“...Excuse me, Student Council President.”

“What is it?”

“Could you please relax your expression?”

“I will consider it.”

Sure.

You won’t be taking it into consideration at all, will you?

Iliya held her head with both of her hands as she felt a throbbing pain in her temples.

“...That personage is none other than Her Imperial Majesty the Empress, you know? If you keep sending her such a gaze, she might find fault with it.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

“...”

I’m just trying to tell you!

Stop glaring at the Empress and the Chancellor as if you’re going to kill them!

You have bloodshot on your eyes, you know?!

“...”

Seriously. It’s scary!

“...They’re just pretending. So, please don’t take it to heart.”

Iliya said as if scolding Eleanor.

She had already heard that Dowd was going to purposefully make his entrance with the Chancellor and the Empress on both his sides to draw attention.

In truth, she didn’t want to come here because that wasn’t something she particularly wanted to see, but she ended up coming anyway because she was worried that Eleanor might cause trouble again.

…So much happened in a short time.

After receiving training from the Fist Saint, she was able to apply ‘deterrent force’ to this person to an extent, which made her feel good.

She had grown from the time when they first met, when her body froze, unable to take out her sword properly.

…Well, still.

As she let her mind wander like that, Eleanor called out to her.

“...Do they look like they’re just pretending to you?”

“...”

Actually, she did find it strange—as if those two were doing it for real instead of pretending, to some extent at least.

Especially seeing how the Empress and the Chancellor started having an argument after Dowd left with Marquis Bogut.

“...Let’s worry about that later.”

In any case, she decided to change the subject first.

“What we should be worried about is how to not stand out so we don't get caught red-handed later."

Iliya said so while fiddling with her dress awkwardly.

She knew this wasn’t considered good manners.

Of course, someone at the level of a Hero Candidate or Lady Tristan would naturally know all the proper etiquettes required at a social gathering held in the Imperial Palace.

People might say something about her if she did something bad here, but she felt incredibly awkward in this kind of dress, so she ended up doing it unconsciously.

“...Were you not originally a commoner?”

“A lot of people think so, but I’m not really a commoner.”

“...? Were you a noble, then?”

“That's not what I mean.”

Eleanor looked at her, blinking her eyes.

She didn’t seem to understand what Iliya was talking about.”

“If your family or relative is a knight that belongs to the Imperial Guard, you’ll usually ascend in status to become a quasi-noble! While you can’t possess a fief, you’ll still be able to enjoy the privileges of a noble under the Imperial Law!”

“...”

At those sudden words, Iliya turned her head.

There, she found a man, grinning so widely to the point that his eyes seemed slanted.

“Nice to meet you, Iliya Krisanax! This is the first time I’m seeing you in person!”

“...Who are you?”

Usually, she was always acting kind and friendly, but this time, her voice had an unusual edge to it.

It was so out of character of her to the point that even Eleanor looked at her with wide eyes.

“I would appreciate it if you call me Marquis Bogut!”

“...”

Iliya silently glared at him.

She was obviously trying to look for information she could get about him.

Meanwhile, Marquis Bogut continued.

“Your expression tells me you want to ask how I knew about your brother!”

“...”

As soon as she heard him saying that, her face went slightly blank.

“I won’t tell you, though!”

“...”

After that, he continued without giving her time to respond.

Her face stiffened as she looked at him.

For some reason, she felt a bizarre sense of incongruity.

From the way he suddenly popped out and babbled on…

Moreover…

…He feels familiar.

As if…

He’s similar to Teach.

The way he talked—how he seemed to be able to know everything she was thinking.

How it felt like he was trying to control people the way he wanted to fit his own ‘plan’.

As if he ‘knew everything in advance’ and led the situation the way he wanted.

Other than Dowd, he was the first person who gave her such an impression.

“Though, I could probably tell you something that might help you find out what you are looking for. The whereabouts of your brother.”

Marquis Bogut said, his grin was still plastered on his face.

“So, are you interested?”

“...”

Iliya’s reply was a silent glare.

Every single part of him seemed… abrupt; his actions did not seem to have any clear order.

How he appeared before them, how he hit a nerve deep inside of her.

There was this feeling of uneasiness as she was talking with him.

However…

“...Nice to meet you, Marquis Bogut. I haven't even said hello yet.”

The thing here was…

“Can you elaborate what you meant by that?”

For her…

It sounded like he didn’t give her any other choice.

The Imperial Palace’s building was old, as old as Elfante was.

“Umph…”

I struggled to climb up the exterior wall of the building.

Originally, this place was surrounded by a barrier that blocked all access so that people couldn’t even come nearby, but that wasn’t a problem for me because of the key Bogut gave me.

Seeing the guard went pale when I showed him the key was quite something.

[So, where are we?]

“As I’ve said before, somewhere I can’t enter without you.”

The thing surrounding the exterior wall was like the yellow police-line in modern times.

It screamed ‘Off Limits!’.

Which meant that the inside of this place was ‘not currently used’.

I crossed over it and landed on the courtyard of the building.

[What I’m trying to say is, why would we go to such a place? I thought you said you’re going to look for something useful?]

“You'll know when you see it.”

I replied while looking around.

An abandoned building that exuded a bleak atmosphere came into my view.

[...This place.]

“It's a familiar place to you, right?”

I had stopped by this place once when I entered Caliban’s memory before.

This was the headquarters of the Guardians, commonly known as the ‘Citadel of Lions’.

[...]

The Soul Linker was filled with silence.

Behind that silence, Caliban seemed to be trying hard to suppress something.

As if he was being weighed down by his memories.

“...”

To that, I didn’t say anything.

Just from that, I could already tell that this man must’ve held some kind of… deep sorrow.

