Captain Barnada Garundel of the Royal Castle Guard was irritated.

  An "intruder" had somehow appeared in this royal castle, which he and his men prided themselves on guarding with an iron defense.

  The mere fact that there was a breach in their security was a serious matter, but of all things, the intruder was...

  In any case, this was a major incident. The intruder had been caught with anticlimactic ease. No, he didn't even seem to have any intention of fleeing—if anything, he appeared to be confused in his own way.

  That was fine so far. However, the problem was that he belonged to a race that "shouldn't be here."

  For that race, he wasn't particularly short, but otherwise he was dull and weak—no muscle strength or agility to speak of, a complete amateur by all accounts.

  And yet, such a person had breached the royal castle's security.

  If things went poorly, his own head might literally roll.

  "I'll ask again. Who the hell are you? You've been silent this whole time—can you not understand our language?"

  Garundel, a Shepherd-type Canisade (dog beastman), couldn't hide his irritation as he interrogated the intruder before him.

  Sitting in front of him in the interrogation room chair with both hands bound was a single Humanita (human).

  For someone who'd boldly snuck into this castle—home of the Antero beastmen—all alone, he seemed strangely terrified and utterly confused.

  Though perhaps that was an act.

  "So you're not planning to answer honestly. Looks like we'll need to inflict a little pain..."

  "W-wait, please!"

  When the Humanita finally opened his mouth, he said something outrageous.

  "Wh-where exactly is this place?"

  "What?"

  You infiltrate the royal castle, and your first words are "Where am I?"?

  Garundel was beyond speechless—his irritation only grew.

  "Looks like you won't answer honestly without some torture, eh?"

  "N-no! Really, I don't know where this is! The reason I couldn't answer was because I couldn't understand your language..."

  "Yet you're speaking fluently now?"

  "Th-that's... as I listened, it gradually started sounding like my native language..."

  Garundel felt his irritation mounting.

  Couldn't understand the language so he stayed silent, but gradually it started sounding like his native language...? This was absurd, but since he'd finally opened his mouth, Garundel intended to make him spill everything.

  "Listen here. This is the royal castle of the Kingdom of Felideria. You've infiltrated such a place. What's your purpose, and where did you enter from? Are you alone?"

  "Felideria? Never heard of it... And you're... a jūjin(beastman)..."

  "I'm a Canisade Antero. What's this 'jūjin' thing you're saying?"

  "Ah, no, my apologies. Antero... you said?"

  The reaction was strange.

  Doesn't know about this country? Doesn't know about Antero?

  He wanted to believe it was an act, but it had an odd ring of truth.

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  Moreover, from his observations, this man was different from the Humanita he knew of. He'd never directly encountered a Humanita before, but compared to his knowledge about them, he'd never heard of brownish-black eyes and hair, and the face seemed oddly flat.

  'A variant of Humanita?'

  Knock knock.

  Just as Garundel was finding the man before him suspicious, there came a knock at the interrogation room door.

  "What is it?"

  "Captain Garundel, I have something to report."

  He heard his adjutant's voice, sounding somewhat flustered.

  "Enter."

  The door opened and a Fene (fox beastwoman) entered. Garundel's adjutant, Desina Payalka.

  Though usually composed, she seemed oddly flustered and restless for some reason.

  Still, she'd come to properly report what he'd ordered earlier—truly, subordinates you can count on are invaluable. He found himself thinking such irrelevant thoughts, quite unsuited to the situation.

  "So, how did the investigation go?"

  "Yes. That man's..."

  Payalka glanced at the Humanita man. Her expression had a hint of contempt that bothered him.

  "...We investigated his belongings, and the large quantity he was carrying appeared to be food, but when we tore open what seemed to be a container, the Felinoid (cat beastman) guards had an abnormal reaction."

  "Abnormal reac—"

  Just as he was about to ask what kind of abnormal reaction, the Humanita man interrupted him with incredible urgency.

  "Felinoid? You said Felinoid? There are Felinoid here?"

