Everyone remaining in the Black Tower's conference room counted down
loudly in excitement, marking the time the Imperial Tower was supposed to
visit.
And finally, the appointed time.
"It's time! Activate the barrier immediately!"
Whoooom!
An enormous energy wave spread out.
Simultaneously, the entire territory of the Black Tower was protected by a
purple hemispherical barrier. It was not only massive but also perfect in its
precision.
The original intent of the barrier was to control access and protect the VIPs
during the exchange meeting… but it was used in the opposite way.
It was an act of openly mocking the tardy Imperial Tower, making their visit
even more difficult.
Everyone burst into hearty laughter and rejoiced.
"The Imperial Tower will have a hard time!"
"They started provoking first. Serves them right!"
"They would have been late even without the barrier. There hasn't even
been a report of them reaching the moat area."
Everyone was so excited at the moment.
Only one person.
Teddy Divine alone had a rather serious expression.
The girl, hugging her teddy bear, reconfirmed.
─The Imperial Tower has set foot in our territory?
─Y-Yes…!
Strange.
It was truly strange.
Of course, Teddy didn't see the Imperial Tower as a complete trash group.
They had gathered some capable magicians, so arriving quickly wasn't
impossible.
But there was something truly strange.
'They weren't detected anywhere, and they suddenly appeared?'
They had planted surveillance along every route from the Imperial Tower to
the Black Tower to monitor the movements of the Imperial Tower's group
in detail.
In other words, if the Imperial Tower's group had shown themselves even
once, there was no way there wouldn't have been a report.
'They skipped all the steps and just appeared suddenly?'
It was impossible, but it actually happened.
─Did they pass through any intermediate areas?
─None. There's no trace of them leaving the Imperial Tower.
─How many?
─We estimate three people in total.
'Did they use teleportation?'
But considering the distance from the Imperial Tower to the Black Tower, it
was hard to believe. Who could precisely teleport three people over such a
distance?
Could it be that Auditor?
"Hah…"
Teddy Divine laughed in disbelief.
An auditor with no experience and of commoner origin using such
advanced teleportation magic? No matter how she thought about it, it didn't
make sense.
The Luiple area? They had already investigated it.
They found out he was an ice elementalist. A person specializing in
elemental magic using spatial magic too? It was an utterly absurd idea.
─Teddy, what should we do now?
─What do you mean?
Teddy, having regained her composure, responded calmly via telepathy.
─Just because they've arrived doesn't mean our plan has failed~ We just
need to proceed with the remaining part, right?
Yes, the important thing was that the main plan hadn't failed at all.
Delaying their approach was just a matter of a first greeting, so to speak.
─Check the path to the altar carefully and get ready.
─Yes!
After finishing the telepathic conversation, a smile crossed Teddy's lips.
"Oh, poor things. If they had been pleasantly late, they might have saved
their lives, but they had to arrive! They'll regret arriving so eagerly!"
She twirled around, holding the teddy bear's arm.
"Now they're all going to die~ What will the Imperial Tower do~?"
Inside the Black Tower's territory.
Though called the 'Black Tower,' it referred to the entire area, including a
large village surrounding the black tower.
The Imperial Tower party looked around the area.
"Putting up a barrier, how insolent."
Jaekiel murmured, and Anes nodded.
"They must have planned to block our access if we were late. This is also
extremely rude."
"Well, we can scold them later. How is the Princess?"
At that, Tether perked up her ears.
"She should be in the VIP room inside the tower. Anyway, since we've
arrived, we can meet her after we finish with the cursed sword!"
"Good. First, let's look around the area."
However, the surroundings were quite different from what they expected.
"…Desolate."
That was all of Jaekiel's observation.
The area was unbelievably quiet.
Anes turned her cube expressionlessly.
"This is strange. According to the reports, it shouldn't be like this."
"Yes, that's right. This is not how this area should be."
Tether nodded in agreement.
"This area is quite similar to the Demon Realm, isn't it? Just as the Demon
Realm seeks pleasure, this place always has a festive atmosphere.
Especially during the exchange meeting, there should be many people
coming in, so this really shouldn't be happening…"
"Hey, there's someone over there."
Anes pointed with her finger to one side.
Slam!
A house immediately closed its window.
Similar things happened repeatedly. When people saw Jaekiel's group, they
avoided them, closing their doors as if they had encountered monsters.
Jaekiel quietly chewed on his Sun Grass.
"They don't seem very welcoming."
"It seems that way…"
Anes blinked a couple of times.
"The displeasure on their faces and their hostility towards us seem quite
significant. Clearly, there's something going on, so it's not a good idea to
proceed as is."
"How do those guys recognize us?"
"Well… it's probably the clothes, right…?"
Everyone's eyes turned to their own clothes.
All three of them wore clothes that looked very luxurious.
The expensive fabrics clearly indicated their origins, with embroidered
decorations denoting their affiliations, and even the imperial emblem on
Tether's clothes…
Tether cleared her throat.
