"Huh? Huhhh?!"
Wiz stared at the exquisite pastries, swallowing unconsciously as tears of gratitude nearly welled in her eyes.
"A-are these for me? These pastries look like they cost more than my entire monthly living allowance... Kōichi-san, you're such a wonderful person! You're as merciful as the Goddess Eris herself descending to earth!"
Wiz carefully picked up a pastry and placed it in her mouth. Her face twisted slightly from sheer bliss, and her entire body seemed to radiate a soft, almost heavenly glow.
While Wiz was lost in the bliss brought on by the food, Kōichi lowered his voice and got to the point.
"Wiz, there's something I need to ask you. Have any suspicious merchants appeared in Axel lately? Especially anyone selling ancient artifacts of unknown origin or magical beast eggs. Aqua was somehow talked into spending thirty million Eris this afternoon on something that was supposedly a dragon egg, but I can't shake the feeling that there's something wrong with it."
Wiz's blissful expression stiffened. She hurriedly swallowed the pastry in her mouth, and her face grew serious. Her keen instincts as a former Demon King's General immediately picked up on the gravity in Kōichi's voice.
"A suspicious merchant..."
Wiz rested a finger against her chin and thought for a moment.
"Now that you mention it, someone in a black cloak did visit my shop a few days ago. He tried to sell me a vessel capable of detecting holy auras, but it was far too expensive, and I couldn't even afford saltwater at the time, so I turned him down. However, I remember sensing an extremely ancient and oppressive magical aura from him, one that didn't belong to this world."
She leaned closer to Kōichi and whispered anxiously.
"Kōichi-san, if what Aqua-sama bought really came from that merchant, it may not be a dragon egg at all. Ancient records from the Demon King's Army mention a forbidden artifact known as the Egg of Heaven. It serves as a vessel for sealing or bringing down the will of a higher being. If it's mishandled, all of Axel... No, the entire kingdom could be dragged into a terrible disaster."
A chill ran down Kōichi's spine.
Spending thirty million Eris on a bomb would have been bad enough. But if Aqua had really brought home an egg capable of summoning a god, tomorrow in Axel might turn into an apocalyptic comedy.
Kōichi's expression became grave. He no longer had any attention to spare for how adorable Wiz looked while eating the pastries. Leaning forward, he planted both hands on the counter.
"Wiz, this is important. Did that black-cloaked merchant have any identifying features besides the cloak? An accent, a particular scent, or any unusual markings on the skin of his hands?"
Kōichi stared intently at Wiz.
"And after he left your shop, which way did he go? Toward the Adventurers Guild, or into the darker alleys of the slums?"
Kōichi's sudden seriousness startled Wiz so badly that she nearly dropped the pastry in her hand. She hunched her shoulders, closed her eyes, and desperately searched her memory. Her powerful memory as a Lich began working at full speed.
"Um... Let me think! As for distinguishing features... Ah! His voice was very deep, almost as if his throat were full of sand. And although he was wearing a thick cloak, I'm an Undead, so I'm especially sensitive to the auras people carry."
Wiz opened her eyes and nervously twisted her fingers together.
"He smelled faintly of scorched, ancient parchment. Also... he wore an obsidian ring engraved with a set of scales on his left thumb. It's a symbol worn by certain old cults in the Royal Capital and by high-ranking members of the black market."
Wiz pointed toward the left side of the street outside, which was shrouded in night mist.
"When he left, he didn't take the main road. He slipped straight into the back alley leading toward Axel's cemetery. I remember it clearly because only my Undead friends normally go that way. Yet even though he was alive, he moved through the area with complete ease, almost as if he were going home..."
Kōichi sucked in a sharp breath.
The cemetery? An obsidian ring?
This sounded like far more than a simple con artist.
That idiot Aqua had probably stumbled into a conspiracy serious enough to draw the attention of even the Demon King's Army.
"The cemetery... That's not a destination I can laugh off."
Kōichi straightened and looked out the window into the pitch-black night.
If the egg truly was the Egg of Heaven, then Aqua, currently asleep in the mansion with it in her arms, was practically the brightest lamp in the darkness. She could attract whatever predators were lurking in the shadows at any moment.
Kōichi pushed open the door of Wiz's Magical Item Shoppe. The cold night wind helped clear his head.
He glanced toward the cemetery, then toward the Succubus Shop, and chose the latter without hesitation.
For a dangerous operation potentially involving cults, holy relics, and the taboos of Heaven, he did not like his chances of surviving the night without Kazuma Satou and his absurdly high Luck leading the way.
"Wiz, stay in the shop for now! If anything feels wrong, contact me with magic immediately!"
Kōichi shouted without looking back, then sprinted toward the street glowing with suggestive pink light.
The Succubus Shop's sign flickered through the thick fog. The establishment was hidden underground, with an interior designed to be as alluring as possible.
Kōichi shoved open the heavy, fragrant wooden door. Ignoring the scantily dressed and visibly startled succubus greeting customers at the entrance, he barged straight into the lounge.
There, on a luxurious couch in the resting area, he found Kazuma Satou hovering on the edge of Sage Mode.
Kazuma's eyes were closed, and a revoltingly blissful grin hung on his lips as he muttered to himself.
"Hehehe... Luna-san... Don't do that. We probably shouldn't be doing this in the Adventurers Guild office... Ah, wait, that's the Explosion core..."
"Wake up, you useless shut-in who does nothing but have dirty dreams!"
Kōichi charged forward without mercy, grabbed Kazuma by the collar, yanked him off the couch, and shook him violently.
"Waaah! Explosion! It's going to blow!"
Kazuma jolted awake. His bloodshot eyes darted around in terror until he recognized Kōichi, at which point his expression instantly changed from panic to fury.
"Kōichi! What the hell are you doing, you bastard?! I was just getting to the most important part! Luna-san was about to show me her hidden quest! You owe me for ruining my dream! You owe me three thousand Eris!"
"Enough nonsense. Something serious has happened!"
Kōichi lowered his voice, his tone carrying an urgency that allowed no argument.
"The egg Aqua bought isn't a dragon egg. It's the Egg of Heaven. The man in black who sold it was seen near the cemetery, and he was wearing an obsidian ring engraved with scales. If he completes whatever ritual he's planning, forget Luna-san. All of Axel could become a paradise for the Undead!"