[Volume 1 Release Commemorative SS] Events at the Beginning of Autumn (Part 2)

At the same time, in a room at the luxurious Arnea Inn in the Imperial Capital—

“We have been expecting you. Please, come in.”

“His Highness is waiting inside.”

The plainclothes Royal Guard knights stationed outside the guest room knew Ren well enough to let him pass without question.

After they invited him inside, Ren placed a hand on the doorknob. When he entered, he found Radius seated at a stately desk at the far end of the spacious room.

Ren had never seen Radius dressed this way before.

Although he had removed his jacket, he was still wearing the uniform of the Imperial Military Academy.

“It is unusual for you to arrive exactly on time.”

It was not as though Ren had been late.

“Is it?”

“You usually arrive more than ten minutes early. I am not complaining; I merely found it unusual.”

“I don’t mind. I only came to the capital today to order some additional reference books for the third examination.”

Ren answered as he crossed the room and sat on one of the sofas.

Radius looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“The third examination? Ah, that is right. You received the results of the second examination.”

“Yes. Lady Licia and I both passed.”

“That much was obvious. It would be no surprise if the two of you had earned the highest marks.”

“I’m glad you think so, but if we let our guard down, we could still be tripped up.”

“Nonsense. If there is any remaining chance of that, it is only during the third examination. As for the final examination, I see no need for you to take it in the first place.”

“Even so, all I can do is give it everything I have.”

Radius set the pen he had been holding on the desk and rose to his feet.

An amused smile appeared on his face.

“That is just like you. I find the virtue behind those words admirable.”

He then asked, “Have you eaten lunch?” Ren replied, “Not yet.”

Radius approached the table beside Ren’s sofa and rang the bell resting on it.

Within minutes, the staff brought in several light dishes that could be eaten while working.

“That was fast.”

“Nobles are often pressed for time. The Arnevelde Trading Company has a policy of serving refreshments like these promptly.”

“I see. Then I won’t hold back.”

The inn’s employees were affiliated with Radius, so it was safe for them to speak openly.

“What are we doing after this?”

“As I told you, we are heading to Elendil. I had intended to meet you there, but it seems the reference books were the reason you came to the capital.”

The cinders under investigation had not been brought to the Imperial Capital. They were being examined at a research institute roughly six hours away.

Ren had been told this in advance. The institute existed on the game map, but it had never been accessible, so he was a little excited to visit it.

Radius had warned him beforehand, however, that they were unlikely to learn anything useful.

They were only examining cinders, so that prediction was understandable. Ren was not particularly bothered by it.

“While we have time, I will show you what I was working on earlier.”

Radius stood, returned to the desk, picked up the documents lying there, and brought them back to the sofa.

“You may read them.”

“Are you sure it’s all right to show me the details of the Third Prince’s work so casually?”

“You misunderstand. This is not work I performed as a member of the imperial family. I was merely compiling information from a matter I had been investigating personally. Even Ulysses is not involved.”

“Oh? In that case, I’ll take a look without hesitation.”

Ren started to reach for the documents while still holding a snack, then stopped himself.

He thought doing so would be rather impolite.

“Do not worry about it. I am the only one watching.”

Radius wanted him to behave casually, so Ren did exactly that.

Still holding the snack in one hand, he turned his attention to the papers on the table.

“That is better,” Radius said with satisfaction.

“Oh… I think I understand why you were investigating this.”

“Now that you have read it, what do you think?”

“I’m curious about what someone is trying to hide behind all of this.”

“Hmm. Then I will tell you more later.”

Their conversation over lunch settled down a little more than ten minutes later.

“Now then, it is about time we left. Once we reach the magic ship, I would also like to change out of this uniform.”

“Right—why were you wearing it in the first place?”

“It is a weekday, so I attended the academy. Those going to the party in Gargazia were excused, but that had nothing to do with me.”

That made sense. Ren nodded and left the guest room with Radius.

They secretly boarded a carriage and departed for Elendil without being seen by the public.

After discreetly boarding a civilian magic ship there as well, several hours passed.

The edge of the sky was beginning to glow madder red.

“Ren, look below us.”

Radius spoke abruptly, directing Ren’s attention to the window.

They were in a luxurious cabin of the sort used even by nobles.

Naturally, they had separate rooms, but they had been chatting during the flight and were now standing before the same window.

Ren looked down at the scenery spread beneath them.

“Is that Gargazia?”

“Yes. That large inn must be where Lessard and the others are staying.”

Radius pointed toward a sizable building.

“Ah… It certainly looks like the most luxurious inn in the city.”

“Did you research the prices of the inns as well?”

“—Something like that.”

After evading the question, Ren continued staring down at Gargazia.

He had no idea what was happening inside that inn at that very moment.

　

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

“…And?”

Sera Riohard clutched her head.

She was inside a reservation-only salon at the luxurious inn where she was staying.

“How did things end up like this?!”

Her shout echoed through the salon.

There was no need to worry, however. Only the people named in the reservation could enter this salon—not even the inn’s employees were permitted inside.

Moreover, Ulysses had reserved it under his own name until the party ended.

