The Water Magician

"The body checks from those guys are quite strict. It's impossible to have weapons on us."

As everyone finished their preparations and they were about to conduct the final checks, Hector glanced at the dagger Abel had concealed.

"About that ball... wouldn't it be better to hide it in a more difficult place?"

He was referring to the so-called 'transmitter' ball.

It was a ball the size of a thumb.

Abel thought that if he kept it in his pocket, it would just look like a stone or something, but Hector's comment put a damper on that idea.

"I see... Now, where should I hide it?"

Abel muttered to himself.

"If you sew it into your clothes..."

"I think it’s better to keep it in your mouth the whole time."

"Better yet, just swallow it and keep it in your stomach!"

Hector made a reasonable suggestion, Rhea made a harsh suggestion, and Lin expressed an extreme opinion.

After saying that, Lin immediately hid behind Warren.

"Am I really okay leaving my life in their hands...?"

Abel sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

In the royal capital, the hideout of the 'Morning Star.'

Hector, Oriana, and Aizeiya had tied Abel with ropes and were carrying him in a bag, making sure he couldn't be seen from the outside.

"Hector, you took quite a while."

The two who had arrived earlier, Kenji and Tarlow, welcomed Hector and the others.

"Yeah, there were a few things going on."

Hector said this and let out a deep sigh.

"We followed those three, but one went into the Royal Alchemy Workshop while the other two entered the Royal Knight Order's dormitory. We were only tasked to confirm where they went back to, so that’s why we returned. That’s good, right?"

Kenji confirmed with Hector.

"Yeah, that's enough. For now, let’s not touch those three at all."

"Eh?"

Kenji tilted his head at Hector's instructions.

"It turns out a noble, and one that was appointed by his majesty the king, is mixed in. So, we won’t touch them at all. No reports to the higher-ups about those three. We saw nothing. Got it?"

"Y-Yeah."

Kenji nodded involuntarily at Hector’s insistence.

"What the higher-ups wanted was just the capture of this man. If we hand him over safely, we won’t hear anything else. This man was drinking alone. We caught him on his way back. Let’s keep it that way."

"Got it."

Kenji replied, and Tarlow nodded in agreement.

When Hector spoke like this, the two had learned from long acquaintance that it meant something troublesome was happening.

And in such cases, waiting for Hector to resolve it had proven to be the most successful approach.

Abel was taken out of the bag about thirty minutes later.

From behind the left door, the sounds of drunken laughter could be heard.

"This is the hired adventurers' den."

As Hector pulled Abel out of the bag, he whispered softly.

At that moment, the right door opened, and a man stepped out.

"Is that him?"

"Yeah, that's right."

Hector answered the man's question.

"I'll take him. You guys rest over there. Good job."

With that, the man called another from deeper inside and flanked Abel.

Then came the body check.

Indeed, as Hector had said, it was a rather detailed inspection.

"Alright. Start walking."

Finally, after the body check was completed, Abel was made to walk.

Hector glanced at him with concern and opened the left door with his companions, entering the adventurers' den.

Abel, sandwiched between the two men, walked down the hallway for a while and then entered a vacant room.

It was about the size of two school classrooms.

In the center stood a chair, surrounded by three men.

"Sit."

Abel was made to sit in that chair.

His arms were tied with ropes, but that was all.

Perhaps the men were quite confident in their strength, or maybe they were just careless...

Just as the leader-like man standing in front was about to speak, another door, separate from the one Abel had entered, opened, and two men carried in a barrel.

Seeing this, all five men in the room shouted in a panic.

"Idiot! That's not for this room!"

"Take it to the furthest room! Hurry up!"

The men who brought in the barrel apologized and bowed their heads as they left.