She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 9 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

THE MAN’S INTERROGATION went smoothly. Neither Wallenstein, Mira, nor Liliella had the inherent menace necessary to interrogate people—but Mira’s Dark Knights certainly did.

The man turned out to be a repeat customer of Felicia’s. He told them everything he knew as he trembled beneath the Knight’s gleaming sword. Once they’d gotten enough out of him, Mira and her group returned him to his cell and took the next john in for questioning.

They didn’t need to intimidate this one using Dark Knights like they had with the first man. They used polite conversation and gifts of small luxuries to induce him to talk. As they spoke to more and more, some were more tight-lipped, but Mira and Liliella used their feminine charm to gain an advantage. Nothing overtly sexual; that would have strained the limits of good taste. Instead, their strategy was to plead and cry, saying that they were searching for their long-lost sister. Emotional manipulation was highly effective.

Once they’d finished questioning each of the imprisoned men, Mira skimmed the notes she’d taken. “Hrmm… Well, I suppose that will do.”

They had received a bounty of information on Felicia: her appearance, her measurements and physical features, hobbies, favorite shops, weekend activities, relationships, work…techniques, and more. The dossier they’d built up was a pervert’s heaven.

All those who’d mentioned her techniques spoke especially highly of her. Then they squirmed under Mira’s annoyed gaze and Liliella’s scornful glare.

Wallenstein peeked at the paper over Mira’s shoulder. “So we have this information, but nothing about her current residence. She keeps that information well-guarded.” They’d obtained useful and useless information alike from the customers, but the location of the demon’s home was still a mystery.

“At least we have some clues,” Liliella said. Before her lay multiple sheets of paper, with a woman drawn on each of them. They were sketches of Felicia based on the features each customer had given. All were full body rather than just her face, and every one of the men said the proportions were just right. Some of them even tried to negotiate buying the sketch.

“Right. Earlier today, we knew nothing but her name. This should boost our investigative capabilities greatly.”

Mira took one of the sketches in hand and stared at it. The dark demon Katiella, who called herself Felicia, was beautiful enough to seduce any man. Her figure was overflowing with the kind of charm that piqued men’s desire. However, she also had intelligent, limpid eyes, making her look like a model citizen at a glance. To think such a serious-looking beauty was so greatly skilled when it came to nighttime activities.

Hrmm… Interesting, indeed. Perhaps these men couldn’t be blamed for falling for her charms.

“You know, I almost have to wonder if it wasn’t their fault for being drawn into helping Chimera Clausen,” Mira said, then turned to Wallenstein with a smirk. “You understand?”

“Huh? Um, well… Uhh… Maybe…?” Wallenstein glanced at the sketch in Mira’s hand. Perhaps some men would lose their sense of morality if such a beauty came on to them.

“Do you like girls like her, Wally?” Liliella asked innocently, but there was an icy chill in her tone.

“Huh?! Um, I wouldn’t say like…”

“So you don’t?”

“I-I don’t not like girls like that either…” Wallenstein stammered like a man who’d been caught cheating. Mira suppressed her laughter and watched; she hadn’t expected her light teasing to have such a result.

“What’s your type then?”

“Huh?”

“What do you like, Wally?” Liliella stared intently at him. To her, he was like a prince who’d saved her from a lifetime of solitude. Now that she was a light demon with unstable emotions, it was easy to see where this might be going.

Wallenstein had a sort of innocence about him. He genuinely considered the question, but was also hesitant to answer.

“I, umm…”

Time passed. Awkwardly.

Before he could muster a response, Mira saved him by bringing the conversation back on topic.

“We’ll see then…” Liliella muttered to herself. She’d figure him out eventually.

In the end, they only had their profile of Felicia; there were no decisive clues that could point to her current whereabouts. However, now they knew mostly what she looked like. One possible option would be to simply search for her by sight.

Information-gathering abilities would be the key to their success now.

It seemed Wallenstein’s organization was lacking in this regard; all the other members were light demons, which meant that they lacked human connections. Worse, Wallenstein wasn’t exactly the most charismatic communicator.

“I guess I could have everyone gather here…” Wallenstein began to consider throwing raw manpower at the problem. When Mira asked if he thought that would work, he replied that it would be a big gamble.

