“I’ve finally found that rat bastard.”

Garcia, who had just arrived at the alley following the blood trail left by Arno, stepped forward confidently with a triumphant smile.

The alley was eerily quiet. Thinking Arno might be hiding somewhere, he searched every nook and cranny, but strangely, only bloodstains remained with no sign of the man himself.

‘…Something’s not right.’

The blood trail ended here. The alley was a dead end, and there were no traces of anyone returning the way they came. As if he had evaporated… Arno was nowhere to be found.

‘What the hell happened?’

As Garcia examined the alley more closely, he discovered a narrow space with faint bloodstains. It was between an old sofa and a desk.

‘Looks like he was hiding here…’

Bending down to observe the bloodstains on the floor, he shook his head and looked around. He was hoping to find something that could serve as a clue.

But all that met his eyes was the empty scenery of the alley.

“Well… This is enough to make ghosts weep.”

Garcia clicked his tongue low, muttering in an exasperated voice.

Arno Terevron had vanished somewhere. As if he had truly evaporated in an instant.

Jurgen, who had set out from the mansion, found Garcia not long after.

He, who had been trudging along with visibly tired steps, brightened up like a dog seeing its master as soon as he spotted Jurgen and scurried over.

“Your Grace!”

“Garcia. What about Arno Terevron? Haven’t caught him yet?”

“Well…”

Garcia smiled awkwardly and raised one hand to scratch the back of his head. His voice continued, mixed with a sigh.

“It’s a bit strange, my lord.”

“Strange? What do you mean?”

“I definitely tracked him down to the end, but… Arno Terevron wasn’t there. It’s like he just vanished into thin air.”

Jurgen, who had been listening silently, raised an eyebrow. He asked in a tone of incomprehension.

“Vanished? How?”

“That’s what I don’t understand… Well, given all the sins he’s committed, maybe an evil spirit took him away.”

“……”

Jurgen, who had been staring into space with a thoughtful expression for a moment, let out a soft sigh. Then he muttered as if to himself.

“I should have brought Jenelly after all.”

“Right?! That’s exactly what I thought! That reclusive loner, when we get back, we need to drag her out of her tower by force if necessary. She takes money from Your Grace but spends day and night on research with little practical use… That guy needs to change.”

“Jenelly’s research isn’t entirely useless. It’s making life more abundant for the people in our territory. It’s just that… he occasionally has bizarre ideas.”

“No, those bizarre ideas aren’t just occasional! Your Grace, you need to stop treating Jenelly like a pampered cat!”

“You should stop bullying Jenelly all the time. You might end up covered in his dye and looking ridiculous.”

“W-would you stop me if that happens?”

Ignoring Garcia’s words, Jurgen turned on his heel and walked away. Garcia, inevitably scurrying after him, whined with a dejected expression.

“Your Grace, no matter what, considering how long we’ve known each other, shouldn’t you naturally take my side? You’re being too cold-hearted.”

Jurgen consistently ignored him regardless. Garcia suddenly realized that the direction Jurgen was walking seemed familiar. It was the very route he had followed while tracking Arno’s traces.

When he glanced up, sure enough, stigmata had appeared in Jurgen’s golden eyes.

Garcia thought ‘As expected…’ and quickly lowered his gaze. It was best not to disturb Jurgen when he was concentrating on using his ‘power’.

Jurgen, blessed by Vüs, the god of wisdom and madness, could use some of that deity’s powers, including ‘looking into the other side of the world’ as he was doing now.

For instance, seeing an enemy’s weakness, finding what Jurgen called ‘echoes of space’, or detecting lies… Jurgen could sense things that ordinary people couldn’t.

“Is this the place?”

Jurgen asked, stopping at the entrance of the alley in question. Garcia nodded and answered, “Yes, it is.”

Jurgen slowly moved his steps, following the faint bloodstains on the ground just as Garcia had done.

And as Garcia had expected, he stopped in front of the narrow space between the sofa and the desk.

As he silently surveyed the spot and its surroundings, a question arose in Jurgen’s eyes.

“This is strange.”

“Right? It’s like he suddenly disappeared, as I said. There are no footprints or anything indicating he left the alley.”

“That’s true, but there was also another person here.”

“…Pardon?”

