| Author: Ryuusen Hirotsugu | Original Source: Syosetu | Word Count: 2535 characters |
| Translator: Nomad | English Source: Re:Library | Word Count: 1054 words |
| Editor(s): Fire | ||
When Mira got back to the city, she realized everything looked different. The streets that had been so crowded with people looked empty. She landed a short distance away from the Spellcasters’ Union, and wondered just where the fans had all vanished to.
「It’s just like after a festival.」
After thanking and sending away Pegasus, she turned to look at the streets, which looked almost desolate now. Eventually, she recognized a certain shop and seemed to understand what was happening.
That shop was the same one she had visited with the detective before, and which was seemingly run by a big fan of the thief. That place was currently filled to the brim with fans.
They were having an after party of sorts there, and Mira could not help but wonder what they would do if they heard that the Spirit Queen had managed to retrieve a valuable pendant from Fuzzy Dice.
After all, Mira had somehow become the first person to successfully fight back against the thief.
「It’s probably best if they don’t see me.」
Mira shuddered just thinking of it, so she hurried to move along, rushing to get into the Union where she felt safe. But then she was dumbfounded by the state of that place.
「It’s quite…lively here.」
The lobby had been turned into a banquet, lined with tables covered with food and drinks, enjoyed by merry men and women who sang and celebrated. Wondering what that was all about, Mira asked one of the employees nearby, who explained that it was a consolation party for the detective.
「It’s my first time seeing a consolation party this big…」
Its size alone made it seem like a big celebration instead, and it took Mira some looking around before she spotted the detective. As she approached him, one of the adventurers there recognized her and shouted, 「The Spirit Queen is back!」
They all knew she had been helping the detective, so they quickly opened the way for her. Now the detective had a clear view of her, so she waved happily.
「Welcome back, Mira. Come here, I want to hear what happened in the end.」
Most of the people there had not heard what Fuzzy Dice had done after running away from the Union, and were eager to hear the news. All they knew was that some mansion was involved.
「Hmm, then let me relate everything I witnessed.」
Saying that, Mira sat down in front of the detective, poured herself a glass of fruit wine, which she downed in one go, and happily began narrating what happened outside of the Union.
「And well, I think that Fuzzy Dice’s plan had been to find that location the entire time.」
They had followed Fuzzy Dice all the way to the mansion, where he left clear signs of going inside. By following him, they had found the hideout of slave traders. After that, she also mentioned everything Christina had told her, and what the soldier leader said happened with the Doles Company.
「All of that happened? I really wish I could’ve been there too.」 The detective replied, lamenting the state of his legs. But he still grinned, saying he expected no less from Fuzzy Dice.
「He really seems to be a hero of justice through and through, I’d say.」
Mira praised Fuzzy Dice like that while holding the bottle of fruit wine upside down. At the same time, she grimaced a bit seeing that the guy who used to be so obsessed with heroes had finally turned into one.
She took a break from talking after that, while all the other people there celebrated more loudly. They relished the fall of Viscount Denbarole, glad that Haxthausen had been cleared of two blemishes. It seemed like that noble already had a rather bad reputation there.
Some also began to wonder how Fuzzy Dice had discovered their evil deeds, and how he decided who to target.
Hearing that, Mira finally pieced together that the proprietor of the mansion was called Viscount Denbarole.
(Well, it’s not like that matters much.)
Considering he had become famous for all the wrong reasons, and now was a convicted criminal, she decided there was no point in remembering his name and she poured herself another glass of fruit wine.
「That aside, what happened with Fuzzy Dice in the end?」
Mira had only mentioned the pursuit of Fuzzy Dice, so the detective was still curious about what had happened with him after that. Hearing that question, Mira began grinning daringly, standing up as she had been waiting for that question.
「He had been leading us to the hideout of those slave traders on purpose… But I noticed that right away!」
Her voice was triumphant as she spoke, saying that she needed to clear up something. When she realized what Fuzzy Dice was attempting, she split ways with the soldier leader Desmond.
「I knew what the thief usually tries to accomplish, so I knew there was something important at the end of that trail. But I also would not allow myself to let that thief scurry away. So it was time to use my summons!」
Fuzzy Dice’s plan was to lead his pursuers to the slave traders and vanish after that. But Mira would not let that happen.
It was easy for a water spirit to determine Fuzzy Dice’s location, and that included finding out where he was heading. So Mira puffed her chest as she narrated how she rode on Pegasus to wait in ambush for the thief ahead of time.
「There I confronted him, adhering to the same rules and using non-lethal force.」
Fuzzy Dice was known for never harming anyone. So Mira declared that she also did not use excessive force to fight him. She only used Magic Bomb Sealing Stones to burn off the spiderwebs he used, while her summons all worked together to fend him off.
「So all things said, it ended with a standstill.」
Mira finished her stories, with some exaggerations and embellishments sprinkled in to make her summons shine even more, and laughed happily while raising her glass. Finally, she said that the rumors were true, and Fuzzy Dice was a powerful opponent.
