「But that's not all. According to a crew member—」

Patricia couldn't finish her words. Selyse of the Four Stars of the East stood alone behind Kudyastoria. Normally, it would be knights guarding her, but having a skilled woman might come in handy. Since all members of the Order were men, Selyse was selected.

Kudyastoria was a down-to-earth person, so she got along with Selyse. The adventurer could remain here in this important meeting because the queen wished for it. Kudyastoria thought adventurers might notice signs of danger that knights couldn't.

Hmm? Selyse sensed someone's presence up on the roof.

「Your Majesty!」

Selyse quickly pulled Kudyastoria close and leaped back. The skylight shattered. Something was falling from above. A person crashed on the round table along with pieces of gla.s.s. Guards rushed to protect their lords, a few drawing their swords. A figure clad in a black cloak was on the table.

「Who the h.e.l.l are you?!」a guard demanded.

「Can't you tell?」the silver-masked stranger answered.

The m.u.f.fled voice sounded familiar to Selyse, but she couldn't identify who it belonged to specifically.

「This here is a spy from the Ruined Continent.」

The masked boy lifted up what appeared to be cloth, revealing an unconscious man with purple skin.

「It can't be!」Patricia exclaimed.「It matches the information we got from the fisherman. He said most of the people from the Ruined Continent had purple skin. But who are you?」She s.h.i.+fted her gaze towards the boy.

「He is a guard that I hired.」Kaglai interjected.「Splendid job, Silver Face.」

「Silver Face! Why are you working for Quinbland?!」Marquedo asked, shocked.

「It just happened.」

「It just happened? Then how about just happening to work for Forestia?」

「Wait a minute. You two know this guy?」Patricia asked, baffled.

Silver Face tossed the cloth that the spy used to cover himself.

「I think it's an optical camouflage magic item. You should study this technology properly if you don't want to get destroyed.」

「What do you mean? Opti… cal what?」

「I suggest you let this country's Magic Item Specialists take a look at it. See you around.」

「Hey, wait—」

Silver Face jumped off the table and went straight to the gla.s.s door that led to the balcony.

「Roland?」Kudyastoria called.

Silver Face's shoulders twitched.

「That is not my name.」

He went out the balcony and leaped into the air. The guards rushed to him, but he was already gone.

「I want a proper explanation from you, Kaglai.」

「What is there to explain? I hired a skilled bodyguard. That is all. We have more pressing matters at hand. What do we do with this spy?」

The unconscious man still lay on the table, along with the cloth created using unknown technology.

Kudyastoria breathed a small sigh. She was staying at one of the rooms in the state guest house.

The meeting had been temporarily suspended, as they needed to confirm the ident.i.ty of the spy and examine the piece of cloth.

Patricia provided an explanation for the people of the Ruined Continent having purple skin. Those who colonized the continent had normal skin colors; fair and white, yellowish, and some tanned, but none of them purple.

The Supreme Leader learned of the invaders' skin color from the fisherman who brought her the letter. Her conjecture was as follows: the people who were left behind survived the monsters' onslaught, and later came in contact with the natives of the continent. If these natives had purple skin, then that would explain the skin color.

「What's wrong, Your Majesty? You've been sighing nonstop.」

Her personal attendants were by her side at the moment. Civil officials and the Foreign Minister were resting in a different room. Selyse stood guard in a corner of the room.

「I'm fine. Something's just bothering me.」 she said.「I know. Selyse.」

「Yes, Your Majesty?」Selyse drew closer to Kudyastoria's side.

「That Silver Face person seemed strong. What do you think?」

「Hmm, I think you're right. He is strong. But I don't know how skilled he is unless I actually fight him.」

「Is he stronger than Lawrence?」

「The Captain of the Order?」The question caught Selyse off guard.

Even with the dispute with Einbeast over, and the ceasefire with the Prince, the coals of conflict still smoldered in the Kingdom. The Royal Capital falling would spell disaster, so the Captain of the Order of the Knights, Lawrence D. Falcon, who wished to accompany Kudyastoria to Vireocean, was ordered to stay behind. Lawrence was a symbol of the Kingdom's might and the person Kudyastoria trusted the most.

Shouldn't the Captain be obviously stronger? Selyse thought. The Queen's question sounded innocent. She genuinely just wanted to know who was stronger.

「I haven't sparred with the Captain, so I wouldn't know.」

「But you fought the commanding officers, right?」

When Selyse was asked to come as an escort, the knights vehemently opposed the idea. To dispel their concern, Selyse fought them and won convincingly. Next, the commanding officers challenged her and lost, though it wasn't a crus.h.i.+ng defeat. They had no choice but to acknowledge her strength, albeit begrudgingly.

「Then the Captain is stronger.」

「I see…」Kudyastoria nodded, though she didn't appear convinced.

「With all due respect, Your Majesty, have you met this Silver Face fellow?」

The Queen went silent. After a while, she spoke.「Yes. I think I met him before.」

「Did he introduce himself as Roland?」

「No. He does not even remotely resemble Roland, but for some reason, I always think it's him.」

「Who is this Roland?」

She was silent once more.「A n.o.ble who's no longer with us.」

「I… see.」

Selyse had absolutely no idea why Kudyastoria thought Silver Face was Roland when he was dead. She also didn't know that Hikaru, wearing a Sun G.o.d mask, fought the Captain of the Order before and won.

Even though he wore a different mask now, Kudyastoria had a hunch that the boy who defeated Lawrence and Silver Face were the same person. She believed that her hunch was right.

「It must be fate.」

Selyse was already back by the wall. None heard Kudyastoria's words.