"I can't find it directly right now. I'm a character in the story, so I don't have subjective initiative. Moreover, if I were to directly open the cabinet or lift the bed and confront the thief, he would choose to flee. In a situation where strength meets strength, even if I could exert my own power, I might not be able to catch him."
【So what are you going to do?】
"I'm going to make him come to me, and then I'll launch a shameless sneak attack."
"She" chuckled softly, not asking Xia De how he planned to do it.
Xia De tore off that page from the notebook, then ripped it into three pieces, each specifying who it was for.
He stood up from the sofa and said in an exaggerated tone:
"Oh, it seems I need to seek help from the police gentlemen. It's too dangerous to stay in a stolen home."
As he spoke, he gestured towards the door with his right hand, and three notes silently flew towards the staircase. Doctor Schneider didn't even use a spell; his powerful mental strength as a Hexacle Arcanist directly pulled the three notes over. He saw names written on the folded notes, so he distributed the papers. After the three of them read them separately, they each took action.
"I need to go to the bedroom to change my clothes first; it's really too cold tonight."
Saying that, Xia De walked into his master bedroom and closed the door.
The living room, lit by gas lamps, returned to quiet, while the sound of a wardrobe opening echoed in the master bedroom. This was followed by the muffled thud of hangers colliding and clothes being tossed onto the bed.
The kitchen cupboard silently opened at this moment, and a short, medium-built man in a black trench coat emerged without a sound. He wore a hat, and his face was obscured by shadow from every angle. After landing, he listened carefully, confirming that the house owner in the bedroom was still changing clothes. Then, carrying Xia De's antique knight's sword, he came to the living room, glanced at the closed master bedroom door, and then held his breath and walked out of the room.
Entering the second-floor corridor, he did not go down the stairs, but instead walked towards the third floor, clearly believing that leaving through the front door was unsafe. But his foot had barely stepped on the fifth stair when he suddenly stopped. It looked up and clearly saw an Old Priest with scorched wings spread behind him standing in the darkness on the landing of the stairs leading to the third floor.
Although Jack the Thief becomes stronger when facing strong opponents, it also has its limits; otherwise, it wouldn't have been pulled into the story by the angel-level relic, 【dice story collection】. When it encounters a powerful enemy, it usually tends to flee rather than attack. Therefore, upon seeing Priest Augustus, it turned and fled back to the second floor.
It still did not choose to escape to the first floor, but instead tried to go to Room No. 2 on the second floor along the corridor. But just as it passed the doorway of Room No. 1, it saw a man with his hands behind his back standing at the end of the corridor. Doctor Schneider stood at the boundary of light and shadow, with his eye on the half of his face illuminated by the gas lamp, revealing an eerie crimson glow.
Darkness writhed behind the doctor, as if something even more terrifying lurked within that viscous gloom. Jack the Thief turned again; unable to move on the second floor, unable to go to the third floor, this time it finally chose to go to the first floor.
The sound of descending stairs was imperceptible, but there was still someone on the stairs going down.
Leia's Destiny Ring spun rapidly behind her, with the match girl holding a bamboo basket on her left, and the sleeping princess holding a spindle on her right.
Mia stood on the Golden-haired girl's shoulder, and the princess held the night watchman with both hands, looking at the strange humanoid creature descending the stairs as if facing a formidable enemy.
Even though she had already anticipated the terror of a Sage-level humanoid relic, when this thing, which clearly looked like a human but her intuition kept telling her was definitely not human, appeared before her, Leia still cautiously took a step back.
The night watchman in her hand did not glow, which proved that the other party could not be judged as an evil creature. Leia bit her lip and raised her sword, pointing it at it, wanting to force it to retreat back to the second floor.
But unlike being directly forced back by Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider just now, this time the thief did not turn back immediately, but hesitated, standing at the top of the stairs.
"As expected, I still need to show my strength to force it back."
The cat carrying Xia De, the Cavendish princess, prepared to face a direct confrontation with the Sage-level humanoid relic. The flow of spirit made the bodies of the summoned fairy tale characters more solid. She stepped up one stair, and the angel-level relic in her hand made the sage-level relic in front of her retreat one step, but it still did not turn back to the second floor.
Just then, Leia faintly heard footsteps from behind her. Before she could turn to confirm who had arrived, a hand reached out from behind Leia and then grasped the Night Watchman with her:
"【My heart is clear, the sword slays demons】."
The standard fourth epoch common language was recited by Luvia, and the purple-eyed girl with short brown hair came to Leia's side. Silver sword light emanated from the surface of the silver sword, and the runes on the blade were illuminated with a clear yellow color.
Luvia and Leia stood side by side, and as the sharp light seemed to cut upwards, Jack the Thief was finally forced back to the second floor.
"Luvia, you... Oh, thank you so much, I'm not in a great state, otherwise I could have done it myself."
The princess made the sleeping princess and the match girl disappear, panting heavily as Luvia supported her. The female Diviner glanced at Mia on her shoulder:
"Don't push yourself. What did you just do? How did your mental power get so depleted? I have a potion here... Also, do you need to thank me? In this house, we can be considered sisters."
Leia's face flushed slightly, she didn't know what she was thinking. She took the mint-flavored potion and drank it in small sips. Luvia then said:
"Has Xia De not finished this matter yet? I waited for a while at the Prophet Association, so I rushed over."
