"What?" Grisha's eyes widened. "You betrayed your own family?"
"A noble family isn't quite what you imagine. My only relative is my father. As for the rest of them... they're more like enemies. They killed my mother."
"That's complicated."
"Nobles are complicated—stupid and stubborn. Only when you put a knife to their throats will they wake up a little..."
"But the scones are delicious."
Grisha nodded as well. "The scones really are delicious."
The two ate scones together, both wearing happy expressions.
"Grisha, why did you come to the Northern Territory? I was assigned a mission by the lord, but you're just a kid, aren't you? Are you a Transcendence?"
"How could that be? What Transcendence is a child?" Grisha shook his head. "I came to help Sister Gwen, to help her Resistance Army."
"Didn't the Resistance Army all withdraw?"
"But Sister Gwen didn't leave. If Sister Gwen hasn't left, then the war isn't over, and the resistance hasn't stopped. I'm going to help her!"
"But how are you going to help her? Go find Archbishop Alexei?"
Grisha suddenly deflated. He spoke in a low voice, "I don't know how to help her either... If I went looking for other people, I'd only be sent back. Actually, if I hadn't met you, I probably would've been caught too..."
"No, I think it was already amazing that you managed to sneak onto the train..."
"That's because Blood Port is by the sea. Friends in the ocean helped me."
"Friends in the ocean?"
"They seem to be things like sunken ships and Steam Engines. They're called ship souls? Machine Souls? Um, I don't really understand. It seems to be something unique to Castel."
"Is that so?" Hunter scratched his head. He did not know much about Castel either. After arriving on the