Annan and Kyle fell silent at the same time.
"Bat Brother, something's wrong with your spell."
"I've never heard..." Kyle murmured, his expression changing. "I've never heard that the Purification Court Head was actually with the Blade of Freedom..."
"This is just a misunderstanding. I've been studying the art of acting lately, and I figured that to catch the Blade of Freedom, I first had to understand how they think. So I imagined myself as one of them—"
Before he could finish, the spell let out a piercing buzz.
Annan fell silent. It seemed he had to choose between killing Kyle to keep him quiet and coming clean...
Little Bat wore the amused look of a cat toying with a mouse. "What do you think the King would do if he learned his loyal Purification Court Head was actually with the Blade of Freedom?"
"All right, I'll come clean. I'm Annan."
"If you're Annan, then I'm—" Kyle stopped. This time, the spell hadn't buzzed. He stared at Annan, unnerved.
Annan dropped his disguise and greeted him helplessly. "Long time no see, Little Bat."
The nickname stirred memories from long ago.
To Kyle's embarrassment, those memories were actually rather damn fond!
Kyle gritted his teeth. "What are you doing here?"
"Something different from what you're doing, anyway."
Kyle wasn't stupid—no one believed a Legendary Mage could be. After a moment's thought, he understood what Annan was after.
"You think pretending to be a Kingdom loyalist and harassing me will drive me to Free City?"
"I know Little Bat is a cow—careful man, but coming to the New Royal Capital now wasn't wise. I'm helping you."
Kyle said with a sneer, "The Grand Duke hired me. He and I are much closer than you and I are."
Even so, Little Bat let