A strange group of hostile individuals were moving through the castle, and she caught them with her emotional detection.
She had prevented the Night Pythons from making a move, but it didnât help clear her mind.
âIf they were attacking someone in the same town, I could still notice and go help them, but if not, there is nothing I can do about it. Damn.
The effective range of emotion detection didnât even cover the entire city of Eltaref. If someone was to be attacked in a neighboring village or in a remote town, she wouldnât be able to detect it.
âIf the Earlâs pieces are reduced at this point, the battle could end without a fight⊠Thatâs a problemâŠ
Of course, the Earl thought so too, and thatâs why he was moving to determine the outcome of the battle.
They were finally going to capture the boss who was in charge of the territory.
Unfortunately, the Earl had asked her to stay behind, but there was no need to pretend to be âIrisâ at this stage of the game. All that was left to do was to preemptively raid the bossâs hideout, which the Earl had discovered.
ââŠWorst case scenario, that would be fine, but I have a feeling that if I resolve this by force, it will definitely create a commotion that will leak out. There is also talk that the Night Pythons and the coup group may be connected, so whatâs to be done?
If there was a commotion during the capture of the territorial boss and the big boss escaped, it would be a disaster.
If not, if possible, she would prefer to do it secretly. After achieving the goal, it will be much easier to prepare for a fight or escape if the country is unaware of her presence.
âBut how exactly do I do that? For instance, I canât ⊠get to the point where I can take the Night Python and the Earl into an all-out war and defeat the big boss. ⊠No, I canât do that. It would be beyond the Earlâs ability to handle. Hmmm⊠I wonder if I should force my way through thisâŠ
A cool breeze blew through the air and seemed to cool her head.
The Earl of Keelyâs castle, though relatively small in proportion to the size of his territory, was a battle fortress built on top of a small hill with walls. The top of the walls offered a good vantage point from which to view the houses of the castle town.
The reason she chose to walk on the castle walls was to see if anyone was watching the castle. The other day, she had exterminated two hired freelance attackers, and it would not be surprising if another one was on the way.
She thought that if anyone was watching this place, they would react to her presence, who of all people had the important role of being the double of the young lady, and that would move them emotionally.
The response came surprisingly easily.
âWhoa oh? Thatâs a building in a position to see the castle. Is that âsurpriseâ? And the cold âhostilityâ characteristic of workersâŠ
The Night Pythons would want to do something about the âDragonâs Throatâ just like they do with the raiding parties and their families.
Considering why they want to come and kidnap her and not killing herâŠ
âI see, there is no one on the inside anymore! They donât know that the âDragonâs Throatâ wonât be in the final battle, and theyâre trying to take âcountermeasuresâ!
Killing the family members of the raid party members was an effective attack. There were even some defectors who didnât want their families to be killed.
But if they killed a member of the Dragonâs Throat, it would be a warning to stay out of the way, right?
No, it would not. Rather, they would fight with all their might as a battle of revenge and mourning.
What would happen if they took a hostage?
Probably, those three would not be able to move if Iris was taken hostage.
âBut how are they going to kidnap me?ăI donât plan on leaving the castle anyway, and trying to kidnap me in double mode would be practically the same level of difficulty as kidnapping the young lady, wouldnât it? If itâs that bad, wouldnât it be easier to deal with the four members of âDragonâs Throatâ than it would be to kidnap me?
âIris! There you are!â
Suddenly, someone called out her name from somewhere below.
âBenedict!â
Benedict was inside the walls, in the courtyard, waving at her.
The content of the letter was long and overly ornate, but if she could summarize the seven lines of text into one line, it said, âWe found a flaw in your previous request report, so come and correct it.â
As an adventurer and as the Guild, this was a part of business that should not be taken lightly.
âOhâŠ! The Night Pythons had an informant in the Adventurersâ Guild! He was a spy for the town Night Pythons, but the territorial Night Pythons must have re-contacted him. I left it alone, thinking there was nothing more I could do anyway, and no natural way to tell them about the inside manâs presence ⊠Theyâre using him nowâŠ
She was not sure if it was a fake document that a Guild insider had submitted on his own, or if he had the branch manager write it down after blowing the whistle on something, but she was sure that he was involved in it.
And since it was the job of the âDragonâs Throatâ to protect the Earl, it was unlikely that they would all leave the castle together. Especially now, right after the attempted assassination on the Earl.
âGood, good, then letâs take advantage of it. Iâll let the ducks go out with the leeks on their backs. Poison ducks and leeks, though!ăIf you eat them, youâll get a bad stomach ache!
Her mood is more like fishing. The fish came to her from the other side. All she has to do now is to spread the bait.
âWell, well⊠Iâd better not consult ⊠with everyone in the party. They might stop me. Letâs just go with it.
It was the shortest way to the adventurersâ guild, a path that wound through the houses and alleys between buildings. In short, a perfect place to attack.
Two men with hostile intentions were rapidly approaching.
She no longer needed to use her emotional detection powers, but could feel their presence so intensely that she could almost touch them if she reached out her hand.