The Pair's Antagonism

Grucel watched as Duinkler left the premises covered in cold sweat and gritting his teeth.

「A team of four men will be stationed inside your property and patrol the outer walls every thirty minutes. There will be three s.h.i.+fts in a day. Is that acceptable?」

「I have no problem with the s.h.i.+fting schedule, but I don't want troops inside the premises. Please build a cabin outside for security.」

「A cabin, huh…」

「I'm sure Duinkler will gladly pay for it.」

「No, we'll bear the costs. Is there anything else?」

「Instead of every thirty minutes, I want you to increase the gap a little and do the patrol in random. Patrol schedule should change every day and will only be decided on the same day. There's no point in a patrol where people know it's done every thirty minutes. Am I right?」

「You're right.」

Patrol routes of high-security places changed every day, and only those in charge knew about it.

「Anything else?」

「None. Thanks.」

「I have one question. Why choose us? Surely you don't actually suspect Duinkler.」

Grucel was baffled, not expecting to be asked for security. After all, it was just the other day that Hikaru told the man he couldn't trust him.

「Duinkler did nothing wrong.」Hikaru said flatly, which only confused Grucel even more.

「Then why?」

「Which is why I did it.」

「I don't understand what you're saying.」

「I don't really need to tell you, but whatever. This should make Duinkler fl.u.s.tered. After all, he's hogged our healing magic to himself, and now his position is being threatened. He'll frantically search for the mastermind behind the attack.」

「Or he already knows who's behind the attack and he's going to look for evidence.」

「Either way, we'll have progress on the situation. He might even find out who the traitor is and capture them. To be honest, I have no time to get dragged into your petty squabbles.」

「Which is why you resorted to extreme measures?」

「You call that an extreme measure? They're the ones who tried to kill us.」

Hikaru wouldn't show the least bit of mercy to the ones who plotted the a.s.sa.s.sination. A cold sweat ran down Grucel's back.

「Good luck in questioning the a.s.sailants. Once you gather solid evidence, don't hesitate to crush them.」

「I know. Crimes must be punished.」Grucel answered, the sweat never stopping from streaming down his back.

The eyes staring at him behind the mask was too terrifying.

Hikaru delayed his trip a day as he lacked sleep. Lack of preparation could be deadly, after all.

「Take care.」Lavia said.

「I'm sure you'll be fine, but please be careful since we don't know what's out there.」Paula added.

Lavia seemed indifferent, while Paula looked worried.

「That goes for you two as well. Make sure you're always together. If something happens, don't hesitate to use Group Obfuscation.」

「You got it.」Lavia said.

Since they were going separate ways, Hikaru gave Lavia Group Obfuscation. She had enough points from grinding and the new year.

【Soul Board】Lavia

Age: 15 Rank: 33

4

【Vitality】

..【Stamina】3

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】15

….【Magic Principle】2

..【Spirit Affinity】

….【Fire】6

….【Magic Creation】1

【Agility】

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】3

….【Mana Obfuscation】3

….【Imperceptibility】3

……【Group Obfuscation】3

Hikaru upgraded her Stealth tree to three points to be safe since there could be people here with two points on Detection. Duinkler offered to provide security, but Hikaru really didn't trust the man that much.

「So you'll be back in ten days?」

「Yeah, around that time. As long as Drake doesn't eat too much.」

『I feel attacked. I only eat high-quality food, not preserved ones.』

「Should I praise you for that?」

He was basically saying that he'd completely consume anything he found delicious.

Hikaru didn't bring much with him, only a small backpack on his back. Inside was the Dragon Dimension Box, a tool that looked like an ordinary box for letters, but it had a huge s.p.a.ce inside it, where he put his food and water. Unfortunately the Box didn't have any incredible effect of decreasing the weight of everything inside, so his backpack was quite heavy.

Still Hikaru had three points on Strength, which gave him more power than an average adult. His bag wasn't exactly light, but not heavy enough to hinder his movements. He still had three available points to spend, so if he really needed it, he could upgrade his Strength.

「All right, bye.」Donning his mask, Hikaru left their house.

