Hidden in an endless white void, away from everyone in Gamindustri or any other world, was a sole man. He was a human, a plain one at that, wearing only a black business suit with no tie and a black vest underneath the jacket. The kind of man one wouldn't give a second thought to if they passed on the street. Yet, the man stood in a place where no other humans, or even CPUs, have ever been before.

From that place, he observes everything that happens in Gamindustri. And in that place, in this moment, he is suffering from quite the conundrum.

"Well, that took a turn for the worst. What to do, what to do, what to do? How do I fix this crap? CAN I even fix this?"

He mused, watching Falcom get closer and closer to the LAN Castle with brown eyes and a mean gaze he was born with. The fact that Falcom is getting near that castle bothered him more than anything else that was happening right now. For one reason or another, he just didn't want Falcom to go where she's going right now.

"Seriously, is there anything I can do right now?" He closed his eyes as his mind went into overdrive for about 5 seconds before he opened them again, his brown eyes glaring down at the 'floor'.

"Nope, nothing."

Accepting his defeat, he rubbed his forehead and released an irritated sigh, trying (and failing) to think of any sort of way to stop her. "Damn it Eyelander, you stubborn plastic toy. You're going to ruin everything!" Cursing the name of the malevolent spirit, the mysterious man scanned the surroundings, but even that bore nothing to help him with this situation.

"There's no one I can send to stop her. The Eyelander is possessing her so I can't do anything on my own, and she's getting closer to triggering the goddamn Conquest ending and ruin this entire thing! Fuck! I have to stop them, but how?"

With no way of impeding her progress, the enigma was forced to just idly observe how the events unfold. With any luck, he may get a chance to incapacitate her and pull her out by himself.

Wait… incapacitate?

He got an idea.

"Wait. Monsters! Yes!"

LAN Castle was a habitat of monsters, some of which should be too much for Falcom to handle, even with the Eyelander's help. If he forces her to fight all of them, it'll force her to either flee and leave, or lose and get defeated. Win-win.

It's a risky move. He can't let the adventurer die, but he also can't let her enter the castle… she needs to be stopped!

But when he looked into the interior of the old building, he was met with a rather unfortunate (for him) surprise.

There weren't any monsters inside. It's completely empty.

"You've gotta be kidding me… Where are those things, there should be tons of them!" Confusion and shock overtook his emotions. He didn't change anything in the LAN Castle so there should be hordes of monsters living inside, waiting to rip any treasure hunters to shreds. But somehow it's completely empty!

Wait, no, scratch that. The castle isn't completely empty...

Gritting his teeth and narrowing his eyes, he growled his question. "Now, who might you be?"

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Interlude: Mysterious LAN Party

Even though she was being forced into walking a few kilometers just to meet with some ghost inside a sword, Falcom can't say she isn't curious herself. A sentient sword hidden inside ancient ruins, hidden from everyone's sight until now? That sounds like a job perfect for an adventurer, count her in!

Thanks to the powers lent to her by the Eyelander, making her way through a kilometer long bridge took only a few minutes and zero sweat. After getting past the natural bridge, she could see the main gate and the castle itself, and boy do they look majestic!

Falcom's breath caught in her throat. The sight was breathtaking. "Wow… this castle doesn't look that old actually. A little worn out but surprisingly well kept."

The walls were made out of whitish rock, sprawling as far as the island could allow and reaching even 20 meters in height. Cracks and holes were present in the fortification, with moss growing inside. But Falcom was certain that if there was any need, the walls could keep up for a while longer.

And right in the middle of the man-made perimeter stood a castle made out of the same rock, with towers reaching towards the sky with their pointy, brown roofs. Unlike the outside fortifications, the castle itself looks much better, almost in pristine condition in fact! Maybe the castle itself was just built better, or people were maintaining it.

