The Principle of a Philosopher by Eternal Fool “Asley”

Chapter 427: Ghost in the Cave

“By the way, Asley, ignore what Pochi said about your wallet. I’m paying today — eat whatever you want, man!”

Hearing Bruce say that, Pochi seemed quite… unamused.

“S-so that’s why it took you so long to choose a restaurant…”

Pochi squatted down, dejected.

The place we ended up choosing was the Adventurers’ Guild dining hall, which also serves booze and all that good stuff.

From the way we made it sound when we walked out of the mansion, Pochi probably expected us to go to a more fancy restaurant instead of the usual place — and that’s probably why she is quite a bit disappointed.

Bruce kept shooting her down every single time, too — When Pochi exclaimed, “The giant chicken dish at that place is so delicious!” Bruce promptly retorted, “Eh, the grilled chicken at the Adventurers’ Guild is tasty too!” And when Pochi expressed, “I want to drown in this place’s sea of sweets!” Bruce countered with, “What are you talking about? The sweet dumplings at the Adventurers’ Guild are pretty good too!” And in the end, Pochi finally seemed to read the atmosphere and said, “Well then, maybe should we go to the Adventurers’ Guild…?”

Though Bruce’s meant well, I can’t help but think that doing this to Pochi was a mistake…

Well, whatever — that’s just how Bruce is. And since he called me over like this, he’ll probably share some stories that can only be told here, too.

“Now, cheer up, Pochi — after the mean, I’ll take you to check out some of the other places.”

“Wha–!? Master!? Are you serious!?”

Well, are you sure you want to say THAT to someone who’s trying to cheer you up, doggo?

“Show me your wallet for a moment, sir!”

I narrowed my eyes and handed over my wallet to her.

She began counting the bills and coins inside, muttering to herself, tilting her right ear and then her left in succession.

“…What in the world is she doing?”

Haruhana’s question is expected — While Pochi usually dines on my tab, in cases like this where she’s concerned about the contents of my wallet, she would count the money herself.

“That’s a dog’s way of counting — you know, like a human would use their fingers.”

“Damn, and they manage that with only two ears, huh? Pretty impressive! Hahaha!”

Folding and unfolding her ears, Pochi counted money while humming a tune. 

She seems to be having a lot of fun. 

Perhaps I should ask Bruce about this in the meantime — Why was he so insistent on having a meal at the Adventurers’ Guild?

“So, Bruce, why eat here?”

In response to my question, Bruce looked around as if to scan the surroundings for any potential threats. 

Among the weary mages and the familiar warriors seen frequently in Eddo, there aren’t any particularly high-level individuals. The regulars of this place are most likely adventurers who struggle with monster hunting outside of town. 

Come to think of it, those warriors gathered at the magic class… could they be the frontline fighters?

“Actually, the place doesn’t matter much — I just wanted a place with as many unrelated-but-not-hostile people as possible. Well, the Adventurers’ Guild is noisy all day every single day, so…”

“Hmm? Is it something you don’t want the enemy to hear, then?”

Responding to my suggestion, Bruce held up a finger in a way that says “Yeah.”

“Then why not use a Telepathic Call?”

“Well, I gotta talk about it to many people — doing that one at a time would be a hassle.”

“Dude, did you forget how we used a multi-target connection when we infiltrated Regalia Castle?”

“Whoa–! Right, we did that, didn’t we? I DID forget that you could do it… So, yeah, do it now! Pretty please!”

Now, what in the world could this conversation be about?

Well, if I let it drag on any longer, there’s a chance Pochi might become annoyed and make a fuss about how we could have just gone to a different place then… We better wrap this up quickly.

I drew a Telepathic Call Spell Circle in the air, connecting myself and the three others present here.

[Okay, can everyone hear everyone else?]

[Yes, loud and clear.]

[Ayy, nice, man!]

[Hmm…! If we go to that restaurant, Master’s wallet will be completely empty…!]

I’d rather not have heard Pochi’s declaration of MY bankruptcy.

[So, what’s the matter?]

[Well, you see, after you and I took a bath earlier, I went back to the Resistance hideout for a bit.]

[Hmm? To use a Limit Breakthrough or something?]

[Yup.]

[Did something unusual happen at the Resistance hideout, Sir Bruce?]

