Epio recalled an old memory.
When thinking back to memories of the distant past, his foster father Claire was always there.
For some reason, this boy had no memories at all from before he was with him.
“Claire! How do you always manage to bring back so much delicious food and tools?”
“Come on now. If I told you, you’d throw a tantrum wanting to go outside again, wouldn’t you? It’s still too early for you to leave the forest, Epio. Last time you went to the city on your own and got lost. Do you know how much trouble I went through to find you…!”
“Ack! I won’t go out without permission, so just tell me!”
“Ha, promise?”
“Yes! I promise!”
“I bought them with money. I’m a rich man, you see.”
!………!
Claire was a knowledgeable man.
He possessed extensive academic knowledge, from the physiology of forest animals to the uses of rare plants, and was well-versed in human society outside the woods as well.
Claire was a powerful warrior.
He was strong enough to take down ferocious wild beasts with a single blow, and he even taught young Epio self-defense techniques.
Claire was a mysterious figure.
Whenever he went out, he would return with an armful of daily necessities. As a child, Epio had simply used the items he brought without much thought, but lately, he had begun to feel a strange sense of incongruity.
Having lived as a wanderer with no one to rely on, surviving in poverty alongside other orphans, Epio had gained some understanding of how the world worked.
Through that experience, he realized that the ingredients and tools Claire had provided in the past were in no way inferior in quality to what he received from the Blispiel Clan nowadays.
Aiden’s wealth was at an astonishing level.
That was why he couldn’t help but wonder.
Claire. Just who exactly was Claire?
Muttering to himself, Epio slightly furrowed his brow as he recalled his foster father’s face.
For some reason, many of his memories of Claire were hazy, as if shrouded in a thick fog.
For instance, the names and landscapes of the cities they had occasionally visited.
After leaving the cabin alone, he had first gone to the city he remembered going to with him… but it felt significantly different from what was in his memory.
The faint memories grew even fainter.
If he didn’t reminisce about them, he feared he might forget everything about his foster father entirely.
Epio felt a sense of urgency.
It was that urgency that had driven him out of the forest. After a long journey, he had discovered that the Dragon Horse Cult knew something about Claire’s whereabouts.
The source of that information, Aiden, had also obtained it through prophetic dreams.
Therefore, he had no more specific details beyond that.
It was uncertain information, but it was the only clue he had.
Yet here, he had unexpectedly found a new lead.
The demon worshipper he encountered in the alleyway. More precisely, from the Praszkeak executive who had consumed some unidentified pill, he sensed a vibe similar to Claire’s.
He couldn’t explain it logically. It was pure intuition. However, these demon worshippers here were clearly connected in some way to his foster father.
Unlike his usual self, the highly sensitive Epio suddenly had a thought. It came to him abruptly, as if the foggy mist had cleared.
“I have one child, Epio.”
…What?
“He should be about the same age as you. He was a progressive, strong-willed boy. Due to certain circumstances, we can’t meet right now, but…”
!………!
Shocked, Epio froze for a long moment. Seeing this, Claire suddenly chuckled and continued,
“Ah, I forgot to mention. There’s one more kid. His name is Epio. My son who keeps causing trouble and giving me headaches.”
“…Claire!”
As the young Epio in the memory pouted and shouted, the present-day Epio snapped out of his reverie.
“……….”
“…Epio? Are you okay?”
He glanced to the side.
Silver hair that shone pure white, golden eyes, and facial features that were becoming more refined as his baby fat melted away day by day… It was none other than Clara.
“We’re heading to the Praszkeak Guild’s headquarters soon. They say it’s full of scary men, so you need to prepare thoroughly if you don’t want to get hurt!”
“…Uh…”
The boy hardened his expression and stood up.
The Crown Prince they had met at the banquet had looked strangely calm even after seeing Epio and Clara.
Furthermore, from the conversation in the footage obtained via Armchair, it appeared that proper information exchange wasn’t occurring between Yustasio, who was active in the Praszkeak Guild, and Irumokwi’s clone in the imperial palace.
It made sense. A figure like the empire’s Crown Prince frequently contacting the underworld guild could easily leave traces that might get him caught.
In other words, they held the advantage in the information war.
Estriel, who was leading the way, spoke.
“The Praszkeak Guild’s headquarters is located in the eastern underground shopping district of this city.”
He had donned the Formless Robe (S-) borrowed from me and gathered information.
There was a risk of confronting the guild boss Yustasio and his executives head-on, so he couldn’t thoroughly scout the headquarters. However, he had grasped the approximate layout.
“The five entrances I identified through my previous tailing were all heavily guarded.”
“But with the Formless Robe, infiltration shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Estriel nodded at my words.
As a professional assassin from the Circulation Church, he had likely realized just how extraordinary the robe he borrowed was.
I looked at the other four companions besides Estriel and spoke.
“Listen up. Right now, we’re about to stick our heads into the enemy’s jaws. If our intrusion is detected or if the battle drags on, reinforcements will arrive naturally, and our escape route could be cut off. So if a fight breaks out, we need to end it as quickly as possible.”
I had the reliable support of Estriel by my side, but I had no desire to settle things with Praszkeak here and now.
There was no reason to do so in the first place.
While the odds of victory weren’t low, the risks were substantial. Moreover, if we could simply prove that the empire’s Crown Prince was a demon contractor, we could secure full support from the Holy Nation later and eliminate Praszkeak without expending much effort.
“Our objective this time is solely to rescue the girl named Visanya and to stab the boss Yustasio with the Inquisitor’s Needle (S). Understood, Epio?”
“…Understood.”
