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Astrid's POV
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I knock on the door before entering the room to see Captain and the Count both leaning forward, obviously deep in conversation.

"Ah, you're back." (Count Poin)

"Sorry for disturbing your conversation." (Astrid)

"It was just ending." (Count Poin)

"I see..." (Astrid)

He leans back as he speaks to me, a sign that he is getting impatient.

"Then, Count, I will see you again." (Captain)

"Think about the offer, will you?" (Count Poin)

"... Sure." (Captain)

Standing up quickly, the Captain walks over to the door where I'm standing and leaves the room, not looking back.

I have to jog slightly to catch up to him as he speeds up down the hallway.

"I found something." (Astrid)

"What is it?" (Captain)

"I'm not sure. It's like a--" (Astrid)

"Actually, not here. Wait until we get to a better spot." (Captain)

He shuts me up quickly and we leave the estate, having to go through the city to reach the Palace.

It's a good city. People smile happily on the streets, merchants make good amounts of money from their sales, children dart between the crowds, playing with sticks as swords.

Shops on the side of the street brandish their latest wares, attempting to pull in customers. Carriages carrying esteemed personage ran down the centre of the road, and the commoners stray far away from it.

Not far from where we were was the living area, where all the houses were. It was clean, quiet; much different to this area, the market place.

You could see the Palace from here, as you could from any spot in the city as a constant reminder of the Royal Family.

Further down was, what was dubbed, the "Adventurer Area". It housed the Adventurer's Guild, a place where adventurers would receive commissions or quests for money and prestige.

It also had the blacksmiths, apothecaries, the inns. It was a place where those who were not going to stay long stayed.

It had a different feel to Alzibria. While Alzibria was calm, quiet, yet loud at points, the city was a constant cloud of noise, yet it felt oddly satisfying. You could feel the lives of the people living here, their happiness.

Of course, there was also the underground of the city. The place where criminals gathered.

It's not surprising. A place of prosperous wealth was an absolute goldmine to those wishing to get quick money.

This was where the assassins and murderers stayed. This was the place where you'd go for someone else to do your dirty deeds.

It's also the place we were worried Ryu would manage to scurry himself into.

Most criminal or bandit groups don't actually have a base here in Richt since the guards here are oddly observant.

They are some of the best guards in the Kingdom. It's natural, I suppose. To have the best of the best guard the most important place.

Of course, even those knights can't compare to the ones in the Palace. They are trained to protect the Royal Family from anyone. Literally anyone.

In the Kingdom, people like the Captain, and the Captain of the Royal Knights, maybe even 'Susu, are incredibly rare. Those three could probably take on most of the Royal Knights and win. Not without injuries, of course.

That's why the King places the squads he had under his control in such high regard, especially ours.

Since Captain had permission to appoint his own members, it's safe for the King to assume he's approved of their abilities.

Ryu though... Ryu is a different story. The King had the Captain look for Ryu under the guise of investigating the No-Names. So, Captain sent 'Riri, and she came back with Ryu.

That actually surprised Captain quite alot. He asked for permission to see the King not 20 minutes after 'Riri came back, and explained the situation to him.

I'm not sure how the King reacted, since I wasn't there, but I'm sure he was just as surprised.

The King then basically said to make him a member of his squad, and here we are: an unruly, rude, annoyingly quiet brat fighting with us.

I presonally class the current King as a great ruler. He managed to fix a drought that was happening near the south of the Kingdom, near the desert. He suppressed a riot that was breaking out over the murders of some nobles.

He understands how to use people correctly, and he knows how to make a country work.

But this? I'd take any chance I would to refute his decision about Ryu.

We're supposed to be a squad! We're supposed to work together, have good synergy, understand each others intentions!

But we just can't with Ryu. He hides his thoughts away, refuses to work with us openly, and doesn't attempt to earn our trust.

It's as if he's hiding away from something. Refusing something.

It's almost as if he's afrai--

"Astrid?" (Captain)

Hearing my name called pulls me out of my thoughts.

"Hm? What?" (Astrid)

"You were spacing out." (Captain)

"Oh. I was just thinking about Ryu." (Astrid)

"Ryu? What about him?" (Captain)

"Haah, everything. How he's rude, annoying, quiet. Doesn't trust us. Doesn't let us trust him. How he annoys me so much." (Astrid)

"Only negative thoughts?" (Captain)

"... I suppose. I did try to think about why." (Astrid)

"Did you get anywhere?" (Captain)

"Hmm. Just that he seemed... Afraid, I guess." (Astrid)

"About what?" (Captain)

"Trust, maybe? Letting people get close to him?" (Astrid)

"So you thought so too." (Captain)

"Huh? You did?" (Astrid)

"I've been thinking since back at Alzibria. His reason behind his name calling." (Captain)

"Ah, what was it, 'I don't understand the feeling of trust to give it out', or something?" (Astrid)

"That was it. I'm not good at emotions, but it seemed kind of... Lonely, I suppose." (Captain)

"I'll have to ask 'Riri, she's good at things like this." (Astrid)

I make a mental note to talk to 'Riri about Ryu when this is all over.

