Early evening, as the sun slowly tilted towards the western mountains.
While the ground was never free from incidents and accidents due to all sorts of battles and conflicts, the sky always watched over them quietly with an unchanging appearance.
Rosha left the mansion just as the clouds embroidered above her head began to be tinged with vermilion.
Indeed, a large black carriage was parked next to the wall near the main gate.
"It's been a while, Lady Roshanak. Have you been well?"
As she approached, a familiar man sitting in the driver's seat bowed his head.
"Ah, nice to see you. Your name is... Lovell?"
"That's correct. I thought you might have forgotten since it's been so long, but this is truly an honor."
He scratched the back of his head awkwardly but smiled happily.
Lovell was Froy's subordinate who had participated in the second trial that took place in the Lykaon Marquis territory in the past.
The reason she still remembered him after so much time had passed was that Lovell was one of the few people who subtly sassed Froy.
"It really has been a long time. What have you been up to?"
"For the past few months, I've been in the Barcel Duchy. I've been very busy digging up this and that on my master's orders. Anyway, please get in quickly, I feel like the back of my head has been tingling for a while now. Haha."
As he opened the door, Froy, who was already inside, reached out his hand to welcome her.
"It seems my subordinate has said some unnecessary things, just ignore it, Rosha. Did you sneak out of the mansion well?"
"Yes. I chose clothes that wouldn't stand out too."
"Well done."
Rosha looked at Froy, who was not stingy with praise, unlike when dealing with Lovell.
He was dressed in black as always, but wore a short cloak with a hood over his top.
It seems he too was aware that his appearance stood out.
'Where on earth are we going?'
Soon, the carriage began to move.
She sent a look asking him to tell her the destination, but he just smiled suspiciously.
"...Are you really not going to tell me where we're going?"
"You'll know when we get there. It's not that difficult."
To mention it now, she was repaying her previous debt to Froy.
You know, in exchange for Froy readily lending his mansion in the 'Plan to Break Through the Belice Mansion!', she was to coordinate with his plan without complaint.
Rosha, suppressing her curiosity, fiddled with the edge of the carriage curtain and muttered.
"If it's something that needs to be secret, wouldn't it be better to move using your ability?"
It didn't seem like covering the windows with curtains would lower the chances of being discovered.
But Froy's opinion was different.
"If you use your ability everywhere just because you have it, doesn't your sense of reality gradually dull? The world starts to feel too easy... I don't like that."
"That's right. Sometimes it feels like I'm floating. That's why I try to live normally unless it's absolutely necessary."
If an ability suddenly appeared one day, couldn't it suddenly disappear too?
Moreover, she didn't want to feel superior for having the ability to kill.
Rosha, resting her chin on the back of her hand, muttered somewhat self-deprecatingly.
"I'm a fire magician with the strongest firepower among magicians, and if I wanted to, I could blow up the capital in an instant. But that's not really something to brag about, is it?"
"Why not?"
"Wouldn't it be scary to have someone around who could kill you at any time?"
It was fortunate that the current Emperor was Illien, otherwise she would have no right to complain even if her every move was monitored.
Just like in the previous world.
'Back then, it was natural for the state to control ability users for being dangerous...'
At that moment, Froy slightly pulled aside the closed curtain.
They seemed to be passing through a bustling area, and the peaceful daily lives of people could be seen.
Although the things being sold might be different from before the trials began, the lively atmosphere was almost the same.
"You protected that scene with that ability."
"...Ah."
"Fire, as you said, can burn everything, but if used properly, it's more useful than anything else. You could have used your ability in other ways, but the fact that you used it to save people is admirable."
"...You're saying only good things. I think Froy would have done the same."
"No. I wouldn't have. I..."
He looked at the setting sun as if lost in thought.
The red glow of sunset spread across the sky. The sun's rays are strongest in the afternoon, but it's undoubtedly at sunset when the sun exudes its most majestic presence.
Numerous emotions flashed across his purple eyes.
But having skillfully sorted out the whirlpool of emotions, he soon smiled slightly and said:
"Anyway, let's take a cue from the setting sun and struggle to the end like that."
"It seems like you're changing the subject."
"And there's a reason I chose a carriage. This matter, while it appears to be done in secret, is ultimately something that needs to be discovered."
"...What?"
Then what was all that lengthy talk earlier about?
* * *
Rosha had only recently learned this, but after each trial ends, small festivals are held in the marketplaces of major cities to celebrate survival.
But this trial was particularly talked about in society.
It was because of the real existence of the water dragon and merpeople.
"I heard somewhere... Are there really mermaids?"
"That's what they say. The son of the grocery store who just returned from being dispatched to the border area said he saw it clearly with his own two eyes. Even though the trial has ended, they're still in the lake."
"My goodness, to think mermaids that only appeared in fairy tales actually exist. I wonder if we could still see them if we rushed to the border area now?"
"Well, you could see them. If you can get past the strict surveillance of the imperial army, that is."
"I was quite a nimble soldier back in my day... Couldn't we manage somehow?"
"Are you up to something?"
Rosha rummaged through the items laid out on the street stalls while listening to the merchants' chatter.
From demonic beast scales and teeth to several small magic stones, necklaces that glow after being handled a few times, to unidentifiable ore fragments.
"If you look carefully, there are surprisingly good items."
"That's right! Ho ho, you have a good eye, customer. If you have any questions, I'd be happy to explain."
The street vendor who quickly responded to her words directed at Froy resumed his chat with the bowl merchant next to him.
The bowl merchant, who claimed to be a former nimble soldier, was already imagining breaking through the border surveillance and approaching the lake.
'That won't work because Hajin is guarding it.'
Currently, the lake in the border area is off-limits to the general public under the pretext that the water dragon might go berserk at any time, but in reality, it's to maintain the concealment curtain hiding the rift stably.
Since it's her former companion guarding that concealment curtain, they won't be able to approach the lake evading surveillance.
"Are you going to buy that?"
Froy immediately paid for the metal fragment Rosha had picked up after much deliberation.
He said he would buy everything she chose in the marketplace since he had brought her, which was a good offer for her.
'It would be nice if I could buy decent items like just now with luck.'
The metal fragment she just purchased was a kind of alloy material, which looked like it could be used for Cassis's sacred relic if done well.
Even if it didn't work, it was fine because it was so cheap.
As she looked at the stalls while passing through the crowded alley, Rosha asked:
"So, is it okay to just look around like this?"
"For now."
Froy, with his hood pulled down, seemed leisurely like an idle rich man, with no clue as to what he was aiming for. He even commented on each item Rosha's gaze fell upon.
What could be the thing he mentioned, that appears to be done in secret but ultimately needs to be discovered?
It was then.
'Hm?'
Suddenly, a suspicious presence caught her senses.
As she reflexively turned her head, she saw someone's movement slipping into an alley with a swish.
It was a clearly different attitude from the ordinary people passing through the marketplace.
'This is too suspicious.'
Without needing to weigh anything else, Rosha immediately dashed into the alley.