Frondier, Azier, dan Philly, dikawal oleh para ksatria Kekaisaran, memasuki markas Phenomenon. Semua orang di markas berlutut memberi salam kepada Philly begitu melihat Permaisuri. "Merupakan suatu kehormatan bagi Phenomenon kami untuk menyambut Yang Mulia, Permaisuri." Melihat pria yang mendekati Philly, Frondier mengedipkan matanya. "Eden Hamelot, saya mewakili Phenomenon memberi salam kepada Anda." Eden berdiri di depan Philly. Dengan penampilan yang sama seperti setahun lalu, dia menyapa Philly dengan wajah dan suara biasa. "Eden, aku sudah bilang di perjalanan ke sini, kan? Tidak perlu berlutut." "Tidak akan berhasil kalau setiap orang yang kutemui berlutut di depanku." Philly menarik napas dalam-dalam. Matanya tampak sendu. "Semuanya di markas ini, dengarkan." Suaranya tidak keras atau melengking, tapi bergema di seluruh gedung. Itu adalah wujud dari auranya. "Mulai sekarang, berlutut di depanku, Philly, dilarang. Mereka yang melanggar akan dihukum berat. Durasi perintah ini adalah satu minggu. Tolong hitung hari-harinya." Eden tampak mengagumi penampilannya. "Aku terkejut. Aku tidak tahu Yang Mulia bisa menggunakan aura." "Yah, itu cuma sedikit meninggikan suara." Philly mengangkat bahu. Mengetahui itu bukan hal mudah, Eden menggelengkan kepalanya. "Sungguh luar biasa. Sekarang, silakan masuk." Eden mengantar Philly ke ruang pertemuan. Azier dan Frondier mengikuti di belakang. Eden menyapa ringan Azier yang datang dari belakang, lalu matanya bertemu dengan mata Frondier. Eden tersenyum cerah, terkejut melihat wajah Frondier. "Ya, siswa tahun pertama yang menghentikan amukan Renzo! Frondier de Roach! Senang bertemu denganmu, aku sangat berterima kasih atas apa yang kamu lakukan waktu itu." Frondier terkekeh dan memberi sedikit anggukan dengan senyum kecil yang sama. "Suatu kehormatan Anda mengingat saya." Mendengar kata-kata itu, Azier yang sedang berjalan menoleh ke belakang. "Menghentikan amukan Renzo? Frondier, apa maksudnya itu..." Eden buru-buru memotong pertanyaan Azier. "Ah, bukan. Frondier menemukan penyusupan Renzo ke Constel dan melaporkannya. Berkat dia, kami bisa mencegah insiden besar." Eden mengulangi kebenaran palsu yang pernah diceritakan Frondier kepada orang lain saat itu. Azier melirik Frondier curiga lalu melanjutkan langkah. Saat Azier sudah agak jauh, Eden menghela napas dan berbisik, "Maaf, tadi hampir saja." Jawaban Frondier kali ini harfiah. Itu berarti tidak masalah jika Azier mengetahuinya. Namun, Eden menganggapnya sebagai formalitas sederhana dan tersenyum main-main. "Kamu juga punya banyak rahasia, Frondier." Frondier menggunakan seluruh kekuatannya untuk mempertahankan wajah tanpa ekspresi. "──Bisa dibilang begitu." Dia membalas Eden dengan wajah dan suara yang sangat biasa. Ruang pertemuan sudah dipenuhi orang-orang yang saling mengobrol. Karena ada begitu banyak laporan saksi mata tentang injeksi Mana dari berbagai wilayah, setiap orang punya informasi yang berbeda. Hanya mengumpulkan dan memilah informasi ini saja akan memakan waktu cukup lama. Mereka terkejut melihat wajah Philly dan hendak berlutut, tapi teringat suara Philly tadi dan memberi sedikit hormat. Philly tersenyum puas dan mengangguk, "Hmm, hmm." "Pertama, kita perlu menggabungkan informasi." "Sulit kalau tidak ada laporan, tapi terlalu banyak informasi juga bikin pusing." Philly bergumam dengan suara yang mengandung desahan mendengar kata-kata Eden. Sementara itu, Frondier sekilas memindai materi yang tersebar di atas meja. "Apakah titik-titik yang ditandai di peta itu adalah laporan saksi mata?" "Ah, ya. Biru adalah laporan penemuan sederhana, merah adalah insiden dengan korban, dan kuning adalah tingkat kecurigaan. Gejala injeksi Mana termasuk demam, napas cepat, dan mata merah. Karena gejala ini bisa terjadi pada siapa saja karena berbagai faktor, sulit untuk memastikannya dengan pasti." "...Begitu. Apakah penggabungan itu tentang mengumpulkan informasi itu?" "Ya. Kita perlu tahu di mana penampakan paling sering terjadi, laporan saksi mana yang benar dan salah, di mana para penemu ditemukan dan ke mana mereka pindah, dan sebagainya, untuk mengidentifikasi titik-titik kunci." Eden menjawab pertanyaan Frondier dengan tulus. Agak aneh Frondier tiba-tiba menanyakan hal-hal ini, tapi itu juga hal-hal yang mungkin membuat orang penasaran. "Lalu bagaimana kita menentukan arah utara, selatan, timur, dan barat di peta itu?" "Apakah skalanya ditunjukkan?" "Apakah semua materi yang disajikan di sini menggunakan jenis peta yang sama?" Frondier menanyakan segala macam pertanyaan. Bagi siapa pun yang memperhatikan, akan terlihat seperti dia punya obsesi aneh dengan peta. Eden menjawab semuanya. Dia pun menganggap pertanyaan Frondier aneh, tapi sepertinya lebih cepat menjawabnya daripada bertanya mengapa. Setelah menyelesaikan semua pertanyaannya, dia menjawab dengan tenang lalu mengambil peta-peta laporan saksi yang menumpuk di atas meja satu per satu. Butuh waktu kurang dari satu detik untuk melihat masing-masing, dan Frondier mengulangi ini tanpa henti sampai pertemuan dimulai.
