Belice

Belice is the young clerk who keeps Limgrell's nearly empty Hall of Seekers functioning while secretly gathering rumors for the House of Whispers. Her administrative post, information network, and concealed compulsion make her the only institutional contact who consistently helps Keandra Tylenn's party. She pursues the cult without her branch leader's approval, exposing herself to the people behind the disappearances, and is murdered at the Hall before she can pass on whatever she has learned.

Biography

The Lake of Myst to Hands in the Shadow

Belice receives Kai's transport party with Limgrell's first warm welcome, processes their contract with striking speed, and tells Kai Tylenn that Keandra's group left for the Lake of Myst the previous day. Once the tower expedition is revealed as a trap, she helps Keandra trace the informant Herry Rickson to a concealed house in the Grindstone Quarter. The tip leads Kai and Keandra into another trap, but neither finds evidence that Belice knowingly endangered them; Keandra instead emphasizes that Belice has long been good at gathering rumors and trusts her enough to ask her to support an alibi. (Chapters 273–282)

Belice also tries to make the Hall respond to the growing disappearances. Niel has seen her send repeated requests to raise the quest's rating, only for administrators to deflect responsibility. When Kai questions her, she explains the families' increased bounty, directs him toward Aldred, and warns that investigating without formally accepting the quest leaves him without Hall protection. The obstruction is more dangerous than ordinary bureaucracy: Belice believes cult allies occupy positions of power, including Hall administration, so she protects her work with concealment and carefully controls what can be said at the counter. (Chapters 285–288)

When Rain Ryuu questions her under the alias Oraine, he recognizes that the charm is in Belice's eyes rather than her glasses. She takes him to a warded House of Whispers safehouse, where hidden records, a wand, and her access token expose her real role. Belice admits that she is responsible for gathering Limgrell's rumors and has been giving information away to stop the cult without her branch leader's authorization. Rain forces an agreement that she stop manipulating his friends and cooperate more directly, turning her from a secretive source into a compromised covert ally whose own organization may punish the initiative. (Chapter 288)

The investigation finally makes Belice a target. Kai and Keandra return to find the counter deserted and her body concealed behind the desk, killed by a black dagger through the heart. There is no sign of a struggle, and the stagnant mana around the corpse indicates that the attack was swift enough to surprise her. Kai concludes that she overreached while trying to help them, while Keandra closes her eyes and vows that those responsible will pay. Belice's murder destroys the group's remaining sense that the cult avoids visible killings and forces them to treat every helper and lead as immediately endangered. (Chapters 293–294)

Appearance and personality

Belice is in her late teens, with brown or chestnut hair parted into two pigtails and dark eyes behind gold-rimmed enchanted glasses. She works behind the Hall's dark oak counter and is later seen in a pink blouse. Her warm smile and quick welcome make her stand out in an unfriendly town, but her efficient reading of contracts, controlled answers, and insistence on procedural consequences show that the friendliness belongs to a capable clerk rather than an uninformed greeter. (Chapters 273 and 286–288)

Her defining trait is helpfulness under institutional neglect, mixed with secrecy and professional pride. Keandra and Niel both describe her as unusually effective at gathering rumors, and Belice repeatedly presses administrators to recognize the danger despite being ignored. When exposed by Rain, her controlled clerk's mask gives way to fear, indignation, and a smug defense of the House, yet she finally admits that her branch leader does not sanction her interference. The corpus establishes her aim of stopping further disappearances but not the personal reason she accepts that risk. (Chapters 282–288 and 293–294)

Skills, magic, and the Guide

Belice demonstrates fast document work, local knowledge, and trained information gathering. Keandra initially speculates that she has a rumor skill; Rain later infers an information profession, and Belice confirms that she gathers Limgrell's rumors for the House of Whispers. The House's skills and professions explain the broad method, but Belice never reveals her exact profession, grade, skill names, levels, contacts, or collection range. Familiarity with the town and covert records appear essential alongside the Guide. The central limitation is exposure: her network finds Herry and cult activity but does not protect her against a sudden assassin. (Chapters 273, 282, and 285–294)

Belice possesses an eye-based compulsion that produces a mental flutter and encourages people not to question her information. Her enchanted glasses amplify the ability and divert suspicion toward their dense runes; whether a sound cue is required is raised but never answered. Rain resists and identifies the effect, showing that it is neither undetectable nor universally effective, and he compels Belice to stop using it on his friends. She can raise a privacy ward at the Hall and has access to safehouse wards and a concealed wand, but the source does not separate her own spellcasting from House equipment. No race grade, attributes, combat feat, or formal advancement is disclosed. (Chapters 286 and 288)

Relationships

• Keandra Tylenn: Keandra trusts Belice's local information and considers her one of the group's few dependable helpers. Belice's tip enables the search for Herry, and her murder turns Keandra's investigation into a personal demand for justice. (Chapters 279–282 and 293–294)
• Niel: Niel regards Belice as the only meaningful assistance the party has received in Limgrell. He has witnessed her unsuccessful attempts to update the Hall quest and vouches for her ability to gather rumors. (Chapters 285–286)
• Kai Tylenn: Kai initially suspects that too many clues lead through Belice, then finds her practical warnings and assistance consistent with someone trying to help. Discovering her body makes him recognize that the investigation's unseen enemies have begun killing their helpers openly. (Chapters 273–294)
• Rain Ryuu: Rain detects and resists Belice's charm, follows her to a House safehouse, and uncovers her unauthorized investigation. Their confrontation ends in a working agreement: she must stop manipulating his friends, while her rumor network can continue supplying leads. (Chapter 288)

Items

• Enchanted glasses: Belice wears gold-rimmed glasses threaded with dense glowing runes. They amplify her eye-based compulsion and misdirect observers into assuming the charm originates in the lenses. (Chapters 273, 286, and 288)
• House of Whispers token: A metallic black token engraved with a silver crescent and three purple waves proves Belice's membership in the House. She keeps it concealed in her skirt. (Chapter 288)
• Concealed wand: Belice hides a wand in her sleeve at the safehouse. Rain detects it before she draws it, so its spell, grade, and combat effectiveness are never demonstrated. (Chapter 288)
• Hall records and codex: She processes contracts and consults the Hall's papers and codex to explain the missing-person quest. These are workplace materials, not identified personal artifacts. (Chapters 273 and 286)