Kays Translations
Just another Isekai Lover~
Chapter 366: The Stealth Operation Begins
“Please rest assured. I have experience in infiltration missions. I’ve even entered this forest before—only the outer edges, but still.”
The confident declaration came from Dible, as the group prepared to infiltrate the forest under barbarian control.
Dible was a former royal court magician.
According to him, his magic power was not particularly strong—he could not use most advanced spells.
However, his technical skill with magic was exceptional. Even Albert Rosemary, the Court Magician Commander himself, acknowledged that talent.
“[Concealment: Hiding], [Silence: Anti-Sound], [Deodorize: Anti-Smell], [Presence Block: Anti-Search].”
Four spells, cast in perfect harmony.
He layered them—one to hide their bodies, another to erase sound, another to mask scent, and a final one to suppress their magical presence from detection.
It was such a flawless, elegant piece of spell work that it drew an involuntary breath of admiration.
Ten figures—Rest and the infiltration team—were completely enveloped in the shimmering veil of stealth.
“With this, we should be undetectable.”
“As expected of you, Dible-sensei.”
“I won’t lose to the youngsters just yet. However, while these spells are active, it’s difficult for me to sense the surroundings—so I’ll leave the scouting to you.”
“Understood… [Presence Detection].”
Rest activated the detection spell.
A wave of magic awareness spread outward in a circular radius, reporting every living presence within range.
The forest was alive with countless signatures—bugs, beasts, monsters.
But so far, there was no sign of any demi-humans.
“Then… guide us to the sorcerer.”
“…Yeah.”
Pushed forward from behind, the young oni boy Rou reluctantly took the lead.
He kept glancing nervously at Rest as he began walking deeper into the forest.
Following right behind Rou was the woman-hating sword saint, Wilhelm Lubase.
He appeared calm and collected, striding through the woods with composure, yet there wasn’t an ounce of carelessness in him.
It probably wouldn’t even take him a tenth of a second to draw the blade at his waist.
“Lubase—don’t overdo it.”
“What are you talking about? I have no idea what you mean.”
Rest cautioned him quietly, but Lubase only shrugged, feigning ignorance.
Thanks to Dible’s concealment, attacks from monsters or demi-humans were unlikely.
At this point, their biggest concern was Rou trying to escape.
If he so much as made a move to run, Lubase would strike without hesitation.
(He probably wouldn’t kill him outright… but slicing a tendon or two? Yeah, that sounds like Lubase. It’s not that he’s cruel—he’s just practical. Still, the fewer injuries, the better.)
Even if Rou was from the enemy side, Rest didn’t want to hurt a child if it could be avoided.
The ideal outcome would be defeating the sorcerer swiftly and without bloodshed.
“…The sorcerer lives near our oni village,”
Rou began, breaking the silence as they advanced.
“He captured my sister and other girls from the tribe. Then he holed up inside a castle he built using curses.”
“A castle made from curses?”
“Yeah. When he and the others chanted weird spells, the ground rose up, shaping itself into a fortress. The walls were so hard, not even an adult oni could break them.”
“Most likely, he used an earthen magic dome and reinforced it with additional spells.”
Dible said.
“It won’t be easily destroyed.”
So the sorcerer was indeed a skilled magician.
If he was barricaded inside a magically reinforced structure, rescuing the hostages would be that much harder.
(This feels… like dealing with a criminal barricaded with hostages. I can suddenly understand why police negotiations are so stressful.)
They couldn’t just rush in and kill him—it was a delicate, difficult operation.
“By the way, how many sorcerers are there?”
“…At first, there was one. Then two more joined him. I don’t know if they’ve increased since.”
“I see… so we don’t even know their numbers. Great. Sounds like a real headache.”
Rest continued using [Presence Detection], but if the enemies were using [Presence Block] spells like Dible, their numbers wouldn’t show up at all.
Remaining on high alert, Rest and the others pushed deeper into the dark forest—
—toward the sorcerer’s lair.