In the throne room of the castle.

A number of people were gathered to discuss a certain incident.

The disappearance of the fourth princess, Nia.

"That troublesome princess dared to run away from such an important event in today's festival!" A very round middle-aged man raised his voice. "We should just have everyone in the city to look for her!"

This round man was the current head of the great Simon family.

The Simon family has made large contributions towards the royal family throughout the history of Yuvian. Their continuous support has earned trust from the royal family and they were rewarded for their effort.

Titles, fame and rich.

Many forms of reward were given to the Simon family for their contribution in making Yuvian a better Human Kingdom.

Eventually, the Simon family has finally earn enough trust in the royal family and they were given a seat in deciding the future takes of the kingdom.

This was how Simon family became one of the greatest nobles of Yuvian.

A lot of small nobles wanted to have connection with such a great family so they bribed them with the best gifts they could get their hands on.

From rarest jewel to strong magic items, from land to people of different genders and age... Anything that suits their taste, the Simon family would not reject.

Thus, the Simon family have went down its way of corruption.

The current head of the Simon family, followed his late father's example, continued to accept bribes and will take anything he likes from the villagers of his land.

This round Simon have all the things he wanted; power, money and women. But there was one thing that he was not satisfied with.

That thing was his title as a Noble.

No matter how great the influence the current Simon family have in the kingdom but he was still tied to the title of a mere Noble.

The round Simon wanted a more powerful title... he wanted a seat in the royal family of Yuvian.

This was why he made a plan. A plan which he will use the fourth princess so he could be accepted as one of the royal family. He planned to dissaude The King from marrying the fourth princess away to a different kingdom using the excuse of her hated title as a 'Magic Zero' and will let his son marry the princess out of his kindness.

Such plan would have worked if the Hero the fourth princess summoned embarasses himself in front of the audience in the duel with Shinji today.

Everything would have gone in the order of his plan...

But he did not think the fourth princess would have taken the action of running away.

Now, the round Simon wanted to get Nia back to the castle.

No matter what!

"The fourth princess has disgraced the royal family by running away from the duel she promised!" The round Simon said. "She will continue to embarass the royal family if we were to let her roam freely outside the castle! We cannot afford that! We must get her back as soon as possible!"

Then a voice of objection followed after him:

"Unfortunately that is something we cannot allow as well." Thomas said. "It may be true that we cannot let the fouth princess run wild on her own. However, we cannot let the people know the fourth princess has ran away from the castle. Not in the middle of Mask Festival."

"Hoh?" The round Simon glanced at Thomas. "Why is that?"

"Do not forget we have many outsiders from other kingdoms participating in the Mask Festival today." Thomas replied. "It may be embarassing that the fourth princess and her Hero decided not to show up in the duel against Hero Kazehaya but..." He paused and walked to the centre of the throne room. Then he raised his voice. "It will be even more embarassing to let the people know that while we were all focused on the duel today the fourth princess used this time to slip pass the guards and ran out of the castle. Forget about what our people will think about us, I do not want to know what the other kingdoms would think of us if they know the royal family could not discipline our own princess."

"Then this is even more reason why we need to get that troublesome princess back!" The round Simon said. "I have heard reports that the gate guards have yet to see the fourth princess or any of her men passing through the main gate. She should still be in Miastary! We need to immediately search for her while she is still in Miastary!"

"Even if we are to search for the runaway princess, we cannot possibly do it so recklessly. The streets are filled with people enjoying the festival. I recommend we send in small teams of guards to do the search without interrupting the on-going festival."

"That will not do. Small teams? How long will that take? A whole day will not even be enough to find that troublesome princess!"

"I apologize for interrupting but I wish to voice my opinion about this." A third voice said.

The two nobles stopped their argument and turned to the young man who stepped up from among the other people.

This young man was the Hero summoned by Sherri, Hero Kazehaya Shinji.

"Since the beginning, you have been calling Nia-chan a runaway princess. I have to disagree with you." Shinji said. "I believe Nia-chan isn't a girl who'd run off from a challenge, let alone running away from the castle. There has to be some other reason that has caused her diappearance."

Hearing that, round Simon shook his head.

"Hero Kazehaya, the kind and gentle young man." The round Simon patted on Shinji's shoulder. "It is good that you have such good heart within you but unfortunately this is not how the world work. Sometimes you have to look at what reality has presented to us.

"If you think that troublesome princess did not runaway then why was her room empty? Is it not more logical to conclude that she have long planned to runaway from the castle and took everything of hers with her?"

"That's what is strange about the whole runaway thing!"

The moment when Shinji said that, the small number of people in the throne room were surprised. They were confused by his statement because they find nothing strange in the conclusion the round Simon made.

The disappearance of the princess and an empty room.

If the princess was miraculously kidnapped from the heavily guarded castle, then it will not make sense to take her belongings along. It will be a huge burden to the kidnappers and they would stand out if they were to carry furnitures with them.

That was why, no matter how they think about it, it made more sense that the princess had ran away with all her belongings.

But this thought was called strange by the star of Yuvian, Kazehaya Shinji.

"Think about it." Shinji questioning. "If Nia-chan wanted to runaway then it would make even less sense if she were to take all her belongings with her. Even more, to take everything from her room and run away with it without alerting any guards is also strange."

"That was why I said she must have planned this all along." Round Simon sighed. "She must have used the days before the duel to make what she called 'magic device' that could either teleport things away or make things small in order to transport all her belongings."

"Nia-chan's magic device are made by translating existing magic into the items she created. This means she won't be able to make a magic device based on magic that doesn't exist. Magic that makes objects smaller does not exist therefore Nia-chan has no way take all belongings with her, even if we were to count in Ul and Myst who most would likely help her carry."

"Then this leaves the only option to teleportation, correct?"

