By chance, Mira had run into Sasori in the back alleys of Irene, the capital city of Roseline. The two went to Sasori’s inn, a large building made of solid rock which offered a safe place to talk in secret.
The city had four major commercial districts, Sasori and Hebi had stationed themselves in one built next to the major street in the biggest district. Though as far as Mira could see, Hebi was still not back for the night.
They were in the room at the end of a hallway on the third floor, Sasori and Mira sitting with a table between them while Mira explained everything she had found out about the sword.
The sword they had obtained from Chimera Clauzen was indeed made by Gregor as a congratulatory gift for his son Gregorius when the archeological research commission was founded.
Gregorius was second in command of the commission, which investigated the different ruins scattered around Ozstein.
But during one of their expeditions to a certain ruin, the entire commission vanished.
「That place is apparently called the Graveyard of War Memorials. Apparently those bottles with black stuff we saw in the store came from there.」
Explaining the affairs so far, Mira took out two bottles of Mixed Berries au Lait and offered one to Sasori.
「Thank you」 she said and took a sip from it together with Mira.
「So if I’m getting this right, you’ve come here to investigate that Graveyard of War Memorials place?」
「Precisely. But I still haven’t found out where it is. I was trying to figure out who brought that bottle to the store earlier, and get them to tell me where the ruins are.」
After saying that Mira downed the rest of the bottle and sank into her chair while looking outside. The sky was dark, but the city was still bustling with life.
「So that’s why you were in that store.」
Understanding the reason why Mira was in the city as well, Sasori smiled confidently and offered her help.
As soon as she had gotten inside Roseline, she had started looking for any concrete evidence of the Melville Corporation’s dealings with Chimera Clauzen.
The first thing she noticed while snooping around was how strict the guards all around the corporation were. While it was true that Melville was next in line for the throne so a degree of strictness made sense, to Sasori it looked excessive in the extreme.
There was one specific facility that was more heavily guarded than the rest, with all the guards always on high alert. When she looked into it, everyone claimed it was a warehouse of expensive products, but she had never seen anyone carry something resembling that in or out of the zone.
Smelling something was off, Sasori tailed one of the guards who left the place, following him all the way to that shop in the alley.
And later she would also find Mira in that same shop.
After bribing the shop owner, she learned the guard had sold off some pebbles covered in a black mist. Thinking those pebbles could help their investigation, she went to look for Hebi to get enough money to buy it off, and when she returned Mira was there.
「I see… that building you mentioned does sound like a fishy place.」
There was a suspicious building managed by the Melville Corporation, who already had a connection to Chimera Clauzen. On top of that, a guard had gone from that building to an underground store to sell something he claimed came from the Graveyard of War Memorials. Putting all that together with the information gathered from Sasori, a devilish smile overtook Mira’s lips.
「It’s close, I can smell it. Can you feel it too?.」
Thinking about it for a bit, Sasori also reached a similar conclusion as Mira.
「But still, I’ve never seen a place more guarded than that. With enough time I might be able to sneak in, but I don’t even know the interior layout…」
There was no one more skilled than Sasori at infiltration in the Fifty Bells, but even she felt unsure with all the unknown variables surrounding that building, so she was hesitant to proceed.
As far as Sasori had seen, the entire area was under heavy surveillance at all times, and they even had magic alarms set everywhere that would go off if they detected an intruder. It was hard to imagine a way to get inside unseen.
「Surveillance and magic, huh. Now that… that sounds so fun!」
Sasori was deeply concerned, and Mira was the exact opposite as she stood up excited.
「It’s time, and I didn’t even have to wait that long. I can finally try that out now.」
Mira said with a crazed grin as she formed a Rosario Summoning Circle.
『Close their eyes, ears and mouths. My only desire, to become a transparent lull, unbeknownst to any reaction
Calming stillness and solitary silence are my only companions, my body one with the nameless wind.
Plunge all creations into the depths of silence.』
Summoning Magic: Silent
Once the magic activated, the summoning circle vanished without a sound, leaving only dust behind.
「Huh? You summoned something, right?」
It almost looked like the spell had failed, but this was Mira casting it, there had to be something somewhere. Sasori looked around the room trying to find anything that might have changed, but then noticed that Mira was gone.
「Wait, Mira? Where are you?!」
Her sudden vanishing put Sasori in a frenzy, who desperately searched throughout the entire room for her, but unable to find her she hung her head and cried 「Mira…」 in a quivering murmur.
Seeing Sasori like that, Mira grinned triumphantly.
「I’m right here.」
Hearing Mira she turned around and quickly shrieked 「Fwha-?」. Mira had appeared right behind her, even though she was sure no one was there, and on top of that someone she did not know was standing beside her.
「Hello, I’m Worthramble, a spirit of stillness.」
Worthramble smiled in a friendly manner as he introduced himself to Sasori, who stood in shock with her tail fuzzed up and standing upright.
The summoning had not failed, instead, Mira decided a demonstration of the spirit’s power would be a better way to explain her plan.
Mira then explained the powers of a spirit of stillness in simple terms.
They had formed a contract not too long ago, so his abilities were a bit limited. Though his standout ability, Perfect Suppression, could be used from the get go.
Perfect Suppression could hide one’s physical appearance, sounds, presence, and even magic profile. Its effects extended to an area of around three meters around Worthramble.
Not even one’s comrades would be able to see those inside the area, though if Worthramble was told beforehand he could make certain people notice them. And if they were inside the area, it was possible to talk with each other as well.
「Technically we’re still hidden, but he’s letting you see us right now so we can talk.」
