“Here you are, Mr. Thatch. One pint of beer, just as you like it.”

“Ahh, thank ya, thank ya. ...Say, anyone e’er tell ya yer a pretty lass?”

“All the time, Mr. Thatch. Will you have any more today?”

“Ah, nothing more for me. Gotta go back to the missus with my liver intact, don’t I? Hahaha!”

“Very funny, Mr. Thatch.”

“Although… If ya’d come ‘round back with me for a romp in the alley, I’d be willing to fork over some extra-”

“Thank you for the offer, but I’ll have to decline, Mr. Thatch.”

Sitting by herself a few seats away, Micah watched the interaction between Henrietta and one of the customers at her workplace; a popular tavern in Halloway. After Henrietta left for work that morning, Bernadetta found that she’d forgotten her lunch a rare, but understandable mistake on the dutiful blonde’s part.

Whilst Bernadetta discussed with Brunhilde over who would go to bring it to her, Micah graciously offered to undertake the task in their place, pointing out that the two shouldn’t have to go out of their way to disrupt their schedules for something like that.

Though Brunhilde didn’t have a problem with it, it took much more convincing on both of their parts to get Bernadetta to stop worrying enough to trust her.

Currently, she’d just finished delivering it, and was now hanging out at the tavern while waiting for her to get off work so that they could go home together. In the meantime, she entertained herself by watching Henrietta interact with her customers and fellow coworkers (it was also one of the rare times she got to see Henrietta in her waitress uniform, which was nice), but her attention was soon drawn down to the white envelope held carefully in her hands above the table.

As she passed it between her fingers, she thought about the unexpected source she’d received it from: The two brothers Altheon and Barnabel, acolytes of the religion known as the Disciples of Circe that had played a direct role in nearly evicting the nuns from the church when she was two years old. Along with the envelope, they’d contacted her a couple of weeks prior with an urgent request.

Ever since that incident with the deed, Altheon and Barnabel had kept their word about never troubling Micah and her family again. However, after some reflection, Micah had seen the potential use in the two men that still believed her to be a demon taking the form of a child.

As a result, she eventually got back in contact with them and used their fear of her to garner their allegiance, offering them her protection from their boss’ retaliation against their betrayal in exchange for information and assistance whenever she requested it.

This relationship continued for the next five years without incident, until recently when the brothers came to her with a letter threatening Barnabel’s life in the face of an upcoming banquet being held at his private manor.

The letter stated that if Barnabel hosted the event, he would be killed that very same night; publicly executed for all of his precious guests to see. A nobleman has his enemies after all, and neither of them were very surprised that Barnabel would have at least one willing to send a nasty letter. Even so, it was a dangerous world, and one could never be too careful when it came to the defense of their life. Underestimation had felled stronger men in the past, even on Earth.

Despite his brother’s reluctance to ask her for help, Altheon humbly requested for Micah’s assistance in the matter, offering her and the nuns a free invitation to attend the banquet with VIP status as long as Micah could ensure that Barnabel survived the night.

Though she put on airs, Micah was immediately tempted by the idea of getting the chance to attend such a fancy party, and with her family as well. Taking into account the fact that Altheon and Barnabel were vital sources of information for her as well as valuable contacts due to their influence (particularly Barnabel’s noble status), Micah saw very little reason not to do as they asked of her.

“Heeeey, Henrietta! Get’chyer sweet arse over ‘ere and fill me up! Or maybe I can fill you up? Hahaha!”

“Coming, sir… And unfortunately, my sweet arse and I will have to decline. Though if you’re looking for a romp in the alley, that gentleman over there is offering to pay.”

“Wh-What are you saying?! I-I didn’t-! I mean, I wasn’t trying to-!”

The other patrons of the bar began to laugh at the man’s flustered reaction to Henrietta’s comment, and even her fellow waitresses were stifling giggles. Watching her lean over to deftly pour more beer into the cup of the gravelly-voiced customer, Micah felt as if Henrietta’s experience was on full display. Her tone was flat, but still had enough professionalism as to not be rude. All in all, she didn’t act much differently than she did at the church.

The snappiness was toned down of course, but she was still as strict and no-nonsense as usual with her customers. It seemed that only with her coworkers did she drop the stoicism and become friendlier, chatting with them just like a normal girl would with her friends on Earth.

“Phew…”

“Here you go. Good work out there.” The bartender, a girl named Capri if she remembered right, handed Henrietta a colorful drink as she returned to the bar and sat down with a deep sigh.

“Thanks,” she said, offering a weak smile in response to Capri’s sympathetic one. She raised the glass to her lips and took a small sip, eyes closing in bliss as she reveled in the taste. “Ooh, that’s good.”

“Sorry you have to deal with perverts like that all the time. Boss feels really bad about it, but…”

“It’s fine. I know how important their coin is for this place, and for my pay too. I’m just glad it’s only harmless flirting. It was much worse before, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was. Even before you came along, those bastards would get handsy with the waitresses. Poor girls were too scared to speak up for themselves though, and I was too busy to notice. I’m sure they’re still grateful to you for bringing it to Boss when you did. We lost a few customers, but...”

“It was just the trash that came here to molest girls trying to make an honest living; I’d hardly call it a loss. You and I both know we were better off without them. Plus, getting to watch Boss flip out on them was hilarious, and totally worth it.”

“Haha, I agree. I’ve never seen her so angry before. Those assholes got what was coming to them, for sure. Want another one?”

“Nah, I’ve gotta get back to it.” Henrietta let the last of the liquid flow down her throat as she stood from her seat. “But ask Micah if she wants anything. No alcohol, and not too much sugar, okay?”

“Mhm, got it. Good luck.”

“You too.” With a friendly exchange of waves, the two girls returned to their tasks.

-----

“Good work, everyone!”

“Good work!”

“Bye-bye! See you tomorrow!”

Eventually, evening arrived and many of the waitresses’ shifts had come to an end, Henrietta’s included. Micah waited for her to change out of her uniform and exchange farewells with her coworkers before the two headed home together, hand-in-hand.

“Mm? That’s the invitation letter for the banquet, right?” Henrietta asked, noticing the envelope in Micah’s other hand. “Ah, that’s right, it was today, wasn’t it. I almost forgot.”

Micah nodded silently along with her words, thinking back to the day she’d first brought the envelope to her family.