"Unfortunately that wouldn't make sense as well."

"What?!"

"Teleportation isn't really an easy magic to learn and use. From what I know, no one in any four of the Human Kingdoms can use it. So it's impossible for Nia-chan to make a magic device that could cast Teleport. And if she DOES make a magic device that could teleport, then she wouldn't even be in Miastary anymore."

"Kuh..." The round Simon gritted his teeth when Shinji rebuked his deduction.

This reminded him how too obsessed he was with searching for the fourth princess that his reasoning was way too off.

What was Teleportation magic?

A high-level magic that could transport anything from one position to another.

This magic can be used for convienence in transporting resources without using too much time and avoid the dangers that could be encountered in the wilderness. In combat, one could gain almost infinite advantages by teleporting away from danger and into enemy's blindspot.

A dreamed magic any magic users would like to obtain.

Unfortunately, no human at this time and age was able to use such high level spell. Even the Heroes who received the Hero's Blessing could not use such magic.

Of course such magic still exist in the form of magic circles located in the innermost of various dungeons. These magic circles may be small but it could teleport a party of 10 people to other existing magic circles. Veteran adventurers would use these magic circles to travel to places that would take them days or months to get to. Of course, they would not use this frequently as dungeons have their own dangers.

Thus, in the end, it was shallow for a great magic user like the round Simon to speak of teleportation so lowly. If the fourth princess, a 'Magic Zero', could make a toy that could cast Teleport then what does it make him?

Because he was a great noble and a great magic user, he cannot afford to look bad in front of the people gathered in the throne room.

"That was why I said the teleportation magic she used could only teleport her belongings out of her room." Round Simon said. "And maybe there are actually a lot more limits to it as well."

There was a known fact that teleportation magic has different limits to it.

Distance, number of objects, size of the object, time to cast, mana to cast and the quality of object.

Of course the most ideal Teleport one would want to use is 'being able to teleport anything to anywhere in the world with the least mana and time to cast it'.

More limits there are to a teleportation magic the easier to use, but the less convenient it is.

That was what the round Simon could say in order to support his earlier words.

"But even with all the possible limits, not a single person can use it, right?" Shinji asked.

"Ah..." The round Simon was shocked.

He did not believe that he'd forget about the simple truth that no one in the any of the four Human Kingdoms can use any sort of teleportation.

The round Simon was lost for words.

Not minding about Simon, Shinji continued:

"There is a reason why I am against all the conclusions made about Nia-chan's disappearance from her room. I have evidence on it. Right, Thomas-san?"

He looked at Thomas.

Thomas immediately understood what he meant.

"There was no trace of magic used in the fourth princess' room." Thomas said. "I went with my people to investigate the scene and that was the result."

These words shocked the people.

Even the round Simon was showing an unbelievable expression.

"That's right. I went to the scene as well and I did not sense any trace of mana disturbance." Shinji followed up. "And without using magic, it's even more unbelievable for Nia-chan and her two men to transport all her belongings out of her room without even being seen." Then Shinji glared at the round Simon. "Also, I have met with Simon-san's son who happened to be the last person to see Nia-chan by trespassing her room."

Hearing that, the round Simon's heart skipped a beat. At the same time the throne room entered a moment of awkward silence.

Truth was, many people who were currently in the throne room knew about how the fourth princess has been treated in the castle. But no one would do anything about it because of her status as a 'Magic Zero'.

No one would want to spend time and energy on someone like that.

This was the first time someone have brought up this subject in front of so many people.

Also, this someone was not anyone else but the Hero Kazehaya Shinji. Everyone in the throne room knew how just Shinji was and he will not turn a blind eye to something he found unjust.

Even if the person was only a 'Magic Zero'.

"...uuu..." The round Simon began sweating.

Being stared at by Shinji has made the round Simon nervous. Even if he was a pride noble of a great influence, he was afraid to be on the wrong side of the Strongest Hero.

Another reason why the round Simon was nervous was because there was a different pair of eyes focused on him.

The owner of the eyes was Noble Thomas.

Even if Thomas was a noble just like him, but the round Simon knew that Thomas was originally one of the royal family but relinquished his position for some unknown reason.

Thomas was someone who took upkeeping the image of nobles and royalties to a serious level, he will not overlook anyone that violates the rules within the royalites.

At that time, the round Simon cursed his son for not doing his job properly and the fourth princess for causing so much trouble to him.

Shinji shifted his stare away from the round Simon.

He decided to leave this matter for another time, because there was something else more important to discuss.

"From what I have been told, when Nia-chan was still in her room there were no signs of anything being moved out of her room." Shinji said. "Shortly after that, Nia-chan was reported missing."

"And her room was also empty, huh?" Thomas began thining. Then he made an expression of sudden realization. "Impossible! To empty a whole room without any use of magic in such a short time is impossible!"

"That's right." Shinji nodded. "This is what's so strange about this incident."

Hearing that, all the people in the throne room made an expression of realization.

That's right, they were wrong to think this case was just a simple runaway. It was definitely has more to it.

"Well, saying Nia-chan's room was empty when she disappeared is wrong as well." Shinji held out a tiny piece of black paper. "I found many of the same thing scattered on the floor in Nia-chan's room."

When Shinji held out the tiny piece of paper, everyone was surprised.

Nobody would think this tiny paper was anything significant, but seeing how serious Shinji was the people began to doubt their thought.

"What could that be?" One of the people could not help but ask.

"This?" Shinji looked at the paper in his hand, he scoffed. "To be honest, I don't know what this is. However, what I do know is these tiny piece of papers are related to the disappearance of Nia-chan and her belongings in her room."

Everyone was shocked again.

But before they were able to respond, Shinji continued:

"If you would to look closely, you will see that the paper was not naturally black but it was burnt black from the inside. This means these paper had a purpose and they will become burnt after they were used. If their purpose was to do with the disappearance with Nia-chan and her belongings then it would make sense why there were so many left on the floor.