“Because all of us were invited to the same party, obviously.”

“Yes… I am sorry that we surprised you…”

Two beautiful young ladies answered Sera’s outburst.

Licia spoke first and Fiona second. Still unable to calm down, Sera repeated herself with exaggerated emphasis.

“That! Is! Not! The point! I don’t mind that we ran into each other! I want to know why all three families ended up dining together, and why only the daughters were sent elsewhere to chat!”

It had not been long since everyone had met at the elevator and been bewildered by the strange situation.

At Ulysses’s suggestion—delivered with his usual composure—the Ignat, Riohard, and Clausel families had somehow shared a meal.

He had reserved a private dining room, and proposed that they make use of the opportunity to eat together.

(Leaving our family aside, the Ignats and the Riohards probably had all sorts of motives.)

House Clausel could not refuse Ulysses’s invitation, but neither did it intend to engage in political maneuvering at the table he had arranged.

The same could not be said of the other two families.

They belonged to opposing factions, yet both had ties to House Clausel. With the Grand Clock Tower incident that summer still fresh, it would hardly have been surprising for them to test one another.

(Marquis Ignat is crafty. By inviting us first, he made it only natural for House Riohard to pay attention to us.)

Whether Ulysses had deliberately intended to probe Elk’s feelings was unclear.

Given how effortlessly aloof he always seemed, he might simply have been amusing himself by watching Elk grow nervous.

Only Ulysses himself knew the truth.

As for why the three daughters had been separated from their fathers—

“I have reserved the salon, so the three of you should go and enjoy a leisurely conversation!”

—Ulysses had made a proposal that was strangely difficult to refuse.

Licia truly could not fathom what he was thinking.

“What’s wrong with talking for a while? You’re making far too much fuss, Sera.”

“M-Me alone?! More importantly, you’ve been far too calm ever since dinner, Licia!”

“Yes. I see no reason to make a commotion.”

Making one would accomplish nothing, after all.

At the same time, Licia’s words revealed that she had met Fiona and Ulysses several times before.

Sera noticed that immediately.

Yet no one had explained why they had met, or what exchanges had taken place during the Grand Clock Tower incident, while they were at dinner.

Naturally, Elk, the head of House Riohard, had not felt inclined to ask Ulysses directly.

The man in question was Ulysses. Elk wished to avoid provoking one of his troublesome verbal exchanges with a careless question.

Giving up on understanding the many mysteries around her, Sera exhaled.

She took a bite of the cake that had been prepared and tried to calm herself with its sweetness.

Watching the other two converse without any apparent surprise, Sera spoke again.

“Perhaps we should discuss the same sort of thing our fathers are discussing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Why they sent us away. They are probably discussing all sorts of troublesome noble business, but don’t you think that strange matter involving the money is part of it?”

Sera sounded confident, but Licia and Fiona exchanged puzzled looks.

“You don’t know either, Lady Fiona?”

“No. I do not remember Father telling me anything about it.”

Sera then explained.

“I heard there was a suspicious flow of money somewhere within this large-scale project.”

Intrigued by what she had heard, Fiona asked a question.

“Have the authorities already begun an investigation?”

Sera answered in a slightly more formal tone than the one she used with Licia.

“Probably not. If a formal investigation had begun, they would hardly be holding a party.”

“I see. In that case, the people who know the circumstances must still be discussing how to proceed.”

If Elk possessed that information, perhaps some form of preliminary investigation was already underway under his direction.

Licia and Fiona also assumed that Ulysses must know about it.

“If you two are curious, perhaps I should go ask them a few questions.”

“Do you mean going to the room where the three of them are talking?”

“Th-That might be a bad idea… don’t you think?”

No one said it aloud, but if Sera went there, he would be waiting.

Yes—Ulysses Ignat.

Whether she could bring herself to face him was a concern even before the question of whether she was permitted to interrupt.

Realizing that, Sera gave an awkward whistle and stared off into the distance.

Fortunately, the uncomfortable atmosphere soon came to an end.

A little more than ten minutes later, all of their fathers returned.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

It was still a little early for dinner when Licia returned to her father’s guest room.

After answering his questions about how the three daughters’ conversation had gone, she remembered something and asked him in return.

“Father, have you heard about the suspicious flow of money?”

“…Who told you?”

“That response means you already knew.”

Lessard sighed and shrugged, then invited Licia to sit on the sofa while he took the seat opposite her.

“I have also been taking precautions so I will not be dragged into it. For my own protection.”

Lessard continued,

pausing to organize the information needed for his explanation.

“First, let me explain the project again.”

The size of Gargazia’s magic ship terminal had been expanded by fifty percent.

Many nobles and merchants, Lessard among them, had pooled their ideas and money to pursue arrangements that would benefit everyone.

A new magic ship terminal had been built in the distant domain of another noble who previously had none.

Roads had also been improved to make travel between regions easier for merchants.

Many of those measures had been Lessard’s proposals. The increase in magic-ship routes to various destinations was the main reason Gargazia’s terminal had needed expansion.

“The work involved extensive construction, including grading the land, and mountains of materials had to be ordered.”

