Last night, Eldo didn't come to the cell. That thought wouldn't leave her head. She'd definitely heard those footsteps. They'd approached from deep in the corridor and stopped right beside the bars. But there was no voice. When Riko turned around, no one was there. Had it been Eldo? Or someone else? She didn't know. Morning came without answers. The stone walls of the underground cell were the same temperature day and night. No outside light reached this place. Only a single torch flickered beyond the bars. Riko sat on the stone chair, staring straight ahead. She secretly checked the embroidery on her apron. 16. Sixteen days left. The door opened. Two people entered. One was a middle-aged knight in his forties with deep wrinkles carved into his face. The other was a younger man holding a quill and a leather-bound ledger. A record keeper, apparently. The middle-aged knight pulled up a stone chair and sat directly across from Riko. His posture was perfectly straight, radiating pressure. Yet his tone of voice was calm—too calm, which made it somehow more frightening. "[serious]You must have been tired yesterday. Today, I'd like to hear your account." Riko moistened her lips. "[serious]……I've already told you everything. I bought an apron at a secondhand shop, it got cursed, and now my body can only make sweets with ingredients from another world——" "Where did you obtain that apron?" "I told you. At an antique shop in Meguro Ward. It was called Cronica——" "[serious]Do you have anything to prove that shop existed?" Riko closed her mouth. Nothing. She hadn't kept a receipt. Only she knew where that shop was. "[serious]If you cannot prove it, I have no choice but to interpret this as a lie." "It's not a lie. It's the truth." "What was your purpose in coming to Louka?" The topic shifted. Riko tried to follow but fell slightly behind. "To break the curse. If I deliver sweets to the king——" "[serious]Deliver sweets to the king. Where did you obtain that information?" "From the embroidery on the apron……" "The embroidery tells you information?" "It glows. The letters——" "[serious]Show me. Right here, right now." Riko touched the embroidery. Nothing happened. She'd been wearing the apron even in the cell these past few days, but it didn't glow on command. Only the sound of the record keeper's quill scratching across the ledger filled the silence. "[serious]It didn't glow." "That's because……it just won't come out right now——" "Then how can you claim you're not a spy?" "Because I'm not a spy——" "[serious]Provide evidence. Words alone are not proof." Riko fell silent again. (Evidence……what am I supposed to show? I'm telling the truth. But I don't have proof.) "Does that mean I'm lying just because I don't have evidence?" "[serious]Claims that cannot be proven are not accepted. That is the law." The law. Under this country's law, Riko was being judged. The common sense of the real world, her Tokyo address, the years she'd worked as a patissière—none of it counted as evidence. For three hours, the same questions repeated. No matter what Riko said, she was asked "Can you prove it?" When she couldn't, she was told "That's the same as lying." Then they'd return to the first question. What was your purpose? Where did you get the apron? Who gave you orders? Her voice grew quieter with each exchange. "Did I……do something wrong?" Her voice trembled. She was surprised at herself. "[serious]Violation of the interdimensional travel prohibition." "I didn't know about that. Really——" "[serious]Claiming ignorance is also something you cannot prove." With those words, something inside her seemed to crack. (Am I the bad one? Did I do something wrong?) No matter how honestly she spoke, everything came back to "you can't prove it." She'd stumbled through countless situations before, laughing them off. She'd always moved forward saying "What do I do?!" even in impossible circumstances. But now she couldn't laugh. She didn't even have the energy to try. The interrogator stood up. Before opening the door, he looked at her once. His eyes were empty of emotion. "[serious]I'll be back." The door closed. The lock clicked. Riko curled up on the stone chair. She hugged her knees and leaned her back against the wall. --- Meanwhile, down the corridor, a different conversation was taking place. Eldo had been summoned to Captain Vales right after the interrogation ended. Not to the captain's office—to a corner of the corridor. The choice of a secluded spot meant this wasn't an official matter. Vales Gardeen was a head shorter than Eldo, but his mere presence carried weight. Iron-gray short hair, deep wrinkles around his eyes. Eldo had known since long ago that when this man spoke quietly, it was most frightening. "[cold]Varein." "[serious]Yes, sir." "[serious]Stop your involvement with that girl from another world. Immediately." "Captain——she's a victim. She's only here because of a curse, not because she's a spy——" "[cold]Your father said the same thing." The words stopped him cold. "[serious]He sided with someone from another world and continued investigating alone. He ignored the organization's judgment. You know what the result was." Eldo's jaw clenched tight. He tried not to think about his father. Only the knight's medal remained, nothing else. His name existed now only in the organization's records. "[serious]I've allowed you to keep your father's medal at my discretion. If you continue this involvement——I'll strip your title and confiscate that medal." His voice was quiet. There was no threat in it, which made it all the heavier. Vales said nothing more and disappeared down the corridor without a sound. Eldo stood there for a while. (Father's medal.) It was everything—the entire reason he'd become a knight. He'd wanted to protect something his father had tried to protect. That's why he'd taken up the sword. That's why he'd joined Tilnard. His feet moved. The