Ansu and Vera arrived at the school in the afternoon. Everyone they passed was already heading home.
"Looks like it's almost over." Vera held Ansu's hand and looked around, her bright blue eyes full of curiosity.
"Can't be helped. We slept in too late." Ansu looked at the students packing up their stalls. Many were selling little trinkets related to their majors.
"Brother's the one who slept in. I got up early!" Vera corrected him.
"Mm..."
"Hey, isn't that Ansu?" Some upperclasswomen from his department spotted him wandering around with his little sister and smiled as they called out to him.
"What an adorable little girl. Is she your sister?"
"She is." Ansu smiled and greeted them, then led Vera over to their stall and looked at the wares.
His major was alchemical chemistry, but the things these upperclasswomen were selling didn't seem to have much to do with it. They were all cute decorations, even plush toys.
"Do you like anything?" Ansu instinctively glanced at his sister, thinking he'd pick out a cute plushie for her.
Vera simply shook her head. "Boring! I don't like childish things like these."
Seeing the girls chatting enthusiastically with Ansu, she grabbed her brother's hand and led him away.
"Come on, brother! Let's see what's over there. It looks like they have something interesting."
Ansu could only give the upperclasswomen an apologetic look.
Vera dragged him to a stall with few people around. As luck would have it, Kevin was there, looking glum as he packed up his wares.
"Kevin?" Ansu looked at him in confusion. "Weren't you supposed to perform in the assembly hall? Why are you running a stall?"
"Come on, look at the time!" Kevin pointed at the three o'clock sun. "Everything wrapped up this morning. After my performance, I came over to watch the stall for an upperclassman."
"Right..."
"Wait, the Open Day's almost over. Why are you only showing up now, Ansu?" Kevin glanced at Ansu's sister and saw her squatting on the ground, curiously picking through the little trinkets on the stall.
"Huh? So Vera likes this kind of thing?"
"Yeah!" Vera nodded and picked out one she liked. "Kevin, how much is this?"
Having such a cute little girl call him brother pleased Kevin. He glanced at Ansu. "Well... Since you're his sister, I'll give you a forty percent discount. Five pounds!"
"Five pounds? What the hell, are you robbing people?" Ansu stared in disbelief. He took the trinket from his sister and held it up to the sun for a closer look.
What Kevin was selling really was a specialty of their major: a glass orb mounted on a brass base. A tiny alchemical reaction inside made it change from red to yellow and back again, like fireworks. At first glance, it was quite pretty.
But to Ansu, there was nothing technically impressive about the device. He clicked his tongue. "Don't try to fleece people who don't know any better. Maybe you can fool a little girl, but you can't fool me."
"Uh..." Kevin looked a little embarrassed. It couldn't be helped; the upperclassmen had set the prices, specifically for tourists who didn't know anything about the subject. "How about half price, then? I can't go any lower."
Ansu handed the little alchemical device back to Vera, who was delighted with it, then tossed Kevin fifty pence. "That'll do. It costs less than half that to make."
"Huh? You're robbing me, Ansu!"
Ansu left Kevin with nothing but his back and casually waved goodbye.
"Don't think you got ripped off. I saved your life today, after all, and I haven't even charged you a rescue fee!"
Kevin stared at Ansu's retreating figure, puzzled. "Saved my life? When did that happen...?"
"What are you even talking about... Hey! Hey, don't go!"
Ansu and Vera wandered all over the Royal Academy. With the event nearly over, there wasn't much left worth seeing, but Vera was still excited the whole way. It had been a long time since she'd gone out with her brother.
After leaving the school, Ansu took Vera shopping until evening, bought her several pretty dresses, and treated her to a big meal. Only then did they head home together, chatting and laughing.
After a full day of fun, Vera was exhausted and went to bed early. Once he'd washed up, Ansu opened his bedroom door, ready to turn in as well.
But as soon as he opened it, he saw Cecilia sitting in his chair, legs crossed, eyes narrowed as she studied him.
"W-Witch?" She startled him every time. "Why are you back all of a sudden?"
Hadn't she said she was going back to The Order to deal with something? Had she finished so quickly?
Had she killed them all? That was efficient.
"You look like you had a pretty good day!"
"Mm..." Ansu nodded. "I went shopping with my sister today."
"Oh, shopping with your sister?" Cecilia knew the siblings were close and didn't think much of it. She smiled and teased him, "I thought you'd gone to see Freya. That must be why you're so happy."
"How could that be? The Saintess and I aren't like that. Why would we go shopping?" Ansu immediately denied it, then asked, "It's so late. Did you need something, Witch?"
"Of course." Cecilia stood up and gave him a mysterious smile. "Come with me to The Order's headquarters. My teacher wants to see you."
Ansu froze. Samantha wanted to see him?
The gloomy, two-faced acting leader from the simulation had left quite an impression on him.
Cecilia's teacher wasn't an easy person to deal with. Ansu immediately became wary. This time, I have to keep a low profile...
"When I got back, I told my teacher straight away about the Reformist Faction elder's plot with Terry. The Church's arrest of Terry today confirmed the plot, and my teacher was furious." After leaving Ansu's home, Cecilia glanced down the dark street and spoke quietly:
"We dealt with the traitors in the Truth Faction first, but we won't let the other faction's elder off, either. That's what we're meeting to discuss today."
"Also, my teacher heard that you helped me and became quite curious about you. She insisted on meeting you today."
Ansu furrowed his brow, wondering what Samantha was up to. Was it because he'd done them a favor... and she wanted to promote him?
Cecilia led the way, with Ansu following close behind. A black carriage was waiting across the street.
"Get in. It's a bit of a journey."
Ansu instinctively glanced at the coachman. He looked rough and ordinary, and hadn't looked Ansu's way once.
Once they were aboard, the carriage rolled out of Benalu City and raced along the night road toward the outskirts.
A cold, salty sea breeze drifted in. The carriage passed an abandoned fishing harbor and finally stopped in front of a sprawling Seaside Winery. The headquarters was probably one of The Order's properties.
Seeing Cecilia arrive with someone, the estate's attendants didn't stop them. They bowed respectfully.
The attendants led them to a vast underground wine cellar that had been converted for their purposes.
Ansu peered inside from the entrance and saw many cultists gathered together, dressed in black robes and wearing metal masks.
"Put this on." Cecilia handed him a silver metal mask, then put on a gold one herself.
The masks of Echo of Truth came in different ranks. Ansu noticed that most were silver, like his, while a few who seemed to be elders or administrators wore gold masks like Cecilia's.
Ansu put on the mask and followed Cecilia into the gathering of cultists.
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