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Airi's POV
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3 hours before

"Hey, Kana? Are you certain?" (Airi)

"Mostly." (Kana)

"Mostly? You're dragging us around town on a 'mostly'?" (Astrid)

"Its the best we've got right now, isn't it?" (Kana)

Astrid opens her mouth as if to retort, but decides against it.

"I suppose you're right, we didn't gain anything from finding out the use of the mind control spell." (Airi)

"No, you're wrong. What we gained was the freedom to act. We can now do anything without having to worry about the safety of the people." (Kana)

She's right. After our talk with Takeo, we carried on with our task, only to have completed it a little over an hour later.

With it, we found out that the spell used to control the citizens of the town was completely harmless. All it did was have them act out their day normally, as if nothing different was happening.

However, something had been weighing on Kana's mind since talking with Takeo, which she mentioned after he had left.

"Anyway, what tipped you off about Takeo? I didn't think he was suspicious." (Astrid)

"Well, for starters, if he and his party had been on an extermination quest out at sea, why were they entering through the gate, not the pier? And if they were here yesterday, and Takeo was walking around, how did he not notice the large mana from the town centre? Plus, I don't think it takes adventurers over a week to resupply for a delivery quest." (Kana)

As I listen to Kana's observations, I notice another inn coming up on the street we were on.

Tapping Kana on the shoulder, I point to it and we begin heading towards it.

We are greeted by a friendly welcome from the receptionist.

"Say, have you got anyone in the Inn going by a 'Takeo'?" (Kana)

"Hmm, let me look." (Receptionist)

She flicks through a few pages of a directory she has in front of her.

"It doesn't seem so, I'm afraid." (Receptionist)

"I see... Don't worry about it then." (Kana)

With that, we turn around and head out the Inn, continuing our search for Takeo and his party.

We walk across the entire town in the next hour, entering and leaving inns that housed no Takeo.

Reaching the final Inn in town, we enter to the smell of roasted beef, and the calming smell of wood.

"Hi, how can I help you?" (Receptionist)

"Yeah, we're looking for anyone who goes by Takeo?" (Kana)

Looking down, the receptionist looks at the directory but lifts her head and shakes it.

"I see, thanks anyway." (Kana)

As we turn to leave, we hear a call from the bar connected to the Inn.

"You ladies looking for a 'Takeo'?" (???)

We enter the bar to have a closer look at who called us.

"You know one?" (Kana)

With a smirk on his face, the man replies.

"Sure do, I'm afraid it'll cost ya' though. Information doesn't come cheap." (???)

"How much?" (Astrid)

The man lifts his hand and lowers three of his fingers.

"2 gold. No more, no less. No information if you haggle." (???)

Kana pulls out a bag of coins and slams two gold coins in the table.

"Speak." (Kana)

The man smiles again as he holds the coins in his hand, and gestures for us to take a seat.

When we do, he starts talking, answering our questions, and raising new ones.

We were done within ten minutes.

"So, Takeo is not his real name, huh." (Airi)

"It would seem so, but now we have to go round the town again, looking for an 'Albrio'." (Kana)

Hearing this, Astrid sighs, worn out from the last hour.

"I swear Kana, if this isn't useful, I'm going to wring you dry." (Astrid)

Kana grins after hearing the ever-common threat from Astrid.

"Sure, sure. But have you ever done it before?" (Kana)

Finshing her sentence, Kana continues to walk on, leaving me and Astrid in front of the Inn.

As I run to catch up to her, I can hear Astrid grinding her teeth.

With our new found information, we tour around the town again, going inside each Inn, looking for an Albrio.

We spend another hour searching, before coming up in a town in the North side of the town, near the over-crowded gate.

"Yes, it would seem that we have an Albrio here." (Receptionist)

"Oh, is that so? Can we visit them?" (Kana)

"Umm, well, I'd have to notify them first." (Receptionist)

"Ah, in that case, can you tell them to meet us in the bar across the street?" (Astrid)

"Very well." (Receptionist)

We watch as the receptionist leaves the desk at the front of the Inn and starts heading up the stairs, making each step creak.

We leave when we lose sight of the receptionist, turning and leaving to enter the bar.

We wait for several minutes before we see Albrio (formerly Takeo) enter.

"Ah, Albrio, over here." (Astrid)

Hearing his name called, he turns in the direction of us and sees Kana gesturing to take a seat.

A look of surprise crosses his face as he realises that we called him Albrio, not the alias that he gave us.

As Albrio takes a seat, Kana starts speaking.

"So Takeo, or rather, Albrio, what was the reason for giving us a fake name?" (Kana)

"Oh, sorry 'bout that, it's a habit, 'ou know?" (Albrio)

"A habit? But you're an adventurer? Why would an adventurer need a fake name?" (Astrid)

Albrio doesn't reply, instead keeping his gaze on the table.

"Now then, what are you doing in this town?" (Kana)

"Didn't I say? We're resupplyin'" (Albrio)

"Oh, you did, for your adventurer alias." (Kana)

Albrio opens and closes his mouth, as if to say something, but deciding against it.

"By your lack of response, I think it's safe to say you and your party aren't adventurers, and you aren't here to resupply." (Kana)

Albrio starts fidgeting in his seat, obviously not happy with his secrets being unravelled.

"So, could it be, you are doing something highly illegal?" (Kana)

As if Kana had crossed the line, Albrio stood up in an instant and threw something against the wall of the entrance.

A large explosion echoes through the bar as the entrance is replaced by a large hole.

Albrio dashes through the hole and runs for the Inn.

"Don't let him escape!" (Kana)

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Author Notes

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So the secrets get revealed. I don't think it was much of a secret, considering it only lasted a chapter, but it's a start, since I don't think I'm very good at writing them.

But there's not a whole lot to say for this chapter, other than that I hope I didn't confuse you with the sudden change from Takeo to Albrio.

Also, sorry about the late publishes, I've been trying to write, but I'm struggling to find the motivation to, especially after writing the backstorues to the characters.

Don't worry, I'm hoping to get back to regular uploads, but I think I should start planning to prevent this from happening again.