Chapter 248.2: Mission Start (Part 2)

There were four key components in their success, a long dedicated period of training, equipment suitable for the situation, spells to enhance all of that even more, and seamless cooperation to fully utilize all of that. With all of that combined, the Devouring Brigade had managed to neutralize the risk that came with hunting undead beasts.

「I feel like if only one of those components wasn't present, they wouldn't have been successful.」 In the end, the detective added 「They've perfected that method to the point no one else can replicate it,」 while his eyes twinkled with a hint of envy.

「So it really is like the power of friendship and effort. They sound like a rather courageous bunch.」

Mira could understand the detective's feelings. Meanwhile, the Spirit King and Martel were also talking in high spirits. Apparently, they had witnessed something similar in the past with Forsythia, who had fought many magic beasts with her friends, and they had to test various things and gain the necessary knowledge to finally defeat the beasts. It was impressive how the nature of humans had not changed over the ages.

(Why is it that I'm starting to feel guilty now...)

Hearing about Forsythia's attempts to defeat powerful enemies, and all the effort the mercenaries put, made Mira feel like there was always a deeper story behind their actions, even if at first glance they were only hunting undead beasts.

Meanwhile, Mira simply wanted to hunt so she would obtain three times the reward, and because the fights would be made trivial thanks to Mariana's Divine Protection.

Not to mention that with her Ashen Knights, she would be able to defeat middle level undead beasts while just sitting back and watching from afar. There would be no effort from her part to defeat them.

But now she was starting to feel like doing so would make a mockery out of those who took real risks, strived, and gained the necessary knowledge to overcome such foes. Realizing that, Mira lowered her priority to hunt magic beasts. If there were other hunters nearby, she would not intervene.

「Either way, it shouldn't take long for things to finish over there.」

Just as Mira was deciding to be more respectful towards those hard working hunters, the detective brought up the heist.

By now, she was expecting Fuzzy Dice to be struggling against those three groups of powerful mercenaries that were defending the Doles Company's mansion, but then the detective acted like they were no match.

Thirteen minutes had passed since Julius sent the message informing them of Fuzzy Dice's arrival, so it was about time for the heist to be over, at least based on the previous heists.

After everything Mira had heard about the mercenaries, she began to think that even the thief would struggle when facing such enemies.

But the detective refuted that, saying they would likely not be able to stop him for long. He said that with a confidence stemming from his own past experiences dealing directly with the thief.

「It's true that they're all exceptionally skilled, and they know how to adapt to various irregular situations that might emerge. But their knowledge is still based on magic beasts. Fuzzy Dice is still a human, as bizarre as he might be.」

Humans and magic beasts had vastly different ways to think and act, and Fuzzy Dice was as slippery as could get. While the detective had mostly talked about Fuzzy Dice's sleeping toxins, that was only one part of his skillset.

Fuzzy Dice had a varied assortment of skills, many of which involved sleeping toxins, and if someone managed to stay awake through that, there was still a direct confrontation against the thief after that.

It was that challenge that made Fuzzy Dice such an enticing target for the detective, as well as the reason why the detective still kept falling behind.

Julius' second report came twenty minutes after the first one.

「As expected, Fuzzy Dice completed his heist. It seems the mercenaries put up a good fight though, that's a new record.」

The previous record had been fifteen minutes, so the mercenaries had managed to keep Fuzzy Dice busy for five more minutes than anyone else before. Then again, it was actually really strange for a thief to complete a heist while dealing with three groups of highly skilled mercenaries within twenty minutes, but common sense did not seem to apply to Fuzzy Dice.

「I guess they were a tricky opponent, even for someone like Fuzzy Dice.」

Fuzzy Dice had never directly attacked anyone, and he would always leave all the guards unconscious without hurting them. Dealing with the mercenaries in the same way must have been difficult, and just when Mira was about to comment on that, a new message arrived from Julius.

「And once again, no one got injured...and...hmm...I see...」

The message seemed to be rather long, and the detective waited for all the information to arrive. Once he had the whole message, the detective frowned, something unusual for him.

The message detailed that Fuzzy Dice had broken a certain door within the mansion, which led underground to a hidden basement where many unknown children had been found.

「Children? And they can't be residents of the mansion if they're described as unknown...」

Mira mentioned that, and the detective agreed, still frowning. Then he muttered, 「Was that his true objective after all..?」

「His true objective? Is there anything else you know about him?」 Hearing of the children being kept below the mansion seemed to make the detective think of something, which Mira got curious about.

「Oh, is that something you'd like to know?」 Mira's question quickly tapped into the detective's lust for talking, making him smile once again.

Then he mentioned how wherever Fuzzy Dice showed up, there always was the lingering presence of an underground organization involved with trading children as slaves.

「But maybe I'm just reading too deeply into it.」 Finishing with that, the detective glanced at his pocket watch and said, 「Oh, I should go get things ready.」

Skillfully maneuvering his wheelchair, the detective turned around and sped to the Spellcasters' Union. Mira and the three girls also spoke to the shop's owner to go up to the third floor. There, they put on masks like those worn by Fuzzy Dice's fans before going out to the balcony.

「I still can't believe how crowded it is down there.」

The street below was packed with fans, really making it seem like there was a carnival going on.

「I've heard stories about this, but I didn't think it'd be this extreme. I really hope we can blend in properly.」 Nina and her sisters also glanced at the crowds and let out concerned chuckles. Their role was to pretend to be fans like them to blend in, and give Mira the necessary space to target Fuzzy Dice.

But the fans were already going wild, even with Fuzzy Dice nowhere in sight, so they could only imagine how much louder they would get once he arrived.

Nina was starting to become worried about acting good enough to pass for one of the fans. Mina and Nana also seemed to be thinking the same, as they looked down attentively at the crowd.

(Oh, I should add one extra layer of security.)