Foreigner Volume 8, Chapter 178

Volume 8 Chapter 178, Steady Advance ~ 31

　Granfeld moved away from the people who had contacted him at a great speed, and then he dashed into an alleyway. The gap is barely wide enough for a single person to pass through, and he is running at a fairly high speed.

　The most important thing to do was to report back. He carefully scanned the area, ducking between buildings to see if there was any sign of surveillance around the inn since his arrival in Ares.

　What a total and utter blunder.

　So far, he had not received any good information about people who had cleared the Labyrinth of No Return. He had not even received any information on the fortress because of its distance from Fort Dalewood, which was built by the 13 city-states that jointly paid for the fortress at the entrance to Dalewood Gorge, where the Labyrinth of No Return is located. This may have created impatience within Granfelt.

　He did not expect to be caught in the rear, even in the middle of town.

　Fortunately, the other party did not seem to be able to keep up with his physical abilities, but there was no telling where the watchful eyes would be.

　However, Granfelt himself is not good at stealth. He doesn't sense any suspicious signs in the vicinity. The only thing that would make it better would be if he was not good at it and sneaking around strangely. He quickly blends in with the crowd and casually returns to the inn.

　The innkeeper does not inquire. Granfelt managed to suppress his impatience and returned to the room he had been assigned. He knocked, knocked again, and opened the door.

　There was a slender man. He is completely covered by a cloak, even though he is inside the room.

「I'm sorry, they were suspicious of me.」

　Granfelt's first words were an apology, not hiding his blunder. The slender man stands up quickly and carelessly. Granfelt prepared to be reprimanded, stiffens, but gives priority to his report.

「I don't know if they were guards, academy patrolmen, adventurers, or what, but......」

「So you're saying they tracked you」

　A slender man reaching for Granfelt's back quickly uttered a curse.

「...... Ah!」

　With a "pop" sound, the charm stuck to Grunfeld's back burned in an instant. The charm was used by Count Kraut, who had died in the turmoil with Satoru, as a marker of consciousness for art such as 【Distant View】, and was carried by a spectator to watch over Satoru.

　That is, the evidence that the body of consciousness was tracking Granfelt's trail. To perceive the body of consciousness in the art of surveillance, one must have a flair for spiritual sorcery, and Granfelt had no background in the spiritual arts. So it is not surprising that Granfelt did not notice the tracking, but it was a huge blunder that he did not notice that the charm was attached to him in the first place.

「I-I am so sorry!」

　Putting his sword aside, Granfelt prostrated.

　It was not an apology that would be forgiven, but it was all he could do. No matter how much of a contract he had made, if he displeased this man, he would be left with nothing but death. And that would be a betrayal of his hometown's expectations as well.

　Fortunately, Grunfeld's main man wore a cloak even in the inn, so there was little concern that his identity would be revealed, but a blunder is a blunder and at an irreparable level.

　However, the man did not give a second thought to Granfelt, who fell flat on his face but forgave him with a calm smile.

「It's okay, it was time for Ares to move on.」

　Granfelt was more awed than necessary, but the man gave a small smile and put his hand on his chin. He pondered who had affixed this Granfelt's charm. The simple answer is that they were thought to be agents of another country, and either patrolling the Academy of the Wise or the Ares Guard had spotted him ― the former is the most likely, considering the existence of the charm.

　However, even if such a group were to raid this inn, to be honest, they would be no match for the man. Or, by having them step in, a new breakthrough may open up.

　But, well, it will be troublesome. To be honest, I don't want any trouble.

「When Yuki comes back, let's retreat. I have a few things to think about.」

　Muttering the name of his other subordinate, the man sat back down on the bed.

　Although troublesome, Granfelt gently relaxed his shoulders at the sight of the man's somewhat happy demeanor.

　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊　＊

　A corner of a certain pavilion where the noble houses stand side by side.

　A young woman is using sorcery with her eyes closed, while a mature man gazes at her without batting an eye. The young woman is Sheryl. The mature man is Derek.

　Derek certainly has confidence in his swordsmanship. He is confident that he can handle a centurion or even a knight in the army of Ares. Even so, however, contacting the target man was a difficult task. Even after gathering information, it was difficult to find an opening.

　If it were true, it would have been quicker to capture the swordsman and interrogate him. However, Derek quickly decided that this was a difficult opponent, so he gave up on the idea of capturing the man and asked an adventurer he knew to help him apply a charm.

　Sheryl was able to use the 【Distant View】 art. Of course, she did not have the skill or soul of her grandfather, the late Graham Coogan, but she still had a soul the size of royalty.

　After attaching the charm, Derek immediately reported to Sheryl and asked her to use the 【Distant View】 art. Sheryl, who had been watching carefully as Derek requested her to use the art, had her expression waver greatly.

「Uugh!」

　Sheryl suddenly held her eyes and moaned, and from her reaction, it was obvious what had happened. Derek looked at Sheryl with concern.

