The “gift” mentioned at the end of the letter was a small ring.

The sizable gemstone set in it suggested it was quite valuable. Roden, a jeweler’s son, recognized it and let out a low groan.

“Isn’t this the ring the Marquis of Veshalia gave his mistress a few years ago?”

“The Marquis of Veshalia?”

“As his title suggests, he rules Veshalia, a major city in the south. He’s amassed an enormous fortune through maritime trade, and he commands dozens of warships.”

For a ring such a man had given his mistress—his illicit lover—to turn up here surely spoke to the extent of this group’s influence.

Somehow, it also felt like a threat telling them they would be better off cooperating.

After staring silently at the letter for a long while, Roden shook his head.

“Let’s turn this invitation down for now.”

“I’m a little curious what they want to discuss...”

“So am I, but there’s too much that’s suspicious to go sticking our heads in out of curiosity.”

The attitude of the knight who had delivered the letter only reinforced the impression that this group’s activities were far from legal.

If they truly had nothing to hide, shouldn’t they at least have come to the mansion themselves?

“More importantly—and I’m not saying this out of prejudice—every wealthy Altoan in this country is a criminal. If you want to achieve your goal, the less you have to do with shady people like these, the better. Trust me.”

Faced with Roden’s conviction, Shan thought it over for a long while before nodding.

His impulsiveness had caused Roden enough worry just recently. He couldn’t do the same thing twice.

“What I’d really like is to find out who these people are.”

“We could ask the princess—oh, but I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone except you.”

“You’ve only told me, so if I ask her, you haven’t broken your promise, have you?”

Roden shrugged, but when Shan still looked distinctly uncomfortable, he smiled.

“All right. I’ll investigate on my own. We may not have her connections, but my family has built up a network of its own.”

Since their gift was a jeweled ring, tracing the hands it had passed through should be easy enough.

The Wievers family had a firm grip on the major channels of Pendia’s jewelry trade, if not the entire industry.

Above all, this matter was closely tied to Shan’s identity. Even without the promise to consider, investigating it themselves seemed preferable to telling the princess.

* * *

After that day, the self-styled Altoan Brotherhood made no further attempt to contact Shan.

Nor did Sir Bolin, who had delivered the letter, try to involve himself under the pretext of their personal acquaintance.

A few more days passed, and rumors that Shan had slain a powerful greater vampire in the north began reaching the capital.

For some reason, however, the tale had become a bizarre account of a vampire powerful enough to belong in legends, one that could turn day into night with a wave of its hand.

“He killed something like that alone? How does that make sense?”

“Sir Shan killed a cockatrice alone too!”

“Exactly. Neither story makes any sense.”

Yet it was hard to dismiss the rumors as absurd when Shan had already demonstrated his overwhelming prowess in so many ways.

Rumor was quite literally breeding rumor.

The Magic Society added fuel to the fire by keeping the remains it had purchased from this latest greater-vampire hunt off the market.

Naturally, people believed the vampire had been so powerful that even its remains possessed extraordinary properties.

“And just like that, you’ve acquired a splendid title: Slayer of the Vampire King.”

“He was strong, but not that strong.”

Roden snickered, and Shan looked sheepish.

Most likely, Princess Sherin had disposed of the remains herself for fear that traces of truesilver would be detected.

Not long after the rumors spread, Prince Elvin’s camp, which had had dealings with the vampire, also reacted.

Sir Lug, the lanky knight who had faced Shan in the final and recently joined the prince’s faction, visited the mansion.

“It’s been a while, Sir Shan!”

“Good to see you.”

“I’ve heard the rumors! Ah, if only I could have ridden at your side and helped slay the creature! I would have wanted for nothing...”

The tall knight still gazed at Shan with admiration, as though Shan were his idol.

Uncomfortable with the attention, Shan looked away, only to see Roden covering his mouth after letting out a snort of laughter.

Lug continued chattering excitedly about one thing after another: swearing fealty as Prince Elvin’s knight, getting to know his fellow knights in the prince’s service, and training to fight in formation together.

Shan was interested in such things himself, and their conversation went on for quite some time.