"From all the strange points I conclude," Shinji tightly gripped the piece of paper in his fist. "Someone with an unknown ability kidnapped Nia-chan. The culprit chose this day to do the kidnapping and left so many of his marks behind is as if he is mocking the security guarding the royalites!"

Shinji looked at The King.

"King Maginus, we need to quickly act upon this! "

"Do not be too hasty, Hero Kazehaya." Thomas said. "While I believe you the disappearance of the fourth princess' belongings was the work of someone with unknown power but we have too little evidence to conclude that the fourth princess was kidnapped." He sighed. "To be honest with you, I still believe it was the fourth princess who managed to contact that person to aid her with her runaway. We should not make conclusion and act so hastily, we still need more information."

"What?!" Shinji was surprised. "We don't have the time to be standing here and talking leisurely! At this time Nia-chan's life may be in danger!"

"Please calm down, Hero Kazehaya. I have a plan of action already thought up."

Thomas walked to the throne and bowed.

"King Maginus, care to listen to my proposal?"

"...?"

The King who had been in a thinking posture since the beginning of the meeting has finally reacted.

He took his hand that was covering his mouth away and responded:

"Ah, yes, Thomas. What do you propose to do in this situation?"

"There are two people who I believe are also related to this incident as well. They are Ul, the fourth princess' butler, and Myst, the Hero fourth princess summoned. They too, were no where to be seen since the disappearance of the fourth princess.

"I have yet heard any report of these two people leaving the city so I believe if we want more information we should send our people search and find these two people as well."

Thomas then looked at Shinji.

"While we search for the other two, I would like Hero Kazehaya to search for the fourth princess and the person with strange ability."

"Really?!" Shinji was delighted to hear that.

"Indeed, I trust you are better than any of our people to find the person with strange power." Thomas pointed at Shinji's fist. "You have shown how capable you are to notice connection the tiny piece of paper have with this incident. So if we wish to find this person then I believe it would be you who could find that person. Surely, finding that person will definitely lead us to the whereabout of the fourth princess."

"Yes, certainly." Shinji bowed slightly. "Please entrust the task in finding the culprit and Nia-chan to me and my team."

Thomas nodded in response.

He then turned to The King and asked:

"What do you think of my proposal, King Maginus?"

"I believe it is the most optimal option we have." The King replied. "And? If we entrust Hero Shinji in finding the whereabout of that person responsible to this disappearance incident then who are we going to entrust in searching for the other two missing person? Do you have any recommendation, Thomas?"

"Yes, King Maginus." Thomas bowed politely. "There is someone in my mind who I believe is suited for this task."

Lynn, the vice commander of the guards in charge of Miastary.

She was given a task to find two people who were involved in the disappearance of the fourth princess.

The disappearance of the fourth princess was something that should not be widespread, thus, only her and a few search teams were entrusted for this task.

Currently, Lynn was walking down a spiral stairwell down towards her destination.

Floating above her palm was a orb of light she summoned.

There were no light in this stairwell so Lynn used the light orb to guide her.

The light orb revealed the steps made of rocks, leading down to a room.

A secret room not known by many.

*clang* *clang*

Sounds of metal armor on her blue dress rubbing each other echoed in the dim and silent stairwell, along with the sound of her greave hitting the steps everytime she took a step down.

Soon, a wooden door appeared before her.

Lynn placed her gauntleted hand on the handle and opened the door.

*****

"Salutation to the Vice Commander!"

An armored man exclaimed when Lynn entered the room.

The armored man led the other two guards and they saluted to Lynn.

Lynn nodded in response to their salutation.

"So what is the situation?" Lynn asked as she looked over to the center of the room.

At the center of the room, there was a transparent imagery floating above the ground and emitting purple light.

The imagery was a smaller model of Miastary.

Among the streets of this transparent model of the city were some helmet icons moving on their own.

This was yet another pride of Yuvian as an advance Magic Kingdom, the Core Defense System.

"As you can see, Vice Commander." The armored man also looked at the Core Defense System. "Everything is working as expected."

"I see... So everything is working as expected, huh..."

Lynn walked to a table at the corner of the room, and then...

"That is not what I am asking!!!" Lynn shouted as she kicked the table.

"W-Why?!" The armored man was surprised.

"When I am asking you about the situation, I meant if you have any lead to the two people we are looking for and not about the Core Defense System."

"Then please be more specific when you ask us a question! The way you asked us was too ambiguous!" The armored man retorted. "Also, was there any need to kick the table?"

The armored man called the other two guards, waking them from their shock, and ordered them to fixed the table its correct position.

"Fool, we have a very important task at hand." Lynn said. "Did you forget what we came down here for?"

"Of course we did not forget, Vice Commander." The armored man replied. "We were tasked to find two people who were responsible to a certain 'incident' that have occured in the castle."

"Wrong!"

Lynn kicked the table.

"Why?!"

"Do you call yourself a professional? Even if you left out important information about our task from your speech but it still contains the goal of our task! Do not forget our task is to be kept a secret at all time!"

"!!!" The armored man was shocked when he heard Lynn's speech. He lowered his head and gritted his teeth. "T-To think I have made such blunder in my duty... I-I have failed my duty as a knight..."

Seeing the armored man's regretful reaction, Lynn smiled.

"As long as you reflect upon your action then you are forgiven." Lynn said. "Remember not to make the same mistake next time."

"V-Vice Commander!!" Hearing Lynn's kind words, the armored man was almost about to cry. "Yes, certainly! I will make sure to never make the same mistake!"