It wasn’t easy convincing the nuns to agree to go to the banquet. Once she’d heard that it was the same people who’d nearly made them all homeless that had made the offer, Henrietta adamantly refused, understandably suspicious. Even Bernadetta seemed hesitant and skeptical of another trap.

Unsurprisingly though, Josefine agreed to go without much thought, trusting Micah’s judgement over their past relationship with the conmen. Her decision caused Bernadetta to reluctantly do the same, admitting that despite not completely trusting them, she’d already long forgiven them for the deed incident anyway considering they had been attacked and nearly killed by the “guardian angel” that seemed to appear whenever the nuns were in trouble, once again reminding Micah of her mother’s overwhelming kindness.

Once Bernadetta consented, Brunhilde immediately followed, but admitted that she would rather stay and tend to the church than go to such a lively event. Faced with a majority decision, Henrietta had no choice but to relent, still believing it to be a bad idea but unwilling to let Bernadetta go without her being there as well.

“I’m telling you, it’s a stupid idea to trust those two after what they did.” Henrietta said, bringing her out of her thoughts.

“It’ll be fine, I promise,” Micah responded encouragingly. “Besides, you and Mama and Big Sis Josefine and Grammy are always working really hard. You should take the chance to have fun while it’s there, you know?”

“You’re just lucky this is taking place right before my day off. If I had work tomorrow, there’s no way I would’ve let you drag me into this.”

“You say that, but if Mama was going to a place like that without you, wouldn’t you take a day off or fake being sick so you could go too?”

“Th-That’s… You-, you don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Fufu~ Auntie Henni’s so shy~”

“H-Hey! Don’t you start teasing me, you cheeky little-!”

Micah giggled as she suddenly increased her pace, tugging on Henrietta’s hand and pulling her along as she shouted more complaints. After a short walk, they arrived back at the church and went inside.

“We’re home.”

“We’re home!”

They announced their arrival as they set foot in the chapel, and soon Josefine’s head peeked out of her room to respond.

“Ah, welcome home you guys~ We’re getting ready right now. We already did all the chores that needed to get done, so don’t worry about that.”

“Thanks, Josie. We’ll start getting ready too then.” Josefine gave them both a big grin before she disappeared into her room once more. From there, the two of them split off into their respective rooms.

“Mama, I’m home-”

“Micah~!!!” Bernadetta whined as she leaped up from the bed. Micah stumbled back in surprise as her mother thrusted a white blouse in her face. “Does this look bad?! Maybe I should wear blue instead?! A-And what about my hair?! I asked Madam Brunhilde to style it, but isn’t it a bit too flashy?! What if everyone thinks I’m strange for dressing up like this?!”

“R-Relax Mama, relax…” Micah held her hands up in an attempt to placate her frantic socially awkward mother. “Mama’s pretty, so she’ll look good no matter what she wears.”

“That doesn’t help me!” Bernadetta cried. “Aww, maybe I should just start over…”

Micah chuckled nervously as Bernadetta flipped through a pile of outfits she’d laid out over the bed. Deciding to leave her mother to it for the time being, she set about getting ready herself. Luckily, she’d already picked out her outfit beforehand.

Firstly, after changing out of her clothes, she put on a white button-up shirt and a pair of loose-fitting shorts (she was going to catch an assassin after all). After that, she slipped the pink sweater Bernadetta had given her for her birthday over it, making sure that the collar and hem were peeking out from underneath. Her birthday had only been a few weeks ago, but she hadn’t worn the sweater until today, having waited for a special occasion before wearing such a precious gift.

After the sweater came a pair of boots, then to complete the look she re-wrapped the scarf around her neck. Once her outfit was complete, she gave herself a once-over in front of the full-body mirror in the room and nodded to herself, satisfied with how it turned out.

“Mamaaaa~ I’m gonna leave you behind if you don’t hurry.”

“W-Wait! At least tell me which lipstick looks better!”

“You don’t need makeup! Stop worrying so much and just c’mon, or we’ll be late!”

When Bernadetta still hesitated to part with the few makeup supplies she’d brought out, Micah resorted to physically dragging her out of the room and into the chapel, where the others were waiting.

It seemed that everyone was ready, save for Henrietta who was taking a bit longer after having jumped into the shower to wash off the sweat and alcohol smell from her body. Even Brunhilde had come out of her room to see them off.

“Oho. What’s this now? I don’t remember sharing home with such a cluster of fine young ladies.”

Her eyes passed over Micah’s adorable outfit and Bernadetta’s modest white blouse, then landed on Josefine, who wore a sleeveless blue shirt that extended into a stylish skirt, complete with a pair of buckle shoes and a blue schoolboy hat that matched her shirt. As she twirled in place with her hands clasped behind her back, her face was set with excitement that stretched the freckles dotting her nose, making her look even cuter than usual in tandem with her outfit.

“I knew Micah was gonna dress up too, so I had to work hard so I didn’t fall behind. She’s still the cutest though~”

“Nuh-uh, Big Sis is cuter! And so is Mama!”

“N-No, that’s not true. My dress isn’t quite right, and my hair’s a mess…”

“Hey now, don’t forget who did it up for you.” Brunhilde cut Bernadetta’s nervous rambling short with a wave of her hand. “I think you all look lovely, and I’m sure you’ll have a great time. Just remember to watch out for each other, yes?”

“Okaaaay~!” Josefine raised her hand enthusiastically, overshadowing Bernadetta’s meek response and Micah’s normal reply.

“I would just like to say,” came Henrietta’s voice as she emerged from her room with arms crossed. “Once again, I think this is a really awful idea and we shouldn’t do it.” She looked to them for an answer, wary when none came. “...W-What.”

“Um… who’re you?” asked Josefine, head tilted in confusion.

“Huh?”

“H-Henrietta… that’s…” Bernadetta whispered with wide eyes.

“What! What is it? If you have something to say, then just say it.”

“...” Even Micah was stunned into silence as she stared at the outfit Henrietta had chosen to wear for the banquet.

An immaculate white button-up with a contrasting black dress skirt hugging her healthy thighs, black dress shoes… Even her flowing blonde hair was styled in beautiful curls. And to top it all off, a pair of diamond earrings hung from her ears, glimmering beneath her blonde locks.

From Micah’s perspective, she looked like a movie star.

“S-Seriously, what is it? I just threw together my old stuff from when I was aiming to work at the mayor’s office. The diamonds are fake too. It’s really not a big deal.” Henrietta pursed her lips slightly as she glanced to the side.

