Insects. Silent. 要 remembered it. Lantern off. Darkness. Waiting through the long night. That silence was real. Encirclement from all sides. Intentional. Deliberate. Not a jaguar. Multiple. Human. Purposeful stillness. Nothing came. Before dawn broke, insects returned. 要 kept his eyes open until sunrise. Never looked away from the pelican case. Even now, that sensation's residual heat lingered in his right hand. The jungle night continued. Just past 3 AM. Lantern still off. 要 narrowed his eyes at the tent entrance. No light from outside. The Amazon at midnight was truly dark. Stars hidden by clouds. In that darkness, the entrance flap—— From inside. Quietly. Opened. 要 reached for his hip holster. Drew. Aimed the barrel at the opening. Finger on the trigger. Didn't pull. Just aimed. Silence. Three seconds. "Rest assured." A voice. Female. Flat intonation. Emotion deliberately omitted——yet perfectly composed. No fear. No tremor at the gun pointed at her. None. 要 didn't remove his finger from the trigger. Just thought. Briefly. (From inside.) The flap opened from inside the tent. She was already here. Since when. At least, no presence since 要 returned. ——Or was that true? 要 rewound his memory. Returned to camp. Lit the lantern. Opened the laptop. Compared photos. Turned off the lantern. No presence the entire time. This was a trained human. 要 reached to the side. Lit the lantern. White light flooded the tent. A woman stood at the entrance. Both hands raised to shoulder height. Slow movement showing no weapons. Glossy silver hair gathered low, carelessly. A small patch sewn to her raised left arm——an emblem. Complex embroidery. Her eyes caught the light. Transparent violet. Deep. Quiet color. Height around 165 centimeters. A head shorter than 要. Her expression——nearly absent. No fear. No hostility. No friendliness. Just existing. That face. "Shoot if you wish." She continued. Tone unchanged. "But gunfire draws people. That's not desirable for you." 要 stayed silent. Lowered the barrel. Not completely. To knee height. Removed his finger from the trigger. That was all. "Who are you." "梨央・アヤセ." She lowered both hands. Slowly. Not hostile. Confirmed procedure. Withdrew a business card from her chest. Placed it at 要's feet. 要 looked down. Didn't pick it up. Viewed from distance. White card. Embossed fine text. Imperial insignia. Imperial Historical Preservation Inspection Bureau, Seventh Division——commonly called the Grey Bureau. The name of the special agency that recovers and conceals imperial artifacts and information leaked to the surface world. There it was. "Grey Bureau personnel walked through the jungle." "I'll explain the route later." She pulled a folding chair——not 要's, but another in the tent corner——and sat. Facing 要. The motion was too natural. Like sitting in her own tent. "Please sit." 要 laughed shortly through his nose. Didn't sit immediately. Just holstered the gun. That was the maximum concession he could make now. ─── The conversation began. 梨央 withdrew a device from her bag. Small. Thin. She turned the screen toward 要. Metal analysis data displayed. "Pre-analysis of what was excavated at Cavali Ruins today." "How." "Satellite observation and the Empire's proprietary material database. Over two thousand years of accumulation." 要 drew his chin back. Didn't take the device. Confirmed with eyes only. The data matched the metal plate's composition ratio. Matched no known alloy. 要 reached the same conclusion. But 要 had only visual, weight, tactile inference. 梨央 had numbers. "Next." 梨央 swiped. A map. South America to the Middle East. Multiple red dots. Moving. No——movement logs overlaid. "The Iron Crown——a militant organization originating from the old military faction within the Zelvarn Empire, seeking to secure ancient weapons and overthrow the current imperial system——current tracking data. As of yesterday, two points entered within three hundred kilometers of this ruin." Last night's silence repeated in 要's mind. (So that's it.) 要 pulled a chair and sat. "What's the last thing you're pulling out." 梨央 stopped. Less than a second. Then operated the device. Called up another image. 要's breathing stopped. Five years ago. Libya. Fezzan desert. Rock crevice. Tabria wall surface. Stone tablet inscription. The photograph 要 sent to academic institutions after returning home. No one could decipher it. It was on the screen now. "This is——" "Confirmed identical to the photograph you took five years ago through internal imperial records." 要's right hand froze in empty air. Reaching for something. Grasping nothing. Realized it. Lowered to his lap. "The Empire is long." 梨央 said only that. Didn't answer the question about the information's source. Her tone made clear she wouldn't. "I'm a treasure hunter." After a pause, 要 spoke. "Registered with IARTA. Private investigator. No involvement with political organizations. That's my position." 梨央 didn't object. Instead, returned the question. "Have you confirmed the fourth underground level's structure." "Scan results——" "If we assume a receiving device corresponding to the activation key exists in that space. When both combine, what radius of effect would you estimate." 要 didn't answer. "Twelve kilometers." 梨央 continued quietly. "Nearest settlement is seven kilometers minimum. Currently, rainy season means many non-settled peoples stay along riverbanks. Imperial calculations show that safely sealing the activation key without casualties requires proper procedure and facilities. The Iron Crown lacks that procedure. Their goal is activation, not sealing." 