Bruce looked around again, a sense of unease apparent in his eyes. Why would someone as formidable as him be so anxious?

[I saw a ghost… Well, maybe that’s not the right thing to say.]

[Really? A ghost? In the hideout?]

Bruce responded to my question with a nod.

Speaking of the hideout, it should be almost deserted now. The Craft Circle for Limit Breakthrough is still there, as well as a few lower-level Resistance members who stayed mainly to oversee its usage.

Did someone unaffiliated with us intrude into that place?

[It was not actually a ghost… was it?]

[Well, I couldn’t actually SEE it… but, well, the air felt SUPER heavy, yeah? Something about the hideout just felt OFF. By the time I was done with the Limit Breakthrough, that air returned to normal, though.]

[Someone using Invisible Illusion, maybe?]

[Could be. I did try to sense their arcane energy, but no one was actually there.]

[Or maybe it was just your imagination? Most people wouldn’t be able to completely conceal themselves from someone like you — Especially in the tight confines of a cave, you know?”

[That’s why I wanted to ask. Do you think even Lucifer could do that?]

Lucifer, huh… Now that IS a topic that couldn’t be discussed casually.

But what could the Devil King possibly want? There’s nothing in the hideout except the Craft Circle for Limit Breakthrough. It wouldn’t make sense for a Devil to need that, and considering Lucifer’s personality, he doesn’t seem the type to go out of his way to destroy it.

We’re still able to eat and drink freely like this because he’s not going all out yet.

He’ll make his move only when all the pieces are in place — The pieces of his plan to completely wipe out humanity.

[I mean, this is Lucifer we’re talking about… He’s probably good enough to hide from you.]

[I knew it!]

Bruce grew excited, his arcane energy distorting slightly.

But I immediately shook my head, signaling him to calm down.

[I don’t think it was him, though.]

[Huh? Why?]

Then, as if she could read through my thoughts, Haruhana spoke up.

[If Lucifer were at the hideout, he would have killed you, Sir Bruce.]

[Exactly — because he wants to make ME suffer.]

[Y-yeah, that makes sense…]

[And if it was Idïa or anyone else, Bruce would probably would have noticed. In the end, though, no one else suffered any harm, right?]

Bruce nodded quietly.

Then at that moment, Pochi, who had been silent until now, chimed in,

[Chappie!]

That one word conveyed all that needed to be said.

[Chappie, huh… There IS at least some chance that it was him, yeah… I guess.]

[Chappie? You mean your ‘son,’ a Violet Phoenix? Since he’s a Heavenly Beast, he shouldn’t need to use a Limit Breakthrough, right?]

[But we can’t be sure what he actually wanted from there, you know?”

[Though the hideout is nearly deserted, it still is the Resistance’s hideout. There might be information that is valuable to him there.]

[Yes, Chappie MUST HAVE been searching for something! If he wanted something from Master or me, he would probably have come straight to Eddo already!]

Pochi’s breathing grew noticeably heavy. But, well, I guess I don’t really need to scold her about that. 

Still, if Chappie did go to the hideout… Assuming it actually was him — which is quite likely, since there’s no other possibility that comes to mind — what could he possibly want? 

[Well, it’s not like anything was stolen — I might have just been overthinking it!]

[Considering how stressful the situation has become, it’s not weird for you to start seeing and feeling… things that aren’t actually there. Maybe you’re just tired.]

[Now that he mentioned it, Sir Bruce, you have not been sleeping much lately.]

Haruhana is right — I can see dark bags quite clearly under Bruce’s eyes.

Yeah, he’s definitely tired.

And so, to help lift Bruce’s spirits, we indulged ourselves with affordable and delicious food and drinks at the Adventurers’ Guild.

“Whew… I’m stuffed!”

“Dude, you drank WAY too much for someone who’s supposed to guard the magic classroom later.”

“Yes, that is true…”

“Recover: Count 4 & Remote Control!”

I used magic to eliminate the toxins from everyone’s alcohol intake.

“I wanted to feel drunk for a little bit longer, man!”

While Bruce’s complained…

“My stomach is currently nine-tenths full! Since it’ll be down to eight-tenths when we arrive at the first restaurant, I’ll use a third from your wallet there, sir! And after that, we’ll–“

I found myself more disturbed by the words of this furball of a dog.