Chapter 77
At the words that Liana had been found, I momentarily paused and urgently asked Siren, "Where is Liana now?"
At that question, Siren made a somewhat complicated expression and said to me, "She was definitely in the port city, but suddenly disappeared."
The moment I heard she suddenly disappeared, one possibility instantly arose in my mind.
The only way Liana could move quickly was by using a teleportation device.
But what I don't understand is, why did she go somewhere else when she clearly knew we were in the port city?
If she used one of her abilities to implant sight and hearing into objects, she could have easily found out that we were in the port city.
Yet the fact that she didn't come to find us was somewhat puzzling.
There's probably no chance of that, but let's assume so.
What I really didn't understand was that she left for another place in less than a minute.
As I reached this thought, a simple speculation arose in my mind.
Perhaps Liana came to the port city knowing we were there, but due to “some” problem, she had no choice but to immediately go somewhere else.
It's hard to think a problem urgent enough to leave in 1 minute occurred.
Even if such a problem did occur, Liana would prioritize Ruen over such a problem and try to save Ruen first.
Recalling this point, I pondered for a moment and came to one conclusion.
Could it be she's being chased by someone?
If this speculation was true, I could roughly understand why she stayed for only about a minute and left.
If she trusted Siren's detection ability and stayed for only about a minute to let me know she was being chased, everything makes sense.
Reaching this point, I calmed my expression and thought calmly.
I don't know who touched Liana, but it's likely planned by those who know Ruen is in danger.
I didn't know who the enemies were, but one thing we could guess was that if they were willing to touch Liana, an informant of the Information Guild, there was a high chance they were not ordinary individuals or groups.
So thinking I should go help Liana as quickly as possible, I opened my mouth, "Then let's go out for now."
At my words, everyone nodded without saying much and followed behind me.
***
As we stepped out of the shadow city, warm light welcomed us.
I narrowed my eyes and looked around, then turned my gaze to look at the shadow city spread under the buildings.
In theory, if I could just subordinate it to my shadow, I could carry anything...
Since the scale of the shadow city was too large, I decided to consider the possibility that it might not work and stretched out my hand.
Certainly, because of its size, the pressure was quite strong, but…
...It's easier than I thought.
Perhaps because I had already dominated everything while crushing it, I could succeed much more easily than imagined.
With that thought, I put the shadow city into my shadow.
Deciding to leave this as it is for now, I decided to go to where Liana had visited first.
"Siren. Can you tell me the location where Liana came?"
"Yeah. Follow me."
Siren seemed displeased that I had been clinging to Ruen earlier.
She subtly pushed Ruen away, then stood beside me and grabbed my hand, pulling me to one side.
Although she had shown jealous reactions before, this was the first time she acted so directly, so I looked at Siren in bewilderment, but Siren pulled me to one side with a nonchalant expression.
After walking like that for about 10 minutes, we were able to arrive at an ordinary house slightly away from the center.
An ordinary port city house that could be seen anywhere, with nothing special about it.
I pointed at this and confirmed with Siren if this was the right place.
Siren nodded and pushed open the door, saying, "There's magic cast that causes perception reduction and rejection reactions."
Is that why they placed it so openly?
Or did they aim for the fact that it's dark under the lamp?
Not sure, but thinking it was good that it was close, I went inside and saw a very messy corridor.
Just looking at this, one might think it was not managed at all, but despite the mess, there was a lot of dust accumulated on the floor, so I could tell people frequently came and went here.
It feels like the right answer for now.
I patted Siren's head to show she did well.
Siren made a proud expression like Daisy, then glanced at Ruen.
"...?"
Could she be boasting to Ruen about being praised?
Thinking Siren's behavior was quite cute, I smiled slightly then shook my head.
So where might the teleportation device be?
Considering what we've seen so far, there was a high chance it was in the basement, but with that thought, while looking for a trapdoor that could lead to the basement, Siren seemed to have found something and pulled on my clothes, saying, "Here."