“It would be wonderful if you could join us too, Sir Shan...”

“I hope that day comes.”

Shan deflected Lug’s rather clumsy recruitment attempt with a courteous reply he had learned from Roden.

Lug did not press the matter. Apparently, he had merely been testing the waters rather than acting on any specific instructions.

“Well then, I’ll be go—ugh, more cobwebs... Being this tall isn’t always a blessing.”

Lug’s excessive height had sent his hair sweeping through a spiderweb on his way out. Once the grumbling knight had left, Shan turned to Roden, who had watched silently from beside him throughout the visit.

“Do you think Prince Elvin sent him?”

“Hard to say. Even if the prince did send him, I think he came because he wanted to.”

His admiration for Shan seemed far too genuine to be flattery delivered on the prince’s orders.

Nor did his wish that they might serve Prince Elvin together seem to conceal an ulterior motive or someone else’s instructions.

If even Roden thought so, that judgment was unlikely to be wrong. Shan groaned.

“I hope I never have to fight Sir Lug.”

“So do I.”

Lug’s excessive adulation was somewhat uncomfortable, but it still sprang from goodwill toward Shan. Even if they did end up fighting, Shan wanted to avoid killing him if possible.

Of course, Lug was skilled enough that trying to spare him might put Shan himself in danger.

Not long after Sir Lug’s departure, the information Roden had sought on the Brotherhood through his father’s connections arrived.

Reading the document, Roden let out a quiet groan.

“Hmm...”

“What is it?”

“Apparently, they couldn’t find out what happened at the Golden Theater that day. They say it never even opened.”

The Golden Theater was the largest theater in Hasra, a jewel of the capital’s entertainment district.

Surely they had not invited Shan merely to make a fool of him. That meant they possessed enough money and influence to rent out the entire Golden Theater for a day and use it as they pleased.

Contrary to expectations, the investigation into the jeweled ring had made little progress either.

Despite inquiries through several channels, no information had surfaced suggesting that the Count of Veshalia’s mistress had sold or otherwise disposed of the jewel.

The circumstances suggested the Brotherhood had either stolen the ring from her or received it directly. Those possibilities were worlds apart, and neither left Shan and Roden much room to act.

Both leads had reached a dead end.

Clearly, this sort of intelligence work was unfamiliar territory. Even Roden, that all-purpose superman who excelled at everything except fighting people, was finding it difficult.

“Ah, damn it! What a headache. As if I wasn’t worried enough about what that Council bunch might do...”

The problem was that a week had passed without word from the princess, who had promised to investigate and report back.

Had she been waiting for him to complain?

Exactly ten days after they had parted, Princess Sherin arrived at the Wievers mansion in disguise, accompanied by a single guard.

* * *

“I owe you an apology for my behavior last time.”

As the princess apologized courteously, her face looked far more haggard than on their last meeting.

She had always been fair, but now her skin was pale enough to make her look like a vampire. Her eyes were shadowed, her cheeks sunken.

Anyone seeing her might have thought she was ill.

Shan studied her for a moment, then asked,

“Is this because of me?”

“Hmm?”

“You seemed angry about what I did when we last met. I’m not sure why, but if I offended you, I apologize.”

Sherin’s eyes widened, apparently taken by surprise. Then she gave a soft laugh and shook her head.

“No, you did nothing wrong. The problem lies with my own warped, twisted heart, which cannot accept your gesture graciously. Still... I would advise you to be a little more careful about giving your heart to others.”

“Roden scolded me quite thoroughly about that. I’ve been reflecting on it.”

Seeing his sincere contrition, she glanced at Roden and nodded.

“Yes, Roden is an excellent adviser. Enough to make me wish I had someone like him myself. My advice, however, applies to him as well.”

Shan raised an eyebrow slightly, wondering whether she was trying to drive a wedge between them again, but her expression was serious.

“You may trust others, but keep your heart your own. Once you have given it away and it has been cast aside, there is no undoing it.”

Her murmured lament sounded almost self-mocking.

As the mood grew heavy, Sherin shook her head and spoke in a somewhat exaggeratedly cheerful voice.

