254 That's why I cheat.

I'm home! I'm hungry. I want to eat, Lityal!

Even now, when the plan is in its final stage, Arcreal's carefree tone remains unchanged. All I can do is try to persuade him with rational words to the extent that he is satisfied and adjust his behavior. There's no need to think too much about his character.

It seems you're later than I thought. Did you meet someone interesting?

"Oh, I don't know. This guy named Jox from the Holy Order, he showed me some pretty interesting moves at first. But after slaying him about ten times, he was just an ornament standing there with energy.

I heard about what happened at the base from T'Dwali, who had Arkreal under surveillance. The Holy Knights of the Yugra cult appeared before the people of Yugra, and Arkreal took care of them.

Ideally, it would have been better if we could have intercepted the Yugra people and reduced their strength, but this result is not so bad. Yox is very powerful, and the only ones who can defeat him head-on are Arkhreal and Nektohar. In some cases, he could have cooperated with Yugra's Star People as an individual force.

The morale of the Holy Knights of the Yugra Sect must have dropped after the defeat of the leader of the Holy Order. This kind of incident would also be useful in case of escape.

It would have been better if you had taken out all those who were present.

I would have killed the enemy. I'd kill an enemy, but it makes me sick to kill someone who can't even hold a sword. You know that, don't you, Lityal?

Of course I do. But there's someone you'll have trouble telling how you're fighting. That's my concern.

The more information the people of Yugra get about their opponents, the more they understand them. The more information they get about their opponents, the more they will understand them and be able to read and guide them as well as I can. Arclial may be the strongest, but he is not an all-powerful god, and his thoughts themselves can be easily read.

Are you worried that the people of Yugra will be able to read my movements? I'm not that smart, but that's why I can honestly follow Ritual's orders. You don't have a problem if Littoral can't read you, right?

"That's true, but... However, as the one who bears the responsibility, I have my own thoughts on the matter.

Arcreal frowned, as if he didn't want to hear any complaints. The only thing left to do is to settle the matter with the people of Yugra's planet, and since there will be no more selfish actions, we may as well end this conversation.

"By the way, I saw someone watching my fight. It wasn't a human, it was some kind of demon I had a run-in with last time.

It's probably a demon sent by the Purple Demon Lord after the Holy Knight beat him to it. T'Dourri has seen it.

He may have been told to help out if he could, but he was only dealing with Ark Real. He must have judged from the battle with Yox that there was no point and tried to observe.

He was with T'Dwari on the way back, so he wasn't being followed, was he? How did they get this far?

The holy knights showed up at the previous location where we hid Tsdoori. We can't rule it out.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's do a little reanalysis. Recalling the faces of the Yugra people he had met in Kuama, he added the information he had obtained up to the present.

That man's ability to understand is something he acquired for self-defense. It makes me dizzy to think of a world where a man that young would have had to learn so many survival skills, but it doesn't matter now. What is important is to imagine his current state.

We have a rough idea of how he broke Ts'douari's cover. But it's unlikely he's already figured out how to escape. Then, analyze whether it is possible to get to this place at this moment, and whether you can get a clue.

You look like you're turning heads.

I've come to a conclusion. The people of the planet Yuggra will appear in a few days. I'll have to tell Ts'doari and Raheit to be ready.

If that man has been in contact with the Blue Demon King, there's a good chance he understands Nektokhar's feelings. He chose this place as his base, and his thoughts can be linked to it by analyzing the history of Serende. And the people of Yugra would certainly investigate this place.

It's amazing that we can trust our enemies that much, isn't it?

There are times when it is better to remain ignorant of something so that you can interact with it without hesitation. It reminds me of Van and Gladna. Even though they didn't know each other well, they were kindred spirits. It's true that I thought life surrounded by such friends was not so bad.

But now I'm in this place. I had to choose this path for her and for myself. A faded place where I have to keep looking at the people I need to get rid of.

"It's the enemy we need to understand. It's enough to be on the same side.

There are several things to consider.

There are many things to think about, but the most important thing right now is where Nektokhar and the others have moved to. They are not going to choose any of the usual known locations at this time. After all, this is the largest base they've ever been in, so there's always a reason to abandon it.

