Outside the airship wreckage, Mr. Pierre stumbled along, carrying Rorschach’s rolling suitcase and his own briefcase as he climbed toward the two. Rorschach and Bart were halfway up a small hill, leaving the man from Nixingen completely exhausted from the effort.

Fortunately, he had successfully protected the luggage, just as Rorschach had instructed.

"This is Mr. Pierre, a representative from Hercules. And this is Mage Bart, the scion of the Balderom Chamber of Commerce."

"No, Rorschach. ’The Town Mage of Wertzburg, a graduate of the Empire Magic Academy’—that’s how you should introduce me." Bart shook hands with Mr. Pierre and told them he’d arranged for them to rest at the Chamber’s hotel in the capital.

Then, Rorschach and Mr. Pierre were taken away for questioning.

The Guild and the Airship Association launched a joint investigation. Of course, upon learning that Rorschach was a Tier Five Mage, they treated him and Mr. Pierre with the utmost courtesy. They were first brought to the Guild station, where they "chatted" amicably over tea in a meeting room.

At the Guild, Rorschach took another Mage Robe out of his suitcase and put it on, along with his badges: the Empire Mage Badge, the Tower of Stars Badge, and the Moon-Clutching Stork Medal. This ensemble would serve as a constant reminder to the investigators of his power and status, ensuring they would be more respectful to the person being questioned.

The Mage Robe from the airship was ruined. Fortunately, it had been a cheap field robe, so he still had the expensive Purple Robe he was wearing now—a handmade piece from Valuva, intended for formal occasions like the charity performance he’d attended.

"So, the last thing we saw was that spell you published, the Blue Light Barrier? I never expected it could be expanded to such a massive scale."

"Yes." Rorschach didn’t bother explaining that he’d done it using Transmuting Dust. ’The other Mages on board will probably fill in some of the details.’ For now, he simply answered only what he was asked.

The investigation of the airship crew was proceeding simultaneously, and the official questioning Rorschach kept receiving new information.

"If that’s about the airship accident, may I see it?"

The investigators were surprised that Rorschach had taken the initiative to ask for the newly arrived documents. They exchanged glances, but after another look at the young man’s opulent Purple Robe and the cluster of gleaming medals on his left breast, they handed them over.

’A man-made accident... signs of sabotage. It was clearly an act of sabotage, but it probably wasn’t targeting me. Any Mage who’s mastered a Protective Spell or the Feather Fall Skill can save themselves from a simple gasbag explosion and crash. No one would try to assassinate a Mage this way.’

Rorschach sighed internally as he flipped through the preliminary investigation report. ’So I just got caught up in this by sheer bad luck?’

"Thank you." Rorschach returned the documents to the investigator across the table. "I’ve said all I have to say. Can Mr. Pierre and I leave now?"

’Why is the one being questioned taking charge?’ The investigator looked troubled as he tried to placate the young noble. "We need permission before we can let you leave. Please, just cooperate a little longer..."

"Rorschach, I’ve got it all sorted! We can go..." Bart’s impatient nature hadn’t quite been curbed (as evidenced by his early marriage), and he shouted as he pushed open the door.

Rorschach was sitting on a sofa with his back to the door, so Bart only saw a Middle Level Mage in a Purple Robe. As a merchant’s son, he recognized the expensive fabric at a glance.

’Definitely not Rorschach.’ Having reached this conclusion, Bart muttered an apology and hastily stepped back.

Rorschach only had time to turn and see the door slam shut with a BANG. A moment later, it was opened once more.

The two blinked at each other. Bart spoke first, "I thought I was in the wrong room. Rorschach, you’re a Middle Level Mage now!"

"Yeah." Rorschach regretted only discussing the beverage factory in his letters. But bringing up his promotion, even indirectly, would have felt like bragging. The current situation was even more counterproductive.

Mr. Bart, the Town Mage of Wertzburg, took a great deal of effort to accept this fact. Then, armed with a release order signed by the Guild’s branch president, he sprang Rorschach and Pierre.

In the carriage, Bart was still peppering him with questions in disbelief. "So, you’re Loka, the hero from the Sub-plane reported in the *Elemental Truth Newspaper*? I thought the Guild just took the Holy Kingdom’s Gold Langs and fabricated the whole story."

