Part 1

By the time we got back to my Celestial apartment, I was feeling exhausted in more ways than one. Maintaining my Polemos persona was tiresome at the best of times, and exponentially more so when I had to do it in front of a small crowd while simultaneously pretending to know what I was talking about.

Sighing, I moved over to the bedroom, silently lamenting the lack of a comfy chair in this entire luxury suite (by Celestial standards, at the very least), and rested my butt on the softest surface I could find. Namely, the bed. In the meantime, Mountain Girl wordlessly followed after me, and once I got seated, she let out a muffled voice to get my attention.

"Is Leonard-dono really planning to take the Celestial warriors under Leonard-dono's wings?"

At first, I didn't know how to answer, but then I let out an ambivalent noise and told her, "No, not at all."

"Really? Rinne would've sworn that Leonard-dono was planning to grow them into another division under Leonard-dono's command."

"… No, I was just giving them some simple guidance. For appearances' sake."

Not only that, it wasn't even particularly deep advice, just the same kind of obvious suggestions I gave Josh whenever I sparred with him. Not that they cared; if I told these guys that their combat techniques needed more salt and a hint of periwinkle, they would've probably accepted it as the gospel.

But back to the conversation, is shook my head and lamented, "Just where did this misunderstanding get started? Why does everyone think I'm some sort of grand unifier?"

"Hasn't Leonard-dono already unified the descendants of the mountain- and river-deities, as well as the warriors hunting them?"

I was pretty sure the first two were referring to the Western and Eastern Draconians, but putting her weird terminology aside, I flatly told her, "A single data point doesn't make a pattern."

"… Rinne doesn't understand that."

I wanted to yell 'You're a university-educated teacher! How can you not grasp basic statistics theory?', but then I remembered that I was talking to Mountain Girl, and thought better of it.

"I'm just grumbling to myself, don't worry about it." I stood back up and stretched my back. "I guess you should be tired after eight matches in a row, so feel free to have a break. You did a great job, by the way."

"It was Rinne's pleasure to serve."

After acknowledging her response with a tiny smile, I walked into the bathroom to get a drink. The fact that this place had no kitchen, or even a magitech fridge of some sort with some refreshments, was a constant source of annoyance. I had to work with what I had, and that was the bathroom sink. I apparently really needed the extra hydration, as it was only after I drank to my fill that I realized something that should've been obvious in retrospect.

Since I could Phase home any time I wanted to, there was no reason why I couldn't stock up on soft drinks. Sure, bringing over something big, like the whole minbar from the base, would've been too conspicuous, but there were other ways to achieve the same effect. With Rinne serving as my anchor, I could make as many round-trips as I wanted, and as for storage, I could just get a big backpack, and by wearing it, she could take all of those drinks into the shadow-subspace, hiding all the evidence. Heck, I could go one step further and just get a cooler, and ask Judy to make a bunch of her artisanal sandwiches for me while I was at it. That would also get ahead of any further tampering with my food the Celestial top brass would get up to.

I returned to the bedroom to ask Mountain Girl for her five cents, and I froze mid-step the moment I passed the threshold. She took my suggestion to rest up very literally, and I found her lying on my bed, her helmet put aside but still in arm's reach, and with a book in hand. Rationally, I knew that it wasn't 'my bed' per se, and I wasn't ever going to use it for its intended purpose, but seeing someone who wasn't one of my girlfriends lounging on it still felt subtly wrong.

Before she could question why I was so startled, I theatrically straightened my outfit and walked inside like nothing happened.

"What are you reading?"

I didn't ask just out of courtesy, as I couldn't read the title. It was in Japanese.

"It's a commentary on Dream of the Red Chamber by Fumio Haru." I was about to hum in acknowledgement and ask where she hid that book until now in her disguise, but she beat me to the punch with an irate groan. "Naoren-san made fun of Rinne for never reading one of the four classic Chinese novels, but it's just too long and boring, so Rinne is going to read a lot of Redologist books about its plot and themes and prose and style and themes instead, and then the next time Naoren-san will try to make fun of Rinne, Rinne with turn the table around, and Naoren-san will be sorry!"

"… Sure. You do that."

She nodded with the kind of gravitas that absolutely didn't suit the topic and returned to her book with fire in her eyes. Before she could get too immersed though, I hurriedly waved to get her attention back and gave her an outline of my plans.

"Rinne agrees. Rinne would also like to request curry and melon soda."

"I'll see what I can do about it." Pausing, I quickly Far Glanced at the three Celestial bigwigs, plus Jaakobah, to make sure they weren't planning to break down my door and drag me to a meeting, or a parade, or something equally boring and asinine, and when I was sure I was in the clear, I told her, "I'm going to put that into motion then. If anyone's looking for me, tell them I'm busy. Otherwise, make yourself at home."

"Can Rinne use the shower?"

I didn't expect her to ask that right off the bat, but after that workout, it shouldn't have surprised me.

"You can't. I mean, you literally can't. It works on Celestial magic and stuff." She was looking at me funny, so after a while I added, "I'll figure out a way to jury-rig it before I leave."

"Thank you."

I waited to see if she had anything else to add, but after some time she unceremoniously continued to read her book. I left her at it and returned to the bathroom for the second time. Since I already explored the enchantments operating the tower's non-plumbing system, I figured it shouldn't take long to hammer together some kind of alternative control scheme that didn't rely on aggressively humming at the bloody faucet.

Using three Phantom Limbs at the same time, I rapidly analysed the arrays on display, and once I knew what to do, making the necessary changes was something I could do pretty much with my eyes closed. As a matter of fact, I couldn't help but feel that multitasking, even while performing difficult tasks, became even easier than before. I wondered if it had something to do with the number of phantom limbs, my encounter with other-me in the not-dark not-room, or something else entirely, but since I was always ready to push my supernatural boundaries, I figured I could save some time by using Far Sight at the same time.

Paying full attention to that wasn't entirely feasible yet, but by cycling through my marks, I could at least gather a few snippets of information. I caught a glance of my sisters helping Arnwald work out in the base's training room housing some fitness equipment borrowed from the Dracis mansion. Judy and Elly were eating a late breakfast in the company of Sebastian, served by the twin maids whose names I still didn't know. Crowey was on a tour around the outskirts of his castle while talking with some officials, all of them surrounded by about two dozen generic Fauns. Speaking of which, my glance at Brang and company told me that they had mostly finished tidying up and re-decorating the secret hideout I 'inherited' from Fred, and they were on standby.

They weren't the only ones there, as I also found Morgana, Agrawain, and Roland sitting around a small round table in another room. As in, opposed to the 'jail room' that used to house Mike back in the day. By now, it had been turned into a bona fide medieval dungeon by the overachieving ministrations of our Fauns, complete with chained manacles hanging from the walls, makeshift torture racks, and even honest-to-goodness torches set into sconces on the walls. Credit where credit's due, these guys never did a half-assed job.

But putting that aside for the moment, I was much more interested in Roland's presence. Since he was there, it offered a perfect opportunity to hold a strategic meeting to decide how to deal with Percival. With that in mind, I returned to my body so that I could fully focus on my work, and finished tweaking the enchanted showers cabin in the matter of minutes.