“It’s a HUGE deal!!!” Josefine shouted. She pointed a finger at her accusingly. “How the heck am I supposed to compete with that mature aura?! Your appeal is off the charts! That should be illegal! Cheater!”

“W-What are you getting angry for…?”

“Henrietta… Wow, you look amazing!” Bernadetta pressed her palms together, smiling happily for her friend.

“N-Not you too, Bernie… S-Seriously, you guys, cut it out. It’s really nothing...” A notable pink hue began to fill Henrietta’s cheeks from the praise, and she stuttered out her reply.

...Maybe this is just what she considers normal party attire? Almost seems a bit hypocritical for her to wear something so eye-catching when she’s so strongly against going in the first place. Is she one of those two-faced gals (ビッチ) or something?

It was Brunhilde who once again cut in. “Now now. Enough bickering; you’ll all be late if you don’t get going. I expect to see four smiling beauties by eve’s end, alright?”

“Allllright!” Josefine’s response once again overshadowed everyone else’s, but the general message was conveyed. After exchanging a few more farewells, the group set out for Barnabel’s manor.

It was neither a short nor a particularly lengthy walk to get there, and as they arrived, it was to a huge crowd of people being held back by Halloway’s guards. The event was clearly hugely popular with the townspeople, who were all marveling at the guests as they arrived.

Currently, they were staring amazedly at a voluptuous blonde-haired woman as she passed through the clear path the guards had formed for the guests. She flashed the audience a seductive smile as she entered the front doors of the manor, followed up by a few more guests who were all dressed nicely.

Micah couldn’t help but shrink a little as she compared their modest attires with the clearly high-class garments the other guests were wearing. Only Henrietta really fit in with her mature look, but standing so close to the rest of them seemed to evaporate any sense of nobility she might have had had she been alone or surrounded by servants.

“Ah! You there!”

As they approached the front, they were quickly spotted by one of the guards, who quickly beckoned them towards him.

“A young brunette girl wearing a distinctive scarf along with her mother, a blonde woman, and a teenager. I received instructions from Lord Altheon to wait for you to arrive. Is this all of you? An old woman was also described.”

“Yeah, it’s just us. Grammy stayed home.” Micah answered cheerfully.

“I understand. Please, follow me to the VIP entrance.” Offering a gracious bow, the man led them to a door around the side of the manor. Inside was a lounge room complete with a couch area surrounding a fireplace, a snack and bar area, and several bookcases lining the walls.

“Please wait here for the time being,” the guard said. “The rest of the guests should arrive soon. Once everyone is seated, Lord Altheon and Lord Barnabel will formally introduce you and the other VIP.” He bowed politely once more before exiting, leaving them to silently take in their surroundings.

Other VIP…? Those two didn’t mention there being any more VIPs than just us, but I guess it makes sense. I wonder who it is.

The only other people in the room were a young girl with red hair in short pigtails and ocean blue eyes, and a young man dressed in butler attire standing behind her as she sat on one of the couches around the fireplace. The girl looked to be about her age, but was dressed much nicer than anyone else in the room and had a cold expression that made her seem somewhat unapproachable. Not to mention the butler, who gave them all a hostile look as he laid eyes on them.

But Micah didn’t really care about that and decided to talk to the girl without much thought, so she walked over and plopped down across from her on an adjacent couch. The nuns and the butler all gave her an incredulous look, but were all too stunned to stop her, and even the girl’s eyes widened somewhat in response to the sudden situation.

“Hi there! My name’s Micah Stronoff. What’s yours?”

“...” The girl’s only response was to stare blankly at her, not answering.

“...Kuhum.” Eventually the butler managed to regain his composure and stepped forward. “That’s enough. You are not permitted to speak with her, so withdraw immediately-”

All of a sudden, her arm went up, silencing him with a simple wave of her hand. Without argument, he bowed respectfully and stepped back.

“I’m surprised,” she started, a small smile on her face. “It was bold of you to approach me like you did. You’ve intrigued me, so I’ll play along for a while. My name is Aurelia Brightwind.” As she lowered her head in greeting, pure shock etched itself onto the faces of all the nuns.

Sans Micah, of course. “Aurelia? Wow, what a pretty name!” she responded innocently.

Judging by the way her lip curled slightly in disdain, that didn’t seem to be the response she was looking for. The expression was quickly smothered and replaced with a somewhat strained-looking smile. “I’m sorry, maybe I misspoke. I said, my name is Aurelia Brightwind.” The emphasis she put on her name was not lost on anyone in the room.

Sans Micah, of course. “Um… Yeah, I… heard you the first time?”

Aurelia shook slightly with rage, but stifled it with an awkward cough into her fist. “K-Kuhum. Yes well, I guess I can hardly blame you. Maybe you just haven’t been properly taught about such things yet.” she said while sending a disapproving look to the nuns. “In that case, I’ll explain it for you. The Brightwind family is the most famous family in all of the four nations, widely known for producing the world’s most powerful and prodigious mages.

“In addition to that, they possess the most affluential standing in society, having established relations with almost every noble family aside from themselves, including lesser-known nobles like Lord Barnabel. Their wealth and power are unmatched, and each member of the family is worth astronomical amounts of money.” In response to Micah’s rapt expression, Aurelia smiled somewhat smugly as she continued. “As a matter of fact, I personally am worth over four billion gold.”

F-Four billion?!

Micah ran a few quick calculations in her head. After reading a few books on economics, she was able to grasp how currency in Magi worked, though thankfully it was rather simple to begin with.

The universal currency in Magi were silver and gold coins. One silver was enough to buy a loaf of bread, 10 silver was generally how much one needed for a night in an inn, and 100 silver was the equivalent of a single gold coin, which was enough to live off of for about a week.

So the idea that Aurelia was worth four billion gold… Scary. It was easily enough to buy a town like Halloway millions of times over.

Well, I already knew who she was from the start, so I’m not really surprised. I was just messing with her since I thought it’d be fun to see what she thought of an ignorant commoner suddenly approaching her and speaking casually.

This time Aurelia looked at her expectantly, clearly awaiting her due recognition after revealing such a large number. Instead, Micah decided to feign ignorance. “Is that a lot?”

The look that appeared on Aurelia’s face nearly made Micah snort, so she hastily covered her mouth with one hand to stop it.

Oh no. This girl is fun.

