Yustasio touched the wound on his own chest. His hand came away drenched in blood.
“B-Boss…”
“Don’t make a fuss. This much won’t kill me.”
The durability of a warrior who had reached Triple Star level far surpassed normal imagination. A slight penetration of the heart was not enough to kill him. However, the ‘vibrating qi’ contained in the scimitar had thoroughly torn through his bloodstream and internal organs. It was difficult for him to move properly.
Leaning on his subordinates for support, he fell into thought.
…They’re taking Visanya? Does that mean they know the purpose of the serum pills?
Yustasio’s eyes turned bloodshot.
As the boss of Praszkeak and the Crown Prince of the Wiblet Empire, the man was usually cold and calculating. Even so, hearing Aiden’s provocation involving Visanya caused him to become more agitated than usual.
The illegitimate child born to the Cobaruvius maid was the core of the grand ‘plan’ he had established. While he had secured a sufficient quantity of the pills, it would be troublesome if the usefulness and wide applicability of her abilities became known to other factions.
He gave an order to his longtime aide. His voice was exhausted yet carried a strange madness.
“…Simon, check on the girl’s safety immediately.”
“Understood, Boss.”
We successfully retrieved the Inquisitor’s Needle (S) that had stabbed the demon contractor and managed to shake off all our pursuers.
However—
“I’ll sneak back inside for a bit.”
I spoke to Estriel and Chesa while running down the corridor. I then took out the Formless Robe (S-) from my pocket.
“Aiden… be careful.”
“It’s just a quick trip. The most dangerous opponent is already seriously injured.”
Chesa looked worried. To ease her anxiety, I smiled leisurely and gently stroked her head.
“Then please escort my fiancée safely to the meeting point, Estriel.”
“Got it.”
Estriel nodded.
I parted ways with the two of them and infiltrated deeper into the guild house once more. This time, not in the direction we had gone earlier, but along the path Epio’s group had taken to rescue Visanya.
“Find the intruders!”
“You don’t think we’re just going to let this humiliation slide, do you?!”
As I walked through the interior of the house using Silent Realm (A), I saw Praszkeak guild members moving about busily.
It was true that the darkest place was under the lamp. The guild members showed no sign of imagining that I was walking around right under their noses.
Plebelziam, who was excellent at detecting waves, had already come this way earlier, and all the troublesome formations had been dismantled. Thanks to that, I too could move freely inside the guild house.
The reason I returned here alone was simple.
By rescuing Visanya and stabbing Yustasio, our group had mostly achieved our objectives. However, I had not yet found the answers I personally wanted.
I needed to learn how Yustasio had come into contact with a demon, and what exactly a figure like the empire’s Crown Prince hoped to achieve by contracting with one.
This matter was deeply connected to the Five Heroes, including Irumokwi, so it was not something I could overlook lightly.
Soon, I arrived at the room filled with various mechanical devices—the same place I had seen through Third Mouth. This was where Visanya had been restrained and had her blood extracted.
I observed the surroundings while remaining hidden.
At first glance it looked like complete chaos, but considering Yustasio’s intelligence, this disorder wouldn’t last long. I needed to take advantage of this rare opportunity that might never come again to secure a high-ranking executive who could spill information for us.
The fact that the boss of Praszkeak was the empire’s Crown Prince was an absolute top secret. Still, for smooth operations, he must have shared the secret with at least one or two of his closest aides.
For example, an executive responsible for exchanging information with his double in the imperial palace.
<Simon Nores>
[Level: 45/50]
[Vitality: 07]
[Strength: 06]
[Agility: 08]
[Mana: 31]
[Spirit: 10]
[Sense: 13]
[Divinity: 02]
[Traits: Earthbound Ghost (S+), Precise Mana Control (A), Mana Eye (B), and 3 others]
[Skills: Workshop Construction · Extreme (A), Yellow Magic Tower Vision Magic · Extreme (A), Yellow Magic Tower Vision Cultivation Method (A), Advanced Spell Tracking (A), Enchant (B), and 5 others]
[Description: Age 40, human race. A member of a shadow family that supports the imperial family of the Wiblet Empire. He is the childhood friend and closest aide of Crown Prince Yustasio Wiblet Leonor, and currently serves as the vice-leader of the Praszkeak Guild, the apex of the Prima Continent’s underworld forces.]