Having listened to the full explanation, Epio nodded with a firm expression.
She was the Great Spirit of Holy Blood, who brewed poisons or medicines using the blood of Obsidirola spirit mages as a medium.
Praszkeak was undoubtedly abusing Visanya, extracting her blood to mass-produce the serum pills. Upon hearing that, Epio struggled to conceal his rage.
He had nearly lost the girl he had safely rescued right before his eyes, so the shock must have been immense.
He looked around.
It was a deserted street.
“Then… let’s move.”
Swish!
I unfurled the Formless Robe.
<Third Mouth>
The third spell of the Nano Eater activated.
Third Mouth… to put it simply, was a spell that manifested two video-call-capable phones.
The details differed significantly, of course.
It had various applications, but it was primarily used as a short-range communicator. As long as the counterpart device existed within one kilometer, remote communication was possible.
It also had functions to record or transmit the scenes displayed on the screen.
There hadn’t been an opportunity to use it at the Sun Cathedral due to the chaos, but it would prove highly useful for collecting evidence to condemn the demon worshippers.
I handed one Third Mouth to Linia.
“Linia, Epio, Clara. You three go rescue Visanya. As I mentioned earlier, that child—who is central to the serum pill production—will be protected deep within the guild house.”
“Understood, Aiden.”
Epio nodded.
Having successfully infiltrated the guild house interior, we split into the two teams as pre-agreed to explore the premises.
The team targeting Yustasio.
And the team rescuing Visanya.
Among the six of us, only Chesa, the contractor of the Nano Eater, and Epio, the wielder of Plebelziam, could perform detection duties.
Since Visanya’s existence wasn’t publicly known at all, the Praszkeak side likely wasn’t on guard against kidnappers. Additionally, since high-value combatants like myself and Estriel needed to handle Yustasio, this formation was only natural.
“Report immediately if you notice anything unusual.”
“Understood, Young Master.”
Linia bowed to me. Her demeanor had grown even more resolute following our previous discussion.
Signs of this had appeared gradually ever since I became the Proxy of the Guardian Tree… but now, it seemed she held no more lingering attachment toward the family’s former hero.
Estriel turned around.
“Let’s go, Aiden.”
As an assassination specialist, he had roughly analyzed the building’s structure and design intent, allowing him to reasonably deduce Yustasio’s likely location.
I glanced at Chesa.
As a pure mage, her mobility was severely lacking. It was about time to teach her spells like Haste.
“Excuse me for a second.”
“Eek?!”
Whoosh! I scooped her up in both arms and began running after Estriel.
Thanks to employing the pinnacle assassination footwork Silent Realm (A), there was virtually no sound despite moving at near full sprint speed.
“Hey, listen to this. Remember that arrogant rich old man we saw before? The moment I shouted the guild’s name, his face turned deathly pale and he couldn’t say a word.”
“Keuk keuk, no way he’d stand up to us.”
Three men appeared, chatting among themselves. They hadn’t noticed our presence yet as they exited a room.
In an instant, Estriel’s left hand blurred.
Pshk! The next moment, three gleaming strong wires pierced cleanly through the guild members’ foreheads.
[AGI] 25.
It was a truly transcendent speed.
Soon after, the three corpses collapsed like puppets with their strings cut. We passed by them and continued advancing deeper into the guild house.
In the process, dozens of guild members appeared before us,
Pshk! Pshk!
All of them died without even realizing what had happened.
“The quality of these grunts is improving. It seems we’re heading in the right direction, but… something feels increasingly off.”
At some point, Estriel stopped in his tracks and spoke.
I looked at the grimoire in Chesa’s embrace.
“…Nano Eater?”
「Analyzing mana patterns in the surrounding space. Anomaly detected. It appears a formation-type yang magic has been installed.」
Formations were spells cast upon spaces that met specific conditions, and they were notoriously difficult to use.
It wasn’t entirely unexpected for the guild to have a mage of that caliber, but it was still quite troublesome.
The fact that we had triggered this magic essentially meant our intrusion had been discovered.
Step. Step. Step.
Countless footsteps echoed from all directions.
We shifted our gaze toward the sound.
“Unpleasant little rats…”
It was a familiar voice. Approximately thirty people had appeared, and the voice had come from the man among them who exuded the most extraordinary aura.
Character Sheet.
<Yustasio Wiblet Leonor>
[Level: 63/63]
[Vitality: 16]
[Strength: 15]
[Agility: 16]
[Mana: 20]
[Spirit: 09]
[Sense: 17]
[Divinity: 05]
[Traits: Thousand Pivots (S+), Demon Contractor (S), Prodigy (S-), Magic Genius (A), Strong Spirit Affinity (A), Multi-Tasking (B), and 4 others]
[Skills: Unique Contract Spirit Arts (S), Wiblet Secret Heart Method (A), Imperial Guard Weapon Arts (A), Advanced Spirit Arts (A), Three Colors Magic Tower Vision Magic · Extreme (A), and 7 others]
[Description: Age 40, human race. He is the Crown Prince of the Wiblet Empire and simultaneously the leader of the Praszkeak Guild, the apex of the Prima Continent’s underworld forces. A genius who displayed prominence in various fields from a young age, he received high praise as a prodigy from renowned scholars within the empire.]
After scanning the impressive character sheet, I clicked my tongue lightly. Then, looking at the Third Mouth terminal, I whispered.
“…Linia, the security on your side should thin out. Grab the target and get out of the guild house as quickly as possible.”
Clank!
The Balance of Good and Evil (S+) slung across my back shook violently as it sensed the evil energy.