That night, Rei was woken by the sound of a knock on his door.
Tonight, they were going to raid the organization that had served as Black Wolf's mediator—or rather, to be precise, the home of the man who led that organization. Because of this, Rei had eaten an early dinner and then gone to sleep.
Normally, Rei was a slow riser.
Even when woken by a knock, his mind wouldn't start working right away—but things were different now.
With a battle ahead, Rei's mind was already shifting into a combat-oriented state, and by the time the knock roused him, he was already acting like his usual self.
"Miranda?"
"Ah, yes. Um... you're already awake, I see."
Having seen Rei's waking habits many times, Miranda likely hadn't expected an immediate response the moment she knocked.
She sounded slightly surprised as she said this.
In reality, he had just woken up from the knock, but Rei judged that bringing that up now would only waste time, so he didn't deny Miranda's assumption.
He told her to come in and finished getting ready.
"Well, something like that. So, what's the matter?"
"Yes. Lady Elena says it's about time and asks that you come to her room."
"Understood. Elena's room, right?"
"Yes."
After that brief exchange, Rei immediately left his room.
Miranda seemed slightly bewildered by how different he was from the Rei she knew, but she said nothing more and guided him to Elena's room.
Rei already knew where Elena's room was, but this was presumably part of a maid's duties.
Since he had gone to sleep after an early dinner, it was naturally already dark outside.
The hallway was lit by light-emitting Magic Items and candles.
With multiple sources of light, anyone walking through who knew no better would likely think the corridor looked fantastical.
Indeed, even Rei, who had walked these halls at night many times since arriving at the mansion, still felt that way.
Eventually, Miranda guided Rei toward a room he recognized.
"Oh my, Rei?"
A figure standing in front of the room suddenly called out to him.
Rei immediately knew who it was. They were people he had crossed paths with several times before.
Yes, people—plural.
Standing in front of Elena's room were Teles, Ranigus, and Bluitt.
While Rei recognized every one of them, he also couldn't help thinking it was an unusual combination.
"That's quite a rare combination. How did this come about?"
Teles was Elena's friend, close enough to enjoy tea together.
Ranigus was someone who had shown up with Gaiska while Rei and Elena were having tea with Teles.
And Bluitt had interacted with Rei so many times by now that he needed no introduction.
"Yeah, I came across some interesting information. While I was looking into it, I ran into these two."
At Bluitt's words, Teles and Ranigus nodded without any particular change in expression.
"Yes. I obtained some information on my end as well, so I came to speak with Lady Elena."
"Same here."
"...It's fine that you obtained information, but why bring it to Elena?"
If it were truly important information, they should have gone not to Elena but directly to her father, Liberte—Duke Kerebel.
The fact that they hadn't meant that it probably wasn't that important... or perhaps it was information they couldn't yet confirm. Rei could more or less imagine as much.
At any rate, standing in front of Elena's room forever wouldn't accomplish anything, so Rei knocked on her door.
If they had business with Elena, it would be better to get it over with quickly.
"Ah—"
At Rei's action, Teles and Ranigus spoke in unison.
"What is it? You had business with Elena, didn't you? Besides... knowing Elena, she's probably already sensed your presence."
Given Elena's alias as the Princess General, sensing their presence was an easy matter.
Told this by Rei, Teles and Ranigus wore indescribable expressions.
Bluitt, whether he already knew about Elena's ability to sense presence or had simply anticipated it, showed no particular sign of being perturbed by Rei's words.
As if responding to Rei's words, the door opened.
"Come in, all of you. Though I cannot entertain you for long."
Elena said this and invited everyone inside.
Elena had likely been asleep until shortly before, just like Rei, but at least from his perspective, she didn't look it at all.
Her demeanor was far from that of someone who had just woken up.
Rei, too, was in what could be called combat mode today, so unlike usual, he showed none of his typical grogginess upon waking—but Elena's composure was far above his. So much so that she seemed perfectly normal, as if she had been awake the whole time.
(Ah, but Elena has her duties as the Daughter of Duke Kerebel and as the Princess General, so it wouldn't be strange if she hadn't slept at all and was already awake, would it?)
Between Rei, who was merely a guest of Duke Kerebel's House, and Elena, their positions were naturally different.
Moreover, when Rei returned to Gilm, Elena would be going with him.
Their remaining days in Anesis were no longer that long—in fact, probably fewer than ten. Considering that, Elena must have had a great deal of work to do.
If Elena were an ordinary person, she wouldn't be able to... well, it wouldn't be impossible to handle that much busy work and then assault the home of the man who led the underground organization, but fighting in a state of exhaustion from work would naturally prevent her from performing at her full potential.
However, Elena, who had inherited the magic stone of an Ancient Dragon, was by no means an ordinary person.
That level of fatigue... no, she probably wasn't even fatigued to begin with.
The same was true for Rei, but he had still taken a nap—though it was too late to call it that—reasoning that he should rest if he could.
Feeling relieved that Elena showed no signs of fatigue, Rei entered the room along with the others.
Inside, Ara was wearing armor, ready to launch the assault at any moment.
(Ah, Elena too.)