Once she noticed Micah’s attempts to hide her laughter, Aurelia’s cheeks puffed up in anger, reddening with both irritation and the realization that she was being made a fool of. Instead of exploding in rage however, she took a deep breath to calm down.

“S-So… um… What about you? I can’t say I recognize your family name, and I wasn’t aware that there were going to be other VIPs attending this banquet besides me.” she said, abruptly changing the subject.

“Who, me? Oh, Altheon and Barnabel personally invited me and my family. That’s why we’re VIPs.”

“Eh?”

“It’s true. You can ask them yourself.”

“N-No, it’s not like I don’t believe you, but…”

“But what?”

“But… why? Just who are you?”

Micah couldn’t help but smirk a little at how her own rapt expression had seemingly been passed on to Aurelia. “Hm~ I wonder~?”

Unfortunately for her, as Aurelia tried to prod the information out of her, an attendant appeared and invited them to enter the main dining area one at a time so that they could be introduced.

“Ah, but for the young lady and her family,” he said, facing Micah. “Lord Altheon has instructed me to offer you the chance to enter in preemptively if you would prefer to keep your anonymity.”

Micah pursed her lips, considering the options. Personally, she didn’t really mind either way, and actually sort of wanted to see what kinds of faces the nobles would make when a group of commoners made such a grand entrance. She looked to the others for their opinions.

Rather unsurprisingly, Bernadetta was practically begging everyone to agree, and Henrietta was quick to do so. Josefine was the only one aside from herself who found the idea exciting, but relented in the face of the majority. Keeping her own opinions to herself, Micah decided to follow their decision, and with the attendant’s guidance, the four of them entered through the entrance ahead of Aurelia and her butler, walking down the small set of steps and into the dining hall.

Once inside, the group found a table seating four among the throng of guests and took their seats. Micah briefly met the eyes of Altheon and Barnabel themselves, dressed much nicer than usual for the occasion. They both offered her welcoming smiles, which she returned.

When she came to them with the news that her family had accepted their offer to attend the banquet, they told her that while she was ultimately there to help catch the assassin, she was free to enjoy the festivities as well. Barnabel’s personal guards would be on constant watch for threats, and the assassin was unlikely to attack until later on anyway to give time for Barnabel to let his guard down. Therefore, Micah was allowed a certain level of leniency with her task, and only needed to act once the assassin revealed himself.

With that in mind, Micah had every intention to enjoy this banquet to the fullest as one of the more interesting things to happen in her life thus far.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I really must offer my thanks for your attendance in this modest event of mine,” spoke Barnabel after their exchange. “However, before we can truly begin, there is but one more esteemed guest I absolutely must introduce.” He raised an arm, directing everyone’s attention back to the VIP entrance just as the attendant guided Aurelia through. “Acting as the representative of the prestigious Brightwind family, please welcome the lovely Aurelia Brightwind!”

Aurelia made her entrance with regal grace, her butler leading her by the hand as she descended the steps while holding up the skirt of her dress while the rest of the room politely applauded her. Following the mood, Micah and the nuns did the same, with Bernadetta silently thanking Nor that they had passed on the chance to receive the same sort of introduction.

The applause slowly died out as Aurelia reached the bottom of the stairs, where she started scanning the room with furrowed brows. She smiled once her eyes landed on Micah’s table, then began to make her way over, much to everyone's surprise.

“...Hmph. You could have at least found a bigger table so I could join you.”

“Eh?” The scowl on her face only made Micah that much more confused. She’d assumed that after teasing and brushing off her prodding questions, Aurelia wouldn’t have wanted anything to do with her.

But unexpectedly, with a snap of her fingers, her butler pulled a seat from a different table and slid it in between Micah and Bernadetta’s, then respectfully pushed it in after Aurelia sat down. Micah gave her a questioning look, but Aurelia stared straight ahead with a neutral gaze that seemed to purposefully ignore hers.

Uhhh… Okay, what the heck is she doing? Is there some reason why she’d want to sit with us? I can’t really think of anything, unless… Maybe she thinks I’m some kind of powerful noble too? If that’s the case, then by sticking close to me, she’s trying to get on my good side even though I teased her earlier. Hold on… If I look at that in the opposite way, doesn’t this mean I just made a powerful ally? I mean, what kind of benefits could I get by being friends with the daughter of the most well-known family in the world?

“...K-Kuhum.” While she silently considered all of the possible benefits, a noticeably awkward silence had been left at their table. In order to break it, Bernadetta cleared her throat. “S-So, uhm. My-, my name is Bernadetta, haha…” As all eyes landed on her, she shrunk into her seat, the instant regret for having spoken painted in her expression.

However, it seemed to have the intended effect in the end, as Josefine followed suit with a more excitable introduction. “And I’m Josefine~! Feel free to call me Josie though. It’s super nice to meet you!”

She reached over to grasp and rapidly shake the hand of Aurelia with both of her own, rattling the girl slightly but otherwise getting the message across. As everyone looked to Henrietta, she rolled her eyes and reluctantly spoke. “I’m Henrietta. It’s nice to meet you and all, but… not quite that much.” Her tone was flat as she watched Josefine continue to flap Aurelia’s arm up and down.

Finally having the sense to wrench it free, Aurelia too cleared her throat before directing everyone’s attention to the butler standing dutifully by her side. “Yes, well… Allow me to introduce my butler and bodyguard Stefan. He’s only one of four that I have, but I didn’t want to show up to this banquet flanked by so many people.” The man nodded stoically in greeting, probably used to being introduced without any real importance and thus not bothering to speak.

“I suppose it would only be right for us to participate as well? I would certainly hate to be rude to our honored VIPs.” The smooth, handsome tone of Altheon’s voice cut into their conversation, and all eyes traveled to him and Barnabel as they appeared next to their table.

“You…” Henrietta glared daggers at the two men smiling calmly in their presence.

Th-These idiots…! I told them not to go near any of the nuns!

Micah nearly cried out in frustration as the specific instructions she’d given the two around the same time she accepted their invitation was completely disobeyed before her very eyes.

“Oh please. Introductions are hardly necessary, Lord Altheon, Lord Barnabel.” Aurelia returned their greeting with one of her own, oblivious to the sudden tension at the table.

“Indeed,” Barnabel said, eyeing Micah and the nuns. She could see him favoring one foot over the other, an eternal reminder of his gruesome injury suffered at the hands of Miriam. “I would say we are all rather well acquainted, in one manner or another.”

