/
Over an hour later, Felt and company were walking down Avenue Vancour, the main street of the City of Seal.
With the sun already setting, the sky had taken on a scorching shade, and masses of people were strolling along the street in the rush hour to return home.
It was “White Gale” who accompanied her to the abduction of Eto Vasti. With a B rate, he was not promising in terms of combat efficiency but could wield intermediate-class magic “Aqua Mist,” which would prove instrumental in the event of a contingency retreat, and he was a “getaway man,” so to speak. Furthermore, since neither Felt nor “White Gale” had their faces on the wanted list, they merited the advantage of being able to imposingly stride down the main street without disguising themselves. Even the Serpent Spear carried by Felt has now been changed into the form of a trunk case and was being carried around with her.
“―Even so, I believe I could have handled such an easy job on my own. It is true that compared to Ms. Felt and Olene, I am nowhere as capable as you guys, but do you really lack that much faith in me?”
At his sulky tone, Felt adopted a face that was as apologetic as possible.
“I am sorry, okay? It was me who forced you to accompany me. Normally, I wouldn’t have had an issue asking you to handle things on your own, but today I just have a horrible hunch about it
”
“It’s the kind of intuition unique to people with high ratings, isn’t it? Ugh, that’s so cool.”
A feeling of relief set in Felt’s heart as it seemed that he honestly felt that way, not sarcastically. He often worked together with her. While it was not that she particularly wanted to be on good terms with him, establishing a cordial relationship with him would be a positive step.
Their destination, the Lezerit family, apparently dwelled in a residential area called Miserechrom, two blocks away from Avenue Vancour. Affluent households lived in this neighborhood among the commoners, but compared to the neighborhood where the majority of the aristocracy lived, the patrols of the Garrisoned Corps were less frequent, and now that the Garrisoned Corps was under reorganization, it was said that patrols were not conducted at all.
By the time of entering Miserechrom, the sun had fallen entirely and the streetlights were beginning to illuminate the streets.
With her communication magical tool, Felt once more made contact with “Flame-colored Shark,” one of the individuals monitoring Kanaki, when they were almost to the Lezerit residence.
“Any movement on ‘Eraser’?”
[―No. When the room’s lights were first switched on a few minutes ago, a person could be seen moving. He has not left since, nor has there been any apparent movement.]
“All right. Please keep monitoring.”
After disconnecting communication, “White Gale” looked up at her.
“Does the other side not know we are on the move?”
“I wonder. From the feeling I got from our meeting earlier, it seems that he is more or less grasping our tactics but
”
It could be said that the time for preparation was scarce. Well, regardless of how quick-witted he may be, the numerical disparity was physically insurmountable.
The only obstacle left was Eto Vasti’s own fighting prowess, but this could only be ascertained during an actual confrontation. The ideal scenario would be to lead her away peacefully before things escalate into a tempest, but even though she had met her once before, her guard would not be so low that she would follow someone she had met only earlier today. Having spent considerable time with Sasha, a merchant, Felt likewise had a fairly smooth tongue, but would it really be successful?
While pondering this thought, she turned counterclockwise down the street and noticed that the houses that had originally been adjacent to each other had become vacant in places, as if they had been torn down recently or the land had been vacated.
Apart from a solitary sign in the lot’s center that advertised for potential buyers, not a single weed was growing in the vacant lots, suggesting that they may have recently been demolished.
“That’s the Lilith Central Hospital I heard so much about, isn’t it? I heard there was an assassination attempt on the Princess the other day.”
“Yes. They claimed that the Garrisoned Corps and Security Force of this city were half-destroyed by a single person.”
Felt said with a momentary narrowing of her eyes, “I wish I could have seen it too.” Preferably, she would like to bring out Eto Vasti, whom she will be kidnapping, peacefully, and ask her about details of her father’s story. Well, that would be unrealistic.
Right as Felt was about to tear her eyes away from the hospital, there was the feeling that something was gleaming at the edge of her field of vision.
Wondering what that was, her gaze shifted back to the hospital, only to be bumped by the body of her companion, who was walking next to her.
“Oh.”
At that moment of apologizing, the realization arose that her companion’s eyes were not fixated on anything.
The temple of “White Gale,” who had fallen straight down, was spewing blood like water leaking from a punctured hose.