In the early morning, in one of the large guest rooms in the Redwing palace…

Will, Greaves, Lian and Alicia are sitting on a fine upholstered couch. On a very similar couch across them are Niklaus, and Shien, both of them sitting with their arms crossed, though Shien also is also hugging his spear's shaft and resting his injured foot's ankle on his knee. With his fingers interlocked and his elbows on his knees while leaning forward towards the table between them all, Sir Vinis is sitting in a chair with two maids standing just behind him. He silently watches Will examine one of the metal objects that Shien almost ran across.

Two plumed guards that were present at the gate stand at attention just behind Niklaus and Shien with tight-lipped grimaces, despite everyone else aside from Sir Vinis being quite relaxed. His eyes occasionally snap to someone at random with a cold and calculating gaze. Amidst it all, Nona sits in the chair on the other side of the table straight across from Sir Vinis. Her amber eyes jump left and right between the couches, the top of her hammerhead resting on the ground while she holds the hammer's grip. Her face appears visibly confused, and even a little uncomfortable.

Clunk.

Will sets the twisting metal down on the table between them, and straightens out. He adjusts his glasses with his middle finger, pushing them up his nose.

「…Caltrops. I've never seen them before, but I read and heard about them. Bandits like to use them in some places. They're used to slow and injure pursuers, like Shien was.」

He explains, turning his gaze to Sir Vinis, then looking at Shien's foot resting on his knee. The tall spearman only reacts by opening his eyes and gazing back at him with a cold expression.

「So we are dealing with a bandit?…」

Sir Vinis asks, spreading his hands before leaning back in his chair.

「No… At least, I don't think so. Bandits fashion their caltrops out of nails. It's pretty cheap and easy. Hard to trace, too. Everyone needs nails after all. These are custom-made from the start.」

Will gently shakes his head in reply, crossing his arms as he looks at the caltrop on the table. His bespectacled eyes turn to the grappling hook, and its coiled rope beside it.

「…Not to mention, there's the grappling hook. That's a little too specialized for a bandit. An adventurer might have something like this, sure… But that leaves the question of the daggers.」

He adds as he continues talking, nodding his head at the hook. Will turns his eyes to Shien, then the two plumed guards.

「Are you sure they were ice? Absolutely certain?」

His eyes jump between the three, and he quickly adjusts his glasses again.

「Yes. When I blocked them, they shattered and I felt cold water on my face.」

Shien calmly nods his head and replies.

「When the lamp outside broke, I stepped on a piece. I thought it was glass at first, but it looked weird. It was cold.」

「Yeah, I can confirm. It was definitely ice.」

The two guards say, nodding their heads as well while their red plumes jiggle gently.

「I have to say, it's a clever use of ice magic… Even a dabbling mage could pull it off, given enough time.」

Will remarks, lowering his head as he thinks and rubs his chin.

「…Are you sure you don't want me to heal your foot?」

Alicia asks, looking at Shien, tilting her head a little.

「No, it's already almost healed-」

「Ah, you don't need to worry about him…」

Lian cuts in, interrupting her brother's reply with a smug smile on her face, also hugging her spear the same way, though with her legs casually crossed.

「…He's more of a lizard than man now. Not like he was much of the latter to begin with, but… He'll be fine.」

She adds, turning her black eyes to Alicia sitting beside her. Shien looks at his sister with a calm and collected face, though with a disapproving gaze

「Let me just clarify… The man that you arrested last night is not the intruder, correct?」

Sir Vinis asks, looking directly at Niklaus.

「Yes. I was informed about the situation at the time of his arrest. He admits to multiple burglary thefts, but none of the mysterious break-ins, including the one at your manor, Sir Vinis.」

Niklaus nods his hatted head in reply, holding onto its brim before he explains.

「I see… And you are sure that it was a woman?」

Sir Vinis turns his eyes to Shien. The two lock their gazes, staring coldly at each other.

「Absolutely certain. She sounded like a woman, moved like a woman, her frame was that of a woman, she even smelled like a woman.」

Shien calmly replies as he looks at Sir Vinis. His last words cause the women at the table to glance at each other, including the maids.

