Guardian. This recently established subsidiary was one of the chief reasons the Black Dragon Clan kept questioning its own judgment.

“Guardian? Isn’t that the company the princess set up to give that bastard a position?”

When it was first established, the Black Dragon Clan had dismissed Guardian as a company that existed only on paper, created to give a washed-up relic some achievements and a position.

“Ah! Now I see. She made it so that bastard could go around acting like a bastard!”

After Limon turned the subsidiaries upside down, the quicker-witted among them suspected it was an oversight agency Li Qingyu had created to strengthen her power.

“Well, they did help stop the attackers, so I suppose they aren’t just a company on paper. Maybe we should try a short-term contract with them...”

After Guardian predicted the attackers’ strikes, the more pragmatic clan members realized it was a useful security company after all and began edging closer.

“A contract? What the hell was I thinking, believing even for a moment that that bastard’s company was any good?”

And when its predictions proved wrong? Everyone cursed the Sword Lord for being untrustworthy and turned their backs on him.

Its reputation had swung from one extreme to the other in less than a few months. Even the Black Dragon Clan members who had to keep changing their positions were bewildered. It could hardly be helped. A run-of-the-mill company would have seen wild swings in its share price over something like this, and Guardian was Limon’s company.

“What? They stopped them again?”

That was why the Black Dragon Clan was thrown into confusion when Guardian, after several failed predictions in a row, pinpointed the attackers’ next target and stopped them again. Signing a contract now would mean swallowing their pride, but ignoring Guardian left them worrying about another attack.

“Sword Lord, you bastard! If you’re going to do your job right, do it right! If you’re going to make a mess of it, stick to that! Why do you keep going back and forth?”

Guardian’s reputation kept changing. Limon’s, meanwhile, remained remarkably consistent: he got cursed whether he did his job well or badly.

But they didn’t know that the failed attack had left another group even more troubled.

“Hey, Comrade. What’re we going to do now?”

“...”

“Come on, say something. You’re the one who was so sure they’d never stop us, Commander.”

“...”

“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed. No need to be. Even monkeys fall out of trees, so of course you’re bound to make a mistake now and then.”

“Comrade.”

“Oh, finally got something to say?”

“Would you please shut up before I tear your mouth open?”

His face was calm and his voice even. But the braided man’s words were so thick with murderous intent that the narrow-eyed young man immediately closed his mouth.

Having silenced that noisy source of irritation, the man slowly swept back his hair. “I wasn’t careless, but I admit this is unexpected.”

“What’s unexpected about it? You just made a mist—”

CRACK!

It happened in an instant. The young man’s jaw split, and his body bounced backward like a rubber ball.

The man ignored the sight. Resting his chin on his hand, he simply continued his quiet monologue. “I thought they might have brought in a profiler or investigator skilled at reading people, but at this point, perhaps I should suspect a fortune-teller or prophet instead.”

“... Hey, Comrade. Wasn’t that a bit much?”

“Is suspecting a fortune-teller too great a leap?”

“Who said anything about that? You just blew my jaw off and killed me, and now you’re acting like nothing happened!”

“But nothing did happen, did it?”

An ordinary person would have died from the injury he’d suffered moments ago, or at least been left writhing on the brink of death. Yet the young man stood there without a scratch, indignantly arguing with the braided man.

“I still have feelings, you know!”

“Hmm. You have a point.”

“You’re only realizing that now?”

“In that case, I have a request. My feelings have been terribly hurt, so would you please die right now?”

“That’s what you meant by saying I had a point?”

The man didn’t so much as raise an eyebrow at the young man’s outburst. Instead, he calmly asked, “More importantly, what do you think, Comrade?”

“I think making you the Commander was a colossal mistake.”

“I’m asking how the Seven Dragons Society knows where we’re going to attack, not for nonsense that makes me want to use you as a sacrifice.”

Perhaps it was the seriousness of his manner. Realizing the braided man genuinely wanted his opinion, the young man struggled to calm his anger, scratched his head, and said,

“Weren’t you the one who said an investigator had figured it out by using his head?”

“Think before you speak. Even the greatest genius couldn’t deduce targets chosen by a roll of the dice.”

“Then it must be a prophecy-type skill, right?”

“Are you an idiot? A prophecy skill couldn’t get through our 『Veil Beneath the Stars』.”

“Then why the hell did you ask me?”

“I wanted to see how an idiot with an IQ of zero would view it. As expected, that was no help at all.”

“... Comrade. I’m asking you sincerely. Could you let me carve you up a little?”

“Of course not. Unlike you, I stay dead when I die.”

The young man was apparently angry enough to have drawn a knife, his eyes flashing. The man gave him a flat refusal.

Then he put a hand in his pocket, looked the young man straight in the eye, and asked, “If you’d rather have a death match until one of us is finished, I could agree to that. Care to try?”