By putting my hand on the ball embedded in the wall, the showerhead above sprung to life and started spraying warm water. It wasn't exactly hot, more like lukewarm, but I couldn't be bothered with jury-rigging a temperature control system as well, so Mountain Girl would have to deal with it. Chances were, no matter what I did, she would demand either icy cold or scalding hot water to temper her yin-yang energies or whatever anyway.

Anyhow, once I was done, I turned off the outlet by touching it again and returned to the bedroom.

"I fixed the plumbing, so now you can take a shower," I told her, and she immediately perked up. "Just poke the white marble on the wall, and you should be good to go."

"Understood."

"Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to step out for a while. Hold the fort in my absence."

I waited for her to acknowledge what I said, and once I got it, I limbered up my neck and immediately Phased away to hit the iron while it was hot.

"Hello!"

"Gah!" Raven Boy gasped and nearly fell out of his chair the moment I arrived, while the other Knights only looked mildly startled by my sudden appearance. Once he gathered his wits, the youngest let out a protracted groan. "I hate it when he does that!"

"Welcome back, your majesty," Morgana greeted me in turn, imperturbable as usual.

"Huh? It's pretty warm in here," I noted absently, and Roland soon answered my unspoken inquiry, though only after he rose to his feet first.

"Since we are planning to hold Percival in indefinite captivity, I advocated for furnishing this base for long-term use," Roland explained and gestured at the oil radiators at the back.

The air of the basement hideout was heavy and more than a little musty, but other than that, it would've been hard to recognize the place. While the simple light fixture hanging from the ceiling and the metal pipes running along the walls remained the same, the rest were markedly dissimilar. The concrete floor was now covered with a thick green carpet, the wooden boxes and old furniture were moved to the far corner of the room and hidden under a brown tarp. As for furnishings, the middle of the room was dominated by a set of prefab chairs and a matching round table, while the back had a row of portable beds and a brand-new fridge so big, it immediately made me wonder how they managed to get it down here. All in all, this particular chamber gave off a surprisingly liveable atmosphere, only slightly marred by the exposed brickwork and the steel beams visible on the ceiling.

"We have arranged for heating, food, as well as comfortable lodgings for the wardens," Roland followed up his previous statement, drawing my attention back to him.

"Meaning the Fauns, right?"

"Since your majesty wishes to uphold the pretense of a kidnapping by the forces of the Abyss, they are a natural fit."

As if waiting for the right cue, the door on our left opened, and in walked Karukk and Rabom. They were momentarily startled by my presence, but adapted quickly and gave me a salute.

"Welcome. Prison is ready. Came for refreshment," the friendly Faun explained, with his compatriot repeatedly nodding along.

"Efficient, as always," I noted and was about to tell them to be on their way when I recalled something and waved for them to wait. "Did you find any bugs last night?"

The two ram-men were stumped for a moment, but then Karukk's eyes lit up with realization and he hastily told me, "Electronic ears. None in your house. Found five in dragon's house."

"Destroyed," Rabom added to the explanation with a note of pride.

So, since they did manage to find some listening devices in the Dracis mansion, but none at home, I could be reasonably sure that Percival didn't learn anything compromising about me through unusual means. That was good to know.

"Thanks for the hard work. Feel free to write up some bonus stuff on next week's requisition sheet. Snacks, tools, whatever you want. My treat."

Karukk flashed a toothy grin, followed by an elated "Thank you! Will do!", and once they were sure I had no other questions, the two Fauns headed to the back of the room to pilfer the fridge there. That reminded me of my pet plan with the cooler bag and the drinks and the food again, but I put it aside for the moment and returned to the Knights at the table instead.

"Sorry for the intermezzo. So, what's the plan?"

"I ensured that Percival would remain in his room for the time being," Roland told me without missing a beat, though it was information I was already privy to. "Since the holding cell is ready, I recommend that we take Percival into custody within the hour."

"Whoa there. No need to rush things that much," I objected, but Roland stood his ground.

"Leonard, we talked about this. We cannot let a hostile element like Percival operate freely in the heart of the Draconic Federation. Ideally, you should remove him right now, and then immediately make your return to stabilise the situation."

Before I could reply, Raven Boy let out an over scoff and muttered, "This is such bullshit…"

When I turned a questioning eye at him, he froze up for a moment, but it didn't take long for his defiant streak to flare up and he doubled down.

"What? It is! Shouldn't Sir Percival be given the benefit of the doubt first?"

"That boat sailed already," I pointed out, and Morgana agreed with me.

"He was scheming against our King and the Ordo Draconis."

"Says him," Agrawain pointed at me and exhaled sharply through his nose. "Not to mention, didn't you also do just that with your— ugh, disguise of you-know-who? Multiple times? Have you ever heard about people in glass houses throwing stones?"

"Wow. Is it idiom-day today or what?" I whispered under my breath, but then shook my head to get rid of the distracting thought and told him, "The difference is that I've been doing that with everyone's best interest in mind. He's doing it because he's on Celestial payroll."

Raven Boy looked like he still wanted to give me a piece of his mind, but he never got the chance, as Roland stepped in to grab the reins of the conversation again.

"On the topic of Celestials, how are things proceeding on your side?"

"Hm? Ah, that…" Pausing, I wracked my head over how to best put it. "Everything's getting more complicated, as usual, my current objective is slowly shifting from 'find the good guys' to 'find the least worst guys', but I'm trucking along. Oh, and before I forget it, I accidentally found the source of my extra income we never managed to track down until now."

"Did you?" Roland asked back with a curiously raised brow.

"Yep. Turns out, before I lost my memories, I was a Celestial triple-agent working behind the back of Percival."

My explanation left a long spell of silence in its wake, ultimately broken when Raven Boy threw his hands into the air.

"Do I even have to say anything at this point?!"

"Agrawain. Please behave yourself."

After being chided by a glaring Morgana, her nephew stood down with a slurred 'Yes, auntie…', while our Mr. Griffon thought long and hard about this new revelation and ended up exhaling a dispirited groan.

"You're right. The state of affairs keeps getting more and more complicated as time goes on. All the more reason we cut through it all as soon as possible."

"Fine, fine. I get it. You want me to grab Percival ASAP, right?" I grumbled, and he let out an approving hum.

"Yes. Right now, if possible."

"… You mean that?" He continued to look at me humourlessly, and it didn't take me long to relent. "Oh, fine. I don't like rushing things so much, but if you insist…"

Without further ado, I used my phantom limb to interface with the Leoformer on my belt, and in a flash of colourless light, my outfit was replaced by my full Bel getup, complete with mask and all.

"Gah!" Raven boy gasped, in a mirror image of his expression when I first appeared. "I hate it when he does that too!"

In the meantime, I took off the mask and walked over to the stack of old boxes and furniture set aside in the corner, culminating by pointing a beckoning finger at one of the chairs. I could feel the three Knights' confused eyes on the back of my head, but then it was replaced by surprise and Raven Guy exclaiming for the third time.

"Since when was that thing here!?"

Ignoring him, I patted the newly de-transformed Pudding-kun on the top of its… well, it wasn't a head, considering the mini-shoggoth didn't exactly have a standard body-plan, but it was beside the point. After that, I gestured at the mask in my hand, and it required no further instructions to crawl into it and turn into a thick, fleshy lining on the inside.