「Smelled?… You mean you were close enough to smell her?」

Will asks, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

「Not quite… The closest I've got to her was still well outside of my spear's reach. My sense of smell is simply quite sharp, and I could tell.」

「…How?」

He asks again, furrowing his brows.

「Sweat. I'm sure even though you're not conscious of it, you are aware that sweat of men and women smells different-」

Shien calmly explains, causing some consternation amidst the men, and the women to turn their gazes away. Only Lian appears unfazed, though her brows are raised too.

「Hey! Stop smelling Alicia, you weirdo!」

Greaves shouts, pointing his finger at Shien from across the table. With her brows furrowed, Alicia sniffs her hands, then pulls the collar of her robes closer and gives that a few sniffs too.

「…Greaves, am I smelly?-」

She asks, turning her concerned face to Greaves beside her.

「No, Alicia! You smell like pretty flowers or inn food all the time! Don't listen to what her weirdo brother says!」

Greaves immediately shakes his spiky orange head and looks up at Lian, who only returns a silent gaze with her arms crossed.

「…In any case, I could easily tell. Though… There was another smell coming from her… Like an animal. A wolf, or a large dog perhaps. It's hard to tell, and I don't fully remember now.」

Shien nonchalantly continues, concluding his previous explanation.

「So she was stinky. Are you saying she was not the type to take baths?」

Greaves asks, crossing his arms as he glares at the tall woman-smeller with his mouth aslant.

「No, I am saying that she smelled like an animal. Maybe she works with them, or was in contact with one lately. It was very faint, anyhow.」

The spearman replies, shaking his black head and jiggling his ponytail with it.

「Ahhh… That's not a whole lot to go on, is it?」

Will lets out long exasperated sigh, and looks at the guards, Niklaus, Shien, and Sir Vinis for a few moments each.

「…Unfortunately. I never thought someone would be as bold as to try and break in here. For now, I will recall the mercenaries the queen has hired back to the capital to bolster security.」

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Sir Vinis nods, helplessly spreading his hands.

「That's a good idea. We still have no idea what her motive was… Shouldn't Straf and the queen be returning soon?」

Will asks as he adjusts his glasses.

「Around this time, yes. Provided nothing went wrong, of course.」

Sir Vinis replies, nodding his head with his fingers interlocked in his lap, leisurely reclined in his chair.

「…We'll see what we can do, but I think it's best if we wait for Straf.」「Tsk… That guy again…」

Will shrugs, and stands up. Greaves turns his head away and clicks his tongue.

「Look, I don't like him either, but you can't deny he gets results. She might be an assassin after the queen. I'd rather swallow my pride and let him do his job than get her killed.」

Will spreads his arms, then grabs his staff resting against the back of their couch. Greaves, Lian and Alicia stand up. A few moments after that, so does Niklaus, Nona, and the rest.

「I will trust you to secure these as evidence… In the name of her majesty, please, find the perpetrator quickly. We must make an example out of this woman.」

Sir Vinis says to Niklaus as he points his hand at the grappling hook and the caltrop on the table, though he then turns his eyes to the rest and speaks broadly to everyone gathered.

「…I don't like the implications of what you are saying, but something like this can't go unpunished. We'll do what we can. Let's go Greaves, Alicia…」

Will adjusts his glasses, staring at Sir Vinis with a serious face before returning a resigned shrug. He turns away to leave, looks over his shoulder at his party, and gestures with his head…

…

Around the same time, in an unassuming house in the capital…

「Ahhhh… What a mess…」

A woman in a baggy cloth hat on her black head remarks, and throws the door shut behind her. She shambles up to the table, takes a seat, and hides her face in her arms as she slumps down.

「Ah, you're back…」

Sparrow says, peeking out from the small kitchen beyond a corner. Pigeons coo softly above.

「…You seem to say that quite often, Stripe.」

She adds with a light smile as she joins the woman at the table, taking a seat as well.

「…Because nothing ever goes well for me.」

Stripe replies, grumbling with her face hidden behind her forearms and forehead resting on the table.

「You caused quite a stir today. I think half the Ministry of Security is around the palace now.」

Sparrow nonchalantly says, casually swinging her foot off her crossed legs beneath the table as she looks at the window to the street.

