The Mysterious Child: An Adventure Tale Beginning with Numerology

"'Full Survey'"

In the first level of the Mataisa Kingdom Dungeon.

Usually, you'd see a few novice adventurers in this place, but now it's just us [Rozewill], Court Magician Cardel, and Guildmaster Daisoma.

The existence of the labyrinth core is a state secret. Since its theft is being kept secret, they're restricting entry under the pretext of a poison gas leak.

"So this is the forbidden 'Full Survey'. It uses intricate magic, just as rumored. Dyna, did even your dull senses feel anything?"

"No, nothing."

"I see. So, how about it, young lady? Did you find the labyrinth core?"

"Mm, it's not here."

"...How far into the dungeon did you search?"

"Everything."

Elen's "Full Survey" covers over a 10km radius. It seems she was able to cover all 100 floors of this dungeon.

Cardel frowned.

"Surely it can't be that it's not here at all. Could you try once more, just to be sure?"

"'Full Survey'... not above ground either."

"Hmm."

A 10km radius should even exceed the maximum distance the labyrinth core can be taken out.

If it's not underground or above ground... what does this mean?

"Hey Cardel-san, is it possible it's hidden in an item box or something?"

"The labyrinth core is alive, you know. Storage magic can't store living things."

"I see."

Our party members are also tilting their heads, thinking.

"Is there a possibility it's being disguised?"

"'Full Survey' is ultimate-class magic. To deflect it, you'd need a magic formula of equal or greater power. Even relying on magical tools, you'd need legendary or mythical grade items to hide it. ...I don't think such tools are that common."

"...Indeed."

Nagi, who's equipped with two legendary accessories and a mythical weapon, averted her eyes slightly.

Elen has touched the labyrinth core before, so she's unlikely to have missed it. If that's the case, there's only one possibility I can think of.

"Then, could a monster have absorbed or swallowed the labyrinth core?"

"Oh? Can't 'Full Survey' thoroughly examine the insides of living beings?"

"No, it can't."

It's the only weakness of the forbidden all-purpose search magic.

Originally, it uses two types of magic power to permeate and examine everything through wave detection, but living beings have their own inherent magic power inside them.

It's not that it can't search at all, but when it collides with the inherent magic power, the accuracy drops significantly. If the target is right in front of you it's different, but for large-scale omnidirectional searches, it seems you can't see inside bodies.

"That's troublesome."

"What's wrong?"

"One of the ways to register as the labyrinth core's master is to familiarize a certain amount of your magic power with the core. It requires a large amount of magic power so not just anyone can do it, but if a floor boss-level monster swallowed the labyrinth core, it could become the dungeon master in a few days."

Which means if someone defeats the dungeon boss after that, the labyrinth will collapse, right?

Well, as expected, this is a serious situation.

"...You don't seem worried at all?"

"That's not true."

"If the dungeon collapses, you won't have a chance to meet your cute students anymore."

"What did you say!? Elen, can you search inside bodies right now!?"

"Impossible."

Elen dismisses it bluntly.

Damn, at this rate, my precious rendezvous with Lilith will be lost!

"Don't tell me Ruruk, you're not making eyes at one of the students, are you?"

"Mm, cheating?"

"Are you a meeting creep?"

"It's a misunderstanding! I'm just fully supporting the future of my students as a teacher!"

"I wonder~"

"Guilty."

"We're having a family meeting later."

"...Sorry folks, save your lover's quarrel for later. We're in an emergency situation now."

"We're sorry."

We apologize to Daisoma. Except for Elen, of course.

Anyway, our plan to discover the labyrinth core with search magic has been utterly defeated.

"Even so, the labyrinth core is quite large, right? Wouldn't that limit the number of monsters that could swallow it?"

"But if we can't find it, doesn't that increase the possibility that a monster has swallowed it?"

"Well, yes. Then for now, shall we go around defeating the dungeon bosses on each floor? But we haven't cleared this dungeon, so we haven't registered any transfer devices..."

I remembered we can't use transfer devices.

I was wondering how they were planning to have us do this exploration quest, when Cardel grinned.

"For times like this, we've pre-registered the transfer devices with temporary cards. You can use those."

"...Isn't that just cheating?"

"Don't say it out loud. Well, even if someone without sufficient ability got their hands on it, they'd just die quickly if they went to the lower levels."

