The next day, I gave Gregory instructions as planned.
Well, I tried to.
“…….”
“What’s wrong, Frondier-ssi?”
Aten asked me as I stared silently at the crow.
We’re in a classroom.
I need to keep getting reports from Gregory if I’m to move as planned.
From this classroom, right beside Aten.
“…Eh.”
“Proceed as planned when the bell rings. Report frequently.”
[Understood.]
I told Gregory, and he opened his mouth to respond, using honorifics to show he understood my meaning.
“Huh? What?”
Aten was surprised, looking back and forth between me and the crow.
“The crow, it’s speaking…?”
“Yep. Worked hard on taming.”
A highly skilled tamer can teach animals to speak.
Especially for creatures with high intelligence like crows, it’s relatively easy.
But that’s really something only a very high-level tamer could do. And it takes a considerable amount of time.
In my case.
“When did you get so good at taming… No, that’s impossible. Is this talent? Divine power?”
That’s the kind of reaction I get.
I pulled the corners of my mouth into a confident smile. I had learned about natural smiling from Selena recently, but I’m not sure if it worked.
“Talent, divine power, etc. Let’s just say it’s the ultimate result of combining everything you can think of.”
I rambled on as best I could.
But then Aten brought a hand to her mouth and furrowed her brow in thought.
“Talent, divine power… The ultimate result of combining everything…”
Aten, don’t mumble so seriously.
Realizing I had blurted out something incredibly embarrassing to hear made me cringe.
“Now, then.”
I asked Aten.
“Do you know the ‘Whisper of the Wind’ spell?”
I was openly dragging Aten into the case.
Aten nodded his head.
“Use it right now.”
Without asking, Aten spread her hands.
A soundproofing magic where only the voices of me, Aten, and Gregory could be heard. Whisper of the Wind.
I confirmed it and then looked at the crow.
“Then report immediately if you find anything. Even during class time, if it’s urgent.”
[How can I tell if the guy is using his abilities?]
“……Didn’t I explain it all yesterday?”
[Sorry, I don’t remember. I’m just a crow.]
This guy is clearly wanting Aten to listen. In fact, Aten was looking at the crow with interest and curiosity while sparkling with excitement.
I sighed and said.
“No need to check whether he uses her ability or not. What matters are the contents of the conversation.”
If he sees Quinie wearing glasses, he’ll definitely approach her. He believes that Quinie is mistaken about his ability.
Of course, because that’s true, he can’t help but believe it.
Quinie is popular. She must talk to a lot of people.
What matters is the content.
Who brings up the topic of ‘Kora’?
‘The fact that I don’t know Kora means that Kora will almost certainly be removed from the game.’
In other words, he’s targeting Kora before Quinie. Kora is the biggest obstacle to his plan.
“Find the guy who’s asking about ‘Kora’. Bingo if it’s a question like ‘When will Kora come back to the Constel?’”
[I understand. As expected of my Master.]
This guy, he likes this.
Ding— Dong—
Then, as the class bell rang, the crow bowed its head tightly.
[Then I’ll follow your orders.]
Watching the crow fly away after saying that, Aten now had a light in her eyes that she never had before.
Gregory is also definitely enjoying it.
I asked Aten, who was blankly watching the flying crow.
“Aten, are you okay? You don’t even know what’s going on.”
“I’m fine. It seems like an important matter. Unless Mr. Frondier is trying to commit a crime.”
Saying that, Aten looked at me in surprise.
“Surely, I wouldn’t be an accomplice to a crime, would I?”
“No. You wouldn’t.”
“Right. I was joking.”
Right. That’s called a joke.
Aten has learned a new ‘joke’.
“I trust Mr. Frondier.”
…… and additionally learned ‘causing trouble’.
* * *
Then, after a while.
[Reporting.]
I only got the results after school.
The crow flew to the windowsill and spoke.
[I found the guy who asked Quinie about Kora’s location. He was outright asking when she would come.]
“Okay. What did Quinie say?”
[She said she would come today. But I’m not sure if it was the truth. At the time, Quinie would’ve definitely suspected everyone approaching her.]
Of course Quinie would be wary of anyone asking about Kora.
So she could’ve lied or, conversely, could’ve told him the truth to lure him in. She must’ve been thinking that she would be able to check when she would lose her memory.
Anyway, he took the bait.
“Then he must have done something to make Quinie lose her memories, right? Did you check that too?”
I asked Gregory.
Obviously, if he had asked her about Kora, then he must have also done something to make her lose her memories afterward.
[…That’s the thing.]
But Gregory paused without answering.
[From what I saw, he lightly touched Quinie’s arm with his finger.]
“……That’s all?”
[Yes.]
I narrowed my eyes.
In other words, the condition for making the other person lose their memories was just a moment of physical contact?
‘No. Since it’s a short-term memory, the condition may be relatively simple.’
……Even so.
It was a moment when I realized the fear of ‘divine power.’