"Wonder how Vin is doing with his investigation," I said as I glanced out the window of the cafe. "We can communicate with each other using the spell he put on both of us but..."


    "You don''t want to intrude, right?" Leo continued with a chuckle. "We need to get more info so splitting up would achieve that faster. Sadly, neither of us has been in the capital before, unlike him. So for our own safety, he put the two of us together while he went solo. Seems like the best call, if you ask me."


    "Yeah, I agree. Though..." I took a peek at the group of guards talking nearby, sitting at a nearby table with drinks and food. "We didn''t have much luck so far. The guards are unsurprisingly tight-lipped about the situation and the prince, only giving us the bare minimum."


    My companion let out a sigh and leaned back onto the chair he''s sitting on. "The civilians, on the other hand, are not too worried about the situation and placed their full trust on Tatsuya and his brigade. Because of that, they know very little and seem fine with that. Some even mentioned that we shouldn''t worry so much and should just leave it to the prince."


    "And I refuse to do that, no matter what," I commented with a huff, slightly annoyed at their lack of concern regarding him. "Anyways, regarding the fangirls and fanboys, that was..."


    The blonde groaned, clearly not wanting to remember that. "I know I suggested it before but they ended up being useless. We got absolutely nothing from that. It ended up being a waste of our time and I hated every second of it."


    I laughed a little at his reaction but soon decided to change the subject, since he was now pouting. "Since that was useless, we had no choice but to resort to asking people about any rumors. Most of the rumors didn''t seem useful though..."


    "Yeah but now that we think about it, isn''t one of the rumors a little alarming?" Leo pointed out, frowning. "One of the kingdoms, called Kruos, supposedly went under a lockdown, adamantly refusing to let anyone in or out. They have no intentions of helping out the other kingdoms too and even declared that helping out will achieve nothing to fix the situation. People say that the kingdom is currently under a tyrant''s rule, hence that cold-hearted stance."


    "With how there are issues appearing in almost all the kingdoms, I can''t blame them for doing so," I admitted as I got the cup right in front of me, then took a sip of some of the hot chocolate in it. "It''s like bunkering down and trying to cut down the culprit from within before the situation arises, not wanting to rely on others. But still, Krous, huh? That kingdom has always been standoffish because of its history of tyrants but they never went this far. It''s as if..."


    The blonde nodded his head as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned onto the chair he was sitting. "It''s as if they''re aware of something everyone else isn''t. After all, Kruos is the only kingdom that took that course of action. Of course, it''s just a rumor but let''s keep it in mind, regardless."


    I vocalized my agreement and stared down at the cup that I was holding. "But still, now what? To begin with, even if that rumor is legit, it would be nigh impossible to get any info from that side if we took the journey. Not only is it in lockdown, I doubt the ruler would tell us anything unless our goals aligned," I said, letting out a sigh. "At this rate, our only possible chance left is the prince himself but..."


    "We have yet to encounter him and he hasn''t bothered to make himself known to us during our investigation so far," Leo commented, then got closer to the table to get some cheesecake. "Guess we can only wait for Vin at this point."


    So we''re sitting ducks at this point, huh? I bit my lip out of frustration as I put down the cup on the table. The only people we have yet to approach are the mages but due to my situation, that''s...too risky. I have no idea if Rex told the Academy anything or if he even approached them ever since I got to Heaven. I was about to glance out the window but suddenly felt the communication spell activate, catching both me and the angel off-guard.


    "Did the two of you make any progress?" Vin asked, hearing his voice in our heads. "I wasn''t able to get much info from the mages and the acolytes but I did get a sliver of info. For the latter group though, I followed and eavesdropped on them using my summons. I don''t want to deal with their accusations and lectures as if they already know everything about me."


    I couldn''t help but let out a sigh at that. I recall that a lot of the mages in the Academy complained about the acolytes, mentioning how aggressive and annoying they were. "It''s like talking to a brick wall" and "it''s as if peace isn''t an option when dealing with us" were the common impressions they got from them. When I was about to ask him if he interacted with them before since his last sentence made me curious, Leo suddenly spoke up.


