'............I don't know what you're doing ...... at all.'

Eva put a finger to her forehead and sighed deeply.
The Footprints of the Beginning, the deputy clan master has a wide network of contacts. In particular, his network of merchants included all of Zebrudia and even Cleet.

I've been in Kreat for a few days now.
According to the information I've gathered out of habit, it seems that the Clan Master has been very active since he arrived in the city.

They have reduced the number of crimes and captured some famous bandits. There's also information that Gark, Abyssal Fire, and Rosemary Pyrrhus are in the mix.
Although the name of Several Transformations is not clearly mentioned, if the Knights of Light are involved in addition to the aforementioned information, there is no longer any room for doubt.

I'm not sure if it's bold or not, but I'm not sure if it's bold or not, but I'm not sure if it's bold or not, but I'm not sure if it's bold or not.

Isn't there anything I can do to help? Such thoughts flashed through my mind, but Eva has never been able to keep up with the Master's schemes before.
Eva is usually involved only after everything is over. This time, too, the fact that she was caught by Eva's information network suggests that it's already over.

In the first place, if they needed help, they would have approached us. As deputy clan master, the least I can do is clean up after them.

It's not that they don't trust me. The young man known as "Senhen Banka" was always Senhen Banka, even in the eyes of Eva, with whom he had a certain relationship.

As he was checking the newspapers that had been brought in with a difficult look on his face, he suddenly heard more and more knocks on the door.

'Help me, Eva!

'? What's going on?

I knew that if I needed help, it would have come from the other side, but it was too soon. I'm not prepared for this at all.

When I unlocked the door, the Clan Master jumped in with his usual relaxed expression.
Behind him are Citri and something small, possibly a child, covered with a cloth and hidden.

Looking around the room to make sure Eva was the only one there, Kry took a deep breath.


'What's wrong with ......, help?


It wasn't the first time Cry had asked for Eva's help. Most of it was cleanup, not much help at all.
Apparently, the Clan Master is not very good at the messy parts of cleaning up and dealing with people, even though he solves crimes with impunity.

This was probably one of those cases. With the Martial Emperor's Festival coming up, Krai must not have the luxury of settling everything on his own.

'Can you help me?

'............ Well, if there's anything I can do--'

The Clan Master, who always looked unsure of himself despite his abilities, took another breath as if relieved when he heard Eva's words, then raised his index finger and said in a hushed voice.


'First, I want you to look at this.


Krai gently removed the cloth covering him. Eva's thoughts completely froze as a face appeared from underneath.

The person who appeared was Her Imperial Highness, Princess Murina Atorum Zebrudia.
I've seen her in pictures, and I've seen her disguised as a maid at the Gathering of the White Swords. There was no way I could mistake her for someone else.

'? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa...'

'Actually, she's a fake.

What?

I couldn't make sense of it anymore. Her Imperial Highness didn't move an inch even under Eva's gaze, just blinked slowly.

Her thoughts, once frozen, slowly began to work.

For all intents and purposes, she looks like Her Imperial Highness (except for her attire), but at the same time, there is no way Her Imperial Highness is here.
The princess of the great nation of Zebrudia is an important person in her own right. I've heard that she's always protected by her bodyguards when she's on the move, and she doesn't have any freedom to begin with.

The fact that she was able to adapt to this ridiculous situation so quickly was probably due to the fact that she had been involved in ridiculous situations before.
Calming her hyperventilating breaths, Eva asked, as quietly as Kry.

'What does that ............ mean?'

'It's a created being. Oh no.'

'A made, being ......?'

I chewed the words slowly.

It's--it's bad. This Clan Master often says 'bad' about insignificant things, but it's really bad.

I take another look at the fake Highness in front of me. The color of his hair, his eyes, his height, his body, everything about him is just like His Imperial Highness. The only difference was her expression.
Her Imperial Highness, who is known for her gentle temperament, always has an anxious expression on her face, as if she is about to cry, but the fake in front of her has a relaxed expression on her face, as if she is not sure what she is thinking.

