Inside the villa at No. 28, Kingster Street, in the Cherwood Borough.
Ebner had originally planned to have dinner with the "shareholders" of the film company that evening, to discuss company affairs and upcoming arrangements.
But contrary to his expectations, neither Hazel, Fanny, nor Elaine had returned—yet the busiest of them all, Xio, had shown up first.
—Hazel's father, Member of Parliament Macht, had agreed to invest in the company by mortgaging part of his shares in several newspapers after watching the sample film. Fanny had also transferred part of her grandfather's estate in Backlund to Ebner in exchange for a stake in the company. Xio, on the other hand, was managing the investments on behalf of Her Highness Vera… So they were, indeed, all shareholders.
"…Aside from giving me these valuable materials, Her Highness also entrusted me with a task that appears rather simple," Xio said, after taking a sip of the tea prepared by Mrs. Skade. She then recounted in detail what had happened earlier in Vera's office.
It only appears simple… A task equivalent in value to a Sequence 5 advancement ritual must carry deeper significance…
And that Princess Vera—who never even appeared in the original story—just who exactly was she? Judging from some of Xio's earlier descriptions of her behavior, she seemed to have a rather complicated attitude toward the Ruen royal family.
Ebner furrowed his brow and, leaving aside the documents on Intis nobles for now, picked up the rune-covered box to examine it carefully.
"These runes are chaotic in function and arrangement, like someone unfamiliar with their use just pasted them on at random…
"But if they were truly random, they wouldn't be able to remain stable… Not to mention, these runes really are acting to seal whatever's inside this box."
With that thought in mind, Ebner activated his "Pure White Eye" to observe it further, then placed the box back on the coffee table and reflected:
I can't see through the seal… unless I destroy all the runes.
But ultimately, this is someone else's item. Opening it without permission would violate my principles.
Besides, there might be something dangerous inside…
Seeing Ebner fall silent in thought, Xio asked curiously, "Did you find anything?"
Ebner gently shook his head and replied, "I can only determine that the object inside likely carries some kind of 'chaotic' attribute—otherwise, it wouldn't be sealed in this manner."
Chaos… Xio thought for a moment but still couldn't make sense of it, so she let the topic drop and instead asked, "Do you think I should go through with this task?"
She herself was inclined to complete it. After all, Xio didn't believe Her Highness Vera would go so far as to frame her through such means.
"I just attempted a prophecy—but it failed… Perhaps this really does involve that Red Angel," Ebner said after a moment of thought, then added, "How about this—after tonight's meeting, I'll go with you to Williams Street."
In Backlund, Ebner, confident in his many contingencies and strong backing, wasn't particularly afraid of Medici.
Xio, however, politely declined: "Ebner, this is my mission. There's no need for you to take the risk. If you're really worried, just lend me a few sealed artifacts."
Hearing this, Ebner smiled and said, "Let's not even talk about whether you'd be able to detect anything if I didn't go with you… More importantly, I suspect that Her Highness's true goal might be to have me handle this box.
"After all, she clearly told you to come consult with me… and after discussing it, I'd very likely accompany you out of concern.
"I bet she calculated all of this in advance."
Xio wasn't foolish. Thinking back on what Her Highness Vera had said earlier in the office, she suddenly realized, "That might really be the case!"
But she then raised another question: "What exactly is Her Highness's goal?"
"No matter what the purpose is, once I deliver the box to that abandoned church, everything should be revealed."
Ebner replied with a smile, confirming their joint journey. Only then did he pick up the materials prepared by Vera and began reading them page by page.
"The Republic of Intis no longer has any angelic families, but among the families with Beyonder legacies, there are currently eight that possess demigods.
"The Sauron family is still publicly recognized as the foremost family in Intis, with three demigods and four powerful Grade 1 Sealed Artifacts... They even retain a Grade 0 Sealed Artifact, namely No. 0-50, 'Azure Thorn'...
"The Delian family holds the formulas for both the Sailor and Hunter pathways.
"The Sailor pathway came from the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun, but only up to Sequence 5, 'Ocean Songster'.
"One of the Delian family's demigods in the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun had joined the church from childhood, starting from 'Bard' and advancing step by step to become an 'Unshadowed'. However, this saint holds no real affection or sense of belonging toward the family and devotes himself wholeheartedly to praising the Sun.
"The other one switched faith midway to the God of Commerce and joined the church, converting from 'Ocean Songster' to 'Unshadowed'.
"The Hunter pathway formulas the Delian family has came from the Sauron family, but they are incomplete—missing the Sequence 'Arsonist'... However, one of Delian's ancestors happened to obtain the 'Iron-Blooded Knight' formula while helping overthrow the Gustavian Dynasty and successfully advanced to demigod, surviving to this day.
"All in all, this family publicly has three Saints, though their Sealed Artifacts are of unknown status.
"...The Fless family fares a bit worse. Though they control the earlier formulas of the Hunter and Bard pathways up to the demigod level, both of the family's Saints belong to the Church of the Eternal Blazing Sun.
"The family has followed the faith ever since.
"...Finally, there's the Surry family. Their only publicly known demigod has already fallen, and now the family relies on a single Grade 1 Sealed Artifact to deter those enemies circling like wolves.
"However, the Surry family's Beyonder pathways were entirely granted by the Church of Steam... and they only possess mid- to low-Sequence potion formulas for the Savant pathway.
"In fact, after Mr. Surry's death, the entire family no longer has even a single Sequence 5."
After reading up to this point, Ebner had gained a rough understanding of the current landscape in Intis, and the plan in his mind gradually took shape.
Just then, the clock struck six, and Fanny, Hazel, and Elaine returned to the villa together.
Trailing behind them, however, was a slightly chubby orange tabby cat, which stopped at the entrance of the villa.
It sniffed around in confusion at first, then seemed to detect something. It pulled out a hair from its mane at the nape of its neck and slapped it onto its forehead, causing a third eye to open there.
Using the "Third Eye," it quickly located the source of the anomaly. It raised its head and looked upward, then, after a brief hesitation, leapt onto the pea vines hidden in some kind of "secrecy."
"Your Highness, Princess," the lion, Leon, revealed his true form and called out to the lady seated on the swing high atop the vine.
(End of chapter)