In order to prove to Duanmu Huai that their resistance organization was not a bunch of bandits, when Duanmu Huai came to Uruze's room again, the latter handed him a large pile of letters.
"What are these?"
"These are letters sent from all over Seth, requesting our help. Most of them are from second-tier citizens who were forced to seek aid due to being exploited by mages…"
"Letters? Aren't you a secret organization? How were these letters sent to you?"
"This…"
Knock knock knock.
However, before Uruze could say anything else, there was a knock on the door. Duanmu Huai opened it and saw a girl standing outside, wearing a postman's uniform and carrying a red mailbox on her back.
Yes, carrying a mailbox on her back.
"Ah, hello, Miss Uruze!"
Seeing Uruze, the postwoman grinned and gave her a small salute, then took several letters out of her pocket and handed them over.
"These are also letters addressed to your Iceflame. I brought them for you!"
"Thank you very much… ah, please wait a moment."
As she spoke, Uruze took a letter out of her clothes and handed it over.
"Please deliver this letter. I'm counting on you."
"Got it!"
Hearing Uruze's words, the postwoman grinned and nodded, then stuffed the letter into the mailbox on her back and immediately ran off.
"...…"
Seriously, what the hell is going on with the development of civilization in this world?
If the postman can deliver mail right to your doorstep, why do you still have to carry a mailbox on your back???
Forget it, Duanmu Huai no longer wanted to complain.
"Among the intelligence we've received so far, this one is the most serious."
Uruze seemed completely used to this. As she spoke, she handed over one piece of intelligence.
"In the second-tier citizen district of Italia, a series of murders has occurred. According to the information, the perpetrator is someone known as the Saber Knight. The first incident happened three months ago, and since then, similar incidents have occurred a total of twenty times."
"Is the security force not doing anything about it?"
Hearing this, Moso Shizuka frowned and asked in dissatisfaction, while Uruze shook her head.
"Because the victims were second-tier citizens, the security force shelved the investigation. Moreover, the perpetrator is very likely a first-tier citizen—that is, a mage—so the security force probably won't intervene deliberately."
"Uh…"
Hearing this, Moso Shizuka was momentarily at a loss for words.
"We also sent people to investigate, but both teams we dispatched had no survivors. It can be confirmed that this Saber Knight is extremely dangerous, so we hope you will take action…"
"I understand."
Duanmu Huai took the intelligence and glanced over it.
"I'll go take a look."
"Alright. Ah, please wait a moment."
As she spoke, Uruze clapped her hands. Duanmu Huai then saw a black-haired girl dressed in something similar to a kimono walk out. Seeing her appear, Kentou Kanami's expression tightened slightly—perhaps because she saw a compatriot on foreign soil… though, to be fair, this useless ninja really was useless.
"This is Miss Kaoru. She will be responsible for guiding you and explaining the situation, and her skills are also quite good."
"Then it's settled."
Duanmu Huai put away the intelligence and nodded.
"Alright, let's set off."
"Ah, please wait…"
Just as Duanmu Huai turned to leave, Uruze took out another bundle.
"Your outfits are all very conspicuous. In order to avoid alerting the enemy, I hope you can change your appearance, especially this one… Miss Moso Shizuka."
As she spoke, Uruze looked at her with a somewhat apologetic expression.
"Second-tier citizens are… rather sensitive toward the presence of mages. If you appear on the streets of the second-tier district like this, it may cause undesirable unrest."
"Alright, I understand."
Moso Shizuka nodded helplessly, then pointed at Duanmu Huai.
"Wait, what about him?"
"This…"
"No need to worry. I don't need a disguise."
"Eh? You don't need one?"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's reply, Moso Shizuka was somewhat puzzled.
"Out of all of us, you're the one who most needs to hide, aren't you? With your size, it'd be strange if you didn't draw attention walking down the street!"
"Relax."
Facing Moso Shizuka's doubts, Duanmu Huai gave a confident assurance.
"I guarantee I won't be discovered."
"...…I hope so. I really don't know where you get that confidence."
Very soon, Moso Shizuka would find out where Duanmu Huai's confidence came from.
"…Everyone, this is the second-tier citizen street."
Under Kaoru's guidance, the disguised Moso Shizuka, Kentou Kanami, and Olgis arrived at the second-tier citizen district of the city of Italia.
"…I have to say, even though I was mentally prepared, this place is just too…"
Looking at the filthy streets before her, Moso Shizuka couldn't help but frown. The entire second-tier district looked dirty and gloomy, filled with small wooden houses everywhere. Perhaps because it was night, the entire area was eerily quiet, without a single person in sight.
"The cities we visited before weren't like this."
Duanmu Huai's voice sounded from behind Moso Shizuka. Hearing this, Kaoru nodded as well.
"Because first-tier and second-tier citizen districts are separated. Second-tier citizens—that is, non-mages—are not permitted to enter first-tier districts. Therefore, during your sightseeing, it would have been difficult for you to see places like this."
