* * *

'I never expected things to turn out like this.'

[We really got lucky.]

'That we did.'

After finishing the day's practice, Limon exchanged a brief farewell with Julia and left the drawing room with a chuckle. Even he considered it an unexpected achievement to be able to walk openly into the main building, which had seemed impossible to infiltrate.

He almost wanted to thank Max for creating this opportunity. Of course, if they actually met again, he was more likely to give the man a punch in the face than a present.

[So what now? Are you going to shoot your own spy movie tonight?]

'No, that's a last resort.'

Limon shook his head. He had expected as much, but security in the main building was on an entirely different level from that outside. The building itself was effectively treated as an inner citadel: not only outsiders, but even the servants and maids were forbidden entry unless they belonged to the Blue Dragon Clan.

In other words, this was where the true heart of the Blue Dragon Clan began. Even Limon wasn't confident he could go snooping around a place like this undetected.

[Then are you going to make another hopeless attempt at finding an informant?]

'Why are you calling it hopeless?'

[Because, Team Leader, you said you'd find someone to get information out of, but you haven't even found someone to talk to, much less an informant.]

'That's because I haven't found anyone worth approaching.'

[I don't know. It looks to me like it's because your social skills are practically nonexistent.]

'... Are you done?'

[Hah! Go ahead and hit me if you dare! That won't make the truth back down!]

Yu Na-gyeong thrust out her plump belly and declared this proudly. Limon gazed at her for a moment, her spirited defiance reminding him of Sword Wave Billy the Kid, who had charged into the Gold Dragon Clan's headquarters alone to rob its vault. In the end, he lowered the finger he had been about to flick at her and snorted.

'Fine, then watch. I'll show you exactly how to make an informant.'

[Show me all you like. If you manage to get even one proper informant, you can pluck every feather off me and I won't—]

“Hm?”

At that very moment, Limon abruptly stopped walking. He had sensed someone appearing by Teleportation just beyond the corner he was about to turn.

For a moment, an odd expression crossed his face at the unmistakable presence he had sensed once before. Then he continued around the corner, pretending not to have noticed.

And there he saw the person who addressed him as though they had simply happened to cross paths.

“Ah, I haven't seen you before. You must be the musician Julia brought here. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am—”

The woman, who had delivered her greeting smoothly enough to seem rehearsed, suddenly fell silent. After blinking several times, she continued in an awkward voice.

“... You?”

“We met just a few days ago, and now you say you've never seen me? Is your memory surprisingly poor, Countess?”

“Ah, w-well...”

After briefly stumbling over her words like an actor whose script had gone awry, Rose took a deep breath, inclined her head slightly, and spoke politely.

“Forgive me. I never imagined I would see you here again, and it caught me off guard.”

“Well, it's fine. Anyone can get flustered when they meet someone they know in an unexpected place.”

[You really are terrible at maintaining a cover, Team Leader. Seriously, who talks that casually to their employer? Especially a countess!]

'At my age, you expect me to speak deferentially to some little girl?'

[You weren't deferential to Cir either, and she's older than you! Why bring age into it now?]

'Shut it, brat.'

Rose watched Limon with a curious look as he argued telepathically with Yu Na-gyeong. She had never imagined that the musician who had thrown her into confusion over the past few days would be this black-haired young man.

Had he been an ordinary young man, she would have accepted it without much thought, but Lee had been unusual from the start. Even setting aside how casually he had delivered a lariat to a thief, his flawless aristocratic manner of speech was remarkably old-fashioned. Of course, the strangest thing about him was his history of performing with none other than the White Dragon Princess.

But Rose did not point out his peculiarities. She simply asked a question that had occurred to her.

“Then the servant who tried to assault you...”

“Yes, it was that thief from before.”

“I am truly sorry.”

Rose's apology was sincere. Her failure to supervise him properly had nearly resulted in harm to Limon, who had helped catch the thief.

“Never mind. That knight already apologized earlier. And I got a better room out of it.”

“Ah...”

Looking flustered, as though she had remembered something she had forgotten, Rose cleared her throat and spoke again.

“Well, I don't believe that is sufficient compensation.”

“It's enough for me.”

“In particular, I feel that somewhere as shabby as the drawing room is wholly inadequate as a practice space for musicians of your and Julia's exceptional caliber.”

“... You do realize that selling just a few of the ornaments lying around that drawing room would buy several houses?”

Making a determined effort to ignore Limon's observation, Rose continued with an earnest expression, as though this were purely a matter of compensating a victim.

“At any rate, with that in mind, there is something I would like to—”

“Your Highness, we have a problem.”

“What is it?”

It happened almost simultaneously: Lucas appeared behind Rose through space, and she briefly clenched and released her fist before turning toward him, her expression still earnest.

