Published: September 9, 2025
※2015/02/15 Typo corrections made.
※2015/02/12 Some parts revised.
This is Satou. When I think alone, I tend to get stuck in a mental dead end. At times like that, it’s best to take a short break to cool down or consult someone else, and a way out often appears easily.
â—‡
…Maybe spreading rumors about the precious pearls was a mistake.
Lying on the roof of the mansion, gazing at the stars, I was thinking about Ropo, whom I met earlier.
The fact that I didn’t notice him until he spoke to me.
That despite placing a marker, I lost track of his presence.
That he has a level comparable to a high-rank demon.
Most likely, he has a concealment-type unique skill strong enough to deceive even unique skills.
I considered teleporting silently, but no matter where I teleport, hiding from the map’s marker list is impossible.
Even dimensional shifts or closed spaces—judging from Yuika’s case, I don’t think it’s possible to hide from the marker list.
Thinking about all this, it seems concealment-type unique skills are the most likely.
From these clues, I have some idea about his true identity.
He must be someone like a hero, a reincarnator, the Demon King… or perhaps a god or one of their apostles.
Still, if he has a perfect concealment skill, why would he send minions to steal?
He’d have a higher success rate if he stole it himself.
There must be some reason behind it.
If only I had checked the AR display properly at that time—
Suddenly, I felt a warm sensation on my stomach and lowered my gaze.
“Welcome back~?”
Tama was curled up on my stomach.
“What’s wrong? Did something go wrong?”
This time Arisa appeared by teleporting and silently slid her knees under my head, giving me a lap pillow while gazing at the starry sky.
“—Just a little.”
“It's okay to fail sometimes. After all, you’re human.”
Arisa comforted me in a big sister tone while stroking my hair.
It’s embarrassing to be worried about by your ward.
I guess enough regret and reflection for now.
—Next time, I won’t get my priorities wrong.
“Yeah.”
I responded to Arisa and stood up.
Alright, time for action—
â—‡
Seeking information, I headed to the Restricted Library.
Of course, in my Nameless form.
“Hum hum, hum, hum hum hum…”
—A rare sight.
That taciturn princess was humming a tune.
“—Ah.”
She noticed me and blushed, falling silent.
“You’re in a good mood. Did something nice happen?”
“Yes, a little.”
“I see. That’s great.”
Apparently, she was also happy to have become friends with Arisa and the others.
Friendships are truly beautiful.
Seeing the pretty girl so cheerful lifted my spirits. Time to focus on my original goal.
I went to the six-armed librarian golem and asked it to look for some books.
“—Requesting the Water and Fire and Space Forbidden Spell Catalogue and books on unique skills.”
The living dolls piled the books on the desk for me. I stored them into my inventory and searched keywords like “concealment,” “recognition interference,” and “stealth” in the menu’s search function.
It seems those good at concealment and stealth are relatively common; I found several unique skills used by famous past figures like Demon Kings, thief heroes, and assassination kings.
However, none of the skills stated they could counter other detection-type unique skills—only that they could invalidate ordinary detection skills.
—Makes sense, the original sample data was probably limited.
There was plenty of useful information, so I copied the forbidden books I examined into the forbidden books folder on my notepad.
From the Forbidden Spell Catalogue, I selected “Complete Control of Blood” for Mia, and “Dimension Shredder” and “Ash Flare” for Arisa, then asked the librarian for spellbooks containing those spells.
“Apologies, all except for spatial magic books are currently on loan.”
—On loan?
I glanced back at the princess, who had resumed her humming. Indeed, the book I requested was beside her.
She wasn’t reading it now, so I decided to borrow it for a bit.