"Excuse me... I would like to go to the toilet......"

In an isolated, no-window room of the Mana Train, I gingerly raised my hand. The two seasoned royal knights—they'd been guarding the entrance—shot their glares as soon I raised my voice.

Honestly, even saying 'isolated room' was underplaying the moment I was in right now. The word 'prison', one that's used to escort Class A criminals, would describe this better.  Not that I had wanted to, but regardless of my wish, the top brass forced me to take the brand new ticket.

"Again? ...But it hasn't even been thirty minutes since your last time, Allen Rovenne."

"Ayo, sorry for the trouble, chief, but I am afraid my pollakiuria is just getting worse... Ehehe."

"...Tch. Stop talking in that weird tone."

I was so fed up with being treated like some heinous criminal that I couldn't help myself from imitating a rogue thief to ease my stress. One of them, an overly stuffy Royal Knight, clicked his tongue at my manner, and hollered 'he wants to go to the toilet!' facing the passage.

"Copy that!" Immediately, a testy voice replied back from the passage.  For a few moments, the sound of something striking against the floor or ceiling echoed, as if someone was checking the integrity of the bridge.

It had been five minutes before the clanking sound finally stopped.

"Err... when can we do it? I am just that close to wetting myself."

"You have to wait. The visibility here is too bad, and that risks a bandit or thief jumping on you. So, nothing can be done until we're in an open plain. If it's too late... no one will complain even if you let it as it is."

"Indeed. No one will raise a voice against nature's call."

Mujikka-sensei remarked with a dubious expression. She had been next to me, and for some really god-knows-what-in-the-hell reason, our hands were handcuffed to each other.

"......You all are crazy."

◆◆◆

The old western mansion at the outskirts of Rosemieur's Capital.

"At long last, Princess Katalina's effort has finally drawn out Allen Rovenne in the public... but boy, I wasn't expecting the catch to be so big."

The husky voice old-man remarked glumily, breaking the ice. It had everyone at the round table subconsciously glancing at the witch-hat woman—Katalina.

In contrast to their last meeting, today, they'd been joined by four more participants, hitting the nine members count.

The prying eyes of other, national or foreign, forces were still a threat, but the newfound information was something they couldn't wait to verify. Their cause remained the same—Allen Rovenne.

At the centre of everyone's attention, Katalina off-handedly narrated the information she had acquired.

"—"Spirits reside in everyone's heart." This is the explanation I received from Mujikka. It makes no sense? Is she looking down on us? Now, this may be the thoughts of everyone, but I fear even Mujikka has yet to truly understand the words. With this, it's clear the groundbreaking research Allen Rovenne had made progress in isn't shared with even the royalty. This one really does make you turn your head. Did it never cross him that it might have seen him as a traitor? He truly isn't one of sane mind for sure."

Katalina made her statement, then said 'Frankly, I just can't see through his thoughts. I give up.' as a closing remark. A bitter smile tugged on her lips as shrugged wryly.

For a moment, no one said anything as they let those words sink in. Then, the silence was broken by Zest, the man who had a cap pulled down to his eye level. He slammed his fist on the table, his teeth grinding against each other.

"Are you saying we should just believe in that crap...?! What do we even know about them! Allen Rovenne even refused to explain anything!"

—By signing a pact with spirit, even the talentless one can acquire the ability to use proper magic.

Allen's display of prowess was like a smack to the generational research. It had shaken—no, toppled everything they knew about magic. The very fundamental itself. It was an outlandish discovery.

There's no way they could accept it as 'oops, our knowledge was defective.'

The waves rose, and even the tournament committee, which had been composed of participant nation's members, raised their doubt over unfair practice. By threatening to disqualify Yuglia, they'd cornered them to reveal about spirit magic before them.

As the audience began to feel like today's attraction was but a sham, Allen, annoyed by the high-handed use of authority by higher-ups, denounced the claim flatly.

«I only stepped up to participate because of the Martin-senpai situation. By the way, I do not buy the resolution regarding the incident. To begin with, all I did was play around with fire, so I don't get the fuss over it. ...You guys really want to make a molehill out of a mole. Anyway, we had enough  fun. Now, I don't give a shit about ranking or disqualification. Do whatever you want.» He gave a clear cut reply, and leaving behind the dumbfounded spectators, he immediately left the venue.

An old lady with weathered two-handed staff sighed deeply, and shook her head.

"Haa... coming this far, it doesn't matter what a spirit is. Allen Rovenne had been evaluated as someone with 'no talent for attribute conversion' by tournament authority after a strict evaluation. It's impossible they managed to sneak in mana tools. But what we saw—sandstorm, blowing mist, and an unfettered control over fire—clearly defied that. This is an unshakable fact."

"W-wait a minute. What if they'd hidden mana tool somewhere before the mat—"

Zest tried to argue, but the Old Lady shrugged and objected.