It looked a little bit gross, but using Pudding-kun this way to secure the mask onto my face was by far the best way to protect my identity from any random wardrobe malfunction, so I didn't complain. However, just as I was about to put it on, a brand-new notion popped into my head, stopping me in my tracks.

"Hey? Before we go any further," I spoke as I turned back to the three Knights, now accompanied by the two Fauns on their way back. "Do we have a mirror somewhere around here? I just got an idea…"

Part 2

It was a quiet afternoon in the Dracis mansion. Once the initial panic over the disappearance of a certain wildly popular, devilishly handsome, and criminally humble Leonard S. Dunning quieted down, everyone's daily routines reasserted themselves, like a river returning to its bed. It might've felt strange from an outsider's perspective, but as far as the servants and the various Draconian dignitaries were concerned, once the owners of the estate were seemingly at peace with the situation, they also quietly returned to their duties.

Of course, there were some rumours, as always. Some said that the sudden change in the otherwise extremely protective Dracis couple's attitude, after they returned home the day before, must have meant they had learned something that quelled their anxiety. Others claimed it must have been a ploy, and they were in on the scheme. Yet others seemed to care less about Leonard S. Dunning's apparent kidnapping, and seemed to be more concerned with the progress of his two fiancée's 'relationship', despite the two's ardent protests to the contrary.

In a way, the notion that the maids, guards, and even the representatives of the various member families had the leeway to immerse themselves in gossip was speaking volumes about how quickly they moved past the initial shock. If I was some kind of wildly popular, devilishly handsome, and criminally humble person, I might've felt slighted by their indifference, but luckily for them, I also happened to be magnificently magnanimous and let it slide. For now.

Jokes aside, the laidback atmosphere was infectious, and despite his loud and repeated protests, a certain Sir Percival Pendragon seemed perfectly contented to stay in his designated room, get his gourmet meals delivered by pretty maids, and play video games on his phone all day long. On the surface, he was living the high life, lounging on a fancy bed in his fluffy blue bathrobe without a care in the world, yet his body language said otherwise.

He was instinctively reacting even to the smallest of noises, eyes flittering over to the source before slowly returning to the screen in his hand. It was almost as if he was expecting to be attacked at any moment, which was a patently silly concern. After all, he was in a room on the first floor of the Dracis mansion, the heart of the Draconic Federation, guarded by the Ordo Draconis and fortified against all manners of infiltration, be it through mundane or magical means. Who in the world could get the jump on him in this kind of environment?

"Well, hello there!"

My sudden exclamation made the old coot let out an undignified yelp and he very nearly flung the phone in his hand at me. He caught himself in the very last second, and after locking gazes with my masked visage for a few long seconds, he let his hand down and exhaled a long breath.

"Oh. It's you."

That wasn't how people usually reacted to me in my Bel guise, but to be fair, I was more or less expecting something like this. Someone didn't become a Celestial double agent and spied on their lifelong friends, colleagues, and protégés by wearing their hearts on their sleeves, and the old man certainly had his own share of annoying secrets. Such as his Oaths.

A quick primer: by default, all knights had seven Oaths in total. In actual practice, only six of them were functional, because their Oath of Loyalty was broken by default, as it represented their servitude to their Celestial masters.

A few others were also relatively easy to break (I had my Oath of Service and Oath of Legacy broken, probably because of my pre-amnesia involvement with the Celestial Intelligence Network and Director Savir, while Morgana and Arnwald both had their Oath of Integrity broken by a botched operation in their youth neither of them wanted to talk about), but the point was that there was no Knight with seven active and operational Oaths. Except for Percival.

Not only that, but his Oaths were of a different design, and while not outright plot-devices, that asshole corner of my mind that, to this day, still refused to share its insider knowledge with the rest of my brain, was very skittish when I tried to interact with them.

I never had the time or opportunity to do a phantom-limb-assisted deep dive, so I couldn't be sure about their functions yet, but my five pence were on his Oath receptacles getting repaired and/or replaced by his Celestial handlers at some point, allowing him to act out against the Brotherhood without consequences. One thing was for sure though; they were straight-up incompatible with the experimental changes I did to Raven Boy's Oaths, and while I imagined I could probably jury-rig the old man's Oaths with some phantom-elbow-grease, it wasn't something I could do on the fly.

As such, I decided to give Roland some peace of mind first, and then mess around with the old bastard's astral body once he was already locked away in our lovely little dungeon.

But anyhow, back to the scene I was making.

"Yes, it is most certainly I!" I declared without missing a beat and gave the old Knight still sitting in his bed a shallow scraping bow.

"Bel of the Abyss, if I'm not mistaken?" he asked in a raised voice, and even though he tried to look nonchalant, I caught him glancing at the door.

A moment later, I reappeared between him and the entrance and leisurely pointed behind me with my thumb.

"No need to worry, Percy, old chap! I already took care of the guards outside, so you don't have to worry about any interruptions. Speak your mind! Be as loud as you want! Scream 'Onii-chan, yamete kudasai!' from the top of your lungs! No one will care!"

I technically wasn't lying, as I did arrange to draw all the guards and servants away from the area. Or rather, Roland did, but let's not split hairs here.

"I see…" Percival whispered without taking his eyes off me. He didn't even blink. At last, after a silent beat, he adopted his friendly grandfather persona and let out a chuckle. "I was expecting you; you know?"

"Oh, were you now?" I asked back while cocking my head to the side.

Now, to be perfectly clear, all of this was unnecessary. I was here to grab this bastard by the scruff of his neck, Phase him over to our makeshift jail, and throw him in with extreme prejudice… but that didn't mean I couldn't have some fun at his expense, and what other time I could I do this? Since my initial plan of putting him on a pedestal, making him feel he was the king of the world, and then tearing him down just when he was sure he won, was vetoed by Roland, I decided to do the second-best thing. I mean, I was already here, as Bel, so it was only fair to make him sweat a little.

In the meantime, the bastards carefully observed me and responded with a jovial, "Of course. You're acquainted with Leonard, and I was the last person who saw him before he was kidnapped, so it was only natural to expect that you would come looking for me."

"Reeeally?" After a beat, I leaned forward and Phased right in front of him, so close I could count the follicles of his eyebrows, momentarily startling the old man. I held the tension for a moment, then lowered my voice by an octave. "Do I really look like I care that much about the kid?"

To his credit, the old coot maintained eye contact and answered, "This is only conjecture on my end, but Leonard played a pivotal role in your plans, didn't he? No one would accept losing a useful pawn at this stage of the game."

He paused, apparently looking for a reaction (which was kind of silly, considering I was wearing a mask and all). On my end, I did the same, and ultimately shrugged and straightened my back.

"Well, fine. I admit I have a bit of a soft spot for the kid," I confessed with pretend reluctance and walked around the bed before facing him again. "As for games, I—" I wanted to launch into one of my patented Unhinged Bel Monologues™, but was forced to pause when I saw him casually rummaging through the night stand at his side and taking out a bunch of small plastic bottles. "Pray tell, what are you doing?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm just taking my medicine." To punctuate his words, he popped a pill and swallowed it dry before unscrewing another bottle. "Don't mind me, please continue."

Was… Was this bloody bastard seriously using Refuge in Audacity? On me? The gall!

"Percy, Percy, Percy," I spoke with a measured cadence, shaking my head in time, and placed a hand on the footboard of the bed while simultaneously entwining four of my numerous phantom limbs around it. "I can't help but feel that you're not taking this conversation seriously enough."

