Petty Tricks (3)

As I dealt with the goblins one by one, I scanned my surroundings.

Despite believing I had honed my senses through classes and training at Constel, it was still impossible for me to pinpoint the culprit's location.

I had no choice but to leave it to Gregory.

'Speaking of which...'

I briefly glanced at the remaining goblins, their eyes gleaming with a relentless, sinister aura. Only three were left. They didn't seem to fear death, but they did seem hesitant.

They seemed to understand that recklessly charging in would lead to certain death.

'It's not like they've completely lost their minds.'

There were things I learned after the golem incident, where Hephaestus interfered with Edwin, and the Serf business card incident.

Controlling someone isn't that easy.

Edwin mistakenly believed his heart had changed, but there was a clear trigger in the form of me, and the mastermind behind it all was a 'god.'

Serf's business card had a definite effect in terms of 'control,' but it wouldn't move without a command, and it was obvious at a glance that it was being manipulated.

'These guys are neither.'

They weren't perfectly sane, but they weren't puppets either. They had a clear murderous intent towards me, and although their focus was blurry, they attacked with their own will. There was no sign of anyone giving them orders.

Either it was a method of temporarily heightening a single emotion, or...

'...Are they drunk?'

Thud! Thud!

I pierced the neck and chest of a nearby goblin, killing it, and briefly observed the Obsidian clinging to its body.

'Let's see...'

Just a little bit, so as not to be noticed.

I used 'Weaving' to activate the Obsidian.

'...It works.'

The moment I saw the Obsidian on them move, I quickly canceled the Weaving.

Seeing my Weaving react perfectly, it was clear that what was on them was indeed Obsidian.

And, as I had somewhat expected, I felt a slight resistance. Obsidian was originally a liquid, so to use it like this, it needed continuous Mana treatment.

'It was easier than I thought.'

It must have been because I succeeded in Weaving through the opponent's Mana, but the resistance wasn't that great. It seemed my Weaving was acting with a stronger force.

I didn't want to express it like a game, but it felt like a tier advantage.

"Phew."

After finishing off the remaining goblins, I let out a sigh.

For all the trouble of messing with my mind, isolating me, and attacking me, it wasn't that impressive.

'I'd like to retrieve the Obsidian right away, but...'

Let's postpone it for now.

I can't make any reckless moves until I know the identity and purpose of the culprit.

Anyway, what I'm trying to get is a fragment of Helheim. Considering that, the Obsidian on these goblins is just a handful.

"Then, the way back is..."

I gathered my thoughts and recalled the path I had taken here.

The direction, the location of the lodgings, and even the distance all came to mind. It seemed the mental interference had been lifted.

I was already in bad shape after being beaten up by the knights one after another, so I guess I've grown quite a bit since I managed to catch goblins with just martial arts without Weaving in this state.

'...Or are the goblins in this world weaker than in the game? I don't know since it's my first time meeting them today.'

* * *

"Did you find the culprit?"

[Of course.]

The crow spoke confidently.

What Gregory witnessed was a girl sitting in a tree, secretly observing my battle.

[She was a woman who hid her presence well. She looked quite young, though.]

"How young?"

[She looked about your age.]

"...Is that young?"

[How old do you think you are?]

17 years old.

Right, I forgot for a moment. Frondier is a first-year student at Constel. Let's not forget.

"She didn't notice your presence, did she?"

[She saw me. I'm a crow, after all. But she wouldn't have dreamed she was being watched. My skills have never been detected by anyone. Not even by that 'Inies.']

Inies must be referring to Elodie.

"You got caught. Elodie said she knew."

[That was because of the gaze! If that Serf guy hadn't so stubbornly insisted on spying, I could have gotten away with it. And she felt the gaze, not the identity. That's how good my ability is.]

Gregory puffed up, seemingly taking immense pride in his abilities. It was both annoying and amusing to see a crow acting like that.

"What about her clothes?"

[Nothing special. It was something you could wear anywhere in Yeranhes. But her face, if she wasn't wearing a mask, you'd recognize her right away. It's not a face suitable for undercover work.]

"Why?"

[Her looks were too exceptional. Not the cheap kind like a prostitute, but a clean and dignified, yet pitiful face that you'd believe belonged to some famous knight. Green eyes and blonde hair. Even an elf from long ago would have nodded in agreement.]

Exceptionally beautiful.

I hadn't seen such a face since coming to Yeranhes.

But if her clothes were ordinary, then surely...

"She must be somewhere around here."

[Right. And it's more likely that she wears a mask in her daily life rather than when she's working. She's doing the opposite of what ordinary people in the underworld do. Living a daily life with such exceptional looks would get her involved in a lot of troublesome things.]

Hmm.

Of course, she wouldn't have suddenly started wearing a mask when I arrived. She must have been doing that kind of work from the beginning.

So it's like someone from the underworld is working in Yeranhes on a mission, and I unexpectedly intruded, right?

"...Is the target Enfer?"

[Why?]

