He hadn’t expected finding a trace of anything to be easy — but this was so thoroughly, devastatingly empty that he didn’t feel even the slightest urge to return to the party hall.
Swish. Swish.
Basen looked down at the fluffy bundle cradled in one hand.
He hadn’t been able to bring himself to leave it behind, not when it had collapsed into sleep as though it had simply blacked out.
“The only thing I have to show for any of this is this little guy. …Should I just make a run for it?”
This might have been the only chance to catch a thread leading to the being the Mage Tower had been tracking for years.
Might be waiting another few years before another chance like this comes along.
Basen’s expression grew heavy.
He didn’t know much about a lot of things, but he knew this — of everything in the world, this was the one matter Sion reacted to most acutely. That knowledge alone made his chest feel heavier with every step.
As the party hall gradually drew nearer, Basen’s stride slowed.
“Still… how was it even able to speak?”
More precisely, it hadn’t spoken aloud — it had seemed to transmit its thoughts through some special power.
He had called it a dog, and the thing had erupted in fury, then burned through every last drop of its strength and crumpled. Looking at it now… it seemed like it had been carrying quite a lot of pent-up grievance.
“I’ll have to show the Tower Master this much, at least.”
Who knew? Perhaps Sion would take a liking to the little creature.
And then, well past midnight, the temple was thrown into an uproar.
The sacred beast the Pope had treasured most dearly — the one he had always kept by his side — had vanished without a trace.
The beast whose existence could never, under any circumstances, be made known to the outside world was gone, and the color drained from every priest’s face.
“If His Holiness learns of this, none of you will come out of it unscathed. Find the sacred beast — now!”
⁂
The party was drawing to a close, and yet not a single guest moved to leave first.
That was simply the nature of the people gathered here tonight — not one of them could be taken lightly.
The hall was packed with nobles making last-ditch attempts to secure some kind of connection until the very final moment.
“Riersha, are you sleepy? Do you want to sit down for a bit?”
“No, I’m fine… I’m not sleepy.”
Riersha forced her eyes open against the heaviness tugging them shut.
She had to return to the Arachrene family estate once today was over.
Leaving Isierd behind.
It was something she had looked forward to every single day — going home — but now that the moment was almost here, it didn’t feel nearly as wonderful as she had imagined it would.
Father said not to let anyone see how close I am with Isierd, but… no matter how I look at it, that’s still too much.
It seemed she would be leaving without even being able to say goodbye.
They had exchanged farewells in advance, precisely because she had worried this might happen, but the ache of it lingered all the same.
Riersha was struggling to keep her drooping eyes open and pull her thoughts back into focus when it struck her.
“Hmm?”
Sion was gone. Nowhere to be seen.
Where did she go?
And then she noticed it — someone else who seemed to be quietly, urgently trying to leave.
“I’m afraid it has grown rather late. I must take my leave now. …Please, everyone, do travel home safely.”
Someone had entered the hall and delivered a message to the Pope, who had quickly dismissed those around him and slipped away.
Ricador watched him go, murmuring with a puzzled look.
“Did something happen at the temple all of a sudden?”
“At the temple?”
Riersha perked up, her ears practically pricking forward as she asked.
Ricador nodded.
“Yes. A priest robed in temple vestments bearing the temple’s insignia — that’s someone with a high rank even within the temple. For a person like that to come in person to deliver a message…”
It meant something had occurred that the Pope himself had to go and handle personally.
Riersha quietly watched the Pope disappear, then turned back.
“Oppa, do you know where the Tower Master went?”
“I don’t know. Did anyone see her?”
Ricador glanced around and asked the room. Risideon raised his hand, his fingertip pointing toward the party hall’s exit.
“She slipped out quietly a little while ago.”
“When did she leave?”
“Just a moment ago. She caught my eye and told me she thought she spotted someone she knew and that she’d step out for a bit.”
Riersha frowned at that.
Sion — who had stayed glued to their side even while enduring cold words, precisely because there was no one at this party she knew — had suddenly spotted someone familiar?
That couldn’t be right.
Riersha felt the prickle of something deeply suspicious.
“I’m going outside for just a sec. I’ve got something I need to do.”
“The party’s almost over and it’s dark out — where do you think you’re going?”
Riscal started in alarm and immediately objected.
But Pernoa seemed to think a little differently.