    "Not really. We''ve mostly got dead ends other than that Krous rumor..." The blonde mentally replied, frowning. "Seriously, it''s kinda disheartening, you know?"


    "And we have yet to encounter the prince, too. Well, as far as we know," I added in, deciding it''s probably best to drop the acolyte question. "He must be really good at hiding and going incognito."


    "Must be hard to gain his trust, then. It''s highly likely that he noticed us already and didn''t bother approaching us. Even though Rex told him about us, he might be observing us to make sure. Seems the most logical thing to do in this kind of situation." Vin commented as if he wasn''t particularly bothered by the lack of results. "But still, that rumor, huh? That''s the same info I got but from a different side and perspective. The mages ranted about it to me, furious that the Queen would just ruthlessly kick the Academy branch out of her kingdom and that the ''traitors'' took her offer so they can stay."


    I blinked my eyes in surprise, caught off-guard from that last sentence he said. "Wait, hold up, she kicked the Academy out while taking some of their mages?" I asked and heard the archangel give his verbal confirmation. "Do they know the reasons behind why she did that? And what was her offer?"


    "No. She didn''t bother telling them her reasons to the rest and the mages that went with her refused to do so too. The only thing that she told them was that ''I see no point in explaining myself to a flock of sheep''. You can imagine their reaction to that statement," Vin explained. "Regarding her offer, she permitted the mages to stay if they choose to side with her than the Academy. There was a meeting where she gave more info and some tried to sneak in to get her plans but all of them failed. Adding those actions in with the lockdown, it''s almost too suspicious. It''s almost like she''s getting ready for war."


    ...getting ready for war...? If that''s the case, then...who is she declaring war against? I glanced down at my cup of hot chocolate, biting my lip. The tyrannical queen seems to see the Academy as an obstruction of sorts but why? As a student from there, I''ve never heard or seen anything that would make it seem like a bad organization to them, if excluding the treatment towards Devourers...


    "Stella, I understand you''re concerned but don''t forget I''m capable of hearing your thoughts while the spell is active," the archangel pointed out. "I''m aware you''re probably not used to this since Devourers are typically loners. Yet, even so, please keep that in mind."


    The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    My cheeks turned red at forgetting something that important and I looked away in embarrassment. Leo, on the other hand, laughed in response, causing me to glare at him with a pout as my blush darkens. He remained unfazed and just happily grinned at me.


    Grumbling to myself, I immediately decided to change the subject, wanting to take the attention off of me. "So, is that the only info you managed to get...? You mentioned what you got from the mages but not the acolytes."


    "...I suppose there''s one more tidbit from the acolytes," Vin remarked. "They''re of the opinion that the incidents happening around the world are connected to the gods, which was declared by their Sage. To them, Sages are considered people who are given messages or revelations from their god so they''re considered the highest tier in their hierarchy. They''re like a guiding star in the dark night for them, essentially."


    I frown, remembering that one of the mages suggested that in the cafe back then. "That''s, unfortunately, a coin flip whether or not that''s true," I commented as I leaned into my chair, then suddenly realized something. "Wait, hold up, speaking of that, have you ever encountered any back in Heaven...?"


    "Weirdly enough, no. You would think that there would be gods since it''s Heaven but..." Vin let out a sigh. "It''s pretty disappointing. I was hoping to encounter one and question them so I can finally see for myself whether or not the conflict between the mages and acolytes was in vain. I''m a mage and all but...it gets tiring just watching them do this for so long. It''s why I decided to remain neutral."


    Upon hearing that, I felt my heart ache and with a sigh, I looked out the window that we''re sat near.  Unlike those people happily going on about their business, we never had any happy moments between us and those religious people here in Astrum. We''re so incompatible with each other that it hurts to see. No matter what, we would always heatedly argue and at worst, it results in a fight and hurling insults. It''s hard to come across those who would take the agree to disagree option and not cause unnecessary conflicts.


    "...w-wow, what''s up with this sudden silence and mood...? Is there that much bad blood...?" Leo commented, nervously laughing. "A-anyways, let''s go back to our current mission! ...though, there isn''t much we can do..."