The moment he met her eyes, she sent him the angriest glare she could muster, hoping that the implication got through.

Explain yourselves. NOW.

By the way he paled slightly in response, it seemed it had. “I-, we-, we simply wanted to greet the most important guests in attendance,” he said. “It was a necessary venture to save face, surely you understand.”

“...” She supposed she did see their reasoning. It would be somewhat strange to invite people to attend your party as VIPs, but not to go out of your way to speak to them at said party, either to personally welcome them, or to otherwise help them actually feel important by having gained the priority of the hosts. For the sake of the brothers’ reputations with not just the VIPs themselves, but the other guests attending the banquet, they didn’t have much choice but to do so.

But even so, she didn’t like the sudden buddy-buddy attitude they’d taken on, even if she knew that it was the standard politeness that one would expect in this sort of situation. It just felt as if they were ignoring or oblivious to what they’d done to Micah and her family in the past, and it was exactly why she wanted them to stay away from the nuns during the banquet.

Luckily Altheon, whom she quickly recognized as the more considerate of the pair during their brief interactions, seemed to understand the situation better than his brother. “But of course that isn’t to say we don’t enjoy the company of so many lovely young ladies. However, I’m afraid we must excuse ourselves early. Brother still needs to address our other guests before the banquet can officially begin. Truly, Micah, you have our gratitude for accepting our invitation.” The knowing look in his eyes revealed the hidden meaning behind his words.

Micah nodded, having received them. “Yeah… no problem.”

With polite smiles, the two brothers took their leave and made their way towards the center of the room. Barnabel picked up a nearby teacup and spoon, then started tapping the latter against the former to gather the attention of the entire room.

“Now then,” He began once all eyes were on him. “With everyone now in attendance, allow me to begin by humbly welcoming you all to my banquet. It is with great honor that I thank each and every one of you for accepting my invitation and arriving so swiftly despite your busy schedules. Please, take this time to relax and enjoy yourselves for a single night, as my thanks for your continued support of both myself, and of the great town of Halloway. Now without further ado, let the festivities begin!”

Once Barnabel finished his speech, the brothers both bowed deeply and gestured for everyone to get up and walk around at their leisure, signaling the official start of the banquet.

“Lady Aurelia. My, it’s certainly been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Why, if it isn’t Brightwind’s very own Lady Aurelia! It’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.”

“How are Lennart and Achill these days? I hear the Norith council is doing well with your grandfather’s participation.”

Almost immediately, their table was approached by a multitude of people seeking a chance to speak with Aurelia. To her credit, she exchanged pleasantries with them one by one with practiced ease, looking completely unperturbed. However, they were only allowed a small chat with her before being ushered away by Stefan, so as to not overwhelm her.

“Arara, and who might you all be?”

One woman in particular didn’t leave immediately though, instead turning to address the nuns after her small chat with Aurelia. Micah instantly recognized her as the same woman they saw enter through the front doors as they arrived. Her golden blonde hair, sharp eyes, and um… generous assets were hard to forget, even after having only seen them once from a distance.

“My name is Irene Cousteau,” she said with a slight inclination of her head accompanied by a charming smile. Even her voice was bewitching, like a sweet melody played through poisonous lips. Everything about her seemed mysterious, but not in a way that made her seem like a bad person.

She was… alluring. Micah couldn’t get a read on her in the slightest.

“Wait… are you serious?” In response to the look of confusion on Micah’s face as she stared at Irene, Aurelia gave her an incredulous one. “You mean you’ve never heard of the Cousteau family?! Good gods, I can’t tell if you’re messing around again or if you’re really just that ignorant.”

With pointed finger raised, Aurelia explained. “The Cousteau family owns the largest production of Light Crystals in all of Magi. They have numerous factories in all four nations filled with mages working to infuse the spell ‘Illumination’ into mana crystals which are then collected, refined, and shipped out to clients who request them, all under the management and supervision of the family.”

Micah’s face didn’t change much, causing Aurelia to furrow her brows. “You know the street lamps that turn on at night? Flashlights?” She waved one arm in a wide arc. “I mean, the lights illuminating this room right now? Those are all the work of the Light Crystals made by Lady Irene and her subordinates.”

I see… So the Cousteau family were the main source of Light Crystals in Magi.

Micah already knew about mana crystals and had a general idea of how they worked. Considering how Magi bore similar technology to that of Earth’s despite seemingly lacking any technology at all, it was only natural that she would take notice and do research to find out why that was.

And the source was simple: Mana crystals.

Mana crystals are composite crystalline structures that are able to store and release mana. The exact process by which they’re made is unknown to most of the world, but they have an innumerable amount of uses.

Because of their ability to store mana in any shape or form, mana crystals have been pioneered as a method of casting spells without exertion on the part of the caster. By infusing a spell into the crystal, they can be redeployed in any number of ways. Heat spells, for example, are imbued into mana crystals in order to power things like stoves or to heat up water in bathhouses. Water spells like Aqua provide said water for cleaning, laundry, and even plumbing.

Crystals infused with spells for specific purposes were given nicknames, and the most common ones are Heat Crystals, Water Crystals, Wind Crystals, etc. For mana crystals infused with light spells, they’re known as Light Crystals.

“The Cousteau family has a natural affinity for light magic, which makes spells like Illumination easier for them to cast than most other mages,” Aurelia continued. “This makes their production process much more efficient than practically anything else on the market. As a result, they’ve gone largely unchallenged and quickly rose to financial eminence, which earned them a place among the nobility of Magi.”

“Well now, how flattering. You have my most sincere gratitude for the honor of being spoken of so highly by a member of the Brightwind family.” Irene bowed deeply, causing Aurelia to smile and puff up her chest slightly.

As she stood straight once more, she turned back to the nuns. “I’d noticed an interesting group enter in ahead of Lady Aurelia, and yet went unannounced by our hosts. Many others did as well, of course, but it seems only I am too weak to cast aside my curiosity. I simply had to come and inquire as to why you entered through the VIP entrance rather than the main entrance.”

Before any of them could get a word out, Aurelia took the lead with the same prideful look on her face. “Actually, Micah and her family were given personal VIP invitations by Lord Barnabel and his brother.”

“Is that so? My, how impressive.” Irene’s smile seemed neither genuine nor fake, and Micah once again lamented that she couldn’t figure the woman out at all.

