Chapter 1
MOST PEOPLE CELEBRATED Fuzzy Dice as an honorable phantom thief who targeted only wrongdoers and donated colossal amounts of money to orphanages. Considering that, he probably knew something about the orphanage run by Wise Man Artesia.
With that in mind, Mira had finally made her way to the city of Haxthausen, situated in the nation of Linkslott, which bordered Grimdart—a city which housed a nobleman that Fuzzy Dice was after.
Passing through one of the gates that served as city entrances, one saw a broad street lined with shops and houses. The very first thing that came into view was a large half-moon-shaped plaza. There were gates in the north, south, east, and west of Haxthausen, but regardless of which gate one passed through, they all contained similar plazas. They were quite large; the main streets of the plazas inside were nearly a hundred meters from the gates.
According to a history-buff friend of Mira’s, the plazas had been constructed for use in times of war. But these days, in peacetime, they mostly served as scenery. Shops and stalls bustled as adventurers, shopkeepers, and townsfolk shopped and haggled good-naturedly among each other.
Making its way through one plaza was a Guardian Ash-drawn wagon with Mira aboard—as well as Julius, who was navigating. Julius, an assistant at the Wolf Detective Agency, was bringing Mira to meet Chief Detective Wolf.
According to Julius, no one knew more about Fuzzy Dice than the chief detective himself. And considering that one was a phantom thief and the other was a detective, they were likely rivals of sorts.
“There…sure do seem to be a lot of women in masks,” Mira noted. “Is a festival going on or something?”
Upon inspection, about half of the women in the plaza had eye coverings, and small stands selling masks were set up in the middle of the square. At first glance, it almost looked like a Venetian carnival.
Mira had an inkling of what was going on. She turned to ask Julius—who was walking beside her—why exactly the women were wearing masks, all the while clinging to the hope that it was just part of some cultural event.
Unfortunately, her hopes were dashed as Julius confirmed the truth that she’d dreaded: The women were fans of the phantom thief Fuzzy Dice.
“For them, though, it probably isn’t much different from a festival,” he noted.
Julius explained that the women had apparently heard somewhere that Fuzzy Dice had sent a calling card and shown up in droves. Furthermore, they’d flocked here from all over the continent. It seemed—much to Mira’s dismay—that the Fuzzy Dice fan club’s intelligence network rivaled a full-fledged nation’s.
At that point, Julius let out a chuckle. “I never would’ve expected that it’d be like this…”
Nothing was more soul-crushing than seeing firsthand how popular some guys could be, but that was a concern for another day. Now, Mira had a more pressing concern. Assuming everything went well and she apprehended Fuzzy Dice, would she find herself on the wrong side of the masked women? The fact was, she could feel quite a few icy gazes looking in their direction, perhaps owing to Julius’ affiliation with the opposing Wolf Detective Agency. The onlookers were frankly paying Julius such close attention that she felt their eyes turn to her as well.
Mira suddenly felt uneasy as she realized that Fuzzy Dice’s reputation as a gentleman thief would make a number of people see them more as foes than friends.
Weirdly enough, the cold stares seemed to be focusing more on her than Julius. Suddenly cognizant of that, Mira began thinking about her current circumstances. In addition to the legendary phantom thief Fuzzy Dice, and the affable detective’s assistant Julius, Mira—a beautiful young girl—had suddenly appeared.
Visualizing the situation, Mira quickly became aware of just what role people would assume she played. She stealthily put some distance between herself and Julius. But given how little space there was on the wagon—and the fact that Julius was walking right beside Guardian Ash, who was pulling it—convincing anyone that she didn’t know the detective’s assistant would be a tough sell.
I’m in a tricky spot, huh…?
She’d become known as the Spirit Queen, so when she bested Fuzzy Dice, word would definitely get around that she was the one who’d done it. Julius had just confirmed that Fuzzy Dice had fans all over the continent. Those women were normally civil, but what would they do to the person who cuffed their beloved hero?
It wouldn’t be the first unfortunate incident involving an idol…
Mira shuddered as she recalled all the times such incidents had played out in the real world. Getting stabbed from behind or something suddenly didn’t seem far-fetched. In this world, where all kinds of people strutted around with swords at their hips, it was even easier to imagine someone coming up stealthily behind her with a knife in hand.
There was a chance that she’d have to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. Reflecting on her future assassin’s possible presence, she smiled bitterly to herself, seriously considering whether finding a more peaceful solution would be better.
While it might only have brought temporary peace of mind, Mira tried to keep up the charade of not knowing who Julius was, despite following his directions as she guided the wagon down the main street jam-packed with Fuzzy Dice fans.
“I’m guessing this city has always had this convenient layout.”
Here, too, Haxthausen’s unique construction was on full display. First, outer walls completely surrounded the city. At the center of each wall was a gate, beyond which was a large half-moon-shaped plaza. Five large streets stretched from the center of each plaza to the center, right, left, and diagonally in either direction.
