Suspicious Guys

Two days before Ariel first received the letter. Marian’s office.
“These are the letters that came for Marian-nim today.”
“…Put them on the desk here.”
Hearing my words, the adjutant piled the letters high on my desk.
“There are particularly many today. Well then, good work.”
The adjutant, who gave me a sympathetic look, then carefully left the office.

‘I miss the days of adventuring with party members…’
A lament naturally comes out seeing the mountain of letters.
The place where reports should be on the desk was soon filled with letters containing invitations from nobles to join their factions.
“Sigh…”
I deeply sighed, then started opening the letters in front of me one by one.

‘Those damn marriage proposals…’
The contents of the letters were diverse. Social gathering invitations were the least of it, there were invitations to join their groups, and even marriage proposals.
‘Maybe I should just say I like women. Then these invitations wouldn’t come.’
These days, even my family was in an uproar.
Worried that I’ve passed the marriageable age, they keep sending letters about marriage, to the point where I get a headache just seeing letters now.

Knock knock.
Just as I was holding my head looking at the pile of letters on the desk, I heard a knock on the door of my office.
The adjutant just left, did he leave something behind?
“Marian-nim. Guests have arrived.”
“…Guests? Show them in.”
The adjutant’s voice announcing that guests had arrived.

‘It’s probably another noble asking me to join their faction.’
What guests could I have, with my shallow social relationships?
These days, due to the Emperor’s worsening health, underground power struggles are intensifying.
Besides sending letters, the number of nobles coming directly to persuade me was also increasing.

Nobles who’ve met me face to face don’t come again. No, maybe they can’t.
Creak.
“Marian. It’s been a while.”
“Long time~”
But contrary to expectations, those who opened the office door and entered had welcome faces.

“If it isn’t Leon and Mona? Sit down for now. Tea… oh, it’s all gone. Wait a moment. I’ll quickly buy some new tea leaves…”
“Haha, it’s fine, Marian.”
“Are you that happy to see us? You’re all flustered.”
Leon and Mona answered with smiles, seeing my obviously flustered appearance.

“Hm, what’s this hidden cat doll here? It’s cute.”
She immediately finds the cat doll I had hidden.
“I, I bought it when I saw it at the market last time. Anyway, when did you return? If I had known, I would have gone to welcome you.”
“We came back yesterday. There’s no need for us to be at the frontlines anymore.”
“Does your return mean that the remnants of the Demon King’s army have all been cleaned up?”

Mona, who seemed somewhat dissatisfied, answered my question.
“No. Now the frontline is busy with people trying to build up their own achievements. It’s completely turned into a political arena.”
“I see…”
“This time it’s my turn to command, that turn, I got tired of it all and just came back with Leon. They’ll manage somehow.”

Well, given Mona’s personality, she’s not one to stand by and watch such things.
I guess she probably turned things upside down once before leaving.
“These days Leon and I are preparing something, and we came to see you and Lister’s faces while we’re at it. How’s work these days?”
“…Don’t even ask. I’m about to lose all my hair because of nobles visiting almost every day.”

“You’re in a similar situation… I wonder if Ariel left us anticipating this situation?”
Mona spoke in an uncharacteristically bitter tone.
The atmosphere suddenly darkened as the topic of Ariel came up.
Leon gently took Mona’s hand, who looked dejected.
His expression also had a hint of bitterness.
…Come to think of it, Leon and Mona probably don’t know about Ariel’s news. Since they were away.

I carefully spoke to them.
“Well, about Ariel…”

The two showed contrasting reactions after hearing the full story about Ariel.
“…So that’s what she was thinking.”
“Idiot. Idiot Ariel. Really!!!!”
Mona, unable to hide her excitement, said to me.
“Marian! Tell me where Ariel is! I’m going to make that pretty face cry!”
“Calm down, Mona. But I want to know where Ariel is too.”

Well, I probably had a similar reaction when I first received communication from Ariel.
“Calm down. If you go in this excited state, you’ll only make Ariel hate you. I happen to have a vacation scheduled for next week, so let’s go together then.”

It was a vacation that my adjutants had forcibly applied for out of concern for my recent stress.
I couldn’t refuse their goodwill and was planning to just clear my head, but now I can go meet Ariel with Leon and Mona at that time.

“Next week…? Wait a minute.”
Leon closed his eyes as if trying to recall something after hearing my words.

“Isn’t it Ariel’s birthday next week?”
“Hold on…. What’s today’s date in the Imperial calendar… Oh? That’s right! Next week, the 27th. The Day of Fire.”

Ariel’s birthday? Come to think of it…
“When is Ariel’s birthday?”
“Me? June 27th… Ah, they use different terms here. The 27th of the Wind Month.”
…It was definitely next week. I remember overhearing it when Mona mentioned it in passing before.

“Hehehehe.”
Mona laughed meaningfully.
‘This is bad.’
Whenever Mona laughed like that, she always had something up her sleeve.
“Hey guys. Let’s give Ariel the biggest surprise on her birthday!”
“…Here we go again.”
“What’s wrong? It’s fun, isn’t it? Haha. It’s time to show my skills.”

