The door to the great hall opened with a sound. The hall of the Nobles' Convene—the noble assembly—had a ceiling that towered above all others in the royal palace. Stone arches stretched in succession, and portraits of successive kings lined the walls. Morning light streamed through the high windows, illuminating the faces of the twelve family heads gathered around the long table in white. Kenji stepped forward. At the far end of the table, in the chairman's seat, sat Valdeus. A thin, tall man of fifty-eight, his silver-gray hair meticulously combed back. The ring on his right ring finger caught the light faintly. His gray eyes followed Kenji with the cold, emotionless stillness of stone. (He's certain he's won right now.) Kenji took his seat at the head of the table. The gazes of the twelve family heads converged all at once. Eyes that appraised, eyes filled with suspicion, eyes that concealed fear—they were all the same. The fear that Valdeus had cultivated over years dominated the air of this room. "Then, let us begin the inquiry." His voice was polite. The voice of an administrator stripped of emotion. Valdeus first lifted a bundle of parchment with his white-gloved hand. "First, I call as witness Hugo Mertz, the court physician who attended the deathbed of the late King Werner." Court Physician Hugo rose to his feet. A man in his fifties with a sturdy build. But his complexion was poor now. Sweat beaded on his forehead. He did not meet Kenji's eyes. "At the deathbed of the late king, I... confirmed abnormal convulsions and discoloration within the oral cavity." The great hall fell silent. Valdeus pressed forward. He placed the first parchment in the center of the hall. "[cold] This is a copy of the transaction ledger recorded by the royal merchant. The purchase of substances convertible to poison is documented here." The second sheet. "[cold] This is a document ordering the disposal of sealed documents that disappeared from the study. Handwriting analysis shows characteristics identical to the command documents to his aides." The third sheet. "[cold] This is the testimony of the guards from when His Majesty entered the study alone shortly after his enthronement. I present these three pieces of evidence for the confirmation of all twelve family heads." Valdeus sat down. The hall was enveloped in silence. One by one, the gazes of the family heads turned toward Kenji. Eyes laden with suspicion. Eyes that condemned without questioning. Valdeus had calculated this silence. Creating an atmosphere of guilt was enough—he didn't need to prove anything. If he could make them doubt, he would win. Kenji did not move. He had heard everything. He had confirmed everything. He stood up. The great hall froze. "I will examine the first piece of evidence." He took the copy of the ledger in hand. He pointed to the date with his finger. "[serious] The date recorded in this transaction ledger is three days after the death of the previous king." The hall stirred. "A record created after the king's death cannot serve as evidence of his death. Evidence only has meaning if it demonstrates that the purchase of poison occurred before the death of the previous king. This record does not show that." Valdeus opened his mouth immediately. "[sarcastic] Your Majesty. The recording date and the transaction date do not necessarily coincide. Administrative delays are commonplace—" "I move to the second contradiction." He cut off Valdeus's words. Or rather, he had already moved forward. "Court Physician Hugo, I confirm: you testified that you observed discoloration in the oral cavity at the deathbed." Hugo nodded. Small, weak. "I have brought the autopsy record you signed." Reina stepped forward and placed the parchment in the center of the hall. "[serious] This official document contains no record of oral cavity discoloration. Hugo, there is a contradiction between what you testified today and the official document you yourself signed. Which is correct—explain to everyone in this hall why you did not write it in the official document." Hugo's face turned red. His mouth moved. But no words came out. The hall froze. The twelve family heads looked at Hugo's face. They looked at Valdeus. Then they looked at Hugo again. As the silence grew longer, the silence itself became the answer. Valdeus began to open his mouth. But Kenji was already moving. "[serious] I will speak of the sealed documents." His voice was quiet. But everyone in the hall heard it. "The sealed documents that disappeared from the previous king's study—there is testimony that I removed them. But I did not. Because those documents were protected by magical seals. A single touch would trigger an electrical discharge. This is a fact that all court mages can verify." The family heads exchanged glances with one another. "Only those with command authority over the court mages can unseal and remove the documents. In this kingdom, only two people can directly command the court mages." Kenji looked at Valdeus. "The king—and the Chancellor alone." Something seemed to cut through the air. The gazes of the twelve family heads turned toward Valdeus all at once. Valdeus's expression wavered for the first time. A crack ran across the surface of his mask. It might have been a tremor lasting less than half a second. But everyone in the great hall saw it. "[cold] ...That is merely speculation. Without evidence, to accuse the Chancellor—" There was a slight pause in his voice. Not a single person