Chapter 52: Chapter 52: The Phantom Thief’s Activity?

Translator: ShiroiKaze/Soyokaze Translations

The next day we started heading towards Cornus together with mister Oreas.

Ahh, is my life of laziness, obscenity, and decadence over after just one month? Well, it was a little different from what I dreamed of, so I’m not exactly reluctant to have it end.

“But you know, last time it was Solkalis, and next is Cornus? All we’ve been doing is traveling lately.”

“There was a month between though? Besides, there’s actually a lot that happened over here. Alec, before coming here, would have had a harder daily life, for example.”

“I suppose him having a more robust body is thanks to our trip. Do you think I’ll get a little stronger too?”

“A Yuuri who isn’t frail seems a little off… The Yuuri who made a bunch of crying noises like a bird before, that’s the cute one.”

“Mister Oreas, this is the true character of the sage. He’s a degenerate.”

“Hey, don’t drag me into this…”

This time our itinerary involves riding our own carriage.

We traded the large carriage we purchased last time with the village chief, mister Halt. All he had on hand was the small type of carriage always used for purchases.

Mister Oreas focused on speed of travel, so he rode to Mareba by horse, but since we don’t know how long we’re going to be staying, and have quite a bit of luggage, we can’t do that.

Mister Oreas is riding next to our carriage on horseback.

Haster and I are sitting alongside each other in the drivers seat. Yig is sleeping on my lap.

“It seems we’ll be taking things slowly, but will they be okay over there?”

“Oh, our enemy this time strangely leaves ‘notices,’ so there shouldn’t be any issues.”

“That’s a serious ‘Phantom Thief’ affectation right there.”

“Up to there is all well and good, but…”

He hesitates to continue, with a sour look on his face. I wonder if there’s some kind of problem?

“Livyatan sends out notices like an old-fashioned phantom thief, but… In spite of that, Livyatan is the type with a slanted standpoint that laughs while jumping clear over you.”

“Slanted standpoint?”

“We should have plenty of time during the trip, so why don’t I tell you about our target?”

“Oooh, you’re going to tell us stories about a phantom thief?!”

Phantom thieves were a popular thing in Japan after all.

Hearing stories about a real life phantom thief, my eyes just won’t stop sparkling.

“Apparently the first appearance happened about three months ago. The first target was a jewel in the house of a rich man in Cornus from what I hear.”

“Hoho, quite conventional.”

“In response to the sudden notice, at first they say he thought it was some kind of joke, but just in case, he replaced it with an imitation.”

“That’s an equally conventional precautionary measure.”

“When the day on the notice arrived, nobody appeared… He decided it really was a joke, and the day he switched the jewel back, Livyatan appeared, laughing loudly, and apparently went to steal the jewel.”

“Wow, so the thief saw through the fake.”

“Nope, Livyatan went and stole that fake…”

“Huh?”

So the reason it didn’t get stolen wasn’t because it was switched out?

What the hell is this all about?!

“In response to the rich man shouting, ‘How cowardly of you to not appear on the day of your notice!,’ Livyatan apparently responded, ‘Eh? You mean it wasn’t today?’”

“… The thief just got the date wrong?!”

“After a long and brutal runaround, since only the fake was stolen, the cost of security caused the biggest loss apparently.”

“Sounds like a hack.”

“The next appearance was one month later. This time the target was supposed to be a goddess statue owned by a different wealthy individual.”

“Now there’s a big target. Did the thief get the date wrong again?”

“Nope, the house next door to the one who got the notice had a dubious ceramic cat stolen from them.”

“Why the one next door…?”

“After a while, the cat statue was apparently returned. The attached message said, ‘I made a mistake. I’m sorry.’”

“So this time the thief mistook the house…”

Just how much of a klutz is this phantom thief…? There are neither dreams nor nightmares in this.

Actually, it seems like this thief is a professional comedian, so maybe we would be better off sending a talent scout over?

“Well, after all that, the damage is pretty minor, but it’s awfully difficulty to respond to actions that can’t be anticipated at all. And so, a request was sent in to the guild.”

“Certainly, such clumsy moves one after another can’t be predicted very easily.”

“I’ve got it. The culprit is Yuuri.”

“What are implying, Haster?!”

I sent a single serious punch towards him after he poked fun at me. There was no damage though.

“The third time was about one week before I left Cornus?”

“So there was a third time. I feel like I’d rather not hear any more.”

“As you might expect, after a third time the thief was seemingly caught.”

“Wow, how did that happen?”

“While running away, the thief was struck by a carriage, and knocked unconscious.”

Mister Oreas concludes with a hollow look in his eyes. My eyes feel the same way.

Ah, the sky is so blue…

“The thief was caught and put in prison, but somehow escaped the same day.”

“But if the thief was caught then you should know what the person looks like, right?”

