Reunion with Kelbeck

News about the conflict between Prince Austrin and Princess Kudyastoria had already spread to the ma.s.ses. A handful of people were also aware that Einbeast's army had gathered in Leather Elka and were planning to attack the royal capital. One of them was the Thieves Guild.

In the residential quarters located in the sewers of Pond, a man groaned. A look at his short, red hair and the flame tattoo on his face, one would a.s.sume he was anything but a decent man. With the sharp look in his eyes, he emitted an uncanny intensity.

Tons of papers filled with status reports about the war and highly political matters were piled up before him. Contrary to his looks, Kelbeck was actually a learned man.

「Boss! You have a visitor!」The voice of his subordinate came from beyond the door.

「What? I told you not to let anyone in at this hour!」

「Yeah, but…」

The man couldn't make himself clear. Robbed of his quiet time to think, Kelbeck opened the door, irritated.

「Who the h.e.l.l has the nerve to—」

A woman with the same flame tattoo on her face stood before him.

「Katy?」

It was none other than Kelbeck's sister, Katy Kotobi.

It wasn't a tearful reunion. They were already old enough to not get too emotional. To begin with, Katy understood fully why her brother left. But it wasn't as though they could disregard one another, either.

「Why are you here?」

They sat facing each other. The tea served was far from fancy, watery even.

Kelbeck was neither angry nor displeased; he was simply perplexed.

「I heard I'd find you here.」

「Well you wouldn't make it here if you didn't know. I'm asking why. We're in the middle of a civil war. There's too many problems right now.」

「Problems?」

「The civil war has already started. Those Beastmen from Einbeast are quite annoying with their keen sense of smell. There are already spies here in Pond. We've been trying to deal with all of them, but they just keep on coming.」

Katy was surprised. When she heard Hikaru was returning to Ponsonia in a hurry, she tagged along as well. She thought the war wouldn't start soon and that she had plenty of time.

But judging by her brother's words, early skirmishes had already begun, and Kelbeck was involved in it. Gathering intel, after all, was also one of the jobs of Thieves Guild.

Of course, Hikaru knew they didn't have much time.

「I was told if I didn't come see you now, I wouldn't see you ever again. I couldn't just sit around.」Katy said.

「I'm not gonna die that easily.」Kelbeck replied.「Who the h.e.l.l told you that?」

「A boy named Hikaru.」

Kelbeck spat out his tea.

「Do you know him?」

「That brat… Yeah, I know him. You're friends with that enigmatic kid?」

Once more, Katy was surprised. Not only because Kelbeck knew Hikaru, but because he was smiling even when talking trash about the boy.

She hadn't seen her brother in years, but she knew he didn't wear this kind of expression when criticizing someone. He acknowledges Hikaru.

「Hikaru's helping me with my research.」

「What? That kid knows about magic items?」

「No. I meant my research on holy mana.」

Kelbeck fell silent. He knew about holy mana as well, but only as a figment of the imagination or something out of a fairy tale.

「Holy mana? Please tell me you haven't gone crazy from all the power struggle in Forestia.」

「Of course not. Hikaru is incredible. He used his Zubura connections so I could see the ruins. And he can read the doc.u.ments! That's not all. He even found a new ruin—」

「Okay, I get it. Just hush for a bit.」

「You don't believe me, do you? I'm telling the truth. In fact, I was there the other dayー」

「Okay, I get it.」

「Hmph.」

Kelbeck had always been like this. Whenever Katy got carried away talking about her research, he would say “Okay, I get it” to calm her down.

「I really did want to see you. Would you like to continue my research with me?」

「Did you come here to ask me that?」

「At first, I didn't know why I wanted to see you. I just thought I couldn't let this chance slip. But now I know. You're a gifted Magic Item Specialist. You should continue your studies. Who cares about the conflict in Kotobi? Right now, Forestia is trying to remove the barriers dividing the seven nations.」

Kelbeck heaved a sigh.「I appreciate the offer, but I can't leave this place.」

「Is the Thieves Guild more important than magic items?」

「No, we're not the Thieves Guild. Well, we are, at least on the surface. People who are broke and have nowhere else to go gather here. They need a place that could support them. Besides, we're in a tight spot at the moment. I can't just turn tail.」

「You don't actually have to do this, right?」

「You know, I realized I gained something when I left Kotobi. Freedom. Being free is awesome. I can create and use magic items however I want.」

Katy bit her lip. Kelbeck seemed genuinely happy as he talked. It wasn't as though he didn't have any lingering attachments on his studies. Abundant funds and decent facilities were vital to magic item research. But as Kelbeck suggested, there might be things that one could only see outside of the laboratory.

