On an early morning with a light drizzle of rain.

“I think I’ll have to stay in Maybel for a while.”

Hearing those sudden words during breakfast, Irene stopped eating her soup and looked at Kalos.

“Maybel… That’s the city in the eastern part of the empire, right?”

“You know it.”

“I’ve seen it in a book before.”

The book described it as the empire’s best resort, with a mild climate year-round, warm hot springs, and a beautiful sea.

“Are you going there for a vacation?”

“Among other things.”

That meant he had other reasons for going to Maybel.

“I see.”

Irene was curious about the reason, but didn’t ask.

Whatever the reason, she was sure it had nothing to do with her, and she thought it would be presumptuous to pry.

“When are you leaving?”

“I plan to depart on the weekend.”

The weekend was only two days away.

Such a sudden departure.

Irene stirred her soup full of chunks.

As far as she knew, it took at least a week to get from Esper territory to Maybel, even traveling quickly.

Assuming it took about ten days, round trip would be twenty days.

Factoring in time for Kalos to conduct business in Maybel, she concluded she wouldn’t see him for at least a month.

“…”

Realizing this, Irene frowned as a corner of her heart ached sharply.

A mashed potato floated on the soup from her spoon that had pressed too hard.

Not seeing him for nearly a month was a very sad thing, but looking at it differently, it was an opportunity.

An opportunity to let go of her feelings for Kalos.

They say distance makes the heart grow fonder, so it would be nice if she could let go of her feelings this time.

Somehow it felt unlikely, leaving a bitter taste in her mouth.

“So prepare for departure.”

“Alright, I’ll… Huh?”

Irene was about to reflexively agree when she noticed something odd and paused.

Prepare for departure, could it mean…

“Am I going to Maybel with you?”

Kalos asked back while picking up his coffee cup.

“Do you not want to go?”

“Ah, no, that’s not it!”

Irene raised her voice without realizing, then touched her nape and lowered her voice.

“It’s not that I don’t want to go… I was just a bit surprised that I’d be going with you.”

“You’re surprised by a lot of things.”

“I suppose so.”

Thinking it was silly to be surprised by such things, Irene smiled awkwardly and ate some soup.

The once-warm soup had already cooled, but it was still delicious.

*

“By the way, when you say prepare for departure… What kind of preparations do you mean? Packing luggage?”

Or was there something else she needed to prepare?

Suddenly curious, Irene asked, and Kalos wiped his mouth with a napkin before answering.

“Jessie will take care of packing the luggage, so you just need to prepare mentally.”

“Mental preparation?”

“Yes. There’s someone I want to introduce you to in Maybel.”

Irene, who had thought this had nothing to do with her even if Kalos had other reasons like business, widened her eyes at the unexpected words.

“Someone… you want to introduce to me?”

“Yes.”

“May I ask what kind of person?”

“Hmm.”

How should I introduce her?

If Irene was a resident of the underground or knew about the underground world, he could have simply explained that she was the Lord of Nomos.

Since that wasn’t the case, he pondered how to explain and what extent of information he could share.

“His name is Saren, and like Abel, he’s an old colleague of mine.”

After much deliberation, Kalos started with the basics.

Irene’s lips parted slightly.

“Your Excellency’s… friend?”

Saren wasn’t a friend but a colleague, but since the meaning was similar, Kalos nodded without adding more.

“…”

Why are you introducing me to your friend?

Is there some special reason?

Irene wanted to ask that, but she couldn’t bring herself to and only moved her lips silently.

She wanted to know the truth, but also felt it might leave her feeling empty once she knew.

Misunderstanding Irene’s conflicted expression, Kalos added:

“Unlike Abel, Saren knows manners, so there’s no need to worry.”

“…”

Irene stared at Kalos for a moment, then smiled.

“I look forward to meeting them.”

Though she didn’t know why Kalos wanted to introduce his friend.

In any case, introducing someone close to him meant he considered her as one of his people, so Irene decided to be content with that.

*

Kalos’s plan was to stop by Maybel, ask Saren, who was vacationing there, to protect Irene.

Then go to the capital to wrap up business, return to Maybel to pick up Irene, and go back to Esper territory.

As Dewey was preparing according to this plan, there was a part he couldn’t understand at all, so he resolved to risk being scolded and asked Kalos:

“Wouldn’t it be better to ask the Blue Lord to protect the young lady rather than the Green Lord?”

Green Lord was another title for Saren.

“The Green Lord might not comply with your request, but the Blue Lord would surely agree. Moreover, since he knows your circumstances well, I think it would be better to ask the Blue Lord to protect the young lady.”

Seeing Kalos’s eyebrows rise, Dewey quickly bowed his head.

“I apologize if I’ve overstepped. I was just worried about what would happen if the Green Lord refused your request…”

“…I know.”

