Licorice left the lord’s mansion and floated lightly through the air above the town.
Fairies were a rare species.
If she showed herself in public without Fate and Sofia around, she might get captured.
At least, Licorice did have the sense to consider that level of danger.
“Now then, I wonder if there’s any information about the lord lying around somewhere?”
She didn’t have time to go around questioning people one by one.
Even if she did, who knew how long it would take to finally reach someone who actually had the right information?
It would be much faster to eavesdrop on people’s conversations instead.
She could gather rumors about the lord…
and not just that—there might even be someone quietly speaking the truth.
Because that sometimes happened, it was a fairly effective method.
“Hehe, Licorice-chan Ears can pick up any conversation there is!”
Even though she was alone, Licorice struck a smug pose.
Maybe she was the kind of race that couldn’t survive without getting carried away.
“Hmmm…”
She used magic to amplify her hearing.
Then, she filtered out unnecessary information and selected only what she needed.
And so, hovering above the town, she began eavesdropping on people’s conversations—
“Caw! Caw!”
“Eek!? H-hey, don’t scare me like that!?”
Attacked by a crow, Licorice hurriedly used magic to drive it away.
It had probably mistaken her for food.
“Honestly, how rude. To see such a cute Licorice-chan and think I’m food. Or maybe… did it think of making me its wife? Even other species are charmed by me… heh, what a sinful woman I am.”
With no one around to play the straight man, there was nobody to stop Licorice.
“Alright then, back to it, back to it.”
Licorice resumed eavesdropping.
Today’s weather.
A child who wouldn’t listen no matter what.
The economy being bad and making it hard to earn money.
She heard all kinds of conversations, but there was little information related to the lord.
“Hmmm, I want something a bit more concrete. I guess I need to filter more carefully.”
Licorice activated additional magic.
She added a condition: deliver only the conversations she wanted, and discard everything else.
Normally, even fairies couldn’t use magic like that…
…but Licorice was special.
In truth, she was extremely capable.
When it came to magic, her skill ranked among the very best in the world.
…Though her usual behavior stripped her of any sense of dignity.
“Oh? This one sounds promising.”
Catching a particular conversation, Licorice’s expression brightened.
She couldn’t tell the exact location, but it was coming from the northern part of town…
from a residential area.
Multiple voices.
They seemed to be arguing about something, and things were heating up—their voices were loud.
If this keeps up, it’ll be too late…
At this rate, the town’s economy will collapse…
That man only thinks about himself…
In the worst case, we may have to consider taking up arms going forward…
“Hehe… sounds like they’re talking about something interesting.”
Licorice grinned and flew toward the northern residential district.
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