1

Even being a child of the emperor didn't mean that one got to see His Royal Highness every day. Governing a large empire was an extremely busy job.

The emperor held meetings with his retainers most days, but only those with important positions were allowed to participate. At present, the only heir who joined those imperial council meetings was the Second Imperial Prince.

However, today, all princes and princesses in the castle had been directed to attend the imperial council.

"That's unusual. I wonder what's going on."

"This only happens maybe once a year or so. There must be some important announcement."

We couldn't hope it would be something so sensible as a command to stop the bloodbath that the battle for the throne had become. On the contrary, our father believed that coming out the victor of that fight was itself proof of being worthy of becoming ruler of the empire.

Father considered himself emperor even before his position as a parent. He also had no qualms about proclaiming that it was an emperor's obligation to prepare an heir capable of maintaining and growing the vast empire. To that end, he was willing to ignore some sacrifices.

"An announcement, huh. I just hope it's something good."

"My money's on not."

"Let's hope you're wrong. Come on, get your cape on."

Leo pointed with exasperation at the cape I held in my hand. Such capes were reserved for members of the imperial family; wearing it was a sort of unofficial uniform. Annoying as it was, I couldn't appear before the emperor without donning it.

"This is so stupid."

"You'll get in big trouble if Father hears you talking like that."

"Yeah yeah, I know."

As I complained, we made our way to the Throne Room where, as one would expect, the emperor's throne was located.

***

"Thank you all for gathering here today."

"Your Majesty."

Everyone present bowed their head to the blond-haired man seated on the throne. This was the thirty-first emperor of the Adrasia Empire, Johannes Lakes Aadler. He was fifty-one years old but still looked to be in his early forties. He was the emperor of a six-hundred-year-old empire—and also our father.

Surrounding him were high-powered retainers of the civil service and military divisions, all of whom trained their gazes on the emperor's children. There were eleven of us.

"Nine sons and two daughters. It looks like everyone's here. It is unfortunate that my eldest daughter, stationed out on the border, could not join us, but that aside, I am a happy man to be surrounded by you, my beloved children."

Father beamed out at his offspring. Including our deceased eldest brother, there were originally thirteen of us in total, ranging from the eldest at twenty-eight years of age to the youngest at ten. It was extremely rare for all of us to be in the same room together.

Among the siblings, one man of particularly large stature was the first to speak up.

"Your Majesty, what is the purpose of your summons today? If it's a war, I volunteer. I will use every ounce of the empire's power to crush our enemies!"

The red-haired giant of a man in a full suit of armor was Gordon Lakes Aadler, the Third Imperial Prince. He was a general and the strongest warrior among all the heirs. Some referred to him as majestic or imposing, but from my point of view, the word "arrogant" was more apt. He was nothing if not full of self-confidence.

Practically all of the military's most aggressive hardliners were allied with Gordon in the conflict for the throne. If he became emperor, the empire would likely continue with its policy of aggressive expansion, fighting the continent's other powerful empires and possibly even aiming to take over the entire continent itself. For those looking for military achievement, he might make a good emperor, but for those opposed to war, he would make one of the worst, if not the worst, possible emperors.

"Gordon. Just as much of a warmonger as ever, I see."

"Every time you open your mouth, it's 'war, war, war.' There are other things to life than fighting, you know. Look, even His Royal Majesty is clearly getting tired of you."

With a glance at our father's grim smile, a woman in a black robe with long, green hair interjected. This was the Second Imperial Princess, Zandra Lakes Aadler. She had attractive features, but her eyes were harsh. This gave her an equally, and accurately, severe impression overall, as if her eyes were an outward expression of her difficult personality.

Among the three top rivals for the throne, Zandra was the most ruthless. Her personality gave her a penchant for forbidden magic, which she constantly attempted to bring back into use. That garnered her favor among the mages.

If she became empress, Adrasia would likely become an empire of magic, but also one that permitted inhumane research.

"Hmph. What would a weakling mage like you know? A warrior's honor is to live and die on the battlefield. Butt out, or I'll crush you like a bug."

"Wow, such aggressive language. If you want honor that badly, I'll gladly give it to you."

Tension instantly filled the room. Now who was the aggressive one? Zandra had all but implied she would murder him.

I, for one, was impressed at the nerve these two had to fight like this in front of the emperor. As I was thinking so, a man with blue hair loudly cleared his throat.

"Forgive my siblings' rudeness, Your Majesty."

The man bowed his head. He was tall and cast a sharp gaze from behind his glasses. This was Erik Lakes Aadler, Second Imperial Prince, and the closest to the emperor among all the siblings.

As minister of foreign affairs, he was the only one of the children with the privilege of attending meetings of the imperial council. Extremely bright, he was in charge of managing diplomacy with foreign nations. In terms of intelligence, he was more highly regarded than even the late crown prince, and he was currently the closest in position to the throne.

If Erik were to become emperor, the empire would undoubtedly be in secure hands. However, the rule of such an excessively level-headed, no-nonsense leader would feel stifling to the people. His practical nature would also not allow for any possibility of future rebellion. With him as emperor, we would certainly be killed.

That was all the more reason we had no choice but to join in the battle for the throne ourselves.

Gordon and Zandra glared at Erik for stealing their thunder as he apologized on their behalf.

"No matter. A little competition never hurt anyone. That's how I myself became emperor."

That "little competition" would eventually lead to murder. Everyone in the room recognized that fact. Even so, the emperor permitted and even encouraged it, out of the belief that it was for the good of the empire.

"On that note, I would like to introduce a new element of competition. That is why I've called you all here today."

"A battle of strength is just what I was hoping for."

"Not so fast, Gordon. How would we compare your strength against that of your ten-year-old, younger brother? To that end, I've decided to revive a certain historic festival."

"A festival?"

Father responded to Erik's question with a nod and a bold grin.

Our father had been a soldier well-known for his skills on the battlefield as a younger man, and a famed commander whose troops never lost a battle. Every so often, that side of him came out in his dynamic smiles.

"Yes. The Knight's Festival of the Hunt. It's a festival in which each knight of the Imperial Guard competes to see who can hunt down the rarest and biggest monster. The festival was held frequently back in the day when many monsters roamed the land, but for the last few decades, thanks to skilled adventurers, it has fallen out of custom. I would like to bring it back."

The Knights of the Imperial Guard were the empire's elite warriors. They comprised a group of knights under direct command of the emperor and were a cut above common knights employed by territorial lords. They were also the empire's trump card, deployed as back-up to bring victory when the army was in trouble. Their loyalty was only to the emperor.

Mobilizing them for a festival would cause a lot of excitement.

"I see. There has been an increase in monster activity lately. But will the Adventurers' Guild agree to this?"

Adventurers worked to protect all people on the continent from monsters. In other words, hunting monsters was their job. Of course, they received other types of quests too, but monster-related work made up the majority. Those adventurers wouldn't be pleased with a festival that stole their work from them.

"No need to worry about that. I've gotten permission from the Guild administration office. Apparently, they're eager for us to hold the festival, since the various regional branches are being overrun with an influx of rare monsters lately. Even Duke Kleinert had quite a difficult time with monsters recently. So the Guild is very willing to cooperate."

Now that was an explanation I found hard to accept at face value.

The reason that there were Guild branches in regions where monsters didn't often appear, such as this empire, was because the empire bore the cost of sustaining the branch, under the implication that they could be called upon whenever monsters did appear. However, in the case of the Kleinert territory, the Guild had been unable to provide assistance worth that cost of upkeep. Silver had come at the issue from an entirely separate direction, and he was the one who ultimately resolved it. The Guild couldn't take the credit.

Considering those factors, I was pretty certain the actual exchange had gone more like this:

"How do you explain the fact that we're paying so much money, and yet you are still unable to properly suppress the monsters?"

"M-my deepest apologies..."

"The empire will be holding a festival which will also function to eradicate the monsters. I expect your full approval."

"Oh, err... But... I'm not quite sure..."

"No? Then give us more capable adventurers."

"Th-that might also be difficult..."

"So which is it, then?"

"I...I suppose the festival..."

Or something to that effect.

This was the father who'd raised an entire brood of scoundrels. There was no chance he hadn't used the fiasco in the Kleinert territory to his advantage.

The Guild administration office must have also faced quite the dilemma, being caught between their local adventurers and the empire.

At any rate, there had certainly been more monsters appearing within the imperial territories than ever before, and high-level monsters at that.

Without taking any action, the people, the farmers, as well as the adventurers would suffer. In that sense, using the empire's most elite fighters, the Knights of the Imperial Guard, to hunt monsters was actually a clever scheme. A festival would bring in profits and set the people at ease. I had to hand it to the emperor for coming up with such a good strategy.

That said, we had yet to find out how he was planning on utilizing us for this festival.

"Understood. So in short, you will be having us all command units of knights to hunt down the monsters. Correct?"

"Excellent deduction, Erik. I will personally allot each of you a group of knights. You may fight alongside them or sit back and wait for them to bring you word of their victory. Either way, I want you all to make this festival an exciting event."

With that, the emperor concluded his announcement.

I presumed that the reason he deliberately told us he himself would be assigning us knights was to prevent anyone making maneuvers to get the best knights for themselves. His mention that it was permitted to either go out and fight or not sounded like consideration for those who were reluctant to go into battle, but in fact, the knights would feel no loyalty toward a commander who didn't join them on the front lines. That would be a fatal blow to anyone aiming to take the throne. As the emperor, he probably meant to imply that anyone with their eye on his throne should have the guts to fight or at least stand together with their knights. Anyone who couldn't display that much backbone would be considered out of the running.