"That may be true, but..."

Still, it means we can go straight to the bottom floor without clearing it, right?

We could get rare materials as much as we want.

"By the way, is it okay if we register our guild cards after we transfer?"

"That's not allowed. Everything needs to be done in order. Even the temporary cards were registered by steadily progressing from the first floor."

"Tch, so it's not that convenient after all."

Well, whatever.

For now, it seems we'll be using the temporary cards to go around defeating the floor bosses.

"Then, let's use the temporary cards right away..."

"Don't rush. Given the situation, we'll split up to do this. Dyna, we're heading out too."

"First battle in a while, huh. I'll contact Verugana and Quinard right away."

"I'm counting on you."

Oh, seriously!

The former SS-rank party of the Guildmaster and Court Magician is reactivating? This is turning into an unexpectedly exciting development!

I'd like to observe if possible.

"We'll depart first thing in the afternoon. Until then, I want you to search above ground just in case. But don't enter the court. You hear me? Absolutely not."

"Understood."

He emphasized it.

Well, I wouldn't dream of entering a place overflowing with royalty and nobility even by mistake. I don't want to step on a tiger's tail. The chances of finding it are low anyway.

After seeing off Cardel and the others who were hurrying back, we decided to plan our schedule until the afternoon.

"When it comes to searching, only my 'Eye of Illusion' can search inside bodies or for hidden things... I wish my field of vision had a search function too. It's too much work to keep x-raying everything in range~ It's like a compound fracture~"

"If things were that convenient, we wouldn't have any trouble."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Then, how about this?"

"?"

Saaya held up a finger and pushed up an imaginary hat.

"It's elementary, my dear Rulucson."

"Could you be... Sayalock Holmes!?"

"If we can't figure out the hiding place or culprit, we should ask someone who knows."

Saaya said with a mischievous smile, pretending to puff on a pipe.

That's certainly true.

Without hesitation, we decided to head to Luney Trading Company, where information is likely to be gathered.

■ ■ ■ ■ ■

"What's going on!"

In this Mataisa Kingdom, there are three types of trials.

One is the normal trial. All general citizens who commit crimes are subject to this trial.

One is the nobility trial. When nobles or royalty commit ordinary crimes, this trial is used. Of course, the trial itself is closed to unrelated commoners.

And finally, there's the special-class trial.

This is a trial conducted in secret even from lower nobility when upper nobility like ducal families or royalty commit crimes that can't be made public.

Of course, cases that might fall under this trial are handled differently from the detention and investigation stages.

In other words, even the prison exists deep within the royal castle - in the basement of the court.

Naturally, no one's voice can reach there, and only a limited number of people can enter.

"Hey! Why? What did I do!"

Gavin Muuteru bangs on the iron bars.

Captured by his colleagues and seniors, the royal guards of the sixth princess, Gavin was thrown into this prison without knowing why.

There's no jailer.

It's a special prison deep underground to begin with. There's no one else here, and the only escape route is through the front.

Although he could easily get out using magic since it's just iron bars, doing so would make it impossible to explain himself even if it was a false accusation.

Gavin had enough judgment to understand that much.

"Damn it! What's going on!"

The inside of the cell is no different from a normal room like a tatami room, with a toilet and bed in the back. There's even running water so you don't run out of drinking water. Perhaps because it's designed with the possibility of royalty being imprisoned, it's kept clean.

That subtle comfort also rubbed Gavin the wrong way.

He punches the iron bars out of frustration.

There's no response from anyone.

Treason against the state? What's that?

Is it because he slept in the area reserved for royalty?

...Don't be stupid, that can't be it.

Gavin takes a deep breath to try to calm down.

"Could it be people from other factions?"

Gavin's Muuteru family belongs to the current king's正派閥 faction.

Even in a monarchy where the direct royal lineage holds strong authority, there are many factions within. There are several opposing factions.

If this is someone's scheme, he might have become their target. Even until now, there were many instances of jealousy towards a rookie knight like Gavin becoming a royal guard for the 6th princess.

Still, fabricating a charge of treason against the state is no joking matter.

It's too risky to use a first-class crime at the level of a special-class trial just to bring down someone from a disliked faction. If it were to be exposed by any chance, an even more serious crime would be imposed. For a noble, it would be more than just losing their title. The entire clan would be charged with treason.

