153. Owl Capture (2) (Map)
153. Owl Capture (2) (Map)
- 1 -
"Why do people always lie?"
A quest into the inner and outer realms of humanity.
To begin, the ten-year-old Arpina buried herself in the library, delving into all manner of psychology, magic, and sorcery.
Magic arts that dealt with the human mind.
Among them, forbidden texts were scattered as well, but such light taboos did nothing to curb her curiosity.
"Young miss. Aren't those difficult books a bit too early for you yet?"
"It's fine. I can understand them."
'At least far better than you can.'
At her maid's worried voice, young Arpina wore an innocent smile on the outside, while a sharp sneer curled within.
In truth, she understood all of it perfectly.
And within that understanding, she meticulously stacked up her own future and desires.
"Won't you show me your true heart?"
Two years had passed since she had thus woven the threads of fate (緣) through self-study.
The year she turned twelve, Arpina realized her fate-weaving (緣構) for the first time.
The target was a girl who had been the ringleader among the fellow noble children who usually tormented her.
Sarak!
It was the moment magic etched a gleam of mana into the target's eyes.
"I envied you. Everyone whispered that you had commoner blood, but you were free. Me... every day was hell for me. I can't live up to my parents' expectations...!"
The face of the lovely child who always pretended to be noble twisted, and from her mouth poured endlessly the most intimate true feelings she had kept hidden.
"I wished you were dead! Like those beggars rotting in the back alleys!"
Feeble and clumsy malice, gushing out like mud and poison that had been blocked by a dam.
The moment she witnessed that scene and felt that emotion firsthand.
"Ah...!"
Arpina felt a thrill surge from her toes to the top of her head.
'This is it!'
What she had been searching for.
It was peering into the painful true feelings of others and the inner depths of their souls.
Oh, how sweet a pleasure it was!
- 2 -
Currently, there were two organizations that divided the continent's information network between them.
- We are, at our roots, a group founded by soldiers, so we are closer to an army of loyal volunteers where orders are well obeyed. That is, a group that prioritizes honor and justice over practical gain.
In the days when communications had not developed across the continent, it was the successors of the honorable 'heralds' who had relayed all information on foot: the Information Guild.
- That side is the exact opposite. It is a group founded at the center by 'Thousand Faces' and those who follow his ideals, who broke away declaring, 'Our honor requires appropriate compensation.'
The information merchant group led by 'Thousand Faces,' the 'Gray Eye.'
Where there were such fated rivals, it was only natural that there would be 'talk, talk, talk' among those in the know, discussing 'who was stronger.'
People's opinions on the matter were as follows.
- Because of that, the general consensus is that the Guild possesses information of a higher standard, but the information merchants are better embedded with those in power.
- I have often heard that same assessment, Master.
"As I expected."
However, I suspected that this assessment was somewhat biased.
Talhan was a fake, but at any rate, he had been an executive in the Information Guild, whereas Haley was only an external collaborator for the information merchants.
'I wonder if it's safe to say that the Guild and the merchants actually possess information of nearly equal quality.'
If this were true, it was a remarkable thing.
The Information Guild regarded intelligence gathering as a 'duty' for the continent's safety, whereas the information merchants made 'the trading of information and pursuit of profit' their very purpose.
"How is Michaela's situation."
- We currently have her hidden in a safe house in 'Mamille.' If you give the order, she can be used in any direction.
Mamille was a border fortress adjoining the small kingdom of Kiza, and one of the major cities connecting central Hysen to the border counties.
There were multiple options for how to deal with Michaela.
We could make her quietly 'disappear' as if she had indeed entered the convent.
We could use brainwashing or suggestion to make her help her sister Elena.
After having her head 'washed clean,' we could also pass her on to the information merchants at a high price.
Personally, the first option pleased me the most, but in the end, it did not matter which.
'In any case, to let her live on like this... she is truly a woman who makes one's insides churn.'
The things I had seen inside her head resurfaced.
These feelings of mine had arisen after I had confirmed the 'true faces' of the 'moderately debauched' nobles of this world.
'Repulsive things.'
For example, a horrific meal made from 'special pork,' enjoyed once or twice a year.
For example, the recruitment of personal hunters to procure that meat.
For example, the brutal game of gathering family members and deciding who would become the 'pork.'
She had apparently been enjoying that 'special meal,' whose caloric content exceeded 10,000 calories in the thigh alone for a target with a decent amount of flesh, along with a few others around her.
That she did not fall ill even after all that must be the effect of magic, as expected.
This was one of the proofs of the proposition Sonia had stated: 'The nobility were raising people inferior to commoners as livestock.'
'And this is only a 'moderately debauched' level...'
The even more stomach-churning fact was the sheer existence of nobles who might hold such hobbies in any number.
They were the ones whose actions could be described as making the Elena from Elias's time seem like a comparatively 'quiet' noble by comparison.
- Master.
"Speak."
