Scattered Sparks at the Evening Ball

Gasping for air, Menou quickly threw off the covers.

She was a trained Executioner. Even if she was in a state of deep sleep, she could be wide awake the moment she sensed danger.

She felt like she had been dreaming about the past, but the last traces of her dreams were chased out of her mind by reality. She rolled to the side and dropped off the edge of the bed. In the half second it took to fall, she caught herself with one hand to reduce the impact and landed nimbly on both feet.

Did something just attack me? She looked up at her bed and froze in astonishment.

Something heavy had just landed where Menou was sleeping moments before.

It was Akari, bouncing on the spring bed.

“Aw, you dodged me. Good morniiing, Menou!”

What is she trying to do? Having dived onto the bed where Menou was sleeping, Akari sat up and waved cheerfully.

Menou, who was still in a battle-ready stance on the floor, let out a sigh and straightened up. She’d gotten into combat mode for no reason. Her shoulders sagged, and she glared at Akari.

“What was that for, Akari? Were you planning on crushing me under the extra weight you’ve put on?”

“Wait, what?! That came from nowhere! I haven’t put on weight! …O-or have I?”

“I’m not going to tell you. It’s important to be self-aware.”

“Whaaaa—?!”

Menou kept her voice cool. If anything came from nowhere, it was the surprise assault.

She’d been attacked suddenly in her sleep. Why wouldn’t she be a little miffed? Turning away with a “hmph,” she started to get herself ready, washing her face and changing into her priestess robes. This hotel didn’t have any scales or anything, of course. The only point of comparison on a journey like this was your own self from the day before.

While Menou changed clothes and put her hair up with the scarf ribbon, Akari pinched her own stomach nervously and heaved a sigh of relief.

“I’m totally fine. D-don’t tease me like that! You weren’t waking up, so I figured I’d help you out, that’s all.”

“And you couldn’t think of a better way to do that?”

“I just got carried away with my feelings for y—ow?!”

She was wearing a meek expression for someone confessing criminal intent. Menou had decided not to forgive her, so she administered retribution in the form of a forehead flick.

Akari clutched her head tearfully and flashed her a reproachful look.

“Wehhh… I thought it was kind of weird, though. You never sleep in.”

“…That’s true.” Menou had a lot to think about the night before.

From what she’d heard afterward, the men she had handed over to the knights the day before suddenly turned into monsters and went wild. Fortunately, the knights were able to take them down before there were any casualties, but that wasn’t the problem.

“This job is shaping up to be more of a pain than I expected.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’m investigating this dangerous drug called monstrine, you see… Listen, Akari. If a stranger gives you a red pill, make sure you don’t swallow it, all right?”

“Even I wouldn’t take something that sketchy…”

It was safe to assume the men’s transformation into monsters was due to the monstrine.

One dangerous property of Original Sin was its ability to erode and take over other material. In other words, if one could turn the Concept of Original Sin into a pill form, then it would be possible to turn anyone who consumed it into a monster.

Users of monstrine weren’t really being strengthened physically. Their physical forms were changing from human to monster, and the strengthening was merely a result of that.

So the Fourth wasn’t really using monstrine to try to raise money. By circulating it throughout the city, they could transform the innocent people who consumed it into monsters and commit terrorism on a massive scale. This drug was very dangerous indeed.

That explained why there were so many monsters appearing in Libelle lately. When Menou had reported this to Sicilia, she immediately began investigating the state of monstrine distribution and started apprehending anyone who had taken the drug. Fortunately, it hadn’t really reached the actual port yet, but there was still plenty of cause for concern.

The scale of this incident was becoming much larger than they had initially imagined.

“At any rate, I have a lot more work to do.”

“Hmm?” Akari simply tilted her head in curiosity.

“What’s the meaning of this, Lady Manon?”

At the start of the latest emergency meeting, which had been held daily since Flarette’s arrival, Manon was immediately accused by the other members of the Fourth.

Usually, they only treated her presence as a formality, but now all of them were staring at her. Manon blinked at the unusual turn of events.

“Whatever do you mean?”

“The attack, obviously! The failure was unfortunate, but…why did they turn into monsters, including Kaiser?!”

“Kaiser…?” Manon’s brows drew together in concentration for a moment as she searched through her memories.

Kaiser. Who was that, again? The name did sound familiar. It definitely wasn’t anyone important, but she suspected it wasn’t a complete stranger, either.

After turning the name over in her head a few times, she managed to bring up the memory.

“Ah, yes, Kaiser. Mr. Kaiser, was it? Yes, I remember now.” She lightly clapped her hands together in recollection.

It was that large-built man whom Manon turned into a monster yesterday afternoon when his surprise attack failed. The whole thing was so unimportant that she’d forgotten all about it.

Pleased with herself for remembering, Manon pressed her palms together and smiled.

“I just happened to be passing by, that’s all.”

“Passing by, you say…?”

“Oh, yes. I was coincidentally in the area during the attack. It would be troublesome for all of you if Mr. Kaiser spilled valuable information, wouldn’t it? So, as a member of the Fourth myself, I decided to take preventative measures. Flarette was there, too, so I thought it best to deal with things promptly.”

Manon smiled, and the other executives of the Fourth were stunned into silence.

Their expressions weren’t finding fault with Manon, exactly. They seemed to be trying and failing to figure out how best to approach her.

“Lady Manon. You are the one who first proposed the distribution of monstrine. Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Monstrine is incredibly addictive, and its users feel euphoric. That’s what you told us when you brought in the Guiding vessel with which to produce it.”

“Yes. The drug we’ve been distributing has been adapted to have those effects, so it works just as described.”

“Distributing it throughout the city will give us access to capital. And if necessary, we can use the citizens who have taken monstrine as hostages to hold off the Faust. As an absolute last resort, we can turn them into monsters to increase our number of pawns and use them to fight the Faust and the knights head-on. Isn’t that what you told us?”

“Yes, I believe so.”

Everyone here had been taking the young Manon more than a little bit lightly. The Fourth in Libelle, after all, were primarily friends and relatives of the house of Libelle. Since they had known Manon since infancy, and she showed no signs of taking the meetings seriously, they naturally looked down on her.

But now, all that had changed.

“Then why did Kaiser turn into a monster?! It doesn’t make sense!”

“Ahh, I see what you’re trying to say.”

Of course, the leaders currently present all knew the risks of monstrine, while it might not have been clear to the lesser members of the Fourth. Consuming it would give the user a muscular body and sense of omnipotence, but that was just a side effect of their slow physical transformation into monsters. If one knew the eventual fate of monstrine users, they would obviously never use the drug themselves.

So why had one of the leaders transformed into a monster?

The reason was simple. Manon pointed at the food on the table with her fan.

“I laced this food with monstrine.”

This was one of the reasons they had reached such an irrational conclusion at yesterday’s meeting.

The others had all taken monstrine by way of the food here. The resulting intoxication and inflated sense of power was what led them to decide on such a reckless attack and act on it immediately.

Angry shouting filled the room.

After all, Kaiser had turned into a monster, gone on a violent rampage, and gotten put down by the knights. On top of unmistakably declaring that she was the one who turned him into a monster, Manon had just revealed that all of them had taken the drug, too. The terrifying realization that any one of them could turn into a monster was now running through them.

“Damn you! What the hell are you thinking?!”

Manon’s calm smile was unchanged.

“Quiet down, please.” She produced a red pill from her sleeve.

Guiding Force: Sacrifice—Chaos Collusion, Pure Concept [Evil]—Summon [Tangled-up jump rope]

The red pill vanished from Manon’s palm.

“What?!”

This time, there were cries of shock.

One of the members seated at the round table—a woman—had her arms twisted out of shape. Bones cracked. Her joints bent at seemingly impossible angles. Like rope that had gotten knotted together, her arms moved unnaturally and began to slowly wind around the woman’s own neck.

She tried to resist, but it was her own arms that were strangling her. Out of sheer desperation, she raised her feet and tried to fit them between her neck and her arms. As she curled up and flailed her legs, she looked very much like an ant struggling not to drown.

“Ah…brghh…”

Finally, the woman suffocated and stopped moving entirely.

“Now, are there any other complaints?”

