The conversation, which had been going on for a while, came to an end with the 2nd Princess Hedera asking a simple greeting, and then Tether and Agnes were sent down below.
So, it was just Ezekiel and Hedera left together.
Gulp!
Ezekiel thought quietly to himself, ‘Agnes, you have no sense of the situation.’
The atmosphere wasn’t great since Agnes had irritated Hedera’s mood, but it wasn’t entirely surprising. Agnes had always been expressionless, following the manual to the letter.
Simply put, it meant she sometimes lacked awareness.
It was then that Hedera opened her mouth.
“Now, all that’s left is to ask the Inspector.”
“I will do my best to answer anything.”
“During this outing, you performed while dressed as part of the family.”
“…”
The first question caught him off guard.
He had expected the atmosphere to become oddly heavy, but he hadn’t imagined the princess would be that observant.
“Well, maybe I should see it as a stroke of luck.”
Thinking back to the last atmosphere he had examined within the Imperial Family, he figured other princesses must have been paying attention too. Thank goodness it was just Hedera who noticed and asked.
“Did you perhaps have something with the Inspector’s personal secretary—”
“Tether hurriedly brought me clothes, but since they were what we distributed during the disaster, only family clothing was left. I had no choice but to wear them.”
“Hmm.”
“I had to hide my identity, so there was no other way.”
He emphasized ‘had no choice,’ making it sound just right.
It truly wasn’t a lie, so he didn’t feel guilty about it at all. Perhaps his sincerity had reached her, as Hedera nodded in apparent understanding.
“Well… I guess that makes sense.”
Hedera’s expression visibly relaxed.
Was she more concerned about this part than the performance of the Imperial Magic Tower? The 3rd Princess must be on fire with jealousy, and he felt he needed to be more cautious going forward.
It seemed like they had cleared up the misunderstanding.
However, Hedera’s words were not over yet.
“Inspector.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“Can I ask you to do something light for me?”
“Yes, of course.”
Hedera blinked slowly.
“Just spewing the first word that comes to mind when I say something, without even asking what it is. That’s my Inspector.”
“Well, since it’s Your Highness’s command.”
“…I truly appreciate it.”
Her voice became slightly softer.
“Just move your lips lightly. When I say something, just say the first word that pops into your head.”
Hearing that, it didn’t seem like a hard task at all.
However, Hedera cautiously added one thing.
“Can I use Dragon Speech?”
“Yes, that’s fine.”
Even if it was a bit daunting to rely on Dragon Speech, he didn’t think it would remind him of anything he couldn’t face. It was better to grant her permission and gain Hedera’s trust.
Hedera slowly lowered her mask.
“My Inspector will now say whatever first comes to mind after hearing each word I say.”
At the same time, the unique energy of Dragon Speech enveloped him.
Whoosh!
‘She’s stronger than before.’
The power Hedera wielded through Dragon Speech had surged significantly. It wasn’t just Ezekiel who was growing stronger; it seemed that others were too.
“Then, let’s start.”
“Yes.”
Ezekiel nodded, mentally steeling himself.
If a really difficult question came up, he’d try to resist the Dragon Speech as much as possible, which was a similar mindset to the one he held now.
But…
The questions that followed were surprisingly easy.
“Tether?”
“The 2nd Princess’s secretary.”
“Agnes?”
“My secretary.”
“Imperial Magic Tower?”
“Work.”
“1st Princess?”
“Scary.”
“…Alright. Now for the last one.”
Hedera took a breath and looked at him seriously. The moment he wondered what kind of question awaited him.
Finally, Hedera parted her lips.
“I, Hedera.”
Whooooosh!
With that, the power of Dragon Speech, exponentially increased, bore down upon him. Hedera had suddenly intensified her grip.
‘…!’
Caught off guard by the sudden change, he couldn’t resist, and before he knew it, he blurted out the first thought that came to his mind.
“…Happy?”
Immediately after saying that, the shift in the surrounding atmosphere bewildered him.
The cold gaze she had shown before completely vanished, now replaced by gentle eyes looking at him.
“That’s right, my Inspector is indeed correct.”
Finally, Hedera smiled.
“…You worked hard. My Inspector.”
In the conference room below.
‘Well, I managed to get through that safely.’
Thinking he had passed the biggest hurdle of the outing, he felt relieved until suddenly Agnes apologized.