"Your Majesty. I understand the terms of the festival, but I have one question."

"Yes, Gordon?"

"What will the winner receive? Something trivial won't provide much incentive."

"Hmm, indeed. What would you like?"

"Being made first heir to the throne, of course."

Gordon replied boldly without any hesitation.

Zandra shot him a murderous glare, and although Erik's expression remained composed, I knew that internally he must have been annoyed as well.

"Well, you're nothing if not honest. All right, then. I will repay your honesty with my own. I cannot decide the heir to my throne with a festival."

"Of course not! You'd be the laughingstock of the entire continent if you did that."

"Indeed, Zandra. But we must have some sort of prize. Therefore, I would like to grant the victor a title of foreign ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary. The country of employ will be decided based on future foreign developments."

Everyone gasped. A prince or princess designated the position of an all-powerful, highest-ranking foreign ambassador would, at the very least, be seen by their assigned country as a rightful heir to the throne. The ambassador would also control the pipeline between that foreign country and Adrasia.

Those fighting for the throne would all be desperate to win that post.

The one with the least incentive would be Erik, already the minister of foreign affairs. But even he should covet the omnipotence of the status of ambassador extraordinary; above all, the current foreign minister losing that position of diplomacy to another candidate would be a huge blow to his pride and reputation. As long as he had something to lose, Erik too would be giving his best shot at victory.

The Knights of the Imperial Guard would fight to the best of their ability no matter to whom they were assigned, so in the end, winning would all depend on the command skills of the princes and princesses.

I could already tell this whole thing was going to become a major headache. At the same time, I started hatching my strategy to win Leo the victory.

2

"This has become a most difficult situation."

"You're telling me. We're really in a bind here."

The next morning, I straight away asked Sebas and Finne to my room and held a strategy meeting.

Sebas, naturally, seemed to grasp the seriousness of the matter.

"A bind? It sounds more like an opportunity to me. The knights will be assigned fairly by the emperor, and you, Master Arn, of all people must know what a skilled commander Master Leo is."

"Hah..."

"H-hey, that sigh means you think I'm being stupid, doesn't it? I can tell, you know!"

At Finne's cry of protest, I had no choice but to begin explaining.

In fact, her interpretation wasn't entirely wrong. She was half correct.

"This festival does give us an opportunity, but it's a predicament at the same time. The opportunity part is the chance for Leo to become a foreign ambassador. The predicament part is that one of our three main rivals getting the ambassador position would put them leagues ahead of us, just when we were finally getting a foot in the race. We're the fourth runner-up in influence, but we're still no match for the other three. If one of the three front-runners becomes foreign ambassador, the other two could manage to catch up somewhere, but we don't have that foothold. Unless something really unexpected happened, it would put us out of the fight for the throne."

"R-really?! That is bad, then! We have to do something!" Finne exclaimed, then jumped out of her chair and started pacing around the room.

Ignoring her, I turned to Sebas.

"Have you gotten ahold of any information?"

"There isn't much to be had. Apparently, the knights were only informed yesterday. The festival must have been decided upon solely by His Royal Highness and his attendants."

"That makes any behind-the-scenes manipulation more difficult. Whoever wins will depend on the candidates' own abilities, and luck."

Whether one would run into a rare monster or not truly was down to luck. No matter how great a candidate's ability, it meant nothing without an opportunity to use it.

"One other piece of information is that, according to the Knights' estimation, the festival will be held in the eastern part of the empire."

"The East? Why?"

"From what I hear, the East has experienced the most immense damage from monsters, and the adventurers are unable to keep up. In addition, knights have been deployed to other areas, but only the East remains yet untouched."

"So they've been saving the East for the festival. That does sound like something Father would do."

They couldn't spread the hunt across the entire empire, so I had assumed they would narrow it down somehow, but hearing about the eastern region was new information. Centering the festival around a region being ravaged by monsters would draw spectators and tourism, making rehabilitation easier. It was certainly a typical way for our father to think.

"The way the festival will proceed is, the knights will spend several days hunting monsters in the East, and then the difficulty and number of monsters killed will be assessed and compared. Finally, the emperor will decide the winner. Apparently, word of the festival has already begun to spread, and merchants are flocking toward the East in anticipation."

"Right. Merchants won't want to miss the chance for good business. This thing is going to turn into a major event. Influential leaders from other regions will probably come and watch, too. What a hassle."

"Master Arn! I just thought of a strategy!"

"Go on, then."

Finne clapped and then raised her hand, asking to speak. I wasn't expecting much, but it couldn't hurt to hear her out. She wasn't much of a strategist, but she wasn't stupid, either. She might have come up with some good ideas.

"I think that you should win, Master Arn!"

"I should've known better than to even ask..."

"Lady Finne, Master Arnold must pretend to be incompetent. It would be highly unnatural if he were to suddenly show any ability."

"Oh, that's right... But I feel like that's the only certain way to win, isn't it?"

Finne was correct about that—me taking first place would be the most surefire way to win. Silver would be participating, after all. None of the knights, never mind the other candidates, would stand any chance against him.

However, doing that would take away our trump card, and it would make it more difficult to get Leo on the throne. Entering the race myself would lead to splitting precious votes. It was obviously a bad strategy.

"I'll think of something else."

"But in this situation, we have almost no options. The other Three might be able to lure rare monsters over to the East or find out ahead of time where the rare monsters are, but we don't have the resources to make that happen."

"I know. The others will definitely be doing that sort of thing. We could do something similar though. As Silver, I could just chase monsters over into the East."

"No! You can't do that!"

Finne immediately shot down my suggestion.

Sebas and I shared bitter smiles. She was just like Leo.

"You're right. Doing that would increase suffering for the people living in the East until the festival started. We won't do anything like that. Leo would never allow it either."

Personally, that was a strategy I definitely didn't want to take, given my honor as an adventurer. I might have if it were absolutely necessary, but right now, it wasn't. If all the candidates other than Leo were going to end up becoming tyrannical emperors, that might change the situation. But as things stood, the main lives that hung in the balance were mine, Leo's, and our mother's. We couldn't bring suffering on the empire's citizens out of selfishness for ourselves and loved ones.

"Oh. I'm glad to hear that."

Finne sighed with relief. Then, she hung her head.

"There I go again, speaking before I think! I'm so sorry! I know you'd never do something like that!"

"It's fine. Say whatever comes to mind. Your opinions are always right, anyway."

"What do you mean by that?"

"He means he likes you just as you are."

"O-oh!"

Even though it was Sebas who said it, and not me, Finne turned red and covered her face with her hands.

She could be embarrassed if she wanted, but those decidedly weren't my own words.

"I don't recall ever saying anything about liking her."

"So you dislike her, then?"

"I didn't say that."

"That means you do like her. Isn't that nice, Lady Finne?"

"Yes!"

Finne's big smile left me without further comment. Whatever.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

"Come in."

"It's me. Am I interrupting something?"

"Not much. We were just discussing how to make you ambassador."

At the door was Leo, with Marie quietly accompanying him from behind. Leo responded to my comment with a wry smile.

"I'm pretty sure you should be the ambassador, not me."

"Do you really think I'd be able to form a good relationship with a whole other country?"

"Yeah, I think you could."

"Well, I appreciate that. But realistically, I can't be the one to win the Festival of the Hunt. You have to do it."

"You're right... But I really don't want to. Fighting against your own family is depressing."

"Are you going to give up then?"

Leo shook his head. I'd already known his answer; if he were going to give up, he would've done so from the beginning.

No matter what anyone said now, Leo had made up his mind. In that case, I wasn't going to undermine his determination.

"I might give up if that would lead to a favorable outcome, but it wouldn't. My actions affect you, Mother, and everyone who's been kind enough to support me. If I lose, there's a bleak future ahead for everyone involved."

"That's about the size of it."

Our three siblings had no mercy. That much had recently become obvious. The fact that they'd had General Dominik assassinated, even before Leo had officially joined the battle for the throne, also made it clear that they were running out of options.

Things hadn't always been this way. Up until the crown prince died, and even for a while afterward, they had all still acted with a sense of human decency. The prolonged conflict for the throne had changed them, until they were left now without any feelings for family at all.

For the sake of everyone graciously supporting Leo, and for all the people living within Adrasia, I had to make Leo the next emperor. Leo himself was well aware of that too.

Ever since we were kids, Leo had always looked up to our eldest brother and had seen him as the standard to live up to. That hadn't changed after his death. Now that Leo had made up his mind, he would be wanting to become just like him. That was exactly why Leo most resembled our eldest brother among all of our siblings. However, Leo wasn't as realistic. He was naive, an idealist, and had a weakness of easily being carried away by emotion. That was why he didn't throw his name in the hat initially.

However, General Dominik was assassinated. In a sense, that had been a bad move on the part of Leo's opponents. Leo was a nice guy—he might never have found the determination to fight against his siblings if the general hadn't been killed. But he was, and Leo made his decision. And once Leo made up his mind, he didn't back down.

"I can't do this alone. I need all of your help."

Everyone present nodded in reply.

***

The next day, I accepted a quest as Silver.

The Adventurers' Guild contacted me saying that they'd received a high-ranking assignment. Almost never before had I taken on two quests in one month. Apparently it was true that the empire was experiencing a huge influx of monsters.

That said, it wasn't a monster troublesome enough to be an issue for an SS-class adventurer like myself. The monster was a cerberus that had suddenly morphed from its natural black color to red. Being extremely powerful and having already killed several adventurers sent to take it on, it was assigned a bounty by the Guild. It was ranked AAA-class, the same as the king minotaur I slayed previously.

