As night deepened, Kurt and I arrived at the South District.
However, this time, the investigation and extermination team consists of more than just the two of us.
Ayra is with us too.
Not only us, but many magic soldiers have been ordered to be on alert, and she is one of them.
For Kurt, Ayra is both an old acquaintance and a well-suited partner.
With Diana unable to fight, we’ve been forming parties more often.
As for her daughter, Fiene, she wasn’t accompanying us this time.
This time, it was probably not appropriate to bring her along.
I also think that’s for the best.
Now, as for the area being patrolled, it seems that the people from the Gutschtein family, one of the three great families, are at the forefront of the vigilance in the East District, where there was damage the other day.
In the West and North Districts, magic soldiers of the Fourth Magic Angle level seem to be leading the patrols.
We were patrolling the remaining South District.
The South District, which could also be called the Commercial District, is a place where many shops are gathered.
Since it was late at night, almost all the shops were closed, but during the day, it is quite a bustling place.
Walking through the streets, which are completely silent and the opposite of the daytime bustle, I recall my parents bringing me here several times, so I have a general idea of the paths, but there are still many places I’m passing for the first time.
I think I have a good sense of direction, so I have no choice but to rely on that.
We continued walking the night streets for a while as three.
Occasionally, we passed by other magic soldiers on patrol, but we just exchanged light greetings as we passed.
There didn’t seem to be anything particularly unusual in the surroundings.
It was so quiet that I couldn’t help but doubt whether monsters were actually lurking around.
Feeling uneasy, I turned to Kurt, who was walking beside me, and asked him.
“Dad, do you have any idea what’s going on?”
“Nope.”
“Eh…?”
I nearly stumbled.
I thought he must have had some thoughts since we had been circling the same spot for a while.
To hear that it was meaningless made me feel a bit deflated.
“Kurt is always going with the flow, after all.”
Ayra said with a smirk.
At that, Kurt immediately reacted.
“…That’s not true. I’m thinking things through too, you know? It’s just that the certainty is low.”
“Then, could you share what you’re thinking?”
“Hmm…”
He fell silent, looking troubled.
So, I tossed him a question, not exactly a lifeline, but something to help.
“Isn’t it possible that they’re entering through the waterways like the last time?”
“It’s highly possible. In fact, the route of entry is probably through the waterways.”
“Then why aren’t we searching there?”
“Last time, the area of damage was limited, so it was easy to pinpoint the location of the waterways. But this time, the damage is widespread. The waterways are like a net running under the town, so it would take a considerable amount of time to pinpoint them. I’ve heard that investigations are still ongoing, though…”
I see, even during the last incident with the earth spider, if the nest’s disguise hadn’t been discovered, we would have continued searching endlessly, so pinpointing it must be quite difficult.
“However, in this case, I don’t think the entry route is the issue.”
“Why’s that?”
“To my knowledge, the only monsters that dig long-distance holes are earth spiders. Unlike black ants, they don’t act in groups. They primarily hunt alone. This means the likelihood of a new earth spider appearing is low. It’s natural to think that something has taken advantage of the hole dug by the earth spider we defeated last time.”
“You mentioned that it might be a different kind of monster than an earth spider, didn’t you?”
“Right. The monster this time doesn’t seem to be the type that brings food back to its nest. It has a tendency to enjoy picking off individuals one by one. It’s probably still lurking within the town, waiting for the right moment to strike. However, the fact that we’ve deployed so many personnel without finding a single clue suggests that it’s likely using quite advanced disguise magic. Unless we can see through that, this incident won’t be resolved.”
“And that’s why it’s up to this kid,” Ayra said, turning her gaze to me.
“Huh? What? Me??”
I was bewildered when I was suddenly the focus of attention without any preamble.
“Both Ayra and I can sense disguise magic. However, our detection range is limited, and it only works if the magic level is low…”
Saying this, Kurt lightly placed his hand on my head.
“I wanted to handle this on our own if possible… but it seems we really need your help.”
“What do you mean…?”
Kurt looked at my face.
“Nero… I want you to see through the disguise magic.”
“Eh…?”
“Just like when you saw through the earth spider’s magic.”
“Wait a minute. How do you expect me to see through it?”
“Last time, I just happened to notice something unusual as I passed by. Right now, I’m walking down the street and don’t feel anything in particular.”
