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“—Doku. Haakudoku, are you listening?” 

“Eh… Ah, yes! No, sorry! I wasn’t listening!” (Haaku)

I was brought back to reality by the voice of Bro Gestaf who was sitting beside me. 

Oh no, it looks like he was talking about something, but nothing entered my brain. 

Bro must have noticed, he looked baffled at me.

No, the other two sitting at the opposite side of the table were also looking at me with judging eyes. 

Chenias Morganais and Robito Goshunait; advisors of the 3 great guilds just like Bro. I have messed up big time in front of those influential people. 

“Directing your attention to the surroundings is part of your duty as a bodyguard, but what are you doing being blind of what’s right in front of you?” (Gestaf)

“I’m sorry…” (Haaku)

“Gestaf, it is pretty careless of you to make a bodyguard like that your close aide.” (Chenias)

That damn hag, Chenias. I am fine with me being mocked, but to think she would do the same to Bro! 

I was on the verge of glaring at her, but let’s just smile here. 

“What’s with that irritating smile? If you want to gain favor with that, you should practice how to smile for 1 hour every day in front of a mirror.” (Chenias)

Who wants your favor, you idiot? I am trying to endure here to not pick a fight for the sake of Bro. 

If Bro were to give me the permission, you would be snapped like a twig in a blink! 

“Chenias does have a point. This meeting is not something that must be known to the public. Careless people are not appropriate in this place.” (Robito)

Even the baldy Robito… No, it is not like he is condemning Bro here? 

Ah, but Bro was the one who chose me and brought me here, so damn you, you baldy! 

“If you want to complain about my bodyguard, you should do so after bettering your judgment a bit more. Haakudoku, you were wary of our surroundings anyways, right? Was there an issue?” (Gestaf)

“None. There’s 5 people of Shunait on top of the roof; 4 in the neighboring hidden room; and there’s 2 from ours at the hallway, but they are being stupidly wary. Aside from that, there’s 7 servants in this residence as stated, in standby at the kitchen. There’s a stray cat on top of the roof. There were 3 rats in the storehouse by the way.” (Haaku)

“…I see. Let me correct myself. I understand now why he chose you. That’s splendid detection skills.” (Robito)

Oh, so this baldy can admit his mistakes? 

Alright, alright. I can rub that sleek head of yours. 

That said, me using detection magic while they were talking is a point I should reflect on. Alright, reflected.

They were not getting to the point, so my usual habit came out. 

“I don’t think you can tell the affiliations and jobs with detection magic though. Is it a unique technique?” (Chenias)

“…Something like that. The ones from the Yugura Church can detect lies from the fluctuations of mana, right? I can get a general idea of the person with the flow of their mana in a similar manner. I myself am not too knowledgeable about it.” (Haaku)

“I see. Well, no one would want to reveal their cards after all. I will just leave it at that.” (Chenias)

What’s with that patronizing ‘I will just leave it at that’?! I am not lying! 

I can tell by feeling the general information of others with detection magic. 

Gender, country of birth, affiliated guild, whether you have slept with someone, your estimated strength, and a variety of other things. 

My intention is to use the normal detection magic, but there’s apparently no such effects in the normal one. 

But this power is extremely handy. I can tell whether someone is an ally, enemy, or neutral, so I can tell if there’s a traitor immediately. 

I have already confirmed that the goals of the baldy and hag in front of my eyes match that of Bro, so I at the very least don’t think they are trying to set Bro in a trap. 

Also, my detection magic is outstanding in the fact that the other party will find it hard to detect they were hit by it. 

It might be just that my mana lacks much presence though. 

I don’t plan on blabbering about all that though. 

Ah, but one of the servants seems to be pregnant. Should I congratulate her? 

No, it would be creepy for a stranger to congratulate you for that, huh. 

You could say there are downsides to this power too.

To be blunt, it is the fact that I am an idiot. 

