Ryusousha – 23
Chapter 23
There wasn’t much that I knew about Through.
But they were from Makoku and could use magic.
And they belonged to the Grass Snakes, whose headquarters was in Makoku.
Through’s magic allowed them to escape the detection of the barriers protecting the royal castle.
And at the same time, they were able to shake off the pursuit of Her Majesty’s Shadows.
Judging by all of this, it seemed likely that Through did not specialize in combat, but in infiltration and escape.
And then the important part. Reinforcements were coming from Makoku.
In other words, this order had a time limit. And that time limit was rather short.
I didn’t know if the leaked information was that beneficial or if there was a sudden need for more information, but this sudden move suggested that Makoku was going to be throwing their full weight into this operation.
They were probably going to act as a backup so Through could do even more damage.
In other words, eliminating Through would solve the problem.
So, what to do?
The entrance ceremony for the academy would be starting soon. I couldn’t take too much time on this. At least, I didn’t want to.
I knew where the Grass Snake’s base was, but there would be no point in charging in.
It was apparently a large mansion, which made me think it was used to lure the enemy in.
The real one must be somewhere else.
And so the next day, I took a walk in the high-end residential area of the city.
It was to see the building that was their base. But there was nothing particularly strange about it.
The word on the street was that a merchant that had found success in Makoku had bought it to live in one day.
Of course, that was just a story.
The real investigation would start at night, but I decided to poke around lightly for now.
And so I covered my face in cloth and jumped over the wall and entered the mansion.
“…Hmm. There doesn’t seem to be anyone here.”
All the doors were locked.
But I didn’t want to use Shadow Crossing during the day.
Perhaps I should come back later.
And so I left the mansion… Once I was a good distance away, I checked to see if I was being followed, but I couldn’t sense anything.
Either no one had bought my act or no one was watching over the place.
That night.
I sensed a presence outside of my dormitory window.
It was probably the lady from last night.
I made sure the others were asleep and then quietly melted into the shadows.
“Hello again.”
“I won’t have too many updates if you visit so often.”
“Too many? So, you do have something then?”
She was dressed entirely in black, just like yesterday, so I could only see her eyes.
But her tone suggested that she was now very interested.
“I infiltrated their base this afternoon. It was completely empty.”
“Ah, that is too bad.”
“As I did it in broad daylight, I was hoping someone would follow me, but I was disappointed.”
I had moved away from the mansion and melted into the shadows and waited.
But not a single person appeared.
In other words, no one had been monitoring the building from the outside.
“Well, we attempted an ambush of the mansion I told you about before. So they must have all left. But I cannot tell you about their other base. After all, if I told you, they would know that we know.”
“That will result in this battle being stretched out.”
It was an old trick. There was no need to let the enemy know what you knew about them.
Ryusousha ha Shizukani Kurashitai