“And that was where you found something suspicious?”

“Yes. Perhaps it was because this was such a vast undertaking, involving countless nobles, wealthy investors, trading companies, and many others—but something caught my attention.”

Lessard had noticed an irregularity in a part of the work that did not concern him directly.

Although a viscount was still considered a lower-ranking noble, Lessard was capable enough that even Ulysses recognized his ability.

That was precisely why he had noticed the faintest discrepancy—

“I discovered an unnecessary flow of money between a certain trading company and a landowner.”

“A landowner?”

“Yes. Several roads were rebuilt alongside the terminal expansion. One of them needed to pass beside a mountain owned by a long-established landowner, so Viscount Gargazia purchased part of the property.”

But the matter did not end there.

“Afterward, money somehow changed hands between the trading company I mentioned and that landowner. There is no evidence that the two parties bought or sold land between themselves, so the payment is difficult to explain.”

“With money moving that way, did no one else besides you find it suspicious?”

“A simple transfer would eventually be discovered. This time, however, they repeatedly took steps clearly intended to conceal it.”

To obscure the source of the funds, donations were sent to affiliated institutions, while money was moved through volatile precious metals and real-estate transactions.

According to Lessard’s investigation, grain purchases and sales had also been used.

The transactions crossed both domestic and international borders.

The trail had been made increasingly complex, obscuring where the original funds came from and how they had moved—

In other words, the information had been deliberately made convoluted and hidden with considerable skill.

“Y-You can determine even things like that, Father…?”

“I have been fortunate enough to gain experience as a noble. I did not actively go looking for this; after everything I have experienced, I simply notice small irregularities more readily than I once did.”

Just as Ren continued to grow at a monstrous rate, Lessard was becoming more capable as a noble. Realizing that from his explanation, Licia smiled.

“The company is called the Norman Trading Company, but the amount involved was far beyond what a company of its size should have been handling.”

“It sounds suspicious even from that description alone.”

“Doesn’t it? They may be conducting some illicit business in secret—or preparing to begin one. A proper investigation will likely be opened before long.”

Perhaps it had already begun.

Lessard gave a wry smile.

◇ ◇ ◇ ◇

After visiting the research institute, Ren and Radius returned to the magic ship.

They would be staying aboard that day and the next. Although it was a ship, the expensive cabin they had rented was exceedingly comfortable.

“In the end, they were nothing but cinders.”

Radius sighed in his cabin.

He sat on a round wooden chair beside the window, with Ren seated in the matching chair opposite him.

“Well… We more or less knew that already.”

The material left by the Unholy Sky Tyrant Aiuro was, as they had known from the beginning, little more than cinders.

The institute had investigated the theory that, if special drugs or magic had been used to make it appear above Elendil, some trace of the method should remain.

Radius possessed the Analysis skill, but relying on it alone and neglecting a proper investigation was out of the question.

According to what they had heard that day, however, the researchers had confirmed only the known characteristics of the Unholy Sky Tyrant Aiuro.

“They said another test result will be ready tomorrow. It won’t be too late to reach a conclusion after we see that, will it?”

“…You are right, Ren. Still, I asked you to accompany me all this way, so I feel guilty that we learned nothing.”

“I don’t mind. I’ve gotten to hear all sorts of things too.”

He meant it. This was a valuable opportunity.

If Radius obtained any new information, Ren could learn it immediately as well.

It simply was not realistic to expect useful results every single time.

“If you prefer, we can leave for Gargazia now.”

Aware that the chances of learning anything the next day were exceedingly low, Radius made the offer apologetically.

Ren firmly declined. “No, it’s fine.”

“Even if we go, let’s finish our business here first.”

“Are you certain?”

“Yes. Lord Lessard would scold me if I failed to honor my promise to you—well, that part was a joke. But we’re already aboard this ship, literally, so I’ll see things through as planned.”

“Thank you. Then we will head to Gargazia tomorrow. We should arrive in time for the party.”

“Huh? You’re coming too, Radius?”

“I will not attend the party. I merely intend to speak with Lessard, who was only recently elevated to viscount, and see Ulysses while I am there.”

“Oh, so Lord Ulysses is only an afterthought.”

They looked at each other and laughed.

Outside the window beside them, night had already fallen.

Radius gazed into the darkness and spoke.

“Would you stay and talk with me a little longer?”

“I’m not sleepy yet, so I don’t mind at all.”

Still showing Ren his handsome profile, Radius continued.

“It is a continuation of the interesting matter I mentioned in the capital. A report just arrived concerning what I had been investigating.”

“What you were investigating… Oh, you mean the strange flow of money?”

“Precisely. I was curious why that trading company had paid a sum so far beyond its means. My subordinates have made an interesting discovery.”

“They moved quickly.”

“Fortunately. Since the institute yielded nothing worthwhile… would you mind if I made up for it with this story?”

“Not at all. Both subjects are interesting to hear about.”

Radius was pleased by Ren’s ready agreement.

After a brief preface, he began telling Ren, who sat nearby, the information that had only just arrived.

As he listened, Ren suddenly grew thirsty and picked up the glass on the table to take a drink.

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