Cerberuses were rare monsters that didn't normally inhabit the empire. This one happened to make its way into Adrasia while escaping from another adventurer.

Mentally bemoaning the monsters wandering into the empire at such a hectic time, I swiftly slayed the cerberus. It wasn't an instantaneous kill, but it still only took about three hits of magic before it died. The final attack destroyed most of its corpse except for a fang, which I decided to bring back as proof.

As I was working, a group of horsemen approached.

They were riding quite fast. Where had they come from? All the lords in the area should have been notified by the Guild that I'd set out to slay the cerberus.

"You there! Was it you that caused that explosion a few minutes ago?"

"What if it was? How about you introduce yourself first?"

I answered over my shoulder as I retrieved the fang, then turned to face the rider who'd addressed me.

Then, I froze. That was my reaction when I realized the speaker was someone I did not expect. 

"...?!"

Sitting astride the horse was a strikingly beautiful young woman.

She had long, soft pink hair and jade green eyes. Her ramrod straight posture and sharp gaze called to mind an elegant and powerful sword. I knew this girl. I knew her very, very well.

We hadn't been in contact for several years, so I hadn't recognized her voice, but I knew who she was immediately upon sight. Not that it was difficult, as there was only one household in the empire whose members possessed that combination of pink hair and green eyes.

"My name is Elna Von Amsberg. I am commanding officer of the Third Regiment of the Knights of the Imperial Guard. I came after being informed of a cerberus in the area, but perhaps you've already slain it?"

Amsberg. The mere mention of that name caused neighboring empires to tremble.

The Amsbergs were the lineage of a courageous hero who, five hundred years in the past, slayed a demon king that had shaken the entire continent. After the demon king was killed, the emperor at the time asked the brave man to remain within the empire. But the man replied that he didn't need the status of a duke, marquis, or count, refused any reward, and attempted to leave. The emperor therefore came up with a plan to award a unique title, the only one of its kind on the entire continent, to persuade the man to stay.

That title was "supreme archduke." It was to become the highest rank of all imperial nobility, even higher in position than the emperor's children, and second only to the emperor himself.

But no one had any complaints—the Amsberg household had military achievements spanning hundreds of years that fully deserved, or even surpassed, such honored treatment.

The young woman before me now, Elna, was the heiress to this Supreme Archduke Amsberg household, the guardians of the Adrasia Empire.

She was also my childhood enemy. When I was bullied, she would come to my rescue but then call me a wimp and a crybaby, trying to toughen me up, which quickly led me to start resenting her. Come to think of it, she was just as much a bully as the others were.

That automatic sense of resentment caused me to take a step back and momentarily fall silent. But after remembering that my face was now hidden behind my silver mask, I regained my composure and confidence.

Right now, I wasn't Arnold; I was Silver.

I had nothing to fear from her!

"Can't you tell by looking? I didn't realize the supreme archduke's daughter had such poor eyesight."

"Excuse me?"

Oops... Now I've done it!

Years of pent-up feelings made me lash out. Now what was I going to do?!

"Judging by your outfit, I'm guessing you're SS-class adventurer Silver? You seem rather excitable for being out on a simple quest."

Elna replied with a big smile, but I wasn't fooled. She often smiled when she was angry, and this was one of those smiles.

This was bad. Nothing good could come of stirring up trouble with Elna. I knew I had to diffuse the situation somehow.

Elna continued. "There's been talk referring to you as the guardian of Wirth recently, with you being holed up in the capital all the time. I wonder if that's meant to be a challenge to the Amsbergs, hm?"

"If anyone's calling me the guardian of Wirth, it's random people. I've certainly never referred to myself that way. And besides, I have no interest in silly nicknames. So, you can rest assured."

There, I thought. Hopefully that would impress on her that I wasn't an enemy.

"Are you trying to call the Amsbergs fools for being proud of our 'silly nickname'? Or perhaps you're trying to say you've no regard for us in the first place? Either way, I presume I can take that as a challenge?"

No! I was done for. I'd made such a bad first impression that no matter what I said now, she'd take it in a negative way. Elna always had been a sore loser. Once challenged to a fight, she'd never be satisfied until she crushed her opponent and achieved complete victory.

Ugh, I thought. Time for a change of tactic. Since it looked like there was no hope of a friendly interaction, I decided to go ahead and release my years of pent-up resentment.

I snorted with contempt. "Sounds like you've been keeping a close eye on me. The Amsbergs must be awfully obsessed with fame. Can't even let someone else get some of the praise, huh? How sad."

"What?! I don't believe this! I won't let you insult my family!"

"Who's insulting who? I received this quest from the Adventurers' Guild and slayed the monster. But from what you said a minute ago, it sounded like if I hadn't, you were planning on hunting it down yourself. I'd consider that a clear provocation against the Guild, wouldn't you?"

"I never meant it like that! I was only thinking of the people!"

"Commander, I must ask you to stand down. There may have been some miscommunication, but if this was a quest that the Adventurers' Guild had assigned, the fault lies with us. We are also in a hurry to return to the capital."

"Urrgh... Just you remember this, Silver! Protecting the empire is the job of the supreme archduke's household, our knights, and our soldiers! Not adventurers!"

"I'll try to keep that in mind. I might forget, though."

"Aargh...!"

As I watched Elna leave while on the cusp of erupting in fury, I felt conflicting emotions—regret at having lost my temper, but also extremely relieved to have finally released my resentment.

Elna was a genius among geniuses, having joined the Knights of the Imperial Guard at only eleven years old. Since she was often assigned important missions, I'd rarely seen her since then, and even when we did run into each other, we'd had no time for more than exchanging a few words.

But now, I'd gotten the best of Elna, and it felt amazing. I fully understood the joy people felt after getting revenge on their former bullies.

"That doesn't change that fact that I've made an unnecessary enemy, though."

What was I thinking? If the Amsbergs became hostile toward us, it would be entirely my fault.

"Damn it..."

Scratching my head as I rued my actions, I headed back home.

3

A few days after I returned to the capital, and amid the bustle of many people busily preparing for the festival, the fateful day finally arrived.

"Who do you think will come?"

"It will almost most certainly be a top-ranking commander."

Sebas and I were waiting in my room at the castle for our guest.

Today, the emperor's children would find out which regiment of the Imperial Guard was assigned to each of them. The method was simple—the commanding officer of the regiment would visit the heir in their room.

Each regiment of the Knights of the Imperial Guard was numbered, and the lower the number, the more elite the regiment. In particular, the first three regiments were led by top-class commanding officers. In order to even out the competition, the underachievers among us would likely be assigned those more elite commanding officers.

"I just hope it's not Elna."

"Are you still going on about that? Elna Von Amsberg joined the Knights at eleven years of age and had become commanding officer by fourteen. She's a child prodigy of Supreme Archduke Amsberg's household. She could be our best chance."

"In terms of ability, yeah. On a personal level, definitely not."

"She's said to be on track for becoming lead commander of the Knights of the Imperial Guard based on her exemplary conduct, you know."

"Yeah, because she puts on a good show. The people of the empire and other Knights don't know her true character. I still vividly remember the first time I met her, when I was seven years old. She rescued me from some bullies, and do you know what she said to me?"

"Do tell."

"She called me a wimp. Is that something you say to a hurting kid who's being bullied? Not only that, afterward she gave me a wooden sword on the pretense of wanting to teach me how to fight, and then proceeded to beat me to a pulp. Ever since that day, I've spent my life avoiding running into her. She filled me with fear and resentment that's never left! I'm pretty sure anyone who heard that would find it horrifying! That's the kind of demon-like woman she is!"

I emphatically explained our history to Sebas, but in return, he only shrugged.

Damn it, why didn't anyone understand?

I had just finished that thought when the door suddenly opened.

"Who's this demon-like woman, hm?"

Speak of the devil. Standing before me was a grinning Elna.

The instant I saw her, my face twisted into a grimace, and I immediately shouted out.

"Quick, Sebas, call the cavalry! There's a demon in here!"

"Unfortunately, I doubt anyone will come to your rescue, seeing as there's already a powerful knight right here."

"Quite right, Sebas. Your Highness, Prince Arnold Lakes Aadler, allow me to introduce myself. Elna Von Amsberg, commanding officer of the Third Regiment of the Knights of the Imperial Guard. I see you haven't changed an ounce since I last saw you, all those years ago."

"Is that supposed to be sarcasm?"

"Of course. You seem to be incredibly popular around the capital, even earning yourself a nickname. 'The Insipid Prince,' wasn't it? How lovely for you."

"Thanks. I'm certainly enjoying myself."

We both grinned at each other.

Despite having not seen each other all these years, we had a long history together. So meeting again now, even as a prince and a daughter of the supreme archduke, we knew exactly what each other was thinking.

After a moment of staring each other down with smiles, I was the first to switch to a scowl.

"Why are you here? I don't recall asking to see you."

"Why am I here? You really don't know?"

"I don't believe this..."

"How rude. It wasn't easy, you know, persuading the emperor to assign me to you."

"Tell me you didn't! My brothers and sisters will hate me now!"

"I don't think you need to worry about that. It's not like you're after the throne, right?"

"That's not what I'm talking about! Aargh! Why are you like this?!"

I realized that she probably thought she was doing me a favor, but it didn't match with my own interests. In these circumstances, if she was going to ask my father for someone specific, I'd have wanted her to choose Leo. Although, when I thought about it, that request probably wouldn't have been granted.