“Well… even if you say that, I don’t really know what to do…”
“Don’t worry, if you focus your awareness and enhance your sensitivity to the flow of magical power around you, you should be able to figure it out.”
“Like this…?”
I closed my eyes and began to vaguely direct my awareness to my surroundings, as if I were meditating.
My mind became calm, and my brain filled with silence.
It’s quiet… I can’t hear anything…
It feels like my consciousness is melting into the surrounding air… If this continues, I could fall into a deep sleep—
“…Wait! No!”
“Hmm? What’s wrong?”
Kurt looked at me with a puzzled expression.
“I don’t feel like I can sense anything at all.”
“Calm down. You can definitely do it. Listen, a magic angle is equivalent to one edge, and each edge is like a sensitive sensory organ. By merging that with your five senses, you can gain the ability to sense magic, which can be considered your sixth sense. Moreover, by chaining the magic angles together, that sense expands exponentially. If you, Nero, with a higher magic angle grade than us, do this, just imagine the difference it will make… You’re smart enough to understand that, right?”
I see, so I’m sensing using the magic angles.
I can think of each edge as being like an antenna or sensor.
When I chain them together, the sensing ability multiplies sevenfold on the first tier. On the second tier, it would be seven times seven, which is forty-nine times, and on the third tier…
Whoa…
Just imagining that makes it clear how outrageous it would be.
It’s only natural that as the stages increase, there would be a significant difference from the Fifth Magic Angle grade.
After all, it’s important to learn the theory properly rather than just relying on my senses.
If I hadn’t learned this, I might never have reached this point.
“I feel like I understand now. I’ll give it another shot.”
“Yeah, please do. You have the Eye of Rupture ability on top of that, so it should be even easier for you to sense.”
So the Eye of Rupture can also be useful here.
Is it like having enhanced vision tied to my sixth sense?
Well, anyway, let’s try it.
I immediately deploy the base magic angle.
As instructed, I focus on the edges as sensory organs and spread my nerves around me.
In this state, I still don’t feel anything.
I deploy the second tier.
The range I can capture expands dramatically.
However, I still haven’t gained anything.
I immediately deploy the third tier.
The range expands even further.
Now I can sense the entire South District and Central District.
But I can only detect the magical powers of the magic soldiers on patrol.
When I deploy the fourth tier, it spreads enough to cover the entire town of Fergaiya.
However, I still can’t detect any magical power emanating from monsters anywhere.
That means there are no monsters lurking in this town.
But that wouldn’t explain the damage we’ve seen so far.
Is something still missing?
While I was pondering this, Kurt offered some advice.
“The detection range can expand as far as the magical power doesn’t run out. But if you do that, you’re just spreading thinly and widely. To uncover higher-level disguise magic, the depth and density of your detection ability become important.”
“Deep… and dense…?”
“You can connect magic angles in more than one direction.”
More than one direction…?
I see!
I had assumed that I could only connect one magic angle to one edge, but I can connect as many as I want.
If that’s the case, I could stack them up three-dimensionally on the first tier.
“All right!”
I quickly chain another magic angle from the starting magic angle.
Visually, it looks like the magic angles have doubled.
Just after the first tier magic angle connected multiple times…
I caught a strong magical power nearby.
It was something sinister, unlike the magical power that humans possess.
I immediately looked up.
Then, I saw the roof of a nearby house distort unnaturally.
“Dad! Up!!”
I instinctively shouted.
In that instant, Kurt reflexively jumped back from the spot.
At the same time, the ground where he had just been standing caved in as if it had been gouged out.
Something huge fell from the roof.
Kurt immediately unleashed a slash toward the point of impact.
In an instant, the space warped and exploded.
The disguise magic was blown away.
“This is…”
Kurt and Ayra were astonished at the sight of the monster that appeared.
It was a gigantic centipede, at least three times the height of a human.
It had a black, shiny armored skin.
Countless legs writhed.
Its long body raised like a cobra in threat, and it rubbed its knife-like fangs together, making an unpleasant sound.
Could this be the culprit that was attacking the residents?
Just then, I sensed something unusual.
“Gigi… u… delicious…”
“!?”
I was taken aback.
That was clearly emitted from the monster right in front of me.
“The monster… spoke!?”