要 looked at 梨央. Searched for counterargument. Found none. How much weight his words about non-involvement in politics held now——梨央 hadn't asked directly, but the question's shape was already in 要's mind. "Your logic is orderly." 要 spoke. Admitting it grated, but he couldn't proceed without it. "You're dismantling my objections one by one." 梨央 didn't respond. "So.""What specifically do you want." "Cooperation. On the ruin's structure and artifact handling. Process according to the Empire's sealing procedure. I'd like you to guide the site and assist with proper IARTA procedures." "Meaning you control the actual authority." "The goal is artifact protection." "That distinction changes by position." 梨央 didn't answer. Perhaps that was the most honest response. ─── Negotiations stalled. 要 was silent. 梨央 was silent. Outside, the jungle breathed regularly. The rainy season night's humidity was heavy. The tent's air seemed to shift gradually. 要 suddenly spoke. "You didn't walk here. Not all the way." "Of course not." "The route." 梨央 answered matter-of-factly. "Charter flight from Lima to Iquitos. One hundred fifty kilometers by river. The rest overland." "Does the budget cover it. Work like this." "The Empire has a budget division." 要 couldn't judge the truth of that answer. No way to verify if the Empire had a budget division. 梨央's tone held no mockery, no humor. Sounded genuine. If so, maybe this three-thousand-year organization really did have a budget division. 要 smiled wryly. The corner of 梨央's mouth moved. Barely. Too subtle to call a smile. Just the tension at her lips relaxed one millimeter. 要 didn't miss the change. (This kind of person.) Internally, 要 updated. Not an iron mask. She has the capacity to smile. Just her control is incomparably more precise than ordinary people. ─── Rain came. No warning. The Amazon's rain has no warning——要 knew that. Still, the sound felt sudden. The jungle's leaves being struck. The world covered instantly. Zaa——massive water pouring from the sky. The tent fabric billowed. Wind from all directions, not one. The pole swayed. 梨央 stood. Reached for the swaying pole. 要 moved simultaneously. Reached for another support point. Their movements crossed unintentionally. 梨央's coat sleeve fluttered. Touched 要's shirt cuff. Seconds. Arms pressed together. Seconds. 梨央 pulled back immediately. Kept the pole steady. Shifted her body one centimeter sideways. Whether that was task reflex or something else——要 couldn't judge. The wind and rain took minutes to subside. The tent's atmosphere had changed. Not narrower——the air density between them shifted. 要 stole a glance at 梨央's profile. While maintaining her task tone, wet bangs clung to her cheek. A strand of silver hair stuck along her cheekline. 梨央 tried to brush it away with her free hand, but couldn't reach while holding the pole. Her brows furrowed slightly. That gesture appeared for just that moment. 要 looked away. Felt like he'd seen something he shouldn't. 梨央 as investigation subject. That's how he'd understood her. But in this moment——with wet bangs bothering her——she looked like just a person. That subtle update happened inside 要, and he felt troubled. Troubled because he didn't understand why. "...The wind seems to have stopped." 梨央 spoke. 要 released the pole. Both returned to their chairs. Distance restored. Air mostly restored. But not completely. ─── The sky's edge began to pale slightly. The jungle's darkness. Just millimeters of brightness difference. Still night. But night was changing. 梨央 stood. "Give me your answer by dawn." 要 looked at her. "If I refuse." "I recover the activation key and leave. You lose involvement in this investigation." Not a threat. Procedure explanation. Choose option A and this happens. Emotionless logic presentation. 要's gaze fell on the pelican case. Seven years ago. Central America. Broken pottery shards. Three hours of apology then. The artifact didn't return. Irreparably destroyed things don't return. That's what artifacts are. And five years of chasing symbol meanings. Lines connecting Libya and Peru. The fourth level's unseen space. Still untouched by anyone. (What I can't bear is losing access to that.) 梨央 knew it. Knew from the start. Came to this negotiation knowing. The information's precision and logic's orderliness proved it. 要 realized he felt both resentment at being understood so accurately and unwilling respect for that precision. 梨央 moved toward the tent exit. "You——" 要 spoke. "Do you really think that's right." 梨央's feet stopped. Less than a second——probably 0.5 seconds. Her back still toward 要. Didn't turn around. No answer came. She left. The tent flap returned silently to position. ─── 要 was alone. The lantern light unchanged. Illuminating the tent. The pelican case there. No device——梨央 took it. Only the business card remained at his feet. 要 picked it up. White card. Insignia. "梨央・アヤセ" name. Imperial Historical Preservation Inspection Bureau, Seventh Division. (0.5 seconds.) That pause when she stopped. The silent pause. Whether the question reached her or not——both readings possible. That quiet stop. 要 turned off the lantern. Dawn light seeped faintly through the fabric. The jungle waking. Bird calls beginning in the distance. He placed the business card on the pelican case. The weight of choice was never light. But where that weight's center lay——要 could see it now. Five years of questions still there. The fourth level's darkness still there. 要 breathed quietly.