Part 1

"As you can tell, I'm perfectly fine," my holographic display version explained, followed by a sigh. "I originally wanted to inform you all in a more controlled manner, but thanks to a certain someone, I guess it's a public announcement now."

I counted to three in my head, and then did a theatrical scraping bow. I held pose until my face over the crystal ball rolled its eyes and added, "That wasn't a compliment!"

Chuckling, I straightened both my back and my coat, and pretended to lean on an invisible cane, just in time for hologram me to shake its head and turn back to the congregation. Now, I supposed this is as good a time as any to delve into what exactly was going on, but before I'd get into the nitty-gritty details, I'd like to recount a personal anecdote.

A while ago (during the first month after I awakened in the Simulacrum, to be precise), I had spent a lot of time researching anything and everything related to writing, story structures, and tropes. The bulk of it was done by obsessively browsing the troper-site, but once it became apparent our world was operating on the clichés of popular Japanese fiction, I focused my attention there, and skimmed a whole lot of anime, manga, and even some visual novels and JRPGs, just to stay rounded. One of these stories I flicked through served as the inspiration for today's operation, though it ended up much more of a pain in the neck than I originally anticipated.

So, picture the following: in a futuristic setting with giant robots and whatnot, the well-intentioned-extremist final antagonist successfully corners the super-genius anti-hero protagonist, and demands his surrender through one of those impractically oversized video screens. They argue about their ideologies and past deeds and their plans for the future, back and forth, for minutes on end. Then, just when it looks like the protagonist lost, it's suddenly revealed that the person on the screen was a recording all along! But how could it be, you might ask? Well, it's because our hero was such a galaxy-brain super-genius that he could completely predict the whole conversation ahead of time and he recorded a video responding to the antagonist's anticipated words. Then, while the bad guy was busy with that, they put their plan into action, and in the end they turn the table on them and win the day.

Very clever. Very dramatic. Unfortunately, it was also absolute and utter bollocks.

If it wasn't abundantly clear enough, the 'Leonard S. Dunning' currently communicating with the Draconic Federation and guests was a recording. Influenced by the aforementioned show, I thought it would be a nice and suitably dramatic way to simultaneously announce to the world that I was still alive, while also establishing that Bel was a separate entity from me beyond of a shadow of reasonable doubt. It should've been easy. The show made it look easy.

It wasn't.

For a start, modding the communication device so that it would display recordings took me about ten minutes. Jury-rigging a storage enchantment into it was about fifteen minutes. Writing the script and recording it? A single afternoon.

Practising the act, so that everything lined up perfectly and there weren't any awkward gaps or suspiciously missed answers? It took a whole bloody week, and if it was up to me, I would've liked to keep rehearsing for a couple of more days, just to be safe. Unfortunately for me, this meeting provided the perfect opportunity to pull off the trick, due to the presence of the Assembly delegation, and Roland was already raking me over the coals for stalling for so long and keeping the wider world in the dark about my well-being.

As such, I had to buckle up, hunker down, and spend the last couple of nights working on the act, going as far as to put together a makeshift facsimile of the pulpit and the Fauns acting as the audience while rehearsing the script. Of course, I wasn't entirely relying on everything conveniently falling into place, and left myself some wriggling room for improvisation by putting in a few emergency switches that I could trigger with my phantom limbs. Just in case.

"That device… it's of Celestial origin, isn't it?" Lord Ambrose cut in, forcing me to demonstrate why that was a good idea by pause the recording for a second and to step up as Bel to smooth things over.

"Oh, what amazing powers of observation!" I exclaimed and made a fawning gesture at the portly man. "You must be the world-famous grandmaster of the stating-the-obvious school of magic! It's such an honor!"

Just as I finished that, I resumed the recording, which let out a shallow sigh. I hoped the audience would interpret it as me feeling exasperated by Bel's conduct and trying to hurry things along by saying, "I want to state this outright, to avoid any further misunderstandings or gossip regarding my disappearance from the island: I wasn't kidnapped by Abyssals. In effect, I am currently residing in the Elysium."

The reveal caused a wave of murmurs to run through the crowd, and even the trio of Dad-in-law, Naoren, and Arnwald were surprised by my admission. I didn't fault them; the original plan was to blame everything on the Abyssals, and then spin the story so that I was 'rescued' by the Celestials, but the more we discussed it with Roland, the more cracks appeared. By far the biggest issue was that I was Polemos, and it was a fact that could be omitted at the moment, but absolutely couldn't be hidden once I returned to the island for good.

Trying to dance around the issue wasn't a solution either, and incorporating the Abyssals into the whole plot just added a whole lot of extra, unnecessary variables. As such, we reached the following conclusion: broadcast that I was alive and well, announce that I had a recent connection to the Celestials, sweep Sir Percival and the whole double-triple-whatever-agent issue under the rug for now, and have everyone focus on Bel instead.

A nice plan, in theory, granted that nothing would go too catastrophically wrong during the execution.

"Are you held hostage?" Roland asked, following the scrips to the letter, and my holographic recording shook its head.

"Well, no. Not really. It's a bit complicated, and it has to do with a prophecy and… it's not important. At the moment, you could consider me something between a diplomatic guest and a consultant."

"Consultant? Why would the Celestials need a consultant?" the dark-skinned arch-mage blurted out, but then he caught himself and hurriedly added, "My apologies. I didn't mean to interrupt."

"That was one of ley-line leeches," I added in while sneakily skipping a bit of the footage, then I phased over to the side of Lord Ambrose, leaned closer, and whispered, "The visual range on these things is horrendous! The kid probably only sees you as smudges. Ah, speaking of which…"

Before he could respond, I Phased back and faced my recording while using my thumbs to point behind my shoulders.

"Hey, Leonard? Did I tell you about how there are like five of these Assembly guys here? You look away for a second, and they just multiply like cockroaches. Or slime mould. Or those little plastic blocks… what are they called? LAGO? You know, the ones that sublimate into existence whenever you want to go to the toilet in the middle of the night, and you—"

"Can I continue?" the hologram me frowned, which was supposed to be the response to a completely different situation, but it worked well enough.

"Yeah, sure," I grumbled and crossed my arms, pretending to sulk.

Meanwhile, the recording exhaled a sigh and its eyes swept over the whole assembly hall.

"So, as I was saying, I was invited, if a little forcefully, by a group of Celestials. The whole Abyssal kidnapping was just a cover story. As for why it was me…" Hologram me paused, displaying a bit of reluctance, before continuing with, "There were a few superfluous reasons I won't go into right now, but to make a long story short, the Celestial community is considerably more fractured than I could have ever imagined, no small part thanks to the masked man in front of you."

"What? What did I do to deserve such harsh accusations?" I protested in a whine, and the hologram's face twisted into an outraged grimace I had to record about ten times before I got it right.

"You infiltrated the Celestial Directorate, subverted several key figures in the hierarchy, and then told everyone about it, nearly causing a civil war!"

"Hey! Everyone needs a hobby!"

This time, the recording outright groaned and looked away from me.

"Ignoring this bastard, the point I'm getting at is that one of the Celestial factions invited me to the Elysium."

"We understand that part," Roland cut in, with perfect timing. "I think I can speak in everyone's stead when I ask; why did it have to be you, and why are you still there?"

I waited for the recording to open its mouth, and then I let out a loud guffaw and slapped my knee.

"Ah, here it comes! The best part!" Hologram me glared at me, and after a long beat, I raised two fingers and exclaimed, "Wait a moment. I'll be right back."

With those words, I Phased over to the 'backstage', where Vurrok and Karukk were already waiting for me. The moment I arrived, one of them started a countdown from six, during which I took off my mask and place it onto a nearby table. After hastily wiping my face, I picked up an identical mask, including the patented Pudding-kun™ brand inner lining. It was functionally identical to the first one, save for the pair of red-and-blue 3D glasses attached to the front, and after securing it onto my face, I accepted the paper bag the other Faun was holding out. Then, just as the countdown reached zero, I reappeared at the same spot in the assembly hall and reached into the bag.