Light demons might look like people, but they were fundamentally different. One or two might be fine, but gathering such a large number in the city all at once would risk letting dark demons sense them. And if Felicia sensed them and went to ground, it would be even more difficult to find her. He added that intervening via public institutions would end poorly, as well. They needed an information network that could be deployed as secretly as possible. 

Mira realized she had just the thing.

“Why don’t we ask Kagura? Her people are already searching Sentopoli from top to bottom right now; we might find this demon woman more easily than we thought.”

Kagura, aka Uzume, was the leader of an organization that spanned the entire continent. She had plenty of people specializing in information gathering at her fingertips. They were searching for a person whose name and appearance were known. And that person had lived here a long time, too. Even if Felicia was a dark demon, as long as she was posing as a human, Isuzu had the resources to find her. So Mira suggested exactly that.

“Huh? Kagura? Is she here too?!” Wallenstein’s reaction was a bit more than Mira had expected.

“Oh, right. I suppose I forgot to mention it.” Mira suddenly realized her mistake and quickly explained events thus far.

“I see… I’d heard the name Isuzu, but the history behind it comes as a surprise.”

The public declaration of victory hadn’t referred to the Isuzu Alliance but to a combined force of adventurers. Isuzu’s information control seemed to have worked well, as Wallenstein claimed that he’d never heard their name in connection with the Chimera defeat. In fact, he was quite surprised. More than that, the person who led them was his long-time friend Kagura, of all people. He laughed; this was an even bigger surprise than when he’d seen Mira on the airship.

Either way, he gladly agreed to Mira’s suggestion. The three made their way to the prime minister’s mansion. The estate had high security, but Mira was quickly allowed in due to her hero status. Wallenstein and Liliella made it through without issue, too, since they had come with her.

Their destination was the spirit airship parked in the mansion’s courtyard.

There, they asked a crew member to get Uzume while they waited in a meeting room. The Wise Man emerged cautiously, worried she was about to deal with another pain in the butt. But when she spotted Mira, she cocked her head in puzzlement. That lasted only until the man sitting next to her took off his black hat and sunglasses.

“No way! Really?! It’s been so long, Wallenstein!”

In a marked contrast to how she treated Mira, Kagura ran over to him and spoke with a measure of respect. Mira pouted, but her irritation was ignored.

It was common knowledge that the two of them had a solid friendship. In real life, Wallenstein was a pet shop owner, while Kagura loved cats.

“It really has, Kagura.”

“Gramps told me all about the demons. That really shocked me…”

“I was surprised when I heard about you, too, Kagura.”

As they enjoyed their happy reunion, the two complimented each other’s exploits. Mira cut in—she didn’t want to be forgotten—and livened up the conversation with talk of memories. They took back their thirty years apart in no time; it felt just like the good old days.

“You dress a lot more normal these days, huh?” Kagura mused.

“Well… Yes, I suppose.” Back when he was a Wise Man, Wallenstein had dressed just like the card game depicted him. He’d worn a black robe and wrapped himself in black cloth like a mummy. He was meant to look like a hero who toed the line between good and evil.

“You dressed like a middle schooler’s idea of a ninja.” Mira chuckled at how plain he was now.

“You’ve changed too, Gramps,” Kagura rebutted. Wallenstein agreed that he’d been shocked when he met Mira. She’d turned from a dignified old wizard into a little girl who wore magical girl clothes. Mira slumped, remembering her lost avatar.

As they conversed, Wallenstein suddenly paused. Liliella was tugging at his clothes. She was frowning, as if unhappy at being left out.

“Whoops! Sorry, sorry. I was just so excited.” Wallenstein apologized and introduced the light demon to Kagura, informing her that she was a former dark demon who’d returned to her proper state.

“Oh, I had no idea! Nice to meet you, Liliella.” Kagura crouched down to her eye level and greeted her with a smile so sweet it would make most men swoon. But it only put the demon on guard.

“I’m keeping an eye on you,” she muttered to herself. It seemed she’d perceived Kagura and Wallenstein’s relationship as a threat.

Once they’d finished rejoicing over their reunion, the four sat and began talking in earnest. Given his recent efforts, it was easy to guess why Wallenstein was in this city. 

Kagura already knew he wasn’t just popping in to say hi. “If you’re here, I assume it must be related to demons?”

