That afternoon.
Classes at Ashford Academy were relatively relaxed, and the students enjoyed considerable freedom.
Moreover, Britannia had a rigid class hierarchy. As the daughter of a distinguished family, Kallen needed only a suitable excuse to leave class early.
Having established a sickly-girl persona at school, Kallen found it deeply uncomfortable and simply chose to go home and rest.
Yet once she actually stepped through the door, she felt uneasy all over again.
This was not her home, and she had never considered it one. Every time she saw her groveling "birth mother" enduring endless abuse in the enormous house, an inexplicable anger welled up inside her.
She would rather the woman disappeared from her sight. At least then she would feel a little better.
But when she steeled herself and opened the front door, the vast living room was empty.
Kallen frowned.
The Stadtfeld mansion was enormous and took considerable effort to clean. With her stepmother making things difficult as well, this was usually the time when the "cleaner" would be busy at work. Today, however, there was not a sound.
Her wish had actually come true: She might as well disappear from my sight.
Kallen did not want to care, much less worry about where the woman had gone or what she was doing. Yet she could not settle her mind, and for a moment, she found herself growing anxious.
After all, the woman was still her birth mother.
Just then, the house's true mistress emerged from the second floor. She cast a haughty, cold glance at Kallen without speaking.
Her stepmother deeply resented the stray cat her husband had fooled around with, along with that stray cat's child. Naturally, she never treated either of them kindly.
Likewise, Kallen hated her.
But...
After hesitating for a long while, she finally asked her stepmother impatiently:
"Where did she go?"
"How would I know where she went?" Her stepmother snorted, then continued:
"She's a servant, yet she ran off somewhere to slack off before even finishing her work. We might as well fire her! Hmph! To think she once begged on her knees to keep working here. In the end, an Eleven is always an Eleven. They never change!"
Her words were pointed, but she could not curse Kallen to her face, because that would amount to insulting House Stadtfeld and the head of this household. Instead, these veiled attacks had become routine.
Kallen said nothing and turned her head away. Even another glance at the woman would make her sick.
Her stepmother took this as a sign that Kallen was backing down, and a surge of satisfaction filled her.
Once I have a child, I'll drive this lowborn wretch out of the house sooner or later!
Kallen did not know what the woman was thinking, nor did she care. She skirted the hall and headed toward a room tucked away in a corner.
It was a converted storage room, now reserved for a servant.
Her birth mother, in other words.
She opened the door and scanned the room. A frame containing a photograph of Kallen as a child stood on the desk, with a slip of paper tucked beneath it.
Written on it was a shop's address.
"The Tokyo Settlement..."
The shop lay within the Tokyo Settlement, where Britannian nobles and the governor of Area 11 resided.
Why would an Eleven servant go there?
It was certainly prosperous, but it was also the extreme opposite of the world of the Elevens. Most Elevens who could open shops there were Honorary Britannians who had pledged allegiance to the Britannia Empire. Even then, they had to endure humiliation and beatings from anyone, without fighting back.
Nobles there did not even need to report it beforehand if they killed an Eleven!
All they needed was an excuse-an excuse that some insolent Eleven had offended them!
Even a drunken sot retained that most basic "instinct" and would never approach the Tokyo Settlement.
There was no way this address had appeared here by coincidence. Perhaps...
Her identity had been exposed!
If word got out that the eldest daughter of one of the Eight Great Houses was engaged in anti-imperial terrorist activities, her entire family would be implicated.
But something did not quite add up.
If she had been exposed, the Britannia Empire would never use such gentle methods.
They might well have already sent a large force of Knightmares to surround the mansion.
Yet there was no sign of activity nearby...
Kallen calmed down for the moment.
Then she pulled open a drawer. Inside lay a syringe.
She immediately understood why her birth mother had gone there-
"Refrain..."
A drug that let people lose themselves in the past.
This was a "product" sold by Britannian nobles, so going to the Tokyo Settlement to "pick up a supply" made perfect sense.
"Tch!"
Anger stirred inside Kallen.
She had already been utterly disappointed that her birth mother willingly served as a servant in this house. Now she had learned that the woman was using drugs as well...
She's beyond saving!
Fuming, she returned to her bedroom and changed into a black outfit, with jet-black tights covering her legs. She put on a hat and stormed out.
No matter how disappointed she was, she had to bring her mother back. Even if the woman was going to die, she could not die at Britannian hands!
Kallen took the train into the Tokyo Settlement.
Since she was half Britannian and looked more Britannian than otherwise, she entered the bustling central district without any difficulty.
She even made a point of tilting her hat up a little so that the soldiers nearby could see her Britannian features and would not mistake her for someone suspicious.
Judging by her appearance and the brand of her clothes, they would only take her for the daughter of some noble family, out here to enjoy herself.
And one with an exceptional figure and face, at that.
Kallen hurried toward her destination. When she reached the shop listed on the note, the owner spoke to her courteously, as though he had known all along that she would come:
"You're Miss Kallen, correct? Your mother has already paid for two doses. You can take yours home to enjoy, or join your mother in the room we've prepared."
As he spoke, the owner pushed a small box toward Kallen. Inside lay a brand-new syringe.
A flicker of disgust crossed Kallen's face despite herself, but she still took the box and said:
"Take me to her."
"Certainly. This way."
There was an office inside the shop, used for handling staff accounts and managing the ordering system.
At the moment, however, there were no "employees" inside. There was only a man sitting on a sofa drinking tea, and a woman standing behind him.
Kallen's eyes widened.
Although this was her first time seeing the woman, she recognized her uniform-
"A Knight of the Round..."
"Then please, enjoy yourself at your leisure. I guarantee that no one will disturb you."
The owner withdrew and closed the door.
Clearly, those words had not been addressed to Kallen, but to the man.
Kallen realized at once that this was a trap!