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"...The sword is inside the town lord"s mansion, no doubt about it."
Just as the night fell.
We came back to our inn and discussed with the girls.
"That mansion was suspicious indeed."
There"s a town lord"s mansion in the center of this town.
Such a mansion is a common sight in any town... But what peculiar with this one was the inside.
"No one was inside such a big mansion besides the entrance... That"s just weird!"
That"s right.
The mansion was uninhabited, save for the area around the entrance.
Of course it can"t be an abandoned house.
Lights were on when it got dark, and there were traces of people living as well.
And there were light foot traffic in the area near the entrance.
The town lord"s mansion also function as a sort of public office.
It"s clearly weird how only the front entrance was used.
I can"t think of any reason why in ordinary situations... But I can hazard a guess from the information Second Academy obtained.
"They don"t want to let anyone in... Perhaps there"s something that must not be stolen inside."
"You think so too..."
"Yeah... Though it"s been concealed, there were traces of demonic mana mixed in the air. That mansion is undoubtedly under the rule of demon."
There are spells that can control human"s senses among ancient magic.
For instance, a spell that makes people who come to the lord"s mansion unconsciously [unwilling to enter rooms in the back].
Commonly known as [People Clearing] magic.
"Does that mean, the sword is inside that mansion then...?"
"Most likely. We can find where it is if we use 『Active Detection』... But I can make a guess even without."
I unrolled a drawing of town lord"s mansion on desk.
By looking at the drawing, I can make an educated guess from the way the building is structured, where it"s focused into protecting something.
"This is the lord"s mansion blueprint."
"This drawing is so precise... Where did you get this?"
"I guessed it from mana seen through [Pa.s.sive Detection]... As such, there are some parts where I"m not sure as well."
I pointed at an area around the center of the mansion.
Mana from [Pa.s.sive Detection] didn"t pa.s.s through those sections well since they were too far from the path I took.
This much distance wouldn"t pose a problem were the mana reaction was as big as a monster"s at least... But I need to get quite close when the mana is only a trace amount from stone walls.
"Y-you made a drawing this detailed just from looking at the mana!?"
"Yeah... You too can tell mana reaction of say, those walls, can"t you Ruli?"
I pointed at the inn"s walls.
These inn"s walls are made of woods that contain relatively dense mana.
It"s easier to grasp than those made of stones.
"I can, sure... But only one piece of wall, you know?"
"If you can tell one piece, you can tell two, ten, any number of walls... You simply need to detect piece by piece and then drop them all onto a drawing."
I put colors on some sections of the drawing.
Sections confirmed to have foot traffic.
"...This s.p.a.ce is obviously suspicious, don"t you think?"
After I was done coloring, I pointed at an area enclosed by walls.
That area isn"t connected to any other room... It"s completely isolated by walls.