Before he could respond, I immediately Phased over to the dockyard hideout while still holding the now-empty bed. It landed with a loud thud inside the holding cell. I caught a glimpse of a bamboozled Pip in the corner of my eye before the world blurred again, and I was back in the mansion, just as the old man gracelessly landed on the floor. He tried to sit up, probably by reflex, but before he could even process what happened, I was already over him, one gloved hand clasped around his throat and slamming him back down.

The impact caused him to lose his grip on the white plastic bottle, and it fell to the ground, scattering its contents all over the carpet. Some kind of thick, viscous liquid that smelled sickeningly sweet and strangely nostalgic; probably cough medicine, I surmised.

It took Percival a couple of seconds to collect his wits, and once his eyes cleared up, I raised him up, fingers firmly grasping onto his neck, and hissed, "I'm not here to play mind games with a third-rate Celestial lackey like you. Don't test my patience."

Aaah, yes. That's the look. Eyes wide open, mind blank, jaw slacked… It was precisely what I wanted to see on the bloody weasel's face. Sadly, it didn't last long, as he grabbed my arm and pleaded, "Wait! Please wait! We can make a deal!"

"A deal?" I repeated after him with audible disdain, but after a moment of consideration, I nonchalantly let go of his neck, causing him to fall back onto the floor. In the meantime, I Phased to a nearby divan facing roughly the right direction and landed on it butt-first with practised motions, punctuated by a clap of my hands. "That sounds hilarious! Normally, I'm the one who's offering deals to people, so being on the receiving end of a proposal is a brand-new experience for me! Please, go on! Entertain me!"

Percival gasped for air as he pushed himself up, and after glancing around and registering the missing bed and the spilt syrup on the floor, he took a few laboured breaths and forced an amicable smile onto his face.

"I… don't know how much you know about me, but—"

"Percival Pendragon. Retired Keeper of the Bloodlines. Celestial double-agent. Reporting to the Unorthodox Celestials," I rattled off in a flat voice, and after a dramatic pause, I added, in a much more playful tone, "Oh, and you are directly under one of the bigwigs. What was his name again? Scrawny guy? Kinda pale? Has an absolutely terrible eye for people?" Pausing, I rubbed the chin of my mask and mused, "Maybe that's why he's wearing glasses? Probably needs a new prescription."

"I see that you… came prepared," the old man on the floor said, not even trying to get up.

"Nah, this is common knowledge," I responded with a careless wave of my hand. "Now, are you going to offer that deal or not? Do we need some props? I'm personally partial to contracts written in virgin blood and using souls as collateral, but I've heard those are old-fashioned nowadays…"

"No, I just…" Percival stopped speaking and took several deep breaths. I could practically see the gears spinning in his head, and after a whole lot of consideration, he uttered, "I'm still alive."

"Yes. I'm in awe of your amazing observational skills," I responded with a chuckle, but he remained dead serious.

"If you wanted to kill me, you could've done so at any moment. I don't have my equipment, and can't put up a fight against you as I am now," he reasoned, his eyes cold and calculating, with none of the grandfatherly façade remaining in them. "The fact that I'm still breathing tells me that you don't want me dead. No, I would go one step further: you can't kill me. Not now."

"Oh? What makes you think that?"

This time, I didn't have to pretend to be intrigued, as I was genuinely curious about what kind of Olympic-level mental gymnastics performance led him to this conclusion.

"You put a lot of time and effort into creating the Draconic Federation," he posited. "I don't know what your reasons and goals are, but this much is self-evident. However, your pawn was suddenly taken from the board, and now you need a replacement." He pointed a thumb at himself, and confidently declared, "As the provisional leader, I'm that replacement. You came here to make a deal, the same deal you made with Leonard, and you can't kill me, because if I died, it would further destabilize the Draconic Federation."

"And I don't want that?" I asked with just a hint of amusement, and he gave me a completely serious nod.

"No, you don't. Whatever your scheme might be, this organization has to be vital for it, otherwise you wouldn't have shown yourself like this." With a triumphant look on his face, the old man flashed a wolfish grin. "I want in, but not as a pawn."

"Then what? A bishop? Oh, wait! You must want to be the horsie! That's the best piece, because it can go in an L!" I exclaimed with childish enthusiasm, only to then add, in a much more somber tone, "You're already got the part where you make a lot of horseshit down pat."

"Wait, let me explain!" Percival called out in a hurry, showing his palms. "It's exactly as you said. I'm a Celestial collaborator, just like my mentor, and hers as well. A small fish, following orders all my life. However, I'm now the leader of the Ordo Draconis and a major player in the Draconic Federation. I might not hold as much sway as Leonard, but I raised the boy. Once he returns, with all of his memories, he'll listen to everything I say."

"The kid? Listening to you? Hah!"

"Trust me," he insisted with a sincere gaze that said that he might've been just delusional enough to believe his own words. "Let us work together, as partners, and I will prove my worth to you. I can not only steer the Draconic Federation according to your will, but I also have the trust of Director Mensah, a connection I can use to keep the Celestial Intelligence Network in the dark about your intentions. As you can see, I would make a very valuable ally."

I didn't respond right away. Instead, I slowly crossed my legs, placing my left ankle on my right knee, and linked my fingers in my lap.

"How curious. I was under the impression that you had quite a low opinion of the Abyss, and yet you're willing to sell out not only your friends and allies, but even bite the Celestial hand that feeds you."

"I admit, I have my own reasons to mistrust the spawn of the Abyss, but…" Pausing he gave me an innocent smile that sent shivers down my spine. "But you're not any Abyssal, are you?"

"… What makes you say that?"

Chuckling, he casually pointed at the red stain on the floor, his lips parting into a devilish grimace as he uttered, "That's Udug Blood Amalgam."

Blinking, I glanced over, and it took me an embarrassingly long time to connect the dots. That was the thing I accidentally used to write a letter to Crowey when I first pranked him, and it caused him to be bedridden for weeks.

"So that's why it smelled so familiar!" I exclaimed and stood up from my seat.

Percival observed me closely, his expression unchanging.

"As I said, I was expecting you, and made preparations in advance," he told me and rose to his feet with deliberate, non-threatening motions. "It's diluted, but a single whiff should've been enough to make an Abyssal's powers go haywire. Intense pain, muscle cramps, suffocating from their own blood filling up their lungs. Not a pretty sight." At this point, he paused to straighten his bathrobe and looked me over from head to toe. "Not even the Lords of the Abyss are fully immune to its effects, and since you aren't convulsing on the floor, the only logical explanation is that you aren't a denizen of the Abyss at all!"

"Oh wow! That's some really smart deduction, Percy!" I exclaimed with childlike innocence, using it to hide the inner struggle I was undergoing, trying my hardest not to punch him in his smug face. "All you need is a pipe and a deer-stalking hat, and you can start solving all kinds of crimes!"

Before he could respond, I Phased to the right and slightly behind him and put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not going to lie; you've made a pretty strong case for yourself. That sudden twist with the Blood Amalgam?" I pantomimed a chef's kiss and then pulled him a bit closer. "But, just to be clear, have you been carrying that around all this time?"

"As I said, I came to the island prepared."

"And, let's say… This is a hypothetical scenario, but try to follow me… What if it did work on me? What then?"

