Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Chapter 370

In the morning, rested after a good night's sleep, I summoned Cain to the main room.
Of course, I was together with Freed. Properly speaking, Freed had work, but he seemed to contact Brother that he was taking the morning off. It was necessary, so it couldn't be helped, but I prayed in my mind for Sion to do his best supporting Brother.
Responding to my summons, Cain descended from the ceiling.

"Cain, how was it?"

Curious about the man, I immediately asked him, but Cain apologetically hung his head and said.

"Sorry, Princess. I let him slip."
"I see, you let him slip… Eeh!?"

I raised my voice as I heard unexpected words leave Cain's mouth. Freed next to me also seemed surprised, as his eyes went round.

"You… let him slip?"
"… I won't make excuses. It was my mistake."
"What do you mean?"

Freed's voice turned harsh. Cain took a breath, raised his face, and firmly looked at me and Freed. Then, he reported what had happened last night from the beginning.

"―― That's why."
"… An information broker whose specialty is disguise… Moreover, he's from Sahaja."

Hearing the escapee's identity, I reflexively exchanged glances with Freed.

"Freed, do you know him?"
"No, as expected I'm not that knowledgeable. It's a different story from the famous Red Shinigami or Black Apostate… But, an information broker, huh. There's no mistaking it, he was approaching noble young ladies to obtain some information. Lidi, your idea was right."
"Yup…"

I'm not happy about that. I didn't want my intuition to be correct this time.

"Cain, do you know anything else about that man called Abel?"

As Freed asked, Cain folded his arms in thought.

"I'm certain that he's exceptionally skilled at disguise. As I said, his natural form I saw was completely different from his from when he was pretending to be you. His hair, eyes, physique, just about everything was different… I think he was using a special secret art. Otherwise, it would be impossible."
"A secret art, huh. You said you'd seen Abel's eyes glow red for an instant, right?"
"Yeah."

Cain nodded with a firm face.

"It was the same as when Hiyumas use secret arts. But, his eye was golden, and above all, no contract magic formation appeared. Hiyumas can't use secret arts freely without making a contract with a master. That's why, he's unrelated to Hiyumas… Is what I think."

His words began lacking confidence at the end.
I and Freed waited for Cain to continue talking.

"… A short while ago, I recalled that among Hiyumas' secret arts there actually is a transformation art. The disguise I talked about is quite possible using that. I… wasn't taught it by my dad, so I can't use it."

Hiyumas' secret arts seem to be activated by rearranging signs. It seems Cain was taught that from a young age by his father.

"The transformation art is quite difficult, and I was told it was still too early for me. I can't say for sure because I've never seen it, but Dad said that Hiyumas' transformation isn't a disguise. It seems to have never been seen through. In fact, I felt he was confident that he could serve as a substitute for his master using that art."
"Not a disguise, huh. I wonder if that Abel person is a Hiyuma after all. Cain's clan-mate. Which means, some survived?"

I came to such a conclusion after listening to him. But, Cain shook his head.

"I said it before. That's impossible. There may be survivors, but he's not one of them. His eye color is different, and despite using a secret art, the contract magic formation didn't appear. He can't be a Hiyuma."

Cain clearly declared that I was wrong.
Hearing that, Freed exhaled.

"Anyway, we know his identity. The fake me, no, the fake Apollo was an information broker from Sahaja. Cain, it's regrettable that you let him slip, but it's great to know his identity.

Yup, yup, I nodded.

"Thanks, Cain. To be honest, I wanted to determine his identity but couldn't, so I was feeling a little depressed. I'm glad you could learn who he was."
"… I'm a Hiyuma, so I'll do whatever my master desires. But… Sorry that I couldn't catch the target. I'll never again blunder like this."
"Yup. Please catch him next time."
"Yeah."

Cain firmly nodded his head.
To tell the truth, he didn't need to be so eager, but I didn't say it.
Cain takes pride in being a member of the 'Hiyuma clan'. Saying that he doesn't need to do that could mean denying that pride.
Freed said with a complicated face.

"I want to know what Sahaja is planning and what information they were trying to obtain. In fact, King Maximilian recently started to meddle with every country. This might be a part of that."

Can denied those words.