…Found him.
According to the information Estriel had gathered while tailing, the Praszkeak envoy who had appeared at the meeting with the imperial family was a high-level mage.
Brown hair, tall stature, narrow eyes… The impression matched perfectly.
I had predicted that if Yustasio valued Visanya highly, he would first dispatch his top executive here to track her whereabouts. My prediction had been spot on.
“…The devices are completely destroyed.”
“We’re too late…. Search for any traces!”
Upon receiving his subordinate’s report, the mage Simon twisted his face into a scowl and gave the order. He himself began searching every corner of the room where Visanya had been held.
He was trying to track the demonic traces of <Prometheus> left in the room using Advanced Spell Tracking (A).
I moved slowly from my position.
Judging by his skill set and title traits… it seemed Simon was the mage who had installed the formations inside the guild house.
Conversely, this also meant he was the type who excelled in utility but was not particularly skilled in close combat, unlike war mages or spellblades.
I had considered doping with the Heart of the Demonic Beast Hellaquel (S-) for an easier job, but it looked like that wouldn’t be necessary.
‘Fluid Harmony’
‘Double Stream’
<Spell Boost>
I entered full buff status.
Swish! I immediately unfurled my strong wire, restrained Simon’s body, and yanked him toward me in an instant.
“Khk! What the—?!”
<Infinity Shock>
Crackle!
Simon looked like he was about to say something in panic, but I sent an electric current through the wire and electrocuted him. Crack! I followed up by striking his neck with two types of qi infused into the blow.
I hoisted up the now-unconscious Simon and quickly scanned the surroundings.
A few guild grunts who had followed Simon were in the room, but they had been so focused on searching that they hadn’t even noticed the disturbance that had just occurred.
My stealth skills have improved quite a bit.
I chuckled softly and quickly slipped away from the location while remaining hidden.
“When do you think we’ll be able to meet him again?”
“…He said he would send someone again soon, so in a little while you should be able to have a formal exchange with His Highness the Second Prince as well.”
Mariana nodded with a slightly flushed expression. She didn’t seem as enthusiastic as the Second Prince Salvador, but she clearly held considerable goodwill toward the other party as well.
That’s right.
We were currently inside a carriage heading back to Elanore.
Right after escaping from the Praszkeak guild house, we hadn’t returned to our lodging. Instead, we had immediately boarded a carriage we had prepared in another location.
We had packed our luggage in advance in case of detection, and we had also called Mariana to the departure point.
Every member of our group except Linia had shown their faces directly to Yustasio himself. We had even openly used a holy relic from the Holy Nation during the battle. Unless Praszkeak were fools, they would have definitely identified our identities by now.
If we dawdled, there was no telling what schemes Yustasio might cook up in collusion with Irumokwi’s clone in the imperial palace. So we moved as quickly as possible.
Estriel chuckled.
“After allowing an intrusion and then having both his closest aide and his daughter kidnapped… He must be furious beyond words right about now.”
The vice-leader of Praszkeak I had snatched, Simon, was currently unconscious and locked inside a Spell Sealing Tube. We planned to transport him in that restrained state until we reached our destination.
We were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief only after the carriage had passed through the checkpoint.
“It’s a bit of a shame…”
While we had roughly achieved the goals we had set before coming to the Wiblet Empire, there were still a few things that felt incomplete.
Not long ago, I had sent a carrier pigeon to the imperial family of the Wiblet Empire. The content informed them of Iris’s appearance at the Sun Cathedral.
It was meant to raise the level of ‘Heavenly Punishment’ that would befall the Schnifelt family.
