“…He’s fine. He’s not dead. My binding is the proof. Hm?…Why are you crying?”
Her tears were flowing on their own.
The Sorcerer King was really alive.
She truly believed that he was not dead. But sometimes, the uneasiness that suddenly reared up in her mind left her unable to sleep. Many people had told Neia that the Sorcerer King was fine, but all of them sounded like they were just trying to comfort her, to try and keep their own worries at bay, and not because they truly believed it.
But at this moment, someone had told her that with absolute confidence and certainty. That, and Shizu was the proof that the Sorcerer King was alive. That allowed Neia to relax at last.
It was relief, like that of a lost child finding her parents, that made Neia weep.
Shizu produced a piece of cloth that was printed with the same design as her scarf ― it was probably a handkerchief ― and covered Neia’s face with it. And then, she rubbed forcefully. She was not so much violent as inexperienced, but the place where she rubbed hurt a lot.
Shizu pulled the handkerchief away, and Neia’s snot stretched out into a bridge.
“…There’s snot on it…Super shocking.”
After hearing Shizu’s distinctly shocked voice, there was an indescribable look on Neia’s face.
Therefore, she took a handkerchief out of her own pocket and broke the bridge of snot.
“…I’ll wash it.”
“…Mm.”
Part 2
Entering Kalinsha's castle was not difficult.
All they had to do was hide in barrels and wait to be smuggled in as cargo. There would be checks, of course, but there were other barrels ― eight in total ― besides the ones they had chosen to hide in, so all they had to do was let the inspectors check those instead. The fact that they could get past security with such simple precautions was due to the diverse nature of the Demihuman Alliance.
The demihumans all came from different cultures and had varying social norms. If they had anything in common, it was that fighting strength meant everything. Therefore, when a powerful individual threw his weight around, he usually got it, and minor transgressions were all forgiven. To demihumans, their personal power determined their capacity for violence and in turn, their social rank. Those lower on the totem pole had no choice but to obey.
Therefore, a strong Zern could put an end to the cargo inspection by glaring at the inspectors.
Eventually, there was a loud thunk as the barrels were laid on the ground.
After that, someone knocked on the top of the barrel.
That was the signal that they had arrived at their destination. As planned, Neia counted out three minutes in silence as she listened to the Zern responsible for transporting them open a door and leave.
After the three minutes were up, Neia pushed up the divider above her. While the bigger pieces of raw meat did not fall when the divider tilted, the smaller chunks rained down on Neia. This barrel was constructed with a false bottom. Neia was below the divider and the fresh meat lay on top of it.
The reason why the barrels were filled with fresh meat and not vegetables or grain was so that they could use the scent of blood to mask Neia and Shizu’s scent.
While Neia found it a little uncomfortable to be soaked in blood and juices from the meat, she still felt happy that none of the countermeasures they had prepared had been put to use.
Neia slowly lifted up the lid of the barrel and peered outside.
She looked around the darkened interior of the room ― there was a faint light that might have been the glow from a magic item ― and after verifying that there was nobody around, Neia slowly climbed out of the barrel.
There were all kinds of foodstuffs and urns on the shelves of this larder. There were also many barrels like the ones which had recently been brought here.
It took a lot of work, but she managed to climb out safely. In order to make getting back in easier, she left the divider standing inside the barrel.
They would need to use these barrels to escape after rescuing the Zern prince.
Shizu, the other infiltrator, had just made it out of her barrel. She was shorter than Neia, so climbing out of the large barrel had been more tiresome. However, her physical abilities were far beyond those of Neia’s and even Remedios’s, so she had managed to get out by herself before Neia could go over to help her.
“Shizu-san.”
“…Hm?”
“There’s meat stuck to your hair.”
Shizu looked unhappy. While her facial expression did not change, that did not mean she had no emotions. Perhaps it was because she had been with Shizu all this time or because Neia’s eyesight was excellent, or perhaps looking at the Sorcerer King’s bony features all this time had honed her ability to scrutinize others, but Neia had a rough grasp of how Shizu felt.
Shizu fumbled around to try and get the small bits of meat out of her hair, but they were stuck to the strands on the back of her head and she could not get them out.
While I was told to cut my hair short because long hair could be easily grabbed in combat, it seems there are many other drawbacks to it.
Neia went to Shizu’s side and picked all the chunks out before tossing them into the barrel.
“…Thanks… Don’t want to infiltrate this way again.”
“We’ll have to do it again when we escape.”
“…”
Shizu looked despondently at the barrel, then pulled a towel out of nowhere to wipe herself off before handing it to Neia.
The moist towel had a softness and fineness which Neia had never felt before. Neia imagined that it must have been very expensive. How had she gotten her hands on something like that? Were they common in the demon world?
As all these questions and more ran through her head, Neia wiped her hands that had been made sticky by the meat, and then wiped down Shizu’s hair with the clean bits. While it only made her feel better, it was better than not wiping at all.
“…Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
While Neia was doing this, Shizu took out her weapon.
That strangely-shaped device was apparently a ranged weapon called a spell gun. It used mana to fire bullet-like bolts, and it felt like a crossbow. Shizu had said something about the gunpowder not showing any signs of combustion or something, but Neia had not understood any of it, so the explanation was wasted on her.
She had wanted to test it out, but Shizu refused to part with it, so Shizu’s fighting ability was still an unknown. Still, she was a difficulty rating 150 demon, so Neia felt that there was nothing to worry about there.
“…Hm.”
Shizu produced the Ultimate Shootingstar Super and a quiver of arrows out of nowhere like a stage magician before handing them to Neia, and in turn Neia returned her the dirty towel.
Initially, there had been a discussion on how Neia would bring her bow along. The bow’s stave was very long, and when one added camouflage on top of that, she would not be able to close the lid on the barrel, and if the barrel were opened she would be exposed.
While they could have let the Zern carry it in, the bow was a magnificent piece of work and it would have left an impression on people who saw it. In addition, the Zern had also refused, for fear of being drawn into all this if the rescue mission failed.
In the end, when everyone had told her to leave the bow behind, Shizu said that she could store her weapons in a mysterious space in the air, so she could put the bow in there as well.
The uneasiness of bringing a valuable item lent to her by the Sorcerer King on a mission in a dangerous place blended with the reassurance of not having to part ways with her weapon. Neia thanked Shizu for her kindness as both emotions filled her. It would seem Shizu had accepted Neia as her junior back then, and after that Shizu had occasionally acted like her senior.