corridor to the underground cell was a straight path. Eldo counted his footsteps as he walked. One, two, ten, twenty—— The bars came into view. In the torchlight, a small figure. Hugging her knees, leaning against the wall. Black short hair looked darker in the torch's shadow. Only the embroidery on the apron glowed faintly. Eldo's hand reached toward the bars. ——It stopped. (If I lose Father's medal, what reason do I have to be a knight?) His hand withdrew. Eldo clenched his jaw once more and turned on his heel. He walked away, muffling his footsteps, heading back down the corridor. In that moment, a voice came from beyond the bars. "[whispers]……Eldo?" His footsteps paused for just an instant. Eldo didn't turn around. He rounded the corner and was gone. The sound of his footsteps faded. Then disappeared. He suddenly remembered the evening of the third episode. Taking a bite of the Prisma Berry tart and muttering "sweet" without thinking. The way Riko had smiled, delighted. He still believed that was real. Only silence remained in the corridor. --- Riko pulled her hand away from the bars. The corridor was empty. The torch flickered. The stone walls glowed faintly orange in its light. Dinner was brought in the evening. Bread and thin soup. A knight delivered it without a word and left without a word. Riko stared at the meal. She had no appetite. But if she didn't eat, her body would give out. She knew that, but right now her hunger had simply vanished somewhere. She looked at the embroidery on her apron. She waited blankly for the moment the number would change. 16 became 15. Fifteen days left. "[sad]Eldo……he's gone too." The moment she spoke it aloud, tears came. Not a sudden flood—they flowed quietly. Trailing down her cheeks, falling from her chin to the floor. Riko didn't stop them. She couldn't think of a reason to. She'd cried in the cell before. But that time it was mixed with anger and sorrow. A "why is this happening?" kind of feeling. This was different. There was only one sensation: loneliness. She cried for a while. Back against the stone wall, face buried in her knees, crying silently. Then she lifted her chin. She wiped her eyes with her sleeve. (But I still have fifteen days left.) Riko whispered softly to the stone wall. She wasn't broken. She wasn't broken, but alone she could do nothing. There was no way out of this cell. Nothing. But fifteen days remained. That much was certain. --- Deep night came. The torch's flame had grown small. No footsteps in the corridor. The entire underground cell was silent, as if holding its breath. Riko placed her finger on the embroidery of her apron. The ancient Loukan script. She usually touched it to open the light gate, but now she wanted to ask something different. "[whispers]Hey……tell me something. If you know what I should do……" The embroidery pulsed with light. A warm glow spread across Riko's palm. The ancient Loukan letters rose up and moved slowly before her eyes. Then—— Her eyelids grew heavy. Images flooded in. There was a young woman. Her hair was slightly longer than Riko's, pinned up. In her hands was the same apron. She was stitching the embroidery on this apron with needle and thread. In a narrow room, with stone walls——very much like this cell. Riko understood without being told that this woman had come from another world. Her clothes were out of place. Her expression was strange. But she wasn't afraid. Her eyes held something thoughtful. In the vision, the woman stood up. She put on the apron. The door opened, and a knight led her somewhere. They arrived at a vast space. A large room with white stone walls. Many people. People carrying ingredients, people arranging sweets. People watching——a person in luxurious robes. The king, Riko understood instinctively. The woman offered a plate of sweets. The king ate them. His expression changed. The vision cut off. "——!" Riko's eyes snapped open. (Royal Offriel!) The annual ceremony where food was presented to the king from across the nation. Those recognized were granted the king's protection and pardon——the system Eldo had explained to her suddenly unfolded in her mind. That woman had been in the same situation. She'd come from another world, been thrown in a cell, but delivered sweets to the king at Royal Offriel and gained her freedom. "[surprised]If I deliver sweets to the king, everything gets wiped clean!!" She spoke aloud without thinking. The torch in the corridor flickered. Then Riko paused for a second and buried her face in her hands. (But there's no way out of this cell.) The bars wouldn't budge. Eldo wasn't coming. The interrogator was an enemy. Captain Vales was an even bigger enemy. Royal Offriel required either a knight's recommendation or sponsorship from the Gourmet Craftsmen's Guild, and Riko had connections to neither. Too many problems. But at least she could see the path. Deliver sweets to the king. That was the answer to everything. Then she heard footsteps. From deep in the corridor. Light footsteps. Different from the patrol knights. A different rhythm. It felt like——someone walking carefully. A hand extended from an angle the torch couldn't reach. A slender hand. It slipped through the gap in the bars and released something. It fell to the floor with a soft sound: a small piece with the aroma of fresh baking. "Huh……" The moment Riko leaned toward the bars, the footsteps faded away. She peered down the corridor, but there was no one. She picked up the piece. Round shape. Golden-brown baked color. The sweet aroma that reached her nose—— Miela honey. She took a bite. That distinctive sweetness spread across her tongue. Made with Loukan ingredients. No doubt about it. And this size, this shape——a financier. Something deep in Riko's chest jumped for the first time in a while. Not from fear or despair. Someone had thought of her. (Who……was that?) She peered out through the bars again.