“About that… Apparently everyone involved couldn’t remember a damn thing about the thief. Or maybe I should say they couldn’t remember the thief’s face… From the looks of it, all they can remember is that the thief is a woman.”

“[Recognition Blocking], or [Memory Erasure]… Either one would be high level magic. Perhaps she’s more skilled than we realize?”

“Yeah, Which is why we decided we wouldn’t be able to catch her, and concluded that we should seek your assistance, Haster.”

“Because I’m a hot-blooded magician too. There aren’t many ways to respond in arresting that kind of opponent.”

He has a bitter look on his face, but in contrast my own interest was piqued.

Memory manipulation type magic is something I’ve hardly heard anything about after all.

“How interesting. I would absolutely love to catch her and have a chat.”

“Hmm, all I can remember about that type of magic is it had nothing but a lot of difficult spells.”

“Well, I would be happy to expand my repertoire. To say nothing of how someone who holds the title of ‘Sage’ by itself is a deterrent.”

“We can’t stay in Cornus forever, you know.”

“I understand that.”

Memory manipulation type magic though? If used right, it could make disguising Haster easier.

[Transformation] changes the body itself, so there aren’t many worries about it being seen through, but we have to cast it together.

Also, if we don’t have to use [Transformation], then I won’t have to check to make sure he doesn’t use it for weird stuff…

“Well anyway, this type of enemy is probably more suited for Yuuri than for me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yeah, in fact, the ‘we don’t know what she’ll do next’ point is something that Yuuri is also particularly good at.”

“I see, so that’s what you mean…”

“Hey jerkbags, I will make you wish you never opened your big mouths…!”

I glare at the two of them reproachfully. But we don’t know what she’ll do next, huh… Actually, Bahamut would probably be more suited to that.

Come to think of it, he said he was monitoring us. Does that mean he’s nearby even now?

As I slowly start looking cautiously at our surroundings, the two of them look at me suspiciously.

“What are you doing?”

“Well, I was just wondering if Baha—Uh, Bart is nearby.”

“Now that you mention it, he did say he was keeping watch…”

Haster’s attention immediately tightens up. This side of him really is pretty cool.

“Appraising” a ‘space’ puts too much of a burden on me, so I used [Far Sight] to search the surroundings, but I don’t see him anywhere.

But then, I don’t think he would conceal himself in a way that could be detected by such a rough search.

“Just searching is futile, huh…”

“I guess so. At the very least, he’s not lacking in ability.”

“Are you certain we’re being tailed by someone?”

Mister Oreas seems worried. Come to think of it, our band is entirely made up of magicians.

It makes sense he would be worried when he doesn’t have his usual specialists with him.

“Yeah, by Bart. He’s following us, but he doesn’t appear to be hostile, so it shouldn’t be all that dangerous. For now.”

“He’s just hanging around us because he thinks it could be interesting, which is no laughing matter though.”

“Bart… Oh, wasn’t he the one who came to attack you near Solkalis?”

“He didn’t come to attack me. We’ve had a few opportunities to talk after that, so our mutual understanding deepened, but… We concluded that he’s basically a stalker.”

“Even though I already told him Yuuri belongs to me…”

Rumble, rumble… The ground seems to shake with the intensity Haster is giving off.

The horses lightly shake, showing their displeasure.

“Haster, stop that please. You’re scaring the horses. And me.”

“A-aah. Sorry, horses.”

“And me?”

“I’ll thoroughly apologize to you tonight.”

“No, thank you.”

I’ve stirred up the hornet’s nest. I would really prefer you not do this in front of company. I do have a fair sense of shame.

Seeing my face turn red and get seriously mad, he let out a heavy sigh.

“Could you please not do this in front of company?”

“I say this all the time, but… You belong to me, alright? I have absolutely no intention of showing you off in front of other people. In spite of how I may seem, I’m greedy.”

“Uh, I’m glad you think of me that way, but…”

“I didn’t expect I would still be under suspicion. You’re all that I look at… Come on, get a little closer.”

“Hast—… Kya?!”

The moment he grabbed me around the shoulders and rushed into ‘nighttime mode,’ the carriage rocked as it passed over a stone.

Even so, my immediate scream was very womanly… I feel like my mental contamination rate has been accelerating recently.

I already prepared myself for this, so I suppose… Maybe this is a good thing?

“Sheesh! You should be looking at the ‘road’, not at ‘me’!”

“Aah, sorry.”

While I shout at him to hide my embarrassment, he unreservedly pats my head, and gives a perfunctory apology.

He doesn’t seem sorry at all. Well neither am I!

“Ugyu?”

The sudden shake woke Yig, but we feigned ignorance.

He swings his head in mister Oreas’ direction, and asks what happened with his eyes. As usual, he’s a skilled performer.

Perhaps he didn’t want to explain either; he shrugged his shoulders in reply.

Use your words, people.

The first day of our journey ended as we continued this kind of exchange.