Irene came through the entrance wearing the same clothes and accessories she had on that morning.

"There you are, Princess Lillian."

As she entered, she spotted the princess standing beside three familiar faces.

"Detective Irene?" Lillian blinked. "What are you doing here?"

"I came here looking for you." She responded, glancing briefly at Leon and flashing a small smile.

"Why me? If it is a case you need help with, I am sorry but I am extremely busy right now." Lillian gestured toward Leon and the others to make exactly how busy she was very clear.

Leon and the others simply stared at Lillian.

Irene looked at them and asked, "Leon, do you mind if I borrow the princess for a moment?"

"Huh? Wait... you know them?" Lillian said, visibly startled. She looked at Leon and then back at Irene.

"I do." Irene smiled lightly. "They are my guests—"

"Miss Irene." Ethan responded flatly, pointing towards the portrait on the wall. "How are you in that portrait?"

Irene turned to him with a perfectly calm expression.

"Excuse me?"

She glanced at the portrait and tilted her head in confusion.

"What do you mean? It was taken three years ago when Dr. Anise turned 500 years old."

"I know that." Ethan raised his voice slightly. "But how could this picture be only three years old? You were clearly standing next to Lady Lumina. The first Swordmaiden in history."

Lillian and Irene exchanged a look.

Even Lillian seemed confused.

"And what about it? We are well aware of her status and what she did in the great Calamity War ten years ago. That is precisely why she was treated as a guest of importance when she visited here."

"Ah... what?"

Both Cyan and Ethan were caught off guard.

"Ten... years ago...?" Cyan muttered. He looked at Ethan, who wore the exact same expression. He lowered his voice just enough for Ethan to hear. "What is that supposed to mean?"

Ethan was just as lost. Nothing they were saying added up. The timeline of events did not match at all.

What exactly had happened to these people?

For the past two centuries, Evana had been considered nothing more than a fairy tale city. Before coming here, Ethan had been certain that something extreme must have befallen it. A city this powerful could not simply vanish without reason.

Something awful must have happened to them.

◆ Progress: [||||||||────────] 33%

A familiar translucent screen appeared in front of his vision.

’A ten percent jump?!’

The quest progression bar caught him off guard. He had only visited the Akashic Record and came across this portrait. And just from that, his progress had jumped by a significant margin in such a short time.

He was getting closer to the truth.

His eyes focused on the quest window.

◆ Quest Name: Reminiscence of the Past

◆ Objective: Explore Evana City and uncover the truth of their Calamity.

’Reminiscence of the Past...’ Ethan thought. ’And the truth of their Calamity. So the quest wants me to uncover what happened to this city.’

That was all he had to do to complete it?

At the rate the progress bar was moving, it felt like it would be finished within a day or two.

’Alright. Let us just finish this quest and get out of here.’

Leon and Cyan would agree too. If Ethan had sensed it, they must have too.

"Uhh, hello?" Lillian waved her hand in front of Ethan’s face. He snapped back, blinked, and found himself staring into her bright green eyes. "Why did you suddenly go quiet?"

Ethan swallowed. A bead of sweat ran down his forehead. "Nothing. Miss Lillian."

"It is Princess Lillian." Irene corrected, shooting him a look.

"Oh, my bad— wait." Ethan looked between Irene and the elven girl. "Princess?"

"Huh?" Irene’s eye twitched. "Do not tell me you got fooled by her?"

She pointed at the portrait. At the elven woman inside it. The long silky green hair that stood out immediately. The face that carried the kind of quiet depth that only came with centuries of accumulated knowledge.

Now that Ethan looked more carefully, she did resemble Lillian. A noticeably younger version of her.

"Is that your grandmother?" Ethan asked.

Lillian’s expression shifted immediately. "Grandmother?! She is my mother! My mother!"

"Right, you did mention she was over 500."

Ethan wanted to look away from the fact that he had missed something this obvious. He glanced to his right where Leon was standing, watching the whole exchange with an expression of pure amusement.

"Leon. Do not tell me you already knew about her."

Leon replied without changing his expression.

"Is it not obvious?"

"..."

rene sneered hearing this. She leaned toward Leon and whispered.

"Your friend is a little dense."

Leon startled and took a few steps to the side to put some distance between her lips and his ear.

’That was close.’

She was one heck of a weird girl. From both manner and character wise.

Her very existence here was an anomaly. A person with no mention anywhere in the game. And yet somehow she had gotten close to both Dr. Anise and Lumina.

"Detective." Lillian crossed her arms and narrowed her gaze. "What exactly are you here for?"

"Oh, right." Irene turned to her. "I want your help with one of my cases."

"Again?"

"Oh come on, just this one time. I will not ask again. I promise."

Lillian’s eyes stayed narrowed. "You said the same thing last time."

"Aww." Irene lightly knocked herself on the head. "But did we not have a blast? And you, dear princess, seemed to quite enjoy working with me."

"Someone is living in a big delusion." Lillian grinned, placing both hands on her hips. "Alright. Let me hear the case first. Then I will decide."

"Alright." Irene nodded, but before she could begin, Lillian stopped her.

"Wait." She pointed at Leon and the others who had been listening the whole time. "Let us discuss this at your office. If it is confidential, we do not want any outsiders hearing it."

Leon would not lie that he was not at least a little curious.

He wanted to see what this detective was really after.

Irene caught his expression.

"You seem interested..." she smiled at him. "Do you want to join the case as well?"

"What...?" Leon had not expected that.

Did she want him involved? From the beginning this detective had some motive that Leon could not pin down. He simply lacked the knowledge about her.

Leon glanced back at the portrait. At Lumina, then at Irene.

’Was Shin really here?’ The question repeated itself in his head.

"Leon, do not go along with this girl." Ethan moved closer to him. "I have a bad feeling about this city. Did you see that portrait? Something is seriously off."

Leon knew more than him. And it was indeed seriously off.

The Evana City Arc had already shown major changes from what he knew. Changes that would create problems for Leon, because this would without a doubt cause a ripple effect on the actual storyline he had mapped out in the game.

All of this made Leon wonder whether it was just a coincidence, or whether someone was intentionally interfering with the plot. Or whether this was an entirely different story altogether.

The more questions that surfaced, the more Leon wanted to uncover the truth.

The truth about Shin. About Lumina. And about himself. He had a strange feeling that uncovering any one of them would lead him closer to the actual truth.

Leon raised his head and replied to Irene.

"Tell me the case. I would like to hear it."