Narrowing her orange eyes, Falcom tried to guess how tall the towers were. After 3 or 4 seconds she made a wild guess that they're over 40 meters tall and left it there, confident that she isn't off the mark that much.

While the adventurer was amazed, the sword had to remind her about their goal. "Okay, you had your sightseeing, now try to get past the gate." No matter how much Falcom wanted to gaze at the building a little longer, her ghostly partner wanted to meet up with his relative.

She can call the both of them relatives, right?

In front of her were two paths, one of them leading straight towards the main entrance, thick wooden doors in the middle of a wall, while the other led towards a small forest, so small that Falcom can even see a clearing from where she's standing.

Obviously, the choice fell on the path leading to the gate.

Standing near it, Falcom noticed the damage created upon the gate. Dents, cracks, splinters, a lot of them too. It was like someone tried to force their way in.

Trying to open the doors, Falcom put her hands on it, but- "-hk!?" -her heart suddenly skipped a beat.

Her blood grew cold.

Her eyes widened.

Her entire posture froze.

Her brain ceased all thoughts.

The moment she touched the wood, she felt something.

There were no words she could use to describe the sensation, she just… felt something within her. It wasn't painful but it wasn't pleasant either, it was just… this.

She doesn't know what it was, or what that meant.

And why has silence turned into total chaos in just a moment?

"Behind you."

The Eyelander's warning came sharply, but Falcom was too dazed to act on it. With also the sudden appearance of dozens of mysterious grunting sounds, Falcom turned around, freezing in place when she saw it.

What she saw was something green and transparent, and it was also quickly charging at Falcom's face, while the adventurer could only stand there frozen in shock.

"Huh?"

Meanwhile, from within the castle's grounds, a young woman snapped her head upwards. Something was amiss, she could sense it. Her surprised, wide eyes turned to stare at the bookcase in front of her, her lips slowly trembling while her brain processed the new information.

Not saying a word, the young'un slowly turned her head towards the sole exit of the room. Or rather the direction where the sole entrance to the castle stood.

The reason for this was simple. The moment Falcom tried to open the gate, the woman had sensed her mind.

How? Only she knows.

But it does have to do with the fact that she's a practitioner of dark magic.

Carefully putting the book she was reading back upon the bookshelf, the dark magician hurried out of the library.

It came so suddenly, too suddenly. Falcom didn't even have a chance to reminisce about her life.

Even if the Eyelander acted and tried to move her out of the way, even then Falcom would be too slow. This thing was coming too fast. Evasion was impossible. Both of them were caught unaware and the price in blood is coming in hard and quickly.

All the adventurer could do was stand there and hope that her death won't be too painful…

Or at least that's what she thought like 0.0000000000001 second ago.

Because why the hell did this thing just harmlessly pass right through her!?

Her ears were assaulted by a loud crash from behind her, deafening the grunts of men in front of her, but barring her ability to hear, Falcom was fine. A moment passed before Falcom slowly opened her eyes, and through her arms raised to guard she could see the transparent thing closing in again. Seeing this, Falcom yet again closed her eyes shut and braced for pain.

Which never came.

"You can open your eyes now. It seems you'll live."

Hearing Eyelander's reassurance, Falcom opened her eyes again. Just like before the transparent thing, which turns out to be some sort of log, passed harmlessly through her body and struck the doors behind her, effectively creating a deafening crash.

It was at this point she realized that she's standing inside a battering ram. Not like inside a small room next to the log, but inside-inside this thing. Inside a battering ram, manned by a bunch of people.

Which appeared out of nowhere.

Falcom's brain just shut down right then and there.

She's never seen anything like this, so stepping out of the siege engine she stammered with worry and confusion. "W-What is this? Who are they? I am so confused right now…"

Weirdly enough, the Eyelander also agreed with her, his voice curious. "Me too, actually. They appeared out of nowhere and I couldn't sense them coming. Hell, I'm not sensing them even now."

