Chapter 15: Shadow Clone Trap

The pickpocket disappeared--

But it wasn’t movement magic. Shion guessed that it was a spell or magic item that made turned the body transparent. He could tell it was high level since his shadow disappeared as well.

He tried to listen to footsteps, but it was very difficult to tell among the sounds from the fountain as well as the children playing in the area.

Between the five senses, humans relied most on their sight, so it wasn’t surprising that even experienced adventurers would be baffled.

But this time he was just too outclassed. There was someone among the demon lord’s subordinates that used similar magic, and Shion knew how to counter it. He was just wondering which method he should use.

“How about…Oh.”

Haku dashed forward. With lightning speed, he dashed around something, cutting off its path, and roared sharply.

A cry erupted from an empty space. Haku pushed down on that space with his paw and told Shion that it was over.

‘It seems like he’s over here~.’

“You could see me!?”

‘No, I can’t.’

“Then how did you know?”

‘Smell. Beasts have better noses than humans.’

“Your sense of smell…?”

‘Can you become visible again? I might accidentally bite you since I can’t see you. Nom nom nom…you know?’

“Okay so don’t bite me!!!”

As Satsuro revealed himself, Sabalan immediately tied him with a rope so he couldn’t run. There was no way Satsuro could get himself out and acknowledged his defeat.

“Another great job mister Haku. Well done seeing through his invisibility magic.”

‘Was that magic?’

“No, it’s probably that ring.”

What Shion indicated was correct, and a troubled look appeared on Satsuro’s face. It was because if they continued thinking it was magic, he could look for an opening and escape.

But since invisibility magic was classified as light magic, there was no way some random pickpocket could learn it, and Shion knew that.

“A normal pickpocket stole a random ring, found out about its properties, and used that power to become infamous--something like that?”

“That’s exactly right…I give up…”

They then took Satsuro to the guards. Although small-time, he was a wanted man with a bounty on his head, so Shion and Haku received five hundred thousand Gowns as well as the three million P for the successful quest. They felt very warm inside at the unexpected bonus.

“To think that you two would be this capable. You already have four million points!”

“I haven’t done anything yet. It’s all thanks to Haku.”

“In any case, we don’t see anyone gather so many points on their first day. If it’s you two, you might be able to solve that case!”

“It’s the stolen magic items, right?”

“This one is a bit complicated.”

A case where the culprit hadn’t been found for years. Sablan sat down on a bench and told Shion about the problem.

The Life Guild had connections with the Magic Item Association. The founders were brothers, so they were connected with something more than profit.

The Magic Item Association regularly sent needed magic items to cities. They sent prizes for the Life Guild as well as items for weapon shops, and orders from royalty and nobles.

During transit, they were often raided and the good were taken. It happened within Organ a few times a year.

“We don’t know their methods either. Even if we put strong bodyguards, they are always killed.”

“Their opponent must be quite strong, and they are an organization as well.”

“It’s as you say. The group is most likely the criminal syndicate ‘Death God’s Chains’.”

Shion had heard of them before. They hunted for magic items all over the world, and there were even rumors that they were planning to take over the world. Their sins were even greater since the leader was a human, not someone working under the demon lord.

“The culprit hasn’t even been seen. Do the attacks always happen during the night, by any chance?”

“It’s as you say. Do you have any ideas?”

“If they use darkness magic like I do, they would be able to do it without leaving a trace.”

But that would be on the assumption that the person would be quite skilled. When Shion said he had a plan, Sablan quickly called the guild master and they started talking. Shion told him his plan, and Sablan advised the master to put it in action.

Surprised that a trusted employee went so far for this, the master agreed to do it.

The plan was going to be carried out at two in the morning. Magic items were going to be moved from a different place to the equipment store, castle, and the Life Guild.

From the previous occurrences, even if they tried to hide it, the information was always leaked -- so they were going to take advantage of that.

After the discussion, the sun was setting.

Shion first moved to the road that connected the Life Guild to the storage.

“Haku, do you sense anyone watching us?”

‘No.’

“Same. We’ll set the trap here.”

‘What kind?’

“It’s not much. This is it.”

In the clandestine backroad, Shion used the spell > and made another of himself. The looks, physique, clothing, and everything else was the same as Shion was.

‘Oh~, I’m surprised.’

“It can only move where the light doesn’t reach, and disappears when hit by bright light, but on the other hand, it can do things like this. --Sink under and keep watch.”

As soon as it received its order, the fake Shion nodded and melted into the ground.

“If it isn’t too far from me, I can give it orders. But the more clones I make, the weaker my power gets. There’s a better surveillance type spell, but I can’t use it right now, so I’ll stick with this one.”

‘This is handy enough~. How strong is one of them.?’

“Not even ten percent as strong as I am. But I can make many of them. And even if they are defeated, the power just comes back to me, so there aren’t any demerits.”

‘I see. It seems like the best choice for this plan. As expected of the Hero of Darkness!’

“Former hero. And you’ve been doing all the work until now, so I’ve got to start doing things as well!”

Cracking his shoulders, Shion planted his clone within the city of Organ.