It takes me time to memorize the information I obtained with my detection magic. On top of that, when I concentrate on that, I immediately end up losing sight of what’s in front of me. 

“Well then, let’s move to the main topic. Raheight is currently imprisoned in the Kuama Castle. Even the spies we have sent don’t have a grasp of the current situation.” (Gestaf)

“Such useless spies. How about working your pay?” (Chenias)

“The ones guarding the surroundings of Raheight are not soldiers of Kuama but people who have been influenced by Archbishop Seraes. If there’s spies of Morgana and Riodo in the Yugura Church, I would like them to join in.” (Gestaf)

“There’s no way there would be. Just how much risk would we be shouldering if we were to put someone close to us in a dangerous spot like that?” (Chenias)

Makes sense. We are without doubt enemies of the Yugura Church. 

There’s no merit in bringing in believers of the Yugura Church in order to bring down the Yugura Church. 

The only ones who can sneak into the Yugura Church as a spy when they can easily see through lies are the ones that excel in mind magic. 

Raheight really is impressive. 

Well, it is not aweing like the guide Hasa though. 

“We had Raheight move plenty enough. We do have the duty to save him, but we will have enough time to do that once we steal Kuama.” (Robito)

“If he is alive until then, that is.” (Gestaf)

“If he dies, then that was his limit.” (Robito)

“There’s something I would like to confirm about that. The regular reports of one of our members, Hasa, has been cut off. I would like to confirm whether you guys have had contact with Raheight.” (Gestaf)

“None. We have lost one here, too.” (Robito)

“One from Morgana, too. A guide that should have been staying at a tavern today has gone missing.” (Chenias)

“That goes for Hasa, too. Robito, was the one that disappeared from your side also in charge of a tavern?” (Gestaf)

“That’s right. It seems like all 3 of them were in charge of the tavern and disappeared, huh.” (Robito)

This is an ominous talk. Or more like, Hassa has gone missing?

Speak of the devil, but instead of showing up, they disappeared.

Moreover, the guides for Morgana and Shunait have disappeared, too…? It doesn’t seem like Hasa got caught in just any accident. 

“If one disappears, it could be wrapped up as an accident, or maybe they have been caught up by some sort of eventuality when making contact with Raheight. But how can it be possible that it happened to 3 people at the same time? Their respective signals are different, so only one of them should be reacting even if Raheight were to show up, right?” (Chenais)

“That’s right. I judged that Raheight had appeared and had disappeared together with Hasa when Hasa was gone. As for the place they would go to, I thought it would be the place of you guys, but it seems like that wasn’t the case.” (Gestaf)

“That goes for both of us. But with all 3 of them having been confirmed missing, the possibility of someone having noticed our exchanges has been created.” (Robito)

“Right. Even if the signals are different, if there’s a person that makes contact with an adventurer, they would gather their attention. They would have perked up their ears to confirm which guild Raheight has made contact with after all… If there’s people who can see through that, then it is possible.” (Chenais)

If it is a method to make a 3rd party talk and observe this, using mana for detection doesn’t work at all. 

And even if they learn the trick, it is not like the guides are just mindlessly observing and listening in. 

If it is just detecting one and drawing them in to capture…it might be possible.

But capturing all 3…? Is there an expert or something? I don’t wanna meet them.

“So, what are you going to do? If they have been captured, there’s a slight risk for them to have drawn out their information.” (Gestaf)

“You have prepared a pawn that can endure mind manipulation magic and torture, right?” (Chenais)

“I think you always have to assume the worst in everything.” (Robito)

“I agree with the opinion of Robito. If someone like Hasa managed to get captured, then the other guides are at risk of being captured. We should stay hidden for now and wait for information about Raheight having escaped from the castle.” (Gestaf)

“I second that. Even if the 3 that were captured don’t talk, the risk of someone speaking increases if they capture more people. If Raheight has successfully escaped, he will manage to contact us in a new way.” (Robito)

“Got it. I will withdraw my guides, too.” (Chenais)

“We should avoid meeting secretly like this too for a while. You could say the invasion of the Blue Demon Lord on Kuama failing worked just fine for us.” (Gestaf)

“If the Blue Demon Lord had attacked, Kuama would have already been ours. It is not something to be happy about.” (Robito)

“Isn’t that fine? If they were to get ahead of us, it would have made it harder for us to move.” (Chenais)

The meeting ends with this and each one leaves this place at different intervals. 