Fortunately, Kalos didn’t seem angry and replied calmly as he put down his pen.

“I’m worried about that part too, but there’s no choice. I can’t entrust her to Abel.”

“If it’s not impertinent, may I ask why?”

Could it be because Abel acted a bit suspiciously?

“Abel said he’s interested in her.”

“…Pardon?”

Dewey, who had thought that might be the case, was taken aback by the completely unexpected answer and asked again.

“The Blue Lord is… interested in the young lady?”

“Yes.”

Well, what in the world does this mean?

He knew Abel was particularly fond of women, but he never thought he’d be interested in a woman destined to die soon.

Then again, even Kalos liked Irene, so there was no reason Abel couldn’t.

“…”

Recalling that fact anew, Dewey’s expression darkened.

It suddenly occurred to him that the reason Kalos couldn’t entrust Irene to Abel might be due to ‘jealousy’.

No, it’s certain.

Otherwise, there would be no reason to seek out Saren when Abel was a sure option.

“Don’t worry. He seems to have some sense, saying he won’t interfere with the flower blooming.”

Misunderstanding the reason for Dewey’s darkened expression, Kalos added.

“I see.”

Dewey couldn’t bring himself to say that wasn’t it, and just glossed over it.

He didn’t forget to manage his expression either.

“Then wouldn’t it be alright to entrust the young lady to the Blue Lord?”

“I don’t want to repeat the same words.”

As Kalos dismissed it, Dewey had no choice but to close his mouth.

“How are things with the pigeons?”

Dewey took a deep breath and answered.

“A likely suspect has been caught, but they haven’t received a definite guilty verdict. Above all, the suspect is refusing to leave, saying they need to find evidence that they’re really the culprit.”

The corners of Kalos’s lips curved up crookedly.

“We should change their nickname from pigeon to leech.”

How could they be so unnecessarily persistent? They seemed even more tenacious than leeches.

“Shall we forcibly drive them out?”

Kalos tapped his fingers on the desk, thinking for a moment, then shook his head.

“No. Instead of driving them out, leak information that I’m going to the capital to attend the trial as a witness.”

A question mark floated above Dewey’s head.

“Will that be alright? If the pigeons find out about this, they’ll insist on going to the capital together.”

Would it just be the pigeons? People sent by the imperial family would surely insist on going together as well.

If they were going straight to the capital, it wouldn’t matter much if they went together, though it would be somewhat annoying and troublesome. The problem was that they had to stop by Maybel first.

“If they want to come along, let them.”

Kalos smiled eerily as he leaned back deep in his chair.

“That is, if they can keep up with us.”

*

As Dewey had predicted, when people from the temple and imperial family heard that Kalos was going to the capital, they expressed their desire to go together.

Kalos gave permission for them to do as they wished, but attached a condition.

“Don’t expect any help from me,” he said.

People were perplexed by this sudden statement, but didn’t dare ask Kalos what he meant.

Instead, all kinds of speculation ran rampant among them.

“Does it mean he won’t help if any danger befalls us on the way to the capital?”

“I think so too.”

This was the hypothesis that gained the most support among people.

Normally, people would be disappointed in this situation, but since no one had expected help from Kalos in the first place, everyone just accepted it and moved on.

There had been all sorts of hardships and difficulties when coming to Esper territory, but they had overcome them all, so they were confident they could do so again on the return journey.

Especially the people from the temple, having received the blessing of a high priest, were all the more fearless.

…That is, if someone with very strong power didn’t intentionally try to kill them.

“…”

Albard took out an identity token from his bosom.

It was the identity token of the priest who had died falling off a cliff.

The identity token of the holy knight who died with that priest was nowhere to be seen, perhaps swept away by the rapids.

They couldn’t recover the holy knight’s body either.

They only guessed that the two had fallen off the cliff together because the dead priest was clutching the holy knight’s cloak.

Everyone said their deaths were an unfortunate accident, but… well.

“Was it really a coincidence?”

Albard also thought it was a coincidence until coming to Esper territory, but changed his mind after seeing Sergio’s corpse.

Perhaps Kalos had killed them.

“…”

That meant Kalos might try to kill them on the return journey, disguising it as an accident.

That might be why he said not to expect any help.

Albard hoped his thoughts were wrong, but decided to make preparations just in case, given the possibility.

“Brother, I have an urgent request.”

Immediately summoning a trustworthy priest, Albard pressed the dead priest’s identity token firmly into his hand and made various instructions.

“…Can you do it?”

The priest who received Albard’s orders nodded resolutely.

“Yes. I will carry it out as instructed.”

“I’m counting on you, brother.”

After the priest left, Albard let out a sigh of relief.

He thought it would be fine no matter what tricks Kalos tried, now that he had made preparations.

“…!”

Something happened that was not fine at all.