At the very least, Elna being on my team meant that I'd been instantly elevated from an unnoteworthy participant to a potential winner, and that made my life a lot harder. She would naturally attract attention; it would be virtually impossible to do anything in secret now.

It would've been trouble if she'd been assigned to someone else, but it was even more trouble having her with me. That was Elna. Even personal compatibility issues aside, I really wished she hadn't come.

"Don't worry. I'll see to it that you win. We'll make all those people calling you the Insipid Prince wish they'd kept their mouths shut!"

"I don't want to show anyone anything."

"That attitude's not going to work. I promised His Majesty I would make you behave. So, now we start your special training! First, we'll check out how your horseback skills have improved. To the training arena!"

I waited a beat before speaking.

"Sebas, my head's starting to hurt. I might be seriously ill."

"That is terrible. I believe you have a serious mental illness known as 'faking it.' A bit of training might help you recover."

I gave Sebas a withering glare, but he paid me no heed.

The Knight's Festival of the Hunt was only a few days away. It's not like a couple days of training would make any difference.

Mentally grumbling to myself, I allowed myself to be half-dragged to the training arena.

***

"Ouch! That hurt."

"I-I'm so sorry! I'll do it more gently."

The next day, Finne was spreading ointment on me while I lay in bed. All my muscles ached, especially my back, and the pain and stiffness were enough to immobilize me.

It was all because Elna's horseback riding training had put me through the wringer. I couldn't remember the last time I'd wielded a sword or spear while on horseback. I was completely out of shape, and fell off and hit my back numerous times.

If this was what every day was going to be like, I would die.

"Master Arnold, I informed Elna of your condition, and she said you could start your training in the afternoon today."

"Does that woman not even have the word 'rest' in her dictionary?"

"I suppose that's why they call her the second Amsberg hero. But aren't you...I mean, as Silver, aren't you just as skilled as she is? Are you pretending to be worse than you are, even on horseback?"

"Master Arnold specializes in ancient magic, so his physical fitness is lower than the average person. And he's spent years neglecting any training in horseback riding, swordsmanship, and modern magic, so he's not well skilled in any of those, either.

"Really? I thought all adventurers were in great shape."

"Most are. I just make up for my poor physical fitness with ancient magic, and I don't do anything that requires much fitness in the first place."

"His journey to the Kleinert territory without using transfer magic was his first time traveling that far in years, and even then he enhanced his physical strength using ancient magic. Basically, without using ancient magic, he's a 'wimp' just as Elna said."

I didn't even have the strength to refute Sebas' insult. I merely sighed from my place on the bed.

However, Sebas then addressed me in a slightly more cheerful tone.

"It all depends on how you look at it, though. Although it's tough for you, this has become a great opportunity for Master Leonard."

"Yeah, that's true."

"Huh? In what way?"

Finne seemed perplexed, so I gave her a basic explanation. Not that there was much to say, anyway.

"Elna is basically the strongest of all the knights, so even if I win, no one will think that I had anything to do with it."

"Precisely. As you said before, Lady Finne, if Master Leonard cannot win, then Master Arnold winning is our most certain chance. It would have been suspicious if he suddenly won, except that now, we've been dealt the perfect hand of cards."

"Now I get it! So this means that Master Arn can compete with his true abilities!"

"Well, even if I did nothing at all, Elna would still do her best, and we'd still probably win. That's how far ahead of the others she is. As long as I don't do anything to get in her way, we're almost certain to win."

"Which is probably why His Majesty assigned you Lady Elna. He predicted that you would get in her way."

"I bet he never imagined that, as a result, he'd be teaming up the empire's best knight and the empire's best adventurer!"

Slightly annoyed at Finne's glee, I put my jacket on and sat up. There were only a few days until the Knight's Festival of the Hunt. I had to do what I could with the time I had left.

"Even in the worst-case scenario, I'll win and keep the ambassador seat for myself. But Leo winning would be ideal."

"Why? If you became ambassador and developed relations with that foreign nation, wouldn't that end up helping Leo?"

"Maybe, but Leo himself being ambassador would still be better. Lots of influential people will be coming to watch the contest, after all."

"That's all perfectly logical, but I suspect the true reason is that you simply don't want the hassle of being ambassador. Is it not?"

I felt myself involuntarily flinch.

Knowing he'd hit the nail on the head, Sebas sighed. To make matters even worse, Finne chimed in next.

"Master Arn... You mustn't concede so much for Master Leo's sake."

"Sacrifice?"

"I know you're only pretending to not want the ambassador position so that Master Leo might have it."

"Ah... Lady Finne, there seems to be some misunderstanding. The prince before you is a master of avoiding anything that requires hard work."

"I guess I can't hide it, huh? I've always been this way. I can't help automatically yielding all sorts of nice things to Leo. That includes being emperor, or any other important post."

"I knew it! You're a wonderful brother, but it's not good to sacrifice too much for someone else's sake. I'm sure Master Leo wouldn't want that, either."

Using Finne's misunderstanding and overenthusiasm to my advantage, I was able to escape another jab from Sebas, who watched my skillful maneuver with a frown.

"I don't approve of manipulating a woman like that."

"I didn't manipulate her. I just didn't correct her misunderstanding."

"That isn't the way I see it. Lady Elna is going to be angry with you again."

"Who is she to get mad at me? My mother?"

"I'm quite jealous that you have so many close old friends, since I don't have any myself."

"Don't be. It's just annoying. Especially when it comes to her."

"Hmm? So now I'm annoying too, am I?"

A voice suddenly interrupted. When I looked over, Elena was standing near the door. I could almost feel anger radiating out from her.

For a moment, my deep-seated fear took over and I averted my gaze, but since she showed no sign of leaving, I reluctantly spoke.

"Don't you think showing up when you weren't invited is annoying enough?"

"How rude. Someone told me you were in pain and couldn't move, so I brought you some ointment."

"I already got ointment from someone a hundred times nicer than you, so I'm all good."

"Oh? Would that person happen to be Blau Mowe here?"

"Oh yes. It's nice to meet you. My name is Finne Von Kleinert."

"Elna Von Amsberg. I might've expected to find you in Leo's room, but certainly not here with Arn."

Elna replied with a soft smile. It was a different smile than the one she gave me; this was a smile of manipulation.

"I got the feeling you were making fun of me just now, Arn."

"Must have been your imagination."

"I sure hope so. Shall we get going, then?"

At that point, Elna suddenly grabbed me by the neck where I sat in bed.

While I was caught by surprise, she calmly explained with a smile.

"You said yourself a minute ago you were fine, remember? Time for your training."

"What?! That wasn't what I meant! O-ow, stop it! I'm injured!"

"A little muscle soreness isn't an injury. You'll feel better once you get moving."

And with that, just like the day before, I ended up getting dragged once more to training.

4

That night, down in the basement of the castle, I placed my hand against a very ordinary, nondescript section of the wall. Once I did so, glowing cracks appeared, and the wall opened up.

Without any surprise at the phenomenon, I walked inside. Through the wall was a single straight stairway leading downward. At the end of the stairs, there was a wooden door. Through that door was a beautiful study containing thousands of old books and lit by candles that never burned out despite never being replaced.

The person who used this room was lazy and had therefore enchanted the candles with magic to keep glowing forever.

"Got your nose in a book as always, I see. You never fail to impress me."

"The secrets of magic are too vast to fully fathom, no matter how many years one spends devoted to them."

My companion, and the owner of the library, was an exceptionally small, elderly man. He was also half-transparent. He sat upon a desk happily reading a book, skillfully using magic to turn the pages. One might not have guessed so based on his appearance, but he had also once been the emperor.

"I don't know how you can keep doing the very research that led to you being eternally trapped inside a book. People call you the crazy emperor, you know that?"

"That was a mishap. How was I to know my body would be stolen by a demon? A terrible, terrible mishap."

The man's name was Gustaf Lakes Aadler. He was my great-grandfather and had been emperor two generations earlier.

As was plain to see, he was obsessed with the study of magic—so obsessed that he had built this secret room for that sole purpose.

It was his studies that led to a demon, previously trapped inside a book, being let out and possessing his body. The demon then laid waste the capital, which meant that Gustaf was historically recorded as having gone insane as a result of the study of ancient magic. That incident was the reason the practice of ancient magic had become taboo within the imperial family.

However, some time later, he met me and began teaching me the ways of ancient magic.

Now, only his spirit lived on within the book, and he had no physical body. What I was looking at now was an illusion.

The spell trapping him inside the book had been broken when I opened it, but he apparently had no desire to regain a physical body. Instead, he was perfectly happy just being able to freely study magic at his leisure.

"Must be nice to be so carefree when it's all your fault that I have to hide the fact that I can use ancient magic in the first place."

"On the contrary. It is because I was trapped in that book that you were even able to learn ancient magic, is it not? My prized silver mask seems to be working well for you, too."

"All right, all right, I get it."

"You're a most unappreciative great-grandson."

The whole time he spoke, my great-grandfather never looked up from his book. He'd been spending his time down here in exactly the same manner for all these years—reading magic-related texts and writing his own once he came up with his own magic or any new theories.

In truth, he seemed so satisfied doing so that I did my best to never disturb him. There was a reason I'd come here today in spite of that, and he seemed to realize it, too.

"I assume you have something to discuss. Go on, then. I'm all ears."

"Right... So, my brother's gotten involved in the conflict for the throne."

"Anyone with true potential gets roped in sooner or later. That's what always happens when it comes to the throne."

"Uh-huh... So you think I should assume he's been manipulated into it."

