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Salamander was not part of the lineup though, as Salamander looked a bit too much like a dragon and could cause an uproar. Anlutine was also not there since the female adventurers would go into a frenzy recognizing her as the water spirit from before.

「Hmm… It might be even better than I expected.」

She also summoned Popotwise to fly around the city as a stand-in for Fuzzy Dice, and the result was quite positive.

Popotwise was flying low to hide amongst the buildings, and without producing any sounds, but at least one of the lookouts had visual contact at all times, so by combining the information from all of them, Mira was able to know Popotwise’s current location at all times.

So in other words, even if Fuzzy Dice managed to outrun Mira and move out of the device’s range, she would be able to continue following after him.

Cait Sith who was good at tracking enemies, and the second of the Valkyrie Sisters, Eletina, who was an excellent archer, had exceptionally good eyesight, which pressured Popotwise to try even harder to vanish from their view.

Popotwise started using illusion magic to hide, which made Cait Sith strain his eyes, and Eletina observe more carefully. The chase was getting so intense that the crowds on the streets were starting to notice and become more alert.

But Mira pretended to not notice that, and sent Popotwise away before things got out of hand. Then she walked around with a smug face, happy to know her strategy was working.

She even started to wonder if Eletina and Cait Sith alone would be enough, but she decided it was best to not change anything.

It was just a few minutes before 6pm when she finished testing the locations for her lookouts and their efficacy, so she had to get ready to meet with the detective now.

Her lookouts would be able to keep watch over essentially the whole city, but things would get tricky if Fuzzy Dice went outside the city, as the surrounding terrain largely consisted of grassy plains. It would be easy for him to realize he was being followed there.

‘If that happens, I’ll be counting on you two.’

With that in mind, she decided to pair up Popotwise with the First Lieutenant, Cait Sith. Both looked like animals, so they would not look too out of place in the wilderness, and the First Lieutenant was especially good at blending in with the darkness. Popotwise could also use illusion magic to become less perceptible, and her wings were silent. They were the perfect pair for a chase out in the open.

‘Leave it to meow!’
‘Popot will try her best!’

Hearing those cute and reliable voices, Mira shifted her attention to the rest, telling them, ‘Let’s get this done, everyone,’ which was followed by an instant response by Alfina, after which everyone else also gave energetic replies.

Smiling at the dedication of her team, Mira headed to the meeting place to see the detective.

「Let’s go over the plan one last time, just in case.」

Once they met up, they went into a meeting room in the Spellcasters’ Union, where the detective spread out a map of Haxthausen on the table and went over their whole plan for the night.

Haxthausen was around three kilometers long on each side, and there was a distance of a bit more than a kilometer between the Spellcasters’ Union and the Doles Company’s mansion. There were also around three hundred meters from the mansion to the church, which lay between the mansion and the Union.

Julius would be stationed in front of the mansion and would report on Fuzzy Dice’s movements. Once the heist was over and Fuzzy Dice headed to the church, Julius would head straight to the Union as fast as he could.

Once Mira received Julius’ message, she would join the female adventurers on the balcony and watch over the building in front. As soon as Fuzzy Dice appeared on the Union’s balcony, Mira would use Lock-On M-Type to mark him.

Then she would inform the detective about that, who would be waiting inside the Union and give a signal for all doors to be locked.

That was only going to be a distraction though, as the locks would be broken quickly by Fuzzy Dice, and only existed to give Mira enough time to get ready to run after the thief.

That was the whole plan, as ideated by the detective.

「Good, it seems to be operating correctly.」

After they went over the whole plan, they verified that all their devices were operative. Their communication boxes could relay letters without issue, and Mira made sure that Lock-On M-Type could track Julius around the building.

「I’ll be going then.」

Now that they had reviewed everything, Julius hurried to move in place, so he left the Union and headed for the mansion of the Doles Company.

Mira and the detective continued eating the cake they were brought and then left the meeting room.

「Oh, right. Before I forget, I should give you this.」

As they walked down the hallway, the detective said that and brought out a mask with a strange design, handing it to Mira. All of Fuzzy Dice’s fans were wearing similar masks, and since Mira had to pretend to be one of them, she also needed to wear one to blend in better.

「Hmm, alright.」

That mask mostly covered the area around her eyes, similar to the masks used in the Carnival of Venice. Seeing it, Mira quickly tried it on.

「What do you think? Do I look like a fan of Fuzzy Dice?」

When she asked that, the detective looked at her for a moment before chuckling and replying, 「If I had to say, you look even more like a queen.」

「What type of queen are you thinking about…」

A queen wearing a mask, that only made Mira think that ‘-of the Night’ should be appended to the title. Unsure of how to feel about that, she went up to a mirror placed in a corner nearby to look at herself.

「Oh, I look rather devilish.」 Seeing her reflection appear with such an enigmatic cuteness made her grin a bit.

「Oh, there’s even more of them…」 Mira muttered that once she saw the streets, having left the Union.

「Yeah, it’s always like this. It’ll get even worse soon enough.」 The detective replied, seeing the crowd as well.

All of Fuzzy Dice’s hardcore fans knew that the thief always appeared at the target’s mansion, the church, and the Spellcasters’ Union, so they would always gather at those three places.

And oddly enough, the detective and Julius were also popular amongst them, even though those two stood as rivals of the thief.

「They caught him…」
「And that always happens too…」

And after some more observation, Mira noticed that a group of fans had also surrounded Julius, who had left earlier. While they seemed to be cheering for him, there were so many of them that the attractive young man could hardly move forward. Both his looks and his position as the thief’s rival seemed to enhance his popularity.

Eventually some of the fans also noticed the detective and they began gathering around him too. Those seemed to be the women more interested in mature men. But that meant that there was no one interested in Mira there.

(If I had never changed… If only I had never changed…)