Percival turned his head towards me, without moving any other muscle in his body, and nonchalantly told me, "I doubt it would've killed an Abyssal Lord of your caliber, but it would've certainly made both of us learn much from the encounter."

"Ah, yes. Veeery astute. Veeery clever," I spoke softly while tightening my grip on his shoulder. "Now, staying with hypotheticals… what were you planning to do with the Blood Amalgam if I didn't show up in person to meet you?"

"I… don't see how that's—"

"Now, now, Percy! Don't hold out on me like that! The curiosity is going to kill you! I mean, me! I mean you! You know what I mean, right?"

He hesitated for a moment, but ultimately exhaled a sigh that practically screamed 'Well, it can't be helped'.

"… Do you want me to be honest with you?"

"Of course! We're all friends here! Birds of a feather! Peas in a pod! Partners in crime!" I exclaimed and dug my fingers even harder into his shoulder. "Aren't we?"

"Well…" He hesitated for a second, but when I continued to stare at him in a very, very amicable way, he swallowed hard and told me, "To tell you the truth, the bottle was diluted because I was saving the rest for the Inanna girl in the—"

That's as far as he got. There was no ceremony, no dramatic pause, nothing of the like. Just white-hot rage, a fist, and a face that was way overdue to receive it. My knuckles made contact with Percival's nose, and there was a sickening crunch as something gave way. There was no reaction on his end, as his head snapped back with such force it was a small miracle his neck remained intact. To my mind, all of these observations felt very distant.

I noted, with detached indifference, that my foot swept the old man's legs out of under him, and after I let go of his shoulder, I used the same arm to deliver a vertical elbow strike to his solar plexus. It sent him to the ground and he sprawled out on his back, dazed and barely conscious. It was a pathetic sight, but my mind was already seared blank by unyielding fury, and I descended upon his defenceless head without any hesitation.

Straddled on his chest, I raised a fist and punched him right in the cheek. Then it was his forehead. His nose again. Right in the mouth. Left eye. One after the other, my fists rained down on his face without any technique or discipline, pounding pure outrage right into his flesh and bones. The old man tried to raise his hands to protect himself, but it was in vain, and he went completely limp.

It was only then that the curtain of rage slowly lifted from my mind, and I beheld my handiwork. Percival's nose was visibly broken, his face swollen, his left eyebrow was ripped open, and not only my gloves were covered in blood, but my suit was also speckled with red. Strangely enough, I wasn't heaving, nor was I horrified by what I just did. If anything, I was surprised I managed to stop myself from literally ripping the fucker's head off. Maybe remorse was supposed to come later, I mused?

Anyhow, I wiped my hands on his bathrobe and then put an ear over his mouth. Yep, he was still breathing.

I reached down and put my hands under his armpits, and with some effort, I managed to drag his limp body off the ground. Without further ado, I Phased into the holding cell, where the Fauns were still in the process of inspecting the new piece of furniture I brought over.

"Boss?" Karukk squeezed out during the time I unceremoniously threw Sir Percival's limp body onto said bed, but fell silent when I pointed a blood-stained palm at him.

"I had to get a bit rough. Make sure he lives, but don't give the bastard any comfort. I'll be back once I take care of some other business."

I didn't even wait for them to respond, and Phased right back into the room. Thanks to the extra range I gained after my phantom limbs' latest multiplication, I could comfortably get there by using one of the maids working on the floor above as an anchor. First and foremost, I walked over to the nightstand and checked the rest of the unlabelled bottles in it. I couldn't find anything even remotely similar to the syrupy Blood Amalgam, but I packed all of them away into a paper bag I found and set them aside. I'd have Fred check them, just to be safe. I also picked up Percival's phone and turned it off before placing it next to the bag, and then I went on a bit of a scavenger hunt.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to find what I was looking for. Inside a familiar travel bag I remembered from the day Percival first showed up at my doorstep, I found a small, rectangular box. It was made of wood and had a simple metal latch at the front, but cursory observation showed that it was booby-trapped by a relatively secure enchantment array. Of course, since I had no interest in its inner workings, I simply disabled it with a swipe of a phantom limb and opened it up, revealing a fist-sized crystal ball, softly glowing with magical light.

Exhaling, I undid my Bel disguise, and returned to the white outfit I put together in the Elysium. This naturally meant that my enchanted mask was also gone, yet the face reflecting on the ball's surface wasn't my own. First things first though, I reached back into the travel bag and took out a really ugly brown and green knit sweater that was perfect for the situation. Once I pulled it over my head, I used my fingers to comb my white hair into something resembling normalcy, straightened my beard, cracked my neck, and moved to the corner of the room. I held the box with the crystal ball up and, with just a little bit of phantom limb based tweaking, turned on the magitech device.

"Agent Pendragon," an unfamiliar female voice greeted me, followed by a semi-transparent blue hologram rising from the ball, showing the scanlined visage of a middle-aged woman. "It isn't time for your scheduled report yet."

"I know," I responded with an unsteady voice, trying to mimic the mannerism of the old bastard. "Is Director Mensah available?"

"The director is currently in a meeting," the lady, whom I presumed was the Celestial equivalent of a personal secretary, answered in a disinterested voice, but I didn't mind.

"Bah, figures. Please tell him that I probably won't be able to report in for a while." I pretended to be interrupted by a coughing fit, and then continued in a raspy voice, "I've caught the flu, and these overprotective fools are keeping me under twenty-four-seven surveillance to make sure it's not some slow-acting Abyssal poison. I barely managed to make this call, and…" I paused and pretended to look away and listen to a distant noise, and then hastily added, "Someone's coming to check on me again. I have to hang up. Please convey to the director my message and my apologies. Agent Pendragon, out."

I didn't even wait for her to respond, and just slammed the lid of the box shut. Exhaling a long sigh, I put the communicator away, and as I did so, I could feel the skin on my face quiver.

"You can get off now, we're done," I said absent-mindedly while I picked up everything I set aside, and not a moment later, my vision was covered in a puff of smoke. I could feel a pulling sensation on my whole head, from my scalp to the tip of my chin, as a certain flesh-ball detached from me once it undid its transformation, and a second later it landed on the floor with a soft plop.

It didn't seem bothered by the impact, and after waving its tiny tentacular appendages around for a while, it righted itself and shook its whole body, like a small dog that just came out of the water. At last, it turned an expectant eye at me, so after I put away the ugly sweater, I crouched down and petted the tiny abomination.

"Good job. They probably didn't expect a thing."

Pudding-kun let out a pleased 'Nyuuu~!' sound as I picked it up. I glanced around the room, just to make sure I gathered everything, and as I did, my eyes lingered on the bloodstains left where the bed used to be.

Honestly, this particular excursion ended up much less light-hearted than usual, but to be fair, Percival definitely deserved what was coming to him. Not to mention, I (and by that, I mean Bel) have been threatening to open an economy-sized, freshly picked, ethically sourced can of all-natural ultra-violence on someone's ass for a while now. The fact that the person on the receiving end was a conniving asshole who casually threatened to poison my sister was entirely incidental. I certainly didn't overreact or anything.

As if to reassure me, the small ball of eldritch horror rubbed its whole body against my torso while making purring noises, prompting me to let out a sigh.

"Well, at least you're not judging."