The meeting room fell deathly silent.

But one brave old man turned a hateful gaze on Manon.

“How dare you! You’re just a failure who couldn’t even inherit your mother’s power… Was it your doing that Count Libelle is bedridden, too?!”

“…How rude. I am still a perfectly dutiful daughter, you know.” Manon shrugged. “It’s simple, really. I was asked to spread the monstrine in exchange for borrowing power to exact my revenge, so I wanted to have as many people consume it as possible.”

“Revenge, you say?” The old man’s face twisted in surprise. “But Count Libelle would never… Wait. Don’t tell me you sold the Fourth into the hands of an outsider?!”

“Sold you…? Who in the world would be so generous as to buy such a worthless organization?” Manon shook her head in disbelief that the members of the Fourth still considered themselves so valuable. “This was my own decision.”

“Balderdash! As if one little girl like you could cause such a massive upheaval on your own! Who’s really behind this?!”

The old man grew even more heated.

He was surprisingly close to the truth, but completely off the mark at the same time.

“Flarette is here…the apprentice of Flare, who took my mother’s life. That awful woman who killed her because she was a lost one… As a daughter, it’s only human nature that I should want to respond accordingly, isn’t it?”

Staring levelly at the pallid members, Manon continued indifferently.

“And so I’ve made certain arrangements for the ball taking place tomorrow evening at Libelle Castle. Do be sure to attend.”

She didn’t care what any of them thought.

This revenge was Manon’s desire, and hers alone.

The evening sunlight cast a deep red over the landscape.

In this port city, the wind changed based on the time of day. In the evening, it died down to a light breeze toward the sea. In a dark alley between the long shadows of two buildings, a spray of fresh blood jetted through the air.

“Gah!”

This fearful cry came from a youngster in his late teens.

These youths were delinquents of Libelle, boastful boys who thought themselves the strongest fighters in the world. Finding the peaceful life too boring, they banded together in search of cheap thrills and excitement, committing wicked acts whenever they could escape the watchful eyes of the knights and priestesses.

Truth be told, they were the epitome of youthful indiscretion. And while normally they were full of baseless confidence and swagger, in this moment, all of them were dripping with blood, faces filled with fear.

Standing before them was a girl whose adorableness was completely out of place.

Her pink hair was tied in two pigtails with matching scrunchies. Short-statured and clad in a white priestess robe, she addressed the young men in a light drawl.

“Won’t you just confess already?”

This girl was fundamentally different from the priestesses they knew. She was violent without a hint of hesitation. There was no mercy or compassion in her voice. And most of all, the weapon she wielded was indescribably nasty.

It was a coping saw.

The young men already had lacerations all over. The wounds weren’t particularly deep; it would be difficult to inflict serious damage just by swinging the thin, flexible blade.

But it didn’t change the fact that they were very painful.

Since the weapon was intended for sawing away at things, not cutting them, it caused a dull ache that tormented the brain. Usually, a fight would give these young men a little bit of excitement, but the pain from her coping saw was quick to crush their desire for battle.

“Wh-what do you mean, ‘confess’? Who the hell are you?!”

“I thought I already explained this to you…” Rolling her eyes at the flustered teens, she irritably explained her purpose. “I’m looking for the Fourth who live in this city. The dregs of society must take or at least carry that so-called monstrine drug, riiight? Hurry up and spit out all the information you have, you talking guinea pigs.”

“I—I dunno what you’re talking about!”

“No lying, please.” Momo narrowed her eyes and swung the coping saw. Its sharp whine as it cut through the air made several of the boys tremble.

Though their wounds were shallow, the feeling of a saw blade on skin elicited a certain primal fear. They had already been cut several times now. A few of them were already traumatized for life. Just seeing the saw swinging like a whip was enough to drain the blood from their faces.

But their rebellious spirits hadn’t been entirely quashed just yet. One of them even judged that she couldn’t cut them too severely. He raised his fist and charged at her in a suicide attack.

His judgment wasn’t entirely wrong. In fact, throwing his weight into a charge was probably even a correct decision against a coping saw.

The pink-haired priestess just scowled in irritation.

“Goodness, you’re annoying.”

The charging boy was met with an airy roundhouse kick, which sent him flying.

Phosphorescent light filled the dark alley. A quick, instantaneous Guiding Enhancement had powered up her kick to a strength unbelievable for someone of her small stature.

The young man crashed into a wall and slumped to the ground, where he lay groaning and unable to stand up. The girl’s eyes were completely cold as she approached him.

“This is getting to be a bother. Perhaps it would be faster if I were to saw off one of your arms?”

That wasn’t an empty threat. The girl wrapped the coping saw around the boy’s shoulder joint. He struggled to get away, but she had him pinned down such that he couldn’t move.

“D-don’t…! You really think you can get away with this?!”

“Can’t I? Would anyone really care if trash were to be cleaned out of a dark alley?”

There was no hesitation in her voice. The ice-cold threat sent shivers down the young men’s spines.

“It would probably be a relief to the Common folk you’re always bothering. Even the Order of Knights wouldn’t seriously investigate the deaths of nuisances like yourselves. They’ll just assume you took one of your usual fights too far and died like fools. No witnesses, no suspects. That would be the end of that, no? This is why it’s important to be careful of how you portray yourself on a day-to-day basis.”

“B-but you’re a priestess! There’s no way you’d really kill someone!”

“Who knooows? I’m a wandering priestess on a pilgrimage, and I’m only staying in this city for a few days. Even if I were found out, the Faust wouldn’t care about a teeny-tiny town like Libelle. If anything, they might even praise me for taking out the trash.”

There wasn’t even the faintest trace of a conscience in her tone. Her ruthlessness was such a far cry from an ordinary priestess that it terrified them even more.

“Hurry up and tell me everything you know! I’m really not in the mood to hear your whiny little screams.”

“S-stop…! We got nothing to do with the Fourth, really! And we don’t wanna get near ’em, either! We were told not to take that creepy drug! Right, guys?! It’s the truth!”

“I see…”

His tear ducts must have given way from fear; torrents of tears and snot were starting to flood his face. It definitely didn’t look like an act. He might even be telling the truth, Momo thought, but being kind to garbage wouldn’t benefit her or Menou in any way, so she decided to saw off his arm for good measure.

“Well, here goes nothing.” Momo grabbed both ends of the saw and stepped on his shoulder to hold it in place, prompting a louder scream.

“You demooon!”

“I-if our leader was here, you’d be dead!”

“…Leader?”

Just as Momo was about to start sawing, one of the delinquent’s words caught her attention. If they still thought their leader could help them even in this situation, they must have a considerable amount of faith in whoever it was.

This was perfect.

This so-called leader could probably give her better intel than these bottom-tier ruffians. Momo decided to extract this person’s location by way of her saw but was distracted before she could get back to using it.

“Over here! This weird priestess just attacked us out of nowhere!”

One of the fleeing delinquents had apparently gone to get this “leader” for help.

Even better. Momo turned toward the source of the voice. Whoever this person might be, they probably had more useful information than these idiots.

Momo smiled in a sinister way, but then the smile froze on her face.

She heard clacking footsteps, echoing loudly even outdoors.

Then someone with an overwhelmingly powerful presence appeared.

It was a woman tall enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with any man, her red-tinged blond hair trailing behind her. Her handsome features were both wild and refined. The amount of skin exposed by her angular, open-backed dress was somewhat excessive, but she stood proudly as if to show off the physical beauty of her body.

“Honestly. Whoever it is, I won’t have them wreaking havoc in—oh?”

It was none other than Ashuna Grisarika, whose eyes sparkled when they fell on Momo.

“Ooh! If it isn’t Momo!”

Without a word, Momo charged her coping saw with Guiding Force.

Guiding Force: Connect—Coping Saw, Crest—

“If we’re meeting again in a place like this, it really must be—”

Invoke [Oscillation]

“This is where you die, Princess-poo!”

Shrieking with such intense emotion that her calmness until that moment seemed unthinkable, Momo lunged forward and swung her vibrating coping saw like a whip.

The battle between Momo and Ashuna ended quickly.

