———Wiina———

  <1: 02 pm>

  “Huh? Someone in trouble again?” I can’t help but ask since the tone seems rather distressful. She’s one to put on some sort of bravado, more so if it was with anyone else.

  “Yeah. I’ll tell you the circumstances and you can work from there, do whatever as long as she is fine.” She starts expining. “It’s only been a few days since she has been inactive and she was never a frequent chatter, admittedly, but I… No. I guess you did ask in the first. Okay. So there was news about a pce near where she seems to be living getting into trouble. I want you to go check on her.”

  <1: 24 pm>

  Doesn’t look like as much of a wreck as the st pce I went to. There are still some people roaming around who don't seem to be on edge or showing any signs of distress.

  From what she told me, it seems like whoever is causing a ruckus here doesn’t actually make themselves that well-known, or at least known to use moderation. In that case it seems unlikely that her friend will get into any trouble, but that is why I am even here in the first pce. If I didn’t come into conflict with them, then that’s the end of it. If I ended up going after them anyway despite not being the main mission, that’s going to set a precedent for me moving forward that I would rather not follow.

  Anyway, this time around I didn’t even bother covering my face with a hood. I did change my hair and eyes to bck, but that’s about it. Costume is just bck shirt and pants with a white cloak. Slightly conspicuous, but not as much as putting my face out there.

  Some buildings are badly damaged, and the street itself isn’t holding out too great. It looks more shabby than anything else.

  Anyway, let’s go… Hmm… First off, let’s see where she is…

  …Hm? She doesn’t seem to be within the city, at least. Unless her life signal had already burned out, that must mean she is elsewhere. Was she kidnapped and taken elsewhere? Or simply escape the city thinking it is a lost cause and is now reestablishing herself?

  Unlike the st case which is pretty cut and dry, the situation here seems way less defined.

  …Speaking of the st case. I wonder if I should go buy something for Karra once I secure her friend’s safety? This is a different state where she can’t usually access. Might as well get some local goods for her.

  But first off… Should I ask some guys what happened? Should I do that? Would it be too out of pocket? I guess I could just say I’m a wanderer or something.

  “Excuse me.” I approached the person closest to me. Seems to be an unassuming dy. She noticeably flinched once she had been called. “Yes. You. What happened to the pce? I was gonna look for a good diner recommended around here, but this pce looks like it has seen better days.”

  “U-Um… I’m not sure.” She nervously said. “I think there was a fight between two groups, and one group started chasing down another. It was like… two days ago? Please, I don’t know more than that.”

  “It’s fine. You can go now.” I said and she quickly walked away. Interesting, in that case she should belong to either group.

  I don’t think the news Karra sent me has that detail listed. Would be nice if it was there.

  Actually, I wonder if the news covered this a bit te, since it seems like all of this started two days back, but Karra acted like she just heard of this today.

  Back on topic. Now the only thing left to do is to widen my search area. There might be a margin of error and I can’t get the specific details of everyone on that reading, but I just need to find a group of strong fighters and travel in that direction. If there was a fre up in mana reading, that would be an even better lead.

  Now then. Let’s start… scanning… scanning… sca- Oh hey that milkshake looks nice. I’ll come back to it ter.

  Alright, scanning is complete. Two groups of fighters are roughly 5 kilometers or 3 miles from each other, one group is moving around near them while the other group stays still. From my estimation they should come into conflict within an hour and their locations are roughly 430 miles from here. I know they are faster in this age of the returning mystics, but aren’t they moving a bit too fast? It’d be good to conserve energy if you’re fighting a group of equal force.

  *Zoom*

  Next up is a more thorough search of the individuals here. I should be able to find her now that I am close enough, these abilities are more potent at closer ranges, which is still a rge perimeter. Let’s just get a good look at all the participants in this conflict. Would love to know more about it, but I guess I can learn the full context afterward.

  …Here we go. Matches Karra’s description, and she is part of the pursuing group… Wait. Which is the bad guy in this instance? I have a few ways to figure that out, but it’s quite intrusive, so I’d rather not use those approaches. I still need to figure some details out regardless.

  It would be simple if she was on the ‘right’ side, but if she wasn’t, that would be a bit more complicated… Or would it? I don’t think Karra would mind if I left her to rot if she was actually a sinister character, but I also doubt she is one since Karra is worried about her, but they only ever interacted online, so… Ugh! Let’s move that line of thought back on the priority list for now.

