The airship rocked violently. Kechachachaka stared out the window, watching the streaming black clouds, and clenched his teeth.
He had survived every crisis thrown at him so far. The power he'd gained through unwavering resolve and years upon years of research had made him an outstanding agent. But for the first time in a long while, Kechachachaka had absolutely no confidence in his own judgment.
The root cause of it all was that self-proclaimed "Thirteenth Finger" — Klye Andrich.
To Kechachachaka, that man didn't look like a heavyweight. Before his identity had been revealed, he certainly didn't look like a Level 8, and after the reveal, nothing changed.
The man was far too carefree, and — to put it charitably — completely bonkers.
No one had ever come up to Kechachachaka going "kekeke" before, and beyond that, the man turned the Emperor into a frog, summoned sheet spirits, and did whatever he pleased. If everything was supposedly calculated, then fine, but Kechachachaka found himself re-evaluating the Imperial Knights — whom he'd always considered nothing but a pack of idiots — for the simple fact that Captain of the Guard Franz Argyman hadn't thrown the man out yet.
If he were being honest, if that man truly was a top executive of the "Nine-Tailed Shadow Fox," Kechachachaka wasn't sure he could continue working in this organization.
Was he really an executive? That suspicion had been swirling inside Kechachachaka ever since the man's identity was exposed.
There was no doubt that Termu was a member of the Fox. But that man — Kechachachaka couldn't tell.
Curses were a form of sorcery that used resentment and powerful emotions to produce phenomena. As a practitioner of that art, Kechachachaka was skilled at reading people's true nature.
His read on Thousand Transformations was — the man was nothing but an airhead. No, a spectacular airhead. Behind all those absurd antics, there was neither malice nor calculation, and above all, the man carried absolutely none of the "smell of death" that any Hunter should naturally exude.
But that was impossible. Impossible.
Watching raindrops hammer against the window with savage force, Kechachachaka let out a feeble "keke…"
He had lost confidence in his own eyes. For a top-tier agent, this was something that should never happen.
In Kechachachaka's assessment, Thousand Transformations was not a member of the Fox. But at the same time, he shouldn't be a Level 8 Hunter either. He should be nothing more than an ordinary person — and a rather weak one at that.
But in reality, setting aside whether he was Fox or not, there was no doubt the man was a Level 8 Hunter. Kechachachaka had even suspected a body double, but even if they used one, they wouldn't choose someone like that.
Moreover, it was absolutely impossible for an ordinary person to know the Fox's cipher. There had been no reports of the cipher being leaked, and the content wasn't something that could match by coincidence.
It was all far too contradictory. If that was the case, then the only explanation was that the man was hiding his true power behind a perfect act. But that, in turn, meant that Kechachachaka had failed to see through him.
Thousand Transformations was so full of openings that Kechachachaka could kill him whenever he wanted. Forget looking for openings — the man was nothing but openings.
What was truth and what was lies, Kechachachaka simply couldn't tell.
It required complicated and tedious procedures, and it would affect his own evaluation, but for situations like this, the Fox had an emergency system for confirming membership.
Once they returned to the imperial capital, he would absolutely verify it. Not for the mission — for his own peace of mind.
Outside, it had become a full-blown storm. The ship wasn't the type to go down from just a storm, but inside the airship, it was as chaotic as poking a hornet's nest.
The storm wasn't Kechachachaka's doing. It probably wasn't Termu's doing either. Just a coincidence. A coincidence that happened to be a little too convenient for them, but a coincidence nonetheless.
Kechachachaka's superior, Termu Apocris, opened his eyes wide and murmured: "A storm — I've heard of it. Thousand Transformations can summon storms. Has that time come…? If we fall now, no one would suspect anything."
Impossible. There were sorceries that could summon storms, but this storm outside showed none of the distinctive signs that magical storms exhibited, and the man didn't have the magical energy to cast such a spell. Normally, Kechachachaka would have declared that loudly and firmly.
But in reality, the Thirteenth Finger had turned the Emperor into a frog without any magical gestures whatsoever.
"Keke…"
"Anxious, Kechakka? No need to worry. The ship's wards are weak against attacks from within."
Termu rubbed the bracelets on both his wrists as Kechachachaka let out a small voice.
If it was this man — the most powerful practitioner of water magic — he could certainly pull it off.
Termu Apocris was strong. In terms of both concealment and destructive power, Kechachachaka had never seen a more formidable Mage. If limited to anti-personnel combat, he would probably surpass even Abyss Fire Annihilation. If the goal was simply to kill the Emperor, it was entirely possible. Bodyguards — no matter how many — wouldn't matter.
