“…What on earth are you doing?”

The woman before me asked Bajar, her gaze filled with suspicion.

It was a perfectly natural reaction. If anyone broke into your mansion and smashed all your security gadgets, being wary would be the least of your concerns.

As Ruby cautiously examined him, her eyes darted towards the curtain.

“……!”

She turned pale with shock.

The Imperial Guard Knight.

Seeing that symbol, Ruby recognized Bajar’s true identity.

“Still don’t you understand why I’m here?”

Bajar asked, scrutinizing Ruby’s face.

‘Princess Thirteenth thought this woman was hiding something important.’

That was why Bajar had been dispatched to this place, all alone, without backup.

But that wasn’t going to be an issue.

He had enough muscle to handle things himself.

As a Blade Master affiliated with the Empire, Bajar was renowned as a monster possessing the power to oppose nations single-handedly.

Any additional soldiers would only be a nuisance.

He had the strength to solve everything on his own.

Of course, this mission would probably be quite the hassle, anyway.

Commands from the Thirteenth Princess were notoriously tricky, mostly lacking in logical basis.

She relied more on instinct than on any rational judgment when making decisions.

Though her intuition had been impressively accurate, yielding substantial results over time, it was painfully frustrating from the standpoint of someone executing the commands.

And that was the case now, too.

Here he was, tasked with probing a businesswoman who was trying to hide her identity while devouring the potion industry.

Bajar had no solid evidence or convincing logic to speak of.

But he couldn’t defy the orders of royalty.

Having witnessed the Emperor’s power, Bajar understood better than anyone that going against the Empire’s royalty was tantamount to committing suicide.

Thus, he spoke to Ruby.

“You should have prepared for this kind of thing. After all, you brought this upon yourself.”

What exactly that “thing” was, Bajar didn’t know.

He only heard rumors that someone desperately trying to hide their identity was up to something suspicious. However, he hadn’t received any further details.

But that didn’t matter.

After all, his words were merely attempts to gauge her reactions.

Bajar observed Ruby closely, noting her expressions and pupil movements; every small reaction could be a clue to what she was hiding.

However, something odd happened.

“P-please forgive me!”

Just moments ago, she had exuded an air of dignity and grace. Now, here she was, trembling and on the verge of tears.

“I-I really didn’t mean to evade taxes!”

Ruby hurriedly explained.

She had stumbled upon a potion recipe by chance and thought to start a business.

“It feels wrong to sell things that are a matter of life and death for a high price… but if I price them low, the people I used to do business with might retaliate against me…”

It seemed she had gone to great lengths to conceal her identity to avoid such troubles.

Her nonpayment of taxes stemmed from fears of being outed.

…Indeed.

That was somewhat logical.

If that’s the case, the reason behind her disguise made sense.

Her trembling could understandably be attributed to her fear of the penalties for tax evasion.

But…

“Did you think I would be deceived by your pathetic lies?”

Bajar glared at Ruby, his voice low.

The aura of the swordmaster he emanated drained the color from Ruby’s face.

She trembled uncontrollably, even sinking to the floor in despair.

“Lies won’t work on me.”

Bajar declared in front of the pale Ruby.

Whether his intimidation tactics were effective or not, Ruby began to confess her sins, shaking like a leaf.

“I-I’m sorry! Honestly, I did evade taxes on purpose! The Empire hasn’t done anything for me, yet they keep taking too much of my money…”

She was sobbing as she recounted her misdeeds.

Bajar’s bluffing had backfired; he’d tried testing her twice, and the result was this confession.

‘…This is…’

It was hard to dismiss her words as lies.

Ruby’s expression was full of fear.

She was discreetly fiddling with the gold coins in her pocket, contemplating whether to bribe him.

Anyone less than shrewd wouldn’t have concocted such a scheme.

“I see. You’ve realized your mistakes. Just make sure to correct them quickly.”

Bajar directed her to donate 60% of her profits to the Empire. He hadn’t prepared a special contract to bind her under some formal agreement, but that could always be sorted out later with his subordinates.

‘Princess Thirteenth must have her off days too.’

Bajar thought as he exited the mansion.

…Or at least he tried to.

Ding-a-ling!

A sudden ringing filled the air.
Before he could even register the sound of the magical communication device activating.

*

Ruby’s face turned ashen.

Unlike her earlier act, this time she was genuinely terrified.

Her mind went completely blank.

She had been fine just a moment ago.

Suddenly, the Imperial Swordmaster had arrived, and he seemed to have caught onto her identity as a member of the Black Fangs.

No matter how much of a superhuman a swordmaster was, Ruby had spent years living with “those kinds of beings.”

Being scared in front of one seemed utterly absurd.

So, Ruby had calmly assessed the situation and recognized that the man before her was merely trying to test her.

After all, acting was an essential skill for a businesswoman. Conning him didn’t seem all that hard, either.

But….

Ding-a-ling!

The abrupt sound from the communication device changed everything.

The departing Imperial Swordmaster turned around.

“Isn’t it better to take that call? The other party must be waiting.”

He casually remarked, urging her to answer the call.

A cold sweat trickled down Ruby’s back.

If it were an ordinary call, that would be fine.

But if it… the slim chance that it came from…

The revolutionary forces?

Or perhaps a call from Ian?

Everything might fall to pieces. The identity of the Black Fangs might be exposed to the whole world.

“……”

Bajar was watching her suspiciously.

Ruby slowly walked toward the communication device.

With just a push of a button, the face of the one on the line would pop up right here.

“Don’t do anything you’ll regret.”

Bajar warned, having sensed something was amiss.

Ruby stared blankly at the communication device.

What decision should she make?

She was questioning herself.

‘Is this a call I can safely answer or not?’

If it’s not a call from the revolutionary forces, she could somehow maneuver her way through it.

Considering the usual frequency of contacts she received, there was only about a 20% chance that this was a call she shouldn’t take.

That’s an 80% chance of escaping the situation unscathed.

‘But if I don’t take the call…’

She would certainly be suspected.

That in itself would raise suspicion; it would be impossible to bluff her way through that.

If he truly began searching for any evidence against her, it wouldn’t take long for him to discover this device.

A capable mage with time on their hands might reveal every message sent to and from her.

So she had to smash the device before that could happen.

‘The problem is…’

What would happen afterwards?

If she refused to take the call and ended up breaking the device, he would certainly catch on.

He’d discover her true identity.

Then what would occur was obvious.

She would finally be trapped by the Black Fangs.

They’d stop at nothing to extract information about the organization.

‘…I wouldn’t want to witness that.’

Torture.

Days where she’d regret being alive would unfold.

Time was running out.

She had to make a choice.

And what was the rational choice was painfully clear.

Torture was terrifying enough.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to endure it.

Life was precious above all.

Being a bit selfish could help her dodge that risk.

So Ruby…

Threw the communication device to the ground.

The delicate magical device shattered to pieces upon impact.

In an instant, a terrifying killing intent surged toward her, far more intense than before.

“I warned you not to do anything you’d regret.”

Bajar said, drawing his sword.

…Certainly.

His words might have been valid.

This was a foolish decision.

It was a choice that jettisoned all her gains.

Ordinary thinking would dictate prioritizing her safety first.

But.

Even if she understood that…

“I couldn’t help it! I felt like I would regret it if I didn’t do this.”