Colbert walks ahead of us. He was wary of the surroundings, but he wasn't hesitant with his steps. He seems to have a clear destination.
We decided not to call out and continue to follow him.
If Colbert goes into a noble mansion or some kind of facility, we will ask Eliante or Kalk what kind of place it is. If he went into an inn, we'll remember the place, and plan to meet again under the guise of chance. The rest is to pull out the information well. That's where it's difficult.
『Where is he heading?』
(Noble town?)
『That is so in that direction…』
Colbert didn't leave the noble district, but came to the northern section of the noble district. This area is under the shadow of the royal castle, so there's not much light during the day, and only lower-class aristocrats live in this area.
In the middle of it, Colbert enters a park with a lot of trees. There are other parks in the royal capital, but the park in the noble district is truly gorgeous. This is probably because it plays a role as a garden to be seen from the outside, not as a place for relaxation as in the commoner district, but only for the scenery.
However, perhaps because it is in a place where there is less light during the day, it is dull and gloomy. No flowers are in bloom, and the trees are too dense. At night, it looks like a haunted place. If you didn't know anything, it wouldn't be strange to mistake it for a cemetery.
『What is his objective?』
(Meet someone?)
There is no straight road in the park, and if you're in a hurry, you shouldn't use it. It seems his purpose isn't just to going through it. As Fran expected, are he really going to meet someone?
If so, i would like to know the identity of the other party. We will let Urushi remember the smell, so we can tail it later.
We decided to follow Colbert and infiltrate the park. Colbert was walking straight in the park for a while, but he suddenly stopped his steps.
He watched his surroundings, without much movement. We also stopped at a distance and were observing Colbert…
『Ah!』
(Hmmh)
(woof!)
Colbert suddenly started running at full speed. Did he notice us? Moreover, while we were surprised, a new presence appeared somewhere at slightly distant place.
At the same time as the presence appeared, something was thrown toward us. It seems when he attacks, his camouflage decreased, and we can feel it.
I don't know what was thrown, but i instantly teleported above to avoid the attack with dimension shift and used physical attack nullification in a hurry.
Shyuu― (sfx)
We teleported about 20 meters above the park and looked down. We could see a green smoke fill the area around our spot before. It seems the think thrown at us was an item that generate gas. It was obviously a poison.
He seems to be puzzled because our presence suddenly disappears. His ability as a covert is considerably high, but he seems to have little experience in combat, because you shouldn’t let your presence leaked every time you act.
It seems he was an acquaintance of Colbert, so it maybe bad to kill him.
『We'll hit him with lightning magic and then teleported behind him』
(understood)
『Urushi, hides and wait』
(woof!)
『Make sure you didn't kill him』
(Nn)
I and Fran fired stun bold in a row toward the spot where we spotted his presence. A small figure emerges illuminated by pale lightning in the dark night.
We teleported, aiming at his back. It seems he took some damage, but he can still move. However, he was blown away by the lightning bolt.
「――」
We have wind barriers as well as resistance to abnormal conditions, but Fran took a deep breath and hold her breath just before teleporting. Maybe it was just her instinct. If it's a super strong poison that even these two couldn't prevent, i don't think it's enough with just holding your breath. It's better to take care of your eyes and skin.
Fran, whose mouth was inflated like a squirrel, tried to hit the figure with me still in the scabbard, but when she was in the middle of it, she retreated swiftly.
「You dodged it huh?」
It can't be helped. In the place where Fran stood earlier, a jet-black spear created with dark magic was stabbed the ground. It seems we have 2 opponents.
The new enemy who attacked Fran were overwhelmingly stronger than the previous one. In the first place, his presence is quite thin even at this close. He seems to have the appropriate covert skills and magic.
「Th-that saved me」
The one we engaged before called out to the dark magic user. He looks pretty young, and as the appraisal says, he is 17 years old. And she was a girl.
She is a beauty who looks courageous, with her light blue hair tied up in a ponytail that seems to reach her back if she unties it. She is wearing black leather equipment like a kunoichi that appears in American Comics. It doesn't just help her to blend in the dark, but it seems it has the ability to help blocking her presence in all of her equipment.
(Note: Kunoichi is a term for ninjas, but for female)
She holds her knife in her hand, and looks at me with a stern look.
At her young age, her combat prowess is quite high. But more than that, her ability as a scout is considerably high. Moreover, she seems to know how to handle poison and the type who can still fight with her hand tied.
Her name is Velmeria Bailleys. It seems by her name; she is related to count Bailleys.
The dark magic user was Frederick. He is 35 years old, but his calm aura makes him look older. He is a handsome guy with black hair. His equipment is also black ninja-like leather equipment.
Not only he has high-level skills such as sword sacred art and dark magic, but he also has a wide range of resistance skills such as Mental Resistance: Lv 8, Fame Resistance: Lv 5, and Storm Resistance: Lv 4. In addition, he possessed multiple unique skill such as Evil Lure.
However, his status is quite low compared to his skill. Even so, his status was about 100 on average, so he is not a small fish.
I've seen the opposite before. It was a noble whose level has been carried only by power levelling and medicine. However, this is my first time seeing a low status despite having higher skill level.
If you look only at his skills, he is certainly ranked B or higher. However, his status is about rank D. Maybe, he's not on his peak condition so he seemed to be weak.
Their race is also worrisome. Velmeria is a half-water dragonmen. Well, it seems there is a race called dragonmen, and i wonder if she is a half of them. The problem is Frederick's race. He was a half-evil dragonmen. I can't feel any evil, but is it a race related to evil people?
Even with the same half-dragon races, Velmeria looks almost like human. However, Frederick apparently has thicker Ryuujin blood in him.
He has reptile-like split eyes, and his right arm is covered with black scales. His left arm is covered with a gauntlet so i don't know if it has scales too. No, it seems that is not an arm with gauntlet, but a metal artificial hand.
「Be careful. This girl has immense skill」
「Yeah. I know. But how did she escape the poisonous gas and turn to attack me? 」
「Maybe it's space-time magic, that's the only think to explain her movement」
「Space-time magic user…what a troublesome one」
This would be troublesome. Frederick's declining status doesn't mean that he lost his experience and insight. As evidence, he found us out to be able to use space-time magic. It's multiple times easier to do with someone who just have their strong status.
『Fran. Frederick seems to be a cunning type, longer battle with him may be troublesome. Let's end this at once』
「Nn!」