“Now, shall we discuss business? First, I used the materials you gave me to gather some information about this Council.”

“Already... Your Highness?”

Roden’s startled question came from experience. Having tried to investigate the Brotherhood himself, he knew all too well how difficult it was to find such secret societies and pick up their trail.

Besides, didn’t Sherin have only two rather unreliable retainers at her disposal, Aran and Kagon?

Then again, perhaps Count Pales had assigned her others, or she had more people working for her personally...

“To begin with the conclusion, the Council is not merely an association of vampires. It is a secret society with a somewhat broader reach.”

The king and nobles ruled the visible face of the Kingdom of Pendia, but beneath the surface, a different set of laws and a different order prevailed.

In the districts commonly called the slums and pleasure quarters.

The Council was effectively the ruler of this underworld. Despite its respectable-sounding name, it was closer to a vast criminal organization.

Naturally, its membership consisted entirely of those who could not openly take their place in society: skilled warriors and knights wanted for all manner of crimes; evil mages who had broken taboos such as experimenting on humans; smugglers; drug addicts; intelligence networks made up of prostitutes and pimps...

The group of greater vampires capable of taking human form constituted only one arm of the Council.

Their exceptional fighting abilities, along with the knowledge and wealth accumulated over their long lives, did make them a substantial faction within it.

Sherin let out a deep sigh of disbelief.

“To be honest, I was quite shocked. I may have focused all my eyes and ears on the royal family and the high nobility, but to think I never even knew such a dreadful organization was clinging to this country like a parasite.”

Privately, Roden wanted to tell her that she was the astonishing one.

She had known nothing about this organization, yet a single lead had allowed her to dig it up by the roots in a week?

A secret society whose very name was unknown to the public surely maintained strict security. Her intelligence-gathering abilities were downright uncanny.

Then Sherin added, as though she had nearly forgotten,

“Oh, and there was one interesting group among them. They call themselves the Brotherhood.”

Roden struggled to maintain his composure, but Shan visibly flinched in surprise.

He had never imagined the Brotherhood’s name would suddenly come up here.

Sherin gave a little smile, seemingly amused by his reaction.

“The Altoan Brotherhood. A familiar name, isn’t it? I understand they recently tried to recruit you, Sir Shan.”

“Your Highness, that was—”

“I also know you did not accept. You chose wisely.”

According to Sherin, the Altoan Brotherhood was a brotherhood in name only. It exploited powerless members of its own people under the guise of protecting them.

It put vulnerable Altoans on the front lines of all manner of dangerous crimes and labor, while a handful at the very top pocketed the proceeds.

“Their leader and a few senior officers appear to be nobles or knights. It is possible that Westerners hold those positions to exploit the Altoans... but I consider it more likely that they have quietly replaced the originals, much like that vampire lord.”

“You mean they’ve put forward Altoans who don’t look very different from Westerners.”

“Exactly.”

Some Altoans did look much like Westerners, such as Roxy from the acrobatic troupe they had met before.

Others could erase their distinguishing traits through simple surgery—filing down their horns, for instance.

Shan himself was a prime example. Unless the surroundings grew dark, no one could tell he was Altoan.

It was entirely possible if the organization put such people at its forefront.

“Impersonating nobles and knights... Ha. We’ve gotten involved with quite a crowd.”

“They are still only a criminal organization. There is no need to worry too much. They are nothing more than insects hiding in the shadows of the world.”

“People do sometimes die from insect bites.”

Sherin smiled at Roden’s reasonable concern.

“A wise adviser indeed. As it happens, those insects have been brazen enough to plan to bite someone to death.”

It was not hard to tell what she meant by insects and people, and Roden’s expression grew grave.

Shan looked puzzled, not quite understanding, so she explained in simpler terms.

“Their original plan was to lure you to the Golden Theater, thoroughly steep you in drink, drugs, and women, and then recruit you.”

“A fitting approach for criminals.”

Sherin nodded in agreement at Roden’s contemptuous mutter.

“But when Sir Shan failed to accept, they seem to have concluded that you were the reason, Roden.”