That's all the information we can get from the Holy Knight and the Butler Army.

The only information we got from the holy knight was about Ark Real, which we don't need to use now. Butler Army, who had been observing the battle with Yox, gave us a report on the direction Arcturial had left and how he had tracked him down.

I would have hoped that Yox would have come to his aid, but he was the one that Duvraeori had unilaterally defeated. It would have been a heavy burden for the silent but intelligent Battler Army. Joining them would not have changed the outcome, in fact it may have prevented them from gaining the information they needed.

I'm not sure what to make of this. No clue.

Not really, Ilias. I'm not sure, Ilias. Arcterial moved around a lot and then disappeared. If he could have disappeared from the start, he should have done it in front of Jox and the others. He didn't because he couldn't. He must have joined up with Tudori since he was able to shake off Butler Army's pursuit. If Arcreal's actions were personal, he wouldn't be playing games. The direction of his disappearance is narrowed down.

There is always information to be gained, even if it is trivial. What is important is to be able to extract the necessary elements from that information and to have the imagination to create a complete picture from it.

I asked Prince Washekht to prepare a map of Selende and documents concerning the ruins managed by Selende. This is probably the direction we should analyze.

Shouldn't the map have been more detailed? I wouldn't want to show a detailed map to someone from another country.

That's enough. Thank you, Washekht. All we need is the information the person who drifted in can give us.

Hmm? Well, let's see what you got.

I'm pretty sure it was Ritual or Nektokhar who suggested the move. The reason for this is that they saw us coming and chose a place where they could get an advantage to intercept us. But why didn't they use that place as a base if it was so useful?

It's inconvenient to get in and out of, yet it's a lot bigger than ...... a normal ruin. Get those papers, too.

Oh, yeah.

In the documents, I found several ruins that fit the image. I narrowed it down to the direction that Arcturial had gone and the location that Nektokhar and Ritual would have chosen if they had visited this place.

It's here. Nektohar and the others are waiting for us at these ruins.

The ruins pointed out on the map are an underground refuge facility said to have been built by the Dwarven clan when the Kuro Mad King began his invasion. The corridors leading underground, several moderately large spaces before reaching the lowest level. It's not complicated enough to be called a dungeon, but it's a good place to wait.

Wait, are you sure it's there? It's right under the nose of ...... Serende Castle!

Right next to the underground ruins marked on the map is the castle of Celende, the center of Celende. The ruins were probably intended to be used by the royal family of Celende as a refuge in the event of an invasion by another country or demon in the distant future. If the place is that practical, there is no way Nektokhar will not use it.

"There are others, but this is the one. Ilias, prepare to leave. I'll check out the others just in case.

Yeah, okay.

I've got a few duplicates of the key. We can send the Butler Army to each candidate to confirm, but that won't be necessary. That's how good this place is for them.

While looking at the map of the ruins that Prince Washekht had prepared, I shifted my position to the thoughts of Ritual and Raheit.

The game with Ritual has already begun. Ritual has anticipated my arrival and is preparing for it. On the other hand, I've only just figured out the terrain of my opponent's base. It's a game of guesswork with a disadvantage, but it's not a one-sided disadvantage. In order to make the best preparations, Lytiar used the underground ruins he had found in the past. The price for this is that the research paper on the ruins that Serende examined was prepared here.

If that's the case, Ritual will probably read that I'm going to act on the information about the terrain and set a trap for me. The same goes for the bad-tempered Rahite and the covert Tudori. There is much to think about. I even came up with a foolish idea of blowing up the ruins and burying them.

"It's a big underground ruin, and there's food. If we block the exit, we'll have enough time to complete the resuscitation spell. If it comes down to it, we can just use magic to dig our way out, right?

After all, you can't feel safe unless you neutralize it directly. You'll all have to go down a dangerous path. That's why we have to avoid losing to LITIAL.

"That's why, Rytial. I'm going to cheat a little.

"......, you look like you can't tell which one of us is the villain.

Oh, I forgot Prince Washect was here and made a bad face.