She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

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With the sudden arrival of Uzume, the commander of the Fifty Bells, the branch director Mattie became largely flustered. Uzume ignored her, and took over by interrogating the men in a rather effective way. Basically, she used a certain onmyoji skill she developed independently which served to hypnotize her target.

Uzume, known as Wiseman Kagura in the past, stood a step above all other onmyoji masters, so the two men had no means of resisting her power and spoke everything they knew.

The information obtained from them reached state secrets and other highly secretive matters, leaving not only Arlon and Mattie, but also Mira and Uzume speechless. Isaac on the other hand, said no more than what he had already told Mira. In other words, he had already exposed everything he knew. So basically he had completely turned on Chimera, becoming honest with everything he said.

The Deserter Hunter’s name was Jamal, he had used a bow earlier, but his actual class was a Forbidden Arts spellcaster. He used his skills to produce poison and venom, which he employed to assassin his victims. He had all the internal and state secrets.

The most valuable detail obtained from him was the location of Chimera Clauzen’s headquarters.

Uzume was exhilarated by that, tightly hugging Mira like she was her dear kitten, giving Mira the biggest show of affection she was capable of. Sadly Jamal was specialized in assassinations, knowing nothing about Johann’s location, or even who he was to begin with. So that was something that would need more investigation.

「Still, they really built it in a rather tricky location…」

「I had already guessed as much after being unable to find it through aerial searches. But oh well, I guess we can’t carpet bomb them after all.」

The two old friends said to each other. Uzume’s words were rather disturbing, but showed just how far she was willing to go. That was also because of how unforgivable Chimera Clauzen’s sins were.

While the location was clear now, that also posed new problems for them. There was a large rocky mountain to Sentopolly’s east, and the headquarters were deep underground below it. Even a handful of the former Nine Wisemen would encounter difficulties getting there.

On top of that, there was no entrance for the place on the surface. The only way of getting there was through hidden passages inside a network of tunnels used to exchange information between various places.

The entrances to those tunnels were all well hidden though, and only a handful of members knew their full extent. Their only saving grace was that once a hidden passage was found, it was a direct path to the headquarters.

One tunnel with such a hidden passage was located not too far from the place where Isaac and the man in long robes fought. Many members knew of the tunnels, but only a handful, including Jamal, knew of the hidden passage to the headquarters. Though he also said that now that he was captured, the three entrances he knew had already been destroyed.

While there were probably around a hundred hidden passages like that, Chimera Clauzen was so wary that even an important member would only get to know around three of them. And once someone like that was captured, they would swiftly destroy all entrances that could be compromised.

When they asked for the other two entrances, just in case, one was far away in the wastelands, and the other was annexed to a General Affairs Agency in Sentopolly. All three of them were probably lost already, but it was still valuable information to know.

「A General Affairs Agency, huh. There’s a few others scattered in the city, maybe that one wasn’t the only one with an entrance.」

He had only been in the city for a few days, but Arlon was already familiar with its layout, and he said that with a confident smile.

Sentopolly had been built from the ground up by Chimera Clauzen. If one of the General Affairs Agencies there had a connection to an important organ of Chimera Clauzen, there was a high possibility the others did too.

They asked Jamal in case he knew something, but he said he was never told about it, but that there probably were such connections. That was a good enough clue. If they were able to sniff out at least one entrance, it would be enough to launch a full on frontal assault on their headquarters.

「Well, we just have to find one of the entrances then.」

「Yeah, and I think the best way to search for one would be for Mira and I to capture some important politician in the country.」

The entrances were concealed with specialized magic wares, so trying to search for one without knowing the location could be tricky. So the best way to find that would be to find an important higher-up of the country, interrogate them, and go to the entrance faster than it could be sealed away.

「Hmm, that does sound like a good plan.」

Mira was in agreement. Even if Worthramble only gave them optic camouflage, it would let them sneak around much more easily, and her other summons could deal with all sorts of situations. Then Uzume’s skills would allow her to interrogate anyone swiftly and without resistance.

Knowing that Chimera Clauzen also ran Sentopolly, meaning anyone with power and influence was a member, designating a target was easier too. If they targeted someone with a lot of power and public presence, it would be difficult to make them disappear afterwards. As long as they chose the place correctly, it would not be too difficult.

Though at the same time, someone in such a position of power would surely be heavily guarded too. But it was two of the most proficient spellcasters in the world targeting them, so no matter how heavy the guard was, they could easily break through.

It was a rather risky and daring plan, but if Mira and Uzume worked together it would become relatively easy, making it their best course of action.

「You two can say the most outlandish things without a care in the world, I swear.」

Usually a plan like that would be shot down for being too reckless, but somehow when it came to Mira and Uzume, they spoke like success was the only possible result, leaving Arlon baffled.

「I don’t think you’ll really get much that way.」

But Isaac interrupted their plan.

「I know I said most of Sentopolly’s higher ups are also powerful members of Chimera Clauzen, but I didn’t mean those living here in Sentopolly.」

Isaac continued talking, his eyes glistening as he spilled more valuable information.

Everything he said sounded exactly like the Chimera Clauzen they had come to know and expect.

First, all politicians known to Sentopolly’s citizens and other countries, including the prime minister and other ministers, are all substitutes. Chimera Clauzen is literally in their shadows, using them as proxies to control the city, and the people actually in power have never been seen by the public. So no one really knows what Chimera Clauzen’s agents actually look like, even though they’re the ones actually governing the city.

In other words, even if they were to sneak into the prime minister’s room, and interrogate the prime minister that everyone knows, he would be a proxy with no knowledge about the hidden passages, and probably be oblivious that those giving him orders are actually Chimera Clauzen.

On top of that, some of Chimera Clauzen’s agents were posing as nobles from other countries, who were just interested in forming a strong bond with Sentopolly. That allowed those who came from the headquarters to barely ever show themselves, and be regarded as philanthropists interested in making a livable place out in the wastelands. That also made it trickier to try convincing the ministers to give up who was giving them orders. Not to mention that they would probably refuse to listen even if the entire situation was explained to them.

「Or well, at least that’s what I understood from my talks with superiors, so your plan probably won’t work. There are other people with similar authority to me in the city, but there’s no way they know more than me, since they’re all in the same bracket as I was. I doubt any of them knows about the secret passages.」

Having revealed even more of Chimera Clauzen’s secrets, Isaac looked expectant of something, like a puppy that just performed a trick and wanted a reward. Uzume placed a seal on his cheek, then chanted some sort of incantation, but there was little change.

「Hmm, it seems you’re telling the truth. You were both sincere with Mira earlier and with me now, that’s really unexpected for someone who used to be part of Chimera.」