchak by magic" was inexplicably passed at my strong insistence.

Then, in the same way, after a similar but not identical nonsense from Rika Fujimaru, Sahar inexplicably followed behind such an underage girl, evaded the eyes and ears through the subspace portal on the Storm Boundary, and arrived at the Imperial Dream that was still in Hong Kong.

It's all glittering with gold, and the interior isn't very kind to a pair of eyes who are used to the dark. This was Saul Sahar's first impression of the interior of the Imperial Dream.

In addition, the ship is indeed as magnificent as the legend, and the furnishings are visibly rich in history, and from any angle it meets or exceeds any imagination that a person might have about the "emperor's car".

It was also worth noting that, unlike the existing Imperial ocean-going ships, the Imperial Dream, at least the part of it that Sahar had been guided through, did not see a single living crew member or even a servant during the journey—only one spacious and ornate passage after another, and the unshaded corridors under the lumen continued to unfold towards him in the faint regular cacophony of mechanical movements, with only the footsteps of himself, Fujimaru Rika, and the three Sevita who had fallen at the back of the line.

Joan of Arc S. Alter may be there, Sahar feels, but he hasn't found a scientific or unscientific answer to that question. At least for now, it's not at the top of his to-do list.

"Why help me?" In the empty silence of the corridor of the Imperial Dream, the question was finally asked in unbearable confusion and uneasiness, "What can you gain from this?" ”

This question seemed to make Fujimaru Ritsuka a little confused. She paused, then asked, "Is this important to you?" ”

"It's also important to me." "While I have a basic understanding of how you sometimes do things that are useless, I do want to know what the logic behind this is. ”

"Hmm...... Actually, there is no deep logic, I just want to do it, and I think I can do it, so I just take action. Rika Fujimaru's tone rose slightly, like a restless child sitting on the bus before arriving at his destination on a spring outing, "It's similar to when I promised the emperor to help with the affairs of the empire, I thought, 'If it's a job I can do, I'll do it.'" Ordinary people would think the same way, right? ”

"I don't think you're right with the concept of 'ordinary people.'" Sevita commented at the end of the team, "IMHO, the 'ordinary people' in today's empire are either struggling between hunger and cold, or struggling between war-torn life and death, and both have an equal high probability of being exposed to conditions that are unsuitable for human life. They probably don't have the nutrients they need to grow as high as you.

"Kindness and compassion were non-essential luxuries even in the empire 10,000 years ago. If doing so discourages you from continuing with your current behavior, even the Emperor withered on the Golden Throne will desperately raise his hands to agree that your dedication should be used to improve the current state of the Empire, rather than a Space Marine who meets for the first time, works in another department of the Empire that is likely to be unfriendly, and has a history of betrayal before taking office. Sometimes I wonder, are you really a saint? I'm talking specifically here about the mental, not very brainy. ”

"Sevita Leone, there is no saint like me who is openly plotting to steal things." Relying on the fact that the other party didn't know Amakusa Shisadashiro, Fujimaru Rika ran the train with her mouth full of no psychological burden, "There is no saint who will use the tactics of not entering the stream as naturally as I breathe." Sigismund doesn't pull out his gun when he duels you, does he? ”

"Of course, it's in the duel cage, but it's hard for me to say it's life and death. At least if I have the chance, he will definitely do it, and I guarantee that he will consider a reciprocal counterattack. There was a grumbling from the tail of the team.

Seeing that Savita was about to deviate from the topic, Sahar suddenly interjected here: "I can't accept this answer, my life experience has taught me that free things are often more expensive. ”

"It's not free, either." Fujimaru Rika suddenly laughed, "If you want to understand it that way, huh...... It's as if someone like you left a sum of money with me and then disappeared. I couldn't take this money for granted, so when I saw you, I decided to take it as a reward for helping you in this matter. You just think you're lucky, and you happen to have fate, so you're stained with the light of your predecessors. ”

This logic was too emotional for Sahar to comprehend for a moment. His family knew about his family, and he thought that Saivita, who was also the Midnight Lord, would be able to make some rebuttal on this issue, but unfortunately, after Fujimaru Rika's words fell, there was only the heavy footsteps of the Terminator armor behind Sahar.

He had to rely on his pale choice of words on the subject: "To me, this is obviously not very persuasive. ”

"Just be tall enough for me." Rika Fujimaru said briskly, "Like I said before, you should consider yourself lucky. Also, in order to find out Mita Ashn, you'll need to provide detailed information about the Shadow Hammer's internal structure. ”

This conversation did not diminish Sahar's confusion and uneasiness, but he realized once again that he had no other way, and that if he followed Fujimaru Rika's instructions, he would at least be able to return to the black ship of the Inquisition in Verchak.

Right now, if you want to rescue Mita, the best solution may be to obey the other party's arrangement. Even if it was a trap that would make him unrecoverable, he would have to jump into it and try it.

