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Mira jumped onto the rooftops as soon as she got out of the Spellcasters’ Union. As she did that, she heard some of the comments from the fans.

「I wonder what happened with Fuzzy Dice?」
「That was a first.」
「Did the detective finally score a win?」
「I think he went over there? Should we go look?」

There were many such comments.

Usually, Fuzzy Dice would simply vanish out of sight after leaving the evidence in the Union, and the fans had gathered to catch that last glimpse of him. But things were different this time, as they had seen him run out through the front door. They were a bit taken aback by that change, but their excitement had not died down whatsoever.

(He said something about having things left to do…)

As far as the detective knew, the Union was the thief’s last destination after a heist, but he claimed there was something more.

His goal was to expose vile men, so he would steal evidence from their mansion and provide it to the right authorities. He had done that, leaving evidence about the Doles Company at the church and the Union. If anything, he still had money to donate to orphanages, so that was something Mira could consider a thing left to do.

But that was something always done in anonymity, so going there without any disguise did not seem right. So there was something else he needed to do as a thief. Reports backing that idea quickly reached her too.

『The suspect is bound eastward, meow! But neowone can outrun a tiny being!』

The First Lieutenant had been waiting on the rooftops, and started chasing after Fuzzy Dice as soon as he left the Union, easily leaping from building to building.

『Mira, we’ve also spotted him. Someone who fits the description is currently running and jumping from rooftop to rooftop, heading east.』

Worthramble then chimed in. He was riding on Hippogriff and watching from above, while concealed with optical camouflage.

『Master, I have eyes on the target. But he doesn’t seem to be trying to run away. It’s almost like he’s trying to attract attention instead…』

The next report came from Eletina, the second of the Valkyrie Sisters. She was the best archer of the sisters, and had excellent observation and spotting skills. She could stand in the center of a city and be aware of her entire surroundings.

『Hm, he’s not hiding… This really is playing out differently.』

One would think that all the thief had to do was put some distance and disguise himself to blend in with the crowd while the detective and Mira were busy getting out of the Union. But instead of doing that, he continued running in his thief attire, and was making no efforts to hide.

Then Christina also had something to report.

『He’s back at the church! Wait…he just passed byyyy!』

Fuzzy Dice went all the way back to the church, but then just continued running without doing anything there. Mira began to wonder if there was any reason behind that, when Christina spoke again.

All of the fans gathered at the church had seen him, and were starting to follow him. He even stood on the edge of the rooftops so he was easy to see by all of them.

(So he’s essentially trying to get a mob of fans to follow after him? But what for?)

She also noticed that the fans gathered in front of the Union were moving too. Some of the fans on both sides had a way to communicate with each other, so word had spread about Fuzzy Dice’s location, causing the crowd to move like a wave of people.

「I guess he’s completely rescinded the need to be stealthy…」

She came to that conclusion by putting together all of the reports and what she was seeing herself. She told Christina to also follow after him, while she summoned Pegasus and flew in the general direction that Fuzzy Dice had gone to.

(I wonder where he’ll go next.)

Letting Pegasus fly, she concentrated to Sync her mind with Popotwise, who had been flying high above since the arrival of Fuzzy Dice. It had been a short time since she learned Sense Sync, but she quickly gained access to a literal bird’s eye view. She could see Fuzzy Dice really clearly that way, but she asked Popotwise to fly a bit faster.

After a while, Popotwise overtook Fuzzy Dice, and continued flying in a straight line to see where the thief was headed.

「Hm… that’s…」

The Doles Company’s mansion had come into view. Mira told Popotwise to fly in circles above the building to observe better, and she realized the deplorable state of it.

Pretty much everyone had woken up already, and the company’s president looked like he was shouting angrily at everyone, but his servants only showed halfhearted reactions. Some nearby looked distressed, and some others looked relieved.

The mercenaries had all regrouped into their own groups and were discussing something. Some would also show visible frustration from time to time. It was clear they had been confident in their skill, so it was normal to feel frustrated after failing to capture a single intruder.

There were also some fans outside of the mansion, who harbored a slight hope of seeing Fuzzy Dice again, which actually looked like it would happen soon.

As Mira mulled over all that, Fuzzy Dice made his appearance near the mansion. So far, Mira’s Sense Sync only lets her see what her summons could see, but not hear. She could, however, easily imagine the soundscape there, filled with angry roars. The reaction of the president and the mercenaries was just so big.

They all reached for their weapons, and some of the mercenaries began to attack without a second thought. But Fuzzy Dice effortlessly dodged everything and stood atop the outer wall. That seemed to rile up the mercenaries even more, as they all mindlessly attacked one after another.

(Seriously, what’s he trying to accomplish…)

He even took the time to wave at his fans, and then he jumped into the garden of the neighboring mansion. It was a garden lined with many statues, which gave it a somewhat eerie look.

Mira continued wondering if getting all those fans to follow him and riling up the mercenaries was all connected to whatever he had to do. All she knew was that the surroundings were turning into a mess impossible to control.

(This really is getting out of hand.)

The mercenaries continued firing attacks at Fuzzy Dice and climbed the wall to follow him into the neighboring garden. That prompted the guards of that mansion to get alarmed and fight back.

All of the guards came out in a rush, but neither Fuzzy Dice nor the mercenaries paid them any attention.

At the same time, all of the fans were gathering in front of that mansion’s gates, making a lot of noise. Some soldiers followed after them, trying to make their way through the crowd, but there were so many girls there that it was impossible.

Soon, yet another thing happened, as there was a sudden flash of light, and then the mercenaries started acting erratically.

(That was Charming Light right there… They all really ran head first into his trap…)

Mira assumed that flash was from a Forbidden Art that made everyone who saw it start to hallucinate, as the mercenaries seemed to believe that the statues of the garden were Fuzzy Dice, making them smash them to pieces.

(Hmm… it didn’t affect me at all, however. But I also don’t feel like I resisted the effect…)

Charming Light was supposed to affect everyone who saw the flash, but Mira did not feel its effect whatsoever. Even if her resistances had neutralized that effect, she would still feel it dissipating. But she had felt absolutely nothing. So she decided to ask Popotwise, who was the one actually in the scene, to describe what she was seeing.

『The Phantom Thief is being defeated time and time again, but keeps getting up…』

That response sounded like Popotwise was hallucinating as well, which made sense since she was within the range of the spell.

(Does this mean that I’m unaffected as long as I’m watching through Sense Sync?)