“... They’re right.”

“Everyone in the know is aware that you are Sir Shan’s adviser. So they decided to eliminate you first—”

Sherin broke off because she saw Shan’s eyes change as she spoke.

Usually, those eyes gave him the air of a gentle puppy, their green as warm as growing leaves. Now they seemed stripped of all emotion.

Sherin thought they looked like an insect’s eyes.

Without a trace of mercy or compassion, focused solely on locating and devouring a target in accordance with their designated purpose...

“They were going to kill Roden.”

“Do not worry. Whatever else happens, I will make sure you need not fear dying to a blade they aim at your back.”

Having just witnessed Sherin’s overwhelming intelligence capabilities, that assurance was truly convincing.

With her help, they might still die to a blade coming at them from the front, but at least they would not have to fear being stabbed in the back.

Provided, of course, that Sherin did not betray them.

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

Without her help, they would never even have known that the Brotherhood was targeting Roden.

As Shan bowed his head in gratitude, Sherin smiled, then hesitated for some reason.

“Hmm, on that subject...”

Her face flushed slightly with an emotion that might have been shyness or embarrassment.

“I can hardly call it payment for my investigation, but could you show me that object from last time once more? It keeps hovering before my eyes whenever I try to sleep.”

“Of course.”

Showing it the first time was the difficult part; showing it a second time was no great matter. Shan had fashioned A Thousand Forms into a bracelet to make it easier to bring out. Now he turned it into a sword and laid it on the sitting room’s desk.

Just as before, rapture suffused Sherin’s face.

“Truly remarkable. I knew the ancient Altoans had attained great heights in magic, but to think this was possible...”

“A mage I met before said modern magic could never reproduce it.”

“Indeed. Not only would it require this much truesilver, but its creation must have involved all manner of techniques now lost to us.”

Mages were truly fascinating creatures, able to work all that out merely by looking at a weapon.

Of course, perhaps Princess Sherin was simply more exceptional than most.

“Its owner was probably a regional administrator. A warrior and mage of fairly high rank in Altoan society.”

The sword had indeed been in the largest building in the nameless city, in what appeared to be its owner’s bedroom.

At this rate, she might even guess the city’s location. As Shan was wondering whether he ought to take it back, Sherin, who had been turning the sword over and examining it repeatedly, remarked casually,

“I would need to study it further... but I may be able to borrow some of this technology.”

“Really!?”

Shan was so surprised that he forgot his formal manner. Sherin nodded.

“Changing its shape as freely as this would naturally be impossible, but I think I could give a weapon several preset lengths and have it transform over time. Or make armor that normally covers only the upper body expand to cover the whole body when entering battle.”

If she could do that, it would be useful indeed.

Even Shan’s current enchanted spear had been made to an awkward intermediate length because he wanted to use it both on horseback and on foot.

How convenient would it be to extend it to roughly four meters while mounted, then use it as a short spear of about two meters while walking?

As for the armor, considering how troublesome it was to put on and take off, its usefulness went without saying.

“You have given me some excellent inspiration. Now, then...”

“How should we deal with the Brotherhood?”

Now that they had dared reveal an intention to kill Roden, there was no room left for negotiation.

Reading the ruthless murderous intent in Shan’s eyes, Sherin smiled.

“There are several options, but my advice would be not to take the long way around. They are a criminal organization, after all. There is no reason to stay within the bounds of the law when fighting people who have no protection under it.”

“You mean...”

“Would kidnapping or assassination offend your pride as a knight?”

“Not at all.”

It might have been different against honorable opponents, but he would hardly let such scruples bind him against criminals and villains who had tried to kill his friend.

At Shan’s unequivocal answer, Sherin smiled.

“Then that makes things very simple. Shall we start by bringing in the intermediary we all know?”

* * *

In the dark of night, Sir Bolin of House Anix suddenly awoke, though he did not know why.

Was he thirsty from all the drinking he had done the day before?

Turning to get himself a glass of water, Bolin stopped in his tracks before he knew it.

“Ah...?”

From one side of the dark room, lit only by faint moonlight filtering through the window, two green lights were watching him.