There was little to be said about it. Momo wanted a serious fight, but the battle-loving princess was overjoyed to take her on. Making her happy was the opposite of Momo’s goal, so she gave up as soon as her initial attack failed.

And of course, Ashuna didn’t seem the least bit bothered that Momo had attacked her.

“You’re always so energetic, Momo!”

“Zip it…”

Ashuna grinned merrily at Momo, whose only response was an annoyed gripe.

They were seated side by side at a seedy bar in a cellar near the alley.

The young delinquents Momo had been pressing for information had scattered. When they learned that Momo was an acquaintance of Ashuna’s, they inexplicably accepted everything without further complaints. Momo found the whole thing terribly exhausting.

“So what in the world are you doing here, Your Highness? If anything, I would’ve expected you to be at Libelle Castle.”

“‘Your Highness?’ Come now, Momo, don’t be so formal. Why don’t you keep calling me Princess-poo, my friend?”

“Why in the world didn’t you die in those ruiiins…?!”

In mere minutes of conversing, Momo’s composure was already slipping as Ashuna grated on her nerves.

On the way to this city, Ashuna and Momo had run into each other in the Wild Frontier. Ashuna dragged Momo into exploring some ancient ruins they happened to find like adventurers, but Momo had used Ashuna as bait to escape and left her alone there. And yet, here she was, alive and well—and more annoying than ever, as far as Momo was concerned.

But for some reason, that just made Ashuna even happier.

“Speaking of the ruins, those gargoyles were pretty tough. Enemies based on the Concept of Original Sin are always bothersome. Demons, especially. My fighting style doesn’t seem to be very well matched for them.”

“Well, that’s because your only strategy is brute force, Princess-poo. And gargoyles are more like knockoffs than actual demons, since they’re just stone statues that have been conferred with demon energy.”

The bodies of demons were composed of Original Sin themselves. Essentially, a demon was the result of extracting the essence of an Original Sin. Anything it absorbed, whether organic or inorganic, would be transformed into something of an evil nature. The Concept of Original Sin naturally eroded the fundamental composition of things and made them all the same.

“Gargoyles have physically absorbed demons and changed their own composition. It’s more like a monster than a demon. After all, a monster is really just a living thing that’s absorbed an Original Sin and changed in nature.”

“Is that true?”

“Yes.”

Original Sin Conjurings were unique in terms of their origin. Long ago, there was no such thing. About a thousand years prior, the being that brought demons and monsters into the world suddenly appeared.

The originator of all Concepts of Original Sin was Pandemonium.

A single girl with a Pure Concept and a wild imagination created demons, and the blood and flesh she shed turned into monsters. Original Sin Conjurings were based at first on a Pure Concept controlled by one single Otherworlder. It was the lesser imitations that became known as Original Sin Conjurings.

Momo sipped on the milk she’d ordered as she thought back on this origin story.

Pandemonium was sealed away as one of the Four Major Human Errors, and thus it became the name of the site of the ruins. The Pure Concept sealed above the ocean to the south of Libelle was the source of the monsters that now ravaged this world.

“I don’t get it, though. Why go to the trouble of conferring demons into something else? By making them more physical, they lose their immortality, right? Can’t you just summon a demon as is, like that time in Grisarika Kingdom?”

“It’s a matter of creating more mass. Calling forth a large-mass demon from the Concept of Original Sin requires a sacrifice of equal size, not to mention high-level conjuring techniques. It’s more cost-effective to call on smaller, lesser demons and confer them into something, inanimate or otherwise. But more importantly, Princess Leader-poo…”

Momo wasn’t here to explain the nature of demons or Original Sin. She stared hard at Ashuna.

“Even if I generously overlook why you’re here in the first place, how in the world did you end up playing king to those trash-babies?”

“Hey, don’t call them that. They’re good kids. Once you get ’em to do your bidding, they’re almost adorable.”

As usual, they were operating on completely different wavelengths. Ashuna probably wasn’t intentionally avoiding the question, but her strangely off-kilter answer put a sour expression on Momo’s face.

“Talking to you is so stress-inducing…”

“Really? I enjoy talking to you, Momo. Besides, most of them are just youngsters from the Noblesse getting up to a little naughtiness in town. You never know, it might end up being beneficial to know them in the future.”

“Dumpster diving doesn’t sound very beneficial to me. Not to mention, aren’t you in the height of your rebellious teen phase yourself, Princess-poo?”

“Come on, now. They’re still young. It’s always worth talking to the younger generation for that reason alone. After all, we’re around the same age.”

It wasn’t entirely illogical, Momo supposed. And it seemed pointless to press her further.

Ashuna was a princess of a different nation. Making personal connections here wouldn’t be of any practical use to her. On this continent, there was little interaction between nations, since they were all separated by the Wild Frontier. They weren’t completely disconnected, but most nations didn’t have time or energy to spare on their neighbors.

“Aren’t things getting out of hand in your own nation right about now?” Momo asked. “I mean, didn’t your esteemed father just have his head lopped off by the Holy Inquisition recently? I know you’re the youngest child, but should you reeeally be messing around here?”

“Wouldn’t you go to another nation if things were getting out of hand at home?”

Ashuna’s father had committed the sin of summoning an Otherworlder just three weeks prior. In fact, it was he who had called Akari into this world.

As Momo looked at Ashuna searchingly, trying to sound out her goals, Ashuna gazed back.

“Political conflict just isn’t my thing. I wanted to get out fast before I got dragged into it. Some of my relatives just love to make simple things needlessly complicated, you know? I don’t want anything to do with the selection of our next leader, thank you very much.”

“How very self-centered…”

“I prefer to think of it as being prepared. Part of the reason I became a knight in the first place was so I’d be allowed to carry a sword no matter where I go, in case I need to get away from some political nonsense.” Ashuna cackled merrily.

Truly, it was fittingly irresponsible behavior for the freewheeling, justice-seeking Princess Knight. Momo couldn’t hide her amazement at the uncharacteristically carefree declaration from a supposed member of the Noblesse.

“Anyway, tell me something: Why were you picking on them, Momo?”

As Ashuna changed the subject back to the matter at hand, Momo fell silent.

Her intention had been to press the local delinquents for information to find out the members and hideout of the Fourth in Libelle. Since she was in unfamiliar territory, that seemed like the fastest way to figure things out.

And yet, Ashuna had beaten her to the punch and even got the delinquents under her control.

“…I’m trying to clean out the Fourth. They’re as common as cockroaches, really, but the ones in this town are definitely involved in some kind of ceremony related to Original Sin. Do you know anything about a red pill?”

“Ah, that, eh? You work fast.”

“Do you know something about it?”

“Of course. I’ve been putting a stop to the circulation of that so-called monstrine. The Fourth tried to distribute it to those little henchmen of mine, you see. So I’ve been using that information to calculate their route. I’ve already pinned down the place where they’re producing it, and I’ve got a solid idea of who’s behind it, too. Here, take a look at this.”

Momo raised her eyebrows, but Ashuna just grinned and produced something from her bosom.

“See? I got an invitation from Manon Libelle to an evening ball at Libelle Castle.”

“Manon Libelle…? She’s the daughter of the lord of this city, if I recall. And what about her?”

“Well, the head of the family, Trizista Libelle, has been in poor health. And so they’re having a party to debut her as his successor, it seems.”

Evidently, the sealed letter she was flapping around was a written invitation. How fitting for a princess, even if she was from another kingdom.

“This is just a hunch, but I think she’s involved in the movements of the Fourth in Libelle. Why don’t we get in there and investigate together?”

“Why do you just naturally assume I’ll work with you, Princess-poo?”

“Well, why not? It’s not a big deal.”

“I’ll pass. Thanks. It sounds like a waste of time.”

Ashuna looked somewhat taken aback. “You won’t come with me? Well then, why don’t you infiltrate the monstrine production base while I investigate Manon Libelle? It wouldn’t be so bad to split the work and share our results later. In fact, why not make it a contest to see who gets the most intel, while we’re at it?”

“I suppose that’s fine, but are you really any good at sneaking around, Princess-poo?”

“Oh-ho? I hate to tell you this, Momo, but there’s nothing I can’t do. I take a fair amount of pride in my ability to sniff out an enemy’s weak points.”