"Okay, you can continue now," I proclaimed, and raised my hand to my face, only to reel back and let out an annoyed groan. "Ah, right. Forgot about this thing again." Shaking my head, I scattered the contents of my hand onto the floor, and then turned to Roland, offering the paper bag to him. "Popcorn?"

"I'm afraid I'll have to refrain," he responded with the perfect combination of exasperation and deadpan annoyance. It was almost as if he wasn't even acting.

"So, as I was about to say before someone decided to take a popcorn break," my recording grumbled aloud and after a momentary pause, raised a brow. "Where did you even get those 3D glasses?"

"The future," I answered nonchalantly while inspecting a piece of popcorn like it was the most interesting thing in the world.

Hologram-me shook his head and faced the people in the seats again, seemingly ignoring my antics.

"Due to the recent events, I have ostensibly developed a reputation for being a 'peacemaker' of sorts."

The recording made some air quotes, and I pretended to barely stifle a laugh.

"They kidnapped you to serve as a… negotiator?" Roland spoke his next line, and while he had a back-and-forth about the topic with my recording, I couldn't help but notice something peculiar. Namely, that the first row was glowing.

I sneaked a peek at the spectacle while pretending to listen to myself awkwardly trying to explain and downplay my role in the Elysium, and found ten arch-mages there. That was rather strange already, but it didn't take a genius to figure out what was happening. It was two sets of the same five people; one group was semi-transparent, sitting ramrod straight, and attentively listening to my recording's explanation, while the other versions of them were clustered together and animatedly discussing something.

No matter how I looked at it, that was some kind of illusion spell, a deduction further reinforced by Lord Taika constantly muttering something in a hushed chant. While I was curious about what they were discussing, I couldn't make out a single word over the back-and-forth between Roland and my recording. My first instinct was to Phase over and disrupt their little planning session, but then I recalled that I was Bel at the moment.

When making up his backstory and lore, one of the pivotal events defining him was the grudging liking he developed for Leonard Dunning after he got tricked by the latter's illusions. That meant Bel could not see through those, ergo, I had no choice but to pretend that I didn't see anything strange.

In retrospect, I didn't exactly have the time to do anything about it either, as the 'heated argument' between Roland and my hologram was nearing its end.

"What is your opinion, acting grand master?" Mr. Griffon levelled the question at Arnwald, who never took his eyes off me (as in, Bel) during this entire time.

He considered the question for a while, and when he noticed that Roland was imperceptibly nodding, he let out a heavy breath.

"If our liege deems that staying in the Elysium is the most prudent action under the circumstances, the Ordo Draconis will follow his decision."

"I can't believe you just said that!" one of the Western Draconian council members exclaimed, and Yseult Albion seemed to agree with the sentiment.

"Under normal circumstances, I would defer to the decision of Leonard Dunning, but how can you be sure that he is making this decision of his own free will, and not under some kind of compulsion?"

It was time to improvise again, so I paused the recording with a phantom limb and turned on my heel to face her.

"Wait! You think the kid got mind-controlled? That guy?" I pointed at the floating head and then repeatedly slapped my knee. "Ahahaha! Oh, please stop! My sides are hurting!"

Meanwhile, I skipped over to another recording and even faked a bit of static noise to hide the cut. The recording turned to me again and asked, in an exasperated voice, "Are you having fun?"

"Of course I am!" I exclaimed and raised both of my hands into the air, scattering popcorn everywhere. "Did you think I would ever accept your request if I didn't think this would be an absolute riot? Look at her! She thinks you can be mind-controlled!"

"They don't know all the details, so it's understandable," recording-me stated, using a snippet from another piece of recording spliced in under the guise of some interference static.

"Like what? That you're actually…" I trailed off my voice on purpose, and after a long beat, I let out a chuckle, "Oh, what? Don't look at me like that! You're not a puppy! You're not nearly hairy enough!" Another beat followed, then a shallow sigh, and I dejectedly concluded with, "Fine, I won't ruin the surprise. But can I be there when you tell them about what happened after you arrived at the Celestials' little hidey-hole? I mean, not that you could stop me from attending even if you tried, but I'm a polite man, so I figured I'd ask."

"Do whatever you want," my hologram version said with palpable trepidation, and turned back to the crowd, which hid another cut to a different piece of recording. "I have to go now, so if you have any questions, I'm afraid it'll have to wait until next time."

Roland evidently wasn't expecting the jump cut, and it took him a second to respond.

"What… exactly do you mean by 'next time'?"

"I don't know yet," the recording admitted with an implied shrug. "Since the cat's out of the bag, I'll try to use more official channels. One thing's for sure, I won't ask that guy for any favours any time soon."

"Oh, come on, kid! Can't you take a joke?" Hologram-me remained silent, and after a strategically timed pause, I added, "Don't be like that! Can't you look on the bright side of things and remember the good times? Like the first time we met!"

"… When you nearly took my head off my shoulders?"

"Yeah! Good times!" I insisted, and after another pause, this time made extra-long for added awkwardness, the recording turned away from me and addressed the audience again.

"This is dragging out, so here's the short of it: I'm fine, I'm busy right now, I'll be back soon, and till then, hold the front, and don't do anything stu—"

The line was supposed to be 'Don't do anything stupid, such as antagonizing this clown', but before the recording could get to it, the meeting was interrupted by a flash of light and a rapidly expanding bubble of mana. As it washed over the modded communicator, it completely scrambled the image, but it wasn't the only thing affected. I could feel the enchantments on my Bel outfit fizzle, and even the Leoformer was straining under some kind of strain, barely holding together.

Luckily, while I wasn't expecting something like this to happen, I was already pretty high-strung from the strain of the performance, so I reacted remarkably fast, if I do say so myself. First, I used one phantom limb to shut down the recording. Two others were dedicated to maintaining the Bel outfit, and after directly interfacing with the Leoformer, I found that its arrays were on the brink of being short-circuited by some external interference.

Was I on the receiving end of a magical EMP, I wondered as I hurriedly shielded the arrays. It wasn't too difficult to do so, since I made the Leoformer's enchantments extra-sturdy, which turned out to be a stroke of genius (or failing that, luck) on my end, as without that, my Bel outfit would've been dispelled on the spot, and it would've likely left me naked, without putting my original clothes back on me. At least I would've still had the mask on, since it wasn't part of the Leoformer's ensemble… which reminded me of something else.

I hastily checked the mask, and while Pudding-kun was still maintaining his shape as the lining, the enchantments on it were busted. It meant both the eye- and hair-colour changers were off, which was a bit of an issue. Luckily, there was a bit of inertia with these things, so I had about ten seconds before my hair would return to its natural dark brown.

I 'wasted' about five seconds so far, so I had to act quickly. First, I levelled my gaze on the five arch-mages at the front, huddled in a semi-circle and their extended right hands lying on top of each other's, and uttered a deeply disgusted, "The nerve!"

Before the sound of the last syllable even died down, I Phased to the 'backstage', where Karukk was already waiting for me with another bottle of mineral water. He realized something was off when I practically tore the non-functional mask off my face and yelled, "[I request to have knowledge of the location of my erstwhile face covering apparatus!]"

"[Here, boss!]" Vurrok called out and threw the thing he was wiping with a dry cloth to me. I grabbed it out of the air, and immediately plunged a phantom limb into it, making sure that it was decently shielded before I put it on my face and gave a thumbs-up for the third time today.

A moment later, I was back in the assembly hall, my thumb turned into an accusatory index finger aimed at the confused arch-mages, still huddled together and encased in a swirling bubble of raging mana, while my other hand snapped the top of the box holding the communication orb shut.

"The disrespect!" I exclaimed, causing them to twitch.

"You said he wasn't going to be able to do that!" Lord Barnabas complained around, causing the face of the tall redhead to slacken.

"Well, he shouldn't be able to do it anymore," he stated a touch uncertainly, and the rotund man next to him let out an outraged huff.

