Chapter 01

“Rikita Bones Is Dead”

The shockwaves caused by the seven-word message, “Rikita Bones Is Dead,” reverberated throughout the continent.

There was no disagreement that Rikita Bones, the continent’s greatest double agent, was a war hero.

If not for her, the war would still be raging—or it would have ended in victory for the war-criminal nation of the Kingdom of Dochen.

Because of her extraordinary abilities, Rikita had been assigned exclusively to top-secret missions. Unless one held a managerial position within an intelligence agency, they might never even have met her face-to-face.

“Now that everyone is here, I’ll close the door.”

Clank.

Creak.

Ka-chunk.

Thud.

The door, operated by multiple layers of mechanisms, was firmly sealed with magic.

Inside the tightly locked, secret conference room, the masters of the various nations’ intelligence agencies sat in a circle. It was a gathering of the victorious nations, which had expanded their territories by absorbing the neighboring defeated countries one by one.

“Then let’s skip the formalities and get straight to the point.”

The moment an impatient attendee opened his mouth, the war of nerves began.

They had all come here seeking Rikita’s legacy.

What the various nations wanted wasn’t Rikita’s land or money.

They wanted something far more valuable and secretive: information.

Rikita had made enormous contributions to ending the long war, but she was also the spy who knew more sensitive and dangerous information about the nations of the continent than anyone else.

Her intelligence network was so vast that it was impossible to even estimate how much she knew.

The saying that whichever nation obtained her information would gain control of the continent was no joke.

Amid the murderous glares that made it hard to believe these people had once been allies, the first to speak was the master from Kibon.

“Rikita Bones was originally from the Kingdom of Dochen. Therefore, it stands to reason that Kibon, which absorbed the Kingdom of Dochen, should inherit Rikita’s belongings.”

The master of Luzain, seated across from him, glared furiously.

“What nonsense! Rikita never worked for the Kingdom of Dochen. Luzain was the very first nation she voluntarily made contact with.”

“It was Illite that bestowed the title of marquess upon Rikita Bones. Illite was also the nation with which she carried out the most operations.”

At the Illite master’s derisive snort, the master of Soltum shook his head.

“And what good does that do you? Rikita’s residence is a townhouse in Soltum. As everyone here knows, Soltum is a free state. She chose to spend the rest of her life in Soltum of her own accord.”

The master of Hollich, seated beside him, let out an unmistakably mocking laugh before replying.

“Ahem. By that logic, Hollich is also nearby. Isn’t it rather pathetic to argue over the location of her townhouse?”

“What did you say? Pathetic?”

“He’s not entirely wrong. Although the townhouse is in Soltum, its location is close to all of your respective countries.”

The Kibon master’s remark won everyone’s agreement, and the atmosphere of the meeting grew even more hostile.

In the end, they failed to reach an agreement before the meeting concluded. They decided to inspect the information inside the safe first and begin formal negotiations afterward.

The task of opening the safe was entrusted to Soltum’s intelligence agency.

Even the safe Rikita owned was no ordinary one. The slightest mistake could cause everything inside to explode and disappear, so they needed a specialist.

And in Soltum, there was a genius magical-tool developer whose reputation for being able to open anything had spread quietly among the masters.

The master of Soltum, looking rather pleased with himself as he gazed at the assembled group at Rikita’s townhouse, gave the shoulder of the man he had secretly brought along a firm pat.

“Now, show us what you can do.”

“……”

He was Joel Smiler, an intelligence agent of Soltum and a developer of magical tools.

He had curly silver hair and golden eyes that gave him a somewhat indifferent appearance.

Joel had only recently reached adulthood, and he still retained a faintly boyish air. Nevertheless, the master seemed to place his complete trust in him.

After putting on a pair of specially made magical-tool glasses, Joel carefully examined the safe’s door for quite some time.

“I can’t open this.”

At Joel’s words, those who had been holding their breath let out disappointed sighs.

The master of Soltum widened his eyes in disbelief.

“What? What do you mean? Joel, is there any safe you can’t open?”

“There’s a special magical tool installed inside. The design is both intricate and daring. It’s truly beautiful.”

Joel gazed at it in admiration, the corners of his mouth curling up in delight.

Meanwhile, the masters were in no mood to share his admiration. Some clutched their heads, while others let out heavy sighs.

“A special magical tool…?”

“I knew it wasn’t an ordinary safe, but this…”

“Are you pretending you can’t open it so you can secretly take everything for Soltum?”

“How could you say such a thing?!”