Hearing those words, I looked in the direction Siren pointed and saw a table piled with junk.
Thinking it might be under this, I was about to put my face down when Siren snapped her fingers, made the table disappear, and said to me, "There was an illusion magic cast."
"..."
I smiled awkwardly, feeling somewhat embarrassed, then opened the trapdoor below and went down.
Going down like that, what I saw was a teleportation device that had become somewhat familiar by now.
Looking at this, I wondered if Liana had left anything else behind and looked around, but…
It seems she didn't leave anything else.
Probably judging that enemies might find it, no matter how much I searched, nothing came up.
Then all that was left was this teleportation device, so after pondering for a moment, I decided to go inside.
But what worries me is where this is connected to.
There was a high chance of an awkward situation unfolding if we fell into the middle of enemy territory, so I became a bit cautious, but there was no other way, so I decided to go in for now.
Making that judgment, I said to Siren and Ruen, "I'll go in first."
It would be better for me alone to take the brunt if there was a trap inside, so saying this, I activated it.
***
After the characteristic dizziness of teleportation magic enveloped my head, what I saw was...
...unexpectedly, a small attic room with nothing special about it.
As I was feeling disappointed at the somewhat surprising destination, I saw Siren and Ruen coming out of the teleportation device.
Thinking it was fortunate we arrived safely, Ruen looked around and told me the identity of this place.
"Ah, this is... the Information Guild."
"This place?"
"Yes. I came here once before following Liana."
If she escaped to the Information Guild, would it be right to think she escaped safely?
...No. Considering that teleportation devices can only move to predetermined locations…
It seemed more likely that the Information Guild was a dangerous place for Liana.
With that judgment, I decided it would be right to take a combat stance and gripped my mace tightly.
If I remember correctly, the guild master of the Information Guild was quite strong.
Certainly, before becoming the Information Guild, it was an assassination guild…
Just before my thought finished, the shabby-looking door slowly started to open.
I was frowning at the black corridor where the inside couldn't be seen when a woman in a maid outfit came in and greeted us.
"We've been waiting for you."
Her expression wasn't smiling at all, but her voice was bizarrely bright.
Feeling an inexplicable creepiness, I was on guard when the maid turned around and nodded as if telling us to follow, then moved forward.
I don't know what's what, but since we've been discovered, it would be better to follow.
Anyway, there were many ways to escape.
There was the method using shadows, and Siren's teleportation magic.
If worst comes to worst, the jewel to call Loraine...
The moment I touched the jewel in my chest, suddenly a question arose in my mind.
I had forgotten for a moment because things were so urgent, but I belatedly realized that Loraine's whereabouts were unknown.
Come to think of it, where did Loraine go?
As she was a top-grade Expert just short of reaching Sword Master, there was probably no need to worry about her safety, but because she disappeared without a word, I was somewhat worried.
No, it's not that Loraine disappeared without a word, but would it be more accurate to say I disappeared without a word?
Since I immediately went to save Ruen as soon as I came out of the training ground, from Loraine's perspective, it would be right to say I suddenly disappeared.
Anyway, the important thing was to rescue Liana, so as I was following the maid, a quite interesting sight came into view.
It's very luxurious, but mixed to the point of being excessive.
I blinked, looking at the passage where numerous luxurious interiors were mixed in a jumble.
To use a food analogy, should I say it feels like caviar, saffron, white truffle, and Hanwoo beef mixed together?
Anyway, as I was thinking it felt too miscellaneously mixed, Siren whispered to me, "Something's strange."
Just as I was about to ask what exactly was strange, someone calmly walked towards us and spoke to me.
"Welcome to the Information Guild, Damian. We've been waiting for you for a long time."
At the words "long time," an eerily ominous feeling came over me.
I narrowed my eyes and looked at the man.
The man smiled faintly and said to me, "I am Sinclair, the guild master of the Information Guild."