The blockade of the capital is complete. All we have to do now is to send out a group of knights to each compartment and search for the magical treasure in every square inch of the city!

　General Frieda enraptured by her own swift action declares.

......

　At the same time, Merck was clutching his stomach at his boss' eccentricities, which were far from unexpected.

"Hmm?　What's going on?

No, I just have a stomach ache.

"Hmm, that's not good. You're a good lieutenant. Get some rest.

　Already the thief's fate is running out. Convinced that all that remained was to wait, Frieda gently cared for her subordinate, Merc.

No, no!　Can't say I'm picky in this time of emergency!　Until the case is solved, I am willing to work my ass off for the General here at Merck!

"...... Phew, that's right!　That's my man!　That's great loyalty!　I don't think even former General Maldo has ever had such a loyal subordinate!

　General Frieda was in a good mood, but Merck was not in a good mood.

(Don't be silly!　(You have no idea what horrible things will happen to you if we let you go in this situation!

　Normally, General Frieda would have been a kind boss, but in the current situation, it was as foolish as letting her bosses run amok, acting so far out of line and so irrelevant.
　Merck thought that he would rather work than let his boss run amok, even if it meant a hole in his stomach.

(Oh, it really makes my stomach hurt. ......)

　His stomach ache is only just beginning.

　The pain in his stomach has only just begun.

"The Knights of Tendo are!　We got a call that a violent criminal has fled to this area!　Let me remodel my house!

!

　The men stiffen at the sound.
　But the door doesn't open, and upon closer inspection, the sound comes from the next door.

What are you?

This is the Order's business!　Let me check it out quietly!

...... Oh, you came looking for us?

Yeah, you did. Hey, get out the back door while you still can.

No, there will probably be more of them in the back.

　The landlord's man, who lived in King's Landing only to gather information and secure a safe house, seemed to have no idea about the Knights' operational actions.

"Hey, come here.

　The man calls out to the back of the room, and a girl, who has been crouched in the corner, comes under him.

You can hide this and turn into .......

　When the man commands it, it nods and changes shape.

"Oh, oh?

　The man who owns the house, who was watching the scene, lets out a cry of surprise.
　And then, just as his form has completely changed, a knock on the door of the house rings out.

It's the Knights of Tendo!　We got a call that a violent criminal has fled to this area!　Let me remodel my house!

　Without asking the landlord's permission, the door opened and the knights came in.

The house will be reformed.

　At the behest of their superiors, the knights started rummaging through the house.

"Hey, who's the landlord?

　The knight who looks like a commander speaks to the man who owns the house.

"I am the master of this house.

　Thinking that it would be suspicious to rebel carelessly, the landlord's man honestly answers the knight's question.

'Have you seen a man with a jewel of this size?　I don't care if it's the same package, it was stolen from a certain place. Tell me honestly if you've seen it.

　The knight shows the size of the jewel in his hand and questions the landlord's man.

Well, well, if you show off that kind of thing around here, you're sure to be attacked by rough guys, so I don't think anyone would carry it around for show. It's about the size of a package that would fit in a shopping bag, so we can't be sure.

Hmmm, yeah. Who are those two guys in the back, by the way?

　The knight turned his attention to the two men and women behind the landlord's man.

Oh, these two are distant relatives. We came to the capital to greet my grandfather, but as you can see, my belly is growing, so I thought we could have him stay with us for a while to relieve the fatigue of our journey.

　Surely the landlord was right, the woman's belly was swollen.

"I see ...... but I'm working too. I'm sorry, let's see what's inside your clothes.

!

　The woman trembles at the knight's words.

"No, no, you don't have to take your clothes off. If you could just turn the cloth upside down, that's fine. Maybe some women pretend to be pregnant to hide their stolen goods.

　The knight's words were true. Sometimes the criminals who handle stolen goods carry the goods in disguise. It's not uncommon to see women dressed as pregnant women among them.



"......

　The woman turned to the man leaning close and he nodded his head and urged her on.

"The knight sent me. I'll do as you say.

　The woman also nodded at the man's words and shyly flipped up her clothes to reveal her belly.

...... Ahh, you sure do have a heavy body. I'm sorry, you can put it down now.

　When the knight said that, the woman also turned red and put her clothes back on.

Captain!　I didn't have the thing I was looking for!

"Here is too!

Well, let's head to the next house!

　The knight commanded the captain, and the knights quickly withdrew.

I'm, uh, sorry about that. That's for the inconvenience to the lady. Here's something nourishing for you to eat.

　Then he grabbed a few coppers from the landlord, and the knight also left the house.

...... Haha, you scared me.

