“… Hmph.” Finn snorted and turned to the novice Phantom Slayers, who were both shocked and… slightly frightened.

“W-Who are you?!”

Finn had a disguise up, and he couldn’t really say ‘Finn’ anyway. So, he just settled with…

“… Call me Spade.”

He hadn’t forgotten where his alias, ‘Ace’, came from. Ace of Spades. Since he took the first half of that as his real alias… might as well use the latter half as his fake one.

“And this…” He turned to Iris. “… Is Heart.”

He could feel Iris’s surprised gaze on him, like ‘you’re kidding, right?’ but he really didn’t care at the moment. He needed to come up with a name for her on the spot, otherwise these Phantom Slayers would be suspicious.

“G-Great, that tells us absolutely nothing!” The young girl leading their little team said, stepping forward. “Are you two… Ghost Hunters? Phantom Slayers too? Which squadron are you from?”

“… We are from no Squadron,” Iris said, flying closer beside Finn. “The two of us are freelance Hunters from District A, here to help out with the Emperor-level Ghost residing within this city. Do you know anything about it?”

“The Emperor…? What? There’s an Emperor-level Ghost here?! Ha, you’re kidding!” The girl laughed as if Iris had just said something ridiculous. “Have you looked at this city? How peaceful it is? Please, if there was an Emperor-level Ghost here, things would already be in ruins. You must’ve misheard the location of the rumors… or, well, they are only rumors after all.”

“Er, this…” Iris turned to Finn, unsure of how to respond.

“… Hm. What squadron are you from?” Finn asked the group of Hunters.

“We’re from-” The leader began, but a boy grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her.

“Wait. We can’t be sure they are even registered Ghost Hunters yet. They could be rogue,” he said warily, staring intently at Finn and Iris. “Do you have your guild cards?”

Finn nodded confidently, then reached into his pocket, and… stopped.

“… Hm. It seems I’ve lost it.”

The boy narrowed his eyes cautiously. “You… lost it?”

“It was right here in my pocket last time I checked. Did someone steal it while I was fighting those Ghosts just now, perhaps?”

“Wha- are you accusing me?” The boy yelled in fury. “Why would I steal your guild card?”

“So you can wrongfully declare us as rogue Hunters, then claim all the credit for defeating these Ghosts on your own,” Finn replied calmly. “This is not the first time I’ve had that happen to me. After all, freelance Hunters are looked down upon by those in Squadrons.”

He had heard about that from Jim on one of his random rambles. Who knew it would come into use here?

“We’re not like that,” the girl leader hurriedly said. “Philip here is just paranoid all the time. But, I can say for sure that he didn’t steal your guild card. He—and we as a whole—are not that kind of people.”

Finn folded his arms. “Is that so? I am blind, so I cannot say for sure. However… I will believe you to be kind people if you bring me to your Squadron. I would like to speak with your leader.”

“Erm, this…” The girl scratched her head awkwardly. “Haha… actually, she’s at a meeting right now with a Ghost Hunter from the House of Spectra. I don’t know what it’s about, but it seemed to be important. If you don’t mind waiting…”

“We don’t mind,” Finn hurriedly said. “Take us there.”

The girl nodded. “Alright. Then, follow me.”

“What? But-” The skeptical boy opened his mouth to argue, but the girl shushed him.

“Zip it, Philip. We’re all on the same side. He says he’s the blind one… but from what I can see, you are the one who’s really blind. They just helped us kill the Phantoms we were struggling to defeat!”

“Yeah,” another girl added. “Besides, judging from their strength… they have to be at least A-Class Hunters. If they were rogue or hostile, we would already be dead.”

“…” The boy fell silent, but didn’t move his suspicious gaze from Finn and Iris—especially the former, even as they began walking away.

Zelestria giggled inside Finn’s head, spectating the whole scene. [Fufu~ he’s a sharp one, isn’t he?]

‘No matter,’ Finn replied calmly. ‘If I can’t sway him, all I have to do is sway his superiors.’

[Yes, yes… no one can outwit my darling~]

Soon, the group arrived before a massive building—not in terms of width, but in terms of height. It pierced through the clouds, and had to have at least 50 floors.

“… This is your Squadron’s base?” Iris inquired skeptically.

The girl leading them nodded. “Yep! On the surface, it’s a prosperous technology company, but in reality, it’s home to the 32nd Squadron of the Phantom Slayer Corps—otherwise known as Evelyn’s Heart. Just like your alias!”

She beamed at Iris, who was currently undercover with the name ‘Heart’.

“… And I’m assuming the leader of this Squadron is named Evelyn?” Finn asked just to be sure.

“Well, that’s her alias. It’s an alias that sounds like a name… but really, no one knows what her real name is. Not even her students. Heck, I’m her daughter, and I don’t even know.”

“What about your father?” Iris asked as the girl stepped forward, activated the automatic-opening doors, and entered. “Does he know?”

At this, the girl came to a stop, letting the doors shut behind the group.

“My father… he… I don’t know.”

That was enough for them to realize what had happened. Iris’s eyes widened slightly, and she quickly covered her mouth in shock.

“Oh… I’m… I’m sorry.”

But the girl beamed happily once again, like that moment of sadness ever happened. “Hee-hee, don’t worry about it! I never met him, so does that really make him my father…? Hm…”

With a graceful spin, she turned to Iris and Finn, then tilted her head towards some couches. “You two can rest there for now. I’ll let you know once mother comes back. She’ll be using the teleporter, not the front entrance, so…”

Finn nodded and set Iris down on one side of the couch from his shoulders, then sat down himself.

“Okay! See you for now, Mr. Spade and Ms. Heart!” The girl said excitedly with a upbeat wave. “You two make a great couple~!”

“E-Eh?!” Iris’s eyes widened in surprise at this final remark, taken completely by surprise, but Finn’s expression was unchanged as usual.

The girl laughed. “By the way, I go by the alias Floria in battle, but you can call me Eve. Anyway, see you!”

The girl disappeared with her friends, and Iris slowly shifted her gaze towards Finn, who was sitting upright as usual with that same solemn expression, unchanging and unwavering.

“… Couple, huh?”

She smiled softly.