“Sniff out? If you’re depending on some weird sixth sense, that’s already a bad siiign…”

Momo snorted contemptuously. No sane person would put such faith in an instinct they couldn’t even properly explain. I’ve never heard of a princess who lives on pure animal instincts, she thought wryly, giving an exaggerated shrug.

Of course, that didn’t seem to bother Ashuna. After all, she was a princess of the Noblesse and had accomplished so much that she was widely known as the Princess Knight. She was all too happy to accept a challenge from Momo.

“Believe what you will, Momo. You’ll eat those words when you see my investigative prowess. I promise I’ll bring back valuable information from this evening ball.”

“Why should I care? You can do whatever you want, Princess-poo. I’ll go and crush this so-called production base. I’ll be awaiting news of your great success.”

Momo jeered at the confident princess and left her behind.

“Sooo, turns out she’s still alive.”

In the hotel lounge later that night, Menou furrowed her brow at Momo’s verbal report.

“Why would a princess of Grisarika Kingdom become the boss of a band of delinquents…?”

Having gotten a cheap hotel room for the night, Menou had sneaked away from Akari to meet with Momo.

Ashuna was a real princess, even if she was from a different kingdom. It made absolutely no sense that she would be ordering around young hoodlums in the back alleys of some other nation.

“I don’t know why. If I had to guess, I think she does it for fuuun.”

“That’s a strange sense of fun for a royal princess. Honestly… And how did she track down the production base and the mastermind already? Surely she can’t have gotten here much sooner than I did.”

She imagined they had departed the neighboring nation on roughly the same date. Since Menou was traveling with Akari, a total novice, she had planned out the journey with caution. Ashuna had probably taken the shortest possible route across the border through the Wild Frontier, but even then, there couldn’t be more than a week’s difference at most between their arrivals. For her to gather so much promising information in such a short time was nothing short of astonishing.

“I suppose they don’t call her the Princess Knight for nothing. She’s certainly bold to stick her nose into all these affairs, for better or worse.”

“Agreeed. So I suppose I’ll go crush this so-called production base tomorrow night.”

“About that, Momo. I’m actually planning to infiltrate the evening ball at Libelle Castle tomorrow as a guest.”

As Ashuna had mentioned, Manon Libelle was hosting a ball. Since Count Libelle was bedridden, this party was intended to introduce Manon to the public as his representative.

As the head of the Faust in this city, Sicilia was invited, too. Menou had managed to get a hold of an invitation, so she planned to attend as well. With luck, she was hoping to infiltrate the castle.

“I doubt there’ll be anyone strong at the production base, so I can do it alooone! But more importantly, darliiing!”

Momo was accustomed to working separately, so she insisted she wasn’t too concerned about that. Instead, she grasped Menou’s shoulders tightly.

“Momo?”

“Let me make your dress!”

“My dress? Why?” Menou blinked in confusion.

The priestess robes that Menou and Momo usually wore were perfectly acceptable as formal garb for the Faust. The only potential issue was that both of theirs had been slightly modified, but they could still wear them to any event with pride.

“I’ll be wearing my priestess robes to the ball. Since I’m going to be part of Pastor Sicilia’s entourage, that makes perfect sense.”

“It doesn’t!” Momo bellowed. “Listen, darliiing! You’re not going to this party to have fun. You’re investigating the enemy and infiltrating their base! Why would you wear an outfit that practically screams ‘I’m a priestess’ in enemy territory?!”

“H-hmm. I suppose you have a point, but…”

“Besides, that damned Princess-poo will be there. She’s got stupidly strong instincts, so what if she sets her sights on yooou?!”

Momo was rambling, but there was some truth to her words. The intensity of her tone made Menou shrink back a bit.

“And most of all!” Momo clenched her fist dramatically, leaving no room for protest. “You’d look so stylish, darliiing!!”

“B-but, Momo…” Menou tried to talk down her sparkly-eyed aide in a calm, rational voice. “The ball is tomorrow. You wouldn’t have time or materials to make a dress before then, even if it’s just a costume, would you?”

“One night is plenty,” Momo declared.

She seemed determined. Admittedly, Menou wasn’t experienced enough in tailoring clothes to know how long it would take to make one dress. But Momo seemed so confident that it sounded like she might really be able to do it.

“Now, there’s not a moment to waaaste. If you’ll excuse me!”

Seemingly full of inspiration, Momo bounded out of the room, leaving Menou alone.

She was certainly the kind of assistant who could complete any task she set her mind to. In all likelihood, she really would deliver the dress tomorrow. Still, Menou couldn’t help wondering why Momo was hell-bent on the strangest of things.

“Well, Momo aside…the real problem is Akari.”

There was one other problem on Menou’s mind.

It was Akari, of course. If Menou was going to a ball at Libelle Castle, she was guaranteed to kick up a fuss and demand to come along.

With a heavy sigh, Menou headed back to the room where Akari was waiting.

“I wanna go, too!”

Sure enough, Akari’s reaction to Menou’s plan for the next day was exactly what she’d predicted.

“No fair! No fair! I’m the one who said I wanted to go first! How come you get to go and I don’t? Life is so unfair!”

“I told you, it’s not a matter of fairness. It’s just for my job…”

“What kind of super-fun job is that?!”

Most attendees at these types of party were there as part of their professional duty.

“And besides! What are you gonna do if I get kidnapped or something while you’re gone, Menou?!”

“I’ll say a prayer in honor of your necessary sacrifice.”

“What?!”

Akari was starting to get irrational, so Menou responded coolly.

“All joking aside, it would be far more trouble to bring you along. I’m sorry, but the invitations are only for one person—no plus-ones. Besides, you don’t have anything to wear, do you?”

“I’ve got my school uniform!”

“Ah… Well, I suppose that’s one kind of formal wear.”

The uniform Akari had been wearing when she was summoned certainly could pass. It was stowed away in her luggage, but it would be entirely too conspicuous if she wore it in public.

“But no. We don’t have any custom of students wearing those kinds of uniforms in this world. You’ll just have to stay here and behave.”

“Mrrr…” Akari stopped sulking long enough to cast a puppy dog look at Menou. “Then you’ll at least let me see you in a dress, right?”

Menou smiled sweetly. “Absolutely not.”

“Then I wanna go, toooo!”

No amount of additional persuasion was enough to stop Akari.

The evening ball at Libelle Castle was a gaudy affair typical of the Noblesse.

Menou was in the dance hall of Libelle Castle. Like many castles of the Noblesse, the interior was decorated extravagantly, with food and centerpieces set up on tables throughout the room. The attendees chatted among themselves as live music flowed through the hall. Servers patrolled around the space, constantly replacing the guests’ glasses. A magnificent chandelier dangled from the ceiling above it all.

Amid the mingling guests in fine tuxedoes and fashionable dresses, Menou hung back like a wallflower.

She, too, was clad in a gorgeous dress.

In the end, Momo had delivered on her promise, and so Menou was wearing the result of her efforts. Technically, it served as a disguise as well.

The outfit gave her a very different air than when she wore her priestess robes. Her hair, normally tied back in a ponytail, was arranged in a loose bun. Her trademark scarf ribbon was worn around her neck.

Menou’s gaze was fixed on Manon Libelle.

Since the head of her house and the city, Trizista Libelle, was confined to his sickbed, Manon was taking over his position. The main goal of this party was to introduce her as such to the public.

As the hostess, she was constantly fluttering around from group to group, chatting with the Noblesse and the wealthiest Commons.

Conversely, there wasn’t a single member of the Faust to be seen.

Sicilia, the pastor, had only exchanged a brief greeting with her. It was virtually unheard-of for any of the Faust to make a proactive appearance at these types of functions. The Faust had so little political involvement with the other estates of the realm that they were often seen as arrogant, indifferent, or overly fastidious.

And yet, it was the Faust who made all final judgments between right and wrong.

In a way, it was understandable that the Noblesse would be dissatisfied with this. In fact, it was almost set up that way deliberately. The displeasure of the Commons was directed toward the Noblesse, who in turn directed their displeasure toward the Faust. That was the nature of the three-estate system.

And the displeasure of the Faust? Just as she was thinking about this, a beaming smile filled her vision.