"I told you not to listen to this fool, but nooo! Omni-directional anti-mystic burst my ass!"

While they argued, I made sure the mask was still functioning, and that Pudding-kun had no issues with their shape-shifting, and after a long breath, I let out a long whistle.

"I have to give it to you, that was gutsy!" Saying so, I walked around the podium and let out an amused chuckle. "Brass balls! Or ovaries, if the lady was the one who came up with the idea. I'm an equal opportunity advocate; I believe that women can be just as boneheaded and foolhardy as any man!"

"Do you know who you're talking to, fiend?" Lord Taika hissed, and I paused to look them over.

"A bunch of domesticated rabbits thinking they are wolves," I responded in a dead serious voice before immediately shifting back into a whimsical one. "A cute little fluffle that looked at good old Bel of the Abyss, just about to leave for the day, job done, and no need to linger and ruin this neat woodwork with any bloodstains." I raised my knuckles to eye-level and playfully rubbed them together for illustration as I added, "But then you put your adorable little sniffy noses together, and said 'You know what? I think we can take him on!' Sooo precious!"

"Listen, we—"

"No, you listen," I cut in and levelled a glare at Lord Grandpa. "The next minute is going to be the most important sixty seconds in your entire miserable lives, so you better pay close attention. You five, have a very important decision to make; namely, if you want to back down and apologize for the utter lack of respect and decorum you showed to me just now."

While saying that, I theatrically rolled my shoulders and cracked my knuckles, much to the onlookers' discomfort.

"We are arch-mages of the Assembly, and we don't fear you, Abyssal wretch!" Lord Ambrose yelled out, probably just to hype himself up, and so I focused on him. "You can't intimidate us!"

"Oh, no-no-no. I'm not 'intimidating' anyone," I corrected him with a finger raised. "I'm doing the nicest, most benevolent thing I've ever done in the past two thousand years. Plus or minus a century. You started this, and I'm a good sport, allowing you to realize your mistake and make amends, but in about thirty more seconds, we are doing this." This time, I shifted my attention to Lord Grandpa. "Listen, unlike the kid, I'm not nice enough to hold back just because you're a bunch of geriatric fools. I can't guarantee what's going to happen to you, but I can tell you, it's not going to be pretty, and…" Pausing, I took a deep breath, and pointed two index fingers at the group. "We only have a few seconds left. Listen. If you really, really want to go through with this… what do you want me to tell your next of kin?"

That question left a stunned silence in its wake, and after the moment passed and I was ready to continue, Lord Barnabas suddenly put his hands on Lord Ambrose's shoulder, but didn't speak up. When the old Magi turned an annoyed glare at him, he simply shook his head, and after a few seconds, the five arch-mages all let their hands down, and the magical bubble surrounding them dissipated at once.

"Ah, the token sane member of the group to the rescue!" I exclaimed in a nonchalant voice hiding my own relief, and I reached behind me to pick up the communicator. "Goodbye, little rabbits, and carve this day into your mind, as the one when you learned to recognize that the woods have predators bigger than wolves."

And with that, I did a cutesy wave, and Phased out of the hall, this time for good.

In retrospect, I might've overdone it a little, but in my defence, they startled me. At least I avoided direct conflict with the Assembly. That should count for something, right?

Part 2

"So, you created a scene, scared everyone, and threatened five arch-mages of the Assembly into submission. At the same time," Judy nonchalantly noted while resting her head in my lap.

After that previous stunt, I decided to take a break before heading back to the Elysium, and we were in Elly's room at the moment. I was sitting on her bed, Judy was lying on her back with her head on my thigh, and the princess was currently draped over me, hugging me from behind. It was pretty cosy, but I couldn't help but feel that something was off.

"You know, I was expecting that you would be angrier with me," I noted, and my dear assistant shrugged, which was made unexpectedly funny by her posture.

"It would be pointless. You would keep doing these things anyway, because that's how you are, so I decided to stop stressing over them. It's better to just focus on the bigger picture and help you deal with the fallout of your actions later."

"That's…"

My whispers were overwhelmed by the princess giggling directly into my ear, and when I glanced over at her, she hastily told me, "We talked about this a lot last night. And the night before that. All week, really."

"It appears the princess is a good influence on you, Dormouse," I noted and smiled at the girl using my lap as a pillow, and in response, she reached up a pinched my cheek, drawing another giggle out of my other girlfriend.

We soaked in the atmosphere for a while longer, until Elly let out a thoughtful hum and waved to get my attention.

"Speaking of the bigger picture, how are things coming along in the Elysium?"

"It's a clown show," I admitted, barely stifling a groan in the process. "The three main factions are still constantly scheming behind my back, after testing about two-thirds of the leadership, only about ten percent of them aren't either Deus zealots or compulsive liars, and I still have to shoot down propositions to have a parade in my honour every. Single. Day."

"Have you considered that they are so insistent because it's a required event?" Judy posited. "It could be required for the Narrative's scenario."

"Then it's all the more reason why I don't want to have one," I responded, and let out a sigh before turning to Elly. "Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but the whole idea of reforming the Celestials into an ally, or at least less of a nuisance, drifts farther and farther with every single day."

"Maybe it was a doomed endeavour from the start." Judy's morose statement was followed up by her sitting up and facing me. "It makes me think though."

"Don't you do that all the time already?" Elly heckled her (or at least I figured that's what she was doing), but my dear Assistant ignored her.

"We still don't know what the main plot of the Angie route is supposed to be, but considering how hard the Narrative tried to shoehorn you into the role of Polemos, it almost certainly has something to do with him. The fact you can't turn them to your side means Polemos most likely wasn't meant to be able to unite the Celestials on his own, and that's why you have problems."

"I… don't think that gels," I responded with my arms crossed. "Whatever original Polemos's goals might've been, I don't think they would line up well with what I'm trying to do. Also, while I wouldn't trust the Celestial Directorate as far as I could throw them, I've made at least some progress."

"Such as?" Elly butted in with sparkling eyes.

"Well, my Praetorian Guard is coming along. They aren't super important in the grand scheme of things, but they seem at least moderately loyal to Polemos by this point."

"Are those the guys you keep beating up?" Judy asked, earning her a frown.

"The ones I'm reluctantly training, yes."

"Same thing," she told me with a barely noticeable yet distinctly impish smile. "You have a talent for bringing these types over to your side."

Before I could ask about what exactly she meant by 'these types', Elly moved around me and sat down on my other side.

"It's such a manly thing!" she declared, beaming at me, and made a couple of shadow-boxing punches. "It's all about communicating with your fists and forging true friendships! Like you did with General Brang!"

"And Rinne-san!" a tiny fox-head emerged from Judy's shadow, and after a quick 'Yip!', she dived back into her pocket-dimension.

"Yes, her too!" Elly entwined our arms before going on. "The Knights also became much better behaved after you trained with them, and there was that big duel with Naoren too!"

"They didn't actually fight back then," Judy pointed out, and the princess puffed up her cheeks in response.

"Don't split hairs! It's the pattern that matters!"

"I have to admit, there is a pattern there," my dear assistant absently noted and followed Elly's lead, grabbing hold of my other arm. "Maybe instead of questioning them, you should demonstrate your combat abilities to the Celestials. It might turn them to your side faster."

"A great idea!" Elly agreed, completely missing the fact that Judy was sarcastic. Or so I hoped.

"Cut it out, Dormouse. I'm not going to go around challenging the directors."

"Then what's your plan?"

Her question sounded genuine, and so I told her, "Well, for now, I'll finish interrogating the rest of the Directorate. Oh, and I also have a dinner arrangement with the top brass of the military guys, so I'll see what shakes loose there. After that… well, I guess we'll either wait for the plot to happen, or I'll put together a scheme. Whichever comes first."

"Just don't cause too much chaos," Judy warned me. "Also, keep an eye out for plot hooks."

"Will do, will do." After reassuring her, I paused. "By the way, what's the time?"

