As the deputy leader, I didn’t want to harbor personal feelings towards Caroline since I had to embrace all members without discrimination, but well.

From before, Caroline’s attitude had been strangely grating on my nerves.

Should I say she was skillfully grating on a level that was slightly ambiguous to get angry about?

I ignored Caroline’s muttering and spoke to the leader again.

“From here on, we really need to move carefully.”

“Understood. Then from now on, we’ll need Oscar’s ability. Oscar, use your ability to examine what’s ahead.”

“Yes!”

Oscar, who received the order, stepped forward and activated his ability.

Soon, his eyes began to glow bright blue, filled with magical power.

Oscar examined the front with those glowing eyes and reported to the leader.

“There are no monsters hiding ahead. I don’t see anything else dangerous either. It seems we can just move straight ahead like this.”

The leader nodded and moved forward.

To put it briefly, Oscar’s ability was ‘clairvoyance’, an ability that could see through and view everything far away.

Using it, it was possible to easily see through monsters or traps hiding far away.

It was a very useful ability, but unfortunately, since Oscar’s magical power wasn’t very high, it couldn’t be used for more than 5 minutes.

It could be said to be an ability that should only be used when absolutely necessary.

Anyway, Oscar’s ability alone wouldn’t be enough to divert monsters, but you never know.

As the leader said, he might have awakened a second ability.

Above all, Oscar was the second son of the Kerrenburk Count family… in other words, Ernant’s cousin.

It meant he was connected to Ernant by blood.

Given such a close relationship, Ernant would likely trust Oscar, and there was a high possibility he had asked Oscar to supply monsters.

Therefore, Oscar was currently the second suspect after Elma.

So I intended to keep a close eye on him when dealing with the Queen.

To see if he would activate another ability besides clairvoyance in a crisis situation.

While I was lost in thought, suddenly Caroline’s characteristic sharp voice was heard.

“Oscar.”

“Yes?”

“Can you also see where monsters are heavily concentrated with that ability?”

For some reason, Caroline asked Oscar a strange question.

I walked ahead of them, pretending not to listen while paying attention to their conversation.

Oscar’s intimidated voice, seemingly a bit uncomfortable with Caroline, was heard.

“Yes, I can, but…”

“Where are the monsters gathered currently?”

“There are three near the cliff that comes up when you go straight northeast from here. The cliff drawn on this map. But why are you curious about that?”

“Just because.”

Caroline retorted with “just because” as if there was no particular reason, but it was strange nonetheless.

We were already going on a safe path without monsters, so why did she want to know the location of the monsters?

Suddenly, a thought flashed through my mind like lightning.

Could it be… she’s trying to divert them?

Caroline probably asked Oscar about the monsters’ location openly because she didn’t know I was suspecting her, so she let her guard down.

But thanks to Caroline’s carelessness, I was able to catch a crucial clue.

Thinking that I should indeed focus on monitoring Caroline, I walked through the jungle.

Oscar used his ability as his magical power recharged to check if the way ahead was safe, and I also used information obtained from before the regression to inform them of shortcuts in advance.

Thanks to this, we were able to move safely for a day without being ambushed by monsters or getting stranded.

As the sun was setting, the leader informed the group.

“We can’t move any further. Let’s camp here.”

We immediately began preparing for camping.

Unlike yesterday, there were no suitable caves nearby to rest in today, so we had to sleep under the stars.

I deliberately spread my sleeping bag next to Caroline’s spot.

It was to properly monitor Caroline during the night, but Caroline once again blurted out something that grated on my nerves.

“Are you going to sleep here?”

“…”

“It’s a bit uncomfortable.”

I had just ignored it during the day, but my patience was gradually wearing thin with Caroline’s continued rude behavior.

I stopped spreading my sleeping bag and snapped at Caroline.

“I didn’t know I needed your permission to choose where I sleep.”