"Well said.

　The men flinch and slump to the floor.

"Godd*mn it, you f*cked up my house.

　The landlord was right, the knights had ransacked the house and left without cleaning up.

But I'm glad to see you're ok with this. You can come back now.

　Then the man looks at the woman.

"I never thought I'd be able to transform myself into a pregnant woman.

　As the landlord looks intently at the woman, her body collapses and turns into slime.

A shape-shifter, a demon that can change its shape into any shape. However, it can't speak human language, so it must be attached to my body and worn like clothing.

　The man holding the object that emerged on the surface of the shape-shifter's body.
　This is the jewel that the man had stolen from General Frieda, or rather from Lasse, the jewel of the magic seal.

I have a map of the current site of the knight commander's house and I can see the faces of the knights. And I've got this jewel too. All we have to do now is get out of the capital.

"How are you going to get out?

I'll have him help me with that too. I'll wear it and walk around the city, checking the faces and the tone of the knights making the emergency line. I'll do this again and again as I slip out, little by little, to meet up with my friends who will be waiting outside the capital and give them the jewel. It'll take some time, but at this rate, the cordon might open at any moment. I'll be back periodically because of this guy's transformation time.

　Then the man pats the shape-shifter.

"All right, be careful.

"Don't worry, no one can see through this guy's transformation.

Indeed.

　The men were laughing at each other.
　Without noticing the presence of a small shadow eavesdropping on their conversation from outside the window.

　.

Meow!

　At night, the demons who were out gathering information will come back to Lasse.

Good work, did you get any good information?

"It's meow but ......

　For some reason, Ketsey looks awkward.

"What?　The information was not available?　Well, it's your first day, and you don't always get the information right away.

"Not so. Meow." "That's not true. Or rather, I found out who stole the treasure.

What, that's not a problem at all.

　You should be happy to know that Lasse is right, the person who stole the treasure was found.

I'm sure you're right, but the information is too chaotic.

　Ketsey begins to groom himself in a far more serious manner than he usually takes it easy.

"You'll have to report back first. What you do with that information is your husband's business.

　Arachne urges a distressed Ketsey to disclose the information.

." ...... Yeah, that's right.

　Ketsey decided to sit on Lasse's lap and began to talk about the information she had gathered.

The person who stole the treasure is the head of the Knights of the Kingdom of Tendo, Nya.

Commander Frieda?

　The name of the culprit caught Lasse by surprise.

Why the Commander of the Order?　Was the Commander of the Order a devil follower?　Or is he a traitor with ties to the neighboring countries?

I heard the reason for the theft was to harass your master.

　Lasse fell into bed.

"...... stupid.

　It was a sincere murmur.
　I never thought that the person in charge of a country's knightly order would do such a foolish thing for such a trivial reason.

But the treasure was stolen by someone else.

?

　Instantly get up and look at Ketsey.



"I stole it from a neighboring spy, and now I'm hiding in the safe house of a fellow spy.

"Location?

The brown-roofed house on the second outermost street on the west side of King's Landing.

"Gotcha.

"But it's hard to get there because the knights are blocking the road. And there's a demon there.

"It's still the enemy demon hunter.

The knights of the state were looking for them, but they were turned into shape-shifting monsters and we missed them.

I don't know what I'm doing.

　A dumbfounded Lasse.

"And it looks like the culprit is going to use a shape-shifting demon to get out of the capital and give the treasure to his friends who are waiting outside.

"Hmm, that's not good. I'll ask my followers to secure the enemy outside King's Landing. Pixie, can you get a hold of me?

"Yes!　Oops!

　The fairy pixie, who was relaxing on Pluck Dog's back, jumped up.

"I'll go over and tell them with a click, so take care of the honey as a reward!

　Pixies and other fairies love the nectar of flowers. This pixie, who made a deal with Lasse, is especially fond of honey, and has been sneaking into people's homes to steal and lick it.
　She was so common that the villagers asked Lasse to take her down. You'll be able to find out the reason for this.
　However, the concept of an atonement contract is questionable, since the basic principle of a pixie is to never get discouraged and never be remorseful.

Well, now it's time to talk about the killer.

　When Lasse sees that the pixie has gone out the window, he thinks about capturing the killer in the capital. 　

"Hey, that's not all, Nya.

"What's more?

　As Lasse is trying to think of a way to secure the culprit, Ketsey is waiting for him.

Yes, that's right. It's a good thing that the holy knights who came to grill your husband at the entrance of the city are screaming at you to let them into the city.

The Holy Knights?

　With the return of the holy knights, the situation was about to become even more confusing.