  I still have enough time to think things out. As it stands she is not in any real danger. I just need some time to figure out what each side is like and work from there. Regardless of that, obviously no killing, and I shouldn’t dally about once shits hit the fan.

  Let’s get a reading on the emotions first and foremost. Far from the most intrusive thing I could do… The hiding group seems weirdly aggressive and apprehensive in their thoughts, while the pursuing group seems to have a sense of… justice to them, or is it simply self-serving? At the very least the group this woman is in doesn’t seem to hold much malice, so it’s unlikely they’re the bad guys.

  Next on the list is… I guess I’ll py the passerby. Just reusing an old approach, which is a bit boring, but if it works, then keep using it.

  Let me just… nd on the surface and wander around for a bit, just to see if either side bites.

  There are very few civilians around, so just wandering around will catch their attention eventually. Let’s just act like I am looking around to see why everything here looks so broken down. This pce is a lot worse in terms of damage dealt to it. There must’ve been skirmishes.

  Just walking around, please do mind me so I don’t have to use a more cheat-like method of gathering information than I already do. Those really take a toll on me mentally.

  Come on, I am very conspicuous right now, won’t anyone talk to the dear old me? Why am I even thinking like that? It feels like every time I am left alone I start having weirdly grandiose inner-monologue. Maybe using my powers start to make me go crazy and act differently. Walsuna had mentioned something to that effect before, so maybe that’s it.

  “Hey, what are you doing here? It’s clearly not safe, if you have eyes.” Ah, finally a fish taking the bait. A guy walked up to me and said so with a slightly condescending tone. No clear idea of his allegiance, both sides have a few people patrolling the area, moreso on the pursuer's side. I stopped looking at faces after spotting my target. A tiny little blunder there, but I can find his allegiance in no time if I really need to.

  “I am not blind. No need to worry about that.” I said as I gauge his current emotion. Seems like he sees me as someone who isn’t a threat. “I’m just curious as to why this part of the city is in such a wreck? It’s not like there are people killing each other 24/7 like the other pce.”

  “Ah. That. There are fights going on around here, but it’s more akin to a cat-and-mouse situation. Some criminals are hiding in these buildings, one of them is probably their main base. No idea where they really are, but we’re getting close.” He expined. He seems to buy the situation a bit too easily, but we take those. “You will get caught in the crossfire if you don’t leave. You better do as I said.”

  “...No wonder some shady dudes ran away when I tried to talk to them.” I said, feigning an event that didn’t even happen. It’s just a little bit of trolling. Just this sentence alone should be enough to hastened the confrontation.

  “Huh!?” He excimed in shock. Hook line and sinker.

  “Going somewhere over there, in that giant mall I think. Tried to attack me but I warded them off.” I said while pointing at the building where the other group congregated. “Alright then, Mister Good Guy, I’ll go hide in a building somewhere.”

  I quickly walked off before he could ask for more information. Sorry, this is the only freebie you get. That should have accelerated the confrontation to start in… twenty minutes.

  Hmm… It’s a bit of a slog to get there, but I’d be concerned if they immediately rushed in the moment they got a singur lead. That’s just a death sentence.

  Now I just have to watch and make sure that I am intervening at the right time. Ideally I would just cast a sleep spell on them and be done with it, but I would also rather not rob them of the satisfaction. I know they want it. Who could resist the temptation of being a hero? Even I have a hard time resisting it despite not wanting to be a gloryhound.

  Maybe I should give them something to be more… Nah. That’s a bit much. I’m trying to not look like some sort of savior here. I’m just one person. Nothing more than that.

  Ten minutes left before the conflict starts for real. Let me check the strength of both sides again and how the battlefield looks in their favor… It would be a bloody stalemate if the hiding gang isn’t taken by surprise. If they are, then they can struggle all they want, but they’d be defeated eventually.

  Of course the hiding gang still has the advantage of being in a building that is fortified, that is impossible to overlook. Unless they have a way to force them out then it won’t be the cleanest of battle.

  Then again, they are inside a giant mall where there is a lot of breathing room for the pursuers. I’m surprised they didn’t think to go there first, was it just too obvious?

  Now all I need to do is observe and wait. Jumping in at the right time and making sure no one gets seriously hurt… No, some probably will. There’s no way they won’t draw blood. I just need to make peace with that and heal them afterward.

  …Wait a second. How long will it take until the possible climax where I can finally show myself in an epic fashion… Probability calcution online… The amount of time after the conflict started before the right time to arrive…

  …

  Sixty-two minutes!? How long are these guys gonna sck off for!?