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"They don\'t know anything useful...I\'m guessing that they were just pawns being used to test the waters," Remarked Kuro with a sigh.

It was the next day, the 16th of May, and after we\'d returned to Abyss following our capture of the bandits, Kuro used his Chaos Magic and whatnot to extract information out of them. And while getting them to talk was no problem at all, well...they didn\'t have much to say.

After we captured them, we searched the caves in the cliff where they\'d first showed up on the detection barrier, but we found nothing.

"Yeah, but surely they know where the locations of their hideouts are, right?" Frowned Selesa in surprise.

"Unfortunately, that\'s a no...it seems like their leader always sets the coordinates himself while creating teleportation spells, and doesn\'t share them with anyone. And they apparently teleport to a different hiding place every two to three days...sure enough, the hideout that I found through my monsters is now empty, searching for them seems pointless if they\'re able to run away at a moment\'s notice. The ones that you guys captured were apparently blindfolded when they were teleported to a cave near the trade center you were guarding, according to them," He sighed in response, looking concerned.

"Why not attack them if you do find them, surely there\'d at least be a few left behind if they have to scramble to escape?" I pointed out objectively.

"It\'s not that simple...apparently, they don\'t all need to be in physical contact in order to teleport, their leader has created a spell that links people together, combining that with a teleportation spell results in everyone teleporting together."

"Aw, man, that was, like, the one weakness of teleportation spells!" Responded Selesa with a grimace.

"Additionally, they\'ve got a barrier that prevents teleporting in. In other words, whenever they teleport to a new hiding place, they set up this barrier to prevent anyone else from teleporting to that area. One of those that we captured mentioned noticing that their leader activates multiple spells whenever they move, meaning that the anti-teleportation barrier might not be the only barrier they\'ve got up. They might have something like a detection barrier too, though I doubt they have access to the blue crystals that can display stuff," Surmised Kuro with a grimace.

"I don\'t like the sound of that...this leader of theirs sounds rather sharp," Frowned Ekai in reply.

"Yeah, he does. He\'s got a strong grasp on the concept of spell creation, but likely kept that talent a secret, because the Rustlands don\'t have anyone missing who\'s a good spell caster. Elina and her disciplines, plus anyone else remotely skilled in that area, have all been accounted for, so we\'re dealing with someone who\'s probably pretty cautious, considering that they hid such a valuable skill," Suggested Kuro, looking a bit uncertain.

"Couldn\'t you find them using something like Observation Magic?" Chimed in Siert.

"I did consider that, and made the request to Belia, but she couldn\'t find them...which is strange, because finding someone with Observation Magic is ridiculously easy, you don\'t even have to know their name or appearance under the right circumstances. In this case, it should have been as easy as thinking \'bandit leader\' or something like that before activating the spell. But it didn\'t work...and the only way to block a Divine Magic spell is by using Divine Magic yourself," Concluded Kuro with a look of concern.

"That is really concerning...another Divine Magic user is a problematic notion," Said Ekai grimly.

"Yeah, do you think Samsara survived somehow? Or maybe it\'s Sant instead? Or...maybe it\'s Belia just stirring up some trouble for the sake of entertainment?" Guessed Selesa thoughtfully.

"I don\'t like how probable that is...don\'t tell me she\'s-...," Kuro began with a frown.

"How rude! I drop by to give you some important information, and here you are, talking smack behind my back!" Huffed a familiar voice, as a portal opened up, "Oh, that rhymed, nice!"

"...do I have your word that you aren\'t involved in this at all?" Inquired Kuro, as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Of course I\'m not involved, I wouldn\'t bother myself with something so small scale!" She responded indignantly.

"I seem to recall you using and commanding bandits when you first appeared," Brought up Ekai with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah, but that was a just a means to an end, the end being that I wanted people to awaken their True Animas! Which some of you did, so...you\'re welcome!" She smirked as she puffed out her chest.

"I awoke my True Anima without your so-called \'help\'," Ekai countered in response.