And with those final words, I left the scene of the crime.

Part 3

"Udug Blood Amalgam?" Snowy's voice sounded quite startled, to the point I could perfectly imagine her face even through the phone. I waited for her to continue, and after a few long seconds, she whispered, "It's very dangerous, and highly restricted. Only the Lords of the Abyss can have it, and if found on anyone else, it's grounds for execution."

"Okay, next question then," I muttered as I leaned back in my seat and rubbed my temple. "How did Percival get his hands on it?"

"I… Don't know."

Softening my tone a little, I told her, "Don't sound so down, sis. It was a rhetorical question." She responded with a hum in acknowledgement. "Is it also dangerous to others, or only Abyssals?"

"S-Sorry, I don't know much about it. I don't think it's toxic to others, but I would be careful around it, just in case."

I sort of expected this much. While Snowy was technically one of the highest ranking Abyssals, in practice, she was exploited by his brother from a young age and purposefully kept in the dark, so it wasn't surprising she couldn't tell me anything I haven't already heard from the Fauns. Still, it was worth a try.

"Thanks for the advice. I'll tell everyone to take it seriously. I still have some things to take care of, so I have to hang up no. Stay safe, sis."

"W-Wait! You're the one going back to the Elysium! That's something I was supposed to say!"

"Yeah! Don't do anything stupid over there, brother!"

"… Was that Penny just now?" I asked with my eyes squinted, but I only met with deafening silence. "Tell her it's not nice to listen in on other people's conversations… and that I'll be careful. Take care, you two."

After the customary goodbyes, I put my phone down onto the table and let out a shallow sigh. I was sitting in the secret hideout, in the company of Roland and Morgana, and both of them were giving me expectant looks.

"Snowy had no idea either," I told them a touch dourly and slouched over a bit. "Either Percival had connections in the Abyss as well, or this whole web of intrigue goes further than expected."

"It's the Celestials we're talking about here," Roland commented, his voice tinted with a hint of annoyance. "You have mentioned that one of the Abyssal houses took credit for your kidnapping. Maybe the poison is from them?"

"Could be, but then that would mean that the Celestials have subverted one of the Lords of the Abyss."

"They had subverted us without our knowing for who knows how long," Morgana noted with a distinct sense of distaste. "I would not consider the possibility beyond their reach."

"The biggest issue is that Percival is with the Unorthodox faction." A groan later, I added, "They are the guys who are all about waging war on the Abyss. I sincerely doubt that they have agents among the Abyssals, let alone an entire house."

"Maybe he had been secretly working with another faction?" Roland posited, and it drew another groan out of me before the echoes of the last one even died down.

"I'm getting sick and tired of this bloody double-triple-whatever agent crap. I'll interrogate the Celestial higher-ups about it, and see what shakes loose." Pausing, I lightly tapped against the tabletop and murmured, "But speaking of interrogation, we have to find out where Percival kept the rest of this Blood Amalgam stuff. The last thing I need right now is something like that hanging over Snowy's head."

"You won't be interrogating him any time soon," Raven Boy butted in the moment he returned to the room with an open first aid kit in hand. "I patched him up as best as I could, but he's still unconscious. Let's hope he didn't suffer any brain damage." Grumbling, he all but threw the box onto the table and glared at me. "Did you really have to rough him up like that?"

"He's a traitor," Morgana cut in, but the young Raven Knight only rolled his eyes.

"He's also his mentor! Our mentor! And he still beat him half-dead!"

I expected Roland to come to my support, but instead he said, "Leonard might have used excessive force, but you have to understand his perspective. His sister was threatened. Even if we agree that the way he captured Sir Percival was unnecessarily violent, I can't blame him for overreacting."

"Whose side are you on?" I asked in the company of a sideways glance, but Roland remained completely impassive. At last, I shook my head and picked up the sword leaning against the table. "Cal?"

"[Yes, young knight? Do you require my services?]"

"Potentially, but first, a question: can you diagnose people other than me?"

"[If you're referring to injuries, then yes, to a limited degree, and only Knights with intact Oaths.]"

"What about healing?"

"[I… have never attempted the feat, but it should be possible.]"

"Good enough." I raised Cal over my head and shook it slightly to draw Raven Boy's attention. "Go tie Percival up, and then put the sword on him. Keep the blindfold on him for now." Before he could respond, I turned back to the chatty sword and gave a few simple instructions. "Make sure he lives, but nothing more."

"[Wait, young knight! You can't just abandon me! What about your internal injuries? You can't—!]"

"Please?"

I could feel Cal hesitating through our connection, and at last, he let out an annoyed grunt.

"[Fine. But if you don't come back for me and start cavorting with that self-absorbed wench, I'll curse you and all your descendants! For seven generations! I swear I will!]"

"Very scary."

With that, I tossed the blade over to Agrawain, and he caught it with ease. He glanced between me and the sword in his hands a few times, but when I waved for him to get going, he let out a loud "Bah!" and left the way he came.

In the meantime, Roland had been rubbing his chin, so I figured he had something on his mind. I had no reason to keep him in suspense any longer, so I gestured for him to speak up.

"I was thinking," he stated quite redundantly and followed my lead by tapping on the table before he continued. "We can't interrogate Percival, as it would reveal our connection to you and Bel. However, once he wakes up, he will be disoriented by the presence of the Fauns. I have an idea of how we could use that to our advantage."

"I'm listening."

After my prompting, he inhaled deeply and braced himself, as if expecting instant refusal.

"We should use your sister."

"… You don't mean Penny, do you?" He shook his head, and it made my brows descend into an involuntary frown. "I don't like the idea of having him and Snowy in the same room."

"Hear me out," Roland cut in with a raised palm, as if expecting the objection. "The Fauns, as multi-talented as they are, would make lousy interrogators. However, your Abyssal sister would find the job natural, and her presence would further confuse and unbalance Percival, opening him up to make mistakes and let certain things he normally wouldn't speak about slip through the cracks."

"I'm also sure the young lady would be more than thrilled to be useful," Morgana added, forming a common front with Roland. "Also, correct me if I'm wrong, your majesty, but is she not a Seducer? We could hardly find a better interrogator on the island on such short notice."

"I see what you're getting at, but…" I tried to object, but soon shook my head and told them, "Fine. You can ask her, but if she doesn't want to do it, then don't press it. If push comes to shove, I'll just put on my Bel disguise and rough him up again."

"With all due respect, your majesty, that is the scenario we wish to avoid," Morgana stated in a flat voice, and the other knight shared the same sentiment.

"I don't know if it's stress, your protective instincts, or a side-effect of that memory transfer you talked about, but you are unusually vindictive when it comes to Sir Percival. In my opinion, it would be best if you interacted with him as little as possible, and leave dealing with him to us."

"Maybe…" I whispered, and while I was far from full agreement with him, I had to admit that I'd been feeling high-strung ever since I came back to the hideout. If I met Percival right now, I wasn't sure I would be able to stop myself from punching him out cold again, let alone play mind games with him to draw his secrets out of him. "Maybe… I should wind down a bit."

My half-hearted proposal made the faces of the two Knights light up at once, and Roland even reached over the table to pat me on the shoulder.

"A fine idea. With this, the most pressing issue is resolved. The Assembly is still a problem, but with the help of Lord Endymonion, we could stall them for a while. You should rest up, and then focus on taking over the Elysium without worrying about the state of affairs on the island."

