“Say, Rika. can you take care of Thalia tomorrow? I think I’m going to scout that noble.”

We are currently on our way back from our hunting trip. It was good to work on our teamwork, but we shouldn’t ignore the situation with the noble. And now that Rika is here, I should go into offense.

“You sure? You said he might know about you now. So maybe I should go?”

“No, I think I’m still better suited. Even if he knows about me, he still didn’t see my face yet. I am also the one who can identify that noble.”

“Alright, but be careful.”

They both accept my plan, and so we go to the guild to sell our spoils before we return to the inn.

Then I leave the inn early in the morning, wearing a hood. Well, it’s still completely dark, so you could call it in the middle of the night. I leave this early, because I still have to search the noble’s mansion, including a place to hide. Today will be a true limit test for my improved senses.

But first, I have to infiltrate the wealth district. Unfortunately, I can’t just enter, because people who don’t have a residence in this district have to state a reason for their visit. Otherwise, people are not allowed to enter. That’s why i sneak in with the cover of the darkness.

Again, I left the inn through the window and jump on the roof. From there, I silently leap from roof to roof, approaching the wealth district. The wall is still a bit too high for me to reach. Well, it would be fine if the buildings were built all the way to the wall. But there is a wide street in between the wall and the buildings. Because of that, I can’t reach the top of the wall.

Upon realizing that fact, I take a minor detour to the library. Yes, as expected, I can reach the roof of the library. And since they built the library into the wall, I can use it as a stepping stone. I jump over to the roof of the library and from there, I have no problems reaching the top of the wall.

They surely didn’t expect someone to just jump up here. 

I take a small break to concentrate on my senses. I couldn’t really filter his smell before, even with actively focusing on my senses. The problem was not just the distance, but the sheer amount of people living in the capital.

But now, I found it. I know the direction of his mansion and it’s actually close to the wall. Well, I figured, that the lower ranked people are closer to the wall. The higher the rank, the closer they live to the castle.

I also wondered why there were no guards patrolling on top of the wall. But then I figured that it’s because it’s just the inner wall. There should be no need to man it if they guard the outer wall. Outside of an emergency, they probably just guard the gates between the district. At least I couldn’t think of another reason, but it’s good for me, so I am not going to complain.

A few minutes later, I reach the area with my target’s mansion. I can see it from the wall. It’s the fourth mansion from my position. The mansions are quite close to each other. They have a front yard, which is enclosed by a fence, and there is no backyard. Instead, there is another mansion directly behind, with a small alley in between.

I can’t believe they prepared a place to hide for me. I thought it will be more difficult. After jumping from the wall to the roof of the first mansion and running the mansion of that Viscount Hayes, I make myself comfortable. Of course, I position myself on the backside of the roof. Nobody will see me there from the street. It’s also not possible to see me from another mansion in the back, since they are too close. 

Well, usually it would be useless for someone to hide there, but not for me. At least, if everything works as I imagined. From here on out, it depends on how good my improved senses are, specifically speaking about my ears. My plan is to listen in on his conversations.

It’s still a bit early, so I make myself comfortable and take a nap until the sun rises. Now, I have to be patient and maybe need a bit of luck, that he is actually discussing something of use to me. Right now, though, I can smell that he eats breakfast. Smells like bacon and eggs. Since I am a bit hungry too, I take out some dried meat.

For a while, nothing interesting happens. He is just sitting in a room nearby. I’d love to have the ability to watch through walls, to see what he is actually doing. But then I hear someone at his door and another person enters. 

From the way they talk to each other, I’d say that the other person is his attendant, maybe a butler?

“What did you find about that adventurer?”

Oh? It seems to get interesting right away.

“Unfortunately, there is a big lack of information. I am terribly sorry. He registered as an adventurer in Gilicia not long ago and just reached rank F. But we do not know what he did before becoming an adventurer.”

Well, it’s not like I existed in this world before. Good luck in getting information from another world.

“According to our source inside the guild, he registered that slave as an adventurer and joined a party with her after buying her. Also two days ago, the slave’s older sister seemed to have joined their party.”

“There is another elf!?” 

I could hear the lust in his voice. That guy is disgusting.

“Oh no. I am sorry. That sister is a foxkin. Apparently, they were raised in the same orphanage, so they are not blood related. She is a D-Rank adventurer.”

Hm… we talked about that with Nora when Rika joined our party. But it was in the lobby, so there were a lot of people who could listen in.

But having a source inside the guild? I don’t like that. Who knows what they’ll find? But that actually makes sense. If they have a spy infiltrate the guild, it’s no wonder they could get close to those imprisoned thugs.

“Anything else?” 

“No, that is all we could find about him.”

“That can’t be! There is no way a lowly rookie adventurer has enough money to win an auction against me.”

Seems like they couldn’t figure out that I was the one who saved Count Gilicia’s son. Well, there is only a limited amount of people knowing this.

“Also, how the heck did he manage to find the guys tailing him? It’s unlikely they just messed up. Dammit! It’s driving me crazy not knowing how he did it!”

He continues to rant for a while. Good. He actually found out a lot about me, but there it seems I am still ahead, information-wise. Although, I couldn’t figure out if he knows that I already know about him. There is the possibility these thugs were too ashamed to tell him. But I guess I am safer if I assume he actually knows.