She and the Golden-haired girl walked up together. At the staircase, they met Priest Augustus and Doctor Schneider, who were coming from upstairs and the other side of the corridor.
The Old Priest and the Middle-Ring doctor were both surprised by Luvia's appearance, but then felt it wasn't particularly astonishing, as theoretically, everyone here shouldn't have been here tonight.
Jack the Thief, wearing a black trench coat, originally stood at the doorway of Room No. 1. Seeing the four surrounding him, he decisively retreated back into Room No. 1 on the second floor. His footsteps still made no sound.
But when it re-entered the room and turned to look at the window, it was greeted by a fist and an angry rebuke:
"Oh, you damned thief! You actually dared to show yourself!"
【Mortal's Luck】Xia De Hamilton, entered the final battle stage.
"【Mortal's Luck】Xia De Hamilton, upon returning home, keenly discovered that his home had been burglarized. Roll the dice to determine if the stolen item was discovered. If the roll exceeds 90 points, then in any subsequent judgment related to Jack the Thief, gain a 20-point bonus."
"I declare!"
Prophet Association, Iluna in the light looked at the parchment in her hand:
"Due to Hamilton's trait 【I Love My Home】, any judgment made in Saint Delan Square Six receives a total multiplier of 1.2."
The people around all took a breath, and from this, they thought of the rumors about that house.
Clang clang clang~
Iluna read out the number:
"55 points. Symbolic point bonus 20 points..."
Since it was currently enjoying a 1.2 multiplier, it was still eight points short. Iluna's eyes quickly scanned the contents of the parchment; after Xia De returned to Saint Delan Square Six, the information in her hand had nearly doubled. For example, the "I Love My Home" trait only appeared after Xia De entered the house. The seventeen-year-old girl thus understood what Luvia often meant when she said Xia De's obsession with that house:
"Special scene bonus - Hamilton Detective Agency, due to performing Detective-like work, provides an additional inspiration bonus of 20 points. Total points 95 × 1.2 = 114."
Although they knew that such a simple judgment could not possibly fail, people still breathed a sigh of relief. After all, someone had just rolled three 1s in a row, which meant that anything was possible in the story.
"The returning Detective keenly discovered that the stolen item was 'Hamilton of Leijiede's' knight's sword. Although the Detective was angry at being robbed, this anger did not give him a keener perception to find the top criminal hidden in the house. What will Xia De Hamilton do next?"
Iluna frowned and thought for a moment:
"Do not give instructions, let him act randomly according to his own ideas."
After speaking, fearing suspicion, she added:
"That thief must be in the house, but with Hamilton's investigation skills, he won't find him. Rather than giving him ineffective instructions, it's better to wait for the thief to act on his own. I don't believe he can hide all night."
After speaking, she waited for a moment, and hearing no one behind her question this decision, she breathed a sigh of relief. The voice in the darkness continued to tell the story of the Detective and the thief, a story that was about to reach its conclusion:
"Looking around, pacing constantly, suppressing his complex feelings of panic, guilt, anger, and unease, 【Mortal's Luck】Xia De Hamilton could not understand his bad luck, and was even more furious at losing the precious symbol of his identity. He suppressed his inner thoughts, sat on the sofa trying to calm himself, wrote and drew, and finally decided to go to Leedweich Field to report the crime himself."
Everyone gazed at the desktop scenery. After Xia De entered Saint Delan Square Six, the original large area scenery disappeared, and now the desktop blocks were stacked to resemble Xia De's home.
"The Detective entered the bedroom and closed the door behind him, which would increase his sense of security. Make an additional luck roll; if it's above 350 points, then he discovers the sound of the thief walking in the living room."
Clang clang clang~
"Judgment successful. The Detective, who was changing clothes, keenly detected footsteps outside the door. He decided to walk out of the bedroom to see. Note: Since the gun holster was left on the desk, this weapon cannot be used in the subsequent segments."
A sigh came from behind Iluna, but the seventeen-year-old girl knew that Xia De had intentionally not taken it.
"The night was slightly cold, and panic occupied the young Detective's heart. He didn't know if the faint footsteps outside were just his own hallucination, or if it was the criminal who hadn't left yet. And at this moment, the image of a strange and evil monster, rumored to appear in City legends on winter nights long ago, seemed to flash behind that door."
Iluna found this psychological description rather amusing.
"He reached out and pushed open the bedroom door. His familiar and warm home now seemed incredibly strange. Even though the gas lamp's light illuminated the place, he still struggled to convince himself that everything was perfectly normal as he took his first step."
"Has Jack the Thief been discovered? Should a judgment be made?"
Iluna asked, and the hoarse voice narrating the story replied:
"Xia De Hamilton came into the living room, checking the living room which actually had no clues. He found nothing, then carefully came to the door of Room No. 1 on the second floor."
The voice paused imperceptibly, then immediately said:
"Xia De Hamilton and Jack the Thief encountered each other head-on. The battle begins."
Almost everyone held their breath, only Iluna sighed deeply; the story was finally coming to an end.
------Side Note------
PS: Actually, the five-person team doesn't have many opportunities to act together, as the five of them combined have almost no weaknesses. It's only in situations like this that all five can appear together in one incident.
Of course, after this volume concludes and Xia De enters the Middle-Ring, he will face more dangerous situations, and the five members of the team will act together more frequently then.
I'm currently considering who will participate in the final battle at the end of this volume. By the way, you can guess the location of the final battle in this volume without prizes.
