Chapter 27
“WE’RE JUST GETTING STARTED!” Mira cried, loosing another handful of stones.
These weren’t blasting stones—just everyday flare stones sold by Dinoire Trading. That said, they were more than enough to set fire to the highly flammable silk. Furthermore, in the dead of night, there was no way for Fuzzy Dice to tell that these stones were any different from the blasting stones she’d been using.
Mira immediately hid another stone in her hand. It was a blasting stone much larger than any of the others she’d used. Fuzzy Dice’s powers of observation were good enough to catch what she’d done, however.
“Well now, that was obvious.”
Evidently putting together what Mira would try to do, Fuzzy Dice simply let the flare stones fly into his zone of defense, leaping aside without using spider silk to catch them. His guard still up, he once again focused wholly on Mira’s hands. The stones which had missed their mark scattered into the river behind him with several small plops and promptly sank.
“I see. So you planned to set fire to my spider silk again.”
He seemed to have deduced Mira’s plan from how she’d behaved. Not only that, he even seemed to have caught on that she’d had her ace in the hole in hand. He stared even harder.
“Ngh… You little…!” Having completely missed her target, Mira hurled her secret weapon in a fit of desperation. The stone was large, tracing an arc through the sky as it headed for Fuzzy Dice.
“Is that…?!”
Whatever the stone was, it was immediately clear from its size that it contained immense power. Aware of that, Fuzzy Dice shifted his attention to the sky, albeit slightly.
Right then, he figured out what Mira was trying to do. She hadn’t thrown the stone in a fit of desperation but rather very deliberately, in such a way that he would look upward.
The phantom thief quickly looked back at Mira. She’d carefully drawn his attention to what he’d thought was her secret weapon, only to now use her real ace in the hole. It was a simple yet effective technique. Fuzzy Dice realized that he’d been outsmarted.
Suddenly, he heard a faint whistle come from the side. At the same time, an arrow streaked through the air before sticking into the ground in front of his feet. It had been loosed by the second Valkyrie Sister, who stood atop the city wall just outside his detection range.
Not only that, a small stone was tied to the arrow. For a moment, it appeared as if the stone would unleash some kind of blast. The arrow was nothing but a feint, but the phantom thief had no way of knowing that, so he wasted no time in shooting spider silk to flawlessly contain the blast.
He moved so quickly that he seemed to do so instinctively. It was enough to make Mira wonder whether it was even possible to consciously do something with that kind of speed.
Furthermore, Fuzzy Dice hadn’t forgotten about the other stone, despite diverting his attention for a moment. To someone like Fuzzy Dice, who could wield spider silk, the large blasting stone posed little threat as it sailed through the air in a gentle arc.
“You caught it, huh?” Seeing that, Mira immediately flashed a cocky grin. She’d been planning for that all along.
The stone, still wrapped in spider silk, detonated. But rather than unleashing a flash of light and a loud bang, an explosive gust of wind whirled forth.
“This is…!”
Unable to withstand the wind, the silk holding the stone was torn to shreds. The blast swelled outward in all directions, sending Fuzzy Dice soaring into the air.
As if on cue, First Pupil leapt out of the river. After meeting up with Anrutine, he’d waited underwater for the perfect opportunity.
“Meow’s the time!”
Thrown completely off his guard, Fuzzy Dice could do nothing to stop First Pupil from getting close. The cat fairy wrapped his arms around the thief in midair. Even as they tumbled to the ground, First Pupil kept clinging to him.
The moment he saw First Pupil, visible bewilderment washed over Fuzzy Dice’s face. “Huh…? Aren’t you…?!”
But at that same moment, he glimpsed the blasting stone hanging from First Pupil’s neck like a pendant. Fuzzy Dice tried to wrench free, but Cat Sith had adopted a rock-solid stance, determined to hold on at any cost. He flashed a defiant smile as if fully prepared for what would happen next.
“I’ll meet you in hell. Ciao meow, baby!” First Pupil said, continuing to smile as if for a camera. On his back was a placard that read TELL MY FAMILY I LOVE THEM!
It was worth noting that First Pupil didn’t have a family.
The blasting stone activated. It would likely detonate in the next couple seconds. Right then, though, Fuzzy Dice began tickling First Pupil’s sides and the base of his tail. Sure enough, that made the oh-so-determined First Pupil suddenly let go.
“Meow could you?! That’s not fair! I’m ticklish, meow!”
First Pupil writhed as if on fire. It was the kind of reaction that ensued when someone discovered exactly where someone else was ticklish.
“I knew it…!” Not about to miss his opportunity, Fuzzy Dice wrenched free and, without hesitating for a moment, hurled First Pupil away.
“Catgone it!”
Launched into the air, Cath Sith quickly disappeared into the night sky with a loud bang and a dazzling flash.
Something had caught Fuzzy Dice’s attention. Paying no heed to the cat fairy he’d launched so magnificently into the sky, the phantom thief walked toward Mira.
“Spirit Queen…are you…?”