"I don't think so."
"Is that so?"
"It's a famous story that the information broker 'Kaleidoscope' doesn't accept requests from royalty. He loves money, so I've heard he likes overcharging wealthy nobles. So didn't some noble hire him?"
"Some noble… I see."

While watching Freed fall in through, I said what suddenly came to my mind.

"Hey, that made me remember. I've heard that every woman approached by that Kaleidoscope? grumbled to him about her family. I didn't understand why they would talk about that, but when I think about it now, perhaps he wanted information from those complaints."
"Nn?"

Freed turned to me.

"Because, fathers and brothers of the targeted young ladies are people with important positions in the castle. Complaints means dissatisfaction, right? If he's a Sahaja spy, he might be looking for people dissatisfied with the Royal Family or the country. Like, he wants to find a person who would easily become a traitor, or something… Moreover, Marianne said that Kaleidoscope didn't talk to just any woman. He had a specific taste, or rather, he carefully selected young ladies he'd spend time with. And, what if that taste was for example young ladies who'd tell him complaints of their relatives dissatisfied with the country… Because, isn't listening to complaints quite stressful? If there was someone who would kindly listen to their complaints, they'd easily talk when taken to the bedroom. I think he used his art of conversation to investigate whether they have such complaints at the start… but… what do you think?"

It was nothing more than an idea. But, Freed's eyes opened wide and he shook my shoulders.

"Lidi! Tell me the names of young ladies he spent time with right now!"
"Eh… Y-yup."

Despite being surprised by Freed's reaction, I nodded.
When I told Freed the names of each woman connected with Kaleidoscope that I recalled hearing from Marianne, his face visibly stiffened.

"… Those are all daughters of families in Alex's list."
"Nn? What about Older Brother?"

I asked Freed, who was making a bitter face. He looked me in the eyes and said.

"… Actually, I had Alex do some investigation on a different matter. And so, he made a list of nobles Sahaja was trying to cozy up to."
"Yup."

Was it related to King Maximilian beginning to move Freed talked about just now?
When I nodded, Freed slammed a nearby table, and his eyes wandered.

"… That list contained family names of the young ladies you mentioned, Lidi. Although a list was made, we didn't know who submitted Sahaja, nor how they investigated people who could become traitors. But, I understood the method from what you now said, Lidi. To search for dissatisfied people, he approached their daughters…"
"Amazing… Princess, you were spot on…"

Cain muttered while listening to our conversation.
Freed strongly nodded.

"I have no doubt. The first person Sahaja approached was a considerable playboy. He visited the Royal Capital many times a week and probably attended masquerade balls. Because it's hard to discover a person's identity at masquerade balls, both men and women tend to have loose tongues. Kaleidoscope must've discovered he was dissatisfied with Wilhelm that way. Then, Kaleidoscope told his employer that. The employer approached him and instigated a betrayal. However, we noticed while it was on-going, so he was dealt with. He was dealt with so Kaleidoscope could continue infiltrating masquerade balls. As long as they could get new information, they had no need to hesitate over disposing of someone who was no longer useful. I see, it makes sense."

I listened to Freed with bated breath. He said in a convinced tone.

"Kaleidoscope's employer is undoubtedly Marquis Westin of Sahaja. Since Kaleidoscope doesn't accept requests from royalty, he's probably been hired privately. Marquis Westin himself is very likely moving at King Maximilian's orders."
"Yeah, I think that's possible. If his employer is a noble, Kaleidoscope won't inquire further."

Cain affirmed Freed's words. Listening to that, I said.

"Say, Freed. Will you leave that Kaleidoscope as is? He won't pretend to be Apollo anymore, but since he can perfectly disguise himself, won't he change to someone else and continue providing Marquis Westin with information? I think it's bad to leave him alone."
"It's more than bad. This time he was easy to see through, but if his disguise is so perfect, he'll be hard to find. We need to catch him as soon as possible."
"We do, don't we?"
"… Sorry. I let him slip."
"No, there's no use blaming you."

Freed quietly shook his head towards Cain. Looking at them, I said what I'd been thinking about all this time.

"Listen, as a matter of fact, there's something I noticed."
"Nn?"
"Er――"

When I told my prediction, their eyes widened in surprise.
I wryly smiled as they showed a matching reaction and said.

"It's just a guess. But, I think the chance of it being right is quite high, so I'd like to ask both of you to cooperate a little."

Chapter end