“Menou! Having fun?”

It was Akari.

Before Menou’s eyes was a sight that was both familiar and entirely strange. Like Menou, Akari was wearing a different outfit than usual, but it was one Menou saw every day.

Akari was wearing priestess robes.

Her robes were simple, not altered like Menou’s or Momo’s. Noticing Menou’s gaze, Akari spread out her arms to show off.

“Hee-hee, what do you think? I’m a pure, proper, and powerful priestess!”

“Idiots aren’t supposed to wear those robes…”

“Did you just say something really mean?”

Menou covered her face with one hand and groaned while Akari peered at her and pouted.

In the end, she couldn’t stop Akari from coming along.

She couldn’t wear her school uniform, but they didn’t have a dress for Akari. When Menou asked Momo to modify the dress she made for her to match Akari’s measurements, Momo flew into a rage and said she’d rather burn the dress than comply with such a request, so Akari ended up pretending to be part of Pastor Sicilia’s entourage to come along.

Sicilia had provided spare priestess robes for her from the church, but the result didn’t sit well, even for an Executioner like Menou.

“Honestly…this is such an insult to proper priestesses and nuns who go through rigorous training and exams.”

“Come on, is it really that bad?”

Obviously. Menou did have pride as a member of the Faust, after all. Even if it was for a mission, it still felt shameful to allow her to wear those robes.

“Just remember not to follow any strangers, even if they speak to you, all right? And don’t touch any of the food or drinks here, no matter what. I know we went over this, but the host of this party has been distributing a strange drug.”

“I know. You already told me. What do you think of me, anyway?”

“An idiot who’s mentally ten, as I believe I’ve said before.”

Akari puffed up her cheeks. “That’s not true. Someone just said to me earlier that I’m a lovely lady. So I’m obviously a proper grown-up!”

“It’s things like that that really make me worry about you…”

Akari seemed like she would fall for smooth talk far too easily.

Still, as long as they were here, at least Sicilia would probably keep an eye on her if Menou had to step away.

This evening ball was a perfect opportunity. The castle staff were busy keeping the party running, and Manon Libelle herself would undoubtedly be pinned down in the room all evening. The security of Libelle Castle would be shorthanded.

Menou just had one concern about infiltrating the inner castle.

She looked around the hall, but she didn’t see the person in question anywhere.

“Menou? What’s wrong?”

“…I need to step away for a minute. Remember, don’t let anyone talk you into going with them.”

“Aww…”

Ignoring Akari’s whining, Menou went into action.

The party was starting to reach its peak. Deciding this was the best time to make her move, she stepped away from the wall. She had gathered a rough idea of where the guards were located. Menou started to walk with casual steps.

Shedding her role as a wallflower, she slipped through the crowds of people. Placing her untouched glass on the table, she took care to consider how others saw her, consciously behaving as naturally as possible so she wouldn’t stand out in anyone’s mind or memories.

Not a single partygoer made any note of Menou.

Successfully avoiding the attention of others, Menou made it across the hall without being spoken to or noticed by anyone.

When she stepped out onto the terrace, the cold night air caressed her skin. Looking up at the sky, she took a deep breath. The weather seemed to be cloudy, as the moon and stars were invisible in the night sky.

“No protection from Saint Marta, then…”

As she headed toward the residential area, Menou nonchalantly murmured a line from a fairy tale about a saint who controlled miracles of the moon, whose likeness was carved into the five-in coin.

Most likely, the guards inside the estate wouldn’t be a problem. When she was investigating, there was only one point that concerned her.

If she happened to run into that problem, how would she deal with it?

Menou contemplated this as she kept walking. The only way forward from the terrace was to go toward the mansion along a path lined by tall shrubs. She was following this path toward the inner sanctum of the castle, separated from the garden by carefully arranged shrubbery, when she suddenly heard a voice.

“I must say, you excel at concealing your presence.”

Someone was addressing her from the garden on the other side of the bushes.

Menou narrowed her eyes and froze. She had sensed there was someone beyond the shrubs, but she certainly hadn’t expected them to talk to her.

It was followed by the sound of the bushes being pushed apart. The person on the other side was trying to shove their way through the wall of shrubbery.

As Menou stood stunned at the sheer forcefulness, the person burst out of the bushes behind her. Menou started to turn around, then decided to keep facing forward.

The person who had just appeared was unlikely to attack her from behind.

“You blend in with your surroundings very well. Instead of avoiding people’s eyes, you ensure that they won’t notice you even if they see you, eh? Your invisibility was so natural that even I might have overlooked you.”

Menou silently cursed at the familiar voice. She had heard from Momo that this person was invited. She kept an eye out for her in the ball and even suspected that this might happen.

And sure enough, she was already infiltrating the inner area, too. Was she bold to attempt it without even knowing the layout, or just reckless? Menou hesitated for a moment before settling on the opinion that she was exactly like the rumors said.

“A friend of mine said that I didn’t seem like I’d be good at sneaking around, so I wanted to prove her wrong. I investigated a little, but I wasn’t expecting to find someone else up to the same thing. Seems Manon Libelle has a lot of enemies, too.”

This woman made no attempt to hide her nature, no matter whom she was addressing. Her tone was imperious, and there wasn’t a trace of hesitance in her overpowering presence. Even without turning around, Menou could clearly tell she was grinning broadly as she spoke.

All of this was probably why she didn’t seem well suited to sneaking around, but no doubt none of that mattered to Ashuna.

As far as she was concerned, she had no need to hide anything about herself.

“I’m Ashuna Grisarika, a knight and princess of the neighboring Grisarika Kingdom.”

It was none other than the Princess Knight who proudly introduced herself to Menou. She was full of so much life that many would admire her.

“And who might you be?”

Her tone was confident. Put on the spot, Menou grimaced.

In her current outfit, she should be able to deal with this easily enough. She was wearing a dress, so she could just pretend to be a young woman from the Noblesse or something. At the very least, there was nothing to give away the fact that she was really a priestess. She could just say she was going into the garden to get some air.

But considering future possibilities, she didn’t want Ashuna to see her face.

Could she get away with it? Menou attempted to respond without turning around.

“As it happens, one of the maids is sneaking away from work for a secret rendezvous. I thought I would track her down and tell her off.”

“That’s a poor excuse.” Ashuna saw through her lie instantly. “One of the Noblesse wouldn’t be taught how to hide her presence like that. They’re not expected to fight, after all.”

“…By that logic, since you were able to detect my presence, wouldn’t that mean you aren’t of the Noblesse, either?”

“The Order of Knights are an exception. Knights seek the battlefield for the sake of peace. We are expected not to be sweet, but strong. Would you claim that you are a knight?”

Ashuna’s reasoning was self-centered, yet logical. Menou shrugged.

So there was no talking her way out of this one. Not an ideal situation. Or perhaps… Menou suddenly struck upon a possible reason that things had unfolded this way.

Perhaps Manon Libelle had invited Ashuna and let them both slip away so that they would butt heads.

“How infuriating…”

“Did you say something?”

“…No.”

If she had walked right into a trap, then that was entirely her own blunder.

I suppose I have no choice, then, Menou thought as she turned around.

When the other person finally turned around, Ashuna raised her eyebrows.

Even now that they were eye to eye, Ashuna couldn’t see her face.

At first, it seemed like a trick of the light, or perhaps she was wearing a thin veil, but no. Her face was obstructed by something like a dark mist. It was obviously a deliberate phenomenon.

Hiding your face was the most effective way to prevent others from getting any personal information about you. Most intriguing of all, Ashuna couldn’t even perceive how she was producing the fog to do this.

It must be some unusual Guiding vessel, or a continuous crest she had activated beforehand, or maybe even some entirely new technique that Ashuna had never heard of.

At any rate, it was clear this person really didn’t want her face to be seen. It seemed like her voice had been altered, too. She was in a lovely dress, but it was clear that she wasn’t just an ordinary young noblewoman.

“No more lying, eh? I appreciate you dropping the weak excuses, but are you really so shy that you can’t show me your face?”

“I lead a humble life, so I know my place, that’s all. If my honesty pleases you, then would you mind letting me move on?”

