Part of that was how Neia had to address Shizu as “Shizu-san,” because Shizu would make a fuss if Neia did not. However, Shizu was a pretty girl, and when she made a pouty face ― she could tell even though Shizu did not show expressions ― Neia actually found it kind of cute.
After they had each readied their weapons, Shizu was the first to move.
Neia pricked up her ears to listen for any movement outside the door, but there was nobody there.
“…Let’s head out.”
Time was short, so Neia nodded.
The Liberation Army was approaching Kalinsha while the operation to rescue the Zern Prince was in progress, so the battle for Kalinsha would begin soon.
1: Neia and Shizu would infiltrate Kalinsha and rescue the Zern prince.
2: The Liberation Army would approach Kalinsha and begin their attack.
3: If the Zern prince was rescued, the Zern would act as a fifth column within the city walls.
4: If item 3 failed, then instead of the Zern opening the city gates and guiding the Liberation Army in, Neia and Shizu would have to handle that task. However, that was far too much for them to take on, so they would only do what was within their capabilities.
Those were the key points of the battle plan.
The important thing was that if they could rescue the Zern prince, then they could count on the Liberation Army and the Zern to relieve them even if they were forced to hunker down and defend themselves. This was good for the Zern as well; if the rescue succeeded, they could release the prince after Kalinsha was taken back.
In other words, whether or not they could take Kalinsha back simply and with minimal casualties all hinged on successfully rescuing the prince.
As she felt the weight crushing down on her shoulders, Neia groaned as her tummy hurt again.
Therefore ― there was not much time. Once the Liberation Army began their attack on Kalinsha or if they were detected before that, security in Kalinsha would be tightened.
In accordance with what they had planned, Shizu produced a bottle of what looked like perfume out of nowhere and sprinkled it on Neia and herself. It seemed to be some kind of consumable magic item that contained the first tier spell 「Odorless」. There was not much of it, so they had to conserve it as much as possible.
Shizu cracked open the door, peered around outside, and then slipped out.
They had selected their route and decided on how to deal with various situations after consulting the map of Kalinsha, and they had already discussed what duties each of them would be handling.
Neia exited the room as well, then carefully closed the door so as not to make noise before running after Shizu.
Though I’m not really helping much…
Frankly speaking, under the present circumstances Neia was nothing more than a burden. That much was instantly clear when one looked at Shizu’s running stride. She ran like her father moved through the woods ― no, she was far better, being both swift and silent. She was definitely using some kind of technique there..
She’s a demon, but she uses techniques like a human… It’s always the ones you can’t judge by their appearances which are the scariest, huh?
While they could have left everything to Shizu, Neia’s presence was both to keep an eye on Shizu and also to ensure that it was a joint effort between the Sorcerous Kingdom’s Shizu ― assuming she was truly bound to the Sorcerer King ― and the Holy Kingdom’s Neia that rescued the prince. That way, the Holy Kingdom could act like they had contributed to it.
The passages were dark. It was nighttime. Moonlight streamed in through the windows ― or rather, the only thing which entered was the moonlight. There were no other sources of light here, no magical illumination or torches.
This was because many demihumans were indifferent to the darkness. However, there were different degrees of being able to see in the darkness. While some species had complete darkvision, most of them simply had superior night vision. Therefore, Neia and Shizu avoided the moonlight and slunk from shadow to shadow.
As a human being, Neia had to focus herself and sharpen her senses. Not only could she not see clearly due to the darkness, the patrolling guards did not carry light sources either, so she could not spot them from afar.
While she did not quite understand why the larder had lights, that was probably for the sake of those species who lacked darkvision.
The two of them kept their footfalls as quiet as possible while they ran through the castle towards their destination.
Considering Shizu’s physical attributes were far superior than Remedios’s, even a pace which left Neia panting and barely able to keep up was probably slower than a jog to Shizu.
They occasionally spotted demihuman guards, which was their cue to hold their breath and quietly wait for the opposition to move on. They could not kill them, because that would mean having to take care of the corpses and hide their traces. Since they were in the midst of the enemy, it would be best not to be spotted at all until the rescue was a success.
Fortunately, Neia and Shizu were not spotted, and they continued forward.
There were few guards within the castle thanks to most of the personnel being assigned to the walls and the watchtowers, as well as the city’s prisons. The Sorcerer King had killed a great deal of demihumans, which meant that they could not set up a tight security net. Thus, vigilance within the castle had grown lax, according to the Zern.
The reason why they could proceed safely was because the Zern had reconnoitered the area ahead of time and made near-perfect preparations, but Neia still felt a twinge of uneasiness.
There were two challenges in their way.
The first was the long passageway they had to traverse in order to reach the tower.
The second was the bridge to the tower ― the aerial walkway.
There were no hiding places in either location, and obviously there would be sentries standing watch as well. They would not be alone either. In addition, at least one of them would be stationed out of the line of fire for ranged weapons because they were on guard against ranged attacks.
While they had discussed the matter in a big group in front of Gustav’s map, they would still have to pass through both these places in order to reach the tower.
If we could use 「Invisibility」to deceive their eyesight and 「Silence」from the priests to deceive their hearing, we would be able to infiltrate perfectly… that’s why adventurers ― who form groups that can take on all kinds of situations ― are so highly valued.
Eventually, the two of them reached their objective.
This was the first challenge, the long passageway. If they tried to run straight down it, they would be spotted before they could cover the distance. In order to avoid that, they needed to reach a location where they could execute ranged attacks while not being spotted by the opposition.
That was why they had come here, the level above the long passage, the room directly above where the guards were stationed.
If they lowered a rope from here and rappelled down the outer walls, they could take a shortcut without being detected.
“…Here?”
In response to Shizu’s question, Neia consulted the map in her head and the route they had taken, and nodded a yes.
“…Hm. Not bad.”
Shizu’s reply sounded like she was praising a junior, and then she pressed her ear to the door. Then, she quickly and silently opened it.