The person moving with the dagger was a woman who appeared to be in her late teens.

She looks like a normal person,...... but she may really be a normal person,...... but she is well dressed and doesn't stand out when she walks around town.

>

The town of Ulm is located about 35 km south of Banyu, and if you go eastward from there, you will meet the <> at the town of Danga, and you can go to the Kingdom of Selroa.

<> is because they are afraid of being tracked down.

In the end, they meet up with the Trockenbahn in the town of Dunga, but I wonder if they split up because they were aware of the pursuit or for some other reason.

<

So the old man entrusted Regulus 48, a.k.a. , and Deneb 22, a.k.a. , of the <.

The two of them headed south from Bany? and hurried to the town of Ulm.

The old man is tracking them with his <, which saves him the trouble of looking for them.

He is now staying at an inn in a corner of the town. The time is 2:00 p.m. local time. It is a little early for an overnight stay, but not too early to be strange.

Now, how do we catch him?

"I guess."

and pretend to be a married couple and take a room in the same inn.

The room was on the second floor, across from the woman in question. They would have preferred the room next door, but unfortunately it was already occupied.

"If we break in suddenly, we'll look like the bad guys, won't we?"

"That's right. I wonder if the woman in question knew that the dagger she was carrying was stolen.

"That's one thing.

For example, it is possible that she bought the dagger from the kidnapper without knowing it was stolen.

In that case, it would be difficult to charge him with a crime.

"We need to make sure of the connection with the kidnappers, or at least take action after the connection is made clear."

I agree.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

On the same day, a guardroom just outside the palace.

The two kidnappers were held in the dungeon and interrogated.

At first, one of them refused to talk, but when the knights shook him mentally, he gave in.

Then, as if silence would not do any good, the other one gave in.

According to .......

The two kidnappers are members of an anti-social organization. Their home is in the Kingdom of Cerroa.

The name of the party is

The reason why they knew about Melze is that the tool shop in the town of Orchids, where Melze had the appraised, is a member of the , an anti-social organization.

From there, the information was passed on to the upper echelons of the Ekitor and they decided that it could be used as a threat against the Shoro Imperialists, which led to this murderous act.

The other person on the run with the dagger is the toolmaker's granddaughter.

The toolmaker himself has already fled the country, and his granddaughter is supposed to escape with only the dagger.

< or the would be enough to use as a threat.

Of course, it would be most desirable to have both.

...... and so far we know.

The granddaughter of the toolmaker had never met him before and did not know his name because they did not tell each other their names.

Therefore, we do not know how the granddaughter acts.

"Ummm...... we can't get to her in time even if we send someone after her now......."

The knight of the Kingsguard who was in charge of the interrogation held his head in his hands.

"......I must report what I have found out for now."

The knight of the Kingsguard then made a report to Emperor Ernst II.

* * * * * * * * *

Jin was still kept in the palace and could hear the report of the knight of the Kingsguard with the emperor.

"Umm...... does this mean that it has become more difficult to secure the dagger......?"

"No, my handlers are continuing the search, so we may be able to manage it."

Oh, Jin-dono, is that true?

Yes.

"Yes, that's right, Jin-dono. Is there anything I can do to speed up the search?

No, at the moment there is nothing.

I see. I'm sorry to hear that.

I am sorry to hear that.

The information that Jin had obtained was sent to the old man through the bracelet, and the old man passed it on to and who were in the middle of the operation.

"I see, at least they are aware that they are carrying stolen goods.

"It's called a thought crime."

and discuss how to point out and clarify the crime.

"I think our first priority should be to secure the dagger.

"That's a good point, but how?"

"Let's ask the > to help us."

I think that's a good idea.

* * * * *

The old man immediately took action.

< units, namely <1>1, <2>2, <3>3, and <4>, and sent them by transporter to the room of the toolmaker's granddaughter.

The granddaughter of the toolmaker was in the dining room on the first floor to have dinner.

The transporter took advantage of such an opportunity.

It was easy to hide the dagger, since it was only about 20 centimeters long, but since they knew where it was with their "peepers," the four members of the "Shinobi Unit" were able to secure the dagger without difficulty.

After securing the dagger, the four shinobi moved 5 meters using the <>, i.e., a magical tool that transfers you.

The destination is the room where <> and <> are staying, across the corridor from each other.

The four of them were holding a dagger together.

Rather, they appear before <> and <> in a position that looks as if they are clinging to the dagger.

<

You of the <<<< fifth column (Quinta)>> have also had a hard time.

<

Incidentally, the communication is done by the built-in manacam.

"Now that we've achieved our minimum objective, how do we go about securing the woman we think is the culprit?

"We have the evidence here, so we're vulnerable to being caught unawares."

"That's true."

At that moment, the old man received a message from him.

This would make the suspect think that the evidence was not missing, and thus catch him off guard.

Then a dagger, which the old man seems to have made in a short time, is sent to us. It looks exactly the same.

< troops carried it and moved 5 meters with a <> to the place where the real dagger was hidden: ...... at the bottom of the double-layered bag. It was hidden just like the original.