at this halfway point Dandall because if it became widely known that the girl was the real thing, she might got targeted by relatives who were aiming for the headship of Melrose or by his political enemies.

「I’m not coming directly to meet you just to listen to that kind of report. It’s because it’s you that I want to hear your impression that you felt from that girl.」

「....To be honest, she is a very pretty girl but the impression that I got from her is very different from Ojou-sama. Besides her hair color is blond that is closer to red. It’s not the 『pink blond hair』 that the women of Melrose are crowned with.」

「I see....」

When the gathered information was combined, the result was gray that was closer to white. But, based on Hosu’s impression, it was gray that was closer to black. There were circumstantial evidences that could designate the girl as the real thing as long as the house head recognized her, but Belt was feeling something that was holding him back in his heart.

Was it his instinct? If that girl had the 『ring』 that was possessed by Belt’s daughter, it would only be natural to decide her as the real thing, but conversely speaking it meant there were only circumstantial evidences and no physical evidence at all. It made Belt hesitated even more.

「Will my lord meet her directly?」

「That’s still too soon....」

Belt shook his head at Hosu’s question and moved his gaze at the pink cord that was placed on the table.

That was a cord that a certain girl knitted from her own hair. The girl’s eyes reminded Sera of Belt and there was also this hair color. That was why she told the girl that she had thrown away the cord and brought it to Belt while telling him of her impression about the girl.

The hairs had become really frayed and they also had lost their luster, but the color was certainly very familiar with the hair color of Belt’s daughter in his memory. Furthermore the girl’s age of seven years old also matched. But how did she able to obtain strength that enabled her to defeat hobgoblin and rank 3 thief by herself when she was just seven years old? There was no way a girl who lived a normal life with a housewife mother and soldier father could have such strength. Considering that, even her claim that she was seven years old was suspect.

「....Hosu, continue observing that girl as the orphanage’s caretaker just as planned. Also, send a skilled agent to the girl who owned this hair cord. Check whether she has a hidden possession or not.」

「Should I send Sera?」

「No....flaws will start showing in the security of the queen’s palace if she is absent from the capital any longer than this. Even so that doesn’t mean we can send someone untrustworthy for this....」

Belt spoke until there and fell into thought. Even Hosu who had retired from the front line also wracked his brain and he recalled a man. That man was somewhat lacking in flexibility in some aspects, but even his extreme behavior that he was showing during his youth had calmed down as he aged. That person couldn’t be said as the right person to contact a child, but there was no doubting his loyalty to the country. There should be no one more skilled than him in this area.

「Then....how about we ask Grave to undertake this task before he return to the capital?」