"We're a little past six," the princess answered readily, and it made my brows climb my forehead at once.

"Aw, damn. I lost track of time." I stood up, and my girlfriends reluctantly let go of me. "I have an appointment by seven, so I better go. I'll drop by in the evening after I'm done with everything."

"We'll be waiting!" Elly exclaimed and caught me in a hug, and after Judy rose to her feet as well, she gave me a peck on the lips.

"Stay safe."

"Same goes for you," I responded, and it caused the tiny miko to stick her head out of her shadows again.

"Don't worry Ue-sama! I'll keep Judy-ue safe!"

I doubted they needed much protection in the middle of the Draconic Federation's heart of power, and I was about ninety percent sure she only requested to resume her duties as Judy's bodyguard because she was lonely without Mountain Girl around, but I didn't call her out on it and only nodded in her direction.

After a few more customary kisses, I waved my girlfriends goodbye and Phased away. The first stop was the main base, where I had Fred take my measurements again while I simultaneously discussed some official business with Brang. After that, I dropped by the dock district hideout, where I checked on the Fauns and picked up the supplies Roland prepared for us, before finally returning to my quarters in the Elysium.

"Oh. Welcome back, Leonard-dono," Mountain Girl, reading a book on the couch in her full Celestial disguise greeted me without getting up. "Did everything go well?"

"More or less," I told her and put the bag I was carrying down next to her. "Please put these into the cooler. I need to take a shower."

"Rinne will do."

Despite her answer, she returned to the book in her hands, but I didn't complain. Instead, I headed to the bathroom and washed up, then donned a clean outfit comprised of white cotton trousers, a white shirt, and matching shoes. I wasn't wearing those for long though, as I almost immediately changed into my Polemos disguise.

"I'll be out for a while," I told Rinne as I returned to the living room. "Hold the fort."

"Doesn't Leonard-dono need Rinne to escort Leonard-dono?"

"Nah. This should be a bunch of dry political negotiations disguised as a dinner party. I'll be fine alone."

She let out a grunt of acknowledgement, but she didn't even look up from her book. It must have been really interesting. In any case, I turned around and got ready to Phase over to my destination… only to nearly jump out of my skin when the doorbell rang. I glanced at the equally startled Rinne and walked over to the door. With a poke of one of my phantom limbs, it opened up, and to my further surprise, I found Director Savir on the other side.

"Director? What brings you here at this hour?" I asked aloud, and I could hear Mountain Girl jump to her feet and scramble around, no doubt trying to hide her book and the foodstuff I brought over.

"What were you thinking?!" Savir hissed at me and tried to come inside, but I stood my ground and wouldn't let her in until the noises died down.

"You have to be more specific than that."

My flat response made her nostrils flare up and her brown descend into a glare.

"You know exactly what I meant," she hissed again and pointed a finger at my nose. "You've made contact with Draconic Federation without consulting with me first, and you not only revealed your connection to us, but you also used Bel of the Abyss as a messenger! Were you out of your mind!?"

"… As expected, news travel fast."

A little too fast, even. I figured something like this would happen sooner or later, but I didn't think she would show up in person, at my doorstep no less, to take me to task over it. The Celestial agents must be embedded pretty deep into the Draconic Federation, I surmised.

I internally debated whether I should invite her in, but I didn't expect to be sidetracked by my girlfriends, so I cut it really close to the time I agreed upon with Kane. As such, I levelled a dispassionate gaze at her and said, "I have a prior appointment. If discussing this topic absolutely can't wait, walk with me."

Saying so, I pushed past her, and after the first combination of shock and outrage passed, she hastily followed after me, trying to look dignified despite the fury plainly visible on her face. She still had the sense to look around before she spoke up again, to make sure nobody was in earshot, but it was a pointless concern. I had the whole floor for myself, and not even the Praetorian Guard would linger around here at this hour.

"Do you realize the consequences of your actions?" she asked me in the kind of tone a kindergarten teacher would use on a misbehaving kid, and I didn't have the patience for it.

"Don't beat around the bush."

"You have jeopardized our plans to use your position in the Draconic Federation's hierarchy to our advantage." After spitting that out, she remained silent and closely observed me while we waited for the elevator to arrive, and only continued once we were inside and the doors closed. Turning to face me, we locked eyes and she uttered, "Leonard."

"Yes?"

"Explain yourself."

"I don't think I owe you an explanation, but if you have some more specific questions, I'd be happy to answer them," I jabbed back in a level voice. She continued to stare daggers at me, at least until she settled on her first question.

"Since when were you in contact with Bel of the Abyss?"

"Since about a week ago," I told her. "Once he knows where you are, he's hard to avoid."

"And instead of telling anyone about it, that an Abyssal Lord was in our midst and he could enter Elysium at any given time, you just… you just asked him to put you in contact with the Draconic Federation!?"

"Yes. That's more or less what happened."

"You're truly out of your mind!" she exclaimed and held her head in her hand. "If we learned of this, then Tsephanyah and Mensah are guaranteed to have received a report about it too! You not only destroyed our golden opportunity to steer this Draconic Federation without them being any wiser of our involvement, but you have now openly colluded with an Abyssal Lord, and let the whole world know!"

I waited for her to finish, and then calmly asked, "And what is the world going to do about it?"

"… Excuse me?"

"I'm not in the habit to repeat myself," I told her, just as the elevator began to slow down. "As far as Leonard Dunning is concerned, the fact that I'm tangentially involved with Bel of the Abyss is already well-known, so this changes nothing. As for Polemos…" I waited until the door opened up, and only then did I finish with, "I'm the Second True Archon. Whom I use for my own purposes is my business, and mine alone. Do you think anyone has the right here to condemn me?"

The director was still rooted in place when I stepped out of the elevator and, feeling a bit mischievous, I turned around and smiled at her before using a phantom limb to close the doors again and send her down to the bottom of the tower. I couldn't help it; her mere presence still annoyed the heck out of me, and no amount of exposure or magical meditation malarkey would make that go away.

In any case, once she was gone, I let out a deep breath and turned on my heel. My destination was here, on the top floor of the tower. Specifically, the large terrace where the Department of Military Affairs was holding a tiny banquet. In retrospect, I wondered if Savir was also invited, considering the military was ostensibly under the umbrella of the Orthodox faction.

After some thinking, I came to the conclusion that I didn't care, and I made my way over. I wasn't entirely familiar with this section of the building, but due to the geometry of the tower, the top floor was the smallest, and by following the red dots of Jaakobah and Kane, I quickly found my destination. Speaking of which, once I passed through a pair of large doors, I found myself staring at the starry sky overhead, with those two standing nearby.

"Lord Archon!" Michael's father, currently dressed in a slightly fancier version of his usual uniform, exclaimed in surprise and gave me a salute. "We didn't expect you to arrive so soon."

I looked over them and was surprised to find a third man in their midst. He was tall, with wide shoulders, a lantern jaw, cropped hair, and a long scar running diagonally across his face. He wore a white military dress uniform with altogether too many medals pinned on his chest and had a long, sky-blue cape hanging from his shoulders. I've seen him before, and if my memory served right, he was the director in charge of the Department of Military Affairs. Couldn't recall his name though.

While I observed him, he did the same to me, though he seemed more concerned by something else other than my appearance.

"Welcome, Lord Archon. If I may ask, where are your attendants?"

"They know better than to try to escort me," I told him flatly and theatrically swept my eyes over the premises to show that I considered the topic finished.

The large terrace jutting out of the side of the tower was about half the size of a basketball court. The curved periphery facing the night skies of the Elysium had white handrails that gave the impression of carved limestone, and despite not having a roof overhead, the air was both warmer and considerably less windy than expected. Based on the barely perceptible glow surrounding the whole structure, I imagined there was some kind of barrier involved.

