Chapter 78: A Wizard's Method for Breaking Disguises
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 78: A Wizard's Method for Breaking Disguises
Behind the face of the young genius wizard was a man who was once the greatest prodigy of the Magic University, and now a criminal toying with both the Public Security Headquarters and the Labyrinth Union.
Ingelam.
“Ugh.”
He sat perched on the corpse of Lizard from Public Security Team 2.
“Last time, and this time too, the kids who come to catch me seem to have the wrong idea,” he said.
“I’m not running around the 4th floor because I don’t want to die. It’s because I don’t want to kill.”
He tore a piece of cloth from Lizard’s clothes and wiped the blood from his face.
“I told you, I’m a pacifist. For real.”
“……”
Only three prisoners remained at the scene where four constables had been murdered.
Lilweed and his companions, still in handcuffs: the canine beastman rogue and the human female fighter who had sided with Lilweed when their organization split.
“Long time no see, you two. Why did you have to side with him and invite your own deaths?”
Ingelam smiled, staring intently at the canine beastman and the female fighter.
“Please spare us! Boss, we’ll serve you from now on, please!”
“W-we were tricked by Lilweed, too…”
The two rubbed their cuffed hands together, begging.
“Please let us live!”
“If you give us one more chance, we’ll dedicate our lives to you, boss!”
“You’re making my heart go soft again.”
Ingelam glanced back at his Avian companion.
“What should we do?”
Ingelam’s party consisted of an Avian rogue, a Barbarian fighter, and a Halfling druid.
Those who had remained with Ingelam during the split were all high-ranking members of the organization.
“Let’s just kill them all!” the Barbarian said.
“It would’ve been easier if that wizard party had killed them. Disappointing that they just had to call the constables,” the Halfling druid clicked his tongue.
The Avian’s wide and clear vision had been observing Caleb’s party since their encounter with Lilweed. Finding Lilweed’s presence here interesting, they had watched, only to see the two groups suddenly start fighting, with the wizard’s party overpowering them in an instant.
“Aren’t those guys 4th-floor newbies? Their faces were unfamiliar.”
Ingelam grabbed Lilweed by the hair, forcing his head up.
He pressed the tip of his wand against the hollow of Lilweed’s throat.
“Tell me everything you know about that party.”
“I-I don’t know much… Just that the wizard is a rookie who’s been making a name for himself at the university lately…”
“He’s from the university?”
“That’s what I heard…”
“So he’s my junior. You’re telling me there’s another decent rookie besides Clorence in the classes below me?”
At that, Lilweed offered a shocking answer.
“He’s… a first-year.”
“……”
The smile vanished from Ingelam’s lips.
“A first-year came to the 4th floor?”
“It’s only been a month or two since he enrolled.”
“Does that make any sense? No matter how talented a first-year wizard is, the 2nd floor is usually their limit. To reach the 4th floor, you’d need the experience and magical skill of at least a third-year.”
“It’s true! That’s what my investigation revealed.”
Ingelam stroked his chin, lost in thought.
When he had confirmed that the wizard’s party had subdued Lilweed, Ingelam had held a quick meeting with his companions.
‘What’s going on? Is that wizard party trying to rob Lilweed?’
To the Barbarian’s question, the Avian shook his head.
‘Probably not. It looked like they were sending a message to the constables.’
The conversation then turned serious.
‘They sent a message to the constables?’
‘The first line said something like, “Constable Neko.” I couldn’t see the rest because his hand was in the way.’
‘But Lilweed showed up decked out in familiar-looking gear, didn’t he?’
‘He’s trying to make replicas.’
‘And they called the constables for that?’
‘Does that mean the constables are on their way here now?’
‘If Lilweed gets captured, our identities will inevitably be exposed. We have to intercept him.’
Unaware that his identity had already been compromised, Ingelam had made his decision.
The question was, when should they attack?
‘Now! Let’s kill that wizard party right now and snatch Lilweed.’
That was the Barbarian fighter’s suggestion.
‘If the constables arrive while we’re fighting, we’ll be at a numerical disadvantage. Let’s attack when the constables are taking him away after they’ve secured him.’
That was the Halfling druid’s suggestion.
‘I agree. If we attack now, Lilweed and his lackeys might side with the wizard’s party and fight us. We should wait until the constables have him in cuffs and are leading him away.’
That was the Avian rogue’s suggestion.
Ingelam was a man who gave his officers’ opinions due consideration.
Through a democratic process, the decision was made 2-to-1 to wait for the constables!
…Or so the story went. In truth, Ingelam was bothered by that wizard.
‘I’ve never seen that magic before.’
The wizard had summoned a cloud.
There was a cloud-summoning spell in Tier 3 magic, but this felt different. It was smaller, yet far denser and taller.
