Chapter 50: News About Manaka Sajyou
Noah was not someone with a particularly fierce appearance.
In fact, when bards spread tales of him, his face needed no embellishment—a straightforward description would suffice.
And at this moment, he was even smiling, appearing very gentle.
Yet for some reason, despite his appearance, the moment he questioned the two bandits, they felt as if they had been plunged into an icy abyss. Their minds grew hazy, and they couldn't muster any will to resist.
The underling, less experienced than their leader, was slightly intimidated by Noah's Conqueror's Haki and immediately knelt on the ground, even dropping his weapon.
The bandit leader wasn't as disgraceful, but his weapon lowered slightly—a clear sign he had lost the desire to attack.
Seeing them in this state, Noah continued speaking.
"I told you not to be nervous…"
He first glanced at the underling, noting how the other didn't even dare to lift his head after being slightly intimidated by his Conqueror's Haki. Then, his gaze returned to the one still standing.
"Albert Cooch, your first wanted poster as a bandit dates back twenty years."
"In your earlier years as a bandit, you often engaged in murder and robbery. But perhaps because you're forty now, you've clearly avoided such dangerous activities in recent years. You only take on minor jobs and don't even enter cities anymore, staying out in the wilderness where you might occasionally spot a magical beast or two."
Noah relayed all the information Mary had obtained in one breath, then met Albert's gaze and repeated his question for the second time.
"So, can you tell me why you took such a risk to kidnap a princess like Guinevere?"
Under Mary's Clairvoyance, these bandits held almost no secrets.
Thus, Noah had also learned about the list of specific traits from Mary.
When he saw the photograph-like images on that list, his attitude toward the matter immediately turned serious.
After all, such things didn't exist in this era.
So…
This might be crucial information related to Manaka Sajyou.
Aside from Noah, only she—who didn't belong to this era to begin with—had the capability and experience to create something like this.
"I…"
Albert hesitated.
In that moment of hesitation, the underling kneeling beside him blurted out an answer to Noah's question.
"We were hired…"
He spoke rapidly out of nervousness, but even at that speed, he couldn't get any further.
As he spoke, his body exploded like a bomb.
It caused no physical damage to the surroundings, but the extremely gruesome scene made Guinevere scream.
Terrified by what he saw, Albert fell to the ground, utterly frightened.
He, who had been ready to confess everything, now had no intention of continuing.
Witnessing this, Noah sighed.
Then, he stepped directly in front of Albert, grabbed his neck with one hand, and lifted him up.
Albert instinctively tried to resist, but as Noah increased his grip, the most he could do was clutch Noah's hands with his own to minimize the pressure. His legs flailed wildly in the air, and even when they struck Noah, it caused no real trouble.
Noah lifted the man up until their eyes met.
While Noah himself possessed no ability to probe another's memories, Mary—bound to him by contract—did.
The moment their gazes locked, Mary forcibly combed through the man's memories.
Noah had initially been reluctant to use this method.
After all, the primary issue wasn't just that the subject might go mad—the retrieved information would be incomplete, with random gaps.
And indeed, that proved true.
After Mary finished searching his memories, she shared the relevant details with Noah just as he dropped Albert—now reduced to mindless giggles—onto the ground.
Albert hadn't operated as a thief on British soil for over half a year.
During that time, he had traveled to Rome.
But Rome was far from peaceful. Though it had Sword Emperor Lucius—a ruler as radiant as Rome's Emperor Nero in full bloom—Altera clearly already harbored intentions to attack Rome.
The Titan itself hadn't taken action, but the vast empire forged under Altera's name, after destroying Byzantium, had directly begun assaulting Rome.
Learning of this situation, Albert had planned to flee back.
It was at this point that he encountered a woman.
A woman of modest height, with golden hair, yet dressed like a Witch—her face half-hidden and her entire body shrouded beneath a black hood.
She provided the list, assigned the task, and promised rewards.
Moreover, they were no match for her.
Thus, Albert returned to Britain with his lackeys, list in hand, and began stalking the princesses named.
Unfortunately, most of the other princesses, like Guinevere, had lived in castles since birth.
Only Guinevere intended to sneak out this time.
So Albert arranged for his men to "assist" Guinevere.
After this went smoothly, Guinevere did something that nearly made Albert laugh aloud: she struck a deal with his men, promising to help them join the envoy's delegation. In exchange, once they reached Camelot, they would help her escape from King Leodegrance's camp!
Completely baffled by the noble lady's thinking, Albert immediately had his men agree. That was how they captured Guinevere so effortlessly in Camelot.
Originally, Albert and his crew planned to flee across the British wilderness to Rome after completing the job.
Their means of crossing the sea was a ship provided by the woman. By Albert's calculations, with that vessel, the journey from Britain to Rome might take just ten days!
It was precisely because of this ship that he dared seize the princess without hesitation.
Albert was confident that once they reached the open sea, no one could catch them.
But I never expected to be intercepted by Noah shortly after leaving Camelot.
The whole incident unfolded roughly like this.
However, the memories obtained through such crude methods had multiple obvious gaps—such as the woman's voice, appearance, and the like.
Also missing were the ship's location and model.
The details of the plan.
None of these remained.
Still, the situation could at least be pieced together logically, so Noah was ultimately satisfied with the outcome.
As for the woman who assigned them the mission in Rome and secretly implanted Magecraft triggers on them—set to detonate instantly if they disclosed critical information...
"It must be Manaka Sajyou."
Mary said this.
And Noah silently agreed with Mary's assessment in his heart.
"Yes, it can only be her."
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