「I understand.」Katy said.

As long as he's not forcing himself — if this is what he really wants, then I won't say any more.

Then all of a sudden, Kelbeck rose from his seat, his eyes darting at the only entrance to the room. There were no windows or other exits here.

「Katy! Run!」

「Huh?」

Katy was oblivious to what was happening. She saw the air behind her brother warp. Then a man wearing a hood low over his eyes appeared out of nowhere and stabbed Kelbeck at the back with a knife.

「Ugh.」

「Brother?!」

Kelbeck collapsed on the floor. Katy saw the a.s.sa.s.sin's mouth from under his hood, hairy like an animal. A Beastman from Einbeast.

The man smirked.「You killed a lot of my friends. Once I kill you, we can go about our job easily.」

「Einbeast's dog…」

The man looked down on Kelbeck and turned his attention towards Katy.「You can die as well.」He lunged at her.

「O' Spirit, heed my call. With the primordial flame, burn my target to ashes.」A voice came from an empty corner of the room.

「What?!」

The a.s.sa.s.sin was shocked. A girl donning a cloak stood there. The flame on her hand burned bright, too bright in fact, that one wouldn't think it was only a basic spell, Fire Breath. Upon release, it flew at an incredible speed and hit the man's right hand. The a.s.sa.s.sin screamed and writhed in pain as flames powerful enough to carbonize his hand in an instant blazed.

「Paula!」

「O-On it!」

Paula, who was standing beside Lavia, rushed towards Kelbeck. The weapon used to stab him was coated with poison, but it should pose no problem for Paula. As she started the incantation, Kelbeck's men barged into the room, wondering what occurred.

「L-Lavia.」

「It's fine, Professor. Paula can heal him. Just relax.」

「I-I see. I didn't see this coming.」

「Hikaru-sama did.」

Hikaru asked Lavia and Paula to go with Katy. He knew it would be dangerous, considering Kelbeck's line of work. With two points each on Life Obfuscation, Mana Obfuscation, and Imperceptibility, Lavia could follow Katy silently like a shadow. As for Paula, Hikaru made her wear Lavia's coat made of the skin of a Camouflage Dragon. He also put a point on her Imperceptibility for good measure.

【Soul Board】Paula Nohra

Age: 17 Rank: 8

0

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】6

【Agility】

..【Stealth】

….【Imperceptibility】1

【Willpower】

..【Faith】

….【Holy】4

……【Healing Magic】8

……【Support Magic】1

With this, she should be able to sneak into places.

Lavia had practiced using her fire magic and was now able to have precise control over her spell's power. Hikaru didn't have to worry about her failing and letting an enemy escape.

The a.s.sa.s.sin lost his arm, but was still alive. Kelbeck's men quickly tied him up with a rope.

Lavia didn't hesitate one bit in destroying a man's arm. If Hikaru asked her, she wouldn't think twice.

「I-I'm… alive?」Kelbeck muttered.

His men cried in joy as their boss came back to life.

「Brother!」Katy rushed to Kelbeck, shaking, tears rolling down her face.

Kelbeck's eyes widened in surprise.「S-Sorry about this. Did your friends save me?」

Katy nodded silently.

「Once this war is over, come visit again.」Kelbeck said.「I'll show you my magic items…」

「Brother…」

「I-I feel… sleepy.」Kelbeck closed his eyes.

「He needs sleep to recover his strength.」Paula explained. Katy gave a nod and was able to relax.

As it turned out, the a.s.sa.s.sin was one of Einbeast's spy division's high-ranking elite. That just showed how furious they were at Kelbeck's efforts to stop them. The man's capture would cause a setback in Einbeast's intel-gathering operations in Pond.