Day after tomorrow, the 24th.

"I see nothing happened last night," Fritz said at breakfast.

Fritz said at breakfast.

"Yes, it did. "Yes, I'm glad it was uneventful."

Moritz replies.

Elsa remains silent.

Only Erza and her three siblings are present, along with the maid of honor.

Georg and Marlene usually take their meals in Georg's sickroom, and Meine is in the kitchen eating a bribe meal with the cooks.

She says that it is the < thing to do, and she asked for it a lot.

She is able to listen to my requests because she is back in her hometown.

By the way, Moritz said that <>, but that is only for this territory.

Last night in Fluid, in the Marquisate of Theoderic, a gang of thieves, who were probably the bandits in question, had attacked a landowner, robbed him of his property, and fled.

Fortunately, no one was killed. The reason is that the family was out of town.

There were only two elderly security guards looking after the family. It seems that they were asleep at the time of the crime, so they were overlooked.

Well, they will be punished by their employer in the future. .......

But I digress.

When the Marquis was informed of the incident, he was understandably furious.

"Ugh, what a disgraceful bandit!"

And he ordered his men to arrest the bandits.

"You must capture the bandit and bring peace to the people! Good!

Sir!

The soldiers and knights under his command immediately move into action.

* * * *

Meanwhile, the brain of Horai Island, the old man, received a report from Erza.

As soon as he received Erza's report, he instructed the members of the 5th Quinta to go to Shoro to gather clues about the bandits.

Furthermore, Regulus 49, a.k.a. , was assigned to guard the village of Kaltz in Randall's territory, and Deneb 22, a.k.a. Jumi, also a ranger, was assigned to guard the village of Exi in Randall's territory.

He also ordered Capella 8<> to guard Banneh in Randall's territory.

And on the night of the order, the bandits were not in Randall's territory, but in the neighboring territory of the Marquis of Theoderic.

Their means of escape were unfortunately not observed by the due to the thick cloud cover.

The old man concluded so and ordered the fifth column (Quinta) to be more vigilant.

Especially, the area around Randall's house where Erza is located should be emphasized.

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

The town of Sagina, also in the Marquisate of Theoderic, on the eastern outskirts of the Marquisate. This town is adjacent to Count Randall's territory and is a prosperous town for its size, with many people coming and going.

Deneb22, a member of the 5th Column (Quinta), a.k.a. , had come all the way from Eksi, Randall's territory, to check on the situation in Sagina.

She is a village girl in her early twenties. Her chubby figure is due to the water in the layer of goulashvam (sponges of binge eating) under her skin.

Her face is full of pimples and freckles, and she looks like no one would give her a second glance.

"Well, how about some airbert jam?

Jumi looks around the town as if he were a peddler with a load on his back.

"Oh, that's very unusual.

Yes, thank you very much.

"Oh, it's a jam.

"Thank you very much."

As he went around the town selling jam like this, his eyes caught a glimpse of a certain "presence".

(...... that's...)

It was a man who looked to be in his late twenties.

(The way he walks is lean.)

His center of gravity was not shaky, and his torso was not swaying.

(It is not a martial arts master or ...... who can walk like this!)

Jumi quietly follows him without being noticed. At the same time, he reports back to the old man with the built-in manacam.

（I wonder where he's going.)

The man leaves the crowded street and heads for the outskirts of the town. Gradually, there are fewer and fewer people.

(At this rate, they will know we are following him. ......)

Jumi timed the man's arrival around the corner, and activated the <>.

At about the same time, the built-in manacam (manacam) is contacted.

()

Immediately after that, two invisible bodies were sent by transporter to the left and right of Jumi.

（Thank you. That's reassuring.)

Jumi and the two lando disappeared and followed the mysterious man.

(......?)

As they approached a vacant lot on the outskirts of town, the man stopped.

"What do you want?"

"You don't think he knows, do you?　Jumi wondered if he had been discovered, but the mysterious man was staring in a different direction from Jumi and the others.

Jumi senses another presence around the mysterious man.

(Is this a ...... human being?　and ...... looks like a golem).

Keeping a distance that they think is undetectable, Jumi and Lando decide to observe first.

The vacant lot, which was probably the remains of a mansion, was quite spacious, covering an area of about 1,000 square meters.

"I am the deputy commander of the security force in the service of the Marquise Theoderic. I would like to know your name and identity.

The man who introduced himself as the deputy commander had two battle golems with him.

The two golems quietly move around to either side of the mysterious man, cutting off his retreat.

Behind them is the wall of an abandoned house. The left and right sides are fortified by battle golems.

"Hmmm, I see. You have judged this situation to be to your advantage.

Answer the question!

"Don't panic. Names and affiliations are mere symbols. If I answer your questions, how will you judge their truth or falsehood?

Enough of your nonsense!　Don't answer me!

"Don't be so rash, <>.

The mystery man smiled wryly.

"My name. ."

The next moment. > disappears.

He flew to the right, too fast for the human eye to follow.

A clunk.

It's the sound of a battle golem being hit and falling.

"What!"

echoed the startled voice of the deputy commander of the Theodelic Family Guard.

The other battle golem is overturned next.

Then the mysterious man <> snatches the vice captain's side and vanishes into thin air.

The vice captain collapses into a heap a few seconds later, unconscious.

It seems that he had received a strong blow to the abdomen.

(He had great physical strength, didn't he?)

（Yes, we are closing in on the RAND team.)

Jumi and the others had moved further away and attached their lances.

(They are not going to ...... outside the town, but to an abandoned house.)

(Maybe that's their hideout.)

Jumi and the others watched Lance go into the house and discussed with the old man about what to do next.