“Uwaah! Schlus! It’s been a while!”
“Good to see you, Duke Damien.”
“It’s an honor to be in your presence.”
As Hertlocker approached Schlus, totally overdoing it, he became awkward and pulled his outstretched arms back.
That bastard.
He told me to pretend to be friends, and now he completely ignores me.
After exchanging greetings with the duke and giving a nod to the chancellor, Atatürk, Schlus finally turned his gaze toward Hertlocker.
“Yeah. It’s been a while.”
“Hahaha. If you’re a friend of His Excellency, you should have mentioned it earlier.”
“I sent you for a reconnaissance mission, and there’s no way I would reveal that.”
“Hahaha…”
So that was the setup.
It just so happened that Hertlocker made contact with the duke right when he arrived at the desert development area, but now it seemed like it was all part of a plan.
Meanwhile, Atatürk froze as he watched Damien chuckling.
Somehow, he had ended up allowing a spy of Schlus Hainkel to approach the duke.
“Can you introduce your companions?”
“This is my guard, Edengard Trie von dem Schulzenburg, and this is Erica von der Lichtenburg, who came to study Eastern magic.”
“Huh. Does Schlus Hainkel truly require guards?”
“My guard is strong enough to subdue me.”
“I’ve been terribly disrespectful. Since she’s a woman, I thought she was just a figurehead.”
“If you hadn’t voiced that, it wouldn’t have been such a grave disrespect.”
“Haha.”
Atatürk, who had been listening to the conversation from behind, shut his eyes tightly.
Even if Damien had a casual tone no matter where, he thought he would behave differently around superiors.
It felt like he had some sort of disease that forced him to say everything he thought out loud.
“A simple tour of the desert development area is prepared. If you’re fine with it, I’d like to take you to your accommodations afterward. What do you say?”
“Let’s accept the kind offer.”
“And I plan to prepare a banquet for dinner, so I’d appreciate it if you could attend. I want to treat you to the delicacies of the desert.”
“Dinner, huh? I look forward to it.”
Schlus Hainkel was a bit surprised by the lavish hospitality, considering he dropped in unannounced.
As if he had known it was coming.
If not, perhaps they were always ready for an official event.
Whichever it was, Schlus decided to enjoy everything that was offered.
There was no urgent matter that needed to be skipped, and instead, he wanted to experience everything as part of his operation.
“First, let’s go see the great oasis. An unending spring. It’s the source of life that produces about 80% of the food in the desert, keeping the people alive.”
Meanwhile, there were those observing from a distance using observation magic.
As they cautiously examined each face in the party—
“Whoa?!”
They jumped in surprise when Schlus’s eyes met theirs.
Immediately, their spell was dismantled.
“Ah! We’ve been intercepted!”
“W-Wait. Did Schlus Hainkel intercept us?”
“No way. How could he detect and dismantle spells from that distance? It must have been a police magician.”
“That makes sense, right?”
The elves surrounding them conversed seriously.
A blessed land that produces 80% of the desert’s food.
A center of economy where all goods and money flow.
If such a desert development area fell into human hands, the elf race would be doomed to live as slaves forever.
These elves gathered to break free from that absurd situation.
They were plotting a rebellion to crown the daughter of the tribe that once ruled this land.
“So what do we do now? Schlus Hainkel has shown up.”
“What else can we do? For now, we need to lay low and keep quiet.”
But suddenly, Schlus Hainkel visited the desert.
Infamous as a battlefield dominator who could single-handedly slice through thousands of savage beastmen warriors.
As long as he was in the desert development area, it was clear that anyone attempting a rebellion would end up dead immediately.
“So, are we just going to sit still? We need to gather information.”
“Gather what info? You mean on Schlus Hainkel?”
“Of course. He’s the second-in-command of the empire. If we can gauge his intentions, we can foresee the empire’s policies.”
“His information is vital to the success of our rebellion.”
Soon, their consensus was to approach Schlus Hainkel to gather intelligence.
His words could mobilize thousands, if not tens of thousands, of soldiers, so knowing his thoughts could greatly assist their rebellion.
For instance, if they learned he planned to send more imperial troops to the desert development area, they could expedite their plans for rebellion before that date arrived.
“So, the problem is who will go.”
“Hmmm… That’s a good question.”
“What? Me?”
As the elves exchanged glances, they collectively gazed at one person.
A woman seated in a position of honor.
Her skin, much brighter than the others, indicated her high status.
“Your Highness, you also have the identity of a dancer.”
“Hey! I only ended up with that because I was in a circus for a brief moment while I was escaping!”
“But the dance you performed became popular in the desert. I bet Duke Damien will be looking for that dancer at the banquet…”
“Are you crazy? You want me to go dance there? In that outfit from back then? Ugh! No way! Absolutely not!”