If one gazed down at Haxthausen from above, it would look as if one had put a square tilted at a 45-degree angle within a larger square, then drawn a cross within them. Haxthausen was divided into northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest quadrants. Each had a governor responsible for ruling that section of the city.
Mira was now passing through the large street directly across from the western gate. From a bird’s-eye view, she was traveling through the cross-shaped part of the city.
That happened to be Haxthausen’s prime real estate. Therefore, very expensive-looking shops lined the street. It was already apparent that this was the high-class part of town, but the closer Mira got to the center of the cross, the more opulent her surroundings became. The farther down the street they went, the taller the buildings on either side rose, and the more churches and public buildings they came across.
“Ah, that’s…” Mira muttered unconsciously, glimpsing a particular shop as they moved. It was an expensive-looking jewelry store that fit that part of town perfectly. It was just the kind of place you’d expect to find women walking around, smiling merrily.
“Is it fair to guess that the Spirit Queen is fond of glamorous jewelry? If you like, we can pay you in that. We could even get something custom-made…”
As one might expect of a detective’s assistant, Julius was attentive. Just from Mira’s slight glance and mumble, he’d picked up on her interest in the shop. Still, he seemed unable to discern quite what she was thinking.
“No thanks. I’ve got no interest in jewelry that’s only for show,” said Mira, who was clueless when it came to accessories. Shooting down Julius’s offer, she also addressed something that’d been bothering her. “More importantly, would you mind not calling me the ‘Spirit Queen’? I cringe whenever I hear it.” People using that moniker always made her feel a bit weird.
“I think it’s a wonderful nickname. But if that’s what you want, fine by me. I’ll stick to ‘Mira.’” Judging from his dour expression, Julius really thought it was a wonderful nickname.
Even worse than his sudden grimace was the sound of the Spirit King’s voice echoing through the back of her head. He seemed to think her request was tantamount to denying his existence. All Mira could do was explain to him that that wasn’t the case.
“Well, if you aren’t interested in jewelry, what caught your eye?” Julius asked, seemingly just out of curiosity. If she’d just been casually looking around, she wouldn’t have started commenting on something.
“Hm? I just happened to remember that the amber from here is pretty famous.”
“Amber?” He was doubtful that remembering such a thing was reason enough for her to speak up—even more so because she’d said she wasn’t interested in jewelry. Paying attention to such small details was part of his job, so he peered at Mira, unconvinced.
“Yes. Amber. But not just any ordinary amber. Specifically, rainbow-drop amber.” Mira pointed to a shop ahead. It also sold jewelry and had large windows full of rows of necklaces and bracelets.
Something different separated this shop from the last: the clientele. The shop she’d seen before was full of women, but this one looked to have plenty of men as well. Not only that, most seemed to be adventurers.
“I see. That certainly sounds like something a top-class adventurer would notice. I guess my eyes aren’t quite discerning enough…yet.” Julius peered at her with an earnest desire to continue improving. Being not just cute but a hard worker to boot, he’d seemingly figured out what Mira had inferred from the hints she’d given him.
The rainbow-drop amber Mira had mentioned was a beautiful gemstone full of iridescent flecks and was more than ten times as expensive as normal amber. Nowadays, it was only found deep in forests alongside the fossilized remains of rainbow-swallowtail butterflies. The butterflies fed on sap, sucking down so much of it that their stomachs swelled. For some reason, they fossilized once in that state, and the sap in their stomachs became rainbow-drop amber.
“If you’d like, we could reward you with rainbow-drop amber. We’re on good terms with specialists who work to process and refine it, so we could set you up with something much better than you’d find in a shop,” Julius suggested casually.
Considering just how self-assured he looked, it was fair to assume that he could get his hands on just about anything.
“I’m intrigued, but I’ll wait to discuss that with the chief detective in person,” Mira said, deflecting his offer.
Right now, she wasn’t in the mood to discuss pay. Her goal all along had been to catch Fuzzy Dice, but then to get him to lead her to the orphanage she was trying to find. And now, she was worried above all about how she’d fare afterward. Depending on how things went, it was entirely possible that she’d let Fuzzy Dice go. In light of that, she couldn’t very well start discussing her reward with Julius.
That said, rainbow-drop amber was an intriguing offer. Owing to its beauty and scarcity, that material wasn’t cheap. But that wasn’t what was most special about it. Rainbow-drop amber was also extremely compatible with ability-boosting enchantments. Perhaps due to trace amounts of the magic used by the butterflies, rainbow-drop amber boasted dozens of times the enchantment capabilities of normal amber.
Ability-boosting enchantments were usually found on special weapons or accessories granting additional effects. To adventurers who made a living risking life and limb, they often made the difference between life and death.
The enchantments, as their name implied, boosted base abilities such as muscular fortitude, general physical strength, and mana. While rather simple, their effects were quite noticeable, so they were very much in demand. Furthermore, an enchantment’s strength determined just how much it could boost an ability. And the same enchantment could have different effects depending on the materials used. Using a material that could elicit powerful effects with a weak base buff would be a complete waste of time.