"Yes."

"It really was you!"

"I mean, yes, they really did take the Gold Langs and fabricate it," Rorschach said, before telling him the true story—without mentioning the gold mine, of course. When he got to the part about Valon gifting him stock, the manager from Nixingen, who had been silent and docile ever since they’d arrived at the Guild, suddenly yelled, "One hundred shares! Including your shares in the beverage factory, you’re a bona fide hundred-thousand-aire!"

Bart studied his friend’s face from side to side. "I’m not even sure if you’re the Rorschach I know anymore."

’Stop staring. The face is the same, but I can’t say the same for the person inside.’ Rorschach lectured his friend, "There’s a proverb from a Wise Man in the far East: after three days apart from a scholar, one should rub their eyes and take a fresh look, because he is constantly learning and improving."

He said this without blushing or his heart rate increasing, because his time at the Tower of Stars truly had been busier than his university days in his past life. Rorschach then mimed rubbing his eyes to tease his friend. "I should be the one looking at you with fresh eyes. It’s been less than a year, and here you are, about to marry a young lady."

Bart finally snapped out of his shock, his expression shifting to one of utter smugness. He pulled a small locket from his pocket and, with a CLICK, flicked open the oval gold case. One side held a small mirror, the other a miniature portrait. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"My love, Amalia. The youngest daughter of His Majesty Albert Ludwig."

Pierre desperately wanted to look but didn’t dare. Rorschach leaned in for a closer look: the girl in the painting had wavy, reddish-brown hair, adorned with a small, unidentifiable flower. Her smile and features were incredibly sweet, giving her an air as delicate as the flower she wore.

’This is his type now?’ Rorschach recalled Bart once pursuing a girl at the academy who was six feet tall and so statuesque that she’d earned the nickname "Dragoon" for a time.

This seemed to be the other extreme.

SNAP! Bart closed the locket and gave Rorschach—who had matured from cute to genuinely handsome—a wicked grin. "The Royal Family still has an unmarried princess, you know. Princess Sophie. She has a thing for young, handsome men, so watch out at the banquet. She might set her sights on you."

"Young, handsome men? Me? How old is she?"

Bart sighed, rubbing his temples. "Forty-eight! She’s the daughter of the old King and the sister of the current King Ludwig!"

’Excellent. Marry a woman thirty years your senior and she’ll hand you an empire.’ If Rorschach also became a Prince Consort, he could indeed piggyback on a claim to the Bayern Kingdom.

Rorschach laughed. "Well, if the grand... er, Princess Sophie and I really hit it off, what would you have to call me then?"

Bart thought for a moment, then held out both hands. "I’d strangle you!"

Pierre, the model merchant from the Holy Kingdom, had never imagined that esteemed Mages acted like this in private. He shrank into a corner of the carriage, silently chanting, ’I can’t hear anything, I can’t hear anything...’

"I shouldn’t joke, though. Lady Sophie is a pitiable woman..." Bart began to spill secrets about the Royal Family. It turned out Princess Sophie was a victim of arranged marriages.

"The first time, she was arranged to marry her cousin, but that king was already in love with someone else and refused. The second time, she was betrothed to another cousin, but he secretly told her, ’Look, sis, I don’t want to hold you back. The truth is... I’m into guys!’"

After striking out twice, it was a minor blow to the bloodline-purification project of the Ferolun aristocracy, and she became unmarriageable.

"His Majesty the King was originally against Milly and me getting together," Bart said. "It was Princess Sophie’s staunch support that made Ludwig change his mind. I really owe her my gratitude. She’s an unfortunate but admirable lady." ’Perhaps seeing her niece reminded Princess Sophie of her own past,’ Rorschach mused, ’and she didn’t want the Little Princess to suffer the same tragedy, so she became a champion for true love.’

As the carriage CLOP-CLOPPED its way into the city center, Rorschach felt like he was wading into a murky pool of drama, filled with all the sweet, sour, bitter, and salty flavors of life.

’I’m here to talk business and conduct a site survey, not to get dragged into some royal soap opera!’ Rorschach silently reminded himself, trying to get his priorities straight.