But if those words had reassured Kechachachaka a month ago, they no longer offered any comfort now.
There shouldn't be a problem. Thousand Transformations was an ability user who surpassed Termu. When the time came, they could just use the Anti-Dragon Proof to summon a dragon. An airship was nothing more than a flying coffin.
Just then, Thousand Transformations entered the room.
Upon seeing Termu, he flashed a somewhat dopey smile, and when Termu started to rise, he stopped him.
"Oh, you don't need to do anything."
"…Hmm. So it isn't time yet?"
"Huh? Oh, Franz and the others are making their move."
"What!? That man is one of them too!?"
"…Huh? Well… I mean, he is, but… we're not at the right moment for us to act yet."
Thousand Transformations nodded with a surprised expression at Termu's wide-eyed reaction.
No way — Kechachachaka nearly screamed it before catching himself at the last second.
In Kechachachaka's assessment, Franz Argyman was clean. The cleanest of the clean. According to his own investigation, Franz had voluntarily undergone the Tears of Truth to prove his innocence. There was no way such a man was a member of the Fox.
But at the same time, Thousand Transformations had also proven his innocence — right there at the Gathering of White Swords that Kechachachaka himself had caused a commotion at, in front of everyone. Termu had confirmed it with his own eyes. Kechachachaka no longer knew what to believe.
If this job went smoothly, he was going to take a vacation.
Unlike the faltering Kechachachaka, Termu remained composed. He lowered himself back into his seat.
Was this the gap in experience? What did Thousand Transformations look like through his eyes? Kechachachaka found himself slightly curious.
Termu stroked his chin and asked the Thirteenth Finger: "Hmm… Very well, I'll follow your lead. Speaking of which, there was something I needed to confirm. What do we do about Chryse?"
"Huh? What do you mean, 'what do we do'?"
"You two seemed awfully close… Should we eliminate them?"
"…!?!?"
True, that Spiritfolk was a nuisance. Kechachachaka's original mission had been to tarnish the Empire's prestige, but if assassination was the goal, witnesses had to be dealt with.
It was a perfectly natural question from Termu, but Thousand Transformations was rolling his eyes in confusion.
Was this… also an act!? Why would he put on an act even toward his own allies!?
"We're not exactly close, but… I'm not going to eliminate them. Were you two on bad terms?"
Keeping personal feelings out of the mission was what a professional did. If he wasn't close to Chryse, did that mean all those friendly interactions up to now had been an act? And did that carry some deeper meaning too?
"Not exactly bad, but… in other words, I can leave Chryse to you, correct?"
Termu confirmed, and the Thirteenth Finger blinked, wearing a puzzled expression, before nodding as though convincing himself.
"Mm… Ah, I suppose I should do something leaderly once in a while. I'll give Chryse a verbal warning."
"Verbal…? ……Fine, I'll leave it to you."
He was deeply uneasy, but would it really be okay? Was there some hidden meaning behind that gesture as well? Did the man seriously think a verbal warning would be enough to silence them? That was impossible.
But within the Fox, members absolutely had to obey the orders of superiors.
Noisy sounds came from outside the room. It seemed they were checking on the airship's condition amid the storm.
There shouldn't be any effect. The storm was fairly intense, but the ship's wards weren't so fragile that they'd fall apart from this. But if the airship did crash, they would certainly blame it on the storm.
It looked like the perfect opportunity for sabotage — but could there ever be a better timing?
Just then, as if sensing Kechachachaka's doubt, Thousand Transformations suddenly looked right at him.
His heart pounded, and his spine went cold.
Thousand Transformations approached Kechachachaka with a serious expression — and walked right past him.
He peered out the window, frowning. Kechachachaka looked out the window as well.
In the violent storm, a massive white kite was flying through the sky. He rubbed his eyes and looked again, but the kite was still there.
On top of it sat the ridiculous sheet spirit from before, clinging to its surface as if fused to it.
Thousand Transformations spoke with a somewhat bewildered expression: "…Not bad."
As if timed perfectly, a tremendous bolt of lightning flashed and struck the enormous kite. A deafening crack echoed through the air.
The kite carrying the sheet spirits plummeted downward. Thousand Transformations watched it fall with his eyebrows drawn into a helpless frown.
Kechachachaka's head throbbed. He was starting to feel nauseous.
…I can't do this anymore. I've reached my limit. I can't keep up with this.
"…ukeke…"
Kechachachaka whispered his surrender in a small voice, then shuffled off to the bedroom and burrowed into bed.