The night slipped by, and a new day began in the Outer Ring.
Belle had just woken up. She stretched lazily, then rubbed her sleepy eyes as she looked over at Wise, who was already up.
"Good morning, Belle. Did you sleep well last night?" Wise asked, smiling warmly.
"Very well. But what about you, Brother? Didn't Lucy say she needed you for sothing last night? Why were you out so late? Could it be that even she has fallen for you?" she asked curiously.
'That's the only explanation I can think of,' Belle thought.
At this point, it was almost routine. And honestly, it wouldn't even be a bad thing.
Since they were working with the Sons of Calydon now, if her brother managed to win over soone important on their side, it would help a lot with their plans. Not to ntion, Lucy was the eldest daughter of the Montefio Family.
"What kind of nonsense are you thinking about? I just finished discussing the mole investigation with Lucy, and then I left," Wise said with a tired sigh.
"Eh? Then why'd you get back so late?" Belle frowned, clearly not buying it.
She paused, lost in thought.
Caesar? Burnice? But Wise had already denied both, which only made things more suspicious.
'Could it be that Fairy succeeded again?'
But that didn't seem right either. The last ti they spoke, she had said her body still wasn't fully modified.
"Stop overthinking it. You'll find out sooner or later. For now, get ready—we're heading out," Wise said as he slipped on his jacket.
Belle puffed her cheeks a little, clearly annoyed, but didn't push it any further.
Just then, a ssage from Lucy popped up. She said there was progress with the investigation, but things were a bit tricky and she needed to explain it in person.
Sa eting place as before. Wise replied and then told Belle.
The two of them couldn't help but feel a little impressed. Lucy must have pulled an all-nighter for this.
Wise arrived at the agreed spot not long after, but to his surprise, Piper was there too.
She didn't look surprised to see him. Instead, she scratched her cheek awkwardly and subtly pressed her knees together when he got closer.
"Uh... hmm, i-it's you, Wise. Are you here to see Lucy?" Piper asked, her tone slightly strained.
Fortunately, Lucy didn't pay much attention to this minor awkwardness, likely more focused on the investigation results.
"Yes. I wanted to go over the details of the Tour de Inferno day with Lucy."
Wise avoided ntioning the investigation, as agreed. Even if Piper's presence wasn't a coincidence, it was safer to keep things vague for now.
"Oh, Wise really is the tight-lipped type. That's kind of reassuring," Piper said, her words carrying a hint of hidden aning.
On the surface, it sounded like she was talking about the investigation, but Wise knew better. She was also hinting at what happened last night.
"I've always said, if you're not tight-lipped and quick-witted, you can't be a Proxy."
Lucy nodded, clearly pleased, her expression basically saying, 'See? I knew I was right about him.'
"So that ans Piper knows too... and just now, she was totally setting up?" Wise said, glancing at Piper with a calm, almost too-friendly smile.
Piper, on the other hand, shivered a bit. For so reason, that gentle look made her feel like there was sothing dangerous hiding underneath.
"M-My apologies, really. It's just... what I'm about to say is pretty important—and honestly, more troubleso than I expected..." Piper quickly explained.
At that mont, Lucy stepped in.
"Wise, Piper was the one who found the suspicious target. Let her explain the details."
"Alright, here's the situation. Ever since we set up camp here, I noticed sothing odd. Every ti Blazewood ships out its handmade woven goods, Kasa leaves town that sa night for about two or three hours. And she always brings Hollow gear with her."
This ti, Piper didn't act like her usual lazy self. Her tone was serious, showing she wasn't taking this lightly.
"After Lucy told there might be a snitch in town, I kept an eye out. One ti, I saw Kasa about to leave, so I pretended I couldn't sleep and started chatting with her. She said she was just out for a walk too, then went back like nothing happened. But about an hour later, she quietly left Blazewood again."
Hearing that, Wise fell silent for a mont, thinking it over. At this point, Kasa was looking pretty suspicious.
"Sigh... this is a really bad outco," Lucy murmured, unable to hide her concern.
Her delicate face showed clear worry, her voice heavy with mixed emotions.
"Kasa's been with the Sons of Calydon long before I joined. We trusted her for years, that's why we set up camp here. And if it really is her who betrayed us..."
She trailed off, unable to continue. If that turned out to be true, Caesar would have a hard ti accepting it.
Even if she usually acted carefree, Lucy knew very well how deeply Caesar valued bonds.
"Don't jump to the worst conclusion just yet, Lucy. We still need to confirm everything. What if it's just a misunderstanding?" Wise tried to reassure her.
Even though, given Kasa's behavior, that possibility felt pretty slim, his words still helped a little.
"Thank you, Wise. But don't worry, I'm not that fragile. Still, for now, only a few of us can handle this quietly. If it really is the worst-case scenario... it's better to deal with it without Caesar finding out."
Lucy steadied herself, regaining her composure, while Piper still looked a bit drowsy as usual.
"Yeah... this whole thing's tricky. Like realizing your brakes are gone while you're speeding downhill."
As soon as Piper said that, Wise couldn't help but think, 'So even you, who steers with your feet, actually care about brakes.'
It wasn't even an exaggeration. He had seen it himself last night, though she had only shown it after being pushed into it.
"At this point, worrying about the worst won't help. We'll just deal with it as it cos~ After all, we're the Sons of Calydon."
"Piper's right. We're headstrong wild boars, there's no backing down now. Wise, I heard another shipnt is going out in a few days. Kasa will probably follow her usual routine. We'll tail her that night and see what she's really up to."
With that, Lucy finalized the plan. Now, all that was left was to wait for the right mont.
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