The crumbling building, weeds growing here and there, spiderwebs forming all over the place…

All those people who were sacrificed to protect the Imperial citizens, following their own convictions…

Seeing the state of this place, it was clear that they didn’t seem to honor those who they had thrown to their deaths.

Instead, they were forgotten, abandoned, and ignored by them.

That was how it was.

[...Why did we come here?]

“I’ve told you already. There’s something only you can do for me.”

As I said so, I opened up the system window.

< Item Info >

[ Soul Linker ] [ Exclusive Equipment ]

[ Enchantment: Epic ]

[ This equipment is inhabited by a Grand Soul Spirit. Increasing the Synchronization Rate can awaken the Soul Spirit’s Consciousness. ]

[ Due to the influence of the Grand Soul Spirit, it always contains Mana. ]

[ Currently Charged Mana Rate: 100% ]

[ Current Synchronization Rate: 40% ]

After reading everything on the window, I checked the skill at the end.

< Item Info >

■ [ Defender’s Soul ] [ Skill Grade: S ]

[ Guardians have always been recognized as the defenders of justice and morality. Every time you suppress someone with malicious intent, you gain Special Stacks. If you fill up the Stack, you can summon the soul to the current world for a certain period of time. ]

[ Available Usage Time: 5 Minutes ]

This was the skill I had unlocked after increasing this guy’s synchronization rate.

Originally, I couldn’t use this skill, but thanks to me defeating the assassins in the Second Ordeal, the usage time had been charged a little.

System Message

[ Would you like to use the skill ‘Defender’s Soul’?] [ Y/N ]

I touched Y without hesitation.

As I did so, a certain someone’s body came out of the Soul Linker.

Well, actually, it wasn’t really a body. Let’s say that it was similar to a genie coming out of the lamp.

Like, a Soul Spirit, I guess?

“Uh, huh? What's this?”

Caliban, looking taken aback as he looked down at his body, came into my view.

His orange hair looked exactly like Iliya’s and there was a huge scar across his face.

And most of all…

“...”

Fucking hell, why is he so handsome?

 

Iliya was a rare beauty that you wouldn’t find just anywhere, and this guy was like the male version of her.

In other words, he was so handsome that it pissed me off.

“...Hello, Caliban.”

That was probably why my voice sounded particularly rough when I called out to him.

“What the— How did you do this?”

“You can think of it as something similar to necromancy but temporary. Also, you should be able to meddle with the Material Realm to some extent.”

It could be seen as a state similar to that of the Demonic Creature of the Soul Spirit Realm.

Though he was able to touch or move something himself.

‘Possession’ was possible, albeit in a limited way.

“You might be able to ‘enter’ my body and move to some extent.”

And as far as I knew…

There was definitely a challenge that would require me to get help from such an ability in the Citadel of Lions.

“...There's something you have to do with such an ability—”

As I walked while saying so…

I could hear the sound of someone gasping.

“...”

I flinched and looked around, but couldn't find anything.

Did I hear it wrong?

“...Why? What's wrong?”

Caliban, who had just materialized, said, while tilting his head.

“...No. Nothing.”

Right. Just think about it for a second. How could anyone follow me all the way here?

As I thought so, I continued walking.

“...”

Iliya covered her mouth as she gasped for breath.

Oppa.

Just now, she unconsciously hid herself because of how shocked she was.

Marquis Bogut told her to ‘search here’, so she immediately came here, but she never thought that she would see himin this place.

Caliban Krisanax.

Her only family was here.

…Necromancy?

It was also known as the sorcery to summon the dead.

And Dowd said that he had summoned Caliban through ‘something similar’ to that.

Which meant…

Her brother…

…No. No way.

She closed her eyes tightly as she shook her head.

But, she still couldn’t be so sure.

There was still a possibility that Dowd was just summoning her brother from somewhere far away.

So, she decided that it would be better to stop having such ominous thoughts.

…But, still.

That left the question, what kind of relationship did Dowd have with her brother?

Why did he look so close to the person she had been looking for so hard?

And, most of all…

“...”

Why did he not tell her?

Iliya bit her lip hard.

As she thought so…

She suddenly heard her brother’s voice.

“By the way, can other people see me in this state too?”

“They…should be able to. Why do you ask, though?”

“So, can I hit Iliya when I meet her?”

“...”

Dowd fell into silence.

So did Iliya, who was watching them while holding her breath.

“...What are you on about all of a sudden? That isn’t the right thing to say about your family.”

“So what? I want to hit her.”

To Dowd’s voice, who sounded as if he found his question ridiculous, Caliban scratched his head before continuing.

“Just think about it. Wouldn’t you also be pissed off if you see your younger sister lying to a man about being their fiancée or something just to seduce him?”

At the same time as he said that, Iliya’s face instantly reddened.

“...Ugh.”

She unconsciously let out a sound, sounding embarrassed.

In her head…

She recalled the things she had done in order to ‘win’ Dowd's heart so far.

If she had to choose the highlight among them, it would be what Caliban had just mentioned.

-You and I are actually engaged.

She remembered telling Dowd that lie when he lost his memory.

Since he had never mentioned anything about the time when he lost his memory after he got them back, she had been thinking that she successfully got away with it.

However…

Her brother…

Actually saw that…

Since that was the case, there was a high chance that Dowd also knew about it.

“...”

Iliya gulped dryly.

Maybe…

Just maybe…

…Her brother had seen everything she did to flirt with him.

Including when she said they were engaged or whatever.

“...”

Iliya stroked her chin with a serious look on her face.

Hmm.

I see.

“...Can I just die now?”

Surprisingly, she felt that dying wouldn’t feel so bad now.