It's been four and a half days since we set out from the royal city of Gracesburg, traveling through the city of Atratia.
Our party arrived at Goldia, the city where Count Goldart's mansion is located.

It was evening when we passed through the city gate at the entrance to Goldia.
Under a sky that was beginning to darken as the sun reached the mountains, Irene and I walked down the central avenue of the city.

The city of Gordia is a medium-sized city.
The city's population is around three thousand.
The size of the city is such that you can cross from the west gate to the east gate by walking along the central avenue for about a minute.

Add to this the hundred or so farming villages in the vicinity of the city, and you have a total of 20,000 people, which is the entirety of Count Goldarte's territory.

'Is this the residence of Count Goldia? If that's the case, there's a place up ahead where there are a lot of residences of the upper class, so you'd better look for the biggest one among them.

'So that's Count Goldia's mansion. Thank you, Auntie!

Irene caught a middle-aged woman on the side of the road and asked her the location of her destination, then thanked her and waved as she walked away.
Then she came running up to me and stood beside me, waiting at the side of the street.

'Hey, there. That way.'

'Yes, sir. But you're still moving with a footwork that's not typical of royalty.

The princess's face is not well known throughout the land, so she won't be noticed if she's traveling like this.
You'll look like a traveling girl or boy with just a bit of good looks.

'Is that a compliment? Is it a compliment or a compliment?

'If anything, it's a compliment.

'Hee hee, yay! Will complimented me...'

Irene said, squeezing my hand and making a small gut pose.

My childhood friend then glanced at Satsuki, who was nearby, and grinned at her thoughtfully.
Satsuki, on the other hand, looked frustrated and trembled.

'Nuh-uh-uh ......'

'Satsuki, calm down. You can't fight in the city, and you can't win in a fight.'

'I know, I know! I know, but that princess is annoying!

'It's good that she's aware of you. It means you're recognized as a proper rival.''

'Yes, but! I know, but! Aaaaaaaaaaah!

Satsuki scratched her head with both hands while shouting strangely, despite being calmed by Mee and Cyril.

It's a good idea to have a good idea of what you're doing.
...... I hope you will consider the public eye a little bit, because this is a traffic area.
.......

While I was thinking about this, Irene came to me from the side and asked me for advice.

'By the way, Will, how many people do you think should go to Count Goldart's mansion? Will and I should go with the minimum, or should Satsuki and the others wait somewhere?

The contents of Irene's consultation were the core of this mission.
The question of who to take with us was also a question of how we should expect the exchange of information to develop.

What we are going to do is to somehow punish the person with whom we are interacting if he or she is guilty of wrongdoing.
This may seem simple, but it is surprisingly difficult.

As I mentioned earlier, even though Irene is acting under the king's orders, if the reason for the punishment is not objectively justified, people who are not familiar with the situation will see it as an arrogant act of royal authority.
Such an act that would damage the king's authority should be avoided from Irene's standpoint.

That's why we're going to request a direct interview with Count Goldart in order to obtain the information necessary to secure the objective legitimacy of the matter.
In other words, the purpose of this mission is to extract enough information from the dialogue with Count Goldart to criticize him.

And I have a few ideas on how to do that.
I don't think it's that difficult to get the information out of him.
On the other hand, there are some tricky hurdles.

For example - and I think this will be the most important spell in my arsenal - there is a spell called Detect Try.
This is a spell that literally detects the lies of the opponent, and if Count Goldart is 'black', it is expected to be revealed by using this spell and conducting a proper interrogation.

On the other hand, what Count Goldart will do when his falsehood is pointed out is a question that needs to be considered.
He may, in fact, turn a blind eye.
If I'm the only one who can detect whether or not it's a falsehood, there's no room for evasion.

Or, if they can't get away with it, they may think that it's over and try to make us who went to question them dead on the spot.
There's no telling what a person driven to the limit will do.

And in the Count's mansion, there would be no small number of guards hired by him.
We don't know how they will act in such a case, but considering the possibility of a battle, the more forces we have, the better, so we should take Satsuki and the others with us.
Or, depending on the assumption of the enemy's strength, we may need to hire more forces as well.

On the other hand, however, a large number of armed people coming to a discussion may give the other side an excuse not to accept the dialogue.
Therefore, it is necessary to think carefully about this matter.

But more than that, the biggest problem is...

'Alice, the court magician.

'What? Isn't Alice the court magician to Count Goldart?

'Yeah. And the biggest obstacle in this quest.''

That's what I'm going to tell Irene.

The biggest obstacle in this quest is that the other side has a wizard-level sorcerer.

I'm not sure what to do, but I'm not sure what to do.
Most of the spells that I can use, Alice can also use.

As part of my countermeasures, I contacted a professor at the academy when I left the royal capital of Greysburg to get some information on Alice's appearance. .......

'Irene, it's a possibility, but be prepared for it to be a long shot.

'Heck, why not? Aren't you going to go yet today?'

'That's something we'll have to 'see'. Let's go to the Count's mansion first.

'What, wait a minute ......! Hey, Will, what are you up to? Tell me, too.

And so I began to walk along the road that led to the upscale residential area, and Irene was following me.