Chapter 314

Chapter 314 Strongest Sage, Discovers Suspicious Place

"Err . . . This is Giruas, isn't it . . . "

"It is Giruas . . . "

Ruli and Iris are of the same opinion .

There's no mistaking his mana reaction .

Well, I suppose there's no way anyone can overlook that peculiar mana reaction .

" . . . Alright, let's be careful not to get found out by him . "

"Eh, we're hiding from him?"

"Yeah . It smells like trouble . . . I don't want to stand out while we're looking around this place . "

Giruas being here wouldn't be out of place if this were Raginia Union .

But . . . it's in Eis Kingdom here .

He must have some kind of reason to go out of his way and come abroad .

Probably sensed a presence of some strong person or something like that .

Giruas is a battle maniac .

If we encounter him here, he's almost assuredly going to challenge me .

I would be fine with that, normally . . . But fighting him in this situation will cause a commotion .

We have no idea where the demon and its underlings are lurking in this town .

Now is the time to grope around stealthily .

"You're right, Giruas will definitely stand out . . . "

"Yeah . So let's go survey the town while avoiding him . "

I walked in the town after saying that .

First, we need to look for the 『Coffin of Sealing』 .

Can't fetch the sword unless we know where it's located first .

◇

" . . . The sword is inside the town lord's mansion, no doubt about it . "

Just as the night fell .

We came back to our inn and discussed with the girls .

"That mansion was suspicious indeed . "

There's a town lord's mansion in the center of this town .

Such a mansion is a common sight in any town . . . But what peculiar with this one was the inside .

"No one was inside such a big mansion besides the entrance . . . That's just weird!"

That's right .

The mansion was uninhabited, save for the area around the entrance .

Of course it can't be an abandoned house .

Lights were on when it got dark, and there were traces of people living as well .

And there were light foot traffic in the area near the entrance .

The town lord's mansion also function as a sort of public office .

It's clearly weird how only the front entrance was used .

I can't think of any reason why in ordinary situations . . . But I can hazard a guess from the information Second Academy obtained .

"They don't want to let anyone in . . . Perhaps there's something that must not be stolen inside . "

"You think so too . . . "

"Yeah . . . Though it's been concealed, there were traces of demonic mana mixed in the air . That mansion is undoubtedly under the rule of demon . "

There are spells that can control human's senses among ancient magic .

For instance, a spell that makes people who come to the lord's mansion unconsciously [unwilling to enter rooms in the back] .

Commonly known as [People Clearing] magic .

"Does that mean, the sword is inside that mansion then . . . ?"

"Most likely . We can find where it is if we use 『Active Detection』 . . . But I can make a guess even without . "

I unrolled a drawing of town lord's mansion on desk .

By looking at the drawing, I can make an educated guess from the way the building is structured, where it's focused into protecting something .

"This is the lord's mansion blueprint . "

"This drawing is so precise . . . Where did you get this?"

"I guessed it from mana seen through [Passive Detection] . . . As such, there are some parts where I'm not sure as well . "

I pointed at an area around the center of the mansion .

Mana from [Passive Detection] didn't pass through those sections well since they were too far from the path I took .

This much distance wouldn't pose a problem were the mana reaction was as big as a monster's at least . . . But I need to get quite close when the mana is only a trace amount from stone walls .

"Y-you made a drawing this detailed just from looking at the mana!?"

"Yeah . . . You too can tell mana reaction of say, those walls, can't you Ruli?"

I pointed at the inn's walls .

These inn's walls are made of woods that contain relatively dense mana .

It's easier to grasp than those made of stones .

"I can, sure . . . But only one piece of wall, you know?"

"If you can tell one piece, you can tell two, ten, any number of walls . . . You simply need to detect piece by piece and then drop them all onto a drawing . "

I put colors on some sections of the drawing .

Sections confirmed to have foot traffic .

" . . . This space is obviously suspicious, don't you think?"

After I was done coloring, I pointed at an area enclosed by walls .

That area isn't connected to any other room . . . It's completely isolated by walls .