Alice Sunborn’s Plan

Ah, she’s an idiot… Hikaru thought when the girl—who somewhat looked like a boy—asked him to punch her master.

「I-I’m not an idiot!」

「Oops. I was thinking out loud. But yes, you’re an idiot. I just let you go. If you just up and disappeared, that would make you a third-rate spy. Second-rate if you tailed me. But asking for a favor is plain stupid.」

「It just hit me, okay?! What do you want me to do about it? By the way, what does it take to be first-rate?」

「Why don’t you use your brain?」

「Ouch! So mean!」

How am I mean? You should be grateful I spared your life!

Hikaru’s basis for his rating was whether or not a spy could carry out their original mission or not.

If a spy escaped after being let go, that only meant they failed their mission, which makes them third-rate. Tailing Hikaru to gain intel is a good move, but still only second-rate. After all, she didn’t notice that she was being followed. Therefore she can’t possibly tail Hikaru successfully. The first-rate move is to get as much information as possible. In that sense, she’s not wrong in keeping the conversation going longer. But she’s actually seriously asking for a favor which is nothing short of absurd.

「Please, I’m begging you! I always thought there’s no one in this world who can give him a good beating, but I think you can do it.」

「What kind of master is he even…」

「I’m glad you asked!」

「It was a rhetorical question!」

「My master is invisible! He’s so good at making himself disappear!」

「………」

「He just vanishes in the blink of an eye. Literally.」

Hikaru grabbed Alice’s hand in spite of himself.「Sounds interesting. Tell me more.」

After hearing about her master from Alice, Hikaru formulated a theory. He was most likely right, but he didn’t need to tell Alice about it.

Her master called himself Keikai. As to why she provided information non-stop, it was because she realized Hikaru wasn’t from Ponsonia, their enemy. He also spared her, but her job class played a part.

Ordinary Soul Color Distinction God: Soul Reader, a fairly rare five-character job class. It allowed the user to get bits of information regarding the target’s feelings towards them or whether the target was trustworthy or not.

But fear seized Alice when she realized she couldn’t read Hikaru’s emotions. It was the same for her master so it definitely had something to do with his Stealth, but Alice didn’t know that much.

Hikaru finally believed her story when she showed him her job class. Her soul card was issued in Quinbland.

Either way, Ponsonia can’t avoid a civil war. But if everything goes well, there will only be a bloodless coup. After that, it’s all up to the nobles.

Depending on the outcome of the insurrection, the special forces who were after Lavia might even get fired. Hikaru could beat up the king anytime so he decided to go see Alice’s master for now.

Someone like me, huh? I wonder how they will act.

Hikaru knew there was still a lot to learn about his Stealth. He wanted to use a predecessor as a reference.

「Take me to where your master is, then.」

「Wait, really? You’re coming?!」

「Yeah. Your master will get mad at you for failing your mission. He’ll chew you out, even. So you want to use me to avoid that, right? And get your revenge while you’re at it.」

「Ugh… I-I didn’t expect you to see through everything…」

For a beginner spy, Alice was quite competent. Unfortunately she was also an idiot. But that also meant she was easy to deal with.

「Wh-What should I call you?」

「Silver Face. Let’s go.」

「O-Okay, Silf!」

「Don’t shorten it like that.」

「Silsil…」

「How about I kick you?」

「Ouch! You already did!」

Alice’s plan went like this:

They would head to the meeting spot and Alice would report her failure to her master who would most likely explode in rage. Hikaru would attack the master before or after that happened. Alice said he didn’t have to kill her master; one or two… or three to four hits was enough.

You must hate him so much… Even Hikaru was taken aback by her grudge. So I just have to make sure I don’t kill him?

Their meeting place was in front of a huge boulder deep in the mountains—the kind of place that only local hunters knew, with only animal trails.

So Quinbland is this knowledgeable about the local geography…

Hikaru cautiously strode onward, but he felt a little worried if he could find his way back to town in this darkness. Alice said he could follow the nearby river down to make it back, however.

He had his Stealth on already. All he could see with his naked eye was a boulder, but his Mana Detection showed there was someone there—Keikai. They probably had their Stealth on as well.

「That didn’t take long.」the man said.

「Eek! M-Master? I didn’t know you were already here.」

「I needed to wait for you intel. So how did it go? Was Gafrasti N. Valves there?」

「Ah, yes, he was. But I got busted right away.」

「They did?! How?! Don’t tell me you didn’t conceal your presence like I told you to?!」

「I-I did! I wouldn’t have made it to the loft if I didn’t! The man you described to be Gafrasti N. Valves and Margrave Grugschilt were indeed there. Gafrasti’s assistant and a beefy dude with trimmed blonde hair as well.」

Come on, don’t call him beefy. Hikaru approached Alice’s master from his blindspot.

「The assistant—a woman—and the beefy guy sensed me right away. So I couldn’t listen to their conversation at all.」

「Wait a minute. Tell me more about this beefy… I mean, well-built man.」

「O-Okay, sure.」

Alice explained Lawrence’s appearance in detail. She actually managed to get a good look despite the fact that she didn’t have much time and she had to peek into the dimly-lit room through a small gap.

「That sounds like Lawrence D. Falcon. I’m surprised you made it back alive.」

Her master quickly realized it was the Order of the Knight’s Captain who was in the room with Gafrasti and the Margrave. Then…

「Who’s there?!」Keikai drew his dagger and prepared himself.

A boy wearing a silver mask stood before him. He’d deactivated his Stealth.

「Are you the supervisor of the Empire’s spies?」the boy asked.

The distance was enough for Hikaru to summon the man’s Soul Board.

【Soul Board】Unken F. Balzack

Age: 211 Rank:51

47

【Vitality】

..【Natural Recovery】2

..【Stamina】5

..【Immunity】

….【Magic Resistance】1

..【Perception】

….【Smell】1

….【Taste】2

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】6

【Physical Strength】

..【Strength】9

..【Weapon Mastery】

….【Short Sword】6

….【Bow】3

….【Throwing】4

….【Armor】2

【Agility】

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】2

….【Mana Obfuscation】2

….【Imperceptibility】2

……【Group Obfuscation】1

【Dexterity】

..【Dexterity】3

..【Tool Mastery】

….【Pottery】2

【Willpower】

..【Mental Strength】3

【Intuition】

..【Instinct】4

..【Detection】

….【Life Detection】1

「What’s Pond’s Adventurers Guild’s guildmaster doing out here?」

It was none other than Unken, the man who taught Hikaru how to dissect monsters. It was just as he expected, though. Based on Alice’s description, and the fact that they were a master of Stealth, Unken was the only person that came to mind.