Ch.442Dark Templar

I had completed the preliminary investigation and made a plan, so all that remained was execution.

We immediately packed our belongings and left the village, hiding our carriage in the forest near Nasiriya to wait for nightfall.

“After crossing the wall, go to this address. Knock three times, once, then four times, and one of our members will open the door.”

Meyer, who had suddenly been tasked with looking after the carriage and travel supplies, handed Lacy a small piece of paper. It was a safe house used by infiltrated members. His advice was to unpack there and begin our proper investigation.

“Security inside the city is rather lax. Priests do patrol, but they don’t pay much attention to areas outside the slums. Still, it’s better not to attract attention.”

He’s telling us to avoid being noticed as much as possible.

Among our party, the only ones who wouldn’t stand out were Agnes, who had lived secluded in the Church of Menes cathedral, and Lena, who appeared to be just an ordinary girl.

Hush and I were mixed-race, making us quite conspicuous, and Lacy was too famous.

Apparently, few people in the Holy State wouldn’t recognize her face.

Millia and Demian were also likely to be recognized since they had previously committed mass murder—or “kobold hunting” as Millia called it—in the slums here.

Of course, it happened quite some time ago, so ordinary people might not recognize them… but the priests would notice immediately.

Unless they were blind, they would certainly recognize the youngest Masters who arrived with the Empire’s First Sword. Their hair color alone would give them away.

So even after entering the city, we needed to move while avoiding people as much as possible.

Unless we wanted to advertise our presence to the entire neighborhood.

—-

And then night fell.

We left Meyer with the carriage and carefully moved toward the city wall in the darkness, wearing thick robes.

Agnes’s miracle didn’t last very long, and it wasn’t a power she could use frequently, so we had to save it until we reached the wall.

Secretly approaching the wall across open terrain wasn’t as simple as it sounded… but fortunately, the cloudy night sky concealed our presence.

Clouds, huh. I wonder if it might snow.

It wouldn’t be strange for the first snow to fall around this time of year.

Since Demian, Millia, and I carried the slower members of our party, it didn’t take long to reach the wall.

Hush, being half-black, was also quite fast.

With the elasticity of a black person combined with the lightness of a fairy, his speed was at Master level.

Yet in actual combat, rather than using that speed to charge in, he just threw daggers from a distance.

Well, if he had rushed at me with that speed, I would have cut him to pieces first.

Ironically, Hush survived until the end precisely because he wasn’t even a threat.

If he deliberately fought that way, I’d have to acknowledge his skill at preserving his own life.

“Hush, how many seconds do you think it would take you to climb this wall?”

“Uh, well… without interference, about ten seconds? Something like that.”

Ten seconds. That’s pretty fast.

He might even be faster than Demian.

“Good. Demian, Millia. Take these. Better than climbing with bare hands.”

I pulled four daggers from inside my coat and handed them to the two.

Made of black iron, Asha’s daggers wouldn’t be damaged even if stabbed into the wall.

“Thanks.”

“Don’t stab them in