「Good morning, Lord Silver Face.」Duinkler greeted with a smile on his face.「 I hear you're going somewhere.」

Hikaru glanced at the hurriedly-built cabin outside and saw Grucel's subordinate—a guard most likely—staring at them with an unpleasant look.

「Morning. What are you doing here? Are you planning to b.u.t.ter up to Star Face and Flower Face while I'm gone?」

「No, far from it. While you're away, I won't come to your place unless there's an emergency.」

「That's good.」

「I just came here to greet a neighbor.」

「Neighbor?」

Duinkler turned around to his followers, who handed him square package wrapped in cloth.

「What's this?」Hikaru asked.

「Dried noodles.」Duinkler replied.

「Noodles?」

「The great King Eychi established the custom of giving dried noodles to neighbors when you move to a new place.」

「Oh, that…」

Why did you even bring a j.a.panese custom here, man? Hikaru thought.

「But am I not the one who's supposed to give some to the neighbors?」Hikaru asked.

「No, no. Look over there.」

Duinkler pointed at a fairly big three-story building located in front of the garden mansion.

「I just moved in.」the man said.

「I'm sorry, what?」

「We can not allow any harm to befall you. I will live here and keep in check the fools who would dare bare their fangs against us. Oh, I have an important meeting to attend to. I will take my leave.」

Duinkler pushed the wrapped package onto Hikaru and left together with his followers.

「Seriously?」

This is the result of me making him fl.u.s.tered? Duinkler probably also wanted to show that he cared about Silver Face's safety and wouldn't stay still if something happened to him.

Upon closer look, there were a lot of workers in the building remodeling the place. Furnitures were carried out and replaced by more extravagant ones.

Duinkler is a tough one to deal with, Hikaru thought.

Feeling a little awkward for returning immediately, Hikaru handed the noodles to the girls, who seemed happy about it. After telling them about what Duinkler was up to, he left once more.

Drake wrapped around his neck, Hikaru made his way to the river harbor. Private vessels were docked upstream. There were only smaller boats where Hikaru was. Most people fished by using nets, while some used rods and cages.

Wars.h.i.+ps that could hold a thousand people were docked downstream.

『Silver Face!』

When Hikaru arrived at the harbor the army used, he was greeted by Grucel and a sour-faced Gin.

「Oh, there you are.」

「Wakamaru?」

Even Wakamaru, the descendant of a Man Gnome, was there.

「Gin can handle the boat, but it's not like you understand each other. I volunteered to come as a translator.」

「But aren't you a civilian?」

「I served in the army a long time ago. I'm basically an alumnus. I won't set foot on land, though. But you can ask me to translate while we're on the boat.」

「Thank you.」

Hikaru asked for a boat and some experienced people so he could investigate the tower he saw. He would proceed on foot alone, so he didn't really mind if he couldn't talk with people on board, but he was still grateful to have someone translate.

Out of all the people here, Wakamaru knew most about the past. That was probably why Hikaru liked him. He gratefully accepted the man's offer.

『All righty— I mean, shall we set sail?』Gin said. He didn't feel comfortable with all the high-ranking officers around.

『Wait, Gin.』Grucel said, then turned to Hikaru.「The army will lend you this small vessel to investigate the tower. We're interested in the results as well, but we also wish for you to return safely. I ask that you don't do anything reckless. Every officer here wishes the same.」

Higher-ups who seemed older than him nodded.

Oh, I see what they're doing. They want to show that the army is cooperating with us. I haven't seen these other men before, but they're most likely after Paula's healing magic. All right, I'll play your game.

『I understand. Thank you for the concern.』Hikaru replied in this continent's language.

Everyone looked surprised, Grucel included. I'm glad Lavia taught me the words last night, Hikaru thought. Seeing the delighted faces of old men—there were only men present and most of them were middle-aged—wasn't particularly interesting.

『Very well. We are setting sail.』

Gin started the vessel as soon as Hikaru and Wakamaru got onboard. The boat sailed smoothly on the river. Their destination: the mysterious tower that appeared on the Ruined Continent out of nowhere.

I also gotta check the ruins to see if the Linga's Quill Pen is still working.