The group continued chatting for a while, with Aurelia and Irene occasionally attempting to prod Micah and the nuns for information about why they were given special VIP status at the banquet despite being commoners, and Micah and the nuns doing their best to deflect any such questions. Still, Micah couldn’t deny that she was enjoying herself, and the smiles on everyone else’s faces seemed to betray the same thought.

Then all of a sudden, something caught Micah’s eye. A streak of green in her peripheral that felt familiar somehow, and so she turned to look.

What she saw was a white-haired man dressed in a green jacket, pants and boots that gave her extreme déjà vu.

Eh? Where have I… seen that outfit before?

“Ara, I see you’ve taken notice of a rather remarkable individual.” Irene said, following her gaze to watch the man as he made his way through the dining hall.

“A remarkable individual?”

“Yes, indeed. That remarkable individual is Leonard Reed, a highly-respected commander in the Regalian Military. He has something of an… imposing presence, so I can understand why he’s caught your attention.”

Ah, so that’s the Regalian Military uniform. I remember seeing it in a few books from the library.

The only time she’d seen the uniform outside of the diagrams in the books were on the puppets that Elmar the Talespinner had used in his puppet show way back when. From what she could remember, the two puppets wearing the uniform were the World Hero, Alistaire, and…

Wilhelmina Brightwind.

Micah’s gaze instinctually traveled to Aurelia, whose face had suddenly become an unreadable iron mask without her notice.

“...Well, he certainly is interesting. But perhaps even more so is the entertainer.” Irene also seemed to pick up on it, as she quickly steered the subject to another notable character at the banquet.

With a gesture of her hand, she directed their attention to one side of the room, where a man dressed in a jester’s outfit was in the process of juggling a series of knives with one hand while twirling a stick with the other. In one motion, he threw the stick into the air, shot a plume of flames from his mouth to ignite the ends of it, then skillfully caught it with the same hand and fluidly returned to twirling it.

“Whoa…”

“Wow, that was awesome!”

The group stared in awe at the display, Micah and Josefine in particular becoming enraptured and practically on the edge of their seats.

“That man is known simply as Jervil. He’s quite a well-known entertainer and mage, famous for his skillful combination of dexterity and magic in exhilarating routines. His performances are truly mesmerizing to see, and any noble worth their weight in gold would be sure to hire him for gatherings such as these. It makes perfect sense that Lord Barnabel would endeavor to do the same.”

“...Yeah. Yeah, my family’s hired him numerous times in the past, and I’ve even given him a personal autograph on his request.” Aurelia seemed to have recomposed herself from before, as the self-satisfied look on her face was clear as day as she gloated.

Slightly irritated, Micah decided to pointedly look away from her with an aura that said ‘Maybe if I ignore her, she’ll go away...’, which triggered an instant reaction in Aurelia, who gritted her teeth and even growled slightly.

“Ah! Look over there!” However, before she could say anything, Josefine suddenly exclaimed and pointed to a large, spacious area on one end of the room. By all appearances, it was a dance floor, complete with a band that seemed to have just finished tuning their instruments. “They’re about to start playing aren’t they! I’m right, I’m totally right! Oh, I wonder what songs they’ll play~”

Her excitement isn’t hers alone, as many of the guests seemed to be anticipating the beginning of the band’s performance. And before long, they do just that, filling the dining hall with beautiful music.

In response, the guests began to leave their seats in pairs to link up and begin dancing on the dance floor. The sight of them all joining hands and swaying to the gentle melody held Micah’s gaze, such that she didn’t notice Aurelia staring at her with one eyebrow raised and comment dryly, “Please tell me you know what a waltz is.”

“Of course I know what a waltz is. But I’ve never seen one in person before.”

“...” Aurelia watched her stare at the group for a little while longer, then suddenly sighed and offered her hand. “Here.”

“...?? What is it?”

“I had my suspicions that there would be a dance, but I planned to sit it out because of my inexperience. However… I’ll make an exception this one time. To tutor you.” she responded dismissively.

“Uhh… Are you… serious?”

“Ugh! Yes I’m serious!” In an act of annoyance, Aurelia forcibly grabbed her hand and pulled her to her feet.

“Ah, wai-!”

Glancing about, Aurelia noticed that as the guests flocked to the dance floor, Barnabel’s butlers began bringing out plates of food and setting them at each of the now-mostly-empty tables.

“I see… Stefan.” Her butler stood at attention the moment his name was spoken. “Follow their example and bring Micah’s family their food. For us as well while we’re gone.”

“As you wish, Lady Aurelia.”

“Lady Irene?” Aurelia gave her a questioning look, but she merely shook her head.

“Generous as your offer is, I’m afraid I must decline. You see, I’m the sort that strongly prefers to dine alone rather than in the company of others, and so I’ve reserved a table for myself in advance.” She bowed politely. “And on that note, I will return to my table for now. Please, feel free to find me after dinner. I would love to continue speaking with you all. Farewell.” With one last mysterious smile, Irene walked off.

With arrangements made, Stefan went to join the butlers, and Aurelia began to pull Micah towards the dance floor while ignoring all of her shouts of protest.

“W-Wait, hold on! This really isn’t necessary! I-I’m actually pretty hungry, so-! Ah, sto-! Wait!!!” Truthfully, Micah wanted to stay behind and take the opportunity to scan the guests for signs of the assassin while most of them were on the dance floor. Because Altheon and Barnabel hadn’t gone to dance, it was likely that the assassin hadn’t gone either, so it was a good chance to potentially identify them early on.

But at the same time, it was still unlikely that they would strike this early, and Barnabel was still surrounded by his guards. She hadn’t wanted to lose herself in the festivities quite this much, but surely it wouldn’t hurt to dance for a bit? If anything happened, she was still confident in her ability to react quickly and stop the assassin, so it was fine… right?

Well, Aurelia wasn’t giving her much of a choice either way, so she supposed she’d just have to wait and see what happens.

“Woo-hoo~! Go Micah! Blow ‘em away with your amazing dance skills!”

“G-Good luck, Micah! Have fun!”

The encouraging cheers from Josefine and Bernadetta somehow embarrassed her, and Micah could feel her cheeks heat up as the two of them approached the dance floor. She shook it away as much as she could before Aurelia could notice.

It wasn’t hard to find an open spot on the dance floor, as the other guests had all evenly spaced their dance areas with seemingly practiced courtesy.