Rather than fighting a wizard with unknown magic, it was better to target the constable party as they were transporting Lilweed.
Since the constables were likely here for the poachers and not Lilweed, he had planned to propose a deal to those beggars: kill Lilweed and split his magic equipment. In return, he would help them catch the poachers.
If the constables were persuaded and killed Lilweed’s party, they would save time without even having to fight.
“We’re already way behind schedule.”
The Avian nudged Ingelam’s shoulder.
“Normally, we’d have reached the foundry by now.”
Ingelam’s party always aimed to be the first to rush to the foundry, snatch the Condensation Core, and leave.
Today, however, two unexpected battles had caused significant delays.
“Let’s deal with these guys quickly and go.”
“Should I kill them?”
The Barbarian raised his axe.
“Wait.”
Ingelam was still bothered by that wizard.
“Is that first-year’s name Caleb? I heard the constable call him that.”
“…Yes.”
The other regular parties on the 4th floor were not a problem, but that wizard’s party was full of unknown variables because they were rookies.
They might clash, so he needed to find out as much as possible.
That was the nature of a duel between wizards.
The spells in a Memory Book were like a hand of poker, and reading your opponent’s hand was essential when wizards fought.
“What kind of magic does he have?”
“I-I don’t know much about his magic… Just that he can create clouds and something about superconductivity.”
“Then there’s no other choice.”
Ingelam gave the Barbarian a signal. The axe flashed upwards.
“Wait!”
A horrified Lilweed screamed.
“Th-there’s one more thing! I know one more thing!”
He shouted desperately.
“He’s a no-incantation, high-speed caster!”
“What…”
Even for Ingelam, hailed as the greatest prodigy in the history of the Magic University, this was shocking.
Could such a wizard even exist?
*
“I don’t see anything.”
The foundry, as scouted by the Wizard’s Eye, appeared to have no particular dangers.
No monsters, only machines.
These facilities must have been used by some ancient being that was devoured by the Labyrinth.
Its master was gone, but the foundry still ran noisily.
Hiss!
A gas cylinder vented steam.
Swoosh!
Molten magic stone sludge churned in the blast furnace.
It passed through a dust collector and traveled through pipes to a casting mold.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A massive hydraulic press stamped the mold. Hot smoke billowed up, and when the Condensation Core shone down on the center like a surgical light…
Piiing!
A light flickered in its eyes, and a golem rose to its feet.
Thud, thud, thud.
The golem slowly exited the rolling mill and went out into the field. There, it would gather with others of its kind and move in squad units.
For this reason, there were usually very few normal field monsters in the foundry.
‘No special boss, either.’
Instead of field monsters, a special monster could appear in the foundry.
A Golden Golem or a Blacksmith.
Either one was incredibly powerful, so if one was present, it was better to just wait for the next opportunity.
‘No poachers, either.’
Of course, even if there were poachers, they wouldn’t be walking around with faces Yernil recognized, but there were simply no adventurer parties inside the foundry at all.
If someone had been there, she would have had to wonder if they were in disguise.
“Let’s go in.”
I sent the signal to the entire party.
To Aimus, Back Attack, and Yernil.
And to the feline beastman crouched behind them.
“Let’s go.”
Neko relayed the signal to her constable team.
*
We met Neko’s team in front of the foundry.
Neko, a female Lizard crossbowman, a human male priest, and an orc male fighter.
We had exchanged messages and promised to cooperate up to a certain line.
That line was the line of safety.
“Let me say this again. I will assess the poacher party’s combat strength beforehand, and if I judge them to be too strong, I will avoid them. Neko, you must do the same.”
I reiterated this as we entered the foundry.
“Yes. Understood.”
“Attacking recklessly isn’t brave, it’s stupid. Their goal is also the Condensation Core, so if we don’t attack first, they likely won’t go out of their way to chase us.”
“……”
“So, we’ll break their disguises from a distance, then feign a surprise attack to see how they react. We’ll observe what magic and skills they use.”
“Understood.”
Unlike the exit boss Back Attack from before, a wizard around the 5th floor could have taken any number of tech trees, making the possibilities endless.
A battle between wizards demands an information war first.
Without sufficient prior knowledge, the chances of victory plummet.
“They’ll probably try to check us out before we enter the foundry, too.”
“What should we do then?”
“Do you have any sound suppression-type magic?”
“Soundproof Wall.”
“Please use that.”
It was a relief to have two wizards.
Neko’s wand activated the Soundproof Wall spell. It was a spell that suppressed noise within a 10-meter radius.
A bit lower tier than Owl’s Hunt or Silent Night.
“What if they track us by scent?” the human priest asked.
“We won’t be caught by scent.”
That was because the inside of the foundry reeked of combustion gas and cooling catalysts.