"…Hmm, then let's change our clothes first. I know a place where we can
get some clothes."
"Not a shop. Our movements would be tracked."
"It's not a shop, you'll see. Let's go!"
.
.
.
.
.
"…"
Silence settled among the three.
"So, these are the clothes…"
"What is this…?"
Jaekiel and Anes were somewhat taken aback, but Tether just cleared her
throat as if it were no big deal.
"Ahem! Anyway, the clothes fit, don't they?!"
They had changed clothes, but the type was the problem.
Anes and Jaekiel were dressed as a married couple, and the small-framed
Tether was dressed in cute clothes like a child. From afar, they looked like a
family.
They looked like newlyweds with a bunny-like daughter. That was the
image.
Tether adjusted her round glasses and spoke.
"…Why are these the only clothes available?"
"In the distant past, when the Black Tower's territory was struggling, the
Imperial Family provided supplies, including clothes."
"So these are the leftover clothes that weren't distributed."
"…Yes. That's how it is."
Tether subtly checked their reactions.
She had a lot of experience serving VIPs, and even if there were
unavoidable circumstances, she would have been punished for offering such
clothes. It would hurt their pride.
Compared to that, the Imperial Tower was very generous.
'As expected, there are a lot of magnanimous people in the Imperial Tower.'
Feeling reassured, Tether spoke.
"Still, the two of you look quite good together. Tall and beautiful… You
really look like a married couple…"
As she said that, Tether suddenly shivered.
'Hmm?'
Jaekiel and Anes were starting to exude a murderous aura they had never
shown before.
…Are the words "married couple"1
implying they're older?
"Um, it also looks like seeing lovers…"2
"…"
"Ah, like children's pretend play…"
"…"
"…I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."
Tether eventually crumpled like a piece of tissue paper.
"Well, anyway."
Jaekiel spoke after a moment.
"So we brought the cursed sword, but those Black Tower guys didn't even
give us the exact location of the altar?"
Anes nodded.
"That's right. Surprisingly, they only mentioned that it's in this area and
didn't add any further details."
"They want us to gather the information ourselves and move accordingly."
"…It seems there's a sinister plot. How about we just ignore their request
about the cursed sword?"
"No, there's no need for that."
Jaekiel answered firmly.
From now on, if he had Sun Grass in his mouth, he could be identified, so
he switched to a long lollipop.
"You're not all tired, right? Let's move right away."
"Where are we going?"
"We need to gather information."
"So, do you have a method?"
"A method, a method…"
Jaekiel grinned with the lollipop in his mouth.
As always, it was a mischievous smile.
"I'll just go with the way I do best."
After that, Jaekiel's party wandered around restaurants.
Was it thanks to their change of attire? People didn't immediately avoid
them upon seeing them.
Anes moved her fingers in the air.
Without her usual cube to fiddle with, her hands were just playing in the air.
"After changing clothes, people stopped avoiding us. In other words, they
weren't avoiding us per se, but rather they had a rejection towards the
Imperial Tower and the Imperial Family."
"…Why? What could be the reason?"
"We need to find out from now on."
Right at that moment.
Voices leaked from a passing restaurant.
"They say the Imperial Tower guys couldn't even set foot in this territory.
Wouldn't it be nice to make a mockery of them? When they fall, we can
show off…"
"It's a pity they didn't come. I wanted to trample them down."
"Should we go find them and harass them? Hahaha!"
Even from a rough hearing, it was clear.
As expected, the hostility towards the Imperial Tower was immense.
Jaekiel furrowed his brows.
'Their arrogance knows no bounds.'
This clearly showed that the Imperial Tower had severely neglected their
duties. Their authority was trampled.
"Let's go in."
Jaekiel gestured with his chin.
Bang!
As he kicked the door open and entered, there was a brief silence.
The restaurant was much larger than it looked from the outside.
Basically, the place was full, with people having fierce expressions and
magicians exuding ominous auras. All of this was captured in Jaekiel's view
at once.
"Did we mistake this place for a library?"
Crunch!
Jaekiel bit into the lollipop and spoke.
"Why is it so quiet?"
At the same time, Jaekiel gestured towards one guy.
"Hey you, continue what you were saying."
"…What? That fish head bastard, has he gone mad?"
A giant man stood up.
He loosened his muscles as if to intimidate Jaekiel and asked.
"Hey, who the hell are you to come in here and act tough?"
"…"
Just as Jaekiel's mouth was about to open.
There was a hand tugging at his sleeve.
At the same time, Anes's telepathic request echoed in his mind. Including
Tether, the three were connected via telepathy.
─Auditor, you shouldn't reveal your identity.
─No need to worry, I know.
─Then let's go with what we discussed beforehand…!
In fact, they hadn't discussed anything beforehand, but with these clothes,
their story was obvious, wasn't it? There was no way it could go wrong.
The three thought so and spoke simultaneously.
"We just had a moment."
"We're just an ordinary couple."
"They adopted me!"
The restaurant froze in silence.
And Jaekiel hadn't even used ice yet.