“No need to get so serious. I was just saying.”

The young man discreetly hid his knife. The man could have laughed at the way he tucked his tail between his legs, but he didn’t even smile. He was occupied with wondering who had interfered with his supposedly flawless plan, and how.

“Hmm... I really do wonder how they read my mind.”

Their preparations were too accurate to be the product of deduction, yet too vague to be prophecy. The Seven Dragons Society’s method piqued his curiosity all the more for it, but only briefly. The man looked disappointed.

“If we had more time, I’d stage an attack somewhere suitable and observe them. Unfortunately, time is short.”

“Orders came down?”

“Yes. It seems those ‘above’ want this wrapped up quickly, so we’ll have to execute Plan B.”

“You’re really going to do that?”

“If we want results quickly under these circumstances, we’ll have to accept a little risk.”

“Hmm. Can’t argue with that.”

The young man nodded, though his expression remained uneasy. He didn’t much like the operation, but now that orders had come from above, they couldn’t keep wasting time on these games.

“Come to think of it, is our crazy Comrade waiting quietly?”

At the man’s question, asked as though the thought had just struck him, the young man clicked his tongue.

“Don’t be ridiculous. You think that lunatic would sit still? She’s been running around wherever she pleases. It’s a real headache.”

“She seems fairly quiet, considering.”

“A bomb looks quiet until it goes off, doesn’t it?”

“True.” The man nodded slowly.

By the standards of modern society, none of them was sane, but the blonde woman stood out even among them. There was a reason they hadn’t used her for an attack since Black Dragon Construction.

“Contact her, just in case. Tell her the operation will begin soon and she must behave herself until then.”

“You think she’ll listen just because I tell her to?”

“If she won’t, cut off her operating funds. Even our crazy Comrade can’t keep rampaging if she’s starving, can she?”

“Huh? Why are you telling me that?”

“You’re the one giving her the operating funds, aren’t you?”

“I’ve never done that. Aren’t you the one giving her the money, Commander?”

A brief silence.

“Think about it. Surely menial work like that falls to a low-ranking member like you.”

“Don’t be absurd. Don’t you know there’s always trouble if the Commander doesn’t manage the money?”

“Enough excuses. What funds is our crazy Comrade living on, then?”

A slightly longer silence.

“Well, she could draw from the operations account...”

“Have you forgotten we closed every account connected to the company because of the Seven Dragons Society’s dragnet?”

“... Maybe she has money saved up?”

“Even to an idiot like you, does that crazy Comrade—the one who lives each day as if she should have died yesterday—look like someone who saves money?”

This time, the silence was very long.

Only then did the two men realize they had left a hungry predator out on the streets without feeding her. They stared at each other for a moment, then spoke almost at once.

“Call her. Now.”

“Go find her. Now.”

“You want me to die?”

“Wouldn’t it be better for you to die than for our crazy Comrade to go berserk and ruin the operation?”

“Easy for you to say when it’s not your life!”

Someone once said that dialogue and communication were important. The two of them spent a long time fretting over the price of not realizing that even psychopathic criminals were no exception.

* * *

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“For the advice you gave me last time. It helped me solve something that had been giving me a headache.”

Eugene had been humming while tuning a guitar and had tilted their head at the unexpected remark. Now, at Limon’s explanation, their eyes lit up.

“Then can you perform with me, partner?”

“I don’t know. It’s still going to be difficult, but...”

Music on the brain, that was what Eugene had. No matter what they heard, their thoughts turned to music and performing. Limon had barely given his reluctant answer when Eugene’s eyes filled with tears like an abandoned puppy’s, and his voice trailed off.

After careful thought, he added, “... Maybe a little?”

“A little isn’t enough for me.”

The tears vanished from Eugene’s eyes, replaced by open dissatisfaction. Limon answered dryly, “Don’t get greedy. Once this is over, I’ll play with you as much as you like.”

“Really? Promise?”

“Sure.”

Limon nodded readily. After all, a clue Eugene had given him had enabled him to stop the attackers. He was still rather busy, but he intended to make time for Eugene here and there for a while, if only to repay the favor.

“Okay, then here.”

“... Why are you handing me a guitar again?”

“You always pay an advance when you make a deal!”

“In other words, you’re using that as an excuse to get another song out of me?”

“Yep! It’d be a shame if my partner and I met up and didn’t play even once, wouldn’t it?”

“You’ve got an answer for everything.”

Limon clicked his tongue at Eugene, who had apparently given up making excuses and was openly admitting what they wanted. Eugene cheerfully told him, “I’ll buy you dinner today, though!”

“With what money? You’re broke from being chased by debt collectors.”

“That’s not a problem anymore.”

Limon grumbled but took the guitar anyway. Eugene gave him a firm thumbs-up and declared proudly, “I’m going back to work.”