He studied Riersha as she gazed up at him with those earnest, pleading eyes, gave her head a single gentle pat, and relented easily.
“You can go out for a little while. But Risideon goes with you.”
“…”
“If you don’t like that, then forget it.”
“No, it’s fine! I’ll go with Oppa Risideon and come right back!”
Riersha quickly shook her head and grabbed Risideon’s hand without hesitation.
“Then… we’ll be back shortly.”
“Go on.”
Risideon, who had been standing there at a loss, was pulled along by Riersha’s grip as they walked out of the party hall.
Riscal watched the two of them leave, then turned back with an expression that said he simply couldn’t understand.
“You don’t even know why she’s going out. Why did you let her? Riersha’s never been to the imperial palace before.”
Her claim that she suddenly had business outside had obviously been a lie.
He wanted to understand why Pernoa had let it go without question, even seeing through the transparent excuse.
“The two people who can’t stand each other both disappeared at the same time — she’s going out to find out what’s happening. That’s why I told her to bring Risideon along.”
There was no one among the three brothers who knew the interior of the imperial palace as well as Risideon did.
Pernoa glanced toward the party hall entrance and answered with unhurried ease.
⁂
“Riersha, where exactly are we going?”
Outside the party hall, Risideon asked with an expression caught somewhere between bewilderment and genuine curiosity.
Because — well.
“Oppa, is there anywhere around here where people could hide and have a secret conversation?!”
“…Why would you need a place like that?”
Riersha was behaving in a rather strange fashion.
She was combing through every corner — behind bushes, along the walls searching for gaps, any nook or cranny where someone might conceal themselves.
She had thrown herself into the search so enthusiastically that the hem of her skirt was now plastered with grass and leaves.
If Risideon hadn’t been with her, she likely would have been seized by the imperial guards long ago.
He had spent the entire walk to this out-of-the-way corner awkwardly smiling at suspicious knights who kept shooting them sideways glances, and his face muscles were very nearly cramping from the effort.
He was at least grateful that his face was recognizable. Otherwise he’d have had to announce his identity at every turn.
Risideon exhaled a long sigh.
“Come here for a moment, Riersha. Your dress is all dirty.”
Risideon had bent down on one knee and was carefully picking the leaves off the hem of her skirt one by one, when —
Rustle. Rustle rustle!
From somewhere nearby came the sound of something thrashing about with great intensity.
The sound was loud enough that both Riersha and Risideon heard it clearly.
“Doesn’t it seem like someone’s over there?”
“Yes. …It could be dangerous, so don’t go near it carelessly. If you tell me what you came out here for, I can take care of it for you.”
“Mm. Actually…”
Riersha leaned down close to Risideon, still kneeling, and whispered softly into his ear.
“I came out to find the Tower Master.”
“…The Mage Tower Master? Why?”
“Because something seemed off. She doesn’t have any of her people with her, and she said she didn’t know anyone at the party.”
“I see.”
The two siblings kept up their murmured conversation without ever taking their eyes off the spot where the sound had come from.
After some time had passed, from a corner barely large enough to squeeze two people in, a familiar voice drifted out.
“No, no — I told you to stay still! Tower Master, so what you’re saying is this isn’t a dog but a sacred beast? Ow, ow, ow!”
“You came back having accomplished precisely nothing I asked of you, but you did bring back something extraordinary — so I’ll let it slide.”
That voice was unmistakably —
Riersha and Risideon exchanged a glance for a brief moment, then turned their eyes back toward the direction of the sound.
Then, all at once, something shot out and buried itself in Riersha’s arms with a soft thump.
“Kyiin!”
“…Who are you?”
Soft fur met her fingertips. She carefully stroked the mysterious little creature.
Because there was a familiar energy coming off it.
Divine power — the very same she had felt once before, from Isierd.
“That was our find first, so would you mind returning it, little lady?”
Sion stepped out from the shadowed corner a moment later, one hand extended, her gaze fixed on the creature in Riersha’s arms.
Behind her, Basen stumbled out with a face that was in an absolute state of ruin — clearly bitten and scratched to within an inch of her dignity — sniffling as she went.
“What is this?”
“Well — let’s just say it’s mine for now.”
A thoroughly suspicious explanation.
Riersha studied Sion with narrowed, skeptical eyes, then looked back down at the fluffy little bundle in her arms.
It might not be — but…
A sacred beast.
This was, without a doubt, a sacred beast.
