Heydrich tucked away that sheet of paper covered with fabricated charges, the corner of his mouth curling up slightly.
In any case, he had no way to leave for the time being.
Although he could slip aboard a void ship and make his escape, Heydrich always maintained an immense wariness toward the Warp.
That sort of place wasn’t dangerous in any physical sense—it was a madhouse where the very structure of reality could be torn apart and remade by tides of emotion.
The moment a ship’s Gellar field fluctuated for even a fraction of a second, the entire crew might be reduced to a screaming heap of meat.
He would avoid going in if he could help it, preferring to lie low in this hive city first and broaden his Path—a hundred times better than diving headfirst into that gaudy, multicolored hell.
Of course, if there really was no other choice, then he’d deal with it when the time came.
“The Path of Enigmata can distort records, even create history and figures out of thin air.
No matter what, I cannot let Chaos erupt on this planet right now.
As for what the great lords up top are thinking, that has nothing to do with me.”
After pondering for a little while, Heydrich put it away.
It wasn’t entirely fabricated—he had done it in order to play the part of a fitting noble’s lapdog.
Heydrich had also studied the composition of the major noble houses of this local hive world, and he knew the general state of affairs within the core echelon of this House Miltel as well.
“What’s left is how to make people believe it, with the help of the special power of the Path of Enigmata.
This kind of ambiguous, can’t-quite-pin-it-down information is the most useful.
Let them tear each other apart like dogs.
After all, the moment Khorne’s lot and Slaanesh’s lot meet, it’s nothing but a dogfight.
And even if it fails, it doesn’t matter.”
At this, Heydrich gave a small smile.
It would be good if the plan succeeded.
If it failed, that was fine too—after all, he stood to lose nothing.
“Mm, next I’ll need to pay a visit to House Miltel.”
Thinking of this, Heydrich rose to his feet, donned a set of gear that looked extraordinarily expensive, and fitted onto his face the mask used to purify the air.
As the ‘hound’ of the sector Governor’s house, he himself enjoyed a certain privilege throughout the entire hive city, and House Miltel ranked a notch below that lofty position.
His identity was just right to enter the place openly and legitimately—after all, it was a false guise.
Soon, accompanied by waves of rumbling and the slow descent of the elevator, Heydrich arrived at the upper-hive.
Hive City Kuent was divided into five levels in total.
At the very top was the spire-top, where the largest few houses of the sector resided.
Up there the scenery was beautiful, with carved beams and painted pillars, as if one were in ancient Rome.
Then came the upper-hive, the mid-hive, and the lower-hive.
And finally, the most disreputable of all, the under-hive, which could be called a living hell without exaggeration.
Heydrich was lucky—back then he had arrived directly at the spire-top.
Had he ended up straight in the under-hive, he would have been in for a rough time.
…..
Soon, before a certain modern, luxurious estate in the upper-hive, Heydrich produced his proof of identity.
And so he was quickly granted an audience with the current head of House Miltel—a middle-aged man in a purple-pink robe who looked rather sinister and bewitching.
The instant he laid eyes on this person, Heydrich felt his hair stand on end.
“Slaanesh….”
Drawing a deep breath inwardly, Heydrich knew he would have to deal with these Chaos cultists sooner or later.
“Black hair and black eyes—truly a rare sight.
Young man, why not join us, and enjoy eternal pleasure together with us?”
Gazing at the Heydrich before him, the middle-aged man revealed an indescribable expression.
This made Heydrich’s brow twitch.
He knew that if he were an ordinary man of the hammer—an ordinary subject of the Imperium…
By now those decadent, seductive strains had already begun to echo in his ears.
Someone who didn’t understand what was happening could very well fall right into it.
After all, the corruption of Chaos was impossible to guard against.
In truth, most people of the Imperium had no idea at all what Chaos was.
Of course, that was for ordinary people—but for a fellow like Heydrich, it was honestly a bit nauseating.
“Should I just hack him to pieces right here….”
Looking at the man before him, Heydrich unconsciously stroked his combat knife.
If he were to fly into a rage, the strength of this house’s setup simply couldn’t stop him—much less now, with this fellow standing so close to him.
“Forget it.
Compared to killing off these heretics, using them to keep broadening my Path is the way to go.
I’ll endure it for now.”
Suppressing the impulse in his heart without a trace, Heydrich said no more idle words.
Instead, he took out the family document he had altered earlier and handed it directly to the man before him.
Then Heydrich witnessed a scene he found utterly remarkable: the middle-aged man, who had been all elegance and sinister charm, suddenly flushed crimson and heated all over, unable to even hold his composure any longer.
As everyone knows, what Slaanesh pursues is sensory stimulation—and wave upon wave of it, at that.
So the most basic sensory stimulation for Slaanesh is the stimulation between man and woman; this is the very foundation of their stimulation.
What’s more, Khorne and Slaanesh are inherently mutually repellent by nature.
Khorne’s lot looks down on this crowd of sissies, while Slaanesh’s lot thinks Khorne are nothing but a pack of madmen who know only slaughter, utterly incapable of appreciating what true pleasure is.
So whenever the two groups meet, they basically start fighting on the spot.
And beyond the factional struggle, there was also a certain not-quite-secret secret that Heydrich knew.
Namely, that the man before him had murdered his own elder brother’s entire family to inherit his current position as head of the house.
He carried a certain festering anxiety over it—that of failing to pull weeds out by the roots.
And finally, there was the content Heydrich had written above—that they intended to castrate them….
Seeing this, Miltel no longer harbored any doubts.
He knew his own pursuits all too well: stimulation, endless sensory stimulation.
What he was pursuing right now was precisely the ceaseless stimulation of the flesh.
Just thinking about this method sent a chill through his heart, so regardless of whether it was true or false, he had to deal with these fellows.
“A pack of barbaric madmen—are you trying to act through our hands?”
Looking over the official document stamped with the family crest, the Miltel patriarch before him narrowed his eyes and studied Heydrich.
“That’s right.
Indeed.”
“Heh heh, good, very good.
My dear nephew—uncle will let you experience what true pleasure really is.
Ah, just imagining it, my nephew lying in my arms, I get a sort of feeling……”
“I’ll take my leave now!!!”
Watching the man begin to go mad again, Heydrich turned and left without the slightest hesitation.
He feared he wouldn’t be able to restrain his own killing intent, and would end up cleaving this fellow in two with one stroke.
“He actually believed it—and because of that, my Path has advanced another step.
My base attributes have improved somewhat too, but this little bit of improvement isn’t enough yet.”
Sensing the changes within himself, Heydrich couldn’t help muttering inwardly.
“Then next I’ll need to go take a look at the under-hive.
Maybe I can reap some different gains there.”
After mulling it over for a little while, Heydrich quickly drew up a brand-new plan.
After all, House Miltel was at least one of the local nobles, while those fellows were merely a Chaotic gang.
Although they very likely possessed the blessing of Khorne, they were still just a gang of the under-hive.
Thinking of this, Heydrich set off without a moment’s delay toward that massive elevator, where there was a passage leading directly down to the lower-hive.