“That’s right. You see…”

The friendly reunion had been delightful, but it was time to discuss business. Wallenstein retrieved the documents and sketches from their interrogations and filled Kagura in on what had happened so far.

The duke-rank dark demon was related to the origins of Chimera Clausen. The hunt for its whereabouts was on. And Wallenstein requested the use of Isuzu’s information-gathering abilities for the sake of his search.

“Wow… So that’s it.” Kagura went silent for a moment. Before long, though, she readily agreed. “Sure. I’ll help you out! This is related to our work anyway, so we’ll make it top priority.”

The spirit-protecting Isuzu Alliance needed information regarding the formation of Chimera Clausen—and information on a demon who might do more harm to spirits. They might have won the last battle, but Kagura’s goal hadn’t changed. She was prepared to continue her efforts to protect the spirits for as long as it took.

Kagura began taking down the details about their target on a notepad and grabbed one of the sketches on the table. “Mind if I take a few of these?”

“Be my guest,” Wallenstein replied. He picked up another that emphasized Felicia’s upper torso and added, “This one might be a little easier to work with.”

“She sure is pretty, huh?” Kagura murmured as she gazed at the two sketches. Her voice had barbs in it. No doubt she had opinions about the people who’d been seduced into working for Chimera Clausen.

“Sure is,” Liliella agreed with Kagura. Something about her voice was spine-chilling.

Mira and Wallenstein remained silent. They had no intention of defending the men who’d fallen prey to her. But they were particularly aware that men had a soft spot for pretty ladies.

The ice broke when someone called Kagura from outside. “Lady Uzume? Someone from the Guild Union is here for you.” Mira could feel the atmosphere in the room ease in an instant.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m coming,” Kagura replied, her attitude returning to normal. Liliella was back to herself, as well.

Mira and Wallenstein breathed a sigh of relief now that the danger had passed. That was one more thing they now knew to never bring up.

“Uh, so I’ll look into it. Mind coming back tomorrow?” Kagura asked as she collected the documents. “I think we’ll have a few leads by then.”

Wallenstein’s jaw dropped. “You work that fast?!”

Their interrogations hadn’t narrowed the location down at all, so Kagura’s people would have to cover all of Sentopoli. Yet Kagura claimed that she could have it done in a day. One couldn’t blame him for being surprised.

“Our elites are all right here, right now,” Kagura said proudly. She promised to mobilize all of her top forces to search for Felicia. She added that among the elites were half of the Hidden.

“That’s incredible… Thank you for this.”

Kagura’s intelligence personnel were so excellent that she couldn’t help but brag. Though amazed, Wallenstein relaxed as he entrusted the job to her. Mira was certain that it would work out fine, too; after all, they had half of the Hidden on the job. She knew just how good Scorpion and Snake were at their job.

“Anyway, I should get going. I’ll tell everyone you’re on our side. So come back any time, Wally.” With that, Kagura rushed off to her next order of business. Since these demons were closely related to Chimera Clausen, Kagura surely wanted to be directly involved. But she was too busy, and she didn’t want to delay them.

After Kagura left, Mira and the others took a detour to visit the angel Tyriel at Liliella’s request.

“You’re okay now… Thank goodness.”

Tears of joy pooled in Tyriel’s eyes when she met the light demon. Liliella was emotional, as well. Tyriel was especially famous as an angel who’d worked to seal the oni, after all.

The two shared a lively conversation about the past—stories from tens of thousands of years ago. They talked about it like it was just yesterday. This was a stark reminder to Mira and Wallenstein of how these beings lived. It gave the pair an even more divine aura.

Suddenly, Mira heard the Spirit King’s voice in her mind. Apparently, he wanted to join the conversation too.

Mira joined hands with the demon and angel.

Their conversation was as broad as could be, ranging from idle gossip to grand legends known to no mortals. Mira was astounded by how easily they told her these secrets of the world.

Wallenstein was left out of the conversation. He simply smiled and watched over the three girls who held hands and chatted.

Twenty minutes into the conversation, fatigue made itself evident on Tyriel’s face. The angel was still recovering, so it was difficult for her to talk for long periods of time. They decided to cut things short.

“Let’s do this again when you’re healthy,” Liliella said. “There’s so much more I wanna talk about.”