"Did you forget? Allen Rovenne's participation was decided urgently at the eve of the match, after we'd executed our plan. Are you saying they somehow managed to sneak inside the field, and hide mana tools. And not only that, despite the high-profile match it was, no one even managed to catch a whiff of cheating despite the whole match duration? If they somehow have made that breakthrough, it's a major problem in itself."

Zest had no rebuttal against it, however it didn't stop him from feeling frustrated as he bit on his lips. His hand, curled into fist, trembled as if to show his inner mood.

Unable to come up with a rebuttal, Zest bit on his lip. His hand, curled into fist, shook.

"Alright now, I know what you're trying to imply, Zest. After all, being able to use attribute magic is proof of being god's chosen being. It's the obligation of the chosen ones to lead the commoners, and history is the proof of it. It's our pride of being the 'Chosen One' that is the foundation of our ideal. What will even be left of our own if it turns out what made us special was... no more special. If every second person managed to get their hand on the same special, I wouldn't put it behind us to lose ourselves in insanity. No, then it would no longer be about I—but us, and the whole organisation."

The hoarse voiced old-man supported Zest's claim. The explanation earned a nod from the old woman.

"......Anyway, the baseline is that we mustn't acknowledge that fact. And Allen Rovenne's refusal to put any word on the matter is to our cause. ...You may as well believe we're sitting under a bomb, and its fuse is in Allen Rovenne's hand."

The old lady remarked with a sour expression. The implication was clear, with every participant nodding in understanding.

Zest did display his annoyance, but even he had to accept that Allen Rovenne never bothered with them. He never tried to unmask 'his' true identity either.

But, as much he accepted that fact, behind the nonchalancy, Allen Rovenne managed to twist their arm, he—no, Allen Rovenne used his exchange with Prince Castice as bait and drove his blade right where it hurts.

In just one calculated move, brought them to their knees.

Now, even if they'd wanted to deal with that somehow, the situation had already spiraled out of their control. It's merely a matter of time before what happened at the stage of the Rising Dragon Tournament spread out to the entire continent.

He hated him to guts, but he had to admit. Allen Rovenne played out his cards at the impeccable timing, so much so that they were helpless against him.

A deafening silence covered the entire room. It kept on until the hooded man shattered it with a cough.

"...It can't be helped. It's truly amazing how long he had managed to hide his fangs without anyone catching up to that. I guess we should accept that we've been exposed to him. It's impossible to tell since how long he had seen through us, and how much of it was in his calculation. He reminds me of masters of stratagem that appears in legend. ...Incidentally, do we know why he refused to explain? I mean, if he had flat out explained 'anyone can be like him', he could've easily doomed our organisation, in literal sense."

Everyone glanced at each other, and shook their heads. He had them by their throat, leaving no room for counterattack, and yet, he didn't deliver that one final blow.

"...He spared us out of purpose. I wonder if he did so to make use of us later down the line. ...If there's negotiation, It's not a problem entertaining, but in case he tries to boss around... he must be eliminated at all cost. Unfortunately, Mamushi has set this on me. At this point, I fear an esteemed father wouldn't overlook any travesty. I may not be able to take any action. I wonder if anyone else can—"

Katalina proposed assassination, however she was stopped by hooden man.

"We need not to hurry in. I believe he has his own reason why he didn't clear things there. If I am not wrong, he's currently researching a new attribute named wind, right? If this is indeed an attribute never heard before, maybe it explains why he can use emission magic despite having no talent for attribute conversion."

Hearing the explanation, the hoarse voiced old-man squinted his eyes.

"Mhm...... Let's say he is the holder of a new attribute, then he doesn't contradict our ideals. If anything, the fact that he has such talent, and an unprecedented attribute means—"

The hoarse voice old-man cut off his words there. But, catching the implication in his words, the other participants raised their faces. Their faces dyed in astonishment.

The hooded man gave a gentle chuckle.

"In contrast to the other Original Fives, Dosperior lineage often lacks the progeny with talent for emission magic. The chances drop the closer they're to the roots of their ancestor. It's one of the reasons we have always been like oil and water... but this is different. Perhaps, we have been too narrowed in our views, a misunderstanding too big to cover the actual truth."

Katalina's eyes peeled to their limit, astounded. Her lips drew in sarcasm.

"What now, are you implying the envoy of salvation we have been waiting for will appear from the Dosperior family—our mortal enemy?"

The hooded man raised his palm, and shook his head.

"It's but one of many hypotheses. It's not on our whims to decide. The time will tell—"

He erased his smile and ran his gaze across everyone present.

"Whether he's the mortal enemy who will attempt to destroy us, or be the 'Envoy' against all odds."

T/N - Sorry guys, I was out of town and missed out last week update. I will updating them, and this week soon.