「Has it been crushed?」

「Ah, yeah」

　Sheryl holds her eyes and looks as if she is enduring a headache. When her 【Distant View】 consciousness is forcibly crushed, she feels a sudden burning pain in her eyes. If it is 【Distant View】, the pain is so great that it almost ruptures the eardrums, and if it is a compound art, all of these things come at once. Of course, the degree of the pain varies with the practitioner, and the better one is at the art, the less pain he or she feels. For example, if it is Leia, she will feel only the bite of a mosquito.

　To destroy the conscious body, ordinary offensive sorcery is sufficient, but the key is whether or not the sorcerer is aware of the conscious body in the first place. Depending on the rank of the practitioners using the art, it may be impossible to notice it with only half-hearted knowledge of the art.

「...... Who is he?」

　Sheryl, who had finally calmed down from the pain in her eyes, muttered a few words. Sheryl's 【Distant View】 is of a certain level. She was aware of this, so she was very careful to keep her eyes a little far away from the existence of the charm, but the charm was noticed and her consciousness was crushed.

　The person who crushed it was a different man from the swordsman.

「There was a man apart from the swordsman with whom Derek came into contact. Just a strange man.」

「Strange, what do you mean by that?」

「Around 5 feet tall and thin, there is nothing strange here. But he was wearing a cloak over his head, even though he was inside a building.」

　Derek raises his eyebrows. In the wintertime, people wear winter coats inside buildings to protect themselves from the cold, but this is the fall season and there is no need to do so yet.

　Sheryl could not see the other's face either, because she said he was completely covered from the head.

「...... did you find their location?」

「It's the Grey Crow Pavilion,...... but no, Derek, direct contact is dangerous. Stop.」

　Derek chuckled at Sheryl's anticipatory restraint. It seems that she saw right through him.

「I guess I shouldn't do it after all. I was thinking of at least threatening to send them a letter and telling them to stay out of it.」

「That's about right. ...... No.」

　Sheryl shook her head from side to side in agreement. She pulled her chin back and thought for a moment. Derek says that Sheryl is most picturesque when she has this expression on her face. Sheryl, who had been pondering with a picturesque expression, looked up as if an idea had just occurred to her.

「Just the swordsman one, you remember his look, don't you? I'll ask a painter I know to draw a portrait of him.」

　Both Sheryl and Derek used to be members of the patrol at the Academy of the Wise. Although the Academy of the Wise's patrol is originally in charge of the security of the academy, its work is very diverse because the Academy of the Wise is both an investigative and intelligence-gathering institution.

　They also help maintain the security of the town and control criminals. Among them, she has a connection with a physiognomist. She had Satoru's portrait drawn so that she could pass it on to Baron Dantes.

「Two cards. I'll put my hand on the patrol, Derek put your hand on the adventurers. There is no need to be direct(?), just tell them he's an agent. Tell the adventurers that you will offer them a reward for their information.」

　The adventurers in Ares are doing their part to maintain security, and those who are in good standing are doing so voluntarily. Some even make a living as bounty hunters. Derek nodded broadly.

「I see...bounties are paid when necessary, isn't that right?」

　Sheryl nodded. If it is revealed that he is an agent of another country, the movement of this swordsman will be hindered. If it is possible to restrain the opponent's movement without having to take direct action, it is better to do so.

　They don't know if he's actually an agent or not, and it doesn't matter. There is no doubt that he is a suspicious person in some way since he immediately ran away without making any excuses when Derek called out to him.

「If my guess is correct, they will eventually get in touch with me in some way.」

　Derek agrees with that opinion. Whatever this swordsman is, it is clear that he is probing Satoru. Sheryl is the closest person to Satoru in this town at the moment.

「A bad threat could lead them to identify us. Making threats is a medium strategy on top of a poor one.」

　At this point, only the upper echelons of the Senate and the Academy of the Wise should have been informed of Satoru's case. The same goes for the information that Satoru and Sheryl are connected.

　If this information has not yet been leaked to the other party, Sheryl's poor attempts to contact the other party could lead to a snake being poked out from under the bushes. It may be possible to control the opponent's movement, but it is also highly dangerous.

「By the way, what's the plan?」

「We go out from this side. If Derek says this swordsman is as good as Zelphys of the Holy Sword Clan, then we are no match for him. But that doesn't mean we can ask for Satoru-sama's help at this level.」

　Derek nodded. That would certainly be a bad idea.

「I see. I'd like to ask you about a better plan.」

　Sheryl smiled wickedly at Derek's question.

「I haven't come up with anything.」

「How honest.」

　Derek laughed as well.

　At any rate, there is no doubt that the man in the cloak is a high-ranking practitioner who can perceive and destroy consciousness. The other side must have sensed that Sheryl and Derek were suspicious of them, so they could use this as a warning. They decided not to make any unreasonable contact with them or to monitor them since there was a high possibility that Sheryl would pull a snake out of the bushes. [TLN: 藪から蛇を出す/Snake out of the bushes=to stir up trouble for oneself]

　However, Sheryl had one catch. She didn't mention it to Derek, but the swordsman and the mystery man were in the same room where Satoru had been staying at Ares.

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