The Investigator (?)

It took around half an hour for the knights to clear everyone out. Although, the actual fighting only lasted for about ten minutes, the remaining time was used to take out any stragglers and search the area for any traps.

"Are there any threats left?"

Douglas asked Zircon—Sebastian who shook his head in response.

After receiving a confirmation, Douglas sheathed his sword, followed by his men.

"This place… is a mine?"

"What better way to search for clues pertaining to gemstones than mines?"

"How were you all able to get a hold of this location?"

"There was a fortune teller who told us about this part of the land is "holding that which we seek." After searching records, we found that there was an abandoned mine—or at least, it was supposed to be."

Douglas gestured at the bodies being dragged away by the knights.

Ainslie looked at Douglas weirdly. If it weren't for the mask, then maybe her feelings would've been transmitted to him.

"...You risked such a dangerous trip based on a fortune teller's words? Pardon my words, but isn't that utterly foolish?"

Douglas chuckled.

"If you told me that a couple of weeks ago, then I'd have agreed with you without a hint of doubt."

"What's making you believe in them now?"

"Their ability. Follow me."

Douglas headed deeper into the mine followed by Sebastian and Ainslie. There weren't any other knights that followed them. There were pickaxes scattered all over the place but with just one look, they could tell that the pickaxes weren't recently used.

"We were told that the main culprit behind these incidents couldn't be discovered through the fortunes, but at the very least, it could be said that they weren't here. Our goal here is to find the location of the person responsible for all this."

"I see. The investigator you brought isn't going to ascertain the cause or the effects of the gemstone, but the perpetrator's location instead."

"Well, not exactly."

Once the three of them reached the end of the seemingly never-ending path, he stopped.

"Please look at this symbol on the wall."

Douglas held the torch on his hand closer to the wall for Sebastian and Ainslie to see.

"Some sort of strange emblem?"

"..."

While Ainslie stepped forward to inspect it, Sebastian frowned. Under the illumination of the torch, he could make it out clearly.

Without knowing about his frown, Douglas continued.

"From the information we received, it appears that this is the emblem of this group. And, the maddened people causing trouble are, just regular people who were given these abilities."

The emblem on the wall—a stigma, caused Sebastian to subconsciously raise his left hand to it. Though it was covered by his armor, he knew the symbol better than the back of his hand.

'It's… different.'

Though it was different from his stigma, he could subconsciously feel that it was the same existence. His stigma was based on an arrow, while this stigma looked closer to the head of a beast.

Sebastian had no doubt that he was the only person with a stigma in the entire world, but, what if there were others who could use similar powers?

'Like the gemstones. I don't know any abilities that would help embed them into people and give them powers. I have to make sure first.'

—Ainslie.

Sebastian spoke directly into Ainslie's mind.

—Pry deeper into what they know about the emblem.

Ainslie shot a glance at Sebastian. She already knew about the tattoo on his arm and could also see the resemblance, but, because they were just hired for protection, trying to get more information would be over what they were allowed to do.

"...What do you get out of telling us this, Sir Douglas?"

"Straight to the point, huh…"

Douglas chuckled. Ever since he had met these two next to him, he had been chucking a lot.

"I'll be frank. The major houses can't solve this case—especially not alone. The House of Luna is spearheading the investigations but due to many other problems in different countries, our workforce is limited. However, with the cooperation of Blue Rose, this would be over within just a few months."

"And why haven't you brought the discussion straight to the Blue Rose's representative?"

"Hehe… It isn't exactly easy to get a hold of anyone in your organization, especially not the representative."

Ainslie and Sebastian both grimaced.

'WISTERIA!'

The two of them shouted inside their heads.

They both knew that Wisteria did a lot of paperwork, but a lot of it could be given to the other members. However, there were only a select few who could make contact with the outside world—and in their branch, that was Wisteria.

'That woman… She must've been doing more paperwork so that she doesn't have to go meet anyone.'

She gave off the image that she was always busy, and that led to everyone not asking if she was doing the rest of her duties properly.