As for the terrace floor, there were about three dozen people in attendance, most of them wearing military uniforms, though some of the opted for togas instead. The majority of them were sitting by the large, oval table in the middle, surrounded by service staff carrying food trays and refreshments, while the rest idled around the rails or were having conversations in the corners. Last, but not least, an honest-to-goodness harp player, plucking at a fancy instrument twice her own size, was supplying the background music for the occasion.

"Lord Archon, please come this way," Jaakobah addressed me with a shallow bow, and gestured at the chair at the head of the table, as much as that terminology applied to ovals. "The Praetorian Guard already tested both the food and the beverages, so feel free to sample them at your convenience."

"Good work," I spoke on autopilot.

"Please, come sit with me, O Archon," the man with the lantern jaw and distinct scar called out to me, trying to show me a friendly smile. He failed, and he appeared more like a hungry wolf to me. "For the longest time, I wished to converse with you in person."

"So did I," I responded without meaning it, and while I had to admit I was looking forward to the food, I had no idea where my talk with this man would eventually lead me…

Part 3

"I'm really not cut out for this…"

My silent grumbles were hidden under the quiet hiss of the automatic door of my quarters, and as soon as I stepped through, I could hear a shuffling noise. Glancing over, I found Mountain Girl standing ramrod straight by the couch. When our eyes met (presumably, as she was wearing her helmet), her posture immediately loosened and she greeted me with a hint of relief.

"Oh, it's Leonard-dono this time. Welcome back."

"This time?" I echoed her as I walked into the room and, after a beat, undid my Polemos disguise and stretched my back. "Did someone else visit my room while I was away?"

"Yes. Director Mensah-san was looking for Leonard-dono, and Director Tsephanyah-san sent an indivisible to request for a meeting too. Rinne thinks her name was Tire-san, the Vice-Director of Rurals."

"Indivisi— Ah, you meant 'individual'." I rubbed my chin and pondered for a second. "Rurals, Tire… Was she a middle-aged woman with black hair?" Rinne nodded, and while I could recall her from the Mana Well Shrine, or whatever that place was called, I couldn't remember her full name either. She was definitely one of the Reformists though, so that checked out. "Did she say anything else?"

"No. Rinne nodded to let her know Rinne would deliver the message, and then she left."

"What about Mensah?"

"Director Mensah-san was more insistent, so Rinne had to forcefully remove him from the room."

"Let's hope he won't hold a grudge over that," I muttered and sat down on the nearby sofa.

She must have considered that the sign that she could sit down as well, and she did so without any pretences. I expected that she would start reading her book again, but her eyes remained fixated on me.

"Leonard-dono seems tired."

"Probably because I am," I answered a touch irritably. "This was a long day, and playing the role of Polemos in public for nearly three hours straight wasn't exactly relaxing either."

"Was there any conflict?"

"In a sense, but nothing major," I responded with a shrug.

Things went almost exactly as expected. A bit of small talk, lots of veiled hints and inquiries about loyalties and secret plans within plans, a single confrontational side character with an inflated ego who existed just so that I could take him down a peg, et cetera. Seriously, the whole thing was like clockwork, and while it wasn't a banquet, it hit all of the usual tropes. Well, maybe except for introducing a masked femme-fatale type character, but to be fair, I didn't mind missing out on that. The only thing worth a mention was how I got roped into attending a military exercise, but considering how the director in charge was trying to impress me, it wasn't that surprising.

Anyhow, while the modus operandi of the Simulacrum was as predictable as ever, it didn't make these situations any less draining. While successfully pulling off the Bel act I'd been preparing for close to a week did take some of the tension out of my shoulders, I could certainly use some me-time to wind down.

Glancing over at Rinne made me wonder. Should I pick up reading as a hobby? Or maybe something lighter, like mangas? Or those newfangled 'webtoon' things, the ones that are just one long strip you can scroll on your phone. A lot of those were available on the internet for free if one knew where to look and… oh, wait—no internet in the Elysium.

"Well, scratch that idea then," I whispered under my breath, and while it made Rinne's ears perk up for a second, she returned to her book just as quickly, leaving me functionally alone with my thoughts.

I figured I could visit the girls again to cuddle a bit, but I'd already done that before coming here. There wasn't anything pressing to do in the base either, and I'd just visited the other hideout as well, so that left me with… nothing much.

In the end, I exhaled a shallow yet audibly exhausted breath, and resolved myself to do the only thing I could in this situation: use my Far Sight to check the ripples my public appearance, both as myself through the recording and as Bel, created.

…

I really didn't want to though. While Judy was unusually chill about it, I had a feeling I would be getting an earful from Roland later. Penny would probably also be pretty damn confused and/or outraged once she learned that I was working together with Bel. Actually… that probably applied to everyone in the Draconic Federation who didn't already know that I was Bel, which was pretty much just the girls, the Fauns, my three Knightly accomplices, and Snowy. So that leaves only… eighty percent of my allies, all the Celestial higher-ups who learned about this, and…

"Heh. I guess Crowey and company would be pretty mad too, just the other way around…" I whispered, making my alleged bodyguard glance up at me. "Don't mind me, I was thinking aloud."

"Then Rinne won't."

Saying so, she returned to her book, but not before letting out a strange, muffled sound. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out what that was about, but then I asked, "Are you sleepy?"

"It's fine. Rinne is at a good part, so Rinne will read one more chapter before going to bed."

"Careful. Thinking 'just one more chapter' is how you end up on a binge until morning."

"Rinne is always careful, and even if Rinne wasn't careful, it doesn't matter. Rinne is still young."

I couldn't quite grasp what those two things had to do with each other, but I didn't argue, and instead, I made myself comfortable and closed my eyes.

After deliberating for a few breaths' time, I decided to start with the three head directors, no small part thanks to how I could see that their red dots were close to each other. Once my vision shifted, I found myself in a poorly lit room, and…

"— have to do something about him! He's completely out of our control!" Director Mensah yelled while wearing one of those stupid cowls that covered his face in shadows. So were the others.

What was even the point of those when they were perfectly aware of who they were talking to? Hell, they were even wearing their colour-coded togas, so even a random passer-by could tell who they were!

"But what exactly can we do?" the second conspirator, obviously Tsephanyah, lamented with a very obviously faked dejected sigh. "He's the Second True Archon. We announced him ourselves."

"You did," the third person in the room stated flatly, causing Mensah to snap at her.

"Don't try to weasel out of this, Eris! If anything, his position got even more entrenched when you changed your tune after just a single day! If only you didn't—!"

"Yes, and if only someone didn't try to drug his food, he wouldn't be so vigilant and we could try keeping him under control with—!"

"Please, calm down!" Tsephanyah cut in between the two with his hands raised. "We have all made mistakes. Let the past stay in the past and focus on the future."

"The future where we have to bow our heads to him?" Mensah continued to gripe and moan. "By now, the entire Directorate acknowledged him. We can't touch him."

"Maybe if we tried to use his connection to this Abyssal Lord? If it were to be known to the greater public, it would shake his support base." Tsephanyah proposed, and Mensah agreed on the spot.

"Right. We could use it as leverage against him."

"No, we can't," Savir spoke up next, shooting down their idea just as the other two were getting into it. "He directly told me that he considers himself beyond reproach. He must think that his status, together with the combined support of the Department of Military Affairs and his power base on Critias makes him untouchable."

"He's not entirely wrong…" Tsephanyah grumbled, but the female director shook her head.

"No. You were already on the right track. We need a form of leverage. We need to show him that he isn't in full control yet."

"Do you have a plan?"

Tsephanyah looked and sounded reserved, but she didn't seem to mind.

"Yes. We're going to use the opportunity Gideon provided us." It took me a second to figure out who she was talking about, but based on her following words, I realized she must've meant the lantern-jawed Military Affairs director with whom I just had a nice dinner. "We'll make our move during the military exercise. I've already received a report on their discussion, and the Archon is going to be present at the site."

"What exactly are you planning?" Tsephanyah asked, still sounding unsure that this was a good idea, which showed that he has more common sense than the other man in the room.