"I would if I were you. If there is hostility, one can deal with it openly."

That was exactly what I'd been thinking for a long time now.

When General Dominik was assassinated, we were forced to make a choice. Leo had not posed a threat early on regardless of the general's support, and yet someone chose to have him murdered anyway. The other siblings may have been wary of Leo, but the true motivation for the murder was more likely to force him into becoming an enemy, creating an excuse to kill him.

"I have one more question."

I had before me a former emperor. In other words, he was a victor of a battle for the throne. As a predecessor who had overcome all sorts of plots and schemes himself, he should be able to confirm my suspicions. But even before I could ask, my great-grandfather had already answered.

"If I were the second or third son in line for the throne, I would have the crown prince assassinated. That is my answer."

"...But I haven't even asked you my question yet."

"Since we were talking about the conflict for the throne, I knew you would ask me eventually. I was the eldest son, and numerous times I was in real danger of being assassinated. From my point of view, an eldest son who allows himself to be assassinated is at fault. And once the top candidate is murdered, a long and dirty fight is all that awaits."

"When my father investigated, the only cause of death found was being killed on the battlefield."

"Then either someone hid the assassination ingeniously well, or some of your father's attendants were involved. Or else...the emperor himself was involved. In any case, the crown prince, the runaway candidate for the throne, suddenly dying in battle is too odd to be true. If your younger brother were to go to battle, surely you would do anything in your power to protect him, would you not?"

"Of course I would."

"Then there is your answer. There must have been many who felt that way about the crown prince as well. If he was killed despite all attempts to protect him, then an underhanded plot is the obvious conclusion. It would not be an unusual occurrence, given the long history of past conflicts for the throne."

My great-grandfather's logic was disheartening. But it was also very convincing. And if his theories were all correct, then I would have to assume that everything that happened from here on out was part of a sinister plot.

In other words, the Knight's Festival of the Hunt was also suspect.

"Is there any magic that can control monsters?"

"Magic?! Wonderful! Do go on!"

Great-grandfather suddenly turned to face me with glee. I sighed—as someone whose thoughts were entirely consumed by magic, that was the only subject he enthusiastically engaged in conversation about. The fact that he was more interested in magic than the grave concerns of his great-grandson and pupil was maybe proof that he was insane, after all.

"Recently, there's been an influx of monsters in the empire, including occasionally some rare ones. I suspect that someone's manipulating them."

"Hmm... It would be possible to magically control a few monsters, but there is no magic capable of controlling so many across such a wide range."

"Oh. I guess I let my imagination run away with me."

If there were magic involved, I had thought Second Imperial Princess Zandra might also be involved. But if Great-grandfather said it was impossible, then he had to be right.

In that case, the monsters' appearance was just a coincidence.

"Well, no magic, but there is a tool."

"A tool?"

"An ancient magical tool, yes. One that can attract monsters by playing a tone that entices them. Depending on the user's magical ability, it could attract monsters from quite a far range."

"That's a real thing?"

"According to the literature, yes. A whistle—I believe it was called the Hamelin, and it is said to be able to produce monsters across the entire empire if used skillfully by one with ample magical ability."

People from long ago sure came up with some useful yet terrible inventions.

Back in the era when magic was more developed than now, there were also many superior magical tools in use. They were often excavated from ancient ruins and designated official imperial treasures of various empires, but occasionally, they were unintentionally and randomly discovered.

"Very interesting... The thing is, the emperor is holding a Knight's Festival of the Hunt, with us princes and princesses commanding the knights."

"Is that so? Your present emperor is quite the interesting character. What is the winning prize?"

"A position as ambassador extraordinary. Under the circumstances, we can't afford to lose. But if someone has that whistle, then we have no chance of winning."

"Probably not. That whistle can attract monsters wherever one wants. Unless whoever has it is a complete idiot, using it would assure a victory. Although, if it were me, I would not do anything so foolish."

Great-grandfather stated that with confidence, and I agreed. I wouldn't do anything that stupid either. It seemed like a good plan at first glance, but in fact, it only guaranteed an immediate, short-term advantage.

If one of the top Three among my brothers and sister were using that magical tool, not only I, but the other two remaining front-runners also would aggressively go after the culprit. Even in the midst of a battle for the throne, doing something that was unfavorable to the empire itself was guaranteed to be punished. The user could feign ignorance, but his or her influence would still take a huge hit.

None of the top three front-runners would take such a risk. So that meant...

"The person behind all this is someone other than the actual contenders for the throne."

"Most likely. And regardless of whether they have some connection to the contenders, if they've done something as dangerous as inviting monsters into the empire, they're not likely going to be satisfied with just a position as ambassador."

"This just makes things even trickier."

Who would've thought we had to keep our eyes on those not only above us, but below us, too.

It was no longer a simple issue of winning the festival. We had to find out who was working behind the scenes.

This Knight's Festival of the Hunt might turn out to be much more than a fight for the ambassador seat.

"Is there any way to thwart the effect of this Hamelin whistle?"

"Nothing short of destroying it. It produces sound waves only audible to monsters, so it would be very difficult to defend against."

"So basically, there's no point in trying to win the festival by taking the hunt at face value."

"Correct. But that should also be true for your opponent using the Hamelin. They could not have known the festival would be taking place. That means they'd been planning on using the monsters for some purpose, even before the festival came up. There's something shifty going on behind the scenes. Keep your guard up."

I thoughtfully took that final piece of advice and left the room.

***

I was on the way back to my own room when I sensed someone behind me. I tried to turn around but was stopped by a male voice.

"Don't move."

"You do realize I'm Arnold Lakes Aadler?"

"Of course."

At that point, the man took out a dagger.

I hadn't been expecting such a development quite this soon.

"I'm not going to kill you, but I do need to get you unconscious for a good long while."

"Unfortunately, I'm not so inclined to let you do so."

I slowly turned around. Despite me being wide open to attack, the man behind me didn't move at all. He turned out to be dressed in all black. Very stereotypical assassin, although he apparently hadn't been told to kill me outright. Not that anyone would try anything so conspicuous, anyway.

"Wh-what did you do?!"

"I used a barrier to stop you. Speaking to me in order to assure me you wouldn't kill me ended up being your downfall."

The man was obviously an experienced assassin, given that he had been able to infiltrate the heavily guarded castle. But harming someone enough to knock them unconscious without killing them would be difficult for even a proficient killer. That was why he purposefully spoke to me first, but it also gave me time to create the barrier.

Of course, even if he hadn't, I had already put up a detection barrier around myself, so an assassin wouldn't have been able to sneak up on me, at any rate. Walking around in the middle of the night without taking any precautions was akin to suicide, after all.

"Grrr! I thought you were supposed to be the stupid prince!"

"All right, calm down. First, answer me this. If you got into the castle, someone must have helped you. Who was it?"

"Hah! Nice try. I'd die before telling you the name of who sent me!"

"So you're not going to deny it. Great, that narrows it down quite a bit."

"Huh?!"

The only ones with influence over the castle security were my three brothers and sister. If anyone else had wanted to sneak an assassin into the castle, it would have taken extensive planning. That was unlikely, given that the only reason anyone could have for attacking me was because of Elna.

"I assume your attack was to keep me from participating in the Knight's Festival of the Hunt since I was assigned Elna. But that was a cheap plan. Naturally I've taken precautions."

"Heh... Well so have I! Take this!"

At the same time as the man exclaimed, someone else appeared soundlessly behind me.

It was Sebas.

"They appear to have been acting in a group of four. I've already taken out the other three, Master Arnold."

"Good work, Sebas."

"Wh-what...?"

"Did you think Prince Arnold would be walking around unattended? Quite a naive underestimation."

"Argh...!"

"Now then, let's hear what you have to say. Who sent you?"

While creating a soundproof barrier around us, I used illusion magic to project an image of whatever scene that the man would fear most. I couldn't see it, but to him, it was as clear as real life.

To my surprise, that alone provided proof of exactly who'd sent him.

"Nooo! P-please, no! Forgive me, Lady Zandra! I-I didn't talk! I didn't say anything!"

"Interesting. So he's working for Zandra, huh? Looks like she's given him some pretty intense training."

"Using fear tactics is certainly befitting of her personality. What shall we do with him now?"

"Simply turning him in won't hurt Zandra at all, but killing him would mean a lot of cleanup afterward. Put him away somewhere for now. He might come in useful later on."

"Very well."

With a sidelong glance back at the man, who was still viewing the illusion of Zandra, I turned and walked off.

The fact that Zandra had sent an assassin after me with this timing meant that she was innocent when it came to the monsters. She tried to have me eliminated specifically because she was aiming for the ambassadorship. If she was putting all her effort into that, she was not the one manipulating the monsters.

"So then, who is it?"

I spoke the question aloud to myself, then returned to my room.

5

Keel was the largest city in eastern Adrasia, and being the central site of the Knight's Festival of the Hunt meant that the city was even livelier than usual.

Today was the pre-festival, with the actual festival beginning tomorrow, but enterprising merchants had already lined the streets with all kinds of food stalls. During just a quick stroll around town earlier, I'd already come upon several rare and unusual items I'd never seen before.

I munched on a few snacks to pass the time as I waited for the person I'd planned to meet.

"Hi! Sorry I'm late!"

Before long, Finne showed up with an exuberant greeting, wearing a simple, white dress. It was the dress I'd bought for her in the imperial capital. And that wasn't the only thing different about her today.