"That is good. Your determination is the quality you need as a knight." Lynn said. "Now you just need to remember that this secret task was entrusted to us by Noble Thomas where we have to find the fourth princess' summoned Hero and butler whom were believed to be involved in the disappearance of the fourth princess. This incident matters with the face and pride of the royalties so it must be kept a secret from the locals. We do not know if there are any hidden ears anywhere so we professionals need to make sure that not a word related to the task come out of our mouth at all time!"

"No, you are definitely doing the opposite of what we are supposed to do! You totally described our whole task as detail as it can be loud and clear! This is pretty much a mission fail if there was a hidden ear somewhere!"

"Come everyone!" Lynn put on a helmet. "Let us gather around the Core Defense System and use it to achieve our targets!"

"Are you ignoring me on purpose? You are ignoring me for pointing out your mistake, right?"

Lynn walked towards the transparent imagery at the middle of the room.

Then she noticed from the corner of her eyes, the table she kicked over just now was again put to the correct position by the other two guards.

She walked back and kicked it.

"""WHY?!"""

In the midst of a street in Market Area.

"Haa, I can't believe it..." A guard sighed as he dropped his hand down from his helmet. "It's already a busy day and yet we are still getting a troublesome job..."

A sudden slap to his back surprised him.

He turned to his colleague next to him.

"Just get over it." His colleague said who also looked irritated. "The sooner we get the job done the sooner we get to relax. Look at this on the bright side, we only need to search for two people."

"Shhh, we are not supposed to say anything related to our 'work'!" The guard tried to keep his colleague's mouth shut. "Don't forget why we were the only ones who knew of this."

"It's fine isn't it?" His colleague smacked his hand away from her mouth. "It's not like there would be people listening to two random guards talking to one another so there's no need to be that uptight."

"Yea... I think you are right." The guard sighed. "It's more absurd to think to someone would be listening to us at all time."

"Right? Let's us relax ourselves and patrol around the area. Also, we could even browse through the stores to relieve some of our stresses."

"You just wanted to play don't you?!"

"Well, it's our priviledge as the ones working on the field. I mean, it will help to keep us motivated to find those two people!"

"Two people you say..." The guard looked at the large crowd in front of him. "Just how are we suppose to find two people with so many people here?! It's the Mask Festival today! One of the busiest days we could get in a year! This isn't a job that could be done with just motivation alone!"

"We can just spot them among the crowd through their distinctive traits." His colleague placed a hand on the helmet. "Remember, through the CDS, we were given portraits of the people we are supposed to find. Also, since they are runaways, they will try to hide from us and so we just need to spot the suspicious ones among the crowd."

"Of course, genius! We just need to find those who look suspicious." The guard face-palmed. "But we are in the middle of Mask Festival right now! It's a Massive Custume Party that's happening in this city right now! Everyone looks equally suspicious!"

Not paying any attention to the angry guard, his colleague grabbed his hand and began walking towards the crowd.

"Standing here and complaining won't get the job done." His colleague said. "Let's get moving."

"Yes, yes..."

The guard answered weakly as he was dragged deep into the crowd.

Then, Myst peeked out from behind the curtain of a stand next to the place the two guards were standing a moment ago. He stared at the figures of the guards until their figures finally disappeared among the crowd of people.

"Interesting." Myst placed a hand by his chin. "So that's the Core Defense System you were talking about."

"That's right!" said Nia who stood behind him.

Currently she has lost her white dress and wore a weird-looking yellow dress that would help her blend with the crowd. She also wore a green coloured wig to hide her light blue hair and on top of it she wore a hat that was ridiculously decorated.

"The Core Defense System was yet another great invention that made Miastary the most advance magic city in Yuvian!" Nia puffed up her chest as she boast about the magic. "Its magic circle was carefully designed with the layout of the streets of the city. Which means the whole of Miastary is the magic circle itself! This magic has made long-distance communication possible! As long as you wear a specially made helmet, you can communicate with the other people with the same helmet within the circle!

"And that's not all!" Nia said excitedly. "Images of documents and portraits can be transferred to and viewed in the specially made helmet! This was why the Core Defense System is the most effective method in tracking down wanted criminals! What do you think, is it not amazing?"

"Wow, it's so amazing..." Myst said monotonically. "Ah, I think missed my timing to clap. Hey, Princess, when is the best time to clap?"

"If you are not interested in this then just say so!" Nia said angrily.

"No, sorry, I mean even if you praise it that much but to me it isn't as amazing as it sound. You should know from reading all those Japan-made Manga that something like long distance communication is very common in my world. How would I be amazed over something that just worked slightly better than walkie-talkie toys in my world?"

"The pride of Yuvian... To be compared to mere toys..." Nia almost fainted when she heard Myst's comparison.

Ignoring Nia who went into shocked state, Myst began analyzing the words he heard from two guards.

"Looks like the royalties already took action for our escape." Myst murmured. "Though, I don't know why they were looking for two people instead of three but everything else seemed to be as expected. From the conversation between the two guards earlier, it's safe to say they will have a hard time finding us even with the aid of the Walkie-Talkie magic."

"Core Defense System!" Nia corrected him.

"Well, whatever the name is, the magic won't help them identify us if we were to dress up like the other clowns walking in the street."

"Hey, it is rude to call people trying to enjoy the festival clowns! And wait, are you saying I am also dressed up like a clown? Now this reminds me, why am I the only one dressed up like this to disguise? Why are you still in your usual outfit?"

Unlike Nia, Myst was still in his black coat that he had on since the very first day when he arrived to her world. Thinking back, Nia only dressed up in a ridiculous outfit because Myst told her to disguise and blend with the crowd until the time the plan was to be executed.

But it does not make sense if only she has to disguise in a ridiculous dress when both of them were in the same boat.

Nia pouted.