“Sorry, but I always feel the itch to fight suspicious characters.”

“…Pardon me for saying so, but I’m amazed you managed to get knighted with that attitude.”

The Order of Knights were permitted to carry a sword in town. Since the role came with a weapon-carrying permit, the training required to join was intense enough to be on par with that of the priestesses. Ashuna understood why the mystery woman might be bemused, but the princess simply laughed.

“Pah, a little recklessness is permitted if it’s for the sake of protecting the peace, that’s all. Now, as far as I’m concerned, I’ll be happy to keep my sword sheathed if you show me your face and explain yourself. In fact, I’d even be willing to consider helping you, depending on your objective.”

“I think you know as well as I do that I’m not going to do that. In other words, Your Highness, do you wish to fight me?”

“Glad you’re so quick on the uptake.” Ashuna smirked and drew her sword. “You see, I can tell just by looking how strong someone is. Did you know that strong people are beautiful? That’s why I’m willing to stake my life on my quest to find strength.”

“Is that right…?”

As the young woman responded, she flipped her dress’s hem upward and reached toward her thigh. With one flutter of her skirt, she had drawn a dagger and taken a battle-ready stance.

“Oh-ho…” Ashuna looked at the quietly drawn blade and whistled, impressed.

Her foe’s body seemed relaxed, and she held the dagger with easy familiarity. Her stance seemed natural, when in actuality, there were no gaps in her defenses. Ashuna could tell at a glance that her proficiency was praiseworthy.

The lingering echo of their conversation left the air between them slightly relaxed. Then both of their bodies lit up with the glow of Guiding Light.

Guiding Enhancement was a technique that drew power from the soul and used it to improve the user’s overall physical strength. Once both were thus strengthened, Ashuna was the first to strike.

It wasn’t such a reckless charge that she was trying to win in one strike, but assertiveness was in Ashuna Grisarika’s very nature.

“Hyah!” Ashuna slashed down with a sharp breath, but her opponent didn’t try to block the attack with her dagger.

Instead, she kept her dagger raised as she slid to the side, avoiding Ashuna’s swing. A half-step moved her out of the broadsword’s path, and she swung her arm as the blade flew past her.

Before Ashuna could change the direction of her slash, her opponent’s dagger struck the broadsword.

She couldn’t move her blade immediately. In the next moment, the other fighter darted close to her, putting her in range of the dagger. Ashuna’s broadsword would be no use at such short range. Her opponent’s blade flashed.

Ashuna gnashed her teeth. With a ferocious grin, she used the knuckle guard of her sword’s hilt to knock away the dagger coming toward her. Punching forward with the hilt, she moved to strike her opponent with its pommel, or so it seemed.

It was a feint.

Still leaning forward, Ashuna shot her leg out toward her opponent’s head. Her kick was so sharp that if it collided with her temple, it would likely crush her face. If she insisted on staying in dagger range, it would be difficult to dodge.

But instead, her opponent relinquished her close range easily and jumped back. Both of them assumed fighting postures again, as if shifting back to square one.

“…Hmph.” Ashuna let out a disgruntled sigh.

After exchanging a few short blows, several things were clear to her. This was a strong opponent. She had remarkable talent. But it was also obvious that her heart wasn’t in this fight. Her subdued reactions showed that she didn’t want an all-out battle.

“So your heart’s not in it, eh? Well, I suppose I’m the one who came after you first.”

“Indeed.”

There was no enthusiasm in her response, either. Evidently, she wasn’t going to rise to Ashuna’s challenge. In that respect, Momo was easy to understand and charming in her own way, but… Ashuna pursed her lips.

Then I’ll just draw out her desperation. Ashuna boosted her Guiding Enhancement a level.

The light around her body grew brighter, chasing the darkness out of her immediate area.

Essentially, she wanted her opponent to feel that she had no choice but to fight properly, or she wouldn’t even be able to flee. Taking a deep breath, Ashuna readied her broadsword.

Her opponent’s stance hadn’t changed at all.

Impressive confidence. The corners of Ashuna’s lips quirked upward.

From a ready stance to an instant attack—she jumped forward fast enough to set fire to the air. With her next stride, she was within range of her opponent, and she unleashed a lightning-fast thrust.

Seeming taken aback by the sudden burst of speed, her opponent parried directly with her dagger. Foolish. Her attacks weren’t so light that they could be blocked with only a dagger; she would cut right through. Making a snap decision, Ashuna doubled down on the strength of her thrust.

The crest in her opponent’s dagger glinted.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Invoke [Gale]

Wind burst out of the dagger.

The conjuring had been constructed and invoked in the blink of an eye, pressing Ashuna back. It gave the dagger wielder the extra strength she needed to block the princess’s broadsword.

Her attack thwarted, Ashuna murmured in awe despite herself. “Magnificent.”

It was a maneuver worthy of honest praise.

Her control over her Guiding Force was flawless. Her judgment of the strength she needed to repel Ashuna’s thrust, impeccable. Her courage in parrying an attack that easily could have killed her if she made a single mistake, remarkable. And most of all, her construction of the crest conjuring was exponentially faster than Ashuna’s would have been. She didn’t consider herself bad at invoking crests by any means, but clearly the person before her eyes was on another level.

She could only have accomplished this with diligent training and an ironclad will.

When two people using Guiding Enhancement crossed swords, the size of their chosen blades dictated how much Guiding Force they could use to charge their weapons. The materials might affect how well its power flowed, but generally, the bigger the weapon, the more it could hold.

This meant a difference in weight and in strength.

But the person Ashuna was facing now was making up for the difference in their Guiding Force with sheer skill.

Guiding Force: Connect—Royal Sword, Crest—

Experimentally, while still keeping her opponent locked in place with their clashing blades, Ashuna charged her sword with Guiding Force at point-blank range.

The royal sword’s crest began to invoke a phenomenon, sending out waves of heat. It would be a matter of seconds before it unleashed the conjuring.

Then the dagger in her opponent’s hand flashed again.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Invoke [Gale]

Before the flames Ashuna created could contract and explode, a blast of wind left the dagger.

Invoke [Flameburst]

The explosion was invoked a beat later, but most of the flames had already been blown away. It had all the force of a dampened firecracker. It would normally direct itself toward the target, but the gale that had interrupted the invocation had scattered most of its fuel and greatly reduced the force behind it.

The fading flames lightly scorched Ashuna’s cheek as they dispersed.

“…Oof!”

The crest she had started invoking first had been thoroughly outpaced. Her opponent had seen Ashuna invoking her crest, deduced what conjuring she was attempting, and constructed one of her own with incredible speed and control.

Whoever she was, her skills were absolutely beautiful.

It was rare to see this level of talent in all but the most elite knights across the continent, or even among the Faust. She had the ability to react to all kinds of situations, instead of simply trying to kill. This was not someone who had been trained to be used and thrown away. She was meant to fulfill her missions, survive battles, and live to see another day.

A shiver of pleasure ran up Ashuna’s spine.

“Well done.”

Her cheeks were so flushed that the heat of the scattering sparks had little effect. Her heart was pounding, and there was an itch in her chest that spread into an excited tremble throughout her body. It was as if some strange electrical current were coursing through her. The Guiding Light around Ashuna’s body grew stronger with her soaring spirit.

She grinned fiercely.

“Seems I’m no match for you in controlling Guiding Light—but I’ve got the upper hand in close combat!”

Her broadsword let out a roar.

There was a powerful flash that seemed to envelop the air around them. Her opponent dodged to the side in a smooth evasive maneuver. That was the right move: Ashuna’s single swing was too strong to parry even with Guiding Enhancement. She set in with a volley of attacks too swift to counter without being crushed.

But there was no way her opponent could keep dodging without parrying or fighting back for long.

Her volume of Guiding Light was middling at best—nowhere near Ashuna’s amount. Hence her decision to overcome her with sheer power. Instead of a battle of skill, Ashuna was forcing her into a contest of strength with her aggressive attacks.

Finally, her opponent was pushed onto the defensive. She managed to parry one attack. But the recoil must have made her hand go numb, forcing her to drop her dagger.

Ashuna had won.

Or so she thought.