That was normal enough. When ordinary people travel abroad, they don't go poking around slums for fun.
"By the way, is becoming a mage very difficult?"
"Of course not. Although there are differences in talent, basically anyone who wants to learn can master magic to some degree."
Moso Shizuka shook her head.
"Take us Four Witches, for example. I have the strongest magical power, while Maria has the weakest, which is why she focuses on mechanical manufacturing. Although Maria's magic power isn't enough to support powerful attack spells, using small tricks is no problem at all."
"I see."
Hearing this, Duanmu Huai immediately understood. Clearly, mages in this world were not like those in many novels, anime, or games—where magic is some kind of innate talent that some people have and others don't. Instead, people in this world could basically all learn magic to some extent. The difference lay in the amount of magical power. Some could only use small tricks, while others could cast offensive magic.
So it wasn't a question of having it or not, but of how much. No wonder the status of mages in other countries wasn't as exaggerated as in Seth.
"But still… where exactly are you? I feel really uneasy…"
Moso Shizuka complained as she turned her head to look behind her. She could clearly hear Duanmu Huai's voice coming from behind, yet when she turned around, she couldn't see even half a person…
"Is this some kind of magic too?"
Moso Shizuka even used magic to try to determine Duanmu Huai's position, but no matter what she did, she couldn't find him. It was simply unbelievable. After all, someone that big would attract attention just by standing on the street, so how could he be completely invisible?
"Dark Night Watcher techniques. You wouldn't understand even if I explained."
"???"
Hearing Duanmu Huai's words, Moso Shizuka looked completely confused. Kentou Kanami, on the other hand, helplessly shook her head. She of course knew about Duanmu Huai's strange technique of finding a spot to crouch in and becoming effectively invisible. To be honest, she really wanted to learn it herself—if she could please him, maybe he'd teach her a trick or two? Just like in that book she read before…
Thinking of that, Kentou Kanami's face instantly turned red, and she slapped her cheeks hard.
Stop thinking! Stop thinking!
"Ah! That person!"
Just then, they suddenly saw a man hurriedly making his way home. Moso Shizuka quickly called out to him. However, to everyone's surprise, upon hearing her voice, the man was so frightened that he immediately knelt on the ground.
"Waaahhh!! Please don't kill me! I've got more than a dozen family members at home, all crying babies waiting to be fed! They're all counting on me to earn money! Please don't kill me!"
"We're not bad people."
Seeing how badly the man was trembling, Kaoru hurriedly spoke to calm him. Hearing Kaoru's words, the man raised his head. After seeing the group of girls in front of him, he finally let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew… you scared me. I thought that murderous demon had shown up again. Ladies, you should hurry home too. It's already late. If that guy catches you, you'll be chopped into pieces! I'll be going now!"
With that, the man hurriedly turned around and left.
"So that's it. Since rumors about the murderous demon have spread, no one dares to go out anymore."
Watching the man's figure disappear into the night, Moso Shizuka sighed. But just at that moment…
"AAAAAAAHHH!!"
From the place where the man had disappeared, a shrill scream suddenly rang out. Hearing this scream, everyone's expressions turned grave.
"Quick, let's go after him!!"
They immediately picked up speed, rushing toward the place where the man had vanished. Soon, they passed through filthy streets and alleys and arrived at an open area. At this moment, the open space was already drenched in blood.
Blood was splattered everywhere. The man who had just spoken with them was now dismembered, lying in a pool of blood. Standing before him was a man clad head to toe in armor.
"That's the murderer!"
Seeing the armored figure, Kaoru immediately spoke up. Hearing her voice, the armored knight turned around, looked at them, and sneered disdainfully.
"Tch, I really didn't expect to get some extra harvest this time. This is quite nice…"
"You're the killer?"
Kentou Kanami also tightened her grip on her ninja blade and stared at the armored knight. The latter snorted coldly.
"Killer? You mean me? Hmph. These things are nothing but filthy beasts with the title of second-tier citizens, yet you treat them as humans—are you joking? We are humans carrying out a subjugation of monsters. How could there be any crime in that?"
"What did you say…?"
Hearing this, both Moso Shizuka and Kentou Kanami's expressions darkened, while Kaoru let out a sigh.
"Seth's nobility… most of them are like this."
"So that's how it is. Seems the situation is even worse than I thought."
Moso Shizuka clenched her fists and took a deep breath.
"Hey, big guy, are you going to make a move or not? If you don't, I won't be able to hold myself back!"
"Alright, alright, I know."
At that moment, Duanmu Huai's voice suddenly came from behind the armored knight. Immediately afterward, a massive black shadow stepped out from behind him.
Then Duanmu Huai reached out with one hand, grabbed the armored knight by the head, and directly lifted him up!
(The chapter ends)