So this was the reason why his warning came too late. He was focused on the gate, and couldn't notice them sneaking up on them. But he could find some good sides to it. "But at least, looks like you can't be affected by them at all. Nor can you affect them it seems, look, they don't even notice you."

Falcom just noticed that he's right. Ever since they... arrived? Those 4 burly men pulling the log didn't even glance at her. All of them were focused on busting those doors down. Which is also yet another strange thing. "Okay, this is getting really freaky…"

She examined the medieval battering ram which had suddenly appeared behind her.

An arrow-proof canopy protected the people underneath, with a log attached to it via chains and rope, manned by 4 men who pulled and pushed the log repeatedly. All of it looked like an ordinary medieval siege engine expect for 3 facts.

It's green.

It's transparent.

The people inside were also green and transparent.

It's like when she touched the gate, a hologram appeared behind her to scare her.

But jokes on them, she wouldn't even have noticed if it wasn't for the Eyelander calling it out...

Looking at it, Falcom sighed and tried to ease her beating heart. Massaging her chest, the adventurer couldn't help but to question. "So what now?"

"Now we go where we were supposed to go, what else?"

'Um, go home and forget this ever happened?' Was Falcom's immediate thought, but she didn't voice it out. It'll just piss him off and he'll just possess her again. Releasing yet another sigh, Falcom placed her hands on the gate, ignoring the constant pounding of the hologram.

The doors opened surprisingly easily. With how old and beat-up they were, Falcom thought it would be much harder, but someone did a great job in maintaining the joints.

Opening the doors, Falcom could finally see what the castle grounds look like.

Hedges as tall as she was blocked most of her vision, but she was inside a small courtyard. Hedges all around her acted like walls, with benches placed next to them to allow a place to rest. The pavement she's stepping on was made out of pink brick and what really took Falcom's attention was a statue standing right in the middle.

It was made out of metal, probably iron, and already blacked out from the air exposure… or at least, that's what she could tell from the base of the statue that remained. Unlike the rest of the castle, this monument had been destroyed, its ruined remnants scattered around it, yet somehow it remains standing in the form of a green hologram, just like the men and the battering ram. It featured a woman with 2 pigtails standing on a podium, making a cool(ish) pose to everyone who entered. Falcom doesn't recognize her as any historical figure, but she does think that woman was probably the owner of this place.

Growing slightly curious, Falcom read the plaque fixed to the podium.

Our dear protector and the leader of this nation.

% & % # $

And quickly her curiosity was replaced by a frown. The symbols aren't just the Author trying to show the name was somehow unreadable, like scratched out or something. No, the plaque literally showed symbols as if that's how she was named. How do you even pronounce it? CAN you even pronounce it!?

Seeing this, Falcom deadpanned.

"This is weird."

"Yeah, it is."

Eyelander had no more comments on this strange thing, but the words 'dear protector and the leader of this nation' confused her. 'Who was she?' Falcom asked herself. Maybe this is just lack of her historical knowledge but Falcom didn't recognize that person from anywhere.

This castle was getting more and more confusing. Falcom's starting to have bad thoughts about this place, as if the ghostly siege engine wasn't enough.

Barring the exit, there were 3 other paths with each of them going into seperate directions, but the one in the middle led straight into an entrance to the castle. That was an another obvious choice for Falcom.

Shutting the doors behind her, the class of the castle's interior took her breath away. "Woah…"

The greenish and brown checkered floor, while worn down, still retained its elegance. Fine golden ornaments decorated the walls, impossible to distinguish between green or blue thanks to the poor lighting, which was weird because there were chandeliers and lamps illuminating the castle, alongside stained glass panels letting the sun in.

It was old, but still fanciful and extravagant. People of its age didn't go cheap.

Captivated by the castle's beauty, Falcom took a few steps deeper, though she still remembered to lay her hand on the Eyelander's handle if she needed to draw him out.