"For the hundredth time, I'm not staying there to take over the place," I grumbled and shook off his hand. "As for the rest part, I guess I'll do just that."

With that said, I picked up the other sword leaning against the leg of the table and hung it from my belt.

"[Status: Direct connection with Archon Polemos re-established. Welcome back, Archon.]" There was a short beat, during which I could feel Teeny's mana wash over me from the inside. "[Observation: Unable to detect Interface:Cal. Has Polemos decided to finally abandon him?]"

"… Couldn't you two talk with each other even without touching me?" I blurted out, and the silence that followed in its wake felt strangely indignant.

"[Explanation: Interface:Teeny and Interface:Cal have mutually agreed not to communicate due to Interface:Cal's inability to accept that his various assessments are incorrect.]"

"In other words, you had another quarrel, and you're not talking to each other," I surmise, and Teeny didn't deny it. Thousand years old sword-spirits my ass. These two were just a pair of bickering kids.

Ignoring the short-sword's sulky silence, I stood up, pocketed my phone, and turned to the Knights at the table.

"I'll be back for Cal before long. Until then, hold the fort, and if there's a problem, improvise."

"As you command, your majesty," Morgana responded solemnly and tried to give me a bow, made slightly awkward by her still sitting.

Roland, on the other hand, only nodded. Seeing that he had nothing to add, I returned the gesture, and after a moment, I Phased out of the hideout and reappeared inside a familiar yet still eclectic room, filled with antique furniture, mountains of animal plushies, and walls covered with heavy metal band posters. More importantly, it also contained a certain girlfriend of mind, though not the one you would've expected.

"Chief?"

"Hi, Dormouse," I greeted my dear assistant, currently sitting on Elly's bed, dressed in a casual jeans-and-shirt outfit and with her phone in her hand.

By the looks of it, she had been furiously typing on it until very recently, but she set it aside the moment I came into view.

"I didn't expect that you would be back so soon."

"I've just done catching Percival," I told her offhandedly and unceremoniously sat down beside her. "I thought I would stop by here and catch my breath before heading back to the Elysium."

"One of the best ideas you had in ages." Following that declaration, she caught me in a hug, and raised her face, obviously asking for a kiss. I had no reason to refuse, and after indulging her for a while (not that I was against it either), she let out an unusually delighted sigh, and even her face flushed a little, which was always a rare treat.

"What were you doing before I came here?" I asked just to keep things going, and she picked up her phone to show me the screen.

"The Hub," she said with unexpected trepidation. "I had to compile all the data we had on you as Admin, and send it over to your superior."

"Oh? So Methane Whatshisname is looking into me, huh?"

"It's Ammon Jonaraja, and…" She was about to continue, but then she turned a critical eye at me. "Methane?"

"Methane, ammonia, whatever," I responded with a wave of my hand. "They're both gases."

My dear assistant rolled her eyes, as if asking 'What else did I expect?', and said, "More importantly, I'm having a hard time explaining to him why I can't go to the Elysium."

"You mean Admin," I stressed, and she nodded. "Once I'm back, I'll get him off our case."

"Please do. While it's not nearly as vital as it used to be, losing the Admin account and its benefits would be a waste." While saying so, she put her phone away and turned a questioning gaze at me. "When are you going back?"

"Not yet, but soon. I decided to take a short break, so… about an hour? One-and-a-half at most."

"Too short," she grumbled and snuggled closer to me.

"Where's Elly?" I asked the next obvious question, and Judy answered without interrupting her cuddling.

"There was a commotion not too long ago, and she left to investigate. I presume it must've had something to do with 'catching Percival'."

"Probably."

After I returned to the hideout, the first thing I did (aside from putting Pudding-kun down) was to call Naoren and tell him that I took the old bastard into custody, in a manner of speaking, and that he should have the room quarantined until we figure out how dangerous the Udug Blood Amalgam could be the non-Abyssals. I figured that would cause a bit of a hubbub, but the plan was to outwardly pretend that Percival was still recuperating in the mansion, so I imagined he was already busy sweeping the whole incident under the rug, along with Sebastian and my in-laws.

I was just about to Far Glance at Elly, but then the door opened wide as she walked right in. Wearing a pink light dress and her hair once again done up into the classic ouyo-drills, she looked extra cute, though the image was slightly ruined by the dumbfounded expression she had on her face when her eyes landed on me.

"Le—!" Her expression lit up, and she was about to call out to me, but then she immediately clamped a hand over her mouth and poked her head outside. Looking around, she let out a melodramatic sigh of relief and closed the door behind herself before turning a blindingly brilliant smile at me. "Leo!"

"Hi, prin—" Before I could finish, she practically tackled me onto the bed, and since Judy was still clinging to me, she followed suit. "… cess. Also, ow."

"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? When did you arrive? Did I miss anything?"

While she continued to bombard me with her questions, I glanced at Judy, but she was still stoically snuggling up to me, so I couldn't expect any help from her.

"I just came here, after snatching up Percival," I told her, and her previous elated expression was immediately replaced by an exasperated one.

"We noticed! Couldn't you be a little more subtle about it?"

"I was subtle."

"You took the bed!" she protested with a finger poking my chest.

"But I did it very subtly," I responded with a cheeky smirk, hoping to distract her, but it only raised Judy's curiosity.

"Bed? This is the first time I've heard about that."

Glancing between my curious girlfriends, I exhaled hard and sat back up, dragging Judy with me, and then patted the bed on my empty side to signal the princess to sit down. After everyone was ready, I collected my thoughts and gave them a quick recount of the events, as well as the short discussion that followed in the hideout.

"… and then I came here to spend some quality time with you, and that's the gist of it."

When I finished everything up, I expected that they would have some questions, but my girlfriends remained silent and gazed at me with difficult expressions instead.

"I didn't want to mention it, but you seemed to be bothered by something ever since you came here," Judy spoke up first, her voice unusually quiet. "I guess it was because of that."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Elly asked, and while at first I wasn't entirely sure what she meant, my mouth soon started moving, as if on its own.

"I… I'm not sure if talking about it will do any good, but…" Pausing, I closed my eyes for a moment, and once I felt resolved enough, I continued with, "This was the first time I ever snapped like that, and it… didn't feel wrong. Not at the time."

"And that's bothering you," Judy stated, not even bothering to make it a question. "Are you suspecting Narrative influence? Or something similar?"

I was about to respond but was cut off by Elly letting out a low hiss.

"Judy! Not now!"

"Not now what?" she asked back, incredulous, but the princess completely ignored her and slid a bit further away from me.

At first, I didn't know what she was doing, but then she patted her lap, and when I still didn't move, she just outright grabbed hold of my head and guided it onto her thighs, much to my, and to a lesser degree, Judy's confusion.

"This isn't about something grand, like the Narrative," Elly whispered while stroking my head, and it felt… strange.

"Maybe not," I mused in a low voice and closed my eyes. "I think I'm just…"

"Scared?" Elly spoke tenderly, and after tasting the word in my mouth, I nodded.

"In a way, I suppose. I just… I think this was the first time I realized how easy it is to lose control. I could've very easily killed Percival, and…"

"And that scared you. Why do you think that is?"

Elly's voice remained calm and gentle, and her hand never stopped stroking my hair.

