While Kiole sipped his tea, Madam Bishu told several stories. They seemed like nothing special at first, but if one listened closely, they were laced with subtle hints.

Places they should see first. Places they must not set foot in. People to watch out for. People they could ask for help.

Every single one of those details was crucial to them now.

Finally, when Kiole set down the cup after drinking the last sip, Madam Bishu stood gracefully and bowed her head.

“Then I shall take my leave and wait for you to summon me again.”

Instead of thanking her, Kiole simply gave a small nod. He had been taught that not expressing excessive gratitude was the proper demeanor of a Diarca noble. Madam Bishu smiled faintly at that gesture and stepped out with the tray.

Using a sliver of wind power, Yuder caught her soft mutter as she walked away.

“—Ah. He truly is of that man’s blood. I couldn’t believe the rumors had changed... Yes. This is how it should be. This is right...”

“Um... Would it be all right to ask if we’re done now...?”

At the same moment, Kiole glanced over nervously and asked. Kishiar, who had likely caught Madam Bishu’s muttering as well, chuckled silently.

“Yes. Well done. Now we can head out. According to Madam Bishu, the first place we should visit is the pond in the back garden.”

Kiole visibly relaxed and sprang to his feet. As they followed after him, Kishiar murmured softly enough that Kiole wouldn’t hear.

“Like the Faceless Demon Statue.”

“Pardon?”

“It’s a rather unusual sculpture in the Grand Temple. They intentionally left the face and some body parts uncolored and mangled, so you can’t tell who it depicts. There was so much controversy—whether it represented the Sun God or a heretical deity—that fights broke out over it.”

Eventually, the temple announced an official stance that they wouldn’t confirm the sculpture’s identity, so people could see in it whatever they wanted. The pope at the time left a personal note stating that any statue causing humans to fight couldn’t possibly be of the Sun God—and that he’d rather call it a demon. So, from then on, the sculpture became known as the “Faceless Demon Statue.”

“Even now, there are still people who secretly insist their view is the correct one and get into fights about it.”

The statue itself has no life. It can’t know what people believe it to be. Yet the people who look at it continue to see what they want—and fight over it forever.

Kishiar’s story was exactly what Yuder had been thinking earlier as he watched people misunderstand Kiole.

“I thought something similar myself. That guy’s very existence seems to expose the kinds of prejudice people carry... That’s the impression I got.”

“Very much your kind of summary.”

Kishiar smiled gently. They didn’t continue the topic any further and walked in silence. But Yuder didn’t completely put Kishiar’s story about the Faceless Demon Statue out of his mind.

Those who saw it as the Sun God, those who saw it as a heretical god, and those who believed it was a demon all fought believing they were right...

Right now, the people who misunderstood Kiole were all trapped in their own biases and situations, so there was no opportunity for them to cross paths and talk.

But could that kind of convenient situation really last forever?

Some would believe Kiole was after the Diarca dukedom. Some would suspect he was acting to rebel against the family. Others would believe he was someone who cared more for nobles than anyone else, while still others would think he supported Awakeners and commoners.

What would happen when those misunderstandings clashed?

What then?

The pond in the rear garden, the place Madam Bishu had said to visit first, was in full bloom with crimson flowers. Even the small pergola roof, built for comfortable viewing, was adorned with blossoms and looked rather beautiful.

Of course, none of the people observing it seemed particularly interested in the flowers’ beauty.

“Mm... mmgh...!”

Kiole had gone into the pergola and was circling around with the snuffbox Duke Diarca had given him in hand. He seemed to think that if he kept doing that, something related to the secret vault might appear. Since there was no harm in trying, the other three left him alone and investigated the surroundings separately.

Yuder crouched near the pond to take a closer look at the flowers. Given his background, he was fairly knowledgeable about plants, but these flashy blooms were completely unfamiliar to him.

Which probably means...

At that moment, he asked Nathan Zuckerman, who happened to be passing behind him.

“Do you know what these flowers are called?”

“Ruby Ellaria.”

“I see. Are they perhaps a mage-engineered variant?”

In Yuder’s experience, any plant he didn’t recognize was usually some kind of magically modified cultivar. That prejudice seemed to be correct again, as Nathan Zuckerman nodded.

“To my knowledge, yes.”

“One of the magically engineered flower breeds based on lilies.”

Kishiar suddenly chimed in to add an explanation.

“They’re difficult to cultivate, so you rarely see them planted in such large numbers. And they don’t match the current trend among noble gardening enthusiasts either.”

According to him, the current fashion favored vine plants with white patterns on their leaves over large, flashy flowers. Yuder, who paid little attention to trends, had never heard that before.

...Vine plants? There were some clinging to the walls of the Cavalry’s medical division. Those are trendy?

Of course, those vines were practically useful since their leaves could be used in medicine. But they didn’t have the kind of beauty nobles usually favored. Kishiar, reading the confusion in Yuder’s expression, cheerfully added further explanation.

“Vines can be grown to climb sculptures, elegant pillars, or buildings. When someone with good aesthetic sense arranges them, they become something to show off. Plus, the white patterns on the leaves vary in shape, so particularly unusual ones can fetch absurd prices.”

“...I find that hard to grasp, but I see.”

“That trend actually started with the Cavalry’s outer wall.”

Yuder was slightly startled when Kishiar suddenly mentioned the outer wall he’d just been thinking about.

“...You’re not joking?”

“I’m not. As the Cavalry’s status rose and the ceremonial uniforms we wore became fashionable, even the vines growing on our outer walls started drawing attention.”

The Cavalry was located within the grounds of the Imperial Guard, a place frequented by many nobles. The Cavalry had raised the vines for practical reasons, but to onlookers from afar, it appeared to be the Duke of Peleta’s personal taste.

Apparently, the desire to imitate Duke Peleta—who had led so many trends—and the increasingly favorable image of the Cavalry had come together to birth a new fashion trend.

In my previous life, something like this would’ve been unthinkable.

Yuder turned to Nathan Zuckerman.

“Did you know?”

“This is the first I’m hearing of it.”

Judging by his expression, Nathan Zuckerman also found this ridiculous trend hard to understand. Seeing the looks on both his deputy and aide’s faces, Kishiar let out a low laugh.

“Anyway, Ruby Ellaria. I knew someone who loved these flowers dearly. Seeing them here really brings back memories.”

Yuder detected a subtle chill behind Kishiar’s smile. Whenever Kishiar exuded that kind of coldness, it usually had to do with one of his longtime enemies.

Duke Diarca? No. If it were him, Kiole would’ve reacted too. Then someone else...

Given that they’d only recently dug into the identity of Kiole’s mother, it likely wasn’t Langretsi either. In that case...

...Was it someone from the family that sent Langretsi away?

He wanted to ask, but decided to hold his tongue until they’d finished investigating everything.

“I checked everything... but I didn’t find anything.”

Kiole approached with slumped shoulders, having turned up nothing.

“We didn’t find anything in particular either. Seems we’ve seen all there is to see here. Shall we head to the next place?”

They proceeded to the second location Madam Bishu had recommended—a separate annex that appeared just past the pond.

Around the annex were several lifelike animal sculptures, placed in various spots. A lion dozing with closed eyes in the bushes, a deer with gracefully outstretched antlers, hawks and doves perched together in the trees—together, they created a paradise-like scene.

“Still no reaction...! I guess the secret vault isn’t here either...”

As Kiole once again held out the snuffbox in search of the secret vault, Yuder silently observed the sculptures.