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「I see. I had a hunch the government was involved too, but I had not expected the entire country to have been built by Chimera…」

Arlon looked slightly surprised, but he had suspected something similar so his voice remained composed. Then he told Mira of his own findings in Sentopolly. Only one day had happened since their joint investigation with Sero’s group though, so there was little to report. The main thing being the existence of multiple state owned establishments of mysterious purpose, that even the citizens found odd.

「I started investigating some of those places just in case, but knowing what you’ve just told me, I think it’s very likely those buildings are related to Chimera. Though now I also understand how this country developed so quickly.」

The country had gone from being an inhospitable wasteland and cliffsides to a large city that could stand on its own compared to other countries, in just twenty years. Something like that was plausible if they had a larger budget than that of a large country, together with the latest technologies. Not to mention that this world had skills that no one really knew the upper limits of. Most thought Sentopolly had borrowed money from other countries for that.

「I know, seeing how much the terrain changed, it’s easy to imagine spiritual power was used for it.」

But if the leaders of the country were all part of Chimera Clauzen, reality was a bit different. They would not require large sums of money or specialized spellcasters, they could just abuse spiritual power to do everything.

Mira recalled the perfect terraces carved into a cliff she had seen before. But thinking that it had all been done with power mercilessly robbed from spirits, an indescribable emotion welled up inside her. They had not yet obtained definite proof that it was the truth.

「So, you wanted suggestions on what to do with the deputy and assassin you captured, right?」

But Arlon seemed convinced that it was true, his eyes glowing with a desire to fight back.

「Yes, I’m not sure where to take them.」

They would get killed in any state managed or Union owned establishment. The best option was to rely on the Eabates Trading Corporation in Roseline again, but that would make transporting them trickier, and Mira’s summons would stand out too much.

「In that case wouldn’t the Fifty Bells branch be better? They also have a confinement chamber just in case after all.」
「Huh, is there really? It looked like a rather cramped house to me.」

The branch in question was located in the southern end of the city, a small building that looked like an ordinary home. While it had a rather deep basement, Mira did not remember seeing anything resembling such a chamber there.

「I know, it doesn’t look like much from the outside. I’ve never used it before, but there was a basement with a communications device, right? From what I heard, you can go further down to a secure confinement chamber.」
「Really? I hadn’t noticed at all.」

Mira was still shocked at that discovery, but was glad that there was such a convenient place nearby.

「I heard Uzume cast a special barrier on it to hide it, so it makes sense you wouldn’t notice.」
「A barrier, you say? I see.」

Arlon spoke with a respectful voice, which bordered on reverence. It was like he was talking of something very rarely seen, which made Mira feel even more impressed too.

Barriers were a special type of skills which could be used by a handful of classes. Out of those, Onmyoji masters had the largest varieties of barriers, as well as the largest and strongest. Obviously enough, the barrier holding the Fifty Bells headquarters underwater was also one of those.

「Well, I guess that settles our next move then. I’ll go back to the branch and get things ready to receive the prisoners, you should go get those two and bring them without anyone noticing with your uhh… power of stillness or whatever it was called.」

Arlon stood up saying that, filling his glass with cold water to get rid of the effects of alcohol, gulping it down in one go. Then he slapped his cheeks.

「Sounds good. It would stand out too much if I was carrying a public figure tied up after all.」

It was not too rare to see a criminal who was arrested be carried away in public in this world, but it was a different story if a government official was involved. Considering there was Chimera Clauzen to worry about too, they could not allow anyone to see Isaac.

Mira understood that much, so she frowned as she calculated how much she could use Complete Suppression. Then she picked up a handful of skewers and stood up, one cannot fight with an empty stomach after all.

Even though the sun had set, the streets of Sentopolly were lit brightly by lamps, making it look no different than at daytime. Having found out that such a sight had only been possible through the sacrifice of countless innocent spirits, Mira could not bring herself to find it beautiful, closing her eyes in mourning as she flew away on Pegasus.

Since there was a possibility other people were looking for the two captives, Mira landed a considerable distance away, and then carefully approached the hiding spot while watching her surroundings.

「So, how did it go on your side?」

Mira was let in into the area affected by Worthramble’s magic and spoke to him. He said there was one suspicious looking person that passed by, but he did not notice them. 「Have you decided where you’ll take them?」 he continued.

「Yes, obtaining a third opinion was a good idea. I found the perfect place.」

Saying that, Mira quickly ordered the Holy Knight to carry the two captives. While such an act would have looked far worse if done by a Dark Knight, it still looked like a kidnapping.

But that depended on if they would be seen. Mira, Worthramble, Isaac, and the Deserter Hunter were all invisible to anyone else as they walked through the rocky hills heading back to Sentopolly.

Around an hour later, Mira took a detour, going around the city so she would enter directly into the southern district where the Fifty Bells branch was. Unlike the bustling center of the city, that district was silent and calm. Though there were still people around. Common workers that had to work overtime were going home now, and there were guards dotted around making sure the streets were safe.

There was less light there too, which made footsteps stand out more. Mira and Worthramble would have been able to sneak through without much issue, but the Holy Knight’s heavy footsteps would feel incredibly out of place in the darkness.

「There’s still around half a kilometer left. Worthramble, how long can you sustain Complete Suppression?」

Mira did not want to create any rumors about heavy footsteps or a weird white figure carrying someone in the southern district during the same night when a government official vanished. So she decided she would have to use what little remaining time she had using Complete Suppression.

「Let’s see… around five minutes, I reckon.」
「Hmm, that should be enough.」