After a few more finishing touches, the sculpture Nakama was working on came to life…figuratively, anyway. Gaius couldn’t tell which stroke did it, but at one point, the sculpture had transformed from wood to wooden flesh. Hardness had given way to soft light, to true life.

“The boundary between stone and skin, wood and will, is elusive,” Isabelle murmured. “Now I see what he meant.”

“Who said that?” Gaius asked, curious.

“A sculptor, back when I was a child,” said Isabelle. “Me and my siblings were always a lively bunch. Inquisitive. When the garden was having a makeover, we went to ask the workers questions and watched them work.”

“Disturb them, you mean.” Gaius shook his head.

“I prefer to think that we were a welcome distraction from the monotony of their lives, Gaius.” She smiled. “I used to think that they were just being nice but after I started living with Nakama, I now think differently. They probably welcomed our questions, having seen it as a way to break free from their everyday routines.”

“The perspective of an adult, it seems.” Gaius shook his head. “Well, now that she’s done, let’s go grab Xanadu before she invites a horde of Paragons into the school. She’s asked Nakama to create a sculpture in her likeness. Once the audience regains their senses, it’ll be messy.”

Men and women began to murmur in appreciation as Nakama retired from the spotlight, clearly exhausted. Most of their attention were drawn to the distinctive markings on the clothes; they weren’t sure how she managed to create different shades of brown, despite having a block of wood to start with.

“These patterns look rather familiar,” said someone.

“I’ve seen them before, somewhere,” said another person, who took a few steps towards the sculpture. “Like, I’m sure it’s on a poster or something.”

“Now that you say that…”

“Crap,” Gaius muttered. “The conversation’s going in an odd way.”

“You think?” Isabelle replied. “Maybe you should do something about this.”

“Good point.” Gaius edged past a few bystanders, his hand snaking outwards to grab the person that only he could identify. His target squirmed, but before she could say anything, the boy whispered into her ears. The Phantom Blade twitched, and then vanished into the crowd, along with Gaius and Isabelle.

“So,” said Xanadu, “you got me.”

“Yes, smartass,” Gaius whispered back. “Did you not notice that the sculptor had gotten your real appearance down?”

“What? That’s impossib—”

Gaius cleared his throat. “If I could, other people could too. The point is, right now, your true appearance has been carved out and placed on display, from head to sole.”

Isabelle glanced at the crowd. “Gaius, can you do something about her face? Maybe, mutilate it somewhat?”

The boy pondered for a moment. “It’s possible. Tell me, Xanadu, where would you like a scar to appear on your wanted poster tomorrow?”

“Is that really a question you should be asking me?” she replied.

“I have a lot of questions, but I think we can start off by showing some good faith on my side,” said Gaius. “If you want to keep walking around this city normally, it’ll be best if I were to do something about…”

The smirk on her face brought the boy’s words to a halt. Gaius stared at Xanadu, and then thought back to his previous encounter with the Phantom Blade at Dai-Yukimono. “Unless…you’ve actually been touring Seireiden in your disguise the entire time?”

“You didn’t notice?”

Gaius rubbed his forehead. “I’m an idiot.”

“Yes, you are,” said Isabelle. “I wanted to point out that the person you were looking at was different from the person depicted in Nakama’s sculpture, but I had the feeling you weren’t going to take stock of what I just said, anyway.”

“You are a very weird person, Gaius,” said Xanadu.

Gaius shrugged. “What are you doing here anyway? This place is a school. This is a school festival. And I don’t think you’re a student or an ex-student here.”

“It’s open to the public,” Xanadu replied. “This festival was designed for people outside the school to view. Why can’t I be here?”

“You’re a wanted criminal,” Gaius replied. “From what I’ve heard, you’re someone wanted throughout Orb. What are you even doing here in the first place?”

“I just wanted to revisit this place,” said Xanadu. “I was a student here. You have an issue with that?”

“Or so she says,” said Gaius. “Can we check if she used to be a student here?”

“No, I don’t think that’s really possible now,” said Isabelle. “But since she’s in disguise, her presence here shouldn’t be an issue, right?”

A bunch of people, all dressed in blue and green, strode into the garden. The guests turned as they walked towards the clearing that housed the whole bunch of sculptures Nakama had carved out.

“What’s going on?”

“Enforcement officers are here?”

Their leader pointed at Xanadu’s sculpture. “That’s the one. Who’s the creator?”

Nakama, who had just returned from her break, walked out of the maze of sculptures. “It’s me. Is there a problem?”

“This person you based your creation on is a wanted criminal,” said the man. “We’ll need to take this in as further uses of identification — the person who commissioned you might still be here. These two are probably linked.”

The other guests protested, but the leader of the squad didn’t care about their objections. “Control the exits in and out of this place. As for you, girl, stand here and point out the person who commissioned this work if you see them. Guests, please leave this exhibit through this exit only. Non-compliance will be met with lethal force.”

Gaius clenched his fist, and he was on the verge of moving when he felt Isabelle’s hand on his shoulder. The heat in his stomach dissipated, and Gaius breathed out slowly. Reason told him that so long as he didn’t do anything, Nakama would be fine.

Inaction is, at times, preferred over action. Gaius’ emotion and reason struggled for a moment, but with Isabelle’s presence, the boy was able to let the anger within him dissipate slowly.

Of course, all this was contingent on Nakama staying safe, but now that he thought about it, no one would dare to slight the students of Kishi Gakuen. Their attendance here was backed by minimally Knights, not something an average civilian would dare to offend.

Gaius took a deep breath. “Let’s get out of here. Don’t worry. You won’t be identified with me around.”

The three glanced at the departing crowd, and followed behind them as they filed out of the exhibit slowly, leaving the students behind.