Amid the Mind Flayer Elder's fury.
Within the underground city, already shaken by Fredos's escape.
Even greater waves were soon stirred up.
A large number of Mind Flayers who normally loafed around all day and did nothing useful were mobilized.
They began working without certification, serving as investigators.
Meanwhile, countless slaves who did not even understand what was happening were repeatedly interrogated, even having their minds read on the spot...
All of these measures amounted to nothing less than a comprehensive, carpet-style search!
Calling it a search that dug three feet into the ground would not have been an exaggeration!
Under this extravagant, no-expense-spared search.
Many traces that had been dealt with but could never be made completely flawless were quickly unearthed one after another, then reconstructed by specialized personnel...
Just like that, two days later.
A brand-new detailed report was placed before the Mind Flayer Elder.
It revealed much that had not previously been recorded.
For example: during this recent period, many of the slaves who had inexplicably died from time to time had faint but unusual connections to Fredos...
With the emergence of this intelligence, coupled with Fredos's sudden surge in strength that perfectly matched the records...
The Mind Flayer Elder immediately had a clearer picture.
It roughly guessed part of the truth.
'An ability that lets him hunt other lifeforms and plunder their power or knowledge...?'
'In that case, it is hardly strange that Fredos could cause such a disturbance. It is perfectly normal...'
As for the notion of sacrificing living offerings in exchange for power from some existence, it never entered Its mind.
After all, Fredos's conditions were truly too crude. It was hard to find even anything that could be called a proper sacrifice...
Presumably, no one would take a liking to such a shabby