In truth, the core objective of that move had been to ensure that news of the Schnifelt family reached the Lakruz family, a collateral branch of the imperial family.
The Lakruz family was one of the continent’s greatest magical houses. In the original Reca Chronicles, they had taken quite significant actions. Although the reason was never revealed, they seemed to know quite a bit about the Schnifelt family and the existence of the traitors.
I had wanted to contact them and recover a few MacGuffins, but they were as difficult to meet as the imperial family—perhaps even more so—so it proved impossible during this trip.
“Haa… hue…”
Suddenly, I felt soft breathing against my shoulder.
Chesa had leaned her head on my shoulder and fallen fast asleep.
「She accumulated quite a lot of fatigue from the intense spell bombardment earlier.」
Listening to the Nano Eater’s words, I fell into deep thought.
The matter concerning the Lakruz family was also related to Chesa. In the original story, her involvement in the final battle of Part 2 had stemmed from her connection with them.
There were many things I was curious about, but there was no need to rush.
After we dealt with the Praszkeak Guild, all those questions would be resolved anyway.
We returned to the clan house.
After getting off the carriage, I stared quietly at Epio. More precisely, at the ivory-haired girl who was sticking closely to Epio’s side.
<Visanya Cobaruvius>
[Level: 15/69]
[Vitality: 01]
[Strength: 01]
[Agility: 02]
[Mana: 11]
[Spirit: 02]
[Sense: 14]
[Divinity: 01]
[Traits: Trinity (S), Strong Spirit Affinity (A), Sensory Expansion (B), and 3 others]
[Skills: Unique Contract Spirit Arts (S), Intermediate Spirit Arts (B)]
[Description: Age 12, a girl who is the contractor of the Great Spirit of Holy Blood, Obsidirola. She possesses terrifying talent as a spirit mage, but that very talent caused her to be abused by the Praszkeak Guild.]
Among all the talents we had recruited so far, she had the third-highest initial potential level after Epio and Clara. With the appropriate S-grade elixir, she would quickly rise above Level 70.
Even more important was the fact that Visanya currently only had one contracted Great Spirit—Obsidirola.
In the original story, the additional Great Spirits she had contracted with, Perkag and Naxlister, were individually powerful, but they had no significant synergy with Obsidirola. In effect, Visanya had been unable to properly utilize the efficiency of her Trinity (S) trait, which allowed simultaneous operation of multiple Great Spirits.
Therefore, if I provided her with proper guidance starting from this point, she too would become an extraordinary spirit mage far beyond what she had been in the original story.
Just imagining it filled me with satisfaction.
“Hey, Vi—”
“Hic!”
I tried to say something to this promising prospect with a bright future ahead, but Visanya let out a frightened squeak and hid behind Epio.
“Ot….”
I let out a small involuntary laugh.
In the original story she had already been quite timid with a stutter and social anxiety, but it seemed her condition was even more severe at this stage.
“Tell her that I’m the Sub-Master of the Blispiel Clan and that I’d like to have a talk with her later… please, Epio.”
“Understood, Aiden.”
At my request, Epio began gently coaxing Visanya. Before long, a faint smile appeared on the face of the girl who had looked like she was about to burst into tears.
“Aiden, could you come with me for a moment?”
While I was feeling complicated emotions, Clara grabbed me and led me to a secluded spot. Feeling puzzled, I asked her.
“What’s the matter?”
“Are you planning to bring that girl into the clan too?”
“…She may not look very reliable at first glance, but she’s still a contractor of a Great Spirit. Despite how she seems, she possesses incredible potential.”
After hearing my answer, Clara pouted. She wasn’t joking around like usual; she genuinely looked uncomfortable.
She had been acting this way ever since Visanya joined us.
I wanted to discuss this issue right away, but… the more urgent matter right now was deciding how to handle Simon.
“Estriel. Let’s take this guy straight to the Holy Nation.”
“You sure are quick on the uptake.”
About three weeks later.
The leaders of the ten major churches that formed the Holy Nation gathered inside the conference room of the Church of Utility.