Limon's expression turned peculiar. From the psionic energy that had momentarily gathered around her fist and dispersed, along with the minute movements of her muscles, he could tell what she had stopped herself from doing.

Lucas, however, delivered his report gravely, unaware that he had nearly been punched in the solar plexus.

“Lord Karl is here.”

“There is no need to report something as minor as—”

“With His Highness the Crown Prince and Duke Robert.”

“...”

Rose's face instantly hardened.

* * *

“Your subject, Rose Seaserpent, greets Your Highness Crown Prince Edward.”

“Please don't be so stiff, Countess Rose. Surely we needn't stand on such ceremony with each other.”

“Your Highness, proper order must be maintained between sovereign and subject.”

The young man with slightly faded blond hair smiled ruefully at Rose's respectful reply. This was Edward, whose gaunt build made him look frail despite his lofty position as heir to the nation that held supremacy over Europe.

“Lady Rose is right, Nephew. However close you may be, that is all the more reason to observe these formalities.”

The speaker was Robert, a large, middle-aged man who, contrary to his own words, spoke without the slightest deference. His manner was so arrogant that it was difficult to tell whether he was offering advice or sneering.

But Rose merely frowned slightly. Neither Karl beside him nor Edward himself took issue with his language. As a senior figure representing the royal family and a duke-class player who had served as regent since Edward's childhood, he had the standing to speak that way.

“But Lady Rose, why were you so late? When His Highness arrives, isn't it a subject's duty to hurry straight out to the castle gate and greet him?”

“My apologies, Duke Robert. I received no advance notice, so I was late in offering my greetings.”

“Hmph. So long as you understand.”

Of course, that did not mean he had the right to lecture Rose as well. Still, she did not point this out and provoke a quarrel with a man renowned for his exacting temperament. She merely asked calmly.

“On that subject, if I may ask without giving offense, might I know why Your Highness has visited so suddenly, without sending word?”

“Well...”

“Ho ho, allow me to answer that.”

“... Lord Karl, His Highness was still speaking.”

“It may be a difficult subject for His Highness to raise himself. Is it not a subject's duty to speak on his behalf at such times?”

Karl stepped forward with a hearty chuckle. Rose gazed steadily at him before turning her eyes elsewhere. Seeing that not only the uncomfortable-looking Crown Prince Edward but even Duke Robert tacitly accepted Karl's behavior, she sighed inwardly.

She had suspected it ever since hearing they had arrived together, but this confirmed that Karl had induced them to act. And his reason for doing so was obvious.

“... So this is about that matter after all?”

“You said it yourself: if I wished to discuss it, I should first obtain His Highness's permission.”

“And so you brought His Highness here in person?”

“You would hardly have accepted it readily if I merely told you I'd obtained his permission, would you? Besides, I felt it only natural that His Highness should attend.”

Karl brushed off Rose's stern gaze. Then, with a meaningful smile, he quietly concluded,

“Above all, this meeting will determine London's future.”

* * *

He extended his senses. Farther, farther, and farther still.

His senses traveled along just a few slender threads, slipping deftly through the cracks in the ancient castle to reach their destination. Then he concentrated on the minute vibrations in the air transmitted through those threads.

[“Above all, this meeting will determine London's future.”]

“Got it.”

As Limon smiled in satisfaction at successfully detecting the voices in the drawing room through all its barriers and soundproofing, Yu Na-gyeong muttered uneasily.

[Team Leader, using just a few threads instead of a bug is honestly impressive. But one wrong move and this is downright stalking—]

“They're discussing something important right now, so kindly shut up.”

[Yes, sir.]

Yu Na-gyeong obediently shut up. Normally, she would have made a few more cheeky remarks, but things were different now. Secretly eavesdropping on a conversation between the Monarch of Magic and the Blue Dragon Princess demanded tremendous concentration even from a Sword Master like him.

Naturally, the risk of discovery was just as great. Even so, Limon had decided to take that risk because he judged it worthwhile.

The Blue Dragon Princess, an aristocrat from an ancient lineage. The Monarch of Magic, head of one of the ten great guilds. The duke, the Crown Prince's uncle and regent. These three held the British Empire's wealth, military might, and political power in their hands.

Politically, they also headed the aristocratic, civic, and royalist factions respectively. Their discussion could hardly be about anything ordinary.

And Limon's prediction proved correct—beyond his expectations, in fact. By overhearing that conversation, he had learned something enormously important.

“... I see. So this is what he made all that fuss to discuss.”

Having overheard why Karl had involved the royal family, and the grand objective he hoped to accomplish by persuading Rose, Limon muttered with an involuntary frown.

“Now I understand why the witches of the twenty-seven magical lineages were murdered.”