Late at night, at the edge of the forest in Auralia Imperial City.
The small, old tower had transformed so completely that its former appearance was unrecognizable.
In the past, it was where Relia had stayed, but not anymore.
Currently, this place was Princess Uriana's secret hideout and a treasured space.
When she felt depressed, she would come here to enjoy some leisure or gaze at the stars in the night sky.
Before Cedric and Damian left for the subjugation force, they had completely repaired the entire building as a gift for Uriana.
Since then, it had been called the "Crystal Star Observatory."
True to its name, it was a magnificent place.
"So she lived here and then escaped, is that it?"
In front of the observatory, which appeared visibly luxurious even at a glance, four young men looked at the building with dumbfounded expressions.
Perhaps because it was late at night, all the lights in the observatory were off.
Since it was a space exclusively for Uriana, no one would visit when she wasn't there.
"Seriously, what taste."
Romeo muttered quietly with a fed-up expression.
It was a building with such a flamboyant style that someone immediately came to mind.
"That's true enough."
What they all commonly thought of was the faces of Princes Cedric and Damian.
Cedric and Damian had joined the subjugation force late.
To put it simply, their relationship with these four people wasn't very good.
Cedric and Damian were always at the center of attention, while these four preferred to avoid attention and gather among themselves.
However, looking at the results, these four had achieved greater merits in the Mad Dragon subjugation force.
They evaluated the Cedric and Damian brothers as "guys who just run their mouths."
Moreover, those twin brothers were the sons of Emperor Perseus.
Currently, Emperor Perseus was one of the people most likely to be the mastermind behind the culprit.
It was natural that Princes Cedric and Damian didn't sit well with them.
Of course, they couldn't yet confirm that Emperor Perseus was the mastermind behind the culprit.
To find clear evidence, they first needed to find "Relia," the most likely culprit.
"She killed Leo and lived comfortably in a place like this, then ran away... But why did she run?"
Calix muttered as he lowered the eyepatch that had been covering his eye.
"Probably thought she could become Emperor if she killed Leo, but then Emperor Perseus suddenly appeared and panicked her. Maybe she ran away because she was afraid Emperor Perseus would discover the truth."
Griffith answered.
Romeo, who had been listening quietly, added another hypothesis.
"Maybe she tried to assassinate Cedric and Damian too, and then ran away."
Oscar also offered his opinion.
"Or conversely, Emperor Perseus might be hiding her."
The more new information they gathered, the more strangely things didn't add up.
When one question arose, another question would emerge, and then they'd return to the starting point.
But the four of them instinctively believed one fact was certain.
That a woman named "Relia" was deeply involved in Leo's death. That she was most likely the culprit.
The biggest basis for this suspicion was Leo's last dying message.
"How do we find someone the Emperor gave up tracking?"
Calix said in a tone suggesting Romeo should do something, looking directly at him.
"......"
At that gaze, Romeo blinked his eyes as if dumbfounded.
Romeo originally possessed magic power, but after the battle with the Mad Dragon, he had gained enormous magical power.
The fact that he had absorbed the magic power contained in the Mad Dragon's heart was a secret known only to these four.
However, since his ability wasn't yet stable, seizures accompanied by pain occurred periodically.
"Hey, even with magic power, I need something to track. There's nothing here, so what am I supposed to do?"
When Romeo retorted, Calix turned his head to look at Griffith and said.
"...Griffith. This is a chance to prove that divine power is superior to magic power."
"It's the same. How can I track when there's nothing?"
When Griffith answered irritably, Calix muttered, "This is why there's no need to believe in gods."
Oscar asked Romeo.
"Then what about that fountain pen? We'll have to try something with that."
"Ah, right."
A few years ago.
Romeo had learned one fact through a mage from his home country.
It was that the magic stones embedded in the fountain pens he shared with his friends could be tracked.
However, when he tried to track Leo's fountain pen using the method received from the mage of his home country, tracking was impossible.
The mage from his home country explained the reason like this:
It seems someone separated the fountain pen from the magic stone. The magical wavelength has been severed, making tracking impossible.
Hearing this reason, Romeo and his friends guessed the culprit had done that. Or perhaps someone had stolen it during the chaotic situation at the time.
Anyway, Romeo had requested the mage from his home country to continue researching other tracking methods, and good news came recently.
However, at that time, Romeo's magic power wasn't perfectly stable, so it was difficult to attempt.
"First, we'll have to try that method..."
Of course, no one knew what had happened to the fountain pen.
Leo might have disposed of it, or someone might have stolen it, or the culprit might have taken it.
But with nothing at hand right now, they had no choice but to try tracking that.
"We need to keep a close eye on the Emperor's side for the time being."
At Romeo's words, their eyes flashed sharply.
Even if the culprit was the Emperor of this empire, they were determined to complete their revenge.