Finne was wearing silver glasses. The glasses were part of my great-grandfather's collection of rare items that had been passed down to me. Therefore, they were imbued with light-grade illusion magic. To anyone who wasn't well acquainted with Finne, she would look like an average young woman. They also wouldn't work on experienced mages, but they would do just fine for casually walking around town.

"I wasn't waiting long. Did anyone recognize you on your way here?"

"Nope! What do you think? Do these glasses look nice on me?"

Finne lifted the spectacles with a grin.

Thanks to their presence, she gave off a different impression than usual. It was amazing how a simple pair of glasses could make someone look intellectual and wise.

Always wearing her trademark smile, Finne didn't normally look very mature. It wasn't a bad thing, but with glasses on, even those to whom a childish look didn't appeal would probably find her attractive. She'd always been beautiful, but now she looked more grown-up.

Not that the majority of people would be able to see it.

Enjoying the slightly ridiculous sense of superiority at having a monopoly on the sight of the empire's most beautiful woman in glasses, I suggested to Finne that we head out.

"We're going to have so much fun today, Master Arn!"

"You got it."

Out of worry from seeing me training so hard, Finne had invited me for a day out in town. We were right in the middle of the conflict for the throne and just one day away from the Festival of the Hunt. It was definitely time to be buckling down, but at the same time, we'd already done all that we could do to prepare. It all came down to what happened tomorrow. So, I'd accepted Finne's invitation. She seemed so concerned about me, I'd have felt bad to refuse.

"Well, how about we get started browsing the food stalls?"

"Okay! Let's try every single last one of them!"

"I don't know if that's possible."

"We can do it!"

I could easily imagine her getting full long before that point, but Finne was insistent. Even putting on glasses hadn't changed her true character. She was still the same bright and cheerful, slightly scatter-brained girl. That was why it was fun and relaxing to be around her.

"I guess let's give it a shot, then."

"Yay!"

With a happy smile, Finne accompanied me as we began making the rounds.

***

"Ooohhh... I'm so full..."

It was exactly what I thought would happen.

Before long, Finne was resting in the public square in one corner of the city.

I smirked as I handed her a drink.

"You could've just had a little at each stall if you wanted to try all of them."

"But it's offensive to the chef to leave food on your plate."

"You'd never know you were the daughter of a duke listening to you sometimes."

Even the fact that she was excited about eating food from street stalls made her different from most young women of nobility. She hadn't seemed put off by eating while walking around, either.

According to Finne, it had been a dream of hers to walk around sampling food at a festival. I could understand that—the Kleinerts were the governing and highest-ranking lords of a large territory. They were the ones who put on festivals; they probably never had time to enjoy them.

Personally, I always snuck out of the castle to enjoy festivals when they happened in the imperial capital, of course.

"Ooohhh... My dream is ruined..."

"We can always go back again, right? It's pretty fun just looking at all the food, too, even if you don't eat it."

"It is?"

"Sure. Just have a short rest, and then we'll go walking again. The exercise might even make you hungry."

"Okay. Just...not right away."

Despite not even eating that much, Finne was too full to move.

She was fairly small and not a big eater in the first place, so it surprised me that she'd even come up with the idea to eat at every stall.

I guess she had been looking forward to it that much. I had the sense that Finne was enjoying it a lot more than I was. Not that it mattered—watching her having fun wasn't all that bad, either.

We were relaxing like that in the square when I saw a familiar face walking along. So familiar, in fact, that I saw it every day. In the mirror.

"That's Leo...and Marie."

"What are the two of them doing here?"

"It can't be a date, so it's probably work of some sort."

Leo's work ethic never ceased to amaze me.

Backing up my theory were the several knights nearby him.

Sometimes his workaholism was troublesome. I'd heard he was out visiting various villages yesterday, as well. I wondered what trouble he was meddling in now.

Perhaps due to the intuition that came with being twins, Leo suddenly looked right at me without any warning.

"Arn? And Lady Finne?"

"Hey."

Upon seeing Finne and me, Leo and Marie headed over to us.

Marie was the very picture of a dutiful maid, silently following one step behind Leo. I sometimes wished my own mouthy steward would take a page from her book.

"Hey, guys. Is this a date?"

"It sure is!"

Leo grinned wryly at Finne's enthusiastic response. He seemed to know that that wasn't the case.

"Does it look like we're on a date?"

"Hmm. It's debatable."

"Oh?! Oh dear..."

Finne's shoulders slumped with disappointment. I hadn't realized she wanted this to be a date so badly.

Well, she did know that I was Silver.

"Enough about us. What sort of trouble are you poking your nose into?"

"Apparently there's been a series of thefts going on."

"Thefts?"

It was hard to believe the guts that some people had. Father hadn't arrived yet, but he was the host of the festival, and the royal family and Knights of the Imperial Guard were the playing the main roles. Who would think to commit a crime at a festival like that? It was as good as provoking the emperor himself to a duel.

"What are they stealing?"

"It seems to be jewelry. So you might want to be careful, Lady Finne."

"Me...? Oh!"

Finne touched the blue gull ornament in her hair.

She almost never removed the hair ornament from my father. To be more accurate, she couldn't. It was a gift from the emperor, so she was better off wearing it as often as possible, especially if spending a lot of time with imperial princes like Leo and me.

That said, she was in disguise, so she could've at least taken it out today, I thought.

"Do you want to go leave it back at the castle?"

"Oh, I couldn't. That would take so much time, and besides the fact that it's from His Majesty the Emperor, it's also my favorite."

"All right. As long as you don't mind."

"If you're worried, I can take it out of my hair and just carry it."

Saying so, Finne reluctantly removed the ornament.

As we were talking, I sensed a strange presence. Something unusual had crossed the barrier I'd put up around myself.

It wasn't human. When I looked down, there was a small, white, weasel-like animal at our feet.

"What is that thing...?"

"It's so small and adorable!"

It was about four inches in length. The cute animal walked closer to Finne. It didn't outwardly look dangerous, but I still had a bad feeling about it. I'd seen the same creature somewhere before. Maybe somewhere in the West...

As I was trying to recall, the animal started rubbing its head against Finne's leg, at which point Finne's eyes gleamed with delight, and she bent down to pet it.

"Awww, look, Master Arn! It's so cute!"

"Yeah, that's great... Leo, do you know what this animal is called?"

"Hmmm. I remember seeing one a long time ago..."

"It's a small mammal called a blett, which inhabits the western part of the continent."

"That's it!"

Leo and I both exclaimed simultaneously when Marie answered.

Meanwhile, Finne continued petting the blett. But then, without warning, it suddenly leapt up at her chest.

"Hahaha! Stop! That tickles! Hey!"

She caught the frolicking blett in her arms, and as she giggled, it then tried to crawl down her shirt. Finne was surprisingly well-endowed for her petite size, so the creature's antics created a rather suggestive scene.

"Ah! Hahaha! Come on, stop it! Huh? H-hey?!"

At first the blett stuck only its head in, but soon after it escaped Finne's hands and slid entirely under her clothes.

"Mm! Ah, stop it! Not there! Aaaah?!"

The blett snaked this way and that, while Finne squirmed with ticklish embarrassment.

Leo and I both couldn't help feeling we were watching something we shouldn't and looked the other way.

Marie went over to try and help, but in the meantime, another blett had snuck across the barrier. Leo and I tried to use our feet to block its path, but it nimbly avoided us.

While Marie's attention was completely on Finne, the second blett made its way over to Marie's feet, climbed up her legs, and slipped underneath her skirt.

"Eeek! Stop! Stop that this instant!"

"No, stop! Don't pull on my underwear!"

"Where are you going?! Stop! This is highly inappropriate!"

Both Finne and Marie desperately fought to get the bletts out from under their clothes. With no possible way to assist, Leo and I exchanged a look of helpless wonder. As if waiting for that moment, yet one more blett crossed the barrier.

This blett was different from the others. It was the same species of creature, but its movements were much faster. It swiftly climbed up Marie, then leaped onto Finne, and then ran off with something clutched in its mouth.

That acted as a cue for the two bletts remaining under Finne's and Marie's clothes. They both immediately jumped out and ran in opposite directions.

"Urgh..."

"Those beasts...should not be allowed to roam free."

"Yeah, we definitely can't let them go free. They took something very problematic."

"They got us. Apparently those bletts were the thief's M.O."

Leo and I both frowned at the same time.

The hair ornament that Finne had been holding in her hand was now gone.

Once Finne realized it, her face paled.

"Th-the emperor's hair ornament...!"

"Well, I'm sure Father wouldn't blame you if you apologized. He'd probably go after the thief himself, actually. But keeping this under wraps is still safest. We'll go search ourselves."

"Good call. I'll go look with Marie. You didn't get anything stolen, did you?"

"No, since I don't wear any jewelry."

"They might've been trained to specifically steal only jewelry. This doesn't seem like a one-off crime."

With that, Leo and Marie left to chase after one of the bletts.

I started to do the same, but Finne grabbed onto my clothes. She was nearly in tears.

"I-I'll go back to the castle."

"Why? What's the matter?"

"I invited you here today wanting to give you a break from your training...but instead...I just made more trouble for you. It would be easier for you if I weren't here."

Tears rolled down her cheeks. She seemed to think she was at fault for all the trouble, but it wasn't as if she'd necessarily done anything wrong. The thief hadn't targeted her knowing who she was, either. The method was way too sloppy to have been deliberate.

It had to have been a coincidence, so there was no reason for Finne to feel bad.

"Actually, my life is much easier with you around."

"Huh...?"

"So don't go thinking you're a problem, okay? We'll find the thief and your ornament soon. Don't worry."