——

Sahar was amazed by the precision of the equipment aboard the Imperial Dream. Even though the Shadow Hammer had been specially modified by her previous Inquisitor masters to either contain psionic or heretical technology during its service, the Auger array on the Imperial Dream and some other equipment that Sahar could not name, perhaps from the Dark Technology Age, managed to accurately capture the shadow of the other ship in the dense ships of the starport, and scanned it thoroughly without anyone knowing.

Even the kind that scans out some of the inner workings of the Shadow Hammer with millimeter accuracy. Even if no one had pre-entered the black ship to place teleportation beacons, with such accurate data, Sahar didn't think the ship's teleportation platform would have embedded them in the walls or floor.

What struck Sahar was that before the calculations for the teleportation began, Rika Fujimaru did not use her own physiological information or some kind of identification code to activate the relevant device functions, but made an obvious verbal persuasion of the control console on the Emperor Dream. Sevita poked aside, neither for nor against, so he simply did not express his opinion, but judging from the attitude, it is obvious that the situation of "man and machine spirit quarrelling" is commonplace. But as long as the portal can be used normally, the result will be fine in the end, and under the pressure of Mita's life and death, Sahar, who is indifferent to many other things, does not intend to say anything about how it was opened.

After teleporting to the Shadow Hammer, it was no longer the underage girl "Rika Fujimaru" who walked in front of Sahar - but a "Lord Inquisitor Michaelia Verchak" who was exactly the same as himself, and even if Sahar was combined with the servo system in the power armor to observe and compare, he would not be able to find a flaw. By the standards of the layman, it is clear that Rika Fujimaru is using a rather superb transformation technique, and even the clothes on her body have become the usual style of Inquisitor Verchak, and even the various jewelry worn on her body, which may have hidden a defensive field, are in line with the habits and preferences of the person concerned.

“…… It feels a little weird, but it should be normal. It was a novelty for Sahar to see an "uncertain" emotion on Inquisitor Verchak's face, and it was the first time in her life that the old witch spoke to him in a consensual tone, "Finally, repeat, let's not fight among ourselves, if we encounter a problem, we will solve it as quietly as possible, if it can't be solved, call Sevita Leon, who is on standby, and if the problem expands, simply teleport back to the Imperial Dream." I'm carrying a teleportation beacon and a guard hiding in the shadow, so don't shoot me in the back for the sake of the mission success and the lives of both of us, OK? ”

Things have progressed to this point, and Sahar really has no reason to shake his head - the only one who suffers if he messes up the whole thing is himself, although this feeling of being led by the nose is uncomfortable, but he has already boarded the thief ship, and he can only nod.

"Let's start with that, I don't really know where Mita is usually locked up." While checking that the lines of communication between the two were open, he added in a low voice, "In the past two 'meetings', I met Mita in an unconscious state in an intensive care unit in the deepest part of the medical district, and Vilchak told me the first time that she was not usually placed there for guardianship, and told me to put a break from this desire to rob people." ”

"I know." It seems that it has nothing to do with "Fujimaru Rika" Fujimaru Rika replied. She unconsciously frowned, showing a slight impatience, and in this way, the fake and shoddy "Verchak" disappeared a trace of flaws in his demeanor, as if the lord inquisitor himself was standing in front of Sahar, making him can't help but feel his heart skip a beat.

"I don't think I said it just now." After a pause, she slowly spoke, as if she was distracted from something else, "The advantages and disadvantages of using séance are obvious, the advantage is that I have copied the existence data of Inquisitor Verchak on my own body, so I can more or less know what she is thinking right now through this connection-Judge Hastings is arguing with her about Mita Ashn, and if it goes well, I should be able to read the information on where Mita is being held in her superficial thinking." ”

This is good news, but Sahar doesn't need to think about it, and naturally asks: "So, what if it doesn't go well?" ”

"Inquisitor Verchak may also be aware of my presence in turn." At this moment, Rika Fujimaru, who had become less "Vilchuk", said solemnly, "Although even if she realizes me, she will definitely need a little reaction time before she can fully understand what this technique is all about and discover our purpose, but it's better not to think that we have a lot of time." Do you know how we can get back to the road as quickly as possible? ”

Sahar nodded again, turned off the power armor's microphone system, and only spoke to the communicator in Fujimaru Rika's ear through the communication channel: "This is a secluded corner, and under normal circumstances, no one else will walk around here except for the maintenance servants. We can get out of this hallway normally, and if we're lucky—"

- He stopped talking abruptly, and made a gesture of silence. Rika Fujimaru was immediately vigilant because of this, and after distracting herself, she realized in the next second why Sahar did this:

The footsteps of heavy power armor falling to the ground approached quickly and distinctly between the clatter of the servants and the muffled sound of the ship itself.

"Inquisitor Verchak?" Around the corner at the end of the hallway, another Death Watch Astarte appeared, "Aren't you supposed to communicate with the Imperial Saint's envoy on the bridge?" How did it come to be in such a place? ”

(End of chapter)