Just then, a small stone plunked onto the ground in front of Fuzzy Dice, dropped by Hippogriff and Wasranvel. They’d been overhead, suppressing their auras high in the dark night sky and waiting for that exact moment.
Fuzzy Dice hurried to react, but the attack took him completely by surprise. The stone detonated instantaneously, unleashing a torrent of light and sound.
“That was my real ace in the hole!”
Mira had a feeling that Fuzzy Dice had been about to say something. Still, believing this to be her best chance, she dashed toward him, binding cloth in hand.
“Ngh…”
This time, everything was set up perfectly. Fuzzy Dice had staggered and was now on his knees. But then spiderwebs quickly began to shoot from him in every direction.
That’s Phantom of the Id, isn’t it…?
Seeing that rather powerful technique, Mira made sure her guard was up.
Phantom of the Id was among the highest-level Demonic Arts. It activated once its user was incapacitated, temporarily projecting their inner shadow, which would use Demonic Arts to protect them.
In other words, Phantom of the Id would counterattack automatically without taking Fuzzy Dice’s conscious thoughts into account. That basically meant it might use any attack, nonlethal or otherwise.
“Like they say, fortune favors the bold and stuff!”
In spite of everything, Mira charged forward. She wasn’t sure what counterattack would come her way, but if Fuzzy Dice wasn’t consciously launching those attacks, there’d be plenty of openings to exploit.
The moment she stepped inside the web, countless spider-silk threads flew at her. They all burnt up, however, thanks to the Vermillion Frame encasing her.
Next, more spider silk was thrown her way. This time, the threads were razor-sharp.
This is the first time Fuzzy Dice has actually attacked me, isn’t it?
Mira intercepted the steel-like threads by partially summoning a tower shield. Nimbly leaping over it, she partially summoned several dark knights and tried to cut apart the black figure standing in the center of the web: the Phantom of the Id itself.
The moment she did, the spider silk around her vanished, and only the still-incapacitated Fuzzy Dice was before her.
“I’ve got you!”
Mira quickly closed the distance, unwound the binding cloth, and lunged at Fuzzy Dice. She was only an inch or so away from Fuzzy Dice when something happened—the phantom thief, who should still have been dazed, suddenly thrust out his arm.
“What?!”
Due to the considerable difference in their heights, his arm reached her first and latched cleanly on to her chest. It only touched there for a moment before firmly squeezing. Then his other hand shot out and, wouldn’t you know it, darted straight between her thighs.
Having caught Mira midjump, he only held onto her for a brief moment before utilizing her momentum to toss her gracefully into the air.
“What was that?!”
Hurled a dozen or so meters high, Mira scrambled to collect herself, using Air Step to firmly plant her feet in the air. She made sure Fuzzy Dice hadn’t launched a follow-up attack before slowly descending to the ground, checking to see how the thief was faring.
She saw that Fuzzy Dice was standing there as if he’d long since recovered from being stunned. There was a faint black shadow around him.
Could it be that…that was actually the Phantom of the Id?
That technique simply used spells autonomously, as Mira understood it. However, that information was from over thirty years ago. Perhaps it had evolved since then, she mused.
Indeed, it had evolved to the point that it could move the user’s body to rapidly evade attacks.
“Yeah, this really isn’t his normal self…”
Having made her way back to the ground, Mira cautiously approached Fuzzy Dice. The phantom thief, meanwhile, neither moved nor looked at her. That was exactly how Phantom of the Id worked; so long as she stayed out of its range, it wouldn’t engage.
In that case, Mira began thinking, she simply needed to draw its attention to one side. Then the black shadow enveloping Fuzzy Dice suddenly dissipated.
“Hang on… Time out,” Fuzzy Dice said, suddenly turning toward Mira. He’d seemingly just regained his bearings, so he still wobbled a bit as he lifted his palms toward her.
There was definitely a chance that he was just trying to buy time. But she had trouble thinking that Fuzzy Dice would do that kind of thing. She stopped in her tracks.
“What? Do you surrender?” she asked, with a distant hope that, afraid of her power, he might reveal the orphanage’s location.
“Well, that’s just what I was considering…” he said with a bitter smile. “But there’s something I’d like to ask you, O Spirit Queen. Depending on how you answer, I may give you the information you seek.” He turned to look straight at Mira, a very earnest expression in his eyes.
He wants to ask me something? Mira wondered what in the world he could want to know. Though still quite wary, she began to think that this offer might be her chance. “I can’t tell you why I’m looking for it.”
“Yes, I understand that.”
She’d reminded him just in case, and now that he’d readily acknowledged that it was fine, she really had no idea what he would ask her.
“All right, then. What would you like to know?” Mira asked, now aloud.
Fuzzy Dice briefly checked their surroundings. Then, acting as if he’d spotted something, he pointed to where he’d been looking. “That Cat Sith over there. That’s First Pupil, right?”
First Pupil lay right where Fuzzy Dice was pointing. Pressed against the ground, he looked ready to pounce. The moment they noticed where he was, though, he let out a “meow” and tried behaving like a regular feline, attempting to pass himself off as a normal cat.