Remembering the humiliating experience, the princess’s cheeks flushed red.
She had briefly used an alias to conceal her identity as a dancer, and now that name was famous in the desert.
She had not appeared for years, yet Duke Damien was bound to look for that goddess, just as he did every year.
“Everyone who knows the princess’s face is either dead or just us! So there’s no need to worry about being discovered!”
“That jerk knows, though. Atatürk…”
The princess gritted her teeth.
Atatürk. That damn traitor.
If it weren’t for him, this land would still belong to the elves.
She touched the key around her neck and made a grimace.
“The banquet hall is an open place. If you observe from outside using magic, I’ll send a positive sign if Atatürk isn’t there, and a danger sign if he is, so don’t worry too much.”
“But that still feels too risky—”
“Please, Your Highness! You’re the only one who can make this happen!”
“Sigh…”
As all the elves bowed their heads, the princess sighed deeply.
They were all risking their lives for this.
Some had already been captured and imprisoned or had even died.
But as someone of royal blood, she couldn’t just cower in fear.
“Tsk. Fine. I’ll go.”
“That’s wonderful!”
“You made the right decision!”
“Hmph.”
Fearing the princess’s fickle heart might change again, the courtiers hurriedly praised her to the point of salivation.
The princess took a deep breath and walked toward the mirror, steeling herself.
‘If I’m going to do this, I have to do it properly. You can do this, Serika.’
*
“I’m not detecting any artifacts… None at all.”
After thoroughly checking all the furniture, walls, and floors in the large room, Erica gave a thumbs up.
Finally, I could let out a sigh of relief.
“Set up a barrier. At first-grade level.”
“I don’t think I can deploy it at first-grade right now because I’m low on mana.”
“I’ve loaded mana into the core part. Just unfold the rest as you see fit.”
“How much did you put in… Wait?!”
I caught Erica’s eyes widen as she checked the half-formed spell I had started.
30,000 mana was no small amount, after all.
Erica, by herself, would need 100 days to gather that much.
Her eyes gleamed with excitement, and soon a sturdy barrier began to unfold around us.
It blocked all physical damage, sound waves, and mana ripples while actively allowing communication magic to pass through.
To break through this, you’d need something like the Annihilation Cannon.
“Master! Look! This bed is soooo soft!”
“A shower in the desert… What a luxury…”
“Hey guys, can you gather ’round for a sec?”
Only after I called their attention did the trio exploring the rooms finally gather at the huge table in the hall.
Trie, Erica, and Hertlocker—such a weird combination when they sat together.
If Jin were included, it would be even more outrageous.
“As I was touring around, I noticed something strange.”
“Huh? What do you mean ‘strange’?”
“Erica, you were too busy eating to notice.”
“Again?! Are you seriously picking on me for eating?!”
“I definitely felt like there are too many soldiers deployed, Master.”
Trie got right to the point.
The number of soldiers felt excessive for merely keeping the peace or managing traffic for guests.
Not only that.
Using observation magic, they found that soldiers were heavily deployed throughout the entire urban area.
It was reminiscent of a city amidst war, with military forces laid out like this not being police but military.
“You got back, and the tension here skyrocketed. I bet they deployed troops out of fear that the elf tribes might unite to start a war.”
“However, there were plenty of troops before I even disappeared. According to Hertlocker’s report.”
Hertlocker, who had been silent with his arms crossed, nodded.
If what that guy reported was true, Damien had been ramping up his personal army excessively lately.
Deploying troops everywhere to the point they were often visible to the citizens.
“I suspect they might be hunting a Majin.”
“A Majin?”
“Damien has been quite invested in gathering information about Majin, especially the Majin called the Traveler. He seems to really like it and gathers every tiny detail… But to me, he looks a lot like he’s chasing an assassination target.”
That was a sharp deduction.
It was indeed true that Damien was hunting the Traveler to kill him.
Even at the cost of breaking the peace treaty between Majin and humans.
However, the reason wasn’t all that important, so I decided not to reveal it now.
“Well, that aside…”
While Damien shifting around in the back of my mind felt somewhat alarming, it wasn’t a major issue.
The true key to this operation was Atatürk, not Damien.
So, unless a bizarre variable arose, I could manipulate Atatürk as I planned.
“Um?”
“What is it?”
“I’m receiving communication from Jin.”
Just then, the magic waves of communication flowed in.
I immediately acknowledged the message and converted it to voice format.
– I stole a key from Atatürk! He was being sloppy, so how could I resist? It looks fancy, so it must be really important. Isn’t it a key to a safe? Pretty good, right? Not a waste of the request fee, eh?
“Damn…”
“What? What happened?”
I couldn’t help but slap my forehead.
A bizarre variable just popped up out of nowhere.
Can’t I just stay still without something crazy happening…?
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