"Wo-Woah, Princess?!" Myst was surprised when Nia was pulling at his coat. "I know you are happy that I am helping you to escape and you can't wait to offer your body to me as a token of thanks but can we not do that here? At least let us first get out of this city first and then we can take our time to get know each other on a bed."

"W-W-W-Who would be thinking about that right now!!! You idiot!!!" Nia's face was flushed red. She quickly let go off Myst's coat. "I-I am just upset that I am the only one wearing this ridiculous outfit! Why are you still in your usual outfit? This is unfair!"

"Ah, this?" Myst opened his arm wide and looked down at his coat. "I'm wearing this because there's no better diguise than this."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't believe me? Fine, let me show it to you then." Myst smirked. "Look carefully or else you will miss the show."

Nia knew the expression Myst was wearing.

It was an expression where one was confident for something he's about to show off.

After hearing his words, Nia did not move her eyes away from Myst.

A little bit of expectation and a little bit of excitement, she waited for what Myst has to show her.

"Behold, my ultimate disguise!" Myst put his hood on. "There! Disguise Complete!"

"......"

Nia raised her fist.

"Any last words?"

"Wait, that was a joke just now! Why are you resorting to violence so quickly? Is it that? The thing people call Sexual Frustration?"

"You dare say that again!!!"

"No, I-I'm sorry, I was just kidding... ...! You don't have sexual frustration! You don't have SEXUAL FRUSTRATION!"

"Can stop shouting those words!" Nia's face became even redder. "What if other people misunderstood and think I am a lewd woman!"

"And you totally didn't think twice when you were trying to pull off my coat. Wow, Princess, you closet perv."

"S-Shut up! I was dissatisfied that you were not-"

"You were dissatisfied? Hmm, lewd."

"..."

"No, I'm sorry, I swear I will never interrupt again."

"..."

For a moment, Nia just stared at Myst.

And then she made a big sigh.

"...Haaa..." Nia face-palmed. "I was a fool to believe you for a moment. Now should you not put on a disguise already? What if we were found because you are wearing the only black outfit on the street."

"What black outfit, Princess? I thought I told you my disguise was complete."

"Enough with that joke! How is putting on a hoo-"

Nia froze on the spot.

She was shocked when she returned her gaze upon Myst.

Myst's coat that should be black was now yellow.

What is th...

Nia thought it was something wrong with her eyes.

She closed her eyes and rubbed them softly.

Then, the moment she opened them, Nia was astonished once again.

This time, Myst's coat was green.

"?!!"

"What's wrong, Princess?" Myst tilted head. "It's like you just saw a ghost."

While Myst was showing concern to Nia's reaction, but deep down, Myst knew full well that he was the reason why Nia was reacting like that.

It was hard for him to keep his poker face on because he wanted to laugh.

Myst decided to act quickly before he couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Oh, is it this?" Myst looked down on his coat. "You are surprised about something like this?"

Then, Myst waved his hand in front of Nia's eyes.

When Myst's hand blocked her view, Nia woke up from her shocked state.

She wanted to ask Myst what was happening, but she stopped when Myst's hand left her view and the coat was once again back in her view.

The coat was in a different colour again.

This time coat was mixed with different colour.

"Surprised?" Myst smirked. "I did tell you that there's no better disguise than this, right?"

"How? What is going on?" Nia cannot help but ask.

"It's science." Myst answered. "This coat of mine was specially made so I could blend into any environment in less than a second. Well, it has some other functions as well but the colour changing definitely is the most useful function at this moment. What do you think, amazing isn't it?"

"This is more than amazing!" Nia said excitedly. "So Japan already advanced their technology so far that making such clothing is possible! I remembered hearing from Shinji once that when he came to this world, Japan didn't have something so advanced! To think Japan has made so much improvement in such a short time is trutly amazing!" Then Nia tilted her head as she thought of something. "Wait, it might be wrong if I think the time here and the time in Japan works the same way. Maybe the time there by Japan may be faster than the time over here in this world...?"

"That... may be the case..." Myst answered with a wry smile.

Truthfully, he does not know.

Even though he knew how obsessed Nia was with information about the different world but he did not expect to see Nia being this excited.

She even asked him some really difficult question!

Myst decided to quickly move on from the topic or else he'd had to face more difficult questions.

"Well, since I have showed my coat can easily blend with the crowd so there's no need for me to change into any other outfit."

"Yes, indeed."

"Also, since we have plenty of time before we execute our plan shall we take some rounds around the festival?"

"Wait, there are pursuers after us and yet you still have the mood to play?"

"Why not? This is once-in-a-year festival so it'd be a waste for us not to use the opportunity to enjoy ourselves. Wasn't it written in your diary that you wanted to walk around a Mask Festival?"

"Did I not say you should not say anything from my diary out loud! Where is your delicacy? Actually you should forget it! Forget everything you saw in my diary!"

"And if you are worried about the pursuers then we can just wear a mask."

"Hey, did you just ignored me? Are you ignoring me? Stop pretending, I am sure you are ignorin-"

Just before Nia throws a fit at him, Myst quickly put a mask on Nia.

He looked at the dumbfounded Nia and nodded.

"Mhm! Now your disguise is complete." Myst said. "With this there's no need to be afraid of our pursuers. Even if Core Defense System is the most effective magic to track down criminals but in the end it still needs people searching on the field.

"So as long as we are in the festival, wearing masks to conceal our identity is not suspicious at all! It seem unlikely that the guards would go to each person on the street and ask them to take off their mask. Therefore, it should make more sense if we were to act like a couple and enjoy ourselves in this festival like other people. The art of disguise!" Myst smiled. "What do you think?"

"I think you are just making an excuse so you could play in this festival... but," Nia's voice softened. "That is something I do not dislike as well."

"Way to go, Princess!"

"Then," Nia extended her hand. "Care to lead the way? I afraid to say but this is my first time to be in such festival."