Guiding Force: Connect—Dagger, Crest—Double Invoke [Guiding Thread, Gale]

Before Ashuna could swing her sword again, her opponent used a crest conjuring.

The falling dagger jerked back up into the air and sailed toward Ashuna’s throat.

Her eyes widened. She bent backward, just barely managing to dodge it. But the dagger didn’t stop. The direction of the gale changed, and this time, it sped straight down toward her.

A remote conjuring, without direct contact. Ashuna narrowed her eyes, trying to see how she was controlling the dagger, and noticed a glittering strand of Guiding Light extending from the hilt. The other end was in her opponent’s hand.

She was using a crest conjuring by way of the Guiding Light thread to control the direction of the Gale, manipulating her dagger in midair.

The carefully controlled wind sent the dagger flying toward Ashuna’s blade with snakelike movements. But that was foolish. Without the element of surprise, it would be a simple matter to deflect it. An attack driven only by the wind would be easy to smack down.

Ashuna bared her teeth with a determined smirk and prepared to counter the attack.

Guiding Light: Connect—

Then she sensed her opponent constructing a conjuring.

Impossible! Her eyes widened. Could this person really invoke another conjuring while still remotely controlling the dagger?

If so, then she must be intending that as the killing blow.

Ashuna twisted to the side hastily. The dagger grazed her flank, leaving a gash. She ignored it. What she really needed to defend against was her opponent’s next conjuring, which must be powerful if it was her main intention. Preparing to slice the attack in two, Ashuna gathered all her strength, gripped the hilt of her broadsword—and stared in shock.

Her opponent was sticking out her tongue in what looked like a mocking expression.

At the tip of her tongue was a coin, with power coursing through it.

Five-in Coin, Crest—Invoke [Guiding Bubble]

A single bubble floated into the air.

It was perfectly harmless, a trick to entertain a child. Like the Guiding Light bubbles in the legend of Saint Marta, it bobbed lightly on the wind and into Ashuna’s cheek.

Pop! The bubble of light exploded with less impact than the breeze.

Both of her opponent’s hands were empty. The only reason she’d put the coin on her tongue was to mock Ashuna. She spat the coin onto the ground. “Ptooey.” At the same time, the dagger finally fell, its blade piercing the turf.

A beat too late, blood oozed out of Ashuna’s side. Her shoulders shook.

“Pff…heh-heh.”

She had used the Guiding Force thread to keep the wind crest activated and control the movements of the dagger, keeping Ashuna on her toes. At the same time, she used a perfectly harmless five-in coin to distract Ashuna and create an opportunity to attack.

It was an incredible move.

Maybe even superhuman. It had been so long since someone had held back against Ashuna, led her around by the nose, and even made her think she was outmatched. She had the irresistible urge to laugh. Something inside her had snapped.

“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” Her eyes blazed as she held up her sword. “You’ve got some nerve! I’m impressed!!”

She raised the blade above her head, its tip pointing toward the sky. This left her exposed to a frontal attack but made it dangerous to get too close.

The other fighter used the thread to pull her dagger back into her hand. She pointed the sharp, shining blade toward Ashuna.

“I’ll pay you back for that. In spades, even if I have to force you to accept it!”

Guiding Force: Connect—Royal Sword, Crest—Double Invoke [Slash: Expansion, Flameburst]

A wave of heat pushed aside the night air.

The garden was lit by a blazing blade of fire. The slashing attack, enlarged and set aflame by Ashuna’s Guiding Force, stretched out far. It wasn’t as enormously charged as the one that had cut right through a certain castle not long ago, but its power was still far from ordinary. She had made sure that her opponent couldn’t block it, at least with any of the techniques she’d shown thus far.

This opponent outmatched her in ability, and even in strategy and reflexes.

The only method left to her to crush such an enemy was exceedingly simple: head-on, with sheer strength.

It was nothing more than brute force. She recognized that she couldn’t compete in terms of technique. That was fine. The one place where she clearly outmatched her opponent was in the amount of Guiding Force energy she naturally had at her disposal. The surest way to win a battle was by leveraging one’s advantages.

Overcoming the enemy with raw power. That was Ashuna’s royal approach.

In this case, her opponent seemed unruffled.

Ashuna didn’t hesitate, either. She simply swung her sword as her raging heart told her. But then—

Guiding Force: Connect (via Guiding Thread)—

She was caught off guard.

Nigh-instantaneous conjuring construction. The only thing Ashuna managed to move in time was her eyes.

How was she constructing this conjuring? Her hands, which had been gripping the dagger just a moment ago, were now empty. No—on closer inspection, she was grasping a thin thread made of Guiding Force that extended toward the ground.

Dagger, Crest—

The dagger was still stabbed into the ground, coated with Ashuna’s blood.

How?

Spotting the dagger unexpectedly back in its place, Ashuna hesitated for just a moment of confusion as she was starting to swing down the flame blade.

Remote Invoke [Gale]

The ground exploded.

The crest conjuring had produced a burst of air from the blade that was still stuck in the ground. The sudden air pressure in the shallow layer of earth sent dirt and dust flying everywhere, blocking Ashuna’s vision.

She had completely missed her chance to bring down her sword. Beaten to the punch, Ashuna stilled for a moment. Since she couldn’t see her opponent in the cloud of dirt, she couldn’t lower her weapon and let her guard down.

By the time her vision cleared, there was no one there. Her opponent with the hidden face had fled in an instant.

The threat she’d been fighting was gone, but Ashuna still stood there, dazed.

She knew what had produced the cloud of dust. The dagger’s crest conjuring had produced wind. Released underground, the wind pressure broke the surface of the earth and sent the dirt flying. That much she understood.

But how had she…?

Ashuna had definitely seen her opponent holding the dagger in her hand.

Hadn’t she pulled it back into her grasp with the thread? Then how did it end up still stuck in the ground? How had Ashuna missed it? Did her eyes deceive her about the dagger’s whereabouts? No, Ashuna would never make such a basic mistake in battle. Was she hiding a second dagger, then? But that wouldn’t explain the moment she brought it back into her hands.

Ashuna’s list of doubts was only growing.

She couldn’t figure out how she’d missed that last trick.

Ashuna released the crest conjuring that was still in progress and put her sword back in its sheath.

Night returned to the garden.

She stooped down and picked up the fallen five-in coin. No matter how carefully she inspected it, though, it was just an ordinary coin. It didn’t hold any hints as to her mystery opponent’s identity.

Ashuna put more strength into her fingers.

The face of Saint Marta carved on the five-in coin was neatly folded in half.

A savage smile was playing across Ashuna’s lips.

“…Ha-ha. It’s been quite a while since someone’s messed with me like this.”

There couldn’t be many people in the world with that much skill. Which was why Ashuna had one small hunch about who that person might be.

It was common for priestesses to favor one-handed weapons.

Since they generally held a scripture in their left hand, they tended to lean toward weapons they could use with just their right. And with this level of skill, it would make all the more sense if she were in a position that meant a lot of battle experience.

Was she an elite of the Faust in Libelle, then? Ashuna’s gut told her otherwise. If there was someone here in a public position with that much power, there was no way Ashuna wouldn’t know about her.

Then she must be someone who worked behind the scenes.

Immediately, something Momo had shouted during the incident in Garm two weeks earlier came to mind.

“Everyone but my darling should just die!!”

She didn’t have any proof. It was just a hunch. But considering that Momo wore white priestess robes, it made sense.

In most cases, priestesses in white robes were aides to fully-fledged priestesses.

“So that was Momo’s ‘darling.’”

When they met the next day, she would have the perfect topic to lead her into and then tease her about.

As Ashuna cast aside the crumpled coin, there was a satisfied smirk on her face.

There was some kind of pillar of fire in the garden.

“Whoa, what is that?”

Drifting restlessly in the party hall, Akari’s jaw dropped as she saw it. The flames were so bright, they seemed to transform the night into broad daylight. The pillar of fire died down before long, but the resulting commotion continued.

Akari was just realizing that it might have something to do with wherever Menou had gone off to when there was a faint flash of Guiding Light.

Guiding Force: Auto-Connect (Conditions Met)—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Release [Regression: Memories, Soul, Spirit]

Just like that, Akari’s consciousness shifted gears.

