The Cunning Deduction

“Who exactly am I? Hehe…”

Leya chuckled softly, placing her wine glass back on the table. She tilted her head, lost in thought for a long moment, realizing she had truly been stumped by the question.

‘Who exactly am I?’

It was indeed a difficult question to answer.

If she were to claim herself as Leya, her current appearance, her way of thinking, and even her personality were vastly different from her original self.

While these discrepancies were slowly diminishing as her control over this body matured, it remained undeniable that her current self could hardly be called ‘Leya.’

If she wasn’t ‘Leya,’ then she certainly couldn’t be Saber. After all, despite sharing the same general framework as the original character, she regrettably lacked Saber’s unique memories.

It was impossible for her to inherit or comprehend everything Saber had endured. Thus, the question remained: who was she, truly, at this very moment?

****

“Is it inconvenient to answer? Well… I suppose that can’t be helped.”

Seeing Leya remain silent, Maxwell spoke, a hint of dejection in his expression.

“You… are very curious about my identity?”

“Uh… huh?”

“Am I wrong? From the moment I brought you up here, you haven’t uttered a single complaint about those fellows downstairs. To be honest, that surprised me somewhat.”

“Uh…”

This genuinely left Maxwell speechless for a moment; he simply couldn’t refute it.

Just as Leya had pointed out, Maxwell had indeed overlooked that detail, acting a touch too eagerly and impatiently.

Fortunately, in Maxwell’s eyes, this was hardly a major issue, so he began to explain.

“Oh, it’s nothing out of the ordinary. I’ve been through worse for a long time; I’m used to it.”

“Besides, it’s an immense honor to sit at the same table with a Sword Princess like yourself, even in my current predicament, and converse as equals. In the past, such a thing would have been utterly unthinkable.”

‘Pfft—’

Although her mind was reeling with shock, Leya maintained an unshakeable composure, saying calmly:

“It’s not that exaggerated. I’m just an ordinary person, like you.”

“Haha—hahaha—”

Upon hearing her reply, Maxwell burst into an exaggerated fit of laughter, clutching his stomach with utter lack of gentlemanly grace.

“Forg—forgive me, Sword Princess, truly forgive me! Haha—After all… an ordinary person with strength reaching Lv3 or higher is quite a rare sight, haha—”

“…”

“Oh—please forgive my impropriety, Sword Princess. Well then, since you’re unwilling to reveal your origins, perhaps… you’d allow me to take a guess?”

“If I’m correct, you can simply remain silent or nod. Either is fine!”

“My, you’re truly persistent about this, aren’t you? Alright then… go on, take your guess.”

‘He’ll never guess it anyway. I might as well listen to how absurd his guesses can get, hahaha—’

“Alright then! First… considering you, Sword Princess, entered the city without legal identification, you are not a local, nor even from the Kingdom of Alvia.”

“You must have arrived here quite recently, am I right?”

[She nodded.]

Simultaneously, Leya wondered how he knew about her need to replace her identification.

“Also, judging by your lack of legal identification, you aren’t from any of the countries surrounding Alvia. After all, with frequent trade, identification from the various Western Southern Continent nations should be universally recognized.”

[She nodded again.]

“Furthermore, from your attire, it’s clear you don’t hail from the North. Due to the abnormal climate in recent years, even Alvia, once known for its perpetual spring, has been blanketed in heavy snow.”

“The North would be even worse. Wearing dresses in such weather would be incredibly unwise, especially for someone traveling with multiple similar garments, wouldn’t you agree, Sword Princess?”

“…”

“No response? Then, by my rules, I must be right, haha! So, you’re not from a neighboring country of Alvia, nor from a northern nation of the Western Continent.”

“Your homeland’s climate should be similar to Alvia’s, at least warm enough to wear dresses in winter. Considering all this, I deduce your homeland lies to the East, am I correct?”

“…”

“Tsk, tsk, I’m not finished yet. From the East, and considering you, Sword Princess, had no identification whatsoever before this, you must not have visited any Western Continent countries.”

“You likely crossed into Alvia directly through some specific means. After much thought, only one method comes to mind.”

“The Netherworld Forest… You crossed the Netherworld Forest directly to reach Alvia, didn’t you?”

“…”

“And further, considering your lack of identification from any Western Continent country, and looking at all the nations surrounding the vast mountain range that encompasses the Netherworld Forest, only one fits the criteria.”

“And that would be… the Duchy of Ruoen…”

“…”

“However, it is common knowledge that the Duchy of Ruoen is merely a puppet state of that ‘Empire’ on the Western Continent, lacking autonomy in finance, administration, and military.”

“So, how could it possibly cultivate someone as outstanding, flawless, and inherently noble as you, Sword Princess? What’s more, the southern provinces of that ‘Empire’ happen to possess a climate similar to Alvia’s, unaffected by the Western Continent’s anomalous weather.”

“…”

“Therefore, considering all the above, I believe your homeland must be that ‘Empire,’ and no other country, right? Hahahaha—”

****

Ten minutes later…

Maxwell did not linger for long after that. Surprisingly, upon seeing Leya offer no rebuttal to his deductions about her identity, he maintained a mysterious smile and took his leave.

“Tsk, tsk, the Ampros Empire, eh? Heh, to deduce that much, I truly have to hand it to him.”

Leya expressed her genuine admiration as she cleared the dishes.

‘Well… in truth, all his guesses were completely wrong, lol.’

“But in the end, he still didn’t state his true purpose, did he?”

“No, no, it’s not that he didn’t say it, Host. From my understanding of humans these past few days, this is a classic case of ‘letting the tiger go to catch it better,’ Host!”

“And judging by his previous words, this person is likely quite cunning…”

“Oh? Is that so? Should I be concerned then?”

“Uh… probably not!”

“Hmm, you’re right.”

[Bang—]

‘Oh?’

‘That sound came from…’

[Clatter, clatter—] It sounded like a large pile of things had spilled onto the floor.

“Erica?”