  He'd just said he didn't know about Antero, yet the moment he heard "Felinoid," this reaction?

  Garundel's irritation was turning to anger.

  "So you were lying earlier after all."

  "Huh? Ah, no, I'd never heard of Antero or anything like that. But I have an acquaintance who's a Felinoid... Wait, what? Could this be... his world? Is that even possible? No way. You're kidding, right?"

  Watching the Humanita man, who'd suddenly become agitated after opening his mouth, Garundel felt puzzled but urged Payalka to continue her report.

  "So, what was this abnormal reaction?"

  "Yes. Something like a paste came out of that container-like object, and when a Felinoid guard smelled it, he became extremely excited and tried to lick it. We couldn't let him touch an unknown substance, so we restrained him, but he was making a fuss saying 'Let me go! Let me lick it!' and wouldn't listen."

  "Just from smelling it?"

  "Yes. It appears to be highly addictive. And Felinoid-specific. Other races found the smell appetizing but didn't show such a reaction."

  Hearing this, he was beginning to understand why she'd been glaring at the man with that expression. Surely, plotting something nefarious against Felinoid in this royal castle...

  "Ah, no, that's just a treat that cats—I mean, Felinoid prefer. It's not dangerous at all."

  "Even causing such a dangerous reaction? Ridiculous. And Captain, there's one more dangerous item."

  Saying this, she pulled something black and small, like a plate, from the wooden box she was holding.

  "Ah, my smartphone! I'd be in trouble if that broke, please be careful with..."

  "Silence!"

  Something about her attitude seemed sharper than usual, and Garundel felt genuinely chilled, but in any case, what she held out was another item they'd confiscated when searching him earlier. Made of some unknown material, he'd ordered it examined in a secure location to determine if it was dangerous.

  "Did you figure out what it is?"

  "No. I called the court mage and technician to examine it, but they couldn't figure out what it was either... They determined it probably won't explode, but it turned out to be extremely dangerous—politically."

  "Politically dangerous?"

  "Yes. Look at this."

  When she reached out and gently touched it, the plate lit up—

  "Whoa!?"

  While surprised that the motionless black plate suddenly lit up, Garundel found himself gasping at the image that appeared on its surface.

  "Th-this is...!"

  "That's not all."

  By whatever mechanism, different images appeared each time she touched it with her fingertip.

  It looked like some kind of magical tool, but the more serious problem was the content of the images.

  "Did you report this upward?"

  "Yes. I've ordered silence from all personnel who witnessed it and sent a messenger to His Highness the King's Brother. He should be on his way here now."

  "I see. Well done."

  Garundel turned a severe gaze toward the man, who was staring at them with a blank expression.

  "Hey, you."

  "Yes?"

  "What are you planning? Bringing a 'dangerous drug' that works on Felinoid, plus carrying such obscene material into this royal castle..."

  "Huh? Obscene? My smartphone?"

  "Why do images of this country's royal family appear on that 'SMARTPHONE' thing?"

  "What? Royal family?"

  The Humanita man wore an expression that truly seemed to say he had no idea what was going on.

  If that's acting, it's remarkably convincing, Garundel thought, though trained spies could pull off such things.

  What was puzzling was that his physique and bearing showed no signs of such training.

  "And what's the meaning of such indecent poses! What shameless pictures! Are you trying to insult the royal family?!"

  Just as an enraged Garundel stood up and was about to draw his sword, he heard someone being saluted outside the door.

  "Salute to His Highness the King's Brother!"

  "That's enough. This room?"

  "Yes!"

  Hearing the conversation outside announcing the King's Brother's arrival, Garundel and Payalka, who stood beside him, straightened their postures toward the door.

  When the door opened and the King's Brother entered the interrogation room, before the two could even salute, he spotted the Humanita man and uttered unexpected words.

  "...Dad?"

  At the King's Brother's shockingly unexpected words, the two froze, forgetting to salute, and from behind them came an equally foolish response that sent them into further panic.

  "...Norgaar?"

  The captive Humanita. No, the Earthling—

  Amashiro ōteru was there.