"I accept my duty as a man to guide you through the Mask Festival."

Myst put a knee on the ground, lowered his head and accepted Nia's hand.

"I will make sure this would be the best Mask Festival you'd ever enjoy!"

He lift his head up with a mask already on. It was a plain white mask with only one opening for his left eye.

"Now, let's get the fun started."

*****

A middle-aged man had just witnessed a strange young couple leaving his mask store.

The middle-aged man has seen many people throughout his life but never before had he seen a couple this strange.

They were strange because the two had fantasize themselves as a knight and a princess to enjoy themselves further in this festival. They went so far into their imagination that they even made a plot for it.

From their conversation, the middle-aged man could thought up a possible scenario the young couple was playing at:

It was about the romance between a low-class knight and the most unfortunate princess. The knight has heard the crying princess' pain to be married off for political reason and had eloped with her to let her escape from the unfortunate fate. Now, in order to escape the city, they are avoiding the guards and running away from their pursuers.

To the middle-aged man, the young couple was wild with their love to role-play something like that. Maybe the couple may be even wilder than he was when he was in his younger days.

Especially the younger woman.

Even though she may be small in size, but from their conversation just now, he knew the woman can get sexually frustrated easily and even going so far as trying to strip her male partner right in front of him!

They were way too wild in their romance!

"Youngsters these days..."

A manly tear flowed down his cheek as he was reminded of his age.

"They grow up so fast..."

In the Core Defense System room, Lynn was staring at the transparent model of Miastary.

Quite some time has passed since the Lynn and her men have initiated the task in finding Myst and Ul.

Unfortunately, in the past time, there were not a single report about sightings of the two people.

Lynn's patient was being grinded against the time that went by.

She was entrusted this important task by a man she has always admired since she was small.

Even though she knew this task would be difficult to complete on such day but she still promised she'd complete it no matter what.

It was because she thought this was an opportunity.

An opportunity to make that man proud of her.

This was why she must not fail in finding the two men.

Suddenly, a sharp alerting sound came from the Miastary model and one of the helmet icons in the Market Area was flashing.

This means the guard at that location in the city has something to report.

Lynn immediately tapped the flashing icon and a voice came from the Miastary model.

[Vice Commander! This is the 5th seat of the fourteenth team reporting in!] It was a man's voice.

"Yes, I am listening." Lynn responded. "What is it that you wanted to report?"

[I-I have finally find those two people!]

"What?!" Lynn exclaimed joyously.

Finally! Finally there was a report that came in!

Even more, it was a direct sighting!

Lynn was overjoyed to receive such good news.

The armored man standing beside her and the other two guards were also delighted to hear the report.

Lynn cleared her throat and calmed herself down.

"I will send the other guards to your location." Lynn ordered. "In the mean time, follow them and do not lose sight of them!"

[Certainly, Vice Commander. I have already decided to follow them when my eyes landed on that damned loving couple once again!]

"Good. That is the spirit a guard sho- ...hm?!" Lynn realized something. "Wait a minute. Can you repeat what you just said?"

['Once again'?]

"Yes, repeat it."

[Once again.]

"No!" Lynn face-palmed. "I am telling you to repeat what you have said before!"

[But 'once again' was something I have said before! ...!!! O-Oooh!! You mean 'I have already decided to follow those damned loving couple' part?]

"Yes, that! What do you mean by loving couple? Are you saying the two man we have been searching for were in that kind of relationship?"

[What are you talking about, Vice Commander? What men? The ones that I am following was a couple that consist of a small woman dressed in yellow and the damned man dressed in a very colourful outfit. Seeing that damned man in that strange outfit has given my a strange urge that I wanted to punch him.]

"..."

[Earlier, I saw the couple walked out of a mask store in a lovey-dovey fashion. At first, I did not pay much attention to them but later I realized I could not forget about them. As I continued my patrol, I have began to think how it was unfair for me to still be a single and yet someone wearing that strange outfit could get a partner. This is too suspicious! This has made me regret to let them off the hook earlier! But now it's different! I have finally found them again eating cotten candy together!]

"..."

[Vice Commander! Aid me! Help me put this suspicious man into custody for his indecent act!]

"The one who needs to be put into custody is you!" Lynn retorted. "You should be ashamed to be using the power of authority just because you were jealous of a random person on the street! I order you not to take any action towards that man and..." Lynn took a short breath. Then with all her anger, "CONCENTRATE ON YOUR TASK!" she shouted.

Immediately, Lynn cancelled the voice connection between her and the guard who was reporting in.

Then she went to the corner of the room and took a seat by the table.

She held her head in her hands.

"Unbelievable!" Lynn exclaimed.

Lynn could not believe that the first report she received turned out to be pointless.

Were the search team chosen not because they are professionals? Why was there someone like that?!

The armored man and the other two guards knew of her distress but they did not try to approach her because of her strange behaviour.

Not long after the first, a second alerting sound came from the Miastary model.

Lynn jumped out of the chair and came to the Miastary model.

She quickly tapped the flashing helmet icon and waited excitedly for the upcoming report.

[Vice Commander! This is the 12th seat of the fourteenth team reporting in!] A man's voice came from the model.

"This is Vice Commander Lynn, I am listening."

[I-I have finally found them!]

"..."

Lynn hesitated.

Even though those were the exact words she was hoping to hear but she hesitated to respond to it.

For some odd reason, she had a strong feeling of deja vu when she heard those words.

But that feeling was quickly put at ease when she had reasoned herself that the search team were composed of the professionals. Sure, there may be some odd balls within them but she believed the rest of them were not like the one she encountered earlier.

Thus, she made a response:

"Wait at your location! I will send the other men to aid you seize them!"

But betraying her expectation, she received the following response:

[You going- WHAT?! No, don't send anyone over!]