"Don't tell me you plan to assassinate the Archon?" Mensah asked, sounding equal parts outraged and excited by the prospect. "Some kind of training accident? Or something more involved?"

"Please, Dolion. As infuriating as he is, we can't kill him," she scoffed and tapped her feet. "No. We just need to show him that he's not beyond our reach, and this will be the best opportunity we could ask for to do that."

"You still haven't told us your plan," the Reformist director echoed his previous sentiment, and after a long beat, Savir shrugged.

"I'm still working on the details. Once I have a plan of action, I will notify you through unofficial correspondence, as usual. I might need your help too." Mensah nodded, and after hesitating for a while, the other male director followed suit. "It's been a while since we last cooperated like this, but I think it would be best to leave it at that for today. It's getting late, and tomorrow we'll have a parade to attend."

"Yes. The secret parade," Mensah nodded with a Cheshire-cat smile visible under his hood.

That sent shivers down my spine, but I ignored it and focused on the more relevant thing. Namely, that they were conspiring against me, and they would strike during the military exercise I reluctantly agreed to attend. I expected something like this to happen, but not in just a few short days from now. That was… rather annoying, to be honest, but since I caught them red-handed like this, it meant it was a prime opportunity to turn the tables on them, and by doing so, I could potentially shorten my stay in the Elysium.

In any case, I watched them for a while longer, but I didn't learn anything new, and they soon took off their silly cowls and left the room through three different doors. I figured it was so that they wouldn't be seen together in public, but the sight still left me scratching my head.

Not for long though, as I soon moved on to my next target. It was getting pretty late for sure though, and most of my Draconic targets were either already asleep or getting ready to go to bed. There wasn't much to gleam there, so I focused on the next set, and to my pleasant surprise, I stumbled upon another late-night meeting.

"— was your fault!" Lord Ambrose growled, one accusing finger pointing at his red-headed colleague's face, so close that it looked like he wanted to pick his nose. "If you didn't insist on doing that, we could have avoided that whole incident!"

"Please, calm down," Lord Barnabas tried to quell the flames, while Lord Taika was holding her head in the back and slowly sipping sparkling water from a clear glass cup.

"I want to go home. No one told me there would be an Abyssal Lord here. No one told me this island is full of lunatics…"

"Lord Taika, please control yourself," the dark-skinned man reprimanded her and glanced to his left. "The Lord of the island is in the room with us."

"And he should've warned us about this ahead of time," she argued back and then took a furious gulp from her glass (or at least as much as such things could be done furiously).

"Everyone, quiet down," Lord Grandpa called out in an exasperated voice, and when everyone levelled their gazes on him, he added, "Please. Arguing like children does not help our situation."

The four newcomer arch-mages shared a few glances filled with everything from hesitation and outrage to resignation and bemusement and ultimately quieted down. The five of them were standing around inside Lord Grandpa's study, and based on how much the walls were glowing, the wards around the place were cranked up to eleven. Most likely to make sure they had perfect privacy. What a funny misconception that was, am I right?

Anyhow, once everyone calmed down a bit, Lord Grandpa let out a long sigh and turned to the only woman in the room. When he spoke up, his voice was calm and carried a rare hint of acquiescence.

"I apologize, Lord Taika. I have indeed kept a few details I have deemed superficial from your attention, but I assure you, I have never met this Bel of the Abyss in person, and as such, I could not in good conscience tell you about his capabilities."

"Well, at least now we know he's immune to manatronic interference bursts," Lord Gulliver noted with a cheeky smile, only to get a finger pointed at his nose again.

"Silence, you halfwit! This was all your fault!"

"Now, now. Calm down, old pal. At this rate, you're going to burst a blood vessel." The man carefully pushed Lord Ambrose's hand away and stepped behind him, putting his palms on his shoulder. "Maybe a relaxing massage would help?"

"I don't need no massage, you—!"

It was at this point that Lord Barnabas reached the end of his rope and exclaimed, "Lord Gulliver, stop fooling around!"

"Hey! Watch your language!" the stout man in the middle yelled back, his brows set into a glare. "Only I can call this simpleton a fool!"

Ignoring their argument, Lord Taika finished up her drink and turned to the owner of the study, eyes narrowed into inquisitive squints.

"You said you have omitted a few inconsequential details. Was the fact that you fought Leonard Dunning in the past one of them, Amadeus?"

Her inquiry made the squabble on her left come to an abrupt halt, and the three men all focused on Lord Grandpa.

"Yes. Yes, it was," he admitted remarkably easily, which only made his guests look more curious.

"And what about that thing this Abyssal Lord said," Lord Barnabas asked, only to quickly clarify, "In regards to losing the battle."

"It was not a battle, merely a small demonstration," the old man corrected him, and it made the tall redhead, who was incidentally still massaging the other old man's shoulders, raise a curious brow.

"You didn't answer the question. Did you actually lose to him?"

"As I was saying," Lord Grandpa stressed, trying to seem dignified while even a blind man could see that he was defensive about the topic. "It was a show of force, where I demonstrated the might of an arch-mage to Leonard Dunning. Nothing less, nothing more."

"He's still dodging," Lord Gulliver noted with schadenfreude. "He totally lost, didn't he?"

"Or at the very least, Lord Endymonion's demonstration didn't have the desired effect," Lord Barnabas tried to be diplomatic, but it only made the stout man with the big beard laugh out loud.

"Hah! You got done in by a child?"

"Do not put words into my mouth, Lord Ambrose," the old badger responded in a low, threatening voice, but it only earned him another guffaw.

"Hah! You shouldn't have held back then!"

"I did not," Lord Grandpa responded, causing the boisterous arch-mage to quiet down.

"Well, then you should've picked your battlefield better. I would've taken him to the Nexus chamber under the school, and then—"

"That was precisely what I did,"

"Really?" Taika blurted out in a mixture of shock and disbelief, and even Lord Barnabas seemed flabbergasted.

"And you still couldn't win?" he asked, causing Lord Grandpa to exhale an exasperated breath.

"As I had already told you, I did not lose. We exchanged blows, and he merely matched me until our time was up."

"But you couldn't overpower him," Lord Gulliver pointed out. "While you were in the Nexus Chamber."

Lord Grandpa remained silent, though his sullen expression spoke volumes about his feelings on the topic.

"Amadeus." The grave tone used by Lord Taika made everyone look at her, and after a melodramatic pause, she asked, "Who exactly is Leonard Dunning?"

"Good question," the redhead mage added with a finger raised. "We already knew that he's the famous Chimera Slayer of Critias and that he's this… what was he called by those people?"

"Their King of Knights," Lord Barnabas supplied the answer.

"Yes, that." Lord Gulliver snapped his finger. "The King of Knights. Has a nice ring to it. More importantly, he's also powerful enough to match one of the few combat-ready arch-mages of our Assembly, and he can order an Abyssal Lord to make deliveries for him."

"One thing's for sure," Lord Ambrose cut in, sounding remarkably calmer. "Whatever this Draconic Federation is, it's not a Celestial ploy."

"Right. They would never work with an Abyssal, let alone a Lord of them," the dark-skinned man mused, and while his deduction was beneficial to me, I had no choice but to point out that he attributed waaay too much integrity to the Celestials.

"The way he publicly announced that he is working as some sort of diplomat in their court also points to the same conclusion," Lord Taika added with a thoughtful finger on her chin. "If he was a Celestial agent, there is no way he would let us know this, let alone on his own accord."

"In retrospect, that should have been obvious," Lord Barnabas mused in turn. "He is the leader of the Brotherhood of Most Heroic Bloodlines, or rather, its successor organization. They are historically on bad terms with the Celestial Intelligence Network, so it's unthinkable that one of them could turn traitor, let alone their leader."

Once again, the dark-skinned man proved that he was not only prone to jumping to conclusions, but he also gave way too much benefit of the doubt to secret supernatural organizations. On the other hand, he was still the sanest person in the room, so I couldn't get too mad at him.