"You know, I wonder how people used to live here. I can already say that the landlord had a lot of money to spare." Falcom remarked, fancying brief fantasies of what she could do with that kind of fortune. Probably not spend it all on an opulent castle.

"A legion of servants dedicated to maintaining the property and its owners each day. Watering and nursing the plants, keeping the area clean of filth and attending to their master's every need. The most capable and trusted ones would also be in charge of leading the rest of the personnel, and when the landlord was absent they'd take care of any formalities and problems on their property. Guards patrol the halls and line the perimeter, diligently searching for any trespassers and dealing with them accordingly. The landlord would do whatever they wanted, whatever interests or whim they fancied. They own the place after all."

Falcom stopped and looked down at her partner, baffled. She didn't expect him to answer, much less in such detail. Seeing her staring at him with those stupid, orange eyes, the sword in question spat out. "What? I have lived in such places before. I was a wealthy scottish monarch when I still lived."

"Oh."

She never heard about that.

In fact, she's certain that no one's heard anything about the Eyelander's nobility. But she can't be really sure… she knew the mercs for like what? A week? Week and a half? Chances are the Eyelander already told the Demoman his story before.

But now that she's heard it, Falcom needs to know more.

"Well… What was it like? Ruling and being rich I mean? Should I call you Duke Eyelander now?"

She wasn't mocking him with the title, she was really ready to start calling him that, but the 'Duke' himself was less than happy with the title, and so he snarled venomously. "Don't call me that, I am well past those times." Falcom was about to respond to that, but Eyelander continued, growling angrily like an enraged animal. "It is not the hedonist paradise you imagine. The snakes that surround you, all of them traitors and backstabbers, hungry for power like wolves starving for meat. They deserved everything I have done to them, all of them."

Seeing yet another new emotion displayed by the Eyelander, Falcom's brow furrowed, with a bead of sweat running down her face. Call her superstitious, but isn't enraging a malicious ghost obsessed about decapitating everything a straight up bad idea?

"I tried to be a good ruler, to lead them to a prosperous future we could all share... But all they cared about were themselves, those selfish, big-headed swine… They deserved it… Deserved all of it… All of it… Headdds…"

"Um, Duke Eyelander?"

Biting her lip, Falcom called out to him with a hint of nervousness, unsure what will happen, but unfortunately (or not) the Eyelander didn't respond to her, only muttering a drawled "Headdds…" like usual.

Perhaps it's best if she shut up for a little while. Give the Eyelander a moment to calm down in silence.

But just then, Falcom heard the doors opening behind her.

Immediately turning around, Falcom wasn't met with anyone alive or a monster like she initially expected.

Instead she was met with a trio of green and transparent people. Two of which she recognized.

Her eyeballs nearly fell from their sockets when she saw Histoire of all people. It was unmistakably her judging by the inhumanly small frame and the floating book. The fairy was looking very worriedly at the woman who resembled the destroyed statue. 'The Protector and the Leader of their nation', wearing an unbuttoned jacket with a tie and shorts, which were held by suspenders… What is this? The nineties?

Because all 3 of them were just transparent, green silhouettes, it was really hard to see what color her hair or clothes were. But that girl, looking pretty young, late-teens at most, was currently crying and clutching the third person who was entirely unfamiliar to Falcom. Having long, straight hair that reached her backside and wore a fitting-looking dress, the style was similar to what Falcom has seen the Oracle of Leanbox wearing. Just more… decent.

The moment Falcom spotted the trio, the girl with twintails collapsed and reduced herself to a crying mess. Histoire and the other woman, which Falcom dubbed as LH (for Long Hair), looked at the Twintails with pity and concern.

"...W-Why did it turn out like this?"

Twintails' voice cracked from grief, while LH crouched down to continue embracing and soothing the crying girl. LH wasn't actually speaking very quietly, so Falcom could clearly hear what she was whispering.

"You had no choice %&%#$, it was literally either us or them."