"W-What are you talking about? How else are you going to capture our targets alone?"

[I alone would be more than enough! After-all, I alone can get the top prize of a shooting booth! The figurine set of 'Magical Heroine Luliruka'!]

"Wait, what? A figurine set?! Why are you going after a figure set? What about your task?"

[You don't know, Vice Commander? It's any father's task to seize the target that his daughter likes!]

"..."

[Aah, a young couple wearing a yellow dress and some strange outfit is also targeting it!! Vice Commander, I need support! Send all the help that you can get to my location! Help me get the figurine set of 'Magical Heroine Luliruka'!]

"What you need to do is GET BACK TO WORK!!!"

Lynn closed the communication link between her and the guard reporting in.

This is even more unbelievable!!

First it was a guard hating on a couple, next it was a guard skipping out on his task!

Forget about them causing unnecessary trouble in the task, Lynn was very confused at how these people even got into the professional team of guards in the first place!

Then before Lynn could even take some time to digest the strange things that have happened, another alerting sound came from the Miastary model.

[Vice Commander. This is the Captain of the fourteenth team reporting in.]

A deep voice of a man came from the model after Lynn tapped the flashing helmet icon.

From the fourteenth team again?

Having the previous experience, Lynn had became doubtful with the guards from the same team.

"Let me cut straight to the point." Lynn replied. "Does your report have any relation to our task?"

[No.]

Lynn's intuition was spot-on.

"I see, then I will close the co-"

[Wait, Vice Commander! Don't cut the communication link that fast! Even though this case I'm reporting in may not be related the task given to me but this is similarly important!]

"Similarly important?"

[Indeed. This is a case of a lost child. A couple wearing a yellow dress and a strange outfit brought me a lost child. But ever since after they left, the little girl began crying! How should I deal with this situation?]

"You also have the duty as a guard, right? Deal with it yourself and get back to your task!"

Lynn cut off the communication link between her and the guard.

She was shocked to consecutively get three reports that has no relation to her task.

But before she could get over her shock, more alerting sounds came from the Miastary model.

The reports became more and more frequent!

But to Lynn's dismay, they were all in a similar fashion as their predecessors:

[This is the 16th seat of fourteenth team. I have just found a lost wallet, I will put it in the lost and found counter.]

"Good for you! And I hope you can do the same for your task!"

[This is the 7th seat of fourteenth team. I've heard from a reliable source that there seemed to be a rare pink-goldfish at the scooping-goldfish booth. I will go check it out and maybe get that rare fish as my pet.]

"What are you trying to do? You are searching for the wrong thing!"

[This is the 23rd seat of fourteenth team. Someone told me there is a man in the street whose left eye can glow red.]

"And? What about it?"

[This is the 3rd seat of fourteeth team. There's a bunch of little girls playing on the playground. This is paradise!]

"Someone! Put this man into custody!"

[This is the 30th seat of fourteeth team. I am not like the other pervy guys of my team who happened to be disgusting lolicon, I am a shotacon.]

"Why are you telling me this?"

[This is the 19th seat of fourteenth team. I need help! I can't find my wallet to pay for the grilled pink-goldfish!]

"I really do not know how to comment on this! There seemed to be connected to many reports I have heard throughout the day!"

[This is the 2nd seat of fourteenth team. I have found a criminal wearing a guard outfit trying to give candies to a lone crying girl!]

[This is the Captain of the fourteenth team. Someone wearing our guard outfit is trying to arm-lock me! I think he's a spy!]

[T-This criminal scum is trying to resist! Vice Commander, sent me help!]

"Do you two not know each other?! Both of you are even from the same team! Are you two doing this on purpose?!"

Thus, Lynn continued to receive similar reports from the same team throughout the afternoon and nothing she found relevant to the task in finding the two people.

In the end, she had enough and put all the guards from Team Fourteen in prison and will release them after Lynn have completed her task.

*****

Finally, some time after relieving herself from the troublesome Fourteenth Team, Lynn gotten a report that was related to her task.

[A certain cart merchant have told me he sold a lot of his carts to a person who wore a butler suit. By confirming with the merchant, I can safely conclude that person is one of the two people we are searching for, Ul.]

"When did he make the purchase?'

[This morning. But the gate guards said they have yet seen Ul leaving the city even till now.]

"This means Ul is still hiding in the city, huh?"

[From what the merchat said, Ul have bought enough carts to transport a whole room worth of furnitures. I don't know how he managed to hide in the city with all of those carts but leaving the city with that many carts without being noticed is impossible. Fortunately, the cart merchant is a strange man who decorate all his carts in a very flashy fashion. So if Ul ever makes a move with those carts, we will immediately find him.]

"Good. Relay the same message to the rest of the guards and tell them to keep an eye out for the carts that fit the description."

[Certainly.]

The communication link was discontinued.

The flashing of a helmet icon stopped and became dimmed.

After receiving such report, Lynn was delighted.

This report was good news to her.

Lynn has heard the fourth princess have made a run-away along with all her belongings in her room.

In order to transport that many things; horse-carriages, carts or other transportations were needed.

From the report, it seemed the fourth princess has made the decision to take her belongings no matter what and have ordered her butler to do the purchase of the carts. The reason why the fourth princess would take all her belongings with her despite the risk of being found was beyond Lynn.

But why complain if the decision of the fourth princess would make her task easier?

A smirk was formed on Lynn's face.

She could see the result of this case.

There was only one gate out of Miastary and it will be impossible to miss if any of the two people they were searching for tries to get across the gate with all those specailly decorated carts.

Thus, if any of the two was to get caught by the guards then finding the fourth princess would be easy.

This task may have became much more easier than expected.

Lynn could not wait for the time she complete the task and make the person she admired proud.

Father, please just wait for some time.

I will show you that I am a daughter you can be proud of!