"Maybe we have been mistaken from the start," Lord Grandpa spoke up in a solemn voice, yet his eyes looked like that of a drowning man who just caught sight of a lifebuoy floating in arm's reach. "It could be that we have been so focused on our ancient adversaries that we naturally presumed that they were the ones pulling the strings behind the scenes, and never considered the possibility that they might have been yet another puppet in the play directed by someone else."

"Bel of the Abyss," Lord Ambrose spoke the name on everyone's mind. "He's a damn scary bastard, that's for sure, but he doesn't strike me as the mastermind type."

"We don't have many other options," Lord Barnabas pointed out. "If we presume that the Celestials aren't the ones controlling the situation on the island, he's the only entity powerful enough to qualify."

"Him, and Leonard Dunning," Lord Gulliver quipped, and seeing the deadpan stares directed at him, he loudly added, "Oh, come on, people! I couldn't be the only one to think that!"

"Shut it, you dolt! Do you expect a seventeen years old kid to manipulate all the dragonbloods, and the Brotherhood, and the winged ones, all on his own? Bah!"

"It is a rather far-fetched theory," Lord Grandpa agreed with unusual emphasis, and everyone seemed to agree with him.

"Okay, then it's this Bel guy," Gulliver relented. "What do we do about him?"

"That's a good question," Lord Taika spoke softly and exhaled a long sigh. "It is obvious that he does not consider us a credible threat to him, so our presence alone is not going to serve as an effective deterrent."

"It could've if we kicked his teeth in back there," the bearded arch-mage grumbled, aiming a dissatisfied frown at the black man standing by his side.

"I thought we were over this, Lord Ambrose," Lord Barnabas groaned back, one hand already reaching for his temple. "We are on a diplomatic mission, and we were standing in the heart of the Draconic Federation. Just the fact that we attempted to interfere without prior agreement was overstepping our boundaries. So long as none of the dragonblooded patriarchs had attempted to apprehend him and requested our aid, doing anything more could have been grounds for a conflict we can't afford right now."

"That is correct." Lord Grandpa backed him up right away, sounding pleased by the direction the conversation was going. "So long as this Bel of the Abyss remains an element out of our control, we cannot afford to alienate a potential ally."

"I wouldn't go as far as to call them a 'potential ally', but I agree that de-escalation was the right choice at the time."

Hearing Lord Taika's agreement, Lord Ambrose let out another 'Bah!' and dropped the issue, only for Lord Gulliver to pick up back up.

"It wasn't that bad! At least we learned that the anti-manatronic burst had some effect on him, even if it didn't stop him from moving about." When Lord Grandpa raised a brow, he explained, "His clothes were fuzzy for a moment, and he seemed alarmed. It shows that he wasn't completely immune to the effect. We just have to go bigger next time!"

"I would prefer it if there wasn't a next time," the female arch-mage griped. "If I never had to meet that winged fiend again, it would be too soon. I knew I shouldn't have come to this island..."

Wait, did she just say 'winged'? Was she talking generally, like how they collectively referred to the Draconians, Celestials, and Abyssals as 'the Winged Ones', or did I accidentally manifest a pair of wings again?

I hoped they would say something else on the topic, but instead, the discussion went in a completely different direction when Lord Gulliver said, "I think we should take a break. Until tomorrow, I mean. It's getting late, and Ambrose gets reeeally grumpy when he misses his beauty sleep."

"Who are you calling grumpy, you uncultured lout!?"

While those two started bickering again, Lord Grandpa jumped to capitalize on the opportunity to get these allegedly wise and venerable senior mages out of his office, and bid everyone farewell, agreeing to have another meeting the next day to come up with some 'Anti-Bel Counter Measures'. Better add that to my schedule, I supposed.

In any case, I caught two plot-relevant discussions one after the other, so I was rather pleased with myself. Still, I figured I could check some of my other marks before I got up from my seat and decided what to do for the rest of the night, and after leafing through the red dots on the edge of my vision, my eyes suddenly popped open.

"You've got to be kidding me…"

"Is Leonard-dono still thinking aloud?"

Mountain Girl sounded rather disinterested, and after a moment of consideration, I shook my head.

"Don't mind me, just keep reading."

"All right. Rinne just got to a good part, so Rinne will read one more chapter."

It took me a lot of willpower not to echo my previous warning, in the company of a cheeky smile, but I suppressed the urge and closed my eyes instead. I had a feeling that this one required my full and immediate attention…

Part 4

The turmoil on the island, caused by my initial disappearance, calmed down remarkably fast once I revealed myself to my inner circle about a week ago. Over time, things returned to business as usual, Blue Cherry High opened its gates again, and after I put Sir Percival in custody, I let my sisters return home and attend as usual, though not without doubling the Kage ninjas on shift around the district, to make sure no ne'er-do-well would bother them while I was away.

There was no shortage of candidates either. While the local School was ostensibly on our side, I couldn't be sure if the Assembly delegation wouldn't try to pick a fight with Snowy. Then there were the Celestials with their constant scheming, and I didn't even mention the Abyssals yet. As such, I tried to keep a close eye on them, just in case… which made the scene in front of me all the more irking, and just a little embarrassing.

"Lady Neige, your safe house is very… well-fortified," a familiar face stated a touch nervously, no doubt feeling more than a little psyched out by my other sister giving her a death glare from the other side of the coffee table.

Snowy and Penny were sitting side by side on the couch in our living room. My Abyssal sister was wearing her pyjamas under a bathrobe, no doubt turning in early after getting mentally tired out by Percival's interrogation in the afternoon. My knightly sister, on the other hand, was clad in her uniformer, and even though she was sitting down, her body posture told me she was ready to leap over the coffee table at a moment's notice and cut their guest down… with her teaspoon, by the looks of it.

On the other side of the table, and also holding a porcelain teacup, sat a young woman in a fancy gothic lolita dress. She had a pair of rimless round glasses, one side of her straight, shoulder-length hair was pitch black, while the other was a light, borderline pink strawberry blonde, and while her outfit was fairly modest, her corset pushed up and emphasized her already sizable bosom even more. She was a familiar face, and one of the people I tried to keep under constant surveillance, yet somehow the Inanna house's young spymaster still managed to fly under my radar and make contact with my sisters since the last time I checked on her.

"This is not a 'safe house'," Penny hissed, her hands aggressively stirring her tea even as she was speaking. "This is our home, right, Snowy?"

"Penny! You're frightening Tajana!" my other sister chided her, but she remained steadfast and continued to stare daggers at her.

"P-Please excuse my careless remark! I didn't mean it in a bad way!" the lady with the two-toned hair backpedalled at once and turned a pair of pleading eyes at Snowy.

"We aren't offended, right, Penny?" My knightly sister only responded with a grunt, but Snowy continued as if she just agreed with her. "There's no need to be afraid. She isn't going to hurt you."

"That depends on whether she really has something important to say or not, or if she's planning something underhanded," Penny hissed again, causing my normally reserved Abyssal sister to roll her eyes.

"I told you, Tajana is fine. She was the one who taught me how to use my Seducer abilities, and I've known her since I was small."

Wait. She was what? This stuttering, shrinking violet was a Seducer? I mean, sure, she was rather pretty; that much was more or less expected from a seemingly important Side Character type, but still.

…

On second thought, the only other Seducer I knew was also a soft-spoken and easily startled girl. Maybe their whole lineage was running on exploiting the gap-moe aesthetic?

Before I could spend any more time pondering on that, Penny raised her voice in turn.

"You still can't just trust her! She's an Abyssal, and they can't be—" It took her this long to realize what she was saying, and her fierce expression immediately melted into a panicked one as she turned to my other sister, her hands wildly gesticulating in the air. "A-awawa! That came out wrong! I didn't mean it like that! I was only talking about the… the bad Abyssals! You're nice, so it doesn't apply to you!"

"Tajana is nice too," Snowy pointed out, which finally caused the allegedly brave and valorous knight to let her hands down, cross her arms, and sulk.

"If you say so then… I suppose we can hear her out."