But it's not a shadow warrior. It's not a disguise. It's not even twins.
Ava is good at remembering people's faces. She can see through a minor disguise, but she's so real that even Eva can't tell the difference.

Think. Think. Think. Think.

Think about its meaning. What is the purpose of your creation? A shadow warrior? That's inhumane. If he was a shadow warrior, he wouldn't have said anything about Kry being in trouble.
No! Who created her in the first place? There's no way Zebuldia would create someone who looks exactly like the princess. It's not allowed. There's no way the emperor would allow it. There's no way an institute on the surface could do it. Not technically, not ethically.

I felt a chill. I smelled a conspiracy.
If anyone could create the Empress herself, it would be a very large organization in the underworld.
It could be Akasha, who had caused a major incident just the other day, or Kry, who had fought in the last escort.

That's where I connected the dots.
There's no such thing as a being that would make Kry, who is always calm, nervous.

Fearfully, he uttered the words.



'Could it be the work of the nine-tailed shadow fox?



''What?

Kry's eyes widened, and a look of astonishment appeared on his face.
He was surprised to be guessed with so little information. Eva hadn't been with him for very long.
For the first time, it seemed that she had surpassed the Clan Master's expectations, which made him a little happy, but now was not the time to be happy.

False Empress. We must act even more swiftly than usual.

'I have a general understanding of the situation. You rescued me from the fox's clutches, didn't you?'














'............ Yeah.



As I suspected, Eva was right.
I heard that the fox was planning to assassinate the emperor. The plot was thwarted by Krai and the underlings were found, but the foxes are a large organization.
It wouldn't be surprising if the organization that failed to assassinate the emperor would target His Highness next.

Krai must have found out that the fox was making a fake of the princess and rescued her.

As expected, Krai could not keep his composure in this situation, and his cheeks were sweating profusely.

Eva wanted to cover her ears, but the deputy clan master had to remain calm when the clan master was in trouble.

'Calm down, please. Is there only one fake?

'............ and there were three failures. But she's the only successful one. Isn't that right, Citri?

'............ Yes, that's right. You're a fox.

Kry's face was pale, as if he'd just seen a horrible scene. Citri is behind him, supporting him as he wobbles.

Apparently, Krai, who seemed to be in control of this whole situation, was also human. The will to fight is rising in me.
When she looked up, Eva looked Kry firmly in the eye and said.

'His Majesty the Emperor must have come to observe the Martial Emperor Festival. Let's contact him.

'What ......?

I knew you were planning to solve this alone.

''Miss Cai, we can't solve this by ourselves. Even if we could, the presence of a fake could endanger Her Highness. We should contact them. The words of a level 8 will not be ignored.''

'........................ You're absolutely right. It's all the fox's fault, Eva is indeed dependable.


We can't stay like this. The cloth that Kry had removed was once again placed over the fake Imperial Highness.
Fortunately, the members of the Footprints of the Beginning are gathering in the cleats. That should be enough to protect you.

The counterfeit of the Empress is too powerful a card. The opponent will no doubt try to steal it.
It's too dangerous to leave it with Kry, who's fighting the fox directly.

No, I'm sure Kry brought her here to leave her with Eva. And there's no way Eva can refuse that request.

'I'll keep her here. Sven is here, so we'll ask him to guard her. Kry will fight the fox--'

'Oh, yeah. ............'

Could it be that going around crushing Cleat's criminal organization was part of the plan?
No matter how much I think about it ......, I can't see the big picture. You need to do what you can to get the job done.

And then, Kry muttered to himself.


'We have to fight the fox. The bad one.

'? Is there such a thing as a good fox?

Could it be that there are collaborators within the organization? That fox?

The Clan Master said, his expression still too unreliable.

'............ a little bit,' he said.