"Anyway, where are we?" (Astrid)

While we were talking, we stopped in front of a building, not too far different form other buildings in the area.

A small sign hung above, a tankard displayed on it with the words 'Legendary Fox'.

It was a bar, which you could probably tell from the noise inside that could be heard from outside.

Captain enters first, pushing the wooden door open, letting the noise fully reach my ears, nearly deafening me.

His loud steps causes the noise to quieten down considerably, though a few still continue talking.

I guess it's not normal for a 6 foot tall, muscle-packed beast to enter a bar like this, especially when followed by a 14 year old that only reaches the center of his chest.

It made me realise that we were an odd duo, to say the least.

But Captain doesn't pay any mind to the on-lookers, and instead walks straight down the aisle, to the bar counter and orders a drink.

I follow behind, sitting down on one of the chairs.

I'm not a fan of alcohol, I've tried it once and it wasn't a great time.

Instead, I order a glass of water.

Before long, the original bustle of the bar is back, and it becomes a little hard to hear someone sitting next to you.

"So? What'd you find?" (Captain)

"A weird magic crystal. It was a cube, I think, and it was completely black. It was also considerably full and was constantly emitting neutral magic." (Astrid)

"Did you touch it?" (Captain)

"No, but it knocked me back quite far, so that's how I knew it was full." (Astrid)

"Hmm. What was it doing with the neutral magic?" (Captain)

"I think it blocks off any sense of mana in the room. When you started talking, my {Magic Awareness} got cut off, but when I stepped out, it came back." (Astrid)

"So it was the lack of mana..." (Captain)

"Do you think the Count knew about it?" (Astrid)

"It'd be hard not to. It is right under your office." (Captain)

"But he didn't seem to notice?" (Astrid)

"True. But he likely doesn't have a high sensitivity to magic. He's never needed it after all." (Captain)

"Haah... Maybe he knew?" (Astrid)

"Maybe... Probably... He'd have to. It is right under his office." (Captain)

Wait...

His office?

"... What if it wasn't his office?" (Astrid)

It'd make sense.

Why was his office unlike the rest of the estate? Because it was just built.

But why would an office the Count would work in just be built if he's been a noble for years? Because something is happening in that house.

And, now that I think back to it, it was just a normal office, but nothing had been touched.

All of the papers that should have been on the desk weren't there.

The chair that should have been moved from the desk if he had been sitting on it was under the desk, as if meticulously placed there.

The entire room radiated such normality that it becomes abnormal when you think about it.

And so, if everything was so normal, to the point where it was abnormal, and nothing was touched in that room, it means the Count didn't work in that room, but else where.

Plus, the lack of gems could amplify the use of magic in that room. Though only a small amount, gems can absorb mana and become mana crystals.

If the Count were to do that with his love of gems, so much mana would be wasted.

This all means that there is something that the Count is needing to do with that mana crystal and the people that enter that room.

"I think we need to investigate that Count a bit more." (Astrid)

"Hmm. But it'd be hard to get another meeting with him for a while..." (Captain)

"Who says we need a meeting?" (Astrid)

"Are we going to--" (Captain)

"We are going to sneak in!" (Astrid)

"..." (Captain)

"Well, I suppose it'd only be me, since you... You are..." (Astrid)

I look him up and down a few times.

"... A behemoth?" (Astrid)

"I'm a human. But I suppose we don't really have a choice. It seems like it's about... Evening now, so let's wait a few hours and stake it out. If it seems too risky, we'll wait until he leaves the estate." (Captain)

"Okay!" (Astrid)

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Author Notes
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Whoo, a long chapter this one is. 1700 words, that's nearly on par with the ending of the Alzibria arc, just 200 words off.

I really just couldn't find a place to end this chapter. I was planning on ending it when they walked into the bar, but then I realised that it's just be a waste of a chapter, and nothing would be done, so I continued.

But to be honest, I'm worried that this chapter isnt going to be as good as the rest, since I've been sick for a few days, so I haven't been writing. I've managed to publish 2 chapters before even starting writing this one. And I'm hard-pressed for time since I'm going to publish this one tomorrow.

But I'm rambling, so I hope you enjoyed this chapter, please continue reading, and consider following me, thanks!

I'm adding to this after editing this chapter, but my god... The amount of errors in this chapter couldn't even compare to any other.

Well, there might still be some since I'm still feeling the effects of my cold, but I literally had to rewrite maybe 200 words because they literally didn't make any sense.

Like seriously:
"Why would a Count built his office if he'd been noble for while?"
"People like the Captain, the Captain and even Etssusu"

What the hell? What went through my mind when I was writing this? Those sentences were only a few of way to many errors, so I hope I've fixed most, if not all, of them now, which also made the word count go up to about 1850.

And now, this time truly, thank you for reading this chapter, and please continue to do so!