Well that, and the two girls were easily the smallest in the room.

“Put your hands here.”

Without missing a beat, Aurelia set about adjusting Micah’s position until it was just right, moving her right hand around to her back and placing her own left hand on Micah’s shoulder, then linking their remaining hands together. It looked slightly awkward since Micah was taller than her, but Aurelia went through with it anyway.

“Now then, follow my movements carefully, and pay attention to my footwork. Footwork is the most important part of waltz dancing, so keep that in mind. Also, don’t overthink what you’re doing. If you over analyze everything you do, you’ll end up making a mistake more often than if you just go with the flow. Focus more on maintaining your balance and responding to what I do.”

“Ahaha… W-We’re not gonna be doing stuff like pivaloops and dips, are we?” Micah joked, doing her best to bury her nerves with humor.

In response, Aurelia gave her a flat look and said, “Don’t be stupid. This isn’t some novel; if someone tried to do that here, we’d all end up on the floor. Besides, moves like that are too advanced for a beginner. Just focus on your footwork for now.”

Aurelia waited for an appropriate part of the song to join in, then began to move. At first Micah had an awkward time keeping up, but soon she got a bit of a handle on how she was supposed to move, and the two began to dance together.

“Hehe, ehehe… I think… I think I might be getting the hang of this.”

“Hey, don’t get cocky now.” Aurelia said with a small smirk as she watched Micah’s eyes light up while staring down at her feet, which were getting more and more used to the rhythm she’d set.

“Fufu~ You’re just scared that I’m gonna be better than you soon. No shame in admitting it, now. Happens to the best of us.”

Aurelia scoffed. “Yeah, whatever.”

“C’mon, that’s all you got? This is child’s play now. Try something harder.”

“‘Child’s play’, says the kid… Fine, fine. You just want me to do a more complicated pattern, right? How’s this?”

Rolling her eyes, Aurelia relented, then began to turn as she stepped, gently guiding the pair into a spin in time with the music.

“Pay careful attention to my feet and try to mirror what I’m doing, but don’t overthink it. Go with the flow.”

“I-I got it. I got-... W-Whoa?!”

“Gahh...!!!” Though she tried to warn Micah, she still made a mistake and ended up stepping right onto Aurelia’s foot, causing her to yelp in pain.

“Ah, sorry! That was my fault, I-I didn’t mean to...!”

“...” At first, Aurelia didn’t say anything as she crouched down to massage her foot. But a few moments later, she began to berate her through gritted teeth. “Argh…! You-! You’re such a-! Nngh, I hate you so much…!”

“...”

Micah simply watched her with wide eyes, not quite sure how to respond. After a while, Aurelia eventually calmed down and stood back up, then silently took Micah’s hands again to resume dancing with a small scowl on her face. A long awkward silence followed where they simply danced without speaking, but soon Micah felt a question niggling at the back of her mind.

“Hey… If you hate me so much, why do you keep hanging around me?”

For a while, Aurelia said nothing and simply kept dancing. But just when Micah felt like she wouldn’t get an answer…

“...Ever since I was born, I’ve never met anyone else my age. You’re the first one, so it’s only natural that I’d want to be friends with you, even if you are a complete idiot.” she responded, her gaze averted and a small pout to her lips.

“Ah…”

Needless to say, her words surprised Micah. When she first met her, she expected Aurelia to be a rich snob who had nothing but ulterior motives for sticking close to her, but it turned out that she was mistaken. It seemed that, unexpectedly, Aurelia was just trying to make friends with the only other kid her age at the banquet and nothing else.

Of course, Micah had her doubts about whether she was telling the truth, but the expression on her face didn’t leave much room for deception.

So she decided to ask her directly. “So… you don’t care that I’m not a noble?”

“Of course not. Why would I care about that?”

“Well, it's just... aren’t nobles supposed to look down on commoners like we’re bugs or something?”

Aurelia’s eyes rolled for the second time that night. “What did I say before? This isn’t some novel. The only reason we nobles have our status is because of the common people we do business with. Not every noble family is so stupid that they would treat their consumers and business partners poorly just because of a difference in status.”

“Oh.”

That was certainly something to think about. While Magi still felt more like a world inside of a novel than a real world to her, she supposed that the people who’d been living here for their entire lives would see it differently. From their perspective, this was reality and in reality, many of the tropes and stereotypes common to fiction simply weren’t true.

In a way, it gave her new respect for Aurelia, and nobles in general. She couldn’t help but crack a small smile.

“So… when you said you weren’t planning to dance tonight because of your inexperience, didn’t you really mean that you were assuming there wouldn’t be anyone here your size?”

“Wha-!”

“No matter how many lessons you’ve taken, if your partner isn’t your size then it’s impossible to properly dance with them, right? You came here expecting to see a bunch of tall adults, none of which you could actually dance with, and that’s why you were planning to sit it out from the start. That’s it, right? I’m right, aren’t I?”

“...”

Aurelia’s form shook silently, but eventually she said with a glare, “...I really do hate you.”

However, annoyed as she clearly was, her words didn’t have the same heat as before. Micah took that as a good sign and giggled, prompting Aurelia to angrily order her to stop, which in turn caused her to laugh harder.

-----

“...Hey.”

A while later, as they danced in a more comfortable silence than before, Aurelia suddenly spoke.

“That... girl you were with. Josefine, was it?”

“Uh-huh. You mean Big Sis Josefine? What about her?”

“Big Sis… So she really is your sister then?”

“Eh? My sister?”

“...She’s not?”

Oh, so she was asking if Josefine was her older sister… Well considering their resemblance, Micah understood how she’d come to that conclusion. After all, many others did whenever the two of them were together in town.

But unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. “Nope, she’s not. I’m not related to any of them by blood, actually. They picked me up and raised me in their church after I was abandoned.”

More like dumped like old trash by God. When I finally get my hands on him, I’ve definitely got a few words about that cliché scenario he put me in.

“I see...”

Aurelia went silent after that, but somehow the mood felt strange compared to before.

...Ah, that’s right. Aurelia has an older sister. Was she trying to see if we had that in common?

Assuming that she became dejected after realizing that it wasn’t true, Micah decided to bring it up on her behalf. “I know about your sister though! She’s Wilhelmina Brightwind, right? One of the Five Legendary Heroes!”