What a well-matched couple.
Afterwards, under Mona’s lead, we started planning a birthday party for Ariel, partly as revenge for her not contacting us all this time.

===============
We’ve kidnapped Lister too.
Phantom Thief Lemona.

The letter Cherny brought had only one sentence written, as if they were too lazy to write more.
I immediately tried to contact Lister through communication magic, but again, no response.
‘Are they playing around?’

“Um, Ariel-nim. There’s a strange magical tool inside here.”
“…Bring it here.”
The magical tool Cherny handed over was a simple voice recording device.
It works by injecting mana to play the stored voice.
‘What kind of voice did they send?’

I received the magical tool from her and immediately injected mana.
Then, familiar voices flowed out.
“Kyaaa. Ariel, save me. I’ve been captured by bad people~!”
“Co-come alone. I’ve been caught by these villainous scoundrels. Damn, do we really have to go this far…”

…It was Lister and Marian’s voices.
It might be my imagination, but somehow the voices don’t sound serious at all.
“It, it seems like they’re playing a bit of a prank. Or is it just my imagination?”
“…Maybe.”

The date written in the first letter that arrived is tomorrow.
I don’t know what these letter senders are aiming for, but I have no choice but to play along.
And today, the date written in the letter has arrived.

“…Should I go too?”
“It’s okay. The letter said to come alone. Please take care of Saya and Puel.”
I left the house with a determined mind, leaving behind Cherny who was seeing me off.

‘…This much rest should be enough.’
Even for me, using teleportation magic consecutively can be a bit burdensome, so I need to take breaks in between.
The letter only had an approximate date written, not a specific time.
‘Surely they didn’t forget to write the time.’

If they were that careless, they wouldn’t have been able to kidnap Marian and Lister. It probably means to come anytime.

‘I wonder why they went as far as kidnapping the hero party members to lure me.’
If they had the skills to kidnap Marian and Lister consecutively, they could have come at me directly instead of doing such troublesome things.
…Actually, there’s one possibility that could explain all of this.
‘The possibility that Marian and Lister betrayed me.’

No. That can’t be.
But even that person I spent so long with stabbed me in the back, didn’t they?
“Please, shut up.”
Blood flows from my lip that I unconsciously bit. I didn’t feel the pain.

I thought I had gotten much better after reuniting with Saya, Puel, and the other companions, but it seems the deeply engraved wound in my heart hasn’t fully healed yet.
But the difference from before is that I’m already prepared to be betrayed.
Even if all of this turns out to be a trap by Marian and Lister, I will willingly walk into it.

‘Is this the right place?’
Arriving at the place the letter sender mentioned, what I see is a quite classic-looking mansion.
However, the mansion is worn out in places, and vines are growing wildly on the stone walls surrounding the mansion, claiming their own space.
…Evidence showing that human touch has been absent for quite a long time.

“An ownerless mansion…?”
Creak.
After opening the rusty iron gate, I crossed the garden overgrown with weeds due to long neglect.
The fountain located in the center is slightly tilted and rusted in places, probably because water no longer flows.

‘It’s a bit eerie…’
Even in broad daylight, the shadowy mansion exudes a quiet yet eerie atmosphere. Are Marian and Lister being held captive here?
Step, step.
I arrived right in front of the mansion.
‘There are… presences.’

Three, no, maybe four? There might be a magical tool interfering with detection magic, as I could only vaguely confirm the number of people.
“Should I just smash it?”
No. Marian and Lister might be inside, so I can’t destroy the mansion from the outside.
After rechecking the several layers of protective magic surrounding me, I carefully reached out and turned the doorknob.

“Mona. Come to think of it, did we write what time to come in the letter?”
“Ah, I forgot… Be quiet! They’re coming now. We’re doing it as planned.”
“…Aren’t you an idiot?”
As I entered the mansion, I started to hear someone’s conversation.
And a letter placed on the floor.

===============
Look behind you.
Phantom Thief Mona

“Look behind…?”
At that moment, a presence approaching me from the darkness.
By the time I noticed, the assailant had already covered my eyes with something like cloth.
‘Magic… won’t come out?!’

The assailant who easily broke through the several layers of protective barriers and caught me. I immediately tried to respond with magic, but no magic could be cast at all.
“Mmph… mmph!”
I wonder what method they used. As far as I know, the only thing that can nullify magic casting itself is Leon’s blessing…
My thoughts didn’t continue any further, and I lost consciousness due to the overwhelming sense of weakness.

“Leon! Weren’t you too rough?!”
Mona spoke to Leon as if scolding him.
“…My life was in danger on this side.”
If Ariel had noticed the presence a little earlier, it would have been Leon who was subdued.
The reason Ariel was subdued so easily was thanks to Leon’s blessing that nullifies magic casting of those he touches.

“Sigh… Ariel… in a defenseless state…”
“Lister? Your eyes look a bit scary.”
Ariel lying defenseless and Leon holding her.
Lister breathing heavily and Marian watching this whole process with mixed feelings.
For a moment when humanity’s strongest forces were gathered, it couldn’t help but be a very suspicious scene.