Dea's secret plan

Dea-kun's secret plan against Phantom Thief Hermes was this:

"Onee-san, you should just take custody of it. That way, no one can touch it. And if you hide at the base until the advance notice time passes, it'll be even more perfect."

"Genius. A total shutout strategy."

To come up with an idea like that in such a short time…

He's cute and smart. Dea-kun really is amazing. I like him.

… Ah, wait! As a friend! I like him as a friend, okay!?

Wait, who am I even making excuses to!?

"Onee-san? Are you alright?"

"Eh, ah, yeah! I'm fine! That's a great idea, as expected of Dea-kun!"

"How about we use that to get past Phantom Thief Hermes for now, and negotiate again another day?"

"Alright, let's go with that!"

Sure, it was kicking the can down the road, but if we could get past Hermes, maybe Mie-chan's situation would change and somehow work itself out!

We wrapped up our whispered conversation and told Mie-chan about Dea-kun's idea.

"So yeah, I was thinking I'd just hold onto it."

"Ah, I see. You do have that magic pouch Amber made, and Kari-chan would be perfect for it. True."

Mie-chan nodded in agreement.

"Vermilion-sama, there's a possibility these people are connected to Hermes! I question whether we should trust them."

"Silence. I believe in Kari-chan."

Mie-chan silenced her bearded aide with a single word. Isn't my trust rating a bit too high? I couldn't help but wonder.

I mean, I'm actually aiming to recover the Divine Artifact too, so the bearded guy's concerns weren't entirely wrong.

"On top of that, let's have Hermes grab a fake."

Dea-kun said with a smile.

Oh? What's this? Did he think of something else?

"… You mean make a replica of the 'Breaching Wall Hammer' and put that in its place?"

"Yes. We secretly make an identical fake and swap it in. Ah, but that alone might raise suspicion. To give them less time to think about it, how about having a dragon guard it? Arthur, could you do it? I'd like you to let them steal it on purpose."

"Ah, sure. Anego, that's okay, right?"

"Of course. Do whatever you want, Dea-kun."

Looks like he's planning to put Arthur-kun to work too. Go ahead, work him to the bone.

Meanwhile, Mie-chan's aide was clearly surprised to see Arthur conversing via word cards. Mie-chan, on the other hand, wasn't surprised, probably because she'd already seen Arthur-kun at the village.

"A treasure guarded by a dragon, huh. That certainly would be convincing enough to make the fake look real."

"The key question is whether we can prepare a replica. What do you think?"

"No problem, I'll have it ready by tomorrow morning… Well, it'll be a bit rough, but I'll help out too."

If we were trying to hide it for a long time it'd be different, but for just long enough to fool Hermes and make their advance notice miss the mark, he could keep the craftsmen who helped quiet. Wow, capable.

By the way, wondering if I could just whip up a copy real quick with my powers? Sorry, but Divine Artifacts have resistance to space-time magic.

Dea-kun and Mie-chan were happily chatting away together. What a feast for the eyes.

"… Well, at the very least, once Onee-san takes custody of it, Hermes won't be able to touch it. Who would imagine that a passing human is holding onto a dwarven national treasure?"

"True. Then come back tomorrow morning. We'll do the swap quickly then and have Kari-chan hold onto it."

"Got it, Mie-chan. Oh, in that case, I'll lend you Arthur-kun for security until then."

"If it's a request from the Anego, can't say no. Looking forward to working with ya!"

"Mm, same here, Arthur-kun… Are your scales okay? Quite a few got plucked."

"I'm fine! I'm deeply grateful for your concern!"

Mie-chan bowed her head to Arthur-kun as he conversed via word cards.

Ah, so they had met before during the drinking party incident after all.

"Ah. Oh right, Anego. Can I go back to my original size? I think that'll be more intimidating."

"Good point. Ah, Mie-chan. Is it okay if Arthur-kun gets bigger?"

"Eh, ah, sure? That's fine, but… Wait? He gets bigger?"

With Mie-chan's permission secured, I removed the collar's restriction.

Arthur-kun swelled up with a rumble. When Arthur-kun grew to the size of a car and spread his wings, everyone around us stirred in surprise.

"Gyaou… gau gau."

"Hm? Ah, sorry, say that again."

Arthur-kun was making quiet noises without holding his word cards.

I'd had my Draconic skill turned off since he'd been using word cards lately. I turned it on and listened again.

"It's hard to hold the word cards when I'm big… that was a blind spot."

"Ah, yeah. Your size does change."

"I'm gonna want bigger word cards too. It's more fun being able to talk and stuff."

"I'll make them for you sometime."

"Thanks!"

And so, by the next morning, a replica of the 'Breaching Wall Hammer' was truly completed, and we carried out the farce of letting Phantom Thief Hermes steal it.

… Yes, the replica that I had marked!

Now then, who was it that tried to steal the treasure from Mie-chan?