"But the bletts are already out of sight."

"No problem. We'll find them easily with me on the case."

"B-but if you use magic over a wide area, you'll use up too much mana."

Finne was right about that. The Festival of the Hunt was about to begin; I didn't want to use up all of my mana now. However, this sort of issue didn't even require using magic.

"Do you think I use magic to solve every single problem?"

"Th-that's not what I meant!"

"Those animals are smart, but they're still animals. If we remember that, we might be able to figure out what's going on."

At that point, I brought Finne with me toward a nearby alley. The blett carrying the hair ornament had headed straight toward it.

Bletts didn't have especially good eyesight, so we could assume they moved based on noises or smells.

"I just don't think we'll be able to find it, now that it's long gone."

"We're not looking for the blett. We're looking for whatever called it back."

"Something called it back?"

"Things like sneaking underneath women's clothes or stealing jewelry can be taught by training. Bringing items back to somewhere far away is a much higher hurdle, even more so in a place with so many people around."

"That is a good point. Wait, so does that mean the thief was somewhere nearby?!"

"If they were going to do something that risky, they wouldn't have used the bletts in the first place. There must be some trick."

As we talked, I searched the alleyway high and low. Finally, I found a small box hidden in a crack. When I opened it, I hit the jackpot.

"What's that?"

"It's a 'phonostone.' A stone that emits whatever sound is stored inside at regular intervals. They're often used to attract monsters, usually with a female voice of the species, so that's probably what this one is using, too. With phonostones placed at regular distances, you can lead creatures all the way to a distant location."

"Aha! So the blett took the hair ornament to give as a present to his lady friend!"

"Right. Someone out there is using that behavior to steal things."

"That's terrible! We can't let them get away with that!"

"Agreed. I don't appreciate being made a fool out of. We'll get them, no matter what."

"Let's do it!"

With Finne's enthusiastic reply, our search began.

Assuming that the stones would be placed in areas with as little foot traffic as possible, we continued down the narrow alley.

Our assumption paid off—we found stone after stone as we headed west.

We made only one miscalculation...

"It's so tight..."

"Hang in there, just a little longer."

Just how narrow could this alleyway get?

Despite the tight squeeze, we continued down the alley with Finne searching one wall while I searched the other. Then...

"Found one!"

"Great."

I turned to look and saw Finne jumping with glee at finding the box.

Just as I began to worry she might lose her balance, she did. I managed to get in front of her and catch her, but we ended up in an embrace.

"O-o-oops?! I-I'm so sorry!"

"I-it's okay. It was my fault."

For a second or two our noses were inches apart, then Finne hurriedly pulled away from me. Her face was bright red, and I assumed mine probably was, too.

Right at that moment, a blett came up to Finne. With a sad-sounding whimper, it rubbed its head against her legs.

"Aw, poor thing. It's all right. We're going to save you!"

"We should be getting close. Let's go."

We left the alley and headed on west.

Before long, we saw a different blett from the one a second ago enter a house.

Aha. So this must be their headquarters.

"That must be the place."

"Yep. Let's go get 'em."

To get ready for the confrontation, I smoothed my messy hair and wrinkled clothes, stood up straight and tall, then called out to the knights patrolling nearby.

"Excuse me."

"P-Prince Leonard!"

"Gather all the knights in the area. I've discovered the thief's headquarters."

"You did? Excellent work, Your Highness! We will take action immediately!"

With excited expressions, they went to gather up their comrades. The knights out here in the East apparently had an extremely high regard for Leo, thanks to his efforts touring all the villages to help catch the thief.

Things should work out just fine now.

However, when I looked back at Finne, she seemed upset.

"What's wrong?"

"It's just, it was you who found the thief...not Prince Leonard."

"The knights wouldn't listen to me. We can't let the thief get away, right?"

"I know...but now, it's only Master Leo whose reputation is going to benefit, yet again."

"Is that still bothering you? I don't see the problem. Leo's good reputation is advantageous for him taking the throne."

I attempted to reassure Finne, but her unhappiness remained.

Meanwhile, knights had begun to gather.

I ordered them to surround the house, then gave the signal to move in.

The thieves must have been caught off guard. The knights were easily able to break into the house and arrest four men from inside.

As we watched, Finne and I entered the house ourselves. There, in a cage, was all the jewelry the bletts had stolen.

"May I?"

"Huh? Oh, erm... In these cases, the rule is that stolen items must not be touched."

"Don't worry. It'll just be a moment."

Ignoring the knight's warning, I looked through the stolen items. Among them was indeed the blue gull ornament. I took it and handed it to Finne.

"Take off your glasses, Finne."

"All right."

"I-is that who I think it is?!"

"As I'm sure you know, this is Blau Mowe. Her hair ornament was stolen, which is why I've been searching for it. Only, very few people know about this. If my father's special gift to Blau Mowe were to be stolen in the city of Keel, the knights on patrol would not get off without being held partially responsible. You're free to speak of this incident, but I want to make it clear that you all are the ones who will be in trouble if this gets out."

"U-understood, Your Highness! I didn't see a thing!"

"M-me either!"

The knights in charge of the stolen items vigorously replied.

Satisfied, I brought Finne with me back outside. Once we were out of sight of the knights, I changed from Leo back into Arn.

"Whew. Now all we have to do is explain my ruse to Leo. Anyway, I'm glad we found your hair ornament safe and sound."

"Yes, all thanks to you. Thank you so much."

"It was nothing."

"I...I don't mind if no one else knows what you've done...because I do know! I will always remember how brilliant and brave you were! Always! Forever and ever!"

I didn't entirely understand what Finne was going on about. She was so worked up that she was out of breath. But I couldn't say it didn't feel good.

"Well, good. Thanks."

"Someday, I'm going to write a book, about all the amazing things you've done!"

"I don't think that's necessary."

"What? Why not?"

After that, we continued enjoying the festival with plenty of smiles and laughter between us.

6

The pre-festival ended, and the day of the Festival of the Hunt arrived.

The festival was to begin with a speech from my father, but those preparations were not yet complete. In the meantime, Leo and I were watching the town from the castle wall.

"This sure has turned into a big hullabaloo, now that the big day is here."

"Indeed, and it's a good thing. The people of the East have been suffering due to the monsters for so long, that I think a bit of celebration is necessary."

"Yeah. And apparently Father felt so bad about his slow response that he handed out money to make sure everyone enjoys the festivities."

The emperor must have realized that a simple festival wouldn't be enough to erase the people's grievances, and it would also be meaningless without loosening the people's purse strings. So, he had taken the opportunity to pay all the initial fees himself.

The people of the East had their guards up after being plagued by monsters for so long, and they wouldn't have spent money at a festival without receiving extra funds first.

In that sense, he was an admirable man. However, some also took advantage of that fact, like the thief from yesterday. Since then, knights had been patrolling more frequently, and although there had been no major incidents, there were several small issues cropping up.

Due to a lack of manpower, even knight of the Imperial Guard Elna had been sent out on duty.

"There you are."

Leo and I turned toward the voice to find Elna standing behind us.

She must have just gotten back from helping with festival; her expression looked a little exhausted. For an Imperial Guard knight like Elna, who was constantly doing intense training, this was probably not physically tiring, but it must have been mentally and emotionally draining.

"Hey, Elna. How's it going?"

"I'm utterly exhausted, mentally, and the festival hasn't even started yet. I've been out there dealing with petty quarrels, running after pickpockets...doing all sorts of tasks I normally never do. So what about you?"

"Just as usual, I guess. But I am feeling rather fulfilled."

"Oh? Why's that?"

It was rare for Leo to express something like that. He was the type to be more reserved about revealing his feelings.

"I went ahead and visited the villages that had suffered damage from the monsters. I feel like it's our duty, as part of the imperial family, to give them support and encouragement. Now I'm planning on donating my savings to them. And since there will be prize money if I win, I'm going to donate that, too."

"...You are? How long have you been thinking about this?"

"Ah... We came out here to the East at almost the same time, Arn. What have you been doing all this time?"

"I was enjoying the pre-festival."

When I showed Elna my best find from the food stalls—a roasted lizard—she put her hand to her forehead and sighed. Did she really have to be so dramatic?

"I'd feel a lot better calling myself a friend of yours if you had even a single one of Leo's good qualities. He even contributed to the arrest of a jewelry thief, you know. The knights in this town were speaking very highly of him."

"Hey, I contributed to the festival, too. I spent plenty of money as an imperial prince."

"Ah..."

"Arn has plenty of good qualities. He's just so good at hiding them that no one notices."

While Elna continued sighing, Leo had my back. That was so like him.

I'd told Leo to keep my pretending to be him a secret. There would have been no point in correcting everyone's misunderstanding now, and it would be a problem if people started thinking that we secretly switched places often.

That included not telling Elna, for the time being. She was helping us out, but she wasn't necessarily aligned with us.

"Well said, Leo. As your reward, I'll let you have a bite."

"Thanks. Hm? This is actually pretty good."

"Right? I have a knack for finding tasty treats at food stalls."

"That's not a necessary skill for a prince. Come on, time to go. You should head back too, Leo. The festival's about to start."

At Elna's prodding, I stuffed the remainder of the lizard into my mouth.

Finally, the Knight's Festival of the Hunt was about to begin.

***

"Our empire has had little experience with being plagued by monsters. Because of that, our response to monster-related incidents has been slow. I am to blame for causing the people of the East such suffering. I am truly sorry. Please forgive your foolish emperor for his incompetence."

