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Once they left the sweets shop, they headed to the Spellcasters’ Union, or rather, to a nearby shop in front of it. That was the building with a balcony on its third floor that the detective wanted to use in his plan.

That balcony offered a good and unobstructed view of the Spellcasters’ Union. So it was the perfect location to stake-out in wait for Fuzzy Dice’s appearance, and to target him with the tracking device.

「…So what do you say? Could we use the balcony?」

The detective was frank and explained his plan to the owner of the store, asking for permission to use the balcony with it. The response was a conflicting, 「I’d really like to do it, but…」

Fuzzy Dice was known as a righteous and chivalrous thief, and was very popular, so the owner was hesitant to lend his aid with capturing him. If word came out, his reputation could plummet and sink his business, so it really was not an easy choice to make.

「It’ll be fine, don’t worry about it. We won’t do anything that stands out!」
「Yeah, no one will know a thing.」
「C’mon, everyone will just think we’re a bunch of fans trying to catch a glimpse of Fuzzy Dice, nothing more!」

Three beautiful women closed in on the owner trying to get him to agree. All of them were adventurers that the detective had recruited to help with his plan, and had joined the group during their way there from the sweets shop.

The detective had recruited them for the plan to be more effective. While Mira could pass as one such fan, being a girl herself, she would stand out less if there were other women posing as fans with her, allowing them to blend with the many other fans swarming the Union.

They had executed a similar strategy before, as the detective recounted during their meal. However, the previous occasion had been somewhat more lavish, involving both the detective and Julius cross-dressing for the operation.

But obviously enough, the detective was instantly recognized and there was an uproar around him. Surprisingly, Julius was not recognized, and he was able to retreat safely.

「Alright, whatever. You can use it.」

Eventually, their coercion worked and the owner agreed to let them use the balcony. Halfway through the discussion, Mira started to wonder if she should suggest using Worthramble to conceal herself, but she did not mention it, as she assumed the detective was trying to test something too.

If the detective tried this plan again, it would likely be Julius stalking the balcony, in drag, so Mira looked at him with pity and offered her condolences in her mind.

Now that they had secured the location, they only needed to wait for the next day and carry out their plan. According to the warning letter, Fuzzy Dice would conduct the heist the next day, at 7pm.

He would steal the necessary evidence incriminating the Doles Company to spread it to the church and Spellcasters’ Union. Recalling that, Mira thought of something.

「By the way, I’ve been wondering something. Is the thief’s work really over once he leaves the evidence at the church and Union? What would happen if there’s someone compromised working in those organizations? I feel like they could still get rid of the evidence.」

While the church was a place for holy men, and the Union worked hard to help people, that did not mean that they were rid of corruption. It was possible that some of the workers were tied to Fuzzy Dice’s mark, and they would get rid of the evidence once it reached their organizations. And that was something that Mira was starting to get worried about.

Hearing that question, the detective grinned, having obtained another reason to talk.

「I actually thought the same before…」 With that preamble, the detective began talking at length. It was almost impossible to get the detective to stay silent for long, but Mira was curious this time, so she paid attention to what he said.

As it turned out, Mira’s concern was an extremely likely scenario.

According to the detective’s research, the arrival of Fuzzy Dice’s warning letters at any given city were always preceded by a large commotion from many workers of the church and Union being arrested.

And the reason for their arrest was always a set of anonymous reports.

「In my opinion, that happens too often to be mere coincidence. It actually happened in this city too, around two weeks ago. There were three arrests in the Union, and two in the church.」

Saying that, he shrugged a little before adding, 「I really wonder where such a convenient informant came from,」 and chuckling a little.

「To think he’s that prepared…」

They were all anonymous reports, but Mira arrived at the same conclusion that the detective was hinting at.

Fuzzy Dice’s targets were always high profile personages, with plenty of connections everywhere. But no matter who they were, Fuzzy Dice would destroy them with a single night’s heist.

That was largely possible because of how much care the thief put into laying the groundwork.

Most people only knew him from his flashy heists, but that was only the final act, and arguably the easiest part of his job. Everything was carefully planned from the beginning.

「I really can’t tell where his influence begins and where it ends, but I know for a fact that whenever Fuzzy Dice shows up in a city, there’s a sharp decline in crime right after. There really is no end to his surprises.」

He muttered that absentmindedly. That was something he no longer looked into. He had realized that his best chance to capture Fuzzy Dice was during a heist, and not during his secret preparations.

「Well, at least we should appreciate that he’s making the city safer.」

Mira decided there was no need to think much more deeply about it, as long as the end result was positive for everyone.

Thanks to those anonymous reports, the church and Union were clean of corrupt individuals, so there was no worries of anyone absconding with the evidence Fuzzy Dice would bring, and he could perform his heist without worry.

「Well, let’s meet up tomorrow at 6pm, in front of the Union.」
「Sure, sounds good.」

That marked the end of their meeting, and after Mira and the detective exchanged those words, Julius bowed to her and then pushed away the wheelchair. Meanwhile, Mira turned around and ran away, eager to resume her interrupted investigation from earlier.

「Still, I didn’t think his plan was so incomplete.」

The detective’s plan only covered marking Fuzzy Dice with the Lock-On M-Type device. Checking whether it would work or not was all he wanted to know at this point, and chasing after the thief was irrelevant.

He had never tried using it before, so making a big plan around it while being unsure of its efficacy felt superfluous. So Mira would have to try it, give her thoughts to the detective, and then he would plan according to the results.

In a way, that was also reassuring for Mira, as it gave her the freedom to do as she wished, and she only had to give the detective the input he wanted afterward. Whether she succeeded at catching the thief or not did not matter.

But then a worry got implanted in Mira’s mind. Maybe the detective had only said that to not make Mira feel too pressured. Soon after, she recalled how he looked, it was the same look of curiosity all of the researchers at the towers had.

Eventually, she decided that it did not matter what his intention was. She would just chase after the thief to the best of her ability. And so she continued exploring the streets and rooftops of Haxthausen until it was night.