Man, as expected of Bro. He wasn’t beaten down in the conversation once and held the lead in the conversation about the guides of the 3 guilds. 

“And so, Bro, what are you gonna do after this?” (Haaku)

“First, I will have a 3rd party do a designated request for Hasa in Riodo. After that, I will have someone who doesn’t know about the situation search for Hasa.” (Gestaf)

“I see. If we were to move, the guys that captured Hasa might be watching!” (Haaku)

“My preparations are mostly done. There’s the need to keep an eye on the Leitis side, too. Let’s avoid any actions that stand out.” (Gestaf)

“Roger!” (Haaku)

The ability to avoid danger of Bro is on the level of a wild animal. 

Are all demi-humans like this? No, Bro must be special. 

I can easily get hard to obtain information, and Bro manages to show incredible insight from that information. 

Me saying this is impudent, but I think we are a perfect match as superior and subordinate. 

I don’t know who it is, but I won’t show any mercy if you are going to get in the way of Bro. I will kick yer ass! 

…Hm? 

There’s a familiar person and an unfamiliar person walking ahead of us. 

If I remember correctly, he is the guy that teamed up with Pashuro. His name’s Ekdoik…

Why is the guy that hasn’t shown himself in Kuama recently showing here again…? Let’s try checking just in case.

I activate detection magic and try to draw out information from the other man too while getting the one of Ekdoik…

“What’s…that…?” (Haaku)

“What’s the matter, Haakudoku?” (Gestaf)

“Eh, you see…there’s two people at the front, right?” (Haaku)

“Aah, that… One of them is Ekdoik. If I remember correctly, he has had contact with Raheight before.” (Gestaf)

“Eh? Then, is he an ally?” (Haaku)

“You are overly hasty in thinking that. But it is hard to believe there’s no meaning in this. So, what’s the reason why you went all dumbstruck there?” (Gestaf)

“About that… If my detection magic hasn’t gone crazy…Ekdoik is not a human.” (Haaku)

“What?” (Gestaf)

“Also, the man by his side…I can’t read anything from him.” (Haaku)

My detection magic can read the information of the other party if it touches even a bit of the other party’s mana. 

The result is telling me that Ekdoik is not a human.

Even though that’s enough to make my head go blank, the black haired man is also weird. 

I can’t read any information at all as if I used detection magic on a corpse. 

His mana is minuscule, but it is not like he has none. Even if he is hard to read like a child, it shouldn’t be impossible to read.

“We are taking a detour. We will have someone else investigate their actions.” (Gestaf)

“…Understoo—?!” (Haaku)

I made direct eye-contact with the man. 

My instincts are telling me that guy is bad news. 

This is not about battle power or anything like that. If we were to get involved with that guy, there’s no doubt we would be harmed heavily…

What should I do? Should I stay here and have Bro escape? 

That’s the option. I am the only one who can deal with Ekdoik and I might end up dragging Bro if he is here. 

“Bro, please escape. I will keep them—?” (Haaku)

The moment I thought the man had spoken to Ekdoik, he turned around and left just like that. 

I am not sure about the reason why, but it seems like I won’t need to deal with both at once. 

“Are you okay, Haakudoku? That’s some abnormal amount of sweat, you know?” (Gestaf)

I wiped my forehead when Bro told me this. 

There’s disgusting sweat sticking onto my palm. 

Just what in the world was that man…? 

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