Others might have been too startled by the sheer number of shadows, or simply by their retreat, to notice. But she was accustomed to formal ceremonies and recognized it at a glance.

The ghosts of London had not withdrawn merely because they feared Limon or were wary of something. If anything, it was the opposite. As though worshipping a great king, or welcoming an immortal hero, the shadows stirred with excitement and elation hidden beneath an indescribably solemn, respectful air.

Even a triumphal ceremony for a victorious general would hardly have matched this. And it was the ghosts of London—not even living people—paying such homage to a mere musician. Naturally, Rose began to question who Limon really was.

"Who I am, huh... Well, it gets complicated if you dig too deep, but this should explain it for now."

Yet her suspicious gaze did not unsettle him. He merely gave a faint chuckle and answered, as though wondering why she was only asking now.

"I'm someone who was asked to investigate the witch murders."

Rose's face immediately hardened. Although her recent lack of sleep had made her prone to mistakes, she was fundamentally sharp-witted, and those words alone told her a great deal.

"... A witch of the twenty-seven magical lineages?"

"The person who asked me was definitely a witch."

"Then you deliberately infiltrated our house to catch the murderer of the witches."

"Don't blame Julia. She simply hired me because she happened to be looking for a good musician."

For a moment, Rose regarded him with mixed feelings as he readily admitted to spying within her house. Then she suddenly nodded.

"I see. So your playing really was a witch's handiwork."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"... It wasn't?"

"What wasn't?"

"Well... Nothing. Please forget I said anything."

Having reached a conclusion on her own, Rose grew flustered, then finally blushed and tried to take her words back. Watching her seem oddly scatterbrained instead of as serious as she had been moments ago, Limon gave her a doubtful look.

Perhaps conscious of his gaze, Rose suppressed her mounting embarrassment with a cough and hastily changed the subject.

"Why are you revealing this to me?"

"Oh, this? I thought I might save us some wasted time."

"What do you mean?"

"To be honest, I initially suspected your house was behind the murders. As for why... I don't need to explain, do I?"

Limon grinned. Rose readily nodded back.

"Yes, I understand."

The Blue Dragon Clan's position in London. The power and standing of the twenty-seven magical lineages. And the concealed murders. Considering all of that, it was only natural to investigate House Seaserpent first. As Rose calmly accepted this, Limon continued just as calmly.

"That's why the first thing I did was wander around London. I wanted to find out whether there were any nasty rumors about the witches."

"Did you think we might have launched a witch hunt depending on public opinion?"

"No. But if you had launched a witch hunt, you'd at least have laid the groundwork by manipulating public opinion."

Limon spoke with a mischievous smile, and Rose did not bother denying it. They were the righteous Blue Dragon Clan. And shaping public opinion in their favor to protect the clan's honor was, to them, another form of justice.

"But there weren't any particular nasty rumors about the witches. Their reputation was spotless, in fact."

"So you eliminated us as suspects?"

"No, not at that point."

Limon shook his head. The Blue Dragon Clan was far too strong a suspect for him to dismiss his doubts on that basis alone. Things changed when another reason was added, however.

"Not until I learned you opposed the Monarch of Magic's grand plan to clear this fog out of London."

"... How did you learn about that?"

"Let's just say there's a reason I was the one asked to investigate the witch murders."

Whether or not Rose was dumbfounded by the casual way he discussed a secret known to only a handful of people in the British Empire, Limon continued unperturbed.

If the witch murders were connected to the witches' great barrier, the culprit would share Karl's objective: eliminating the Misty hours. Conversely, that made the likelihood of Rose, who opposed Karl, being the culprit vanishingly small.

"But the most decisive evidence is what we're seeing right now."

Even so, this narrow-minded investigator had been unable to dispel his last lingering doubts. That was why Limon had drawn her out onto the streets at this particular 'hour.' Looking at the final proof of Rose's innocence—the countless shadows surrounding him—he concluded:

"If you were behind the witch murders, the ghosts of London would never be this quiet."

"... You truly know a great deal about London."

"I've visited a few times before."

Rose privately thought that was utter nonsense. The circumstances surrounding the Great Barrier of London and the Misty hours were hardly simple enough for someone to learn such things from a few visits.

But he was investigating the witch murders. In that case, it was only natural that he should know the details of the Great Barrier of London.

"Now that you have eliminated me as a suspect, you wish to ask for my cooperation in your investigation."

"Right. Even if you're not the culprit, you must have information about the witch murders."

"I am under no obligation to provide you with information."