My father was giving his speech to the huge crowd of people. We would be making our entrance shortly afterward.

I was in my room in a lord's mansion where we who were members of the imperial family were temporarily staying. While I was waiting, someone came to my room. I assumed it would be Elna or Finne, but in fact, it was someone unexpected.

"Krista? What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Arnold."

It was Krista Lakes Aadler, the twelve-year-old Third Imperial Princess. My younger sis had glossy, blonde hair and amber-colored eyes. Her beauty was on track to rival Finne's in the future, but she was also often compared to a doll, due to her lack of facial expressions.

Now, holding her favorite rabbit stuffed animal and looking up at me with a blank expression, I had to admit she did resemble a doll. However, her eyes ever so faintly quivered. That was a sign she was feeling worried.

"Come inside. Is something bothering you?"

"No... I'm fine...but the people here aren't..."

Her explanation was very vague. At this point, most people would give up, but I knew that was not an option when it came to Krista.

I had her sit down in a chair, then squatted down to her eye level.

Among all of the imperial heirs, Krista was particularly special. No one else had realized it, or if they had, they were pretending not to.

She had been born innately possessing magic.

Normally, magic was something that people learned through study and practice, but there were a few who could naturally use it. Those who possessed this "innate magic" were extremely rare and extremely powerful, because their magic was individually unique; no one else in the world could use it.

Krista showed signs of possessing such magic. It was probably an ability to foresee the future, or something similar. Back when the crown prince passed away, right before my very eyes she had started crying that our brother was going to die.

I could imagine that if knowledge of her power spread, some of the heirs, like Zandra, would happily use it for their own gain. So I had cautioned Krista not to tell anyone else, and to come see me if she ever saw any premonitions. I assumed that was the reason she had come to see me now.

"Did you see something?"

"I...I saw this town...surrounded by monsters..."

Krista's ability was not yet stable. From time to time, she would see images that seemed to be the future, but to her, they appeared more like nightmares. They also didn't always come true. Still, sometimes they did. So I couldn't afford to ignore that possibility.

"So you didn't see anyone specifically dying?"

"No..."

"Okay. Thank you for telling me. Now I can do something about it."

"...You're leaving?"

"Yeah. I can't stay here with you."

"..."

A look of uncertainty crossed Krista's face. She probably didn't like being left alone while she was feeling frightened. However, I couldn't stay just for her sake. If the town was going to be surrounded by monsters, I needed to be out there to take action.

"Hi. It's me, Finne."

With great timing, Finne showed up at the door. She had a bag of treats in her hand. This was perfect!

"Krista, this is my friend, Finne."

"It's nice to meet you, Your Highness. My name is Finne Von Kleinert."

"I know. You're Blau Mowe, the most beautiful person in the empire."

"Clever girl."

I patted Krista on head. Her expression remained unchanged, but she also didn't seem put off.

Krista wasn't comfortable around anyone except for me, Leo, and an older sister who lived away from the capital. She was even wary around her own father, and most people found her difficult to get along with.

She would, of course, need to stay behind while I went out, but I also couldn't bring myself to leave her all alone.

"Finne, I hate to ask, but would you mind staying here with Krista for a while?"

"But I want you to stay..."

"You can trust Finne. She's a million times more trustworthy than even me. Plus, her baking is exquisite. You like sweets, don't you?"

I took a baked good from Finne's bag and showed it to Krista. It was a cookie in the shape of a rabbit.

Timidly, Krista ate the cookie, and then immediately looked straight at Finne.

I smiled.

"Congratulations. She likes you."

"Huh? Are you sure?"

"She doesn't look straight at anyone she doesn't feel comfortable around. She's just not interested in anyone else. Krista, Finne will stay with you until Leo and I get back. Okay?"

"Okay..."

"Okay then. Sorry to spring this on you, but stay as close to her as possible, Finne."

"Of course. I'm more than happy to do so, if that is your wish."

Finne then smiled and started handing Krista another treat.

It looked an awful lot like a bribe, but I held myself back from commenting so out loud.

Just then, a chorus of cheers erupted from outside. Father must have finished his speech. That meant we were up next.

"I guess we're off then. We have to go greet the citizens, Krista."

"..."

"Don't look so unhappy. We don't have a choice. We're the imperial family."

"But you always skip this part."

"I'm not this time, though, right? Come on, let's go."

I took Krista by the hand and left the room. Finne followed behind us.

There, we ran into a certain unpleasant character, who'd just happened to leave her room at the same time.

"Huh, you must be feeling pretty relaxed if you have time to be baby-sitting, Arnold. Perhaps you have getting the Amsberg prodigy to thank for that, hm?"

It was Zandra, Second Imperial Princess.

Krista immediately hid herself behind me. Zandra watched with an unhappy scowl.

"Baby-sitting? I'm pretty sure a brother watching over his little sister is only natural."

"Ugh, you drive me nuts. Even your little retorts sound like someone without a care in the world."

"And you sound very irritated. What's the matter? Something you're having trouble with?"

For a split second, a look of pure fury crossed Zandra's face, but she quickly regained her composure. She must have realized that it was both pointless and it would show an odd weakness if she got riled up now.

Of course, even without her anger I already knew that the assassin was working under her orders, but I didn't feel the need to say so.

"Just you wait. I'm going to teach you that even the most powerful weapon is useless in unskilled hands."

"Hmph! As if you could possibly teach anyone anything."

Overhearing our conversation, Gordon showed up next. I thought disgustedly to myself that these two just couldn't pass up any opportunity to antagonize one another.

However, Gordon trained his sharp gaze on me. For a second, it felt like my heart stopped. There was a reason Gordon had such a successful track record on the battlefield. His bloodthirsty aura was second to none. It was obvious he could kill me in the blink of an eye, were it not for my magic.

"What do you say, Arnold? How about giving that sword of yours over to me? There's still time. Go to Father, plead with him that it's not fair, then recommend that I get Elna instead."

"Unfortunately, I don't have that kind of courage. That would be like telling Father his decision was wrong. I'm even more scared of him than I am of you."

"Don't even have the generosity to share your treasure with others, huh? It's like pearls to swine. Whatever. I'll beat both you and Zandra to a pulp anyway."

"I'd like to see you try."

Zandra and Gordon glared at each other, and I took the opportunity to creep away. Getting involved in a fight could only end badly for me.

"Arn... I'm scared..."

"It's okay. Finne will be right there, and if anything happens, I'll come right back and save you."

"Really?"

"Really."

I gave Krista's small hand a squeeze. That seemed to comfort her, and she gave me a small smile.

Just then, another hand was placed on Krista's head.

"Too bad for me. With Arn around, I guess you have no need for your other big brother, huh?"

"Leo!"

Upon seeing the new arrival was Leo, Krista gladly hugged him.

Krista took one of Leo's hands and one of mine. Her expression was much calmer and happier now.

"I feel much better now!"

"That's good. Leo, did you decide which way you're going?"

"I'm going to go south."

"South? There wasn't much damage done by monsters there, was there?"

"That's right. It may be important to make the festival exciting and to have a chance at the ambassadorship, but I think the most important thing is to slay as many monsters as possible and help the people in the eastern region feel more at ease. And I doubt anyone else will head south, even though there should be monsters there, too."

It was a plan exactly like I'd expect from Leo.

If everyone concentrated their fighting in the area with the most monsters, that wouldn't help the eastern region as a whole. That's why he planned to go where no one else would go. It was a noble plan. However...

"And? Do you have a chance at winning that way?"

"Sure. There wasn't much damage to the south because the monsters didn't head that way. When I asked around to find out why, I heard that it was because one very strong monster was camped out down there."

"I see. So you're going for one big win."

"Exactly."

According to the terms of the festival, killing one big and powerful monster would give you a chance at winning. Therefore, it wasn't a bad idea to go after a monster that all the other monsters were afraid of.

"So that's why you were visiting all the villages."

"I went there to give support and comfort too, of course. But why not kill two birds with one stone?"

"That makes me feel much better. Go give it your best shot."

"You'd better give it your all too, or else Elna will have your head."

"No problem there. Me not trying at all will just about put me on the same playing field as everyone else."

As we were chatting, we made our way out onto the balcony.

All the townspeople were looking at us.

Once all of the emperor's children had come together and greeted the people, the emperor proclaimed in a loud voice.

"For the duration of this festival, the Knights of the Imperial Guard shall pledge their loyalty to the child of mine that they are assigned to protect! You will respect the knights, and the knights will show respect to you! You will act as one team to face these powerful monsters! We are the imperial family! It is our duty to destroy any foes which threaten our empire! Go, my children, and my knights! Let the Knight's Festival of the Hunt begin!"

A roar went up from the crowd.

"Go, Prince Erik!"

"No way, Prince Gordon's got this in the bag!"

"I bet Princess Zandra's got some original tactics up her sleeve!"

"I'm cheering for Prince Leonard! He's the kindest man I've ever known!"

The emperor's children and their knights filed out from the manor.

The only one staying back was Krista. Everyone else would be joining the knights to hunt down monsters.

We children all held individually customized battle flags made especially for this day. My flag was black with a white cross. Leo's was white with a black cross. It was quite obvious that the designer didn't give much thought to mine, making it the exact opposite of Leo's. But I quite liked the design, anyways.

"Are you ready?"

"Of course. Let's do this."

With that, I galloped off on my horse with the Third Regiment of the Knights led by Elna following after me.

It was Elna, not I, who received the cheers. But that was okay with me.

It was my job to act in secret from the shadows.

I didn't care if anyone tried any underhand schemes; I would just out-scheme them.