An artificial human.
It took a long time for Amae to fully digest those words.
The scattered fragments of information she and Brendan had gathered began clicking together inside her mind with an ominous creak.
At the same time, Zoe slid a file across the long table.
"Seventeen years ago, an illegal experimental facility tied to Gleefia was discovered abroad."
It was a copy of an old report.
Its contents didn't match anything the three of them had ever heard. They quietly realized this was an affair the press guild had been strictly barred from touching.
"The ones sent to handle it back then were Archmage Ryuken and High Mage Magnolia. After a fierce battle, every last member of the organization was arrested. And what they recovered from the facility was..."
That was the infant later named Filiestra Adinson, Zoe explained.
"Looking at the evidence, the royal government determined the baby was an engineered creation. At that point, though, they didn't know the purpose of the experiment, nor did they realize Löwenthal was pulling the strings behind the scenes."
"Wait a moment. Engineered? Do you mean an artificial human constructed entirely from scratch?"
The question came from Mercedes.
Her voice lacked any emotional inflection. It was simply an inquiry to confirm the facts.
"No. It wasn't making something from nothing. It was taking one and making another one out of it. Aside from that, she's completely identical to the rest of you. Theoretically, it was considered possible, but technically unfeasible."
"I think I've heard of that before. The dragon vein factor theory, right? The one Dr. Magnolia proposed back when she was young."
Zoe nodded at Rina, who was leaning forward over the table.
"You know your stuff. That's right. And what made it possible was a relic of the Genesis Era in Löwenthal's possession. At least, that's the higher-ups' current stance."
"...What on earth...?"
Amae muttered in a total daze.
She didn't seem to have fully wrapped her head around Zoe's words yet.
In other words, it was true that Filie carried the blood of the extinct Grand Duke. It was just that the truth behind it was utterly sickening.
Zoe glanced at Amae, who was visibly struggling to keep her composure, and checked in.
"Can I keep going?"
"Please do," Mercedes replied.
"Naturally, human cloning is the ultimate taboo for ethical reasons. Even so, why did Löwenthal take the risk of cloning Anastasia seventeen years ago? This part is still speculation, but it involves a magical weapon they've been keeping hidden for years."
"A weapon?"
In response to Rina's question, Zoe placed a second sheet on the table.
It was a blueprint.
A craft fitted with inorganic wings.
And at its core sat something shaped like a human.
"A weapon of mass destruction once possessed by the Grand Duchy, known as Irvion. Word is, it only activates through Lady Anastasia's dragon vein authentication."
A weapon that operated on the dragon vein of Anastasia Lutze Dravenia.
Which meant...
"...Wait, what? Filie-chan was made just to be Lady Anastasia's substitute? And because of something like that, she's in danger right now?"
"That's the logical conclusion."
"...Are you kidding me?"
Amae's voice dropped so low it startled even herself.
The hand resting on the table had curled into a tight fist before she realized it, her nails biting deep into her palm.
"Vandenberg-san. Listen carefully for now. You can indulge in sentimentality later."
"...I know."
Mercedes kept looking straight ahead without sparing her a glance.
Coldhearted—she was nothing of the sort, as anyone could tell from how she had been treating Filie lately.
She was simply setting all her emotions aside for the moment.
Amae couldn't afford to be the only one falling apart.
"Did Filie-san know any of this?"
"She probably had no idea at all. Even the royal government didn't grasp the full scope of this mess until today."
"They just left rebellious elements completely unchecked?"
This time, Mercedes couldn't help but knit her brows.
Zoe gave a helpless shrug.
"No, it was considered a closed case. Ever since the illegal facility was raided, there hadn't been a peep about it for seventeen years. Löwenthal did a brilliant job covering their tracks, too. Even I couldn't catch their tail in the end."
Zoe took a sip from the teacup that had appeared before her and went on.
"—In short, the proof that the girl is a clone of Lady Anastasia and Löwenthal's illegal experiments both remained mere suspicions, and no one ever connected them to Irvion. That was the official conclusion, and their biggest blunder."
Though I've suspected it for a while now, Zoe added, the wrinkles around her mouth twisting into a dry cackle.