"B-But I k-killed them… t-those were my people and I-I still... Uaaaaah!"

With a grief-filled cry, Twintails' buried her face into LH's bosom who gently stroked her back, like a mother trying to soothe her child.

But something caught Falcom's attention. When LH tried to speak her name something happened, it's difficult to describe but it was like a rewinding a TV tape. Words were sped and jumbled up which made them unintelligible and impossible to hear…

It was a different case from the plaque, that one she could at least explain. This here was entirely weird.

"Pitiful." The Eyelander remarked and Falcom found herself nodding in agreement. Like before, those… holograms, doesn't seem to notice her listening in and they're strange in general. But even so Falcom felt a pang of worry gnawing inside her.

That girl was truly looking pitiful.

Still keeping her tight embrace, LH nodded to Histoire who tried to avert her gaze, either from respect or because her mind couldn't bear the sight. But the fairy still caught the woman's nod and stare, and as if understanding the delivered message she flew off. To where, Falcom couldn't see, as the fairy literally disintegrated right in front of the adventurer.

Spooky stuff. As if the wind blew away the particles which were composing her silhouette.

A moment later, LH and Twintails disappeared in a similar manner, leaving Falcom and the Eyelander alone with their confusion.

"Okay." Falcom deadpanned, followed by the sword coming with. "That happened."

They just witnessed a scene of the landlord crying out of nowhere, confessing to the murder of her own people (in self defense?) with Histoire of all people present. The siege engine, the statue, this... Are these true events of the past, replayed before them? How? Why?

Smiling awkwardly, Falcom 'cheerfully' suggested. "You know, this place is probably haunted or something. Maybe we should give up." Her smile was strained, her eyes darted from side to side to check for more weird things and she was sweating. No way the Eyelander wouldn't have caught that.

"I'll reassure you again that, besides my kindred spirit, there are no other ghosts haunting this castle." Falcom opened her mouth. "And no, before you mention, this isn't their doing. They're actually asleep right now so they couldn't have done that." Falcom closed her mouth, her argument shut down before she even had a chance to say it.

A question formed in Falcom's mind, which she was quick to voice out. "But if it's not them then who?" If it wasn't that other ghostly sword, and apparently there weren't any other ghosts haunting this place, then why the projections? Who's causing them?

Considering the question, the sword fell silent. He didn't sense anyone outside the castle and all the monsters were currently chased by Saxton Hale. But inside the castle… Oh, there's the culprit.

"Perhaps it is someone who's actually heading right here. Fast. On your third."

"Huh?"

Puzzled by his answer, Falcom turns her head to the right.

And heading straight towards her, was the dark magician.

Interdimensional RED-Coded Contract

Interlude: Mysterious Lan Party

Okay reader, place your bets. Who is the LH and Twintails? I'll already spoil you that these two are actually canon character. The dark magician and the businessman are OCs so they don't count. Only those two canon character.

And so we finish the 1st chapter of LAN Castle's mini-arc. It left you with a lot of question, right? It should.

The idea of Falcom interacting with ghosts came actually from the Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (One of Falcom's games). Where Estelle Bright (the MC of the game) is afraid of ghosts. That's it, that's the entire inspiration. I also needed some way to include the Gehaburn into the story without going for a Conquest ending, so that's why Falcom is there.

Responses:

Samdaman95

Conquest is actually one of my favorite endings in the franchise. With so many games (JRPGs mostly) and anime where heroes wins with the power of friendship, seeing an ending like Conquest is a nice change of pace.

And also I love Corpse Party so there's also that.

Piggyslayer1235

He escaped early on and got itself killed, it's very dead not big surprise. (FUCK! I forgot about the bread tumors…)

kerrowe

There's your humor then, enjoy the rest of the fic. And Mercs ambushed Judge for the 1st time because they were trying to defeat the ASIC by taking out their leader first, letting the rest of the organization crumble.

- Harmless Orange