Where Is He?

In the Black Prison, Semir's face was ashen as he faced Little Barney and Belleti's questioning, as if he had suffered a devastating blow.

Watching this scene of former comrades turning against each other, Tales gained a deeper, more profound understanding of the Royal Guard and the Year of Blood.

No matter who had betrayed whom, no matter what the truth was, it seemed certain that when the Royal Guard of the Star Kingdom faced that shocking assassination at Revival Palace, the Guard itself had already been riddled with problems.

But that was not the key.

Betrayal was far more than a process in which allies turned against each other and close friends drifted apart. Beneath the simplest, most superficial trigger, there was often a far deeper truth.

In the Northern Land, Lumba's rebellion had stemmed from the fierce backlash after the Born King's might descended upon Exeter. The Dark Chamber's wavering had in fact been a rational choice after Exeter's Royal Authority declined. The Dead Crow's betrayal, meanwhile, had taken root in the lingering poison of King Noon's old methods of maneuvering between powers.

In the Star Kingdom, the Duke of the North's usurpation plot had always revolved around the struggle between the Radiant Star Royal Family and House Arendt over Dragonbreak Fortress and the northern borderlands of the Star Kingdom. The collective conspiracy of nobles such as Cavendil and Nanshuister, the "New Star" faction, reflected their expectations and ambitions regarding the distribution of power in this country.

Even Bladefang Camp, which was so chaotic that it had made it convenient for external enemies to infiltrate and had left Tales himself in dire straits—was it not also an arena of complex, ever-changing, vaguely hostile yet mutually dependent competition and cooperation between Baron Bladefang and the Duke of the Western