No Anomalies During Operation (3)
"What the hell is that?"
"The Mirror of Visions. It lets me see any place I want."
Suddenly, an image materialized in the air. It resembled a dimensional gate, but far smaller, and inside it loomed a place I knew all too well—my room on the third floor of the inn. The viewpoint peered down from the ceiling, and there in the darkened room, Della crouched, rummaging through my dresser drawers.
"Huh...? That's Della... What the heck are you doing there...?"
Idwild must have thought her voice carried through, calling out to Della affectionately. Of course, it didn't. But seriously, what the hell was Della doing in my room? As she rifled through the drawer, she glanced slyly toward the door... then pulled out one of my undergarments and buried her nose in it... Damn it, for real!
"Sorry, Balder."
Mideronde hurriedly dispelled the mirror.
"Hehe... Della's such a perv... No wonder she insisted on doing your laundry herself..."
Idwild giggled creepily while munching on her snacks with loud crunches.
I'd suspected Della occasionally snuck into my room under the pretense of doing laundry for some shady business, but of all the times... Mideronde was technically an outsider to the inn, so this was mortifying.
"Anyway... I use it like this to peer out at the world from my lab. That's how I knew about your hero days."
Another image appeared.
"Ooh... It's Bertrand..."
There I was, over a decade ago, clad in pitch-black attire and a fur cloak, doing something or other. Man... I still looked pretty young back then. With the gleaming white Holy Sword deflected at his side, stepping over corpses of dead monsters... I couldn't even recall which battle that was. Not like there was just one or two.
Idwild clapped her hands in delight, watching the scene like it was a play or circus act. After a few more visions played out, Mideronde dismissed them.
"You asking about this out of the blue means you've got something on your mind, right?"
"Yeah. There's something I want to check, and I figured maybe you'd seen it."
"Spit it out. If I have, I'll show you."
"A while back, the kingdom's legions sealed off a few territories. And wouldn't you know it—the lords of those exact territories all got assassinated. Ring any bells?"
"Hmm... When was that? If it was after the Monster Zoo opened, sorry, but no clue."
Mideronde shook her head.
"Since opening the zoo, I've been so buried in work here that I haven't peeked at the outside world."
"Ah, gotcha..."
Damn, this was a problem. If she'd caught it, I might've gotten a lead on who was behind the assassinations... No helping it, though—you can't see what wasn't seen.
Maybe check something else instead.
"Hey, can you spy on the queen or the forward command post?"
"Too tricky."
I'd expected an easy "of course," so her answer threw me off.
"Why?"
"The Mirror of Visions is a spell that directly interacts with the target space. That means they can sense the mana waves too. If they've got wards against scouting or eavesdropping magic—which they definitely do—getting in is impossible."
"Your skills should punch right through, no?"
"I could breach it, but I'd get backtraced. No mage in this world can perfectly erase their mana signature. And you think their mages would just sit there if they detect the mirror? They'd dismantle it with dispel magic in seconds."
True... The capital and forward command would have top-tier wards. Hell, the royal palace even had the Revenge King's aegis, which blocked dimensional gates outright. So key locations were off-limits...
"What about how Duke Alvis died, then? Any idea?"
"Sorry, Balder. Can't recall seeing anything on that."
"Ah... Figures."
No dice. The only gain was glimpsing a pureblood elf's naked body—though not my first time.
Anyway, no quick way to unmask the assassination mastermind right now... Best to head to Gobert, lay all cards on the table openly, and hash out a plan to stabilize the kingdom together.
As I crossed my arms in thought, Idwild polished off the plate of snacks nibble by nibble. Mideronde magicked up more, and Idwild shot me furtive glances.
"C-Can I... have more...?"
"Gonna turn into a full pig right here? Then you'd really be one."
"Eung... Guess I should stop... Belly's so full already, no walking exercise for me..."
She slyly crafted an excuse to skip her workout, leaning back against the sofa. Mideronde smiled at the glimpse of belly fat under her shirt.
"You really pack it away. Food that good, huh?"
"Before the inn... I never ate my fill... So if there's food in front of me, I gotta devour it all to feel satisfied..."
"You've been managing your weight?"
"Weight management...? Nah...? Just starved 'cause no money..."
Mideronde looked baffled.
"Black mages make decent coin casting curses, even if not as much as proper mages, right?"
"Hehe... Dunno... Heard some take commissions... But I'm too timid for that... hehe..."
"So what'd you live on?"
"Made Sansa amulets to sell... But didn't earn much... Barely enough not to die..."
"Sansa—the shrunken head talismans? Those fetch a high price... Bet some shady middleman ripped you off, seeing how naive you are."
"Oh yeah...?"
Idwild scratched her head and grinned dopily. So damn cute I wanted to smother her in kisses.
"So, at the inn—getting paid well now?"
"Started with one gold coin..."
"What...? One gold coin?"
Mideronde gawked at me.
"Balder, I know you're a money grubber, but one gold to a black mage? That's harsh."
"No, hold up—what're you on about, Idwild? I mean your current salary, not what I gave you when the inn first opened."
Idwild flailed her hands frantically.
"Ahhh... Now it's four gold coins... Bertrand bumped it up recently... hehe..."
She launched into a full breakdown of how she splits her four gold monthly—unprompted. I was hearing this for the first time, so I listened with interest. First, she dashes to the bank to deposit two coins. Uses one for daily spending.
"Daily spending? You need pocket money? Inn covers food and board."
"Clothes... tasty snacks... theater with Marim... personal requests from Mollo uncle..."
And the last coin? Saving for a wedding.
"Wedding?"
"Eung... For marriage... Gotta buy an expensive dress... Feed guests yummy food... Triple-layer cake too, I heard... Honeymoon to Montroe or Rozhan... Hell horse'd be quick, but... carriage for romance, right...? And... can't live at inn post-wedding, so need a cute house... Ukun uncle to build it..."
What the—?
"No guests on my side... But Bertrand's got tons of friends... Bride's gotta host 'em, right...? Hundreds probably... So saving one gold a month means at least roast suckling pig... Hehe... Suckling pig sounds delish... Can we try it sometime...?"
Idwild's train of thought was a mystery... Ending on roast suckling pig out of nowhere. More importantly... Did she just say she'd marry me?
Heh... Words failed me.
"Hehe... But... can't marry now... Inn's growing... You're busy, I'm busy... Would hurt the others... And... savings ain't enough yet... Hmm... Five years from now sounds good... Should be fine then..."
Five years...? Come to think of it, Della once begged me to marry her, and I said let's revisit in five years...
Mideronde chuckled softly.
"Balder, you're lucky. Such a cute, pretty girl wants to marry you."
"Not a bad deal. Though she'd best stop gaining weight if she doesn't wanna get crushed on the wedding night."
Idwild mumbled something.
"Then I go on bottom, Bertrand on top like always... And not wedding night, it'd be the thousandth night by then... Eep...!"
I clapped a hand over her mouth; Mideronde just laughed.
Damn... Employees embarrassing me in front of outsiders—Della earlier, now Idwild.
"Time to go, Idwild. Mideronde needs her rest."
"Okay..."
I dragged the reluctant Idwild up; she bowed to Mideronde.
"I'll come for more snacks next time..."
"Anytime, dear."
Mideronde saw us out to the lab door. Idwild bowed once more; I gave a casual wave.
Stepping through the dimensional gate, the inn was dark post-closing—lights out except guest rooms. As I headed in, Idwild grabbed my arm and clung.
"What?"
"Before going in... Let's... do it... exercise..."
"Exercise? Heh, sure."
So I hauled her to the woodpile behind the inn and gave her a thorough "workout."
Meanwhile, Gobert arrived at forward command via dimensional gate and beelined for the operations room to catch up on developments during his brief absence.
The forward command ops room rivaled the palace war chamber in size. Mages continuously plotted real-time intel from scouting spells onto the central map, while couriers dashed in and out to the frontline legions. As Gobert entered, the generals poring over the map all rose to their feet.