Thinking of that, the happy Lynn walked to the table at the corner of the room.

She kicked it over.

"Wait! So you would still kick it even if you are not angry?!"

Night, it's the time when the moon hung itself high up in the sky.

The night sky was clear.

There was nothing blocking the round figure of the full moon.

Countless stars sparkled together, forming rivers of light in this night sky.

But they were not the only ones illuminating in the darkness.

Fireworks.

*Dooon* *Dooon*

Following after the sound of explosions, many flowers of light bloomed in the dark.

Adding all sort of different colours to this night sky.

This was the moment everyone was looking forward to.

The climax of the Mask Festival.

*Dooon* *Dooon*

At the end of the festival, countless fireworks were released to the sky.

Everyone who participated in the Mask Festival have already taken a seat in a place they thought had the best viewing spot to watch the fireworks.

Looking up to witness the last moment of this grand festival.

"They're beautiful..." Nia said with her eyes fixed at the sky.

Even though they were simple words but they were the only words Nia could come up with at the moment.

Myst, who was opposite her, laughed when he heard her.

"Haha. You looked like this is your first time seeing fireworks."

"Well, this is my first time to watch fireworks sitting here."

Nia and Myst were seated at a table on the balcony of a restaurant in the Residential Area.

*Doon* *Doon* *Doon*

The pacing of the fireworks have began to pick up, indicating the show was reaching its climax.

Soon, the fireworks has reached the end of their rhythm.

There were no longer fireworks exploding in the sky leaving the sky clear and open.

Just when Nia thought this was the end of the show...

*Hyysssssssshhhhh*

A loud whistle sounds echoed in the empty sky.

It was created by a large object that was flying to the sky, leaving a long trail of white smoke behind.

When the object reached its peak in the sky, it exploded.

*BANG*

An explosion much louder, much bigger and brighter than the other fireworks in the show.

This was the climax and finale of the firework show.

This also marked the end of the Mask Festival.

Nia watched last firework until it completely disappeared.

Myst caught a glimpse of sadness in Nia's expression.

"You are not happy?" Myst asked.

"No, I am happy." She shook her head. "I really enjoyed this day. Everything I saw and every moment of it..." She cast her eyes down and continued with a disappointed tone. "This is the end of it, isn't it?"

"That's right. The festival is almost over."

"Haha, it was so quick! I did not even realize it." Nia laughed weakly. "There was a saying that the time you had fun will feel like it only lasted a moment." She looked up. "Just like the fireworks I see. I enjoy watching them. They are really beautiful. But in an instant they disappear, leaving only the unpleasant smell of explosive powder."

"You are pretty pessimistic."

"I speak the truth!"

There was a time when Nia was not in the castle.

It was a small period of time when she was living with her mother in the woods.

That time, Nia doesn't even know she was a princess of Yuvian nor the situation of the world.

She was just an innocent girl who likes reading the books her mother have, making small things her mother taught her and listening to her mother's stories of her adventure.

Nia was really happy during that time.

But, as she has mentioned, the time she could enjoy was short.

The moment when she turned 6, she was taken to the castle before she even realized.

And that small world Nia lived with her mother disappeared completely...

"Hey!"

"Kyaaa!"

Nia squeaked when Myst flicked her forehead.

"What was that for?!" Nia looked at Myst angrily.

"That's for you looking at things way too negatively." Myst waved his left hand trying to ease its pain. "You are only fourteen years old, you should act more like a girl of that age."

"But being fourteen means I am an adult already. I should not act like a kid anymore."

"To my world's standard, and to me especially, you are just a mere kid. You have read all those manga from Japan didn't you? So you should know how my world is like."

"..." Nia did not answer.

"Laugh when you want to, cry when you need to. Be happy or be angry when you feel like to, there's no reason to hold back for someone your age." Myst tightened his fist. "You said the time you had fun feels short, right? Let us carry out my plan and get you out of this bird cage. I will assure you, you will have many more fun when you could travel around the world and do things you have always wanted to do. Even if fun may feel short to you but you can have many of them to compensate for it. Quantity-over-quality!"

"...Why are you willing to do this for me?" Nia asked. "You should have known from reading my diary that I summoned you because of my selfishness. I have risked you being stuck in my world forever in exchange for my freedom. Also, because of my mistake, you have also became a 'Magic Zero' who everybody in this kingdom shun upon. If you were to help me to get out of this place, you would be wanted by the whole of Yuvian..." Nia paused a bit. She took a small breath before she continued: "For someone so selfish... why are you willing to help me?"

"Why, you asked?" Myst winked. "Because I am your Hero. The Hero who have answered to Haibara Nia's plea when she asked for it."

"..."

After Myst made that declaration, Nia was dumbfounded.

There seemed to be many emotions and feelings being flowing through her mind.

After a short while, Nia burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Trying to act cool to impress a selfish girl really does not suit someone like you who always do stupid things!"

"Hey, at least give me some credits for acting a like a Hero."

"You are right, I apologize for laughing at you." Nia stood up, held her dress up and bowed slightly. "And thank you for willing to help me till the end."

"It's too early for you to thank me." Myst also stood up. "At least wait until I get you out. Even if I don't have any magical power like the other Heroes summoned to this world but my plan will definitely get you out."

"Then I will be in your care then." Nia smiled.

"Yea, leave it to me!" Myst gave her a thumbs-up.

The words Nia said were simple, but from it Myst could tell that Nia have placed her trust on him.

Having witness this, Myst definitely does not want to betray Nia's expectation.

The expectation of an innocent yet unfortunate little girl who has a simple but a grand dream to achieve.

Myst turned around and stared at the large castle.

"Earlier, you said the festival was a bit too short, right?"

The pupil of his left eye emitted red light..

"I think it's about time we ask for a little extension."