“Who said you need permission? I’m just saying it’s a bit uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable? Is there any reason for that?”

“…”

Caroline’s discomfort with me might be because she was doing something ‘guilty’.

From asking Oscar about the monsters’ location during the day to subtly avoiding me, she was clearly hiding something.

So when I directly asked why she was uncomfortable with me, Caroline couldn’t answer for a while.

After a long time, Caroline replied, slightly avoiding my gaze.

“Well, if you want to sleep here so badly, go ahead. I won’t care.”

Caroline turned away as if she didn’t want to talk anymore.

Still without answering why she found me uncomfortable.

Afterwards, we made do with dried meat and potato stew for our meal.

It was quite a bleak mealtime.

After finishing the meal, I quietly called out the leader.

“Captain, please assign Caroline to night watch duty today.”

“Why? Are you trying to get back at her for being impudent to you?”

“…Do I look like such a petty person to you? I just want to monitor her.”

Then I told the leader what conversation Caroline and Oscar had during the day.

After hearing my story, the leader nodded while stroking his chin.

“Caroline was curious about the monsters’ location…? That’s certainly suspicious.”

“Yes, so please put her on night watch. We’ll intentionally create a situation where everyone is asleep and only Caroline is awake. If Caroline has been diverting monsters, she won’t miss that opportunity. She’ll move secretly when everyone is asleep.”

“You mean to pretend to sleep and wait until she moves, then catch her in the act when she commits a crime? Devious, but a good method. Alright. I’ll assign Caroline to night watch duty.”

The leader then assigned Caroline to night watch as I suggested.

Caroline didn’t show any displeasure.

She even seemed to welcome it, which made me more certain.

She was definitely up to something.

She must be planning to do something alone while we were asleep.

Otherwise, there’s no way she would accept such an unfair order to stand watch alone so readily.

As night deepened, I lay down in my sleeping bag and closed my eyes.

After pretending to sleep like that, I waited for Caroline to take action.

Caroline was more cautious than I thought.

Even as dawn approached, she didn’t leave her post and diligently kept watch.

Several questions arose in my mind one after another.

Why isn’t she doing anything?

Why has she suddenly become so cautious?

Come to think of it, unless she’s lost her mind, she wouldn’t do anything suspicious while the captain and deputy captain are present, right?

She might have become cautious due to the captain and deputy captain being present, or perhaps I had been mistaken from the start.

Caroline might be innocent after all.

I was feeling disappointed thinking that when it happened.

Rustle.

Finally, Caroline began to move.

I continued pretending to sleep while listening carefully to Caroline’s sounds.

As expected, Caroline was leaving her post.

My prediction had been correct.

I waited until Caroline’s footsteps were sufficiently far away, then carefully got up while suppressing any noise.

The captain, who had also been awake like me, raised his body, and I said to him in a small voice.

“I’ll follow her. Captain, please watch over the members here.”

“Will you be alright alone?”

“It’s enough alone. That’s best for secretly tailing her. And even if Caroline resists arrest, I can subdue her sufficiently.”

“Well, although Caroline is one of the top fighters in the Order—”

The captain smiled at me and continued his words.

“I don’t think you’ll lose.”

“Of course. Whatever happens, I’ll return safely.”

“Good. Go ahead then.”

I immediately began following Caroline’s trail.

I followed Caroline quietly, suppressing my presence even more than before.

Caroline was probably going to find the monsters Oscar mentioned earlier.

But something was strange.

To divert huge monsters, a spatial movement ability would be essential, so if Caroline was the culprit, she should have newly awakened that ability.

But now Caroline was moving on foot without using spatial movement.

Did she not awaken a secondary ability?

But if so, how could she divert the monsters?

Did she use another method?

As I was pondering various questions, Caroline’s steps suddenly stopped.

“…”

I watched Caroline while reducing my breathing even more.

Caroline who had stopped slowly turned towards me.

Tightly gripping her weapon, the bow.