The master of Soltum broke into a cold sweat as he pressed Joel for answers.

“Aren’t you not only an expert at cracking safes but also the finest magical-tool developer? Is there truly no way to open it?”

“There is a way, but…”

Joel examined the hinges of the safe closely before answering.

“We need Rikita’s blood.”

“Blood? But Rikita is already dead. Are you saying it can never be opened?!”

Just as the masters were on the verge of despair, Joel offered them a small glimmer of hope.

“No. The blood of a blood relative should work, too. Because they’re family.”

And that hope was cruelly shattered the moment they remembered that Rikita Bones had no family.

The masters eventually began consoling themselves, insisting that perhaps this was for the best.

If no one could obtain it, then there would be no problem with any one nation gaining possession of it.

However, the moment Rikita’s will was discovered, it revealed the existence of someone no one could ever have anticipated.

I, Rikita Josefina Bones, hereby bequeath all my possessions and authority to my sole blood relative and granddaughter, Nina Bones.

Her sole blood relative.

Her granddaughter.

The hidden bloodline of the Bones family.

“Find out everything about Nina Bones immediately! Where she’s hiding! What her weaknesses are! What she wants!”

The masters were horrified, unable to fathom when Rikita had managed to have a child and even a granddaughter. But for now, finding her blood relative was the top priority.

Before they knew of her existence, they hadn’t even thought to look for her. Now that they knew she existed, tracking her down would be easy. After all, that was what they did best.

All the intelligence agencies brought back much the same information at almost exactly the same time.

“Master! Nina Bones is working as a maid at a count’s estate in Illite!”

Good heavens. She had been in Illite all along!

The master of Illite pressed a hand to his forehead, looking as though he’d been caught completely off guard.

“Next. What’s the next piece of information?”

“What Nina Bones wants most is…”

The intelligence agents hesitated, each glancing nervously at their respective masters.

Apparently, what Rikita Bones’s sole blood relative wanted wasn’t something that could be easily obtained.

“W-what on earth is it…?!”

Just as the masters anxiously swallowed their dry saliva, the intelligence agent finally gave them the answer.

“A family.”

A family!

Suddenly, Rikita Bones’s empty townhouse and barren family tree seemed as tempting as a delicious cake.

For a brief moment, the masters of the various intelligence agencies exchanged sharp glances.

A tense atmosphere, as if sparks were flying.

Their determined expressions made it clear that none of them intended to back down.

The masters, who had experienced every kind of hardship imaginable, understood from those looks alone that they were all thinking the exact same thing.

It was a bright and warm day.

Inside the sitting room of the Bones family townhouse, several people had gathered to await their new family member.

It was the day when nineteen-year-old Nina, who had spent her entire life believing she was an orphan, would finally return to the embrace of her longed-for family.

They were all strikingly beautiful, yet there was little about them that made them look alike.

Whenever their eyes met, they smiled. Even as they exchanged a few words, however, there was no particular warmth or affection between them.

A woman, who had merely been pretending to do embroidery while sitting on the sofa, gazed at the sharp needle in her hand and chuckled softly.

I am Katahari. I’m a spy from Luzain, pretending to be Nina Bones’s older female cousin.

The man sitting across from her, holding an unfolded newspaper, chuckled as well.

I am Exi. I’m a spy from Kibon, pretending to be Nina Bones’s older male cousin.

Not to be outdone, the man who appeared to be admiring a painting in the sitting room thought to himself:

I am Chaison. I’m a spy from Illite, pretending to be Nina Bones’s uncle.

The woman who was gently touching the flowers in a vase curled the corners of her lips upward.

I am Natalisha. I’m a spy from Hollich, pretending to be Nina Bones’s aunt.

A seemingly ordinary carrier pigeon perched on the windowsill, while the potted cactus beside it glimmered in the sunlight.

Coo. Coo-roo-rook-coo.

(I am Gugu. A Soltum spy pigeon pretending to be an ordinary carrier pigeon.)

……

(I am a cactus. Just a cactus.)

Beyond the cactus’s sharp spines, past the window, lay a small garden and the front gate.

A carriage came to a stop there, and a young woman stepped out.

With light brown hair and pale pink eyes, Nina gazed at the plaque bearing the name Bones, her face brimming with excitement.

“So my family is here…!”

Nina’s eyes glistened with tears.

The horse standing obediently behind her snorted.

Frrr. Snort-snort.

(I am Maximus. A handsome horse pretending to be a Soltum spy horse.)