* * *

Yu Na-gyeong thought that, whether London deserved to be called the City of Magic or not, it was certainly the world's most extreme city.

The sight of everything swallowed by fog, turning the place into a ghost town, was still vivid in her mind. Yet the citizens were nonchalantly riding around in horseless carriages and on carpets as though nothing had ever happened, leaving her dumbfounded.

["It's really incredible. I couldn't live this carefree in a city like this."]

"Humans are adaptable creatures, after all."

["Can you really brush off fog that eats people every day as something you just adapt to?"]

"Why make a fuss over something like this? Back in the day, people would often go right on cooking and doing laundry even after raiding armies came through and took everything they owned."

["Were people back then mentally built out of some dungeon-made alloy?"]

"No, I'm talking about when the Seventy-Seven Federations of China were breaking apart."

["Hmm. Then I guess that makes sense."]

Yu Na-gyeong found herself accepting that. Even the textbooks described the chaos that had erupted when the Seventy-Seven Federations of China split apart. And considering that countries which had once fought one another to the death were now joined in a single federation, their adaptability really was remarkable.

"Besides, it's a little ridiculous for you to question other people's adaptability."

["Me? Why?"]

"You used to be human, and now you're living as a bird. How can you say that?"

["Oh, right. That happened too, didn't it?"]

"... Is that really something you can brush off like that?"

["Well, being human was part of my previous life. You've got to let go of the past if you want to enjoy the present."]

"Well, good for you for being so positive."

Limon marveled at her. Even after encountering every sort of person over his long life, he could only be astounded by Yu Na-gyeong's adaptability. Whether she knew how he felt or not, she casually asked a question.

["Anyway, Team Leader, what do you think?"]

"I'm thinking I still haven't experienced enough in life."

["... I have no idea where that came from, but I meant what that witch lady told us yesterday."]

"About the violin?"

["Yes. What's going on with it?"]

"Who knows?"

Limon frowned. When Cir unexpectedly revealed that she had made the Violin of Deepest Black, he had been surprised, but he could accept it.

Very few humans could create a magical artifact on par with a divine relic, let alone a cursed instrument. Cir was one of them. As far as Limon knew, she was the foremost expert on curses, barring black mages.

So her involvement with the Violin of Deepest Black was hardly unexpected. No, it was actually a stroke of luck. He had thought himself fortunate if he could merely get it appraised, only to meet its maker instead. For Limon, who wanted to know what the Seven Arcs were, why the Liberation Brigade was after them, and why they possessed the power to dissolve fragments of constellations, it was a windfall.

But what she actually told him only gave him more of a headache.

["Honestly, I don't understand. How does it make sense that the witch lady made the violin, but doesn't know anything about its power?"]

"She said she didn't make the violin herself."

["Well, I heard that she only helped with the curse part... But she's still one of its makers, isn't she?"]

"Making something doesn't mean you know everything about it. Especially when it comes to powerful magical artifacts."

Items were one thing: their effects were fixed from the outset and could be identified with an appraisal skill. But it was surprisingly common for magical artifacts to have unclear effects, or to acquire unintended powers or curses. That was simply the nature of magic.

So there was nothing strange about Cir showing interest when Limon asked about its power to dissolve fragments of constellations, saying, ["This violin has that kind of power?"] His disappointment had simply been as great as his expectations.

["Tch. I thought we were finally going to learn something. Instead, we just have more things we don't understand."]

"Not necessarily. It did give us a few hypotheses to work with."

["Hypotheses?"]

"Yes. For example, the Saint of Muse who made the violin might have something to do with the Seven Arcs."

Despite Yu Na-gyeong's grumbling, they had learned a great deal thanks to Cir. They had confirmed that the original maker was a priest of Muse, just as Limon had heard when he acquired the violin. That included the unexpected revelation that the priest had been a Saint, and had killed himself after making it.

["I know that much. That's why you asked the White Dragon Princess to look into it."]

"Yes. We were lucky."

Limon nodded. Ainsha happened to have returned home to the Holy Alliance, making it easy to ask her to investigate. Considering how enthusiastically she had declared, ["That much is easy. You will trust me and wait," ] he would likely have results soon.

After all, the Holy Alliance was the White Dragon Clan's homeland. There was almost nothing Ainsha, the White Dragon Princess, couldn't do there.

"The problem is if even that Saint had nothing to do with the Seven Arcs—or with the violin's power, for that matter."

["Oh, come on. Surely that can't be the case."]

"It's not impossible. We don't even know exactly what the Seven Arcs do."

Everything they knew about the Seven Arcs came from the few words Eugene had left before dying. They knew nothing of their true nature. Since the Violin of Deepest Black was one of them, they had merely assumed, vaguely, that they were some sort of magical artifacts connected to the power of constellations.

