Dolly chuckled. “Never thought I’d see the day when you consoled me. But let’s stop wallowing in this sentimentality and get back to the business at hand. After examining the scene, we discovered that the source of the explosion was the kidnapped executive.”
“A human explosive, you mean?”
“An explosive, but not a bomb. It was magical energy. There was magic inside of them that was either detonated from a remote location or due to some kinda condition being met. That’s what caused the damage.”
“Wait, you’re telling me that a magical explosion almost leveled an entire building and caused near-fatal injuries to an A-Rank Seeker? I have never, ever heard of a skill with that kind of power.”
“Neither have I,” said Dolly gravely. “Now back to my first question. Noel, did you notice anything at the time of the explosion?”
“I did feel an unusual magical energy,” I said, thinking back on it. “It was a kind of magic I don’t encounter in my day-to-day. At the same time, it was very familiar. It got into my skin, and it was kind of intoxicating.”
“You mean…?”
“Yeah. You know it too, don’t you? It was the same kind of mana that seeps from Abysses.”
What set an Abyss’s mana apart from the rest was the way it was inherently woven with malice. I’d sensed that ferocious hostility, so I knew it was going to be a pretty large-scale attack.
“Ah… So it’s as I expected,” said Dolly, nodding. “Thank you for your help. It’s been invaluable. With this, we can develop a countermeasure.”
“I’m glad we talked. The Seven Star Cup might have turned into a cult rave if you didn’t share that information with me.”
“It was my pleasure. You have a plan for dealing with them?”
“Tighten up entry to the colosseum. If we put equipment in place to measure mana levels, we can weed out any human explosives. That and anybody exuding weird magical energy.”
“That’s a relief. I am so looking forward to being there as a competitor.”
Dolly was cool, calm, and collected on the surface, but in her heart she was anything but. I could feel that something had been shaken deep inside of her.
“I have to get back to the investigation. Until next time, snake.” Dolly waved a hand and turned to leave.
“Wait,” I said. “Is there anything I can do to help?”
Dolly’s eyes went wide. “Last time I offered to work together, you turned me down. What kinda game are you playing?”
“We can’t leave terrorists to their own devices,” I said flatly. “I may still hold a grudge against you because of what happened at the regalia meeting, but I don’t mind putting that aside.”
“A grudge? Isn’t that my line? You’re the one who exposed my role in the whole Johann incident.”
“You did that to yourself. If you hadn’t teamed up with Victor to catch me out, I never would have said a thing.”
“So you say. Anyway, I’m over it. And your offer is tempting. Particularly that Puppeteer, Hugo. Oh, what I wouldn’t give for his assistance,” said Dolly with a somewhat shameful grin. “As much as I’d like to take you up on it, I’m going to have to say no.”
“Mind telling me why?”
“I don’t want you to get the wrong idea. I’m not doing this out of some kind of revenge for the way you turned me down last time, or for what happened at the regalia meeting. It’s just a matter of pride. I’m sure you’re the same, Noel. Just as you made Johann a target for you and you alone, I’ve got my eyes on Reisen. I will hunt her down myself.”
Dolly smiled then, but her cold, hard refusal of my offer was clear in her eyes. Her dark gaze bore a message: I will not forgive anyone who gets in my way.
“All right,” I said. “Then I won’t interfere.”
“Thanks for understanding. I don’t want to have to fight with you. Not yet, anyway. Besides, there’s one problem in particular that hampers us teaming up together.”
I tilted my head. “Which is?”
“You really want to know?”
Dolly stepped in close before I could react, and her soft body pressed close to mine. She whispered sweetly in my ear.
“It’s because—”
Nauseated, I shoved Dolly away. Just as I did, a hysterical voice and unpleasantly familiar voice called out to us.
“Master! Just what do you think you’re doing to Noel?!”
Taken aback, I whirled on the interloper. She was a young woman with blonde hair wearing a leafy green robe. The woman was glaring hard at the two of us.
“Aha. So you were following me,” Dolly said, chuckling as she walked over to the furious woman’s side. “I did give a standby order, didn’t I? Or were you just too worried about little Noel to obey?”
Dolly’s underling awkwardly averted her eyes.
“Well, whatever.” Dolly sighed. “I knew very well that you lacked restraint back when I hired you. I’ll give you a pass this time.”
“My apologies,” the young woman grumbled, her head drooping.
Dolly turned back to me. “Now you know the answer. This girl is the ‘hampering factor’ I was thinking about.”
I’d been watching their back-and-forth with mouth agape in complete and utter shock. I felt pure rage bubbling up from the pit of my stomach.
“What the hell is this?” I spat. “Why are you—”
The rage caught in my throat, and for a moment, I couldn’t even speak her name. But I squeezed it out, wishing her dead.
“Why is Tanya here?”
Tanya Clark was an ex-member of Blue Beyond, the party I’d formed before Wild Tempest. She had snatched our earnings from under my nose, so I sold her and her partner off as slaves. An old geezer had bought her and then passed away, granting Tanya her freedom. She was supposed to be living a leisurely and satisfied life all on her own.
Yet here she was, a Seeker once more. Based on what I’d heard of her conversation with Dolly, I could assume she was now—somehow—a member of Goat Dinner. I didn’t know why, but if Dolly had recruited her as some kind of tool to use against me, then I was not about to let her get away with it.
I caught myself thinking about the familiar weight hanging from my right shoulder. It was the holster under my jacket that held my newly replaced silver flame. I wasn’t about to go filling her with bullets right here, but my fury had me in battle mode.
“Don’t be mad, Noel,” Dolly chided me. “It’s a bad look for one so pretty.”
In contrast to my seething, murderous rage, she looked free and easy.