The two of them glanced at the woman at the same time. During all this time, she was mechanically blowing on her cup, but when she realized that she was in the center of attention again, she twitched and nearly dropped her drink.

"Ah! Y-Yes, um… R-Right away, just…" She somehow managed to put the cup onto the table without spilling its contents, and after taking a few deep breaths, she began her explanation. "You see, I… um… where should I begin? Ah, right! So, it all started about a week ago, when I told our lord and liege about a discovery we've made, and… no, actually, it started even earlier, when we first heard the news about the disappearance of the Chimera Slayer, and… and…"

"Calm down, Tajana. Just start at the beginning."

Hearing Snowy's words made her twitch again, and after taking several long breaths, she lightly slapped both her cheeks at the same time, startling Penny. My other sister remained completely unaffected by the sight, so she was probably used to this kind of thing.

"Yes, my lady! I'm perfectly calm now!" She shook her head and put her hands in her lap before starting again. "So, as I was saying, it all started with the disappearance of the Chimera Slayer. Not long after it was announced that he was taken by Abyssal forces, the Ashurs claimed responsibility for the act. However, we have managed to infiltrate the inner sanctum of their lands, and discovered that…" She paused here and clumsily adjusted her glasses, probably aiming for dramatic effect, before ominously declaring, "The Chimera Slayer wasn't there!"

She fell silent again, obviously waiting for a shocked reaction that never came.

"We know," Penny uttered a touch flatly, literally unbalancing Tajana and nearly causing her to fall out of her seat while flailing. Yep. Seducers really were all-in on the gap-moe aesthetic. Hell, even I started to consider her antics endearing, and that was an achievement in and of itself.

"Y-You do?" she sputtered out, and when my knightly sister nodded, she hastily doubled down. "Wait, there's more! We also found incriminating evidence that showed that the Ashurs were working with the Celestials!"

"That… logically follows, yes."

Snowy's nonchalant response made the hapless spymaster twitch again.

"Did… did you also know that the Chimera Slayer was taken by the Celestials?"

"We sure do," Penny declared with one of those smug little smirks that came right out of the princess's handbook, and Tajana reeled back like she was slugged in the nose.

"N-No way! We only just learned about that!" She quickly collected herself though, and locked eyes with Penny again. "But… did you know that he wasn't kidnapped, but he followed them on his own?"

"Yes."

This time, it was Snowy who responded first, causing her to twitch again.

"How!?" Tajana exclaimed in disbelief, forcing Snowy to wave at her to calm down.

"Our brother told us."

"The lord did!?" After blurting that out, the young woman froze for a second and let out a weird noise. "W-Wait, my lady? You couldn't possibly have meant the Chimera Slayer!?"

"Why do you keep calling brother that?"

Penny's question made Tajana's eyes move back and forth between the two girls.

"It's… um… You see, our lord doesn't like to hear the words 'Leonard', 'Dunning', or 'crow', so we've been avoiding them over the last few months and… wait, that's not important! My lady, are the rumors true!? Have you truly forsaken your own blood for a—"

"Choose your words wisely," Penny cut in, and for a moment, I could swear I could see one of those roiling red bloodlust auras around her you would see in some stories. It only lasted for a moment, and it might've been just my imagination.

"A… human… person?"

"I'm… not sure that applies to Leo anymore," my Abyssal sister noted, resulting in my other sister turning a slack-jawed face her way.

"Snowy!"

"But… you know? With all the things Leo can do, I'm not sure it's right to call him just a human."

Penny wanted to argue at first, but even after she opened her mouth, no words came out. At last, she closed it, cocked her head to the side, and let out a thoughtful hum.

"You're right. Ever since brother lost his memories, he's been too awesome. Maybe he's like a superhuman? Or a super knight?"

"My… My lady…" Tajana whined in an attempt to gain their attention again. "After your name was cleared and it was proven, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that you didn't betray the House of Inanna for those treacherous Nergals, I was certain that your conflict with our lord was just a misunderstanding! Could it be that you truly abandoned your noble lineage for… for…"

"Hey, she didn't betray anyone!" Penny cut in and hugged Snowy, causing the latter to freeze up like a startled bunny. "If anything, that jerk betrayed her! Not that it matters anymore, because Snowy is now part of our family, right, sis?"

Penny looked at her expectantly, and after a brief moment, my Abyssal sister nodded with a shy smile.

"Yes. My family is here, on Critias."

Tajana stared at the two like she was seeing a white raven perched on a black sheep and then let out a conflicted groan.

"Our Lord is not going to like this…"

"If he doesn't like it, then tell him to come up here and try to say that to our faces! We'll show him what's what, right?"

Once again, Penny looked at Snowy for support, but she remained silent for a while and shook her head instead.

"If possible, I wouldn't want to fight Noire. Or rather, it would be best if we never met again. But, that's not important now." As she said that, she carefully wriggled out of Penny's embrace and levelled a dispassionate gaze at her guest. "Be honest with me Tajana. You wouldn't have left the Abyss, let alone show up in front of my home, only to tell me all that."

The young spymaster blinked in surprise and then let out a soft, delighted chuckle.

"I'm glad to see that my lady is sharp as always. Yes, you're right. I admit that I had my own, um, personal reasons to come to Critias, but there was something very important I wanted to tell you before I set out on this, umm, very personal task." With both my sisters focused on her, she let out a shallow breath and finally explained, "After their connection to the Celestials was discovered, our lord used the opportunity to strike House Ashur down with the full military might of House Inanna. Unprepared, their castle fell within the day, and after our lord claimed their Mana Well, I personally investigated the study of the Lord of Ashur. That is how we learned of the true extent of their treachery against the Houses of the Abyss, as well as a chilling discovery: the Lord of Ashur provided the Celestial Intelligence Network with at least one full vial of Udug Blood Amalgam."

Once again, she looked at the two expectantly, waiting for their reaction, only for Snowy to calmly say, "Yes, we know."

"We do?" Penny blurted out, ignoring the shocked woman sitting across them, and my Abyssal sister nodded.

"Yes, it… it was something Leo told me in private."

"I think I've heard of that 'amalgam' thing, but I'm not sure. Is it important?"

"It was, but… I'll explain it later."

With that settled, they focused their attention on Tajana again, who was still reeling back from the previous reversal.

"You heard about that too?!"

"Only recently," Snowy spoke a touch apologetically, and after puffing out her cheeks, Tajana let out a dejected sigh.

"It appears that there was no reason for me to come here. Still, I'm happy to see that my lady is safe, even if I don't agree with all of your, um, choices." She stood up and straightened her dress, followed by a quick curtsy. "Thank you for your time, my lady and… um… before I leave, I have to ask; how should I address you, again?"

"Don't worry about it, Tajana," Snowy responded with a sweet smile before Penny could react. "You'll have plenty of opportunities to discuss this with Penny in the future."

"I… was just about to leave, so I'm afraid—"

Before she could finish what she wanted to say, my Abyssal sister, wearing the same smile, slowly nodded. A moment later, two heavy hands landed on Tajana's shoulders, one on each side. She reflexively tried to retreat, but the large fingers held onto her tightly, and a second later, their owners were revealed as the stealth Sigils on Pip and Rabom deactivated.

"Lady. No see. Long time."

Rabom's seemingly friendly greeting made the blood drain out of her face, and Tajana desperately faced my sisters again, where Penny looked about as surprised as she was. Snowy, on the other hand, remained calm.

"I'm sorry, Tajana, but I'm sure that Leo wouldn't want you to run around on his island while he's already busy elsewhere. I'm afraid I have to insist that you stay with us for a while longer."

The Inanna spymaster opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, like a fish out of water, but with two Fauns holding onto her, she apparently didn't have much choice in the matter. As for me… well, I let out a relieved sigh, which once again caused a certain highly visible ninja to look up from her book for the umpteenth time.

"Hm? Why is Leonard-dono smiling?"

"It's nothing," I said with a wave of my hand. "I just got reminded that I have the best little sister in the world."