Published: September 9, 2025
※2015/2/23 Typo corrections made.
※2015/2/26 Some sentences were revised.
This is Satou speaking. The fun chase between detectives and robbers only happens in fiction. In reality, multiple police officers team up to corner the culprit.
◇
I spent the entire night talking with Hikaru, and at dawn, we left the Temple of the Celestial Dragon.
Hikaru said he would come to the Royal Capital after pacifying the Celestial Dragon.
Since the temple wasn’t treated as my own area, short-distance teleportation from myself was possible, but directly moving to the temple via unit placement from a long distance was impossible.
He let me place a return teleportation inscription plate in a corner of his mansion, so we can meet anytime.
Before leaving the temple, I tried to reconcile with the dragons, but they were more frightened than I expected and wouldn’t approach the temple, so I asked Hikaru to take care of their mental care.
Someday, I’ll bring gifts and visit them again.
At first, I hesitated whether to stop by Boruenan, but since only Lulu was awake at that time, I decided to deal with the robbers in the Royal Capital first.
I teleported by unit placement to the Pendragon mansion, and just as I was opening the menu to activate the anti-magic element camouflage detection skill, I suddenly realized something.
—If it’s a skill with bad fuel efficiency, it shouldn’t be activated all the time.
Thinking that, I checked the map and found that Ropo was plainly present in a corner of the slum.
It seemed my prediction was correct.
I checked the robbers’ hideout where Ropo was on the map and teleported by unit placement to the room where he was.
Just before, I changed from the appearance of Nameless to the same form of Kuro as yesterday.
Ropo was sleeping on a bed with two naked women beside him.
He hadn’t noticed me yet, probably because I was using demonic essence camouflage and concealment skills.
The two women also seemed to be part of the robbers, so I could move straight to arresting without hesitation.
I lifted the sleeping Ropo slightly with the magic hand and bound him with ropes made from thorn vine foot vines.
He must have woken up because he let out a deep, wild scream.
At that scream, the women grabbed daggers and took defensive postures on the bed.
Since this was troublesome, I neutralized the women with remote stun bullets.
The women fell off the bed when neutralized, and the knife one held cut shallowly across Ropo’s cheek.
Unlike yesterday, the blood that flowed did not emit smoke; it just left a red stain on the bed.
“Who the hell are you?”
—We just met yesterday, and you’ve already forgotten?
I didn’t answer his words and, like with the women, shot a remote stun bullet into his abdomen.
I thought he’d resist, but it was much easier than expected; Ropo collapsed.
...Strange. This is too easy.
When I used the anti-magic element camouflage detection skill, I felt something unusual on Ropo’s wrist.
According to the AR display, it was an artifact named "Thief God’s Equipment," which seems to be a recognition disruption device.
Unable to remove it easily, I touched it directly and stored it in my storage.
—Who is this guy?
The person I thought was Ropo changed appearance.
He became a bearded middle-aged man around level 30.
It seemed he was a decoy disguised by the artifact.
I left only the fake Ropo behind and captured the other robbers, handing them over to the Royal Capital’s guards.
◇
Returning to the robbers’ hideout, I revived the fake Ropo from unconsciousness and began interrogation.
“Well then, tell me about your relationship with Ropo.”
“Hmph, I have nothing to say to scum like you—”
I could call for Master Pochi and Master Tama, but here I decided to threaten him normally.
I sliced the steel armor in the room in half with the demonic sword in my right hand.
“Will you still say the same after losing your limbs?”
I have high-grade magic potions to restore limbs, but I have no intention of actually using them.
“—That cold, expressionless face means you’re serious.”