"I mean, the Vampires were my doing too, so once again...you\'re welcome!" She smirked with a smug look on her face.

"Hey, do you really think it\'s a good idea to remind us of all the shitty things you\'ve gone?" Kuro sighed in exasperation, before asking, "Anyway, you said that you\'ve got some importation information?"

"Oh, yup...I noticed that the barriers around the Rustlands had weakened a lot, which shouldn\'t be possible. So, then I thought \'huh, that\'s weird\', and went to investigate...and the conclusion I came to is this; someone siphoned off a chunk of the Divine Magic that was sustaining the barriers, just enough so that they wouldn\'t disappear right away! I\'ve recast the barriers with additions to ensure that the Divine Magic can\'t be drained again, I suggest that you do the same," She advised us.

"Or we take it a step further...we make it so that anyone who tries to steal any Divine Magic from the barrier will get trapped in a box-like barrier that prevents them from escaping," Proposed Kuro after mulling it over.

"Hey, that\'s not bad...but the trap will have to be made using Divine Magic, since if this person really does have Divine Magic at his disposal, then he\'ll easily be able to break out of any normal trap," Pointed out Belia.

"I don\'t really have any proof, but I\'ve got the feeling that the bandits are gonna lay low for a while after this...their leader seems to be pretty smart, so he\'s got to know that he\'s on our radar right now. The most annoying move he could pull right now is simply doing nothing...at least, that\'s what would annoy me the most," Sighed Kuro, as he slumped down on his throne.

"Yeah, if the bandits make a move, we\'ve got a chance to capture them. But if they don\'t, we\'ve barely got any leads at all, so we\'d just be searching blindly. All they have to do is lay low for a while, until we start to forget about them, and then strike again," Surmised Selesa with a frown.

"The only way to counter a move like that would be to stay vigilant, and not let ourselves forget about them...if we don\'t give them an opening, it won\'t be long before they run low on supplies and are forced to come out into the open again. That\'ll be our chance to cut them down. Still, that\'s probably easier said than d-...hold on, I just got an idea. What if we keep reporting that the bandits have attacked random trade centers every few days or so? Make everyone start to take notice of and stay alert against the bandits, and pretty soon, it\'ll be impossible for them to make any significant moves unnoticed," Smirked Kuro with a glint in his eyes.

"Ooh, I like that! Yeah, spreading false information sounds like it could be a lot of fun," Grinned Belia in excitement.

"Wait, but how will they bandits find out? If they\'re in hiding, then they probably won\'t know," I spoke up with a frown.

"That\'s simple, we\'re gonna assume that they\'ve got spies planted in each of the nations. Particularly in the Rustlands. It\'s unlikely that any have infiltrated Abyss, but to be safe, we\'re going to assume that they have. After all, information is crucial if they want to time their attacks," Replied Kuro.

"Indeed, and their numbers are another concern, just how many of them are there?" Frowned Ekai, his forehead scrunching up.

"Considering that they sacrificed seven people on that last assignment, it is safe to assume that they have a fairly large crew?" Added Siert, after thinking about it.

"For all we know, that could have been a deliberate bluff to make us think so, in order to make themselves seem like a bigger threat than they actually are. However, even if that is the case, it\'d be dangerous for us to assume so...overestimating them is better than underestimating them," Remarked Kuro with a wry smile.

"Hey, didn\'t the captured bandits have anything to say about their leader? His name or appearance, for instance? Or any of the other members?" I inquired curiously.

"No, nothing...it seems like their leader used a spell to permanently erase his identity from their memories, I couldn\'t restore the gaps in their memories even with my own Divine Magic. And the information regarding any other members of their group was trivial at best, nothing concrete. Whoever\'s leading these bandits really knows what they\'re doing...," Surmised Kuro with a frown.

"Gotta say, this is all pretty exciting. I doubt it\'s going to be anywhere near as chaotic or on the same scale as the recently concluded battles we\'ve been involved in, but still...," Smirked Belia, her eyes gleaming, "...I\'m getting a pretty good feeling about this!"

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