“…That’s what I’d guess, seeing the very unique way he’s acting. Am I right?” Fuzzy Dice asked. The look in his eyes said he was quite confident.
At the same time, Mira realized what his question implied. “If you know First Pupil, then that must mean… Could it be that you’re…Subaru Hoshizaki?!”
The moment that name left her lips, Fuzzy Dice’s entire demeanor changed. “Yes! I’m the single ray of light that pierces the darkness of night! Indeed, ’tis I, the meteor of righteousness, Star Justice, formerly known as Subaru Hoshizaki!”
Even the way Fuzzy Dice spoke suddenly changed. He’d gone from cocky and full of himself to a very…passionate superhero nerd.
“I wondered if it might be you. To think it really is…!” Mira couldn’t help smiling indulgently at the sudden transformation.
Although she’d thought Fuzzy Dice might be Lastrada, she’d second-guessed it for reasons that were largely what made his transformation so remarkable. Fuzzy Dice’s personality had nothing in common with Lastrada’s overzealous, goofy behavior; they were as different as night and day.
Now Mira was sure of it, though. Fuzzy Dice’s true identity was Wise Man Lastrada, the Quirk of Fate. Subaru Hoshizaki wasn’t his real name but his superhero name.
“I’m shocked too! To think that someone with so much gravitas suddenly became a lovely heroine!” Laughing heartily, the superhero Star Justice—formerly Fuzzy Dice—gazed at Mira and gave her a thumbs-up. “Nothing’s more righteous than how cute you are!”
Mira looked much different than she had when she’d been Danblf, yet he’d guessed her true identity from seeing First Pupil. The cat was apparently fairly distinctive.
“Let’s not talk about it.” Mira looked away.
She dispelled the Vermillion Frame and dismissed everyone standing by to help, making sure to thank them all. Now that she knew that Fuzzy Dice was Lastrada, Mira had no reason to fight him. In much the same way, Lastrada dismissed whatever techniques he was still using.
“Jeez. This would’ve gone way faster if I’d just known you were the phantom thief to begin with,” Mira groused.
He was precisely whom she’d been tasked to find. She could’ve had an answer without beating around the bush, telling him she was looking for an orphanage, by cutting straight to the chase and simply asking if Artesia ran it.
“Actually,” she continued, “right now…”
As she told him about her orders to find the remaining Wise Men, they heard voices cut through the air.
“Hey, this way! Somebody’s over here!”
“Bring a lantern over, quick!”
The voices were coming from the direction of the city.
“Uh-oh. Doesn’t look like we have time to stand here and chat!” Lastrada exclaimed.
Looking toward the voices, Mira saw a steady stream of adventurers and guards heading their way. They must’ve heard all the blasting stones she’d used; they seemed to be investigating the ruckus.
Seeing that, Lastrada took off his top and turned it inside out, then put his mask back on. It looked as if Fuzzy Dice had been reborn from his plain-looking self of mere moments before.
“Wow…” said Mira. “That’s how you do it, huh?”
At first glance, Fuzzy Dice appeared to be wearing multiple layers. However, his clothes were constructed quite simply so that he could quickly switch outfits. Mira was impressed by the speed with which he’d changed his appearance.
“Well, you can tell me the details later. Wait a little while and I’ll contact you!” Lastrada said, throwing something to Mira.
Mira caught it without thinking and was shocked when she looked at it. “What the hell…is this?!”
Lastrada had given her a pendant set with precious gemstones. Mira was about to ask what exactly she was supposed to do with it when the area around them suddenly brightened. The guards’ lamps had begun to light up the area.
“Fuzzy Dice is here!”
“Oh, wow, the Spirit Queen’s here too! She chased him all the way here!”
Looking over, Mira saw several squads rushing toward them.
“All right. I’ll leave the rest to you,” Lastrada whispered, then leaped dramatically backward. “Looks like I don’t stand much chance. I should’ve expected as much of the adventurer they call the Spirit Queen. I guess I’ll be throwing in the towel!”
Having said this in his Fuzzy Dice voice loudly enough for the guards to hear, he scattered something on the ground nearby. As he did, great plumes of smoke began pouring forth, enveloping the entire area within moments.
“Well, farewell, friends!”
Nothing was visible in the smoke; only Fuzzy Dice’s far-off voice could be heard as his aura melted into the night and vanished. It was an exit truly befitting a phantom thief.
Well…I ended up discovering his true identity. That’ll have to do for now.
She hadn’t gotten the information she was after, but she’d managed to learn something that would lead her to that information. And she’d actually come away with information that was even more important.
Fuzzy Dice was Lastrada. She’d come searching for Artesia, but had stumbled across another Wise Man. That was quite a stroke of luck, but she regretted not having had a chance to really talk to him.
He said we’d talk again later, but I wonder when that’ll be.
While she pondered this, the smoke screen cleared, and the soldiers—as well as the Cross-Border Judicial Force members assigned to the Fuzzy Dice case—sprinted toward her.
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