So why?

"...Damn, I don't understand..."

Gavin couldn't be called smart by any stretch of the imagination.

He's aware of this himself, which is why he studies desperately every day. Treason against the state is something smarter people would do.

I'm barely keeping up with being pushed around by my lord as it is.

The image of the always carefree Maple floats in Gavin's mind.

The face of the girl he promised to return to immediately after the morning assembly.

"Ah... I couldn't keep my promise."

He doesn't understand difficult things.

But Gavin understood at least that he had made his lord sad.

Sitting on the bed and looking up at the ceiling, Gavin now felt more incompetent about this fact than about being arrested.

In the end, it was more than half a day later when someone came next.

□ □ □ □ □

"We sincerely apologize. Regarding that matter, we have temporarily suspended providing information."

In the special reception room of the Luney Trading Company main store in Mataisa Royal Capital.

When we visited Navi last time to shop, we were greeted by a woman who introduced herself as "Pentan", the top of the Mataisa area.

I had received her business card, so when I presented it at the reception earlier, we were immediately guided to a special room. Luxurious sofas, highest quality tea, and elegant Western sweets. And enough for all party members.

What VIP treatment.

When I immediately asked about information on the theft incident in the court, Pentan bowed her head.

"It pains me greatly to respond to Ruruk-sama like this... truly, it's very distressing, but it's an order from the president, so I hope you can understand."

"I see. We're aware that we're making an unreasonable request, so please don't worry about it."

Well, it is state-secret level information.

Don't think you can buy anything with money and connections! Understood? Yes!

"As a substitute, if I may say so... I have received this from the president, so please accept it."

"What's this?"

What Pentan handed over was a black card.

"This is a special membership card that guarantees VIP treatment at any of our stores. Unlike before, you won't need the area manager's business card, so you can use it even in areas you're visiting for the first time."

"Eh, is that okay? But why?"

"Because you're Ruruk-sama."

Pentan stares at me intently.

Somehow, her gaze feels hot... but it must be my imagination. We've only met twice.

"Of course, not just for Ruruk-sama. Please, everyone take one as well."

"You're giving them to us too?"

"Nagi too?"

"Can I have one too? I'm a monster~"

"Punisuke-sama is Ruruk-sama's partner, so things like species are trivial matters."

Even Punisuke gets one!

Last time they said to bring familiars next time, so I brought her, but to think we'd be guaranteed VIP treatment from now on. I'm really happy that I can go shopping with Punisuke! Thank you!

Everyone was excited to receive their VIP cards.

Only Saaya seemed to have thought of something.

"Hey Pentan-san. I was wondering if perhaps Luney Trading Company is Ruruk's--"

"Saaya-sama. If it's alright with you, may I prepare a present for you later? We have something we'd like to give to Saaya-sama, who became the youngest S-rank adventurer in history."

"...I understand. I'm looking forward to it."

"Then, I'll guide you later."

They're exchanging meaningful glances, but what's going on?

Saaya is always doing things I don't know about. Maybe she had some connection with Luney Trading Company too.

For example... like a special order for cosmetics.

If that's the case, it would be wrong for me to pry. It's not gentlemanly to try to know about a woman's efforts. Even without knowing about those behind-the-scenes efforts, it's the style of a gentleman to sense them and praise implicitly.

Anyway.

"It's going to be difficult to search if we don't even know who the culprit is."

"Mm, troublesome."

"If there was an interfering magic formula, Nagi could cut it."

"No, I would blow it away."

"I would beat them up~"

This time it's not that kind of brute force pattern.

Well, I guess we'll have to search steadily with my "Eye of Illusion".

Shall I go into constant activation mode for x-ray vision after a long time?

"Well then, Pentan-san, thank you very much. We'll use the VIP cards carefully."

"I'm sorry we couldn't be of help this time."

"No, no. Well, let's go back~"

"I'll stay behind for a bit."

"Alright. We'll have lunch first and head back to the guild."

"Okay. I'll head there when I'm done too."

For now, we parted ways with Saaya and decided to eat while walking on the main street.

By the way, the main entrance of the Luney Trading Company main store (not the transfer gate) was right next to the central plaza, so the street stall area is nearby.

I observed the surroundings with x-ray vision while eating street food and returned to the guild.

Needless to say, there was no labyrinth core in the street stall area.