Chapter 682: Kotori's Thoughts

"Itsuka Shido, Itsuka Kotori, and the Fraxinus, is it?"

Inside the Tengu City branch of DEM, Westcott flipped through the documents before him, his eyes filled with nothing but interest.

"And there is also a girl suspected to be a Princess, called Yatogami Tohka? This person must be a Spirit Princess, but we currently have no evidence. Could it be that he is causing trouble behind the scenes again?"

Looking at the photo of Itsuka Shido in front of him, a strange smile could not help but appear on Westcott's face: "So you were here, Takamiya! Coming to this Tengu City was indeed the right choice!"

"Isaac, who is this person?" Seeing Itsuka Shido in the photo, a trace of doubt could not help but appear on Ellen's face.

"This person might just be our greatest gain since arriving in Tengu City!" A mysterious smile appeared on Westcott's face.

"Oh." Ellen nodded, half-understanding. "By the way, Isaac, do you need me to go and test that girl suspected to be a Princess?"

"No, no, no, now is not the time." Westcott shook his head slightly. "We are currently on the turf of our old rival; if we act rashly, I fear it will be detrimental to our future operations. The most important thing right now is to first grasp sufficient intelligence before we can formulate future plans."

"I understand." Ellen nodded.

"In this Tengu City, are there any other interesting places?" Westcott put down the documents in his hand and looked at the branch manager before him with interest.

"Th-this, it seems there is one more, but it has not been verified yet." The manager wiped the sweat from his forehead and said.

Although Westcott, who was before him, had a smile on his face the entire time, the feeling he gave him was extremely dangerous. It was as if standing before him was not a human, but a prehistoric monster that had opened its blood-stained maw, capable of swallowing him whole, skin and bones alike, in a single breath.

"Oh, what is it?" Isaac asked with interest.

"That is an urban legend. It is said that some time ago, a Mysterious Shop appeared in Tengu City. If you are lucky enough to see this shop and have them accept your request, no matter what that request is, it will definitely be completed," the manager said.

"This kind of thing, it sounds like nonsense the moment you hear it!" After hearing his words, Ellen could not help but rebuke him.

"No, I don't think such things are groundless." Westcott waved his hand and said. "Tell me in detail about this Mysterious Shop."

"Yes." The manager nodded and said.

After listening to the manager's account, even Ellen could not help but knit her brows. Although this so-called urban legend sounded incredible, there was truly quite a lot of credible information within it.

"No, no, no, how could something that sounds like a legend appear in reality?" Ellen shook her head vigorously and said.

"Regarding those so-called people who had their requests completed, have you investigated them?" Westcott asked with interest.

"This, we did verify one case. Judging from the feedback, their requests also seem to have been completed," the manager said.

"Th-this, how is this possible? Some of these requests are things that humans are completely incapable of accomplishing!" Ellen said with a frown.

"That's right, just as you said, some of these requests are simply not things humans can accomplish. Then, what if the person who completed the requests is not human!" Westcott tapped his fingers on the desk and said.

"Isaac, do you mean that the shopkeeper might be a Spirit?" A trace of surprise appeared on Ellen's face.

"Correct. Look, according to the information they collected, the time this Mysterious Shop appeared was shortly after the Swordsman made his appearance. If this shop had existed long ago, it would be impossible for this legend to only appear now. Moreover, the shopkeeper of this shop happens to be male, and he has completed many requests that seem impossible to accomplish within the scope of human ability. In other words, this shopkeeper is highly likely not human. Combining these conditions, the only one I can narrow it down to is the Swordsman," Westcott said. "Of course, this is merely my speculation; whether it is truly the case, I still need more evidence."

"If we need evidence, can't we just go and kill our way there?" Ellen asked.

"That, I'm afraid, is not so easy. After learning of the existence of the Mysterious Shop, I also sent people to try and find the location of that shop, but even though my subordinates searched the entire Tengu City, they did not find that place," the manager's face showed a trace of helplessness.

"Didn't find that place?"

On the Fraxinus, Itsuka Kotori looked at the crew members before her with a look of astonishment.

"Why can't we even find a tiny shop?"

"Th-this, I don't know either!" The crew member before Itsuka Kotori was also full of confusion. "Our people searched the entire Tengu City and did not see the Mysterious Shop that Mr. Shido mentioned. Especially that alleyway Mr. Shido spoke of; we conducted a carpet search with that location as the center, yet we still didn't obtain any useful information. At the same time, we borrowed the map from Mr. Shido's classmate, Mr. Hiroto, but still had no results."

"Kotori, that shop is so obviously named 'Mysterious', how could it be found so easily!" Itsuka Shido, who was on the side, said with some helplessness.

"Shido, how did you discover that Mysterious Shop at the time?" Itsuka Kotori asked with a frown.

"This, I don't know either. The Mysterious Shop just seemed to appear before us suddenly, without any warning," Itsuka Shido said.

"Without any warning?" Itsuka Kotori rubbed her head, feeling a bit of a headache. "How are we supposed to find it?"

"No, Shido, when that shop appeared at the time, I had a very strange feeling," Yatogami Tohka, who was on the side, suddenly said.

"A very strange feeling? Could it be that spiritual power can perceive the existence of the Mysterious Shop?" Itsuka Kotori's gaze shifted, and she could not help but associate it with her previous speculation that the shopkeeper was the Swordsman. "Could it be that this is another use of spiritual power? Using one's own spiritual power to construct a legendary Barrier, surrounding the entire shop. And because Tohka has spiritual power, she triggered that unknown Barrier, which caused the shop to appear before them?"

"Such a speculation is not impossible," Murasame Reine said.

"Since that's the case, then Shido, let's go to that Mysterious Shop again this afternoon!" Itsuka Kotori said.

"Eh, Kotori, is this really okay?" Looking at Itsuka Kotori's appearance, Itsuka Shido could not help but ask.

"Rest assured, there is absolutely no problem!" Itsuka Kotori said with a serious face.

"If I can find that Swordsman, perhaps I can find some information regarding Spirits," Itsuka Kotori muttered in her heart.