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Eastern District of Itogami Island. Behind Exhibition Park stood an abandoned abbey known as Adelard's Abbey.
"We're here."
Staring at the abbey walls, still smeared with black ash, Ryo spoke calmly.
"Looks like we got here a bit early."
He scanned the area. There was no sign of anyone from the Aldegyr Kingdom.
From that alone, it was clear La Folia still hadn't fully figured out Kanon Kanase's situation.
Heh. The old king's people were impressively loyal. Hiding an illegitimate daughter outside the country for over ten years without a single leak took some effort.
Behind him, Sayaka asked nervously, "Your Majesty… you didn't come here to meet someone again, did you?"
Ryo glanced back and smiled. "What do you think?"
Sayaka's face twisted, and she asked carefully, "It's not the Second Primogenitor, right? Or… the First?"
After all, even the Third Primogenitor addressed Ryo as her master. By now, Sayaka had mentally prepared herself for the idea that the four Primogenitors were basically on the same side.
"Not quite," Ryo said, shaking his head.
Just as she was about to relax, he added, "Though the future's hard to say. The Second has shown some interest, at least."
"..."
So he really had considered pulling in the other two as well?
And what did "the Second has shown interest" even mean? Aside from the Lost Warlord, were the other Primogenitors already on his side?
Sayaka's face flushed as countless questions piled up in her head. But she didn't dare ask any of them.
She finally understood.
"You know too much" was a phrase invented for people exactly like her.
She had no desire to die young just because she'd overheard something she shouldn't have.
Unfortunately for her, secrets had a way of chasing people down.
"Not curious why I came here?" Ryo asked. "Hm? And why are you covering your ears?"
He paused, looking at Sayaka with both hands pressed firmly over them.
"Please don't tell me," she said, on the verge of tears. "I'm worried I'll get silenced."
"Hm?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. "Didn't the Lion King Organization already tell you that you belong to me now? I won't harm my people."
His tone carried a pointed meaning.
"Ah…" Sayaka froze, then slowly lowered her hands. She let out a long breath and patted her well-developed chest in relief.
"Then I'm safe."
She knew the difference between insiders and outsiders. At that moment, she felt genuinely grateful that the Lion King Organization had already sold her out.
If they hadn't, she'd be in real trouble.
"Back to the point," Ryo said with a smile. "Take a guess. Why did I come to this abbey?"
"A deva? Or maybe some special species you plan to use as a test subject for the Cleansing experiment?"
Sayaka answered quickly.
Having listened to Ryo's entire conversation with the Third Primogenitor, she had a rough idea of where his interests lay.
"Close enough."
As he approached the abbey, Ryo explained calmly.
"The Adelard's Abbey. It was secretly funded by the King of Aldegyr and managed by Nina Adelard, a great alchemist descended from Hermes Trismegistus."
"Huh? Aldegyr, a northern Valkyrie kingdom, secretly working with a great alchemist to build an abbey in Itogami Island?" Sayaka said, already feeling a headache coming on.
Aldegyr alone was bad enough.
Nina was the Great Alchemist of Old - Nina Adelard of Palmia, rumored to have lived for over two centuries.
Two completely unrelated forces teaming up to build an abbey on Itogami Island. Anyone who said there was no secret here was lying.
"So what were they trying to do together?" Sayaka asked.
"It wasn't exactly teamwork," Ryo said, shrugging as he stepped over the broken wall into the courtyard. "More like mutual benefit."
"The Aldegian king wanted to hide the illegitimate daughter he kept. Nina Adelard wanted to monitor the island and use its geomantic layout to suppress the Wiseman's Spirit Blood. Their goals lined up nicely."
As he spoke, cats began to appear in his field of vision.
British Shorthairs, orange tabbies, and countless mixed-breed kittens crawled out from corners, bushes, and behind half-collapsed, charred walls. Meowing softly, they stared at Ryo with curiosity.
"Why are there so many cats?" Sayaka asked, fighting the urge to pet one.
'Oooh~ Poking a cat's belly felt a lot like poking Yukina's cheek in the middle of the night,' she added mentally.
"They belong to the illegitimate daughter," Ryo replied casually, then smiled. "She seems to really like cats."
Sayaka looked around the abbey. It clearly had survived some kind of massive fire and was badly damaged, but the grounds were huge.
"I guess this is a pretty convenient place to raise them," she said, finally understanding.
Itogami Island was artificial, after all. Land was precious. Finding a space this big just to keep cats would normally be a nightmare.
"So your goal is the lost princess?" Sayaka asked, puzzled. "But Aldegyr probably won't back down, will they?"
At that moment, Ryo gently nudged aside a stray cat that ran up asking for attention and smiled, "Is Aldegyr strong?"
Sayaka fell silent.
The Valkyrie Kingdom of Aldegyr had fought the Warlord's Empire for years without falling behind.
But everyone with eyes knew the truth.
That was only because the Lost Warlord himself never stepped onto the battlefield.
If a Primogenitor acted personally, Aldegyr would collapse without question.
One person was enough to wipe out a nation.
That was why Primogenitors stood at the top of this world.
And Ryo wasn't just any Primogenitor. He was the Fourth, often called the strongest.
In his eyes, Aldegyr was weak.
With that in mind, Ryo's objective became obvious.
"So the Wiseman's Blood and that great alchemist are your real targets?" Sayaka asked.
"Exactly," Ryo replied. "The pinnacle of alchemy, the Wiseman's Blood. I can't think of a better experimental material than that."
Wiseman's Blood has the ability to grant immortality. It transforms the user's body into a dark, metallic substance, creating an immutable form that cannot age, fall ill, or die. As long as this substance remains intact, the body cannot be destroyed. Moreover, while bonded with it, the user gains access to seemingly infinite magical energy.
A machine god and an alchemical lifeform. They went together surprisingly well.
In an excellent mood, Ryo walked into the abbey, opened a back door from the yard, and entered the main hall.
Sayaka followed closely. Soon, they stood in a vast space where the prayer benches had been removed, leaving nothing but open ground converted into a cat shelter.
Among the cats, they saw a girl with short silver-white hair and an exceptionally pure presence. She wore a light-colored sailor-style dress.
She was Kanon Kanase. The Aldegian princess left behind in the world.
.
.
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