Bab 411
Frondier, Azier, and Philly, escorted by Imperial knights, entered the Phenomenon headquarters. Everyone in the headquarters knelt down to greet Philly upon seeing the Empress. “It is an honor for our Phenomenon to welcome Your Majesty, the Empress.” Seeing the man approaching Philly, Frondier blinked. “Eden Hamelot, I greet you as the representative of Phenomenon.” Eden stood before Philly. With the same appearance as a year ago, he greeted Philly with an ordinary face and an ordinary voice. “Eden, I told you on the way here, right? No kneeling.” “It won't work if everyone I meet kneels before me.” Philly took a deep breath. Her eyes sank deeply. “Everyone in the headquarters, listen.” Her voice wasn't loud or high-pitched, but it resonated throughout the building. It was the manifestation of her aura. “From now on, kneeling before me, Philly, is prohibited. Those who violate this will be severely punished. The duration of this order is one week. Please keep track of the days.” Eden seemed to admire her display. “I'm surprised. I didn't know Your Majesty could use aura.” “Well, it's just raising my voice a little.” Philly shrugged. Knowing that it wasn't easy, Eden shook his head. “It's truly remarkable. Now, please come inside.” Eden guided Philly to the meeting room. Azier and Frondier followed behind. Eden gave a light greeting to Azier, who was coming from behind, and then his eyes met Frondier's. Eden smiled brightly, surprised to see Frondier's face. “Yes, the first-year who stopped Renzo's rampage! Frondier de Roach! It's good to see you, I'm very grateful for what you did back then.” Frondier chuckled and gave a slight nod with the same small smile. “It's an honor that you remember me.” At those words, Azier, who was walking, glanced back. “Stopped Renzo's rampage? Frondier, what on earth does that...” Eden hurriedly interrupted Azier's question. “Ah, no. Frondier discovered Renzo's intrusion into Constel and reported it. Thanks to him, we were able to prevent a major incident.” Eden repeated the fake truth that Frondier had told others at the time. Azier glanced at Frondier suspiciously and then walked on. When Azier was a little further away, Eden sighed and whispered, “Sorry, that was close.” Frondier's answer was literal this time. It meant it was okay for Azier to find out. However, Eden took it as a simple formality and smiled playfully. “You have a lot of secrets too, Frondier.” Frondier used all his strength to maintain his poker face. “──You could say that.” He replied to Eden with a perfectly ordinary face and voice. The meeting room was already filled with people chattering amongst themselves. Since there were so many eyewitness reports of Mana injections from various regions, each person had different information. Just gathering and sorting through this information would take a considerable amount of time. They were surprised to see Philly's face and were about to kneel, but then they remembered Philly's voice from earlier and gave a light bow instead. Philly smiled contentedly and nodded, "Hmm, hmm." “First, we need to consolidate the information.” “It's troublesome to have no reports, but too much information is also a headache.” Philly muttered in a voice laced with a sigh at Eden's words. Meanwhile, Frondier briefly scanned the materials spread out on the desk. “Are those dots marked on the map eyewitness reports?” “Ah, yes. Blue is a simple discovery report, red is an incident with victims, and yellow is a suspicion level. Symptoms of Mana injection include fever, rapid breathing, and red eyes. Since these symptoms can occur in anyone due to various factors, it's difficult to pinpoint them with certainty.” “...I see. Is the consolidation about gathering that information?” “Yes. We need to know where the sightings are most frequent, which eyewitness accounts are true and false, where the discoverers were found and where they moved to, and so on, to identify key points.” Eden answered Frondier's questions sincerely. It was a bit strange that Frondier suddenly asked him these questions, but they were also things that one might be curious about. “Then how can we determine the north, south, east, and west directions on that map?” “Is the scale indicated?” “Are all the materials presented here using the same type of map?” Frondier asked all sorts of questions. To anyone watching, it would seem like he had a strange obsession with maps. Eden answered them all. He, too, found Frondier's questions odd, but it seemed faster to simply answer them rather than asking why. After finishing all his questions, he answered calmly and then picked up the eyewitness maps piled up on the desk one by one. It took less than a second to look at each one, and Frondier repeated this endlessly until the meeting began.
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