That was why Limon spoke quietly.

"We'll have to investigate further to know... but the Seven Arcs might be something entirely different from what we've been imagining."

["What do you mean?"]

"Who knows? It's just a feeling I have."

["When you say you have a feeling, Team Leader, I can't brush it off as 'just' anything..."]

Hearing her grumble, Limon gave her head a light pat.

"Don't worry about it. Once that old hag finishes what I asked her to do, we'll know more about the Seven Arcs than we do now."

["... I thought this when you even left the violin with her, but you really trust that witch lady, don't you?"]

"Her abilities, at least, are beyond question."

["And she's trustworthy too?"]

"That's even more certain."

Limon chuckled, then revealed the biggest reason he had been able to leave the violin with Cir without hesitation.

"That old hag is so attached to her life that she won't try anything suspicious, if only because she doesn't want me to fucking kill her."

["... Team Leader, aren't you and that witch lady friends?"]

"We're friends, which is why I didn't draw my sword the moment I saw her."

["You decide whether someone's a friend based on whether you draw your sword as soon as you see them?!"]

"At least when it comes to someone like that old hag."

Limon spoke matter-of-factly. He knew very well what sort of witch Cir was, and how she had survived for well over a thousand years. Not drawing his sword the moment they met was, in fact, his way of acknowledging their ill-fated history and showing consideration for an elder.

Astounded by that thoroughly swordsman-like remark, Yu Na-gyeong finally shrugged her wings.

["Well, anyway, if you're right, we just have to wait for that witch lady to finish her work to learn about the Seven Arcs."]

"Though there's plenty we need to do in the meantime."

["Like sightseeing around London this way?"]

"We're investigating, not sightseeing. Investigating."

["You say that, but it just looks like you're wandering around aimlessly. Can you really find the witch killer this way?"]

Yu Na-gyeong looked doubtful. He had come to London to find the Seven Arcs and pick up the Liberation Brigade's trail. But Cir was investigating the Seven Arcs, while Claire, whom he had gone to the trouble of leaving as bait, had yet to make any notable moves. As a result, Limon was now devoting himself to investigating the serial murders of witches.

"No, I can't."

... Though he wasn't actually doing anything.

Watching him openly admit it, Yu Na-gyeong asked in disbelief,

["Then why are you walking around?"]

"To find out why the witches are being killed."

["What?"]

"The suspects in this case are obvious anyway. What matters isn't so much who did it as why—their purpose."

["... Excuse me, but I don't understand what you mean. What do you mean, the suspects are obvious? And what does walking around like this have to do with finding out the killer's purpose?"]

"That's..."

"Th-thief!"

"Hm?"

["Huh?"]

Limon and Yu Na-gyeong turned around together, then stared in disbelief. It wasn't because of the screaming street vendor, or the man fleeing toward them with merchandise stolen from the stall. It was his means of escape.

["... I never thought I'd live to see a thief escaping on a flying broomstick."]

"Neither did I."

What sort of City of Magic had this damned London become? Clicking his tongue, Limon pressed his foot onto a small stone, then flicked it lightly with his toe at just the right moment.

The stone didn't shoot off like a bullet or pierce the thief's body. It merely flew high into the air, spinning into the path of his escape. But the thief, fleeing at full speed, failed to notice the stone in front of him and rammed his own forehead into it.

"Urgh!"

The impact made the thief see stars and stagger. As the broom veered off course and passed beside him, Limon smoothly extended an arm.

THWACK!

"Gack?!"

It all happened in an instant. Caught across the throat by Limon's arm, the thief spun 270 degrees in midair before sprawling on the ground, while the broom alone went flying backward and fell.

At the sight of that feat, Yu Na-gyeong clapped her wings together.

CLAP, CLAP, CLAP.

["Nice lariat. I'll give you an audience score of eighty."]

"Why not a hundred?"

["Because you didn't knock him out. Look, he's getting back up."]

"If I'd done it properly, I'd have broken his neck and knocked him out of life, so I deliberately went easy on him, you idiot."

"Guh, gah, cough! Cough, cough!"

Even with Limon holding back, taking a lariat head-on and tumbling to the ground had evidently hit him hard. After coughing repeatedly, the thief finally managed to get up and glared venomously at the man who had stopped him.

"Y-you bastard!"

At the same time, he pulled out a wand. It was clearly a magic item meant for attacks, and he aimed it at Limon without the slightest hesitation.

As Yu Na-gyeong shook her head and Limon creased his brow, clicking his tongue and saying, "Should I have just knocked him out?" the thief went ahead and activated the item at Limon.

Or rather, he tried to.

"That's far enough."

He would have, had a woman not suddenly appeared before his eyes with those clearly spoken words.