Chapter 219
『This is a piece of magic tool, isn't it? Maybe it's a piece from the one attached on that box?』
『 . . . Looks like it . 』
I analyze the magic circle inside the piece .
Only a few parts could be read as it's only a fragment . . . but this was a part of the box's magic tool no doubt about it .
『Which means, we can find out where the dolls come from if we collect this right?』
『Yeah . We might find out where in the river were the dolls set afloat . . . but even if we did find the location, there's a high chance that place is also a disposable one, so no guarantee we would find the demons there . 』
『Disposable . . . How can you be so sure?』
『The size of this box . At most, there would be 10 dolls inside . Weighed at around 1 ton . . . Just enough to be carried on a wagon, there's even the clasp . 』
I point at metal fittings on the edge of the box .
These are fasteners to prevent something falling out of a wagon .
These things wouldn't be needed if the demons carried the boxes themselves .
In the current world, carrying 1 ton of luggage per wagon is optimal .
『You figured out that much just from looking at the box . . . . Then there'd be no point in collecting these pieces . 』
Ruli looks at the piece in disappointment .
However, it's not completely meaningless .
『No, we can use it as a last resort . Even if the people who transported the dolls are disposable, we can still ask them where they got the dolls from and go from there to trace the demons . 』
『Last resort . . . You mean, there's a more efficient way to find the demons?』
Alma asked me .
Nice deduction .
『Exactly . . . Specifically, the source of life forces . There's not many ways to collect mana from tens thousands of people . I've got an idea about it already . . . But let's save that until after we get in the empire . We're on top of a river separating national borders right now . 』
『I forgot!』
Alma started to run toward the other side of the river bank in a hurry .
Even if this place lacks surveillance, stopping for a long time on top of a river with a good view would still risk us getting discovered by the enemy .
If a soldier simply passed by the path next to the river, they'd see us .
. . . Well, I'm constantly looking out for any suspicious mana reaction close to us, so it's not actually a problem .
Thus we managed to slip through the imperial soldier's surveillance network, and arrived at Saihill Empire .
『I can see a town . . . But I don't see anything like an outer wall around it?』
<TLN: If you're reading this novel at any other site than Sousetsuka . com you might be reading an unedited, uncorrected version of the novel . >
『It's a town in a rural area after all . I think it's called Ecial or something . 』
I approach the town .
Currently, we're using magic to trick people's eyes, so they won't find us .
. . . If we're up against demons, they would instantly see through this level of camouflage . . . but they're probably not around these parts .
After all, it feels like this entire town is treated like a disposable tool .
While thinking that, we managed to get into the town .
『Will this camouflage do the job all right?』
『Considering the atmosphere here, no one would notice us unless we open the door to their house . 』
The magic we're using erased our presence, but it did not apply to the presence of things around us .
Thus, if we open a door or something, it would look like the door opened by itself without anyone around .
Aside from that, vibrations and air flows produced from us stepping the ground and moving would still be there, so someone skilled enough could still notice us . . . but well, I don't sense anyone that good around here .
The stuff about war seem to not have been circulated among the civilians, atmosphere in the town feels laid-back .
. . . If Eis Kingdom launched a counteroffensive, this town would be the very first to fall victim, and the people here probably are not informed even that .
『Monster Outbreak Warning?』
While we were walking around the town, Alma looked at a paper posted on a private house and made a puzzled voice .
Here's what written on the paper .
――――――――――
Presently we have acquired information about outbreak of monsters around Ecial .
Knights of Kinisis House have been dispatched to exterminate these monsters, civilians are to refrain from going outside the town as much as possible .
The parts around Eis Kingdom are especially highly dangerous, citizens are barred from entering .
――――――――――
『 . . . Wait, were there monsters in the area around Eis Kingdom?』
『There were, but not in great numbers . . . It's undoubtedly a pretext to deploy this 『Knights of Kinisis House』 . 』
Looks like the ploy even extends to the knights .
I have no idea about this 『Knights of Kinisis House』, but judging from the name, it's probably a band of knights that belongs to an empire's noble .
That noble must be cooperating with the demons .
Not sure if they're being used unknowingly or knowingly, either way, we should assume that this Kinisis House is hostile .
While thinking such, the four of us walked around the town while collected information (mainly mana reactions and stuff) .
The dollmaster seems to be quite careless, we gathered some interesting important magical info .
And about 30 minutes after we entered the town .
『We've got enough . Let's go storming in there . 』
『Err, to the blue warehouse in the suburbs right?』
『I think that was way too obvious, maybe it's a trap?』
Alma and Ruli asked me when I said that .
This blue warehouse is exactly the place we're going to raid, but I never actually mentioned anything about it while we were walking around the town .
Ruli is one thing, but the mana camouflage on this blue warehouse is so bad that even Alma who's not that familiar with magic tools noticed .
. . . Or rather, feels like they never have any intention to hide it .