Perhaps having read my murderous expression, Haley carefully opened her mouth.
- A young lady of high nobility is a financial resource that is difficult to secure. There is a need to refrain from simple consumption.
"I am aware."
But the desire to kill her did not easily subside.
It was not that I wanted to feel morally superior to her, nor was it a desire to maintain some petty hypocrisy.
Did 'Sacrifice Strengthening' not also touch the same vein as their 'special dietary habits' in that it ultimately used people as nutrients?
It was just...
'It's infuriating.'
The fact that such things existed among those who breathed the same air as me was simply unbearable.
That there were those who treated the act of devouring their own kind like a family gathering and enjoyed the suffering and screams as a side dish to their drink, treating it as a mere hobby or pleasure.
It felt as though they were mocking the very means of my survival.
I shook my head and shook off the thoughts. That was not what was important right now.
"Where are the 'owls' nests."
- Yes. There are a total of three places estimated to be the main base of the 'Gray Eye' Hysen branch.
Talhan marked dots on the map one by one.
Seyur, Oyson, Marvois.
In three cities centered around the royal capital of Hysen.
- Seyur is a trade city on the border with the small kingdom of Hillsa, sandwiched between Hysen and the Norn Empire.
- Oyson is a port city located northwest, close to Hysen's capital, Hairaish.
And finally, Marvois was a fortress city where the army of Copherin County was stationed.
"The range is wide. Where is the most likely location?"
- It is most likely Oyson.
"Because it is close to the kingdom's center?"
- Yes. Master.
As I listened to his words and looked at the map, I marked one more place and left a mark.
"Let's add this place as a candidate."
- Master? This place is...
- This is...
The name of the city I had newly designated was Orando.
It was an ordinary city located at the foot of a mountain, far removed from the royal capital.
A place with no particularly noteworthy features, save that the hides of beasts or monsters were recorded as its specialty good.
- Pardon? ... Ah.
Both of them had given me puzzled looks at my words, but Talhan's expression soon changed as if he had realized something.
Haley continued her question toward me just as she was.
- But Master. This city truly has nothing.
- The fact that it 'has nothing' is what is strange, Baroness.
Talhan said with his eyes shining.
As expected, his ability was rather good. He would likely have found it eventually even if I had not pointed it out.
- Am I correct? Master.
"Yes. That is so."
- What? Ah...!
Haley's eyes soon widened as she let out a sound of surprise.
She had finally grasped my intent.
"This place has too many households."
- And it is also fate-linked (緣結) with the other three cities around the capital.
- There is another city, Grollrup, in a similar location, but that one has value in being on a river basin like Oyson.
"Yes. But Orando has nothing else. Except that it is connected to Coerdiman by a mountain path."
Coerdiman was a city close to Guileus County, to which Solemio belonged. It was one of the cities under the count who ruled this area.
And a mountain path was a form of road that was difficult to maintain without constant effort.
"In other words, there have been many people crossing the mountain."
- It could be hunters, or a route to send the fruits of that labor to the south...
I shook my head at Haley's point.
"Hunters do not travel where there is no path. And there is no reason to go out of one's way to sell hides elsewhere when there is a highway one can take carts on."
- Your words are correct, Master.
- I will look into this as well and then report back.
"Yes. Haley, help him as well."
- Of course. Master.
After seeing off the two figures as they disappeared from beyond the communication bead, I stared back at the map.
My 'intuition,' which had grown stronger since coming to this world, was pointing to Orando. But strangely, the other three cities Talhan had pointed to also did not give me a particularly bad feeling.
'What could this mean...'
"Master."
"Shue?"
It was Shue's voice that roused me from my thoughts.
She approached me and looked at the map together with me, then kneaded my shoulder and slipped in a single quiet word.
In a voice full of hidden meaning.
"Owls are predators. If they are not family, they live alone..."
In an instant, a smile spread across my lips.
Because I could tell right away what her words meant.
"Even if they are family when young, once they grow, they do not live in the same forest."
"Yeah..."
Shue nodded drowsily, then crouched beside my chair and rested her chin on my handrest.
When I tickled her chin, a quiet growl leaked out.
If her words were correct, it meant that all four of these cities could contain 'owl nests.'
Perhaps figures at the executive level of the 'Gray Eye' each had their own bases.
"The hunt will need to be conducted with care."
"Yeah... because those beasts will notice change right away."
I nodded at her words.
To hunt these sensitive raptors, I would have to strike their nests almost simultaneously.
Before they realized there was a predator devouring their friends in the other forests.
If not, it would also be good to secretly mix other birds among their chicks.
So they would nurture and raise them without even knowing it themselves.
Whether they were 'owls,' or 'raptors who had learned the habits of owls.'
As long as their habits and lifestyle fell into my hands, that was all that mattered.
"Yes. Thank you."
"It was nothing..."
When I gestured to Shue, she knelt quietly beside my chair.
For a while, I bestowed upon her various 'rewards.'