in the hall missed that pause. "I will show you the ledgers." Reina moved. She drew out a bundle of papers from her pocket and spread them in the center of the hall. Fragments of the Chancellor's ledgers, copied through the night while bleeding. "[serious] Royal domain tax revenue flows through the Chancellor's office budget to the territories of each member of the Iron Crown faction—the noble faction centered on Valdeus—as administrative subsidies. I present this structure here." The hall stirred. This time it was not silence. Voices began to rise. Then a large elderly man stood up. Ludwig Wolff, head of the Wolff family. Sixty-two years old, gnarled hands, deep wrinkles and old scars. His eyes were reading the numbers in the ledger. "[serious] The amount of administrative subsidy to my territory matches these figures. For years, I have been suspicious of why the subsidy was less than planned. Chancellor, I demand an explanation." Next, a female family head with short black hair stood up. Zena Kargen, head of the Kargen family, forty-seven years old. Her sharp eyes, alight with calculation, studied the ledger. "[serious] Similar discrepancies exist in our family's accounts. I would like the Chancellor to explain these figures in this public forum." A chain reaction began. Family heads who belonged to the Iron Crown faction but harbored resentment toward Valdeus began to speak one after another. Voices overlapped. Demands for explanation of the ledger figures accumulated in the hall. Valdeus stood up. "[cold] Slander based on fragmentary copies and conjecture, presented in the chamber of the Nobles' Convene—" "Then, to prove your innocence," Kenji played his final hand. Quietly, but in a voice that reached the entire hall. "I request, as the collective will of the Nobles' Convene, the complete disclosure of the Chancellor's office ledgers. There is no reason for an innocent man to fear showing his ledgers—is there not, Chancellor?" Valdeus froze for a moment. "[cold] Matters relating to state secrets cannot be disclosed—" Those words changed the air. He had refused. The moment that fact fell upon the hall, the faces of the twelve family heads changed. Suspicion transformed into certainty. Kenji watched each one. The moment fear of Valdeus transformed into something else. A vote on ledger disclosure was called for. The result of the vote: disclosure approved by majority. After silence fell, the acting chairman of the Nobles' Convene made the declaration. Chancellor Valdeus Crawford was stripped of his office and placed under house arrest. --- Valdeus stood up. No one stopped him. The twelve family heads opened a path. The man who had held absolute power until yesterday walked across the hall toward the exit. His back still carried composure—not broken pride, but something else. Before the door, Valdeus stopped. He did not turn toward Kenji. "[cold] Remember this, boy. Even if the Iron Crown is shattered... the iron boot of the empire will crush you. Without me, this kingdom will be swallowed by Dorgan." His voice was low. It reached everyone in the hall. Then the door closed. --- Out in the corridor, morning light stained the stone pavement white. Kenji stopped. The sensation of strength draining from his shoulders. Whether it was exhaustion or relief, he couldn't quite tell. Only the fact that it was over slowly seeped into his body. A step behind, Reina approached quietly. She said nothing. She simply nodded once, briefly. In that nod were contained the bundle of ledgers from last night, the wound on her cheek, the hours the two of them had spent through the darkness. Kenji said nothing. There was no need for words. --- Night fell. From the palace balcony, the night view of Weltheim spread before them. Moonlight fell upon the Frontier River. The riverside market was already closed, but straining his eyes toward the south, toward the Millennia Plain—he could see a few small lights from the villages. The sprouts of reform still lived, even trampled. Reina stood beside him. Her silver-white hair swayed in the night breeze. Her odd eyes gazed quietly at the night view. The wound on her cheek had already lost its redness. "[serious] What will you do next?" "Resume the agricultural reforms. The sanitation reforms have stalled as well. I will move forward one by one." "[serious] Understood." A brief answer. Reina drew a single parchment from her pocket. The motion was quiet. Her extended hand was slightly stiff. "[serious] A report from the scouts. Ziegardt and the Dorgan Empire have reinforced troops along the national border at Greyfolk Ridge. In the past three days, an estimated two thousand additional troops have been confirmed." Kenji took the report. He read the numbers. He pictured the positions on the map in his mind. With an estimated 140 kilometers to the Selbia checkpoint, the empire's movements were clearly not a show of force but preparations. The voice of Valdeus leaving echoed in the back of his ears. —The iron boot of the empire will crush you. Kenji looked toward the northeast sky. Stars shone in the night sky. Beyond them lay Oldgraat—the fortress city, the triple walls, the iron crown palace of Emperor Ziegardt Dorgan. "I have defeated the enemy within." His voice was low and quiet. "The enemy without—begins now." Reina's gaze turned toward the northeast sky. Looking in the same direction as Kenji's gaze. Between them, there were no words. Only the night wind swept quietly across the balcony.