Her happy-go-lucky expression suddenly turned grim.

“…This isn’t right.”

Taking off her headband, Akari sorted through her own memories and murmured to herself.

The headband in her hand with the flowerlike decoration was a gift she’d received before. It hadn’t happened often by any means, but this wasn’t the first time Menou had bought it for her in Garm.

But the situation unfolding in this town was more than just unusual.

“This can’t be right. I’ve never…”

“Good evening.”

Akari looked up at the unexpected greeting.

She was taken aback to find that the girl speaking to her was wearing a kimono. Even this version of Akari had never seen this particular girl before.

“Are you concerned about that little spectacle? Not to worry. It was just a bit of a gamble—it’d be lovely if it works out, but no harm done if not. Both of them are rational people, so there won’t be any serious injuries.”

What in the world was she talking about?

A ripple of agitation was running through the hall at the clearly unusual occurrence. But the girl didn’t seem concerned in the least as she introduced herself inquisitively to Akari.

“My name is Manon Libelle. I don’t believe we’ve ever been formally introduced, have we?”

It was a normal enough greeting. If this were the Akari from not long ago, she surely would have smiled back without suspicion.

But this Akari could tell that there was a hidden meaning to the girl’s words. Written between the lines was the implication that they may have met before in some other way.

That must have something to do with the oddness of the current situation.

“You’re…”

“Oh dear, don’t worry about me. I’m really nothing more than a proxy, after all.”

Akari had heard a little bit about her before. She was the proxy for the actual head of the family, Count Libelle… Was that what she meant? Somehow, it seemed like she was implying something else.

“I confess I was hoping I might get to meet you, however briefly.”

“I’m sorry?” Akari didn’t understand.

This was unmistakably the first time she and Manon had ever been face-to-face.

Manon reached out and lightly touched Akari’s hair. “My mother had black hair just like yours.”

She smiled, soft and nostalgic. Her own hair was a dark-indigo shade that was close to black. In this world, the power in someone’s soul could affect the color of their hair. Genetics weren’t the only determining factor.

“I don’t suppose you would tell me about it. The place you were from before you came here.”

“…I’m sorry. I don’t remember.”

This was no white lie.

Right before they entered this town, Akari had jokingly said to Menou:

“I no longer have any recollection of my past sixteen years.”

Joke though it was, it was also rooted in the truth.

The Akari who was normally with Menou wasn’t entirely aware of it, but she really had lost almost all her memories of her life in Japan already.

Akari had used the Pure Concept of Time enough to erase sixteen years of memories.

“Is that so…? I see. So you’ve used your power too much already, too.” Manon understood exactly what Akari’s words meant. “I envy you. You have exactly what I’ve always wanted, you see. You have the power to change the world exactly as you see fit, as many times as it takes.”

Manon withdrew her hand and bowed her head politely.

“Forgive my intrusion. If you are able to leave this city…well, I hope you’ll live your life freely.”

With those mysterious words, Manon walked away. Akari felt even more confused as she watched her go. This situation just kept getting stranger.

Since Akari knew the future, she usually sealed that knowledge away and left things in the hands of her more oblivious self.

There were several different conditions that could invoke the conjuring that triggered this side of her consciousness.

When she was out of Menou’s sight. When Menou was in danger. And when something happened that Akari had never seen before. There were a few others as well, but these three conditions were the most important.

“I knew it. This is all wrong.”

The first day in Libelle seemed to have gone perfectly.

But ever since she’d entered Pandemonium on the second day and revived with Regression, something had been off.

All the incidents occurring in this city right now were completely unfamiliar even to this Akari.

“……”

She had to know what was going on. If things changed too drastically this time, she would lose her advantage of knowing the future.

Akari had to travel with Menou without suspecting a thing and ultimately be killed by her.

Letting Menou kill her was the only method Akari could think of to save Menou from the hands of that red-haired priestess.

With a determined expression, Akari turned on her heel and headed to an area where no one else could see her.

And then, once she confirmed no one was watching, Guiding Light gleamed from her index finger.

Guiding Force: Connect—Improper Attachment, Pure Concept [Time]—Invoke [Teleportation]

Without waiting for Menou to return, Akari disappeared in a flash of Guiding Light, leaving only a faint glow behind.

“That woman certainly knows how to be a nuisance…”

Having fled back to a room of the mansion, Menou grumbled to herself.

The dress Momo had so generously made for her was now caked in mud. I should’ve been more careful, she thought reproachfully. That was the extent of her worries about the fight.

That last move had been a ruse using Guiding Camouflage.

She used it by way of the Guiding Thread that was connected to the dagger still stabbed into the ground. While moving her hand as if to pull the dagger back, she instead used the thread to create a Guiding Camouflage illusion of the dagger returning to her hand.

As a result, Ashuna was convinced the dagger that was still in the ground was actually back in Menou’s hand.

Once Ashuna was no longer focused on the dagger, Menou used the Guiding Thread that was still attached to it to activate the Gale crest. This produced a cloud of dirt, allowing Menou to escape into the building while Ashuna was blinded and confused.

“I don’t have time to go along with her absurd desire to fight.”

Brushing the dirt off herself, she continued complaining. Unlike Momo, Menou wasn’t blessed with a large quantity of Guiding Force. She didn’t necessarily think she would have lost if she kept fighting Ashuna head-on, but Menou didn’t stand to gain anything by winning that fight, either. So she cut it off as quickly as she could and fled.

She sighed with relief that she’d managed to get away.

Menou hadn’t used her scripture, and she was wearing a dress; her hairstyle was different, and she’d hidden her face and changed her voice. Once she changed into her priestess robes, she should be safe from detection as long as Ashuna didn’t see her dagger or anything. Even if they ran into each other somewhere else down the line, Ashuna should have no reason to suspect that it was Menou who she’d fought before.

Still, knowing what she did about Ashuna, Menou couldn’t be too careful. In the worst case, she might have even managed to figure out that she was a priestess based on her fighting style alone.

“It might be too risky to search around inside now…”

Ashuna could very well still be wandering around the area.

In truth, there wasn’t really any harm even if Ashuna identified her. It would just mean she knew there was a wandering priestess around who was skilled in battle. Whatever she might suspect, she would have no proof that Menou was an Executioner.

The only problem was that getting tangled up with Ashuna seemed like asking for all kinds of trouble.

This was especially clear after their brief battle. She was an even more unmanageable princess than the rumors said. From the bottom of her heart, Menou truly did not want anything to do with Ashuna unless absolutely necessary.

Most of all, it was exhausting that she’d gotten into such a flashy fight with nothing in particular to show for the evening.

She cleaned off the dress enough that it wouldn’t stand out as she contemplated what to do next. Thanks to Ashuna using that ridiculously showy flame sword, people were starting to gather outside the mansion. Her best bet was to use this as a chance to regroup with Akari and leave the party.

“I suppose that’s it for today’s operation.”

She hadn’t managed to get any information, but there was nothing she could do about that now. It would be too reckless to try to continue the investigation.

“Well, I’m sure Momo is doing better on her end, at least.”

Momo should be able to crush some silly base belonging to the Fourth without a problem.

Placing her faith in her talented aide, Menou left the room.

It was a far too optimistic assumption.

The wind blew from the land toward the sea in the port town at night.

Momo ran against the wind through the dark.

Her breathing was ragged as she leaped from roof to roof, avoiding being seen. She was grimacing and holding her side.

Fresh blood trickled through her fingers. But it wasn’t the stinging wound that was the problem.

“……Ngh!”

Momo’s face was twisted in pain because of the poison that had entered her bloodstream by way of the fresh wound.

“This is awful…”

It was the worst blunder she could’ve made. Her head spun with shame and frustration.

But Momo still had to relay that information.

Slipping into a back alley, Momo checked her surroundings and stopped. There didn’t seem to be anyone nearby.

She opened her scripture, filled it with power, and constructed a conjuring.

Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:4—Invoke [The Lord’s will is relayed through all of heaven and earth, reigning far and wide.]

Beneath the surface of the gaudy evening ball, something dark was taking place in the night.

Momo used the scripture’s communication conjuring to spin the tale of what had happened to her.