Minato Ward, top-floor hallway of a luxury hotel.
"Found anything from the investigation?"
Stepping on the moderately firm carpet, a tall silver-haired girl in uniform surveyed the surrounding knights clad in identical attire with her clear azure eyes.
Upon hearing the princess's inquiry, Justina, as the princess's knight, immediately stepped forward to report to La Folia on behalf of the guard knights:
"According to current investigations, we've identified how the assailants infiltrated."
"They bribed hotel staff to obtain access cards, used the lifts to transport weapons concealed in suitcases to the top floor, then launched the attack."
As for the investigation methods, they naturally employed suggestion magic to interrogate each hotel employee individually.
Given that their guarded princess had been attacked, the knights of Aldegia saw no issue with using more... forceful measures.
"The puzzling aspect is that among the attackers, the youngest was 45 while the oldest was 72. During corpse examinations, we found most were missing their little fingers - likely yakuza members."
"Additionally, their semi-automatic weapons appear to be outdated AK assault rifles, probably French surplus sold to Africa."
"As for the rocket that was blocked by the barrier, it was a cheap disposable RPG. Investigations suggest it's obsolete stock from Russia's Far Eastern Army."
Listening to Justina's report, La Folia wore a peculiar expression:
"So according to these findings..."
"A group of elderly Japanese gangsters attacked me using French surplus guns and shoddy Russian rockets?"
"That's essentially correct, yes?"
"Yes, Your Highness." Justina bowed her head, seemingly ashamed of the report's inadequacy.
La Folia, however, showed no displeasure, merely looking perplexed as she said:
"With these results, I can't help but think these people were hired purely as decoys?"
"However you look at it, nobody could possibly believe elderly gangsters could stand against Aldegia Kingdom's elite force - the Sacred Ring Knights?"
The Sacred Ring Knights.
One of Aldegia Kingdom's elite military units, entirely composed of cadet branches from House Rihavein. Through spiritual training harnessing Spirit Power to enhance their physiques, combined with Aldegia's magitech support, all members achieve Elite Rank grade evaluations in SDS standards.
Even in the martial Aldegia, such a force numbers fewer than five hundred.
For La Folia's protection, King Lucas had deployed a full fifth of them.
Breaking through a hundred such knights to reach La Folia was utterly implausible for elderly gangsters.
At that moment, a Sacred Ring knight hurried up the nearby staircase and whispered to La Folia.
"You're saying... There are many reporters downstairs? And they're clashing with Japan's Metropolitan Police Department?"
La Folia frowned at this news.
The presence of reporters was understandable.
The Aldegia Kingdom was renowned for its beautiful people, and her royal status, combined with her striking looks, naturally drew public curiosity.
It's worth noting that she herself maintained official accounts on some social media platforms, responsible for sharing approved daily photos and promoting the tourist attractions of the Aldegia Kingdom, which brought considerable traffic to the realm.
So La Folia wasn't particularly surprised by journalists staking out locations.
Nor was she shocked when reporters clashed with official security personnel.
After all, journalists would naturally take risks for a story when they knew their safety was guaranteed.
But... at this precise moment, following this princess's terrorist attack, are reporters still daring to confront authorities? That was somewhat unexpected.
Even using just one-tenth of her brain, La Folia understood Japan's authorities would desperately try to suppress the incident's publicity first.
Under such circumstances, measures would inevitably become more forceful. Moreover, since Aldegia was founded on magitech industry, making it more susceptible to mystic-side attacks, the Metropolitan Police Department would undoubtedly dispatch their mystic-side specialists.
Those who lived by the sword wouldn't show courtesy to journalists.
For reporters to still provoke conflicts under these conditions, and seemingly escalate matters... that was unusual.
Considering this, La Folia remarked with amusement: "It seems we've stumbled into some conspiracy..."
La Folia appeared to treat the entire affair as entertainment, even though it directly involved her.
...
Bang! Bang-bang!!
In the hotel car park.
Chisato Nishikigi, having just stepped out of her newly purchased Porsche, immediately looked towards the source of gunfire:
"That sound is..."
"Police-issue revolver gunfire."
Takina Inoue slammed the car door shut, frowning towards the commotion's origin:
"Likely clashes between reporters and Metropolitan Police personnel at the main entrance."
Hearing this, Chisato felt something was amiss:
"No way... they're actually using firearms? Since when were the Department's dispatched units this bold?"
Suddenly, pulling out her phone, Chisato's fingers flew across the screen as she browsed webpages.
"Ah, found it - they're actually livestreaming on YouTube... bloody hell, have they gone mad?"
"Both reporters and security personnel have lost their minds?"
Approaching, Takina observed reporters storming checkpoints and officials firing warning shots that failed to deter the crowd, her frown deepening.
Witnessing a reporter attempting to seize an officer's weapon only to be preemptively shot at - American-style magazine dump included - Takina remarked curiously:
"While I understand the rationale for firing, judging by the Department's operational protocols, they'd inevitably deploy Bujin-shū emergency personnel. Given their environment, preemptive strikes aren't surprising... but this escalation seems unusually rapid."
"Normally, the procedure would involve persuading dispersal, recording uncooperative reporters' identities, containing them externally, then applying pressure through media hierarchies until journalists withdrew voluntarily."
As for the things officials emphasised not to do, the reporter had enough sense not to easily cross the line with authorities.
This procedure was common knowledge not just among the elite of Bujin-shū, but even the reporters themselves and outsiders like Takina Inoue.
On the mystic side, there were also sorcerers using suggestion techniques to disperse crowds. Though time-limited, temporarily controlling ordinary reporters wasn't an issue.
Yet today, within the mere five or six minutes it took for Takina Inoue and Chisato Nishikigi to descend to the hotel's underground car park, gunfire erupted - clearly abnormal.
Considering this, Takina immediately said to Chisato:
"Someone's likely manipulating events behind the scenes. Just in case, Chisato, let's take the stairs directly up."
"Understood!" Chisato gave an OK sign before following Takina as they both ran towards the stairwell.