"Even if she blends into daily life, if her main job is crime, she can't stay in the same place for long. So, She must try to finish her missions quickly. My coming here just happens to interfere with her plans, but such coincidences don't happen easily. Her reason for coming to Yeranhes probably won't be far off from what I expect."

Enfer comes to the end of this barrier every winter to block the barrier. This is the same whether I come or not.

So the meeting between me and her is not a mere coincidence.

Originally, she started the mission with Enfer as the target, but unexpectedly, I also came to Yeranhes this time, so my presence suddenly became an obstacle. It's appropriate to think this way.

[Indeed, that's possible.]

"Don't act ignorant. You were thinking the same way."

[No way. I was thinking beyond that, that if her target really was Enfer, it wouldn't be to kill him. First of all, it's not feasible, and if the purpose was to kill Enfer, it wouldn't make sense for you, who has almost no connection to him, to be an obstacle. You and I were clearly thinking differently.]

This guy.

I was a little irritated, but he was right, so I let it slide. That was Gregory's way of helping, I guess.

Another thought came to mind, and I said,

"And I found out a few things while dealing with the goblins."

[What is it?]

"Obsidian is probably not the fragment of Helheim itself."

[Why do you think so?]

"If it were, the fragment of Helheim wouldn't be trapped in a glacier."

[...Oh.]

This was a question I had before coming to Yeranhes.

If, as Warden Esther said, the fragment of Helheim was something like a 'huge lake trapped in a glacier'...

Why was the Obsidian, which was a part of it, found in the dungeon as a fake Mistilteinn and is now in my hands?

At first, I thought the fragment of Helheim wasn't completely trapped and there was an open area somewhere. Or maybe it was literally cracking and leaking out.

But then Obsidian should have been found more often. In the game, Obsidian only appeared during the 'Noble Meeting.' Of course, when I played the game, it was just 'black water,' it wasn't even named Obsidian.

"What was on the goblins was definitely Obsidian. The fragment of Helheim and Obsidian are definitely related. But they're not completely the same thing. Maybe it's like... the residue left after doing something with the fragment of Helheim?"

When I fight, I use Weaving, Obsidian, Menosorpo, and so on, all together. That's because they compensate for each other's limitations.

Conversely, when considered separately, each of these has a very ambiguous use.

Weaving was originally meant to create illusions, Obsidian, without Weaving, is just a liquid that becomes hard when poured mana, an unprocessable metal, and Menosorpo might have been better used by someone other than me.

I use them as a set, but these three are not actually a set. They are unrelated things.

When considered in that light, Obsidian certainly couldn't be considered a valuable item.

An impossibly strange magical characteristic for a metal, being a liquid when still and a hard solid when mana is supplied. Despite having such a bizarre magical characteristic, Obsidian is of low value.

That is, isn't there a 'real' one with the same magical characteristics as Obsidian?

[Is that the fragment of Helheim?]

"That's what I think."

I took out the Black Lotus necklace and looked at it for a moment.

Since Edwin, Binkis, and Daud are now creating a new Black Lotus from scratch, this Black Lotus wasn't needed. Thanks to that, I was able to bring it with me.

The black water inside, Obsidian. I've received a lot of help from this guy so far, but...

Just like with Weaving in the beginning, I still don't know anything about Obsidian.

It's time to find out.

"I don't know why she's attacking me, or why she bothered to show me that by putting Obsidian on goblins..."

I don't like being targeted for no reason.

If there's someone targeting me, It'll just create a reason for me to target them too.

And that reason was clear to her.

"She seems to like tests."

Then, instead of testing others, she should be happy to be tested himself, right?

I won't disappoint her.

* * *

The next day, I headed to the barracks as usual.

The fact that she attacked me means, in other words, that she confirmed my appearance somewhere. We might have made eye contact, greeted each other, or passed each other by.

As Gregory said, if she's a woman with exceptional looks, she'll definitely be working while wearing a mask.

"Sir Sylvain, I have a question."

"What is it?"

I tried using the skill 'Analysis' on Sylvain.

[Sylvain]

- Knight Commander of the 'Roach Knights.'

- An elite who caught Enfer's eye early on with his excellent skills, popularity, and strong beliefs. His belief in protecting the safety of citizens will break before it bends.

- He has recently taken an interest in Frondier and wants to teach him. Possibility of recruitment: 15%.

- He was originally left-handed but was corrected to become right-handed. It happened when he was too young, so he doesn't remember it. He would achieve greater growth if he held a sword in his left hand.

"If I hold a sword in both hands, should I designate a hand for blocking?"

"First of all, I don't recommend that itself, but if you must, it's good to designate one. If you have a sword in the hand that should be holding a shield, that sword has to handle both checking and defense. And it shouldn't interfere with the sword in the other hand."

Sylvain answered my question sincerely.

He didn't seem to notice the 'Analysis.' It was the same as when I 'analyzed' Selena. Analysis goes undetected by others.

I acquired unexpected information during the analysis of Sylvain, but that's for later.

'Now, then.'

Even if I don't know who the culprit is...

Let me introduce you to a simpler way to find out the identity of your opponent.