1099: Baron Noare's Residence

Baron Noare, despite his pathetic appearance, was quite stubborn.

He refused to admit any treason, and continued playing the role of a stupid and arrogant noble. Despite getting covered in blood, he repeatedly claimed that he knew nothing.

「…Urushi.」

「Woof!」

「Ahh!」

The baron was stunned at the sudden appearance of the wolf in front of him. No wait, he appeared stunned, but that was also an act.

Being able to keep up for so long was pretty impressive.

「Do it.」

「Woof woof!」

「W-What are you doing? Stop it! I don’t taste good!」

「Hmm. You’re getting eaten alive. Let’s see if you can still play dumb.」

「Grrrrr!」

「AHHHH!」

I think that scream was serious at least. Urushi seems to have remembered that the confession poison he mastered was more effective on a mentally weakened target.

After we had fun scaring Baron Noare into screaming several times, Urushi finally did it. He showered the baron with gray smoke, robbing him of his judgment.

Derrick required several doses of the poison, but it worked on Baron Noare in one spray. Poison resistance definitely plays a key factor.

All emotion disappeared from the baron’s face, and he fell into a daze. Fran confirmed his state and asked the question again.

「Where is the Raydoss spy?」

「I don’t know.」

「We know the spy ran here.」

「I invited him in, but he disappeared after. I don’t know where he is anymore.」

So even the baron himself doesn’t know. Damn. That means the spy must be hiding somewhere in the mansion still.

I could still sense a faint presence, but none of us were capable of pinpointing the exact location.

「It can’t be helped. Let’s search the house ourselves and seize any evidence.」

「Okay.」

Our squad did a complete and thorough search of the baron’s mansion with all our manpower. However, we still couldn’t find the spy.

We checked every single room, including the basement. There were a few suspicious-looking rooms, but we couldn’t locate the spy for the life of us.

How do I put this? It’s like there was a strange scent lingering over the entire mansion, and rooms where the scent was slightly stronger than the rest. Well, not that a sword like me has a sense of smell.

There were almost zero incriminating documents, though we confiscated tools apparently used to secretly communicate with others from Raydoss. For example, knives and medicine bottles with special hidden emblems.

Even after extracting everything Baron Noare had to offer, this was all the evidence we could find. There was no secret basement room or other suspicious facilities. He seems to have been very thorough in avoiding any suspicion.

（We still don’t know where the spy is.）

『Hmm. It seems they intend to stay hidden until we leave.』

（Arf.）

The plan is probably to escape after we are gone. They must be very confident in their stealth skills considering how they didn’t already try to make a run for it. Or maybe they knew they wouldn’t be able to run from Fran and Urushi? Or even both?

『What else can we try…?』

（I’ll take care of it.）

『Oh? You got a plan?』

（Nn!）

Fran nodded confidently. It seems she’s come up with a way to locate the spy.

（Can I try it?）

『Okay, but are you sure you don’t need my help?』

（Nn. I can do it alone!）

Fran has been really interested in training ever since the mock battle with Gamudo a while back. I guess she wants to try doing things by herself whenever possible.

『Okay, but I’ll lend you a hand if things start looking bad.』

（Nn. Please do.）

Fran nodded lightly and crouched down on the ground to perform a spell.

「Great Wall.」

A huge earthen wall blocked off the north side of the Noare residence.

「Eh? What is this?」

「What’s going on!?」

「Such powerful magic…」

It wasn’t only Baron Noare, but also Blue and the other soldiers who were raising their voices in surprise. Some of the soldiers almost fell to the ground.

『Fran, maybe you should have told them what you were going to do in advance.』

（?）

『Look, you startled the soldiers pretty badly.』

「Mrgh. I’m gonna start using magic.」

Fran informed Blue after the fact, then promptly cast Great Wall again without waiting for a response.

Walls appeared to enclose the mansion’s west and east sides. I felt a slight tremor of agitation coming from the mysterious presence. It seems they were surprised to see the house they were hiding in enclosed by these giant walls.

But before they had a chance to escape, a huge wall rose to block the remaining south side. All four sides of the residence were now completely blocked off.

「Phew. Okay, now for the next round.」

「Eh?」

While Blue and the others still looked puzzled, Fran jumped up onto the wall, peeked inside, and invoked another spell.

「Thunder Chain!」

A spell with low offensive power, but very good at paralyzing enemies. Fran’s strategy was to block off all escape routes with those walls, then indiscriminately blast thunder magic throughout the premises.

Well, this strategy certainly renders hiding pointless… But Baron Noare’s mansion was falling apart from the endless rain of spells.

Everything was getting covered in scorch marks too, so it will need a lot of fixing before someone can live here again.

「Hmm?」

『Still not coming out of hiding.』

「Nn.」

Did our magic have no effect? The mysterious presence remained incredibly faint. Perhaps this spy was a competent fighter in addition to their skills in stealth.

「Then how about this!」

Fran unleashed yet another spell, Thor Hammer. Uhh, wouldn’t that flat out kill the spy if it hits them…? And you may have your face hidden, but invoking such powerful thunder magic kinda ruins the disguise…

Before I could voice my concerns, a giant bolt of lightning consumed the mansion.

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