Ainslie looked back at Sebastian. After receiving his nod, Ainslie talked, "we'll inform the representative about it."

"You have my thanks."

"In exchange, can you tell us everything you know about this?"

Ainslie pointed at the stigma on the wall.

Douglas hesitated for a second before slowly nodding.

"...Alright. I suppose it won't be a problem if I tell members of Blue Rose."

Members of Blue Rose had a vow of secrecy. No information from their clients would be leaked as that would damage their reputation. However, to their enemies, they show no mercy. If they were to realize that their client was working with an enemy, they would spread information far and wide.

Sebastian and Ainslie had to do a similar job quite a few times already.

…

After leaving behind the majority of the knights and Inheritors along with the wagons that were brought along, Sebastian and Ainslie left with Douglas and the carriage.

"In the end, what was the investigator supposed to do?"

"Ah—well…"

"I can answer that."

At some point, the curtains to the carriage opened and the windows were down.

"S-saintess."

Douglas immediately bowed. Although the carriage was moving, he still stopped to pay respects.

"Please stop the carriage."

"S-stop the carriage!"

Douglas ordered the coachman. Soon after the carriage stopped, Douglas opened the door to the carriage and the saintess stepped out. She reached out to Douglas' outstretched hand and slowly moved to level with Sebastian and Ainslie.

"Nice to meet you. I am the current Saintess, Melody."

Melody flashed a smile at the two of them.

"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, Saintess. You can call me Peridot and this is my partner, Zircon."

"You asked about the reason for my presence, yes? I accompanied everyone here because I was worried about significant casualties but, with the help of you two, there were only a few who were injured. I really have to give you two my thanks."

Melody bowed. Douglas panicked and wanted to stop her but he couldn't bring himself to touch her skin. As a Saintess, she had minimal exposure to the opposite sex and it was a fact that he was aware of. Other than the people of the church who interacted with her on a daily basis and the wounded that she healed, there were nary any men—or even people, in general, that could touch Melody's skin.

It was one thing to lead her out of the carriage, but to grab her by the shoulders was another.

"We were just doing our job."

Sebastian looked at Ainslie from the side.

'She's really good at acting proper…'

It was an act that he wouldn't normally expect from her considering her usual antics.

"The reason that I stepped out of the carriage is because I wanted to talk with the two of you. Can I have a few minutes of your time?"

Melody gestured at the carriage.

Ainslie was hesitating and looked to Sebastian for an answer.

—I don't see any reason to refuse.

With that, Ainslie and Sebastian followed Melody inside after Sebastian handed Douglas his claymore. There was room in the carriage enough for even more people. Ainslie and Sebastian sat on one side while Melody sat on the other. Although they were facing each other, there was still quite a bit of space in between them.

Melody closed the window and shut the curtains.

"Sir Zircon, you aren't actually mute, are you?"

"..."

Sebastian stayed silent.

"It's fine if you don't answer. Just that… I wanted to ask about your ability. While you displayed an ability related to wind, in truth, you were using more than just that."

Ainslie tensed up.

"And how are you so sure about that, Miss Saintess?" Sebastian spoke. He slightly changed his voice as well.

"You have a nice voice, not what I expected from someone I thought to be an adult. The answer is simple, I have a sense of determining the abilities of other people. While Miss Peridot beside you was in complete unison with her power, I could sense your use of wind being awkward—as if you don't use it in your everyday life."

"That's one terrifying ability you hold."

"It isn't much."

Melody smiled.

"What do you want?"

Ainslie said. Only Melody and Sebastian had been talking thus far, it was her first time managing to speak throughout the whole conversation due to her nervousness.

"You see… I've recently taken a child under my wing. Though I say recently, it's actually already been a couple of years. She has a great affinity with healing but there is hesitation in her heart, much like what you hold when using your ability.

"The reason I've called you is for advice, and nothing else. While I don't intend to find out about your true power and why you're hiding it, I ask that you please answer my questions. Of course, this isn't a threat. I will not tell anyone, I can swear it on my title."

Ainslie looked at Sebastian who began talking.

"What do you want to know?"