One critical factor was more important than anything else: the involvement of specialists like those Julius had mentioned. A base buff’s strength aside, a specialist who helped to unlock the full potential of an enchantment was absolutely vital. Mira could extract and improve enchantments’ effects using refining skills, but she couldn’t create those enchantments. She wanted to make their effects as strong as possible, but without the enchantments themselves, she couldn’t even begin doing that.
Still, wouldn’t Solomon have his own personal enchanters? Although Mira made a mental note to check out the store later, she simultaneously mulled over asking Solomon about that the next time she saw him.
Unfortunately, however many enchanters there were, crafting enchanted goods was something that took time. For now, Mira simply enjoyed looking around and window shopping. She and Julius continued down the street for a while, occasionally chatting idly, until Julius stopped at last.
In front of them was an extravagant-looking mansion. Perhaps most eye-catching was the large sign hanging in front of it, which read THE BARON HOTEL. The opulent manor appeared to be the kind of place where one could enjoy a taste of the high life.
“Please wait in the lobby—the chief detective will call you. In the meantime, feel free to take your wagon to the stables over there. Show the stablemaster the card I gave you earlier, and he’ll let you park,” Julius said, hustling into the hotel. He seemed to have high expectations of Mira and was eager to let the chief detective know that the Spirit Queen had arrived.
“Well, I suppose I’ll just hear them out. That’s all…” Mira muttered as she drew closer to the stables, thinking about what to do.
First and foremost, she needed to get information on Fuzzy Dice. That was crucial. The issue was how to get the detectives to cooperate. From her conversation with Julius, she got the vibe that they were dead set on capturing Fuzzy Dice. Perhaps they were driven by a sense of pride or simply obsessed. Either way, when it came to capturing Fuzzy Dice, Chief Detective Wolf—or whatever his name was—seemed extraordinarily determined. It reminded her of the Interpol inspector who famously chased around a certain master thief, third of his name.
That was a far cry from Mira’s stance. She couldn’t quite muster up that kind of enthusiasm. Her objective was just to get the location of the orphanage in the unnamed village out of Fuzzy Dice. She didn’t even have any proof that he could point her in the right direction, but she felt it couldn’t hurt to ask him. If he knew the orphanage’s location, it’d be gravy. And if he didn’t… Well, she’d just have to find another lead.
If she’d just been able to ask that day when they bumped into each other in the underground room, she might not have had to worry about this now. It seemed even worse that she now had to deal with Fuzzy Dice’s fans. To protect her physical well-being, as well as her peace of mind, it was probably best not to antagonize them.
But I’d feel bad getting the info and then bailing…
Julius had said he’d hand over the information even if Mira didn’t plan to cooperate, but that didn’t mean that she felt good about it. If someone did you a favor, you ought to pay them back. That thought troubled her to no end.
But something else was troubling her as well.
Mira quietly opened the wagon’s side door and inspected the interior. There, she saw the water spirit Anrutine still sleeping soundly. Even a spirit was vulnerable in such a state. The Spirit King had said she’d wake up in a couple days, but Mira wasn’t sure how much longer it would take. Yet she needed to get ready to go after the phantom thief. She was pretty certain that she wouldn’t be around when Anrutine finally woke.
For that reason, she summoned an ashen knight inside the wagon to act as a bodyguard, then left the spirit a note on the heater. It quickly explained what was going on and expressed concern for Anrutine, letting her know that she didn’t need to rush or push herself too hard.
As Julius had said, all Mira needed to do was flash his card, and she could park her wagon without issue. That said, the attendant got rather excited upon seeing that Guardian Ash was pulling the wagon. According to him, he’d encountered countless creatures pulling vehicles over his thirty years there, but this was apparently his first time seeing a gray bear doing so. Not only that, but documenting the creatures he saw pulling the vehicles was apparently his favorite hobby.
With parking settled, Mira got out of the wagon, reflecting on how niche that hobby was. She looked over at the older man fondly; he was busy eagerly photographing the bear.
Cameras were expensive commodities, so Mira suspected that the camera’s owner wasn’t just the parking attendant but the hotel owner himself. Or perhaps the owner knew about the attendant’s hobby and had lent him a camera. If so, they must’ve been kind.
After letting the man take his fill of pictures, Mira airily dispelled Guardian Ash just as the man began to puzzle over where exactly he’d house the bear. When she did, the man gasped in shock—just as Mira hoped. Afterward, realizing that the bear had just been an evocation, he chuckled.
Having shown him that summoning was alive and well, Mira headed to the Baron Hotel’s lobby.
“Wow. They really went all out with this place.”
When she entered the building, it really felt like stepping into a baron’s residence. The top of the grand staircase was graced by a portrait, and a painting of an unfamiliar landscape hung beside the chandelier. There were also urns and other assorted decorations that looked quite pricey. Perhaps they’d been placed there to give that very impression.
Only a smattering of guests was present, including merchants, adventurers, and wayfarers. The reception desk was near the grand staircase, but there was no way Mira would be staying at this hotel, so she had no reason to venture over there.
Finishing her look around the lobby, Mira took a seat among several other guests and waited for Julius.
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