Once I was back in the room where I was staying, I sat at my desk to write down everything I had learned about talismans. I wanted to record it all before I forgot anything. As I was making my notes, I heard someone address me from outside the room.
Zara was with me, so she went to answer the door. When she came back, she informed me that dinner was ready.
Is it that time already? Only then did I realize how much time had passed.
I rubbed my shoulders as I stood up, and the two of us went to the dining hall together.
In the dining hall, we found not only Albert and Yuri, but Prince Kyle too.
Zara and I went our separate ways at the entrance, so I was the only one who entered. Zara, Oscar, and May were eating in a separate room.
Albert pulled out a chair for me to sit in, and once we were settled in our chairs, the food could be brought out. We were having Salutanian dishes tonight. Recently, we had eaten nothing but Zaideran cuisine, so I was pleased by the variety.
We talked about the talisman shop as we ate. Prince Kyle had been there before, so he was able to follow the conversation as Yuri exuberantly described our day out. We focused on talismans throughout the meal, leaving the heavier main topic of the day for our after-meal tea.
“So everything went fine on your end today, I see?”
“Yes. Nothing stood out except for the Zaideran guards assigned to watch us.”
Albert took charge of making the report about our excursion. We had been watched from the second we stepped out of the manor, all the way until our return. In all likelihood, these watchers were the people Yuri and the others had mentioned were assigned to keep an eye on us. One might assume it was suspicious to have people scrutinizing our every move, but based on Albert’s report, it was all expected.
According to Prince Kyle, his delegation was constantly under surveillance as well, and had been since they arrived in Zaidera. Perhaps it was standard to keep a wary eye on foreigners.
While that might sound concerning, we had done the same to Prince Ten’yuu during his visit to Salutania.
Albert also mentioned what Zara had reported: “The watchmen were mainly focused on everyone but Lady Sei.”
“They were? Why?”
“According to some of our intel, it’s likely because she looks like she could be from Zaidera.”
“Hmm. So they probably mistook her for a local?”
“I believe that’s a possibility.”
It was the most likely explanation, and the prince could imagine how this might be true.
“Did you notice any movement on your end?”
“Yes. I was told someone other than the regular surveillance team tried to investigate the manor.”
What? Wasn’t this cause for concern? Yet from the casual way Prince Kyle said it, it didn’t seem like he considered it an emergency.
I must have been wearing a confused look, because Prince Kyle turned his attention to me to explain.
He had referred to it as “investigating,” but really all they had done was ask a few questions. The person of interest had been dressed as someone from a company with whom the delegation had frequent dealings, and he had tried to ask some of the manor staff some questions. It went without saying that he had inquired about us. However, he hadn’t asked about anything more specific or about the panacea. It was mostly small talk—comments on how there were more of us now and asking what kind of people we were. This sort of thing was an everyday occurrence. They hadn’t probed him for any specific information in turn.
Well, this was the kind of operation that rarely bore fruit from the labors of a single day. We agreed to continue keeping an eye out, and that was the end of our debriefing.
For the next several days, things continued without any change for the better. The borders remained closed, and our efforts to return home remained at a standstill.
Just as we had heard from the start, the scope of the lockdown broadened.
During this time, we also found out why they were closed. Prince Ten’yuu had continued his search, and he’d sent a message to Prince Kyle to inform him of what he had uncovered.
The cause was a theft, just as we had originally believed. The borders remained closed because they hadn’t yet caught the thief.
Meanwhile, we weren’t any closer to identifying who had sent the letter. The only sure thing was that we were still under constant observation.
Just what was the sender after? Right when the question was beginning to really gnaw at me again, the grand magus decided it was time to act.
“Shall we go out and try to gather more information?” he unexpectedly declared while we were having breakfast one morning.
I hadn’t seen him for a few days now, since he had been cooped up in his room the whole time. He had been so absorbed in researching the talismans and ink that he just hadn’t left even once.
What was it about Yuri that made him seem so charismatic? Was it because he gave off those faintly degenerate vibes? On closer inspection, I could see the faint circles under his eyes.
Oh yeah, didn’t someone say they saw the light on in his room all through the night these past few days? He must not be getting much sleep.
“How so?” I asked.
“We’ll go out into the city just like last time, and we’ll see if anyone tries anything. Whoever we’re up against, they haven’t made any moves either.”
Yuri was right. We hadn’t discerned any additional information about the letter. We had figured out that because the members of the delegation hadn’t learned anything, despite their best efforts, it might have something to do with a powerful noble.
The fact that we rarely left the manor was possibly part of the problem.
If the culprit was trying to get information about us as well, then we hadn’t given them any chances to do so, which would leave us in a stalemate. Oscar had said as much the other day while we were chatting. Yuri might have reached the same conclusion, which was why he was suggesting we make a move.
Though I doubted that was his sole motivation.
“Do you want to go back to the talisman shop?” Oscar asked as he sliced a piece of bread. Clearly, he understood the grand magus well.
However, Yuri’s reply came as a surprise. “This time I was hoping we could go somewhere they make the ink.”
Oscar made a face as if Yuri had just suggested we poke a bear.
Nevertheless, the answer was somewhat unexpected. I had a feeling I knew what Yuri was after, but I asked him anyway. I thought he might make some excuse, but he was actually forthright: He had spent the past few days in his room analyzing his talismans, and he had discovered that the ingredients for the ink were also used as catalysts in enchantments.
“So, you mean that the ink is made of minerals?”
“Exactly. And something else as well.”
“Like what?”
“The main ingredient seems to be some kind of resin, but there’s also something else I couldn’t identify.”
“And that’s why you want to go see where they make the ink?”
“Yes! If we only go to an ink-making workshop, I ought to be able to uncover the remaining ingredient.”
“I suppose we might…” But I wasn’t so sure that they would be willing to share such things with an outsider. That seemed like the kind of thing they would want to keep a secret.
However, there was some merit to Yuri’s suggestion. We needed to figure out what the letter sender was after. Both Albert and Prince Kyle agreed with this. I also understood that continuing to just sit on our hands was a waste.
For my part, I was restless, not knowing what to expect or when the borders would be opened. Plus, while I didn’t feel Yuri’s agitation to nearly the same degree, I didn’t like idly sitting around either. So I empathized.
We discussed our opinions on the matter, and in the end, we decided to once more go along with Yuri’s plan—although, just like last time, the prince’s delegation made sure that our destination was secure before we went.
One week after Yuri made his initial proposal, we went to an ink-making workshop. The delegation was able to confirm the safety of the workshop within a week, thanks to enchanted items that Yuri supplied. He made them himself out of pure motivation to visit the facility, so their effectiveness was guaranteed.
Actually, he had made something similar when Prince Ten’yuu visited Salutania, but these were enchanted with even stronger perception-blocking magic than that one had been.
At the time, I had only suggested he make something that made it hard to perceive the color of my hair or the features of my face. I hadn’t suggested anything as practical as dampening smells or the sound of footsteps.
When I heard what Yuri had made, I kind of regretted it; it felt like I had given the grand magus a terribly dangerous idea.
He had clearly used his eloquent persuasiveness to urge the delegation to complete their investigation as efficiently as possible. Either way, they had carried out their mission most expediently.
It did seem like the person who came to tell us they had decided on our destination looked sootier than he had when he left, but that was probably just my imagination.
We traveled to the workshop by carriage, as usual. I cracked the window shade to peer outside. We’d set off on orderly avenues, but these had gradually transitioned into more chaotic, disorganized streets.
The workshop was in a commoner neighborhood, rather than the more posh surroundings of the manor and the talisman shop. In other words, this was the lower part of the city.