Published: July 4, 2025
After having a meal and getting six hours of sleep, the four of them left Room 10.
They had reserved the room for one more day and paid in advance, but there was nothing left in the room.
In the northeastern direction that Ryo pointed to, a magnificent palace could be seen.
The underground city itself had an extremely high ceiling.
It was about thirty meters tall.
In that space, the palace reached up to the ceiling's height...
There were no other buildings that tall, of course.
"This is... definitely related to a church or the government or something like that..."
"In a normal country, it would be the lord's mansion, but this is France..."
"Since there are guards at the gate, it doesn't seem like a church where believers can enter..."
"Exactly, the enemy's stronghold! Surely, a thirty-meter class golem will appear at the end!"
Nils said with a grimace while Eto agreed, Amon focused on the entrance, and Ryo expressed his desire.
Of course, Ryo had no idea if a thirty-meter golem even existed.
If something like that appeared, the ceiling would collapse...
"Yeah, I understood Ryo's desire. Just understood it, though!"
"Nils's retort is starting to resemble Abel's..."
Nils chimed in, and Ryo sighed.
By the way, when Ryo sighed and said "it's starting to resemble Abel," both Eto and Amon didn't miss that Nils looked a little pleased...
"Normally, we'd sneak in at night, but..."
"This underground space seems to always be bright, which is a problem."
Amon sighed, and Eto smiled wryly.
"I could pierce all the streetlights with an icicle lance to make it pitch dark, but that would trouble the people who are working seriously. It could lead to a riot."
"Yeah, Ryo, don't you dare do that."
"What Nils is saying is definitely 'don't do it, don't do it, don't... just go ahead and do it!' right?"
"That's not what I meant! What is that! Seriously, don't do it!"
Ryo felt relieved that Nils was a properly sensible adventurer.
The four of them entered a tavern near the 'palace'.
Of course, their purpose wasn't to drink but to devise a plan.
"If Ryo can't scout from the outside, we have to find a way to get inside... at worst, just Ryo alone."
"Just me?"
Nils said, and Ryo tilted his head.
"If you get in, you can scout with magic, right? Even if you can't find it with your eyes, can't you manage somehow?"
"Ah... yes, I think I could manage somehow. The problem is that the entrance seems to be only that one in front. Sneaking in through that main gate without being noticed would be impossible without incredible stealth skills..."
Nils said, and Ryo replied, but... Ryo's words trailed off.
"Ryo?"
Eto asked with a hint of curiosity.
"I might have a method that could work. It's for one person, though."
Ryo said as he took out a silver bracelet from his bag.
"A bracelet?"
"I did look into the magic formula being used. It's very delicate, but if I carefully channel the magic, it seems I could use it."
Amon asked, and Ryo answered.
"What kind of bracelet is it?"
"It's the Bracelet of Concealment."
This was the 'Bracelet of Concealment' (named by Ryo) that was used by Cesare and given to Ryo as an apology from the Republic.
Naturally, this bracelet was customized so that only specific users could use it.
It would be problematic if it got stolen and used.
It seems to detect even slight differences in a person's magical power...
The reason it "seems" is that even Ryo couldn't quite grasp that part.
That's how high-level alchemy was being utilized.
Even in the biometric section.
Ryo was trying to forcefully make it usable for himself...
As mentioned before, it was impossible.
Only someone as skilled as Ryo in magical control—arguably one of the highest levels among mages—and with knowledge and experience in alchemy could do this.
Such a person likely didn't exist... or so he thought,
(I feel like Sera could probably do it...)
With magical control on par with or perhaps exceeding Ryo's and abundant alchemical knowledge as an elf...
Well, without someone on the level of Ryo or Sera, it would be impossible to forcefully use this bracelet.