"Besides, the girl was kept right within Magnolia's sight. That might have served as a form of surveillance in itself. And there's a limit to how much taxpayer money you can throw at a legendary magical weapon that might not even exist."
"In other words, an issue the kingdom neglected for years has now flared up again in the most pathetic way possible. Is that what you are saying?"
"Frankly speaking, that's about the size of it. Don't go saying that in front of the royal government's bigwigs, though."
"Oh, my apologies. Ohoho."
Rina managed a wry smile at Mercedes's sarcastic chuckle.
That meant Filie had spent seventeen years living right next to the wolf's den. After all, she had been residing in Dravena, right under Löwenthal's nose.
"Then what about Löwenthal forging Filie-chan's birth and family register...?"
"I don't know what kind of tall tale that bearded man fed you, but the one who forged the family register was the kingdom. Naturally, since the kingdom was the one taking custody of her."
"Wait, isn't that strange?"
"What is?"
"Wasn't Dravena Clinic where Archmage Ryuken took Filie-chan to have her birth records forged? We were guided there and ended up reaching Löwenthal, right? Doesn't the story contradict itself?"
"It's simple. Dravena Clinic initially took hush money from the Gleefia royal government to help with the forgery, and later on, they smoothly flipped to Löwenthal's side. That might also be why Zectromeo had his eye on Filiestra in the first place."
"What scum."
"Ain't that the truth."
So that was how it was.
Löwenthal had simply layered another lie over the one told by the kingdom.
Which meant the information they had gathered during this investigation was, just as Brendan had feared, essentially bait planted to lure Filie straight to Löwenthal under her own steam.
Her abduction was all the proof they needed.
Amae provisionally settled on that conclusion.
All that was left was to go see for herself.
"Though, the one who insisted on fabricating a family register for parents was Ryuken," Zoe noted.
"Why would the Archmage do something so entirely unnecessary?"
Zoe gave a blunt, simple answer to Mercedes's question.
"Because he thought it'd be too pitiful for her to have no parents."
"That is all?"
"Seriously, that's all. Magnolia was furious at the time, though."
And she had every right to be.
Forging a family register just to give her a pointless backstory.
From the sound of it, it was a reckless move driven purely by runaway sentiment. Fabricating it must have been an absolute headache, too. They could have simply left Filiestra's parents as 'unknown.'
In fact, it was precisely because Filie deduced that the fictitious parents' register was a forgery that she had resolved to search for her real family.
Whether that had turned out to be a blessing or a curse was impossible to say now.
"Well then, let's get down to brass tacks. What is the Fire Arrow—Irvion? And what is the Restoration Faction planning to do with it?"
"Well, one can guess without even asking."
Cutting over Mercedes's sigh, the rumble of rolling wheels sounded from the entrance.
A tremor shook the building at the same time.
Zoe let out a sharp snort, as if she had been expecting it.
"Looks like the ride I arranged is here. We'll continue this on the way. Truth is, I've already got a solid lead on where young Filie might have been taken. The royal army is on standby to move at a moment's notice, too. Let's move."
Zoe quickly scooped up the documents from the desk and swept out of the conference room.
Rina followed right behind her, and Mercedes rose from her seat as well.
Just as Amae moved to leave a split second later, the emergency magical communication device on her belt began to buzz.
"Who is it from?"
Sensing something unusual, Mercedes asked.
With a look of unmistakable relief washing over her face, Amae answered concisely.
"From Bren-kun."
"What did you say?"
Mercedes swiftly doubled back and peered at Amae's magical communication device.
The screen simply read: I'm safe.
"Looks like he's alive."
"...Well, it is not as though I was worried to begin with."
"Wait. There's more."
Amae swiped down on the screen.
The full message read:
We're short on time, so I'm heading into enemy territory ahead of you. I'll send the coordinates, so bring everyone and meet me here.
Both of them froze.
Amae furrowed her brows in utter bewilderment, while Mercedes buried her face in one hand, thoroughly exasperated.
"...Let us go, Vandenberg-san."
"Uh, wait a second, Mercedes-san."
"That man has a severe punishment coming the moment he gets back..."
Her heels clicking sharply against the floor, Mercedes marched ahead, with Amae quickly snapping out of her stupor to hurry after her.