“Sure. Let’s talk the day away. That’s a promise,” Tyriel replied.

“And we’ll all be together!”

“Yeah. I can’t wait.”

Liliella and Tyriel smiled as they made their promises to each other. It might have seemed like any ordinary, ephemeral agreement, but to them, it was absolute and eternal.

After that, they said goodbye to Tyriel and left the spirit airship to make their way back to the city.

Under the twilit sky, the trio made for a very familiar inn: Epicurean Excess. Along the way, Wallenstein had grumbled about how crappy the inn he’d chosen was, so he took Mira’s recommendation and Liliella’s nagging under consideration and improved their accommodations. He soon decided that they’d also stay here.

“This is really something else,” Wallenstein mused.

“It smells amazing!” Liliella squealed.

They must’ve chosen a really bad inn the day before, because the two stood stock-still in genuine awe as they stared into Epicurean Excess’s dining hall.

“Now, what should we eat? Do you two have any preference?” Mira asked. “They have most everything here. Choose whatever you like.”

The two were like country bumpkins who knew nothing about the city. Mira took advantage of this opportunity to act refined and cultured.

“We’re certainly spoiled for choice here. I don’t know where to begin.”

“I wanna look at all of them!”

This floor had dozens of restaurants, each with their own draw for new visitors. Mira had been here awhile, and even she couldn’t decide on a meal. That’s how good all the restaurants were here.

It took about twenty minutes to decide on a place to eat. The trio didn’t mind; in fact, they explored with excitement on their faces.

The restaurant they’d carefully picked was an expensive, Japanese-style establishment. Mira was drawn by the katsudon, Wallenstein was excited to treat himself to soba for the first time in a while, and Liliella’s eyes sparkled at the anmitsu parfait and other sweets.

They sat in a tatami room and relaxed after they ordered. When Liliella was told she’d have to wait until dessert to have her anmitsu parfait, she decided to order soba like Wallenstein.

They chatted idly while the waiter placed their order. Their conversation ranged from differences in prices in different regions, to the difficulty of obtaining certain medicines, to the people each had met along the way. Mira also reported to Wallenstein that she’d given some of the stones and threads to Kagura and Solomon.

Even after they received their food, the conversation continued to flow. They talked at length about Wallenstein’s comrades, the state of affairs in each country they’d visited so far, mutual friends they’d run into, and more. They finally had time to relax and chat.

Liliella seemed to know about the former players’ situations as well, so she listened intently to their conversation. She occasionally asked questions, prompting Mira to proudly puff out her chest and tell all her old war stories. Wallenstein would occasionally interject along the lines of, “I remember it a little differently…”

Dinner proceeded, and the conversation naturally moved to the dark demon Katiella. Once Kagura’s investigation was finished tomorrow, Wallenstein and Liliella would capture and seal her as planned.

Sealing demons’ powers had to be done both without struggle and without being noticed. As they talked, they noted that Wasranvel’s powers would be extremely helpful in that regard.

“I wish I could keep helping, but I have plans tomorrow,” said Mira. “My apologies.”

Mira had planned to leave for Roslein in the morning. She could have Wasranvel help Wallenstein out if they weren’t too far apart, but the distance between the cities would make that impossible. Due to the rules of summoning, the spirit of stealth would be unable to use his powers to the fullest.

The foundations of summoning included a barrier that protected the summon and a means of forcefully dismissing them. However, this required the use of the summoner’s mana.

“Oh, it’s no problem. You helped us find Felicia… You’ve done more than enough. We can handle the rest ourselves. Prioritize your own work, Mira,” Wallenstein reassured her. He added, “Here I was, thinking it would take weeks to find her.” The information network he’d mentioned before was still in development, so he greatly appreciated her connections with the Guild Union and Kagura.

“Hrmm, very well. If you need anything, make sure you tell me.”

“Thank you. I’m grateful for your help.”

They left the topic of dark demons and moved on to discussing the other Wise Men. Though most of this conversation was dominated by Mira grumbling, “What in the world are they up to?”

When they finished dinner, the anmitsu parfaits were brought out. Mira savored hers; she had a major sweet tooth. Wallenstein mused about how long it had been since he last had red bean paste. Liliella simply treated this as her main course—she devoured it in the blink of an eye.