Woke up in another world with a broken identity

The Archduke has ordered formal interrogation to begin tomorrow at dawn," she said without preamble. "Captain Valerius has been given full authority to extract information by any means necessary."

Kazuki felt his blood run cold. "Torture?"

"The preferred term is 'enhanced questioning,'" Reina replied, a hint of bitterness in her tone. "But yes, essentially."

She knelt beside him, lowering her voice. "I've convinced the Archduke to allow me to continue my examination through the night. I argued that your unusual arrival suggests magical properties that could be damaged by crude physical interrogation."

"Thank you," Kazuki said, genuinely grateful.

"Don't thank me yet," Reina cautioned. "I'm still not convinced of your innocence. But I believe in methodical investigation, not brutality masquerading as justice." She opened her satchel, withdrawing several items: a small ceramic bowl, a vial of dark liquid, and a silver needle.

"I need a sample of your blood," she explained, uncorking the vial. "This solution will reveal any magical contaminants—including traces of spells that might have been used to send you here."

Kazuki extended his arm without hesitation. "Take whatever you need. I have nothing to hide."

Reina's eyebrows lifted slightly, perhaps surprised by his cooperation. She pricked his finger with the silver needle, collecting several drops of blood in the ceramic bowl. She then added three drops of the dark liquid, which hissed upon contact with his blood.

She began to murmur in that strange language again, her fingers moving in precise patterns above the bowl. The mixture began to glow, first red, then shifting through a spectrum of colors before settling on a deep violet hue.

Reina's eyes widened. "Impossible," she whispered.

"What is it?" Kazuki asked, alarmed by her reaction.

She looked up at him, genuine confusion in her expression. "Your blood contains traces of transrealm magic—extremely powerful, extremely rare magic that allows passage between different worlds. But it's... integrated into your cellular structure." She shook her head. "This isn't something done to you; it's part of you."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know," she admitted. "In theory, it should be impossible. Transrealm magic requires massive power sources—like the entire crystal network beneath the castle. No single individual should be able to channel it without being destroyed in the process." She studied him with renewed interest. "Unless..."

A commotion outside interrupted her speculation—raised voices, the clatter of armor.

Reina quickly packed away her implements. "Something's happening. Stay quiet."

The door burst open, revealing Captain Valerius flanked by four guards. His face was flushed with anger.

"Another attack," he snarled, striding into the cell. "An entire monastery—thirty-two monks, dead. Their bodies... transformed." He grabbed Kazuki by the shirt, hauling him to his feet. "What did your cult do to them? What disease is this?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Kazuki protested, wincing as the captain's armored glove dug into his collarbone.

"Captain!" Reina's voice cracked like a whip. "Unhand him immediately. By order of the Archduke, this prisoner is under my authority until dawn."

Valerius didn't release Kazuki, but his grip loosened slightly. "The Archduke has left for the monastery with his personal guard. In his absence, the safety of the castle falls to me."

"And the prisoner falls to me," Reina countered, drawing herself up. Though considerably shorter than the captain, she radiated authority. "Unless you wish to explain to His Grace how you disrupted a critical magical examination that might have provided answers about these attacks?"

For a tense moment, Kazuki thought Valerius might strike her. Then, with visible restraint, the captain released him, shoving him back onto the pallet. "Dawn," Valerius growled. "Not a moment later." He stalked from the cell, his guards following.

When they were gone, Reina knelt beside Kazuki, checking his collarbone with gentle fingers. "Bruised, not broken," she assessed.

"Thank you," Kazuki said quietly. "You didn't have to defend me."

"It wasn't entirely altruistic," she replied, her hands still resting lightly on his shoulder. "The timing of these attacks is suspicious, yes, but your blood test revealed something far more significant than I can explain to someone like Valerius." She lowered her voice further. "There's more going on here than a simple cult causing disease."

"The Masked Ones—who are they exactly?" Kazuki asked.

Reina hesitated, then sat beside him on the pallet. "They appeared six months ago, after the first corruption event in the northern province. At first, they seemed like typical doomsayers, proclaiming the end times, wearing concealing robes and carved wooden masks." Her expression darkened. "But then they began to demonstrate actual power—creating diseases that transform their victims' bodies in ways that defy natural law."

"Transform how?"

"Organs rearranged. Bone structures altered. In some cases, victims developed entirely new anatomical features before death." She shuddered slightly. "As a physician, I've never seen anything like it. The magic involved is sophisticated and precise—almost surgical in its application."

The description triggered something in Kazuki's fragmented memory—laboratory notes describing cellular transformation, genetic restructuring. But the context remained frustratingly out of reach.

"The attacks have been increasing in frequency and scale," Reina continued. "First isolated farms, then small villages, now a monastery. Always the same pattern—everyone dead, their bodies transformed. No survivors, no witnesses."

"And they think I'm connected because of how I arrived?"

"The attacks have been increasing in frequency and scale," Reina continued. "First isolated farms, then small villages, now a monastery. Always the same pattern—everyone dead, their bodies transformed. No survivors, no witnesses."

"And they think I'm connected because of how I arrived?"

"That, and the timing. A message intercepted two weeks ago spoke of an 'arrival' that would help them 'complete the transformation.' Three days ago, you appeared in a flash of blue light in the middle of the Spring Festival." She offered a grim smile. "You must admit, it's suspicious."