「I know…」

With her head still on the table, the woman in a hat replies, and lets out a large, listless sigh.

「Think of it this way, you made it out and you're alive. I'd say it went pretty well.」

「Well, I wish I wasn't…」

Stripe replies in a sullen, dejected voice.

「Don't say that. You can always try again. Your plan was pretty ridiculous to begin with. You barely had any preparation. You should be thanking her Divine Embodiment.」

Sparrow shrugs, then spreads her hands with a gentle smile.

「…Hey. Do you have some poison?」

She asks after a brief pause.

「Hm? Poisons?… I might have a few. Why?」

Sparrow tilts her head, and looks back towards the kitchen as she asks.

「Can you make me a tea and pour all of it in? Thank you…」

Stripe nonchalantly says as if she was making an order at a cafe, all without raising her head to look at Sparrow, then her shoulders slump.

「Stripe…」

Sparrow rolls her eyes with a big, troubled sigh.

「…It's not the end of the world. If it was a simple acquisition task, or an assassination, I'm sure you'd be done long ago.」

She adds, shrugging.

「Yeah, because I'm only good for that type of stuff… I had to hide from a patrol inside a room, and it just so happened that there was this spearman inside…」

「And?」

「…And, he asked me who I was, and what I was doing there…」

Stripe says, then pushes herself upright with her clawed hands.

「…I told him I'm a chimney sweep! Because he was sitting in front of a lit fireplace! Some quick thinking for a spy!」

She shouts, spreading her arms.

Thud!…

She slams her forehead back down onto the table, and covers her head with her arms.

「Keep your voice down…」

Sparrow sighs again, softly chiding her.

「…I honestly have no idea why they assigned this to you. I know for a fact that you're doing your best, and I can vouch for that.」

She adds in a calm, soothing tone.

「That doesn't mean anything. They want results… They'll probably recall me any minute now…」

Stripe grumbles with her head low and covered.

「If a message does come, I'll simply send them a return one saying that you were given an impossible task. Straf Katastrof Vindict isn't dead to begin with. They know nothing.」

「Impossible task… What does it matter? They probably gave it to me on purpose so I can inevitably fail, and they can order me to kill myself as a penalty…」

Stripe scoffs, covering her head up further as she adds a side-shield of elbows.

「…If it turns out they do want you to kill yourself, you should just run.」

Sparrow declares with a serious voice, causing Stripe to lift her head from her arms, looking at her with furrowed brows and surprised golden eyes.

「…Sparrow, you're encouraging insubordination.」

Stripe says, blinking at her with a massively perplexed face. The hatted woman's oval pupils are nearly perfectly round, but not quite, slightly skewed to a vertical shape.

「Yes, I am… It can be our little secret. Frankly, I don't believe they'd do that. You'd sooner be reassigned elsewhere after a questioning… But if it does happen…」

The woman with flowing hair nods her head, smiling at Stripe with her arms crossed. She shrugs, speaking calmly as she lowers her gaze down at the table.

「…Well, let's not think too much about what ifs. I need to get to work. My fake one. You should stay away for a little while.」

Sparrow adds, standing up.

「What!? You too!?」

Stripe nearly jumps out of her seat in shock, staring at Sparrow with her golden eyes wide-open.

「Just for a little while, Stripe. A week or two, until things settle down. It's dangerous. I want to make sure you are not being tracked or investigated.」

She replies, smiling warmly at her as she walks back to the kitchen.

「But… But what should I do then!?」

Stripe asks, spreading her arms as she stands up.

「Isn't it obvious? Lay low for a while, let the heat die down. If a message comes, I'll leave a coded copy in dead drop A or B.」

Sparrow tilts her head while she explains, and disappears within the kitchen.

「…But I don't have anything to do.」

Stripe grumbles as she shambles for the door.

「Wouldn't it be a good time to find a fake job?-」

Sparrow asks, peeking her smiling face out of the kitchen corner while the door is swinging shut.

Thud.

「Ah, there she goes…」

She says, and lets out a long sigh while packing an assortment of meats into a handheld storage box…