After listening to Shuma's advice, Vivian fell into contemplation.

"Sorry, can I have some time to think?" she asked.

"Of course."

Standing at attention, Shuma also had some confusion of her own.

For example, this footprint.

If the Holy See had any secret operations against the kingdom, it would make sense for them to send a Judicator similar to the underground department, which Shuma had briefly interacted with during a previous mission to defeat a dark Magic practitioner. Shuma was well aware that those guys would never make such a rookie mistake.

Could it be that they sent someone incompetent, someone without a brain?

...

"Achoo!"

Sullivan suddenly sneezed.

"Hey, be careful! At least maintain some silence while infiltrating," came the voice of Johannes through the micro-engraving on the earring, sounding annoyed.

Just then, Theurg sneezed as well.

Sullivan: "..."

"I-I'm different! I'm hiding in the back mountain where no one comes at this time!" Johannes choked a bit and argued loudly.

"I wasn't even concerned," Sullivan shrugged, "As for me, you don't need to worry. Although illusion magic requires a medium to be cast, blocking cognition is a basic skill I can easily perform. Compared to that..."

Glancing back at the girl leaning against the wall with her hands behind her back and a smile on her face, Sullivan sighed.

"It's fine, it's fine. Just pretend I don't exist. Don't worry, if you won't be detected, then I definitely won't be."

Adjusting the fabric resembling a scarf around his neck, Vera boasted, "Ta-da! This is a treasure Yul dug up from the mythical war ruins under the sea. Although it's damaged, it's still a stealth-type artifact. The Magic array in this castle won't detect me."

"...You have quite a lot of treasures," Sullivan had given up on complaining about the fact that they weren't being lent to use.

"Mm-hmm, I borrowed a few of Yul's treasures before coming out to play."

"Leaving aside who this Yul is, why did you follow me in here?"

Sullivan scratched his head. Despite being handsome, when it came to dealing with girls, especially those with complex personalities and a tendency to fight, like the Silver War Maiden, or Vera, he was really bad at it.

"Ah, don't mind me. I just came in to watch the show. Don't worry, I definitely won't cause you any trouble," Vera waved her hand, "Pretend I don't exist."

After saying that, she disappeared completely from Sullivan's sight, both in form and presence, as if the figure that had just been standing by the wall was a mere illusion.

Truly imperceptible.

Even though he was relieved, why did he feel more annoyed now?

"Damn it! If you want to watch, just shut up and quietly watch from the side. Do you have to come out to show off your presence, you jerk!" The earring flickered again, conveying Johannes' angry roar.

Maybe it was like that.

No, now is not the time to think about that. The crucial thing is the strategy for what comes next. Surveying his surroundings, Sullivan began to think carefully.

Though not as specialized as the Judicators from the Judgement Hall who perform special tasks like assassinations, intelligence gathering, or sabotage, Sullivan was, after all, a talented knight. He wasn't just a fool thinking of trivial things. Calming down, he could come up with some plans.

For example, using the current location.

The room Sullivan was in was the maids' dormitory at the back of the castle, just a plain small room furnished with two single beds and a desk by the window. He had obtained the room key from the entranced maid before, most likely this was her room.

"But, is there another person here?"

Glancing at the opposite bed, Sullivan pondered. This meant this room couldn't be used as his hiding place, but could he utilize it the other way around effectively?

For instance...

"Oh, Ellie, you're back."

With a click, the lock on the door sounded, and a slightly older girl dressed as a maid pushed the door open and walked in.

Although Sullivan sat motionless on Ellie's bed, she didn't notice anything unusual, and even rather naturally yawned her way over to Sullivan's side and flopped onto the bed.

For her, what she saw wasn't the real world at the moment; some of it was the illusion Sullivan had created with his magic — just altering his appearance.

Using the door handle as a medium for his magic, ensuring someone touches it upon entering, was quite a perfect plan in a sense.

But it happened so quickly. Thankfully, he was the type to take action, implementing it immediately upon thinking of this plan; otherwise, he would have been forced to knock someone out again later.

Well, even if it did come to that, it would only mean creating a cognitive barrier and further disturbing other individuals in the castle who had connections with the two maids, but leaving Johannes in charge... or rather, watching over two young maidens didn't seem ideal.

"Hey, don't say things out loud that you should keep to yourself. I can still hear you," Johannes clicked his tongue.

"Welcome back, Juno. Thanks for your hard work," Sullivan greeted his roommate in the illusion, trying to mimic Ellie's speech habits he had picked up during the illusion.

"Oh, haha, it's nothing, really," the maid lady said as she turned around and sat up, waving her hand shyly at Sullivan, chuckling, "I just asked Winnie to deliver today's ingredients to the kitchen for me, so I could come back and relax... after all, I stayed up late last night reading manga."

Manga, is it that?

Sullivan glanced at the book on the desk near Juno's side. The cover looked somewhat like... could it be "Song of Roses"? A popular romance manga? Sullivan speculated.

Ah, please don't misunderstand, the knight never made an effort to understand girls' thoughts intentionally; the information came solely from the fragmented pieces he extracted during the illusion with Ellie.

"Eh? Ellie did warn you that staying up late would make you tired the next day..."

"Well, I couldn't help it. I was at the exciting part. Ellie, you understand this feeling, right? Allen has embarked on the path of annihilation declaring to destroy the world with Phonomachia; there must be some exciting plot twists and a divine ending to come after!"

"...Huh?" Okay, got that wrong.

Uh, I suggest you stop reading here, please do not continue, as you will surely be disappointed, really.

No, no, now is not the time to think about such things. Intel! What's important is the mission-related intel!

Forcing his attention back, Sullivan pondered, does Juno have the responsibility of delivering ingredients? If so, maybe it could be used; the kitchen work could allow contact with most people in the castle, and by utilizing food as a medium for his magic, he could easily induce illusions on the targets.

Yes, this plan is feasible!

The Holy Knight's eyes gleamed brighter, the more he thought about it, the more excited he became.