    "I guess we could have Leo be sent to the acolytes to gather more info but he''ll be alone," Vin pointed out, causing the blonde to shake his head furiously.


    "No, no, no! I got dragged to a church once and they flocked towards me upon noticing me and my weapon! That experience was horrible and I have zero intentions of reliving that again!"


    ...is it me or does it look like Leo has some pretty horrible luck...? I thought to myself, once again forgetting that they could hear what I''m thinking. A lot of his experiences seem to be quite bad. It''s almost concerning. Vin let out a grunt as if he was both agreeing with me while Leo looked away, unable to make any comeback towards that. Realizing my mistake, I was about to reassure him that it''s okay but was soon interrupted by an unfamiliar voice speaking up.


    "Excuse me, sir and madam. If you don''t mind my intrusion, may I have a bit of your time?"


    Took by surprise, both of us turned to look at the newcomer that appeared out of nowhere. A white-haired butler with spiky hair stood there, wearing a white suit with a black shirt, white tie, and black boots. However, I noticed the star emblem pinned onto his uniform, indicating his ties to the royal family. Quickly realizing that there''s a high chance that it could be a servant of the prince, I frantically waved my hands back and forth in front of me.


    "It''s completely fine! Don''t worry, don''t worry!" I exclaimed as Leo hurriedly nodded his head in agreement. "A-anyways, do you need something or...?"


    The butler gets out a sealed envelope from inside his vest and hands it over to me. ...a letter? I looked down at it and noticed the wax seal had a bright yellow star on it, radiating with magic. Blinking my eyes in surprise, I hesitantly got the letter, the star leaving a trail of yellow magical energy as I brought it to me.


    "His Royal Highness told me to give this to you and that you are to open it at midnight," he explained, giving us a small gentle smile. "The prince is quite busy and has his guard up due to both his position and the current situation so I do apologize if this comes across as a little weird."


    From the prince, huh? To make sure, I analyzed the magic from the seal and figured out that it had the Star affinity, which was what the prince and the royal family were known to have. From what I learned from the academy, those who have that affinity each have their own unique magical signature since it essentially reflects the user. In short, they''re not capable of hiding what kind of person they are because their magic reveals it regardless if they want to or not. It didn''t help that affinity was incredibly rare either. If I recalled correctly, one of the professors talked about what each signature the royal family had was like, declaring it as something necessary to know so we can know if it''s really them or not.


    For Tatsuya, the prince, his energy gave off the feeling of a contradictory nature. Gentle yet fierce, warm yet cold, and loving yet hateful. A lot of people tried to figure out why it was like that but he refused to answer, no matter what. No one close to him seemed to know either so, it remained a mystery, becoming something people would like to gossip about. It didn''t help either that some of them went too far with the rumors, embellishing it with over-the-top details.


    Upon realizing I was getting side-tracked, I coughed and mentally slapped myself, trying to get myself back on track. As far as I can see, the seal definitely exuded that feeling, meaning it was genuine and not a counterfeit. I turned my attention back to the butler and sent him a smile.


    "Got it, will do."


    The butler returned the smile and then gave a small bow. "Well then, if you''ll excuse me, I need to return back to the castle to attend to other matters," he said, then walked away to leave.


    Once he left, Leo finally spoke up. "That''s genuine, right...?" he asked, and I nodded my head in response.


    "Hm, so he took that approach? Well, I guess I should''ve expected that..." Vin muttered. "Anyways, let''s rendezvous back at base. If you don''t mind, I want to see the letter for myself, just to make sure. Over and out."


    The spell turns off and both of us get off the chairs. I was about to go to the exit but the blonde suddenly spoke up.


    "By the way, if it''s alright with you, can we go get food for dinner later? I mean, we''re already outside so might as well," the angel questioned with a grin as I turned to look at him. "Rex left us a lot of money for our journey and I feel like spoiling myself from all that hassle we had to endure."


    "Sure, might as well," I agreed as I returned the smile. "Just nothing too expensive, alright?"


    "I know, I know~."