“...Yes, she is.” Aurelia didn’t respond with quite the amount of enthusiasm Micah was expecting, but still showed a smile. She realized why a moment later when her eyes fell, turning her smile into a bitter one. “...She was.”

“Eh…” Micah’s eyes widened at her implication. She hadn’t read much about the Five Legendary Heroes, but surely she would have heard about it if they were dead, right? And the way Elmar talked about them didn’t imply anything like that…

Aurelia seemed to notice her face, as she spoke with a sympathetic look. “You really don’t know? Well, I guess it’s only natural, since it happened before either of us were born.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“The Five Legendary Heroes have been missing for nearly two decades now. No one’s heard from them or seen any trace of them ever since the peace agreement was formed.”

“The peace agreement… You mean that incident that caused the four nations to unanimously agree to end all international conflict?”

“Oh, so you do know about it?”

“Yeah, I’ve read about it in books before.” It was an important part of Magi’s history, so naturally it came to her attention through all of the books she’d read. However, she only knew that it had to do with demons, and was what kickstarted the tensions between them and the rest of Magi. “I had no idea that the Five Legendary Heroes had anything to do with it though, or that they’d gone missing.”

Aurelia sighed, and suddenly it seemed as if she’d grown years older. “Well, it’s… probably something the world doesn’t want to remember.”

She then began to explain. “It all started with the siege of Heldd, a small town located in the eastern nation of the Circle, Eastra. Seemingly without any warning or provocation, an army of demons emerged from Demon Country and surrounded the town, preventing supplies and provisions from entering.

“However, Heldd also happened to be the hometown of the leader of the Five Legendary Heroes, Alistaire, whose reputation as the World Hero was already rapidly spreading throughout Magi at the time.

“After hearing the news of his home town being besieged, Alistaire returned there with his team and quickly defeated the demons. Most notably, he single-handedly fought a duel with a demon lieutenant and won without killing it.”

Wow…

Micah couldn’t help but be impressed, considering how much she struggled against Mr. Stronoff, who was only a contracted servant of what seemed like a demon grunt. To think he fought a demon lieutenant and won, all by himself…

“After that, the demons retreated and Alistaire’s reputation skyrocketed even further as a result. However, after only one week had passed, another attack took place. This time, they attacked the Five Legendary Heroes themselves while they were traveling between towns. But instead of trying to kill them, they simply captured and fled with…”

Aurelia grimaced, and Micah immediately knew what she was going to say.

Wilhelmina Brightwind.

“Though it cost them numerous casualties at the hands of the Five Legendary Heroes, it seemed their only intention was to capture Wilhelmina, and they immediately withdrew after they had her in their possession. Soon after that, an official challenge was soon issued by the former Demon King; Alistaire was to come and fight a duel with them in exchange for Wilhelmina’s freedom.

“It was only natural that Alistaire accepted, since Wilhelmina was his childhood friend and precious teammate. His sense of duty caused him to agree to the challenge without a second thought. However, that decision turned out to be his undoing.

“Because after traveling to Demon Country alone to confront the former Demon King, Alistaire the World Hero was never heard from again.”

“What…” For some reason, those words sent waves of dread pounding against Micah’s body. She found herself in shock, weak in the knees like she’d just been told of the death of a close relative.

It was a horrible sensation that thankfully passed as Aurelia continued. “No one knows what happened to him or Wilhelmina, and the other Legendary Heroes were understandably concerned. The Living Doll, Aaia, used the spell Teleportation to go there ahead of the other two while they prepared to travel to Demon Country themselves, but just as their preparations finished…

“They too suddenly vanished. And just like that, the Five Legendary Heroes were gone, without a trace. No one has heard anything from them since, and after so many years of nothing but silence, people have started to forget about them, bit by bit, until they were nothing more than stories for children.”

Right, now it makes sense. I’d read that the Disciples of Circe’s rise to popularity came as a result of a prophetic prediction they made that if any nation tried to invade or take over another, it would disrupt the balance of the Circle and the demons living dormant in Demon Country would spread out to the rest of the world and destroy everything.

Apparently an incident in the past made people believe that Circe’s prediction had come true, which led to the four nations establishing the peace agreement and maintaining it to this day, but she couldn’t find many details on it in a cursory search of the library and gave up quickly.

Regardless, it was clear that that incident was the reason why Circe came to be known as the most popular religion in the world, to the detriment of every other religion, including the Kindness of Nor.

“You’re the same age as me, right?” Aurelia asked. “It was twelve years after their disappearance that the two of us were born. Because of that, I’ve never met my sister or even knew I had one until it was told to me by my relatives.” Her face darkened further. “It’s likely I was born just to replace Wilhelmina in the family, once the Brightwinds had given up any hope of her returning after twelve years.”

Micah couldn't find a way to muster a response after hearing about the burden placed on Aurelia’s shoulders, and about the unspoken fact that she would likely never have been born at all if Wilhelmina hadn’t gone missing.

As the song slowly came to an end, the pair’s movements began to slow as well, until they eventually came to a complete stop. Left with an awkward silence, Micah decided to start acting like the friend Aurelia had wanted out of her and try to console her.

“Um, I-”

But before she could even get a word out, a strange sound filled the room.

It was crackling, like hundreds of mirrors fracturing at the same time, the bizarre noises harmonizing into one splitting moment.

And the room was suddenly bathed in black.

“Uwah!! What’s happening?!” The guests began to fall into a panic, shouting about the blackout and crying out in terror, but Micah was on high alert.

Because this was the moment she’d been anticipating.

The positioning of the dining hall in the manor meant that there weren’t any windows in the room, and so everything had gone completely pitch black in an instant. Within the ensuing chaos and confusion, it would be impossible to spot any movements from the assassin as they attacked Barnabel and fled.

And so, she activated [God’s Blessing] and shut her eyes, using her enhanced sense of hearing to scan for Altheon and Barnabel’s positions instead. She was able to make out their voices in the crowd and rushed for them while navigating past the other guests in the dark. As long as she could beat the assassin to them, she could still prevent the assassination from taking place.

The moment her hands slapped down onto their shoulders, the room was filled with light once more by Irene, whose hand glowed a brilliant white as she raised it into the air.

Having regained her ability to see, Micah hastily checked the both of them over for injuries. She relaxed somewhat when she found none.

However the moment was short-lived, as a new series of screams filled the air. She looked over to see what the commotion was about, and her blood ran cold.

Because a body was lying in the center of the room.