"But you could show someone connected to the victims a little mercy by sharing information about the culprit. Couldn't you?"

Rose looked troubled at his roguish smile. The Blue Dragon Clan, too, had classified the witch murders as top secret and was investigating them with great care. Even if a witch had asked for his help, this was not something she could readily disclose to Limon when his true identity remained unclear.

"Will you promise not to leak this information to the outside world?"

"Yes."

"Very well, then. If a general outline will suffice, I will tell you."

In the end, Rose began to speak. It was not solely because his appeal to her compassion had swayed her. The witches of the twenty-seven magical lineages were currently on high alert and had gone into hiding after the successive murders. With even contacting them now impossible, she needed to share some information, if only through Limon, to assure them that the Blue Dragon Clan was not their enemy.

"Frankly, we do not know much about this case ourselves. All we really have is what Jessica told us."

"Jessica? You mean 'Jessica the Farseeing'?"

"Yes."

Limon looked surprised at the name of a woman who was both a witch of the twenty-seven magical lineages and the fifth victim of the witch murders. Rose calmly explained the circumstances to him.

"She was the first to discover the murders and begin investigating them. She was also working with us."

Since witches ordinarily operated in the hidden side of the world, even those of the twenty-seven magical lineages had failed to notice the murders at first. Jessica alone was an exception. Having inherited the lineage of 'Jessica the Farseeing,' she was adept at magic such as farsight and detection, and sensed something was wrong early on. After a thorough investigation, she realized someone was targeting witches and secretly contacted the Blue Dragon Clan.

"Jessica passed over her fellow witches and asked you for help first? Why?"

"I suspect she could not trust even her fellow witches."

"... That's an all-too-convincing reason."

Limon clicked his tongue. Witches were individualism and mystique personified. In that sense, contacting an outside power because she could not trust even the other witches of the twenty-seven magical lineages was a very witchlike thing to do. Cir herself had brought him in to resolve this case, after all.

"Jessica continued her own investigation even after contacting us. Perhaps thanks to that, she seems to have found an important clue."

"Seems to? Does that mean you don't know what the clue was either?"

"She was murdered just before she could meet us and hand over that crucial clue."

"Someone found and murdered a witch faster than you could reach her, here in London?"

Limon looked incredulous. Outpacing the Blue Dragon Clan, who could use Teleportation as easily as breathing, in London of all places? By any reasonable standard, it made no sense. Rose answered evenly.

"Normally, it would be impossible. But they chose the only hours when it could be done."

"Hmm?"

Just as Limon grasped the meaning of her words and gave her a peculiar look, the shadows surrounding them began to surge and sway, as though crying out a warning.

Rose's face hardened at the sight of the silently clamoring shadows. Drawing her sword with lightning speed, she lunged toward Limon. His eyebrow twitched at the sight.

SPLASH!

A spray of bright red blood drenched the fog. Rose had cut down something that had just sprung up beneath Limon's feet. He had been about to crush it underfoot himself; instead, all he got for his trouble was blood on his trousers. He clicked his tongue.

But it was not over yet. The instant dark shadows spread around their feet, more things like the first began springing out of them one after another.

"What are these things?"

At first glance, they resembled the ghosts of London: shadows with only outlines and no physical substance. Yet every one of them bore a grotesque shape more like a monster than a human—no, it was doubtful they were living things at all. As Limon frowned at them, Rose spoke in a stiff voice.

"Get behind me."

"... You want me to do what?"

"Do not leave my side under any circumstances. These are not like the ghosts of London."

Limon was about to answer that he could tell that much at a glance, but shut his mouth. He narrowed his eyes at Rose, who watched the creatures warily with a rigid expression quite unlike her usual earnestness or seriousness.

"Hey, Countess. Don't tell me these are the 'they' you mentioned earlier..."

"Yes, they are."

Nodding in response to his incredulous question, Rose continued quietly. "These monsters are the culprits who killed Jessica."

* * *

When Rose began working with Jessica, the witch gave her a magical artifact so they could contact each other. Then one day, Jessica contacted her to say she had obtained an important clue, along with a plea for immediate help because she was being pursued.

Unfortunately, Rose had been unable to save Jessica in time. There were two reasons. One was that it happened to be during the 'Misty hours.' The other was that something had obstructed her and the other knights of House Seaserpent on their way to rescue Jessica.

Those obstacles were the 'shadow monsters': the grotesque beings composed entirely of shadow that Rose was cutting down with her sword at this very moment.