6
Lecan woke up.
No, 'woke up' is not exactly correct here. Lecan has always been monitoring the guest house with <Life Detection> and <3D Perception> even in his sleep.
Something has roused Lecan up.
There's only a few people staying in the guest house.
Skalabel and Cawin, Shira and Eda as well as two maids. Six in total.
The guesthouse has a door in the north, another in the south, with the town lord's mansion to the west.
The east side faces a grove of trees. Meaning, it's out of sight most of the time. Roland's group also tried to install the first magic tool there last night.
A knight or a knight squire is posted each in all four directions, and someone has gone through the grove of trees in the eastern side. And for some reason they're moving around without the guard interfering them.
Lecan put on his overcoat, his sword on his waist, cast <Concealment> magic and went to the guest house.
Neisan was guarding the back door. Light from a magic tool illuminates the surroundings.
Lecan undid his <Concealment> and spoke to Neisan in whisper.
"Neisan."
"Oh, is that you Lecan. Didn't saw you coming."
"An intruder in the east side."
"What"
Lecan and Neisan went around to the east side.
There's a knight squire standing under a magic tool lamp on this side as well.
"I don't see an intruder anywhere though."
Neisan thinks that no intruder can enter the building with the squire around.
There's no door on the east side. It's got a lone window, but it's a latticed one, you can't break through it without alerting everyone with sound.
Lecan stared at a vent above.
"Looks like they went in through that vent."
"From there? That's too small for anyone to enter. Besides, how'd they climb that high up?"
However, Lecan's <3D Perception> told him the intruder had entered from that vent.
And most importantly, someone is lurking on the other side of the wall.
They've hidden their presence well enough to escape Neisan and the knight squire's detection.
"One intruder on the other side of this wall. Neutralizing them. <Lightning>."
It sounded like someone fell inside.
"All right. Let's carry them outside."
"U-umu. Oy, Nissho, come with me."
"Sir."
They brought the intruder out of the back door.
The intruder is covered head to toes in black. Wearing a tight fit and elastic chainmail-like clothing.
He's carrying something around the belly. Something with a large magic stone installed. Must be a magic tool.
"<Appraisal>."
<TLN: Catch the latest updates and edits at Sousetsuka .com >
<Name: Yacklubend Tele Voice Jar (Sender)>
<Type: Magic Tool>
※ Send voices to the receiver
※ Maximum range 1000 steps
※ Shorter range when there are obstacles
Neisan shined the lamp magic tool on the intruder's face.
"Lecan. This man is an employee of the Prime Minister Office."
"Hou."
He had suspected as much.
Still, he was initially wary Kogurus's side would try to do something stupid, yet as it turned out all the trouble was perpetrated by the capital's people instead.
The previous Lecan would have threatened them here, like 'I'll overlook you this time, but the next time you're pulling this crap, I'll kill you and those who ordered you'.
However, thanks to many things he went through lately, he has learned to delve deeper into guessing the other party's intentions and circumstances.
Naturally, you'd think this intruder moves under the prime minister's orders.
The PM probably ordered his subordinates to report back the content of the talk, but since <Farhear> didn't work, they resorted to installing <Tele Voice Jar>. That flow of events sounds plausible.
But then what if they were under order from another party that's not the PM.
In that case, the intention was likely to make the PM lose face for causing trouble.
That means they shouldn't make a commotion here. Killing him is out of question.
(Mwu?)
Lecan noticed controlled breathing from the man lying down next to him.
The man is conscious.
Pared down <Lightning> can paralyze opponents without killing them.
There are times when they pass out, and when not. Even if they did, it'd only be for a short time.
This is affected by equipment, stamina and resistance.
"Neisan. This assassin was found and caught by Shira's bodyguard, me."
"Oy oy, Lecan. We dunno if he's an assassin yet."
"I'm allowed to kill this guy."
"Isn't that way overboard?"
"If I leave it to you to handle this guy, what's the treatment gonna be like?"
"This man is acting under his excellency prime minister's order. It's unfortunate that he didn't coordinate with us first, but we cannot punish him if his action was done to ensure Guide Skalabel's safety. We're probably gonna release him."
"Didn't you interrogate those mages to make written evidence."
"They were caught red-handed putting the night watch to sleep. The magic tool they were trying to set up was also something that would hinder Guide Skalabel as well. Or rather, these guys work directly under Prime Minister Office despite their lower standings. Can't just interrogate them willy nilly."
Lecan came up with a conclusion after thinking a bit.
"All right, let's act like this never happened."
"Haa?"
"We'll discard this man somewhere in the yard, He'll probably go away on his own once he can move."
"O-ou. We're fine with that if you are."
"<Fire Arrow>."
Lecan shot the magic tool with <Fire Arrow> while being careful not to hit the intruder.
Neisan and the knight squire yelped lightly.
The spell shot through the most complex part of the tool he found with <Mana Detection> and <3D Perception>. That must have been the core part, the magic tool should be useless now.
"My hand slipped and broke the magic tool."
After some barefaced monologue, Lecan spoke to the intruder.
"Contact me and Neisan the next time you're trying to sneak in. We're gonna look the other way if you do. Naturally, we'll monitor your every move and dismantle anything you install though."
"Wait what's even the point then?"
Lecan recited a spell while ignoring Neisan's question.
"<Float> <Move>."
The intruder's body floated up and drifted toward the shade of a tree before falling down.
Lecan called the man an assassin in jest, but he didn't have the aura of one. He must be a spy and nothing more.
"Now then, back to bed. Neisan, good night."
"Yeah, good night, Lecan."
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