Chapter 108

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At his words, Nina quietly looked at Adrian.

He received her gaze without moving an inch.

“Okay.”

Nina answered and tilted her head for a moment. Water dripped from her hair under her ears.

“Then Adrian has to let me know too.”

A lot of things have already changed, but once he looks at Fiona, he might still feel fate pulling him on his track.

Isn’t that a possibility?

Just like how she felt the moment she saw Adrian.

She feels like it would hurt so much if she heard it from others or discovered it late.

No, she feels like she would also hate to know that he feels anything special for Fiona. It’s not like Fiona would have done something bad, but still, they don’t know just in case.

Nina thought so and replied like that, and Adrian looked surprised as if he had heard something unexpected. After a moment of looking into Nina’s face, he said.

“I’ll do that.”

Will there be someone like that?

Can it happen?

He doesn’t think so.

Adrian turned away from her and asked.

“So, what was Nina’s wish?”

“I’m the one who lost.”

Come on now.

“Just in case. What is it?”

“I was going to ask you to play the violin.”

“Nina.”

He called her name and laughed.

“You can always ask for that.”

“Even if I ask you to play it all night long?”

“Of course.”

Adrian smiled.

“I’ll play it for you anytime.” (Adrian)

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When Jack joined, Randell looked unhappy. However, he couldn’t help but agree with Nina’s remarks “You need an expert’s help.”

After all, he’s a wizard, not a bandit.

“I’m not a thief either.”

Jack said so and put out a list of the items he needed.

“Blue Stone Island is a closed space. You can tell right away when a stranger walks around. What are you going to do about this?” (Jack)

“There are two ways. One is to be transparent, and the other is to slightly control the other person’s perception.” (Randell)

“Cognitive Control?” (Jack)

“Something like; if you look at me, you’ll think I’m someone you know well, and If you think about it later, you’ll never know nor remember.” (Randell)

As a matter of fact, those techniques usually don’t work in Sages.

Jack’s eyes sparkled with interest.

“To what extent can you be friendly? Can we be very close?”

“That’s impossible.”

“I see, but it’s still a great magic trick.”

“So which one?”

“We have to use both.” (Jack)

Jack grinned and rubbed his chin.

“This is going to be more fun than I thought. Let’s take a look at the Blue Stone Island.” (Jack)

“I’ve rarely met a person with skills as capable as their words. I hope you’re up to what you make it to be.”

At Randell’s comments, Jack raised his eyebrows and said.

“An idiot who still counts the money for others after being sold out or believing people the first time they meet. I think you should hope that I’m not that kind of person even more.”

“······.” (Randell)

“······.” (Nina)

“It already feels like a party.”

Nina said, “Oh god,” and looked down at the list given by Jack.

“You wrote it down meticulously.”

“Just in case.”

“Wow, I’m not taking my uniform? What are you talking about, this list.”

“No, if there’s a big battle, I wonder if you’ll wear your uniform, pigtail your hair, and say, ‘I’m the number one sword of the empire.’.”

“I won’t.”

“What a shame.”

“Drop it.”

There was nothing noticeable except not taking the uniform. After preparing as it is, they decided to leave in a fortnight.

“Once we are through the passage to the Blue Stone Island, it takes at least three days to reset the coordinates.”

“So if we go, we’ll have to stay at least three more days?”

“Yes.”

“But if the Tarok is that important, won’t they try to hide things related to it deep inside?”

Nina’s words moistened his lips.

“My teacher was a Tarok researcher.”

“Really?”

“Yes, I think we’ll be able to find some relevant information when we go to my teacher’s lab. They may have cleaned it up first, but Tarok research is an important task, so I don’t think they’ve cleaned it all up, and there’s also a secret place I know.”

His words poured out quickly as if he were reading a thoughtful plan.

“Okay, then. Let’s do that. That’s where we start.”

“Before that, may I have a brief map of the Blue Stone Island?”

Jack was going to find out all the information he could dig up. Blue Stone Island is closed off, so it was very difficult to find information about the Sages.

You can scrape pieces of information through the sages’ gatherings, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. If, after a long time, you are finally able to infiltrate their home base, isn’t it the basis of an informant to turn it all over and check every corner?

Nina also changed her noticeable pupils and hair to brown, braided them down with a long ribbon, and wrapped them up. If you braid it up like this, it’s easy to hide because you can’t feel the length of the hair unless one looks closely.

As for her clothes, she also got an old tunic.

“I smell moldy.”

“You’re lucky it only smells like mold.”

Nina nodded in agreement with Jack’s words. Pocco also made a regular sword without adding any Sage Steel in it.

Her brilliant sword was colored with the spirits and was too conspicuous to be used on the mission.

Instead, Pocco explained the daggers she made out of iron.

“Turn the bottom pommel and it will come off. If you put the stick in it, you can use it like a spear.”

“Wow, that’s true. Thank you, Pocco.”

“Don’t mention it.”

Pocco said to Nina with a serious face.

“Please come back safely.”

“Don’t worry.”

“If Dame Nina doesn’t come back, the owner of my ambitious work will disappear. Remember that crystal-like metal ingot we managed to make a while ago?”

The corner of Pocco’s mouth, which had a serious tone, was slightly raised, so it was easy to see that she was joking.

Nina also answered seriously.

“Of course, I can’t let anyone else take over Pocco’s sword.”

Nina whispered as she held her hand.

“Everything Pocco makes is mine.”

Pocco’s face burned red at Nina’s softly whispered words, and she exclaimed.

“Ka-Blana!”

“Huh?”

“No, that’s······. It just means ‘Oh, my God.’ in Lency.”

“It wasn’t such a nuance.”

“Well, it’s very strong ‘Oh, my God.’.”

The more Pocco was embarrassed, the redder her face became, so Nina let go of her hand.

Pocco sighed.

“I know enough about the charms of Dame Nina, so you don’t have to show it to me.”

“I didn’t know that even the Forge Master knew it.”

Nina laughed and connected the dagger and stick she received from Pocco. After twirling it around and checking the sound it made, she looked pleased.

Pocco said.

“Lord Louis also wields spears beautifully.”

“Yes, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen Sir Louis whooping around a spear.”

“He practices every day.”

At Pocco’s words, Nina looked at her.

“How do you know?”

“I’m making a practice spear.”

“Come on, I thought it was a love story.”

Nina grinned, and Pocco waved her hand.

“No, it’s not. With that kind of person······.”

“What about him? Lord Louis is someone who looks more on the inside than on the outside.”

“So······. Dame Nina, it’s not something you want to talk about. If you like the items, then please go back.”

She waved her hand and Nina laughed as she was kicked out. The rod and dagger were separated again, and all other items were packed into the backpack.

She also wore a waist bag on her waist.

Adrian said by saying goodbye to her.

“Be careful.”

“Yes, I’ll step on them and come back alive.”

“Please do.”

Adrian said as he pulled her shoulder slightly.

His lips touched her forehead.

“I wish my knight the protection of the Great Spirit.”

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