Inside the villa at 28 Kinster Street in Cherwood Borough.
Abner had planned to gather the Film Company's "shareholders" for dinner and discuss company business and what came next.
But Hazel, Fanny, and Helene had yet to return. Instead, Xio, the busiest of them all, arrived first.
—Hazel's father, Senator Macht, had agreed to put up some of his shares in several newspapers as collateral for his investment after seeing the sample footage; Fanny had transferred some of her grandfather's properties in Backlund to Abner in exchange for shares in the Film Company; and Xio managed Princess Vera's investments on her behalf... In short, they really were all shareholders.
"...Besides giving me these valuable documents, Her Highness entrusted me with another task that looks quite simple." After taking a sip of the black tea Mrs. Scudder had prepared, Xio recounted everything that had happened in Vera's office.
It only looks simple... A task worth as much as a Sequence 5 advancement ritual must have some deeper purpose...
And who exactly is this Princess Vera, who never appeared in the original story? From Xio's earlier descriptions of her behavior, her attitude toward the Loen Royal Family seems rather complicated.
Abner frowned. Leaving the information on the Intis nobles aside for now, he picked up the box covered in various runes and examined it.
"The effects and levels of these runes are all over the place, as if an amateur stuck them on at random...
"But if they really were placed at random, they couldn't possibly remain stable... What's more, these runes really are sealing whatever's inside the box."
With that thought, Abner activated the Pure White Eye and studied it for a while before setting the box back on the coffee table. He pondered:
*I can't see through this seal... Not