"Because if I did that, then it could shift the narrative, and it could cause—"

"Now you're doing it," the princess grumbled and pinched my nose.

"Hey!"

Ignoring my protests, she moved her hand back to my hair like nothing happened.

"That's not the real reason why it rattled you, is it? It's a rational concern, but only because you keep looking at the world through this lens of meta-something."

"Metanarrative," Judy corrected here, and the princess let out an appreciative grunt.

"Yes, that! The truth is, even if you killed Percival, nobody would've blamed you. He admitted that he wanted to hurt Neige, didn't he?"

"Yes."

"If someone like him, someone vicious, traitorous, and unrepentant as him, told me that he was planning to poison you, or Judy, or mum or dad, I would've done the same as you did." The princess's voice slowly descended into a whisper, yet every word sounded like a thunder-crack to my ears. "And I wouldn't have stopped. Not while they were still drawing breath. Because losing any of you would have been even scarier."

My mind was blank, and my thoughts felt sluggish. Was she confessing to me, or condemning my weakness? What was her ultimate point? Feeling anxious, I opened my eyes and tried to get a word in, but she covered them with her hand and gently hushed me.

"The reason why you are so unsettled, even though you haven't crossed the line, is because you are a good guy. And I don't mean that in the meta-sense or what have you." That last part was added hastily, as if she was trying to get ahead of something. Maybe Judy was trying to interject? Before I could find out, she took her hand off my eyes and stroked my head again. "I mean that on a fundamental level. You are the type of person who's fundamentally motivated by trying to save everyone and resolve everything without bloodshed. Most people in your shoes would have never even considered saving the girl who nearly killed them with an ice spear, yet you adopted her and gave her a family. Some would have simply killed Rinne when she invaded the base and threatened the Fauns, who were only there because you chose to venture into the Abyss just to save them. Most people would have gotten rid of Friedrich and Galatea and snuffed out the threat of the Brotherhood when they had the chance. You didn't. Do you know why?"

That sounded like a theoretical question, so I didn't even attempt to answer.

"It's because it's your nature. It's why everyone's following you, it's why we love you, and it's why the prospect of nearly killing someone with your own two hands is bothering you so much."

"I know that you're trying to praise me, but I don't know how to feel about being described as having Chronic Hero Syndrome…"

My comment was followed by a long beat where, if we had any crickets in the vicinity, we could definitely hear them. Then, Elly bonked me on the forehead with her knuckle.

"How is that a bad thing!?" she cried out as if what I said was the most unreasonable thing she'd ever heard. "Being heroic is a good thing! It's the best thing ever! Why would you ever consider it bad?"

"Because it implies that I'm some kind of goodie-two-shoes who's more concerned with doing a good thing than being practical."

"Argh!" Elly groaned out loud and rubbed my head again, this time much more aggressively. "That's what you've been doing all along! Judy, support, please!"

To my surprise, my until-now silent assistant grabbed hold of my hand and earnestly told me, "Sorry Chief, you do have Chronic Hero Syndrome. I'm sorry you had to learn it this way."

"That's not helping!" Elly complained with an epic pout, but my other girlfriend remained dead serious.

"It if makes you feel any better about it, you should know that nine out of the Judys find heroic Chiefs very attractive."

"What about the tenth one?"

"After data cleaning, it was discovered that the tenth Judy likes all kinds of Chiefs without discrimination, so she was removed from the data pool."

"Come on, you two! Be serious!" Elly continued to sulk, so my dear assistant shook her head and addressed her.

"The Chief is the kind of person who doesn't react well to heartfelt conversations. Making them light-hearted like this makes it much more likely that he would internalize what you just said." Pausing for a bit, she turned back to me. "Also, for the record, I agree with Elly."

"Do you now?" I asked back, and she nodded with a serious hum.

"Yes. At least as far as being in love with you and willing to put up with your antics because of your fundamental nature is unquestionably good."

"… I guess I can live with that," I surmised a tad flatly, and while it still felt weird, I had to admit that Elly's speech did make me feel better.

"All right. Now that we're done with that, let's decide on what to do next," Judy proclaimed and pulled me back to a sitting position. "You said you would stay for about an hour, right?"

"More or less. Why?" I answered a tad suspiciously, and my dear assistant let out a thoughtful sound.

"Hm. Should be good enough." She turned to my other girlfriend, still pouting over how her heartfelt moment was ruined, and called out to her to get her attention. "Elly? It's plan three slash B."

My draconic girlfriend blinked in confusion at first, but then the proverbial light bulb lit up over her head and she dashed out of the room.

"Where's she going?"

"Making sure that we wouldn't be interrupted for the next hour," Judy told me as she leaned into another kiss.

"Wait, you can't seriously—?"

As if to prove me wrong, Elly soon returned to the room, practically slammed the door shut, locked it twice, and then took a beeline towards the bed while simultaneously peeling herself out of her dress.

Maybe it was because they were pent up after all this, or because it's been a while since the last time we did it all together, but let's just say that the next hour felt both very long and yet very short. I won't go into details, but the fact that my dear assistant came prepared and not only had protection with her, but even brought over a bottle of lubricant from my stash spoke volumes about how this was a pre-planned operation.

Not that I minded. To be perfectly honest, after just a few short days, I was starting to miss the intimacy and didn't have a reason to protest against a short bedroom rodeo. That said, I had a sneaking suspicion that the noises, combined with Elly sending the servants away, were probably going to give more fuel to the gossip-machine operating in the mansion, but I decided to leave that to the girls to sort out.

Anyhow, once that short and intense session left the girls tuckered out on the bed, I got dressed and gave them a few goodbye kisses before Phasing back to the hideout to pick up Cal. It was only around that point that I finally got time to seriously consider the princess's words, and I still didn't know how to feel about them.

After all, while she put it into very endearing terms, being a goodie-two-shoes was usually considered to be boring and one-note, wasn't it? Not to mention, I wasn't entirely convinced that her interpretation of my character was accurate, or just her own vision of me heavily skewed by her rose-tinted glasses. Not that I had first-hand experience, as I was still pretty bad with the whole 'heart racing, mind filled with pink mist, vision blurred like a tacky chat filter effect' aspect of love, but last I've heard, it made some people's reasoning skills go the way of the dodo, and while I didn't want to insinuate anything about the princess's thought processes…

In any case, once I picked up Cal and clasped the sword onto my belt, gave Roland a short shopping list (including a cooler and some delivery food), and said my adieus to the Fauns and my Knightly collaborators, I returned to my quarters in the Elysium, with my head still full of conflicting thoughts and not really paying any attention to my surroundings. In retrospect, I probably should've, because that way I wouldn't have been shocked into silence when I arrived in the bedroom.

The place was a wreck. At a glance, I found about half the furniture broken, including the bed itself, one of the windows was blown out, and the walls were covered in cuts and holes, with some of the latter swill having yellow energy-arrows lodged in them.

Then, in the far corner, I found Rinne, Onikiri raised high over her helmeted head, facing off against a familiar agent-cum-Praetorian-Guard in his hoplite-cosplay, currently sporting a short sword and an oversized magitech pistol. Both of them were frozen in place and staring at me, and once I drank in the scene, the heel of my hand automatically sought out my forehead as I groaned, "… Can't I leave you alone for just an hour?"