In March 3458, the situation on the Laurentian continent was unstable.

This was mainly due to the fact that on February 24 of the same year, Richard Valois de Selrois was replaced by his legitimate son, Cesar Valois de Selrois.

Nevertheless, ten days had passed since his accession to the throne and, thanks to the efforts of the new king and his ministers, the situation was finally stabilizing.

"Is she gone?"

Yes, Your Majesty.

Yes, Your Majesty.　What were the guards doing?

No one left the room. And yet, in the morning, the room was empty. ......

"Mm-hmm. ....... Anyway, continue your search in secret.

"Yes, sir."

is a homunculus that looks exactly like the demon tribe .

She had been protected by King Cesar when he was a crown prince near the Nubari Mine.

He seems to have no memory, and we do not even know his name.

He never opened his heart to anyone and finally disappeared.

"......"

King Cesar stared at a piece of leather paper with the faltering words, <>.

"No one saw him leave, and now he's gone. ......"

King Cesar sighed softly.

* * * * * *

"Hmm, this is , isn't it?"

Jin was visiting <<700672>>.

"It's the same template as <>, isn't it?"

No.700672 muttered as he looked at the dark-haired, red-eyed girl in front of him.

It was Jin who brought out a homunculus that looked just like <> from under the new King Cesar.

He used the Shinobi Unit under the direct control of the old lord and brought her out with a transporter.

In the first place, it was No. 700672 who advised Jin to take <> out.

Yesterday, after wondering what to make of <>'s existence, he asked for 700672's advice.

"Hmm, a homunculus is in your world ......."

The 700672 thought for a moment, and then concluded.

"Bring him here as soon as possible."

When Jin asked why, 700672 explained in order.

First of all, it would be very bad if people found out that <> body was different from that of humans.

It would be even worse if it is known that the model is a demon.

In the current situation of the human world, it would be premature to publicize the existence of the demon tribe.

Jin was convinced by all of them. But the biggest reason was...,

>.

<<>>.

"So. We need to hide her out of their sight at all costs. Don't worry about being kidnapped. A homunculus is not a human being.

He also said that he would be responsible for the 700672.

So Jin took <> out.

By the way, <> is named after the color of her red eyes. The name <> was also chosen because the color of her black hair would have made her <>.

The name "rouge" (red) was also a good contrast to "neige" (snow) = white.

* * * * *

Rouge, strangely enough, immediately took to No. 700672. The original Neige seems to have accepted her as well.

"Rouge, it's nice to meet you from now on."

"Yes, Neige.

Their friendship was as if they had originally been sisters.

"It seems that this girl was thrown out of the house as soon as she was made. We have been given only basic information. I'm sure she'll be of great use to you if you take the time to raise her.

700672 explained as he inspected Rouge.

Seeing that Rouge was obediently obedient to the inspection, the possibility emerged that she was created by a just like No. 700672. The possibility that the person who made her was a <> like No. 700672 emerged.

"Well, are you saying that there are beings like you near the <>?"

"Yes. My masters are scattered here and there. It is not surprising that some of them have moved to your continent.

Jin was convinced of this possibility.

"But why did they use Archel as a model?　And if so, where is the real Archelle?"

This question was not answered clearly by No. 700672.

"All I know is that it is easier to create an appearance if there is a model. We don't know much more about the girl who served as the model.

"I see. ......"

It seems that Jin modeled Arrow after Marcia and Lotte after Bina.

I thought they might be important clues to the whereabouts of Archel, but I guess not.

"By the way, how much do you know about astronomy?"

Jin was momentarily taken aback by the sudden change of topic, but quickly changed his mind and replied.

"Well, basically, stars, planets, satellites, their revolutions and orbits, and so on. I know very little about the stars of this world.

"I see. ...... have you noticed any bright stars in the night sky lately?"

"Oh, yes. I've seen them several times.

"Good. That's a long period planet.

A long period planet?

Jin asked back at the unfamiliar word.

"Yes. It orbits along the same ecliptic plane as the other planets in the solar system ...... including Ars, but it has a long elliptical orbit."

Jin thought of long-period comets such as Halley's comet. This one is a planet, he said.

"Its orbital period is about 1204 years.

This is an extraordinarily long period.

As far as I know, it has made four close approaches in the past, and all four times it was at a great distance from this star, Ars, and nothing happened.

"Is that so?"

"Well, the distance between Ars and the sun Celan is about 150 million kilometers, which is one astronomical unit, If we take that as one AU, it would pass through a distance of about 0.4 AU."

From a cosmological point of view, this is a distance equal to zero.

"We don't know what will happen. We don't know what will happen, and we don't know what we should prepare for. I'm afraid all I can do is let you know that there is such a possibility.

"No, but it would still be helpful. Thank you very much."

Jin is an amateur in the field of astronomy. He is not likely to be able to calculate the orbits of celestial objects.

"We are now launching a surveillance satellite into orbit. It will mainly monitor the ground, but it will also be able to see into space, so let's start observing.

700672 smiled.

"Well, you have already developed such a technology, that's great.

"So, what month will the object make its closest approach?　And do you know the size and mass of the object?

Jin asked for more information.

"Yes. It will probably be around September or October. The size and estimated mass are about the same as this Ars.

That means a little more than half a year to go. What can we do until then? Hitoshi thought carefully about what he could do until then.

"Thank you very much for everything. I'm going home for now.

"Well, come again. You are always welcome. And you can leave <> to me. Neige is happy to have a sister.

"Yes, thank you."

Jin then uses the warp gate to go to the Shinkai. Instead of returning to Horai Island, he moved to the warp gate of <> and quietly returned to his room in the royal castle in the capital city of Essiah.