After a round of exploration that wasn't exactly grueling, March and Stelle relied on their older (questionable) wisdom to defeat the little kids.
They successfully found the three-member Mole Gang in the hide-and-seek showdown.
During this process, Stelle even had the spare time to rummage through a trash can.
They were the first to find Hook. The little rascal was hiding on a path leading toward the mine.
"Don't run! Got you, Hook!"
Although March had stated at the beginning that she wasn't actively trying to play the game, at this very moment, her excited voice made that claim rather questionable.
No matter how you looked at it, this pretty girl clearly seemed to be enjoying herself while playing with the kids.
Hook, "D-damn it! Me, the boss of the Mole Gang, actually falling into the hands of you bad guys! Hit me or punish me, do whatever you want!"
March, "Haha, why are you so dramatic..."
After Hook, the second one to be found was a little girl named Alina.
"Ha! Caught you!" March crossed her arms and stood in front of Alina together with Stelle.
Alina pursed her lips, her mind racing. She suddenly thought of what Julian had said before the game started, they don't look very smart.
So she said, "If you want to truly catch me, you have to correctly answer one question!"
Stelle nodded and generously said, "Sure, go ahead!"
March, on the side, pouted. "What? Caught is caught."
Then she turned to look at Stelle beside her. "You really want to answer a question?"
Stelle raised a hand and scratched her head. "Eh-heh!"
Alina said unwillingly, "...Guh, I thought you'd definitely fall for it."
If she had grown up in a world of swords and magic, this kid might have become an imposing female knight someday.
After finding Alina, among the three little kids, only Julian remained uncaught.
Stelle and March slowly walked through the street, their eyes scanning the corners of the road and the people passing by, but they didn't see Julian anywhere.
Suddenly, March stopped, raised her hand to touch her chin, and fixed her eyes on an unfamiliar face.
It was a young man wearing glasses.
March's keen observation made her sense something was off. The young man was just standing there, not talking to anyone. From the way his eyes kept darting around, it didn't look like he was focused on observing anything in particular, and that guy's gaze... seemed to be following them the whole time.
"Mm... something feels off somehow... that guy over there seems to be sneaking glances at us?
"Even though we're still playing a game with Hook and the others... we should probably go check it out?"
After that, March and Stelle walked over and cornered the young man against a wall like a pair of delinquents.
Being scanned up and down by two pairs of eyes, the young man felt extremely nervous. His gaze wavered, and beads of sweat seeped from his temples.
March spoke in a rarely calm and composed tone, making her sound like a great detective.
"My sharp intuition tells me there's something not quite right about this person, but..."
Stelle narrowed her eyes beside her, wearing a slightly smug expression. "Looks like an adult on the outside..."
March continued, "But has the wisdom of a child on the inside..."
Whether it was because he was too nervous, couldn't resist joining in, or wanted to scare the two away as quickly as possible, the young man also chimed in, "The truth is always only one, I'm a mature adult!"
Even so, his voice didn't sound like an adult at all.
Although they hadn't been in contact for long, March and Stelle immediately recognized it, this was Julian's voice.
"Stop pretending," Stelle and March said in unison.
Then, Stelle crossed her arms. Having already seen Nero "scold people" one and a half times before, she half-lidded her eyes and imitated Nero as she said,
"Leaving aside how a real adult, in this situation, deliberately emphasizing something like 'I'm an adult' already looks kind of stupid..."
March put her hands on her hips and added, "Just your completely undisguised voice alone already gave you away."
Immediately after, under the gaze of the two girls, the young man turned back into the child Julian.
At this moment, Julian said through clenched teeth, "...Damn it, I should've kept my mouth shut! I, Thousand-Faced Julian, live up to my reputation no more, sorry, Boss!"
The way the kid spoke was so dramatic that it almost felt like he wanted to atone with his life.
At this point, all three little kids had been found. The Mole Gang was completely defeated.
Listening to Julian's grief-filled words, March said, "There's really no need to go that far. Your disguise skills could practically be called magic..."
Soon, Hook and Alina also arrived.
"S-sorry, Boss Hook! I failed..."
"Damn it! To actually see through Julian's disguise, just who exactly are you people?!" Hook said.
Faced with Hook's question, Stelle's expression turned serious as she spoke, "Since you've sincerely asked..."
March immediately followed up, "Then we'll kindly tell you!"
"Heroes of the cosmos, upholding justice across the universe!"
"A righteous force that draws its blade when it sees injustice!"
"We are the Trailblazers, traveling through the galaxy!"
"Trailblazing! A tomorrow full of adventure awaits us!"
"Galactic Baseballer!"
"Ice Beauty!"
"Hehe, sharp-eyed and meticulous, that's us!"
Their back-and-forth self-introduction instantly stunned the three little ones.
The kids stared wide-eyed at March and Stelle, their eyes full of little stars. For children their age, this kind of self-introduction was more than a bit too cool.
But then Stelle suddenly turned to look at March and said in a very shocked tone, "You actually know idioms?"
March's expression immediately collapsed. "Do you think I'm illiterate?!"
March rolled her eyes at Stelle, then looked at Hook and said, "So, Dark Hook the Great, now you can tell us the secret, right?"
Hook nodded. "Mm mm mm... the boss of the Mole Gang always keeps her word!"
"Hook saw the black-haired big brother get taken to the fight club by the blue-haired uncle."
March blinked. "The fight club? Dark Hook the Great, where is the fight club? Can you take us there?"
Hearing March's request, a smug expression once again appeared on Hook's face.
"Mm mm mm~ Can't even find such an obvious building? Adults are so unreliable!"
"Follow Hook, I'll take you there!"
March, "Thanks, Boss Hook."
Hook, "Don't call me that so half-heartedly! You have to respectfully call me Dark Hook the Great!"
After the conversation, with Hook leading the way, the Mole Gang took Stelle and March toward the fight club.
On the way, March sighed with some emotion. "Fighting... so this kind of rough entertainment is popular underground."
Hook, meanwhile, said that fighting was really interesting.
Hook's reaction and answer shocked March.
"You've participated too!? This club really has no sense of ethics at all!"
Under Hook's guidance, they crossed a street, turned a few corners, and finally stopped in front of a very conspicuous building.