Rei suddenly understood the source of his earlier visual dissonance and nodded to himself.
Both Elena and Ara had been wearing ordinary clothes rather than the armor Rei was accustomed to seeing them in during their time at the mansion.
Because he had been seeing them in those clothes continuously, some degree of familiarity had taken root in him over even this short period.
"Eh? That outfit..."
"Whoa, Ara's armed."
Teles and Ranigus also seemed to notice Ara's appearance and let out sounds of surprise.
Since the two of them were not usually involved in combat, Ara's appearance probably seemed unexpected.
In reality, Ara belonged to Elena's Escort Knight Order, so being armed wasn't all that unusual.
Compared to those two, Bluitt—who walked around town alone and deliberately got himself into fights—didn't seem particularly surprised.
"So? What is your business today? As I said earlier, we are about to be a little busy. If it is not an urgent matter, I would ask that you save it for tomorrow or later."
The current time was around nine in the evening.
It was certainly a time when many commoners would already be asleep, and even among nobles—unless they were hosting a party—coming to visit at this hour could be considered somewhat inconsiderate.
For three nobles to be committing such an inconsiderate act, there had to be a good reason.
However, even understanding that, given what Elena and the others were about to do, they couldn't afford to spend time on this.
But that line of thinking changed with the next words to come from Teles's mouth.
"Lady Elena, could this by any chance be related to the matter involving the Marquis Seisole's House?"
"...What?"
Those words carried enough weight to instantly command Elena's full attention.
Given that Gaiska was most likely the one who had hired Black Wolf, having the Marquis Seisole's House brought up here made it impossible for it not to draw the attention of Elena—and by extension, Rei and Ara, who would be acting alongside her today.
"What do you know?"
What came from Elena's mouth was a sharp gaze and sharper words.
Teles, who knew Elena's usual demeanor, was seeing Elena in her capacity as the Princess General—and in a near-combat-ready state—for the first time, perhaps. Being subjected to that gaze, she momentarily caught her breath.
Beside Teles, Ranigus, who had participated in actual combat—though not on a large scale—spoke up.
"I received some information on my end too. Do you know that the Marquis Seisole's House has been making various movements?"
"Yes. I am aware of that. From the day the New Year's party ended, I hear."
"Yeah, exactly. And apparently, within the Marquis Seisole's House, it's the soldiers and knights—those who specialize in combat—who've been on the move."
"...What did you say?"
Whether she hadn't known that information, a hint of surprise leaked from Elena's mouth.
Though in truth, Duke Kerebel's House had already obtained that intelligence.
After all, moving a large number of people in Anesis without Duke Kerebel's House's permission would naturally invite suppression by the army led by Duke Kerebel's House.
The fact that this hadn't happened meant they should have assumed that the current matter had been reported to Duke Kerebel's House to some extent.
Elena was surprised for a moment, but as her thoughts reached that conclusion, she spoke as if in understanding.
"Most likely, my father is already aware of the matter. However... if the Marquis Seisole's House is making moves, then information should have filtered down to me as well."
Elena muttered, then immediately turned her gaze to Rei.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm... one possibility is that Gaiska learned about the Black Wolf situation and escaped? ...Well, I don't think Gaiska has that level of intelligence-gathering capability."
"No, that's wrong. Didn't I tell you? The Marquis Seisole's House started moving from the day of the party."
At Elena's words, Rei reconsidered, realizing that was true.
Rei had defeated Black Wolf today, and the body was still inside his Misty Ring.
There shouldn't have been anyone who witnessed the battle between Rei and Black Wolf, and at the very least, Rei and Elena hadn't discovered anyone like that.
Given that, the only ones who knew Black Wolf was dead should be Rei, Elena, the Intelligence Unit of Duke Kerebel's House to whom Elena had explained the situation, and Liberte—Duke Kerebel—who had presumably received their report.
The Marquis Seisole's House held significant influence within the Noble's Faction, but even so, they couldn't possibly demonstrate that level of intelligence-gathering capability here in Anesis, the stronghold of Duke Kerebel's House.
"Then does that mean Black Wolf has nothing to do with this situation?"
At Rei's murmur, spoken as though he could hardly believe it himself, Elena tilted her head in uncertainty.
As for why the Marquis Seisole's House would move people even at the cost of incurring a debt to Duke Kerebel's House, the first thing Elena thought of was, naturally, Gaiska.
And now that she was nearly certain Gaiska was the one who had hired Black Wolf, she couldn't possibly believe that Black Wolf was uninvolved in the Marquis Seisole's House making a major move under these circumstances.
"In the end, we won't understand the details unless we go there ourselves. I am grateful to all three of you for bringing this information."
At Elena's words, Teles, Ranigus, and Bluitt each showed different expressions.
Teles wore a look of pure happiness that Elena was pleased.
Ranigus displayed a satisfied smile at having done a favor for Elena, the symbol of the Noble's Faction, despite being a member of the King's Faction.
Bluitt, knowing that a battle was about to take place but that he couldn't participate in it, wore a disappointed expression.
Observing the three of them, Elena glanced out the window and murmured quietly that it was about time.