“Inspector, I’m sorry. It seems I unintentionally made the 2nd Princess uncomfortable.”
“That happens.”
“I’ve never faced someone so precious before, so I sincerely apologize if it affected you, Inspector.”
Ezekiel waved his hand dismissively as if it was no big deal.
“I’m fine, you know. If it worries you that much, you can just do even better when you next meet the Princess.”
Only then did Agnes start to feel an odd sense of unease.
‘…Why am I apologizing to the Inspector?’
Upon reflection, it felt strange. After all, it was the 2nd Princess who had made things uncomfortable. Therefore, it would have been more appropriate to apologize to the 2nd Princess instead.
No, she needed to go further back in thought.
‘Why did I even say that?’
Agnes was a woman who acted strictly by the manual.
She knew better than anyone what status Hedera held, and how to show the proper respect to such a precious person. The manuals were overflowing about how to behave towards her.
Erase oneself, obey the will, uphold manners… Agnes had openly broken all of those.
She hadn’t been able to suppress her own self.
Why?
Agnes’s question was simply, why.
Why, as someone who valued and loved following the manual above all else, had she broken it?
‘…Because of the Inspector?’
Gradually, she pinpointed the cause. It was thanks to Ezekiel.
She had always approached life with the strategies outlined in her manual, but now, for the first time, she began to act according to her heart’s desires. Change was arising in her life.
Could the Inspector be slowly changing her life?
…It felt strange. Truly strange.
Regardless, dismissing her thoughts, Agnes asked.
“Inspector, what should we do now?”
“Well… honestly, it wouldn’t be an issue if we returned right now.”
“Yes? Isn’t the presentation at the exchange meeting still pending?”
Agnes tilted her head slightly.
“It feels a bit wrong to leave without participating, doesn’t it? Of course, even if we do participate, it’s a big deal because the Imperial Tower only has you who is remarkable, and we don’t have much to present.”
Ezekiel looked back at her with a look that said he didn’t understand.
“How could there be better presentation materials than that?”
Ezekiel gestured towards a corner with his chin.
Hanging from the tip of an icy spear was the corpse of Teddy Divine, and beside it sat the purified demonic sword.
“Just showcase that.”
“Ah….”
Now that he thought about it, that made sense.
“The troublesome presentation issue has been resolved. So, shall we proceed to return to the Imperial Tower right this moment?”
“Agnes, what do you think we should do?”
“Hmm.”
Agnes spun the cube with one hand.
“Since we’ve gained an incredible advantage and resolved the troublesome presentation… I feel like we should quickly return to avoid any difficulties that might arise.”
“No, no.”
Ezekiel shook his head emphatically.
“Are you really going to settle for just this much and go back? No way.”
“…”
Agnes blinked her eyes, expressionless.
“Does that mean there’s more to gain here?”
“Of course there is.”
Ezekiel nodded.
“You haven’t yet grasped the vision technique, right?”
“Ah, the vision technique…!”
Agnes rarely expressed admiration. Yet, she still tilted her head as if uncertainty remained.
“Um, Inspector.”
“Yes?”
“When we extracted the magic from the Blue Tower, didn’t we utilize a confrontation method?”
“That’s right. It wasn’t a duel we proposed, though.”
“Back then, there was an unspoken disregard for the Imperial Tower, and there was no trust directed towards it. But now, hasn’t the situation changed completely?”
Agnes spun the cube, her movements swift.
“No one seems likely to make a move anymore.”
“My secretary often says things that are frustrating.”
With a frozen palm, Ezekiel lightly tapped Agnes’s neck. She let out a Hiiiii! sound as her body shook.
“What, what are you doing?!”
“Magic doesn’t have to be shown through fighting, does it?”
Murmuring that, Ezekiel stepped forward.
“Everyone, attention!”
In the center of the round table, the icy spear stood upright.
“After a 10-minute break, we will hear presentations from each tower. Everyone, please prepare diligently and present yourself.”
“…”
What?
Was there such a method?
Agnes wondered if she had been thinking too hard.
No. That wasn’t it.
…The Inspector was simply making difficult things extremely easy. Consistently.
Agnes quietly observed the atmosphere of the different towers.
And she was taken aback.
Faces filled with discomfort, expressions she’d seen before.
It felt uncomfortably similar to the atmosphere of university students facing a very awkward group project during their academy days.
“…That’s fascinating. Truly fascinating.”
There was nothing else to say.
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