Chapter 7: A new request

"A month ago from now and about twenty days ago since the letter was written, the third prince of Mayn kingdom as well as the sole prince with the claim to the throne vanished from his front garden."

Spot sat down in Andrew’s lap as the group sat together in their underground base.

Their doppelgangers were learning everything they needed before the group set off this time.

They did not know how long they would be out for but they weren’t going away just yet. They still needed a while to get ready for the mission.

"How does one just ’vanish’ from their front yard?" Snow was the one asking this question when she was well aware how it could be possible for someone.

"I mean, unless they moved at a speed one cannot notice or were somehow made invisible with some trick, I don’t think the people at the royal palace would say he just ’vanished’ out of the blue."

There are many ways someone can vanish from a place but most of the time they are just tricks.

A brain and normal body can only perceive certain signals to confirm that something is ’there’.

However, the sense experiences become useless when the very concept of ’there’ is questioned. And, their group used that dilemma to their advantage.

However, they were not like normal people.

"If they said the prince had ’vanished’ then they really mean it. Knowing them, they must have already checked out the place thoroughly with all common means. If anything, they might have even taken help from the other races."

Andrew sat back down comfortably with Spot’s back right in front of his face.

She was playing with him right now, grinding her hips in an obvious provocation. But, this wasn’t going to work as well as she wanted with this discussion going on.

"Hmmm... we don’t have much information. They must have sent the request to all the other information groups as well."

He leaned forward, but just then, Spot leaned backwards so his face collided with her back.

The other two did not like it, in fact they were obviously upset that she got to him first.

They wanted to be on him as well, but they could only stare at her teasing their beloved this time.

"Do we know anything else, Beth?" Looking at Barn, the pink haired lady, he called her by her real pet name.

She was looking through different pieces of information that she had gathered on her holographic magical screen, so she did have some information on the matter.

"The royal family did not just hire anyone. Aside from us, they asked the [Pantheon] and the [Elision] for their help."

That was some useful information.

"It means they got specific information about our recent missions... still, the fact that we have minimum information is still not the best start."

Pantheon is the world’s common religion so it refers to the strongest organization with the most influence in the world.

On the other hand, Elision is the best assasination organization in the kingdom.

’Those people are very good at what they do. Be it gathering info on sensitive things or assassinating someone important.’

It’s obvious that neither of the organizations know that they are working on this, but knowing the royal family, they must also have some other forces working on this.

"I have gone through all the compiled information and it seems like we will have to go into this blindly. The royal family is not sharing any details with any of the groups."

Beth shared the little bits of info that she had gathered from the various reports that they get from different sources on regular bases.

She was one of the few in the world who could actually go through hundreds of pages of information and sort out what they needed in a mere moment.

"You’re amazing as always, Betty."

"Good work." While Spot praised her verbally, Snow patted her head gently with a warm smile.

The bond between those two as the eldest and the youngest of the group was special in its own right.

On the other hand, the other two who were neither the eldest nor the youngest just appreciated their little Beth for her hard work.

"Alright then. So, we know we don’t know much about the incident." Andrew grabbed Spot’s hips that were grinding on his intimate parts since a while ago and turned her sideways. "What hypothesis do we have on the only prince of the kingdom getting spirited away?"

If they were taking on this request, they needed possible answers to what might have happened there.

"It’s unlikely that it’s the doing of someone from the inside. The palace has surveillance devices all over the building."

Beth had done her homework on the palace and the royal family already.

She knew all the things about them known to the public. Furthermore, she knew bits that were only whispered even inside the palace.

"If we’re talking about a sudden vanishing, invisibility magic is a likely cause." Spot had her viewpoint as a mage as well.

But she shook her head right after saying it.

"But we all know the royals keep mages by their side. They must have investigated already."

Andrew thought about it for a moment but while it was a possibility, they couldn’t just accept someone else’s investigation.

"We will have to look into it."

They will first have to infiltrate the royal palace and get information on the internal affairs.

"If not magic, we might be looking at the work of someone with a special blessing."

Snow’s idea was logical as well.

If the spells that were derived from the power of the demons were a possibility, the blessings, powers of the divine, could be the culprit as well.

"The royal family must have thought about that as well. Perhaps that’s why they commissioned the two opposite groups."

The royal family was playing a game of their own right now, trying to hit three birds with one stone.

And their organization was an experimental pebble thrown into the mix.

"It seems like they are gambling on us right now." Andrew smiled excitedly as the thought passed through his mind.

Their style was much different from the traditional or orthodox organizations.

The four of them were a team of highly specialized experts that were very good at what they did.

In fact, while it may not be known to the organizations themselves, they had successfully carried out requests from both the parties who were working on this case.

"Alright alright. Spells, blessings, and let’s consider this to be work of a unique device as well."

In this world, just like supernatural powers, items that had strange powers of their own existed as well.

Be it the black-gold bracelet that magically stored stuff or Andrew’s red dagger, these items are relics made with the lost technology of ancient civilizations.

Perhaps, if it is the royal family, then they may have acquired one such item that they did not know about themselves.

"What else?"

They contemplated the possibilities, coming up with things like it being the work of the two princesses who also had a claim to the throne, someone who wanted something from the royals, or perhaps the work of someone who was after the branch of the world tree to begin with.

There were counters for each possible scenario but at the same time, deductions weren’t going to be possible without concrete evidence.

"Alright then."

But with the possibilities available, they knew what they should look for as well as what they needed to prepare for.

"Let’s go to bed now."

"Yes~."

"You’ve been a tease to him today, Sammy."

"It’s not fair to have Drew all by yourself!"

They may have formulated an approach strategy, but they still needed to come up with what they will actually do.

And along with it, what kind of gadgets they were going to need this time around.