Surprised by this unexpected information, Garcia blinked and asked blankly. Jurgen answered while staring intently at a certain spot in the alley.

“Not an accomplice, it seems. Arno Terevron was initially pleased, but soon became gripped by fear. And then betrayal…”

“Can, can you see something? A face, perhaps?”

“No, I can only read the emotions left in this place. If a murder had occurred here, the memories left in the place would be clearer, but that doesn’t seem to be the case.”

“Then… is Arno Terevron still alive?”

“He might be, or he might not. For now, it’s certain that he wasn’t killed in this alley.”

“Well… He’s certainly tenacious. It’s always guys like him who survive like cockroaches. If Her Highness knew, she’d be furious… I don’t know much, but it seems they have a deep-rooted bad blood.”

“……”

Jurgen, who had paused at Garcia’s worried voice, remained eerily silent for a moment before abruptly throwing out an unexpected question.

“When did you two get so close?”

“Pardon? What do you mean?”

“You and Vanessa.”

“……?”

Garcia’s face, momentarily frozen, gradually showed an expression of disbelief. His lips quivered before he asked in a voice tinged with bewilderment.

“Your Grace, are you… are you jealous right now?”

In response, Jurgen glared at Garcia with obvious displeasure before brushing past him. He warned in a voice chilling enough to raise goosebumps.

“Don’t get unnecessarily close. That’s not why I assigned you to her.”

“I don’t understand what ‘unnecessarily’ means here? And even now, we’re just exchanging a few words!”

Garcia protested as he scurried after Jurgen, but as usual, he was ignored.

✦ ✦ ✦

“…My lord, what are you doing?”

The day before the audience with the Emperor. Vanessa was taking a walk in the mansion’s garden, desperately waiting for contact from Duke Evanwood.

Given yesterday’s unfortunate incident, she had been forbidden from going out today. She expected that much, so she could accept it.

She had repeatedly questioned Jurgen about his mention of the ‘curse of misfortune’, which kept bothering her, but to no avail. As always, he maintained an iron wall attitude, refusing to tell Vanessa anything she was curious about.

Adding to Vanessa’s already irritated nerves was Garcia, who was keeping his distance today with an oddly disciplined posture.

He had always approached her casually, but today he remained quiet throughout, which Vanessa actually appreciated. However, she couldn’t stand him following her with stiff, creaking movements like a toy soldier.

Finally, Vanessa snapped at Garcia in a prickly tone.

“Sir Garcia, what have you been doing? Why are you walking like that? Are you a wooden puppet?”

“Shhh, while I’m extremely grateful that you spoke to me first, please ignore me from now on. I shouldn’t engage in unnecessary chatter with Your Highness.”

“Why are you doing something so unlike you…”

As Vanessa muttered in confusion, she suddenly realized something. Her face immediately lit up with delight as she praised Garcia in an excited voice.

“Sir Garcia! You’ve finally decided to relearn chivalry and etiquette! Well done!”

“……”

Faced with Vanessa’s misunderstanding, Garcia blinked his eyes with an expression of utter bewilderment. Then he replied in a slightly grumpy tone.

“That’s not it. I’d like nothing more than to chat with Your Highness. But our Duke, without any self-awareness, told me not to get too close to you… Or maybe he’s aware but just ignoring it.”

“……? What are you talking about? What did Jurgen do?”

“He told me not to get too close to you, the Duke did.”

Hearing this, Vanessa stood dumbfounded for a moment before her eyes sharpened as if she had come to a realization.

She spoke with a slightly furrowed brow, in a somewhat dejected tone.

“He must be worried that I might have a bad influence on you.”

“Pardon?”

“I know. That I bring misfortune. Maybe it’s not just me who’s unlucky, but I might be dragging others around me into it too… The Duke must be worried about that. You’ve been especially close to him since your days as a battle slave.”

“What? Wait, you’re misunderstanding something… Your Highness?”

As Vanessa strode ahead with unusually rough and quick steps, Garcia hurriedly followed, exchanging glances with Renee.

Despite recognizing the question in Garcia’s eyes, Renee could only shrug her shoulders, unable to provide an answer.

“Your Highness!”

Garcia rushed towards Vanessa, who had finally tripped and fallen, with a shocked expression.