I didn’t know if the enemy had a canine beastman, but even if they did, they wouldn’t be able to track us by smell in here.
Then what about ‘sight’?
“Dense Fog.”
The wizard-exclusive hooded cape contained a utility spell that summoned fog.
It was a utility spell because the fog had no attack power whatsoever.
Instead, the fog had a considerable range and high density, making it difficult to see through from the outside.
“But won’t this prevent us from finding the enemy, too?” Yernil asked.
“That’s right.”
It would be difficult to observe not only with the naked eye, but also with the Wizard’s Eye. The Wizard’s Eye was a rare and excellent wizard’s tool, but it didn’t have the ability to see through fog.
“To check their disguises, we have to see the cards on their shoulders.”
About that method…
“Neko.”
I don’t think the method of identifying friend from foe using the Remaining Party Check Card is strategically optimal.
“Something like a card on the shoulder can be found out.”
“That’s right. They could use illusion magic to create a similar-looking card. But the constables have brought an additional way to see through that.”
Neko said confidently.
“What is it?”
“Public Security Team 2, Dreta’s team, has fake cards. And I…”
Neko took something out of her pocket.
[Current Adventurer Parties on 4th Floor: 16]
[Current Adventurer Parties on 4th Floor: 16]
[Current Adventurer Parties on 4th Floor: 16]
[Current Adventurer Parties on 4th Floor: 16]
[Current Adventurer Parties on 4th Floor: 16]
“What are these?”
There were five cards.
“When we meet a suspicious party, I’ll tear one. If the number doesn’t drop, it means the card on their shoulder is an illusion.”
I see.
She’s used her head, but Neko, do you really think this will solve the problem?
There’s a more fundamental issue.
“The problem isn’t illusions. What if the poachers kill an adventurer party and take their card?”
“That part, we have to leave to fate. Everyone will tear up their own cards if the situation gets bad, to prevent them from falling into the poachers’ hands.”
“Neko.”
“Yes.”
“If you want to become the Chief of Public Security and change this city, you can’t rely on things like fate.”
“B-but…”
Neko’s ears twitched in surprise.
“How else can we break a disguise spell? This was the best method we could come up with.”
“If I were you, Neko, I would have brought a Watcher.”
The one from Blackdog’s casino. Didn’t Krom say so himself? That they had placed Watchers on the 1st floor to see through the White Lion’s disguise.
“That’s ridiculous!”
Neko was aghast.
“Not only are Watchers incredibly expensive, but the item itself is so rare you can’t just get one anywhere.”
“You could have gotten one from Krom.”
“How?”
“Blackdog is also displeased with the poachers sniffing around Sohen. The casino is closed right now anyway, so the Watchers are probably just sitting in a warehouse. If you had requested their cooperation in catching the poachers, they would have lent you one. It would have taken some negotiation, of course.”
“……”
It’s not like Neko wouldn’t have thought of this. I could tell just by looking at her face.
The reason she didn’t do it was…
“You didn’t want to ask Blackdog for help because it hurt your pride, right?”
“Th-that’s…”
That was probably it.
It would be an admission that the Public Security Headquarters couldn’t handle the poachers on their own.
For an orthodox constable like Neko, it was probably a case of, ‘I’d rather die than ask Blackdog for help!’
“I’ll help you this time. With a Watcher.”
“You have a Watcher, Caleb?”
“Not yet.”
“…?”
Neko’s eyes narrowed.
Did he mean he didn’t have one yet, but was about to get one?
That’s right.
I was about to get one.
Click.
I pulled out a single brick from the golden wall of the steelmaking process room where the Golden Golems were created.
Rumble!
The wall began to move.
“Just a moment.”
I calmed the adventurers, who had gone on alert in their surprise.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m taking out a magic hammer.”
Lilweed had rambled on about how he’d heard you could bring magic equipment here to enhance it.
He was wrong.
The only things that could be enhanced with Gobniu’s Hammer were items with an evolution option.
‘Like the Wizard’s Eye, for example.’
I reached into the hole that had appeared in the wall and pulled out the magic hammer.
A white light twinkled from it.
In my left hand, I held the glass bottle containing the Wizard’s Eye.
The Watcher is a high-tier vision tool, a direct upgrade to the Wizard’s Eye.
Tap.
All I had to do was lightly tap the glass bottle with the tip of the hammer.
“What…”
Neko’s constable party froze in shock.
“How did you do that?”
Yernil, Aimus, and Back Attack were the same.
The glass bottle had transformed into something like a rolled-up scroll.
Fwoosh.
When I unfurled it, what popped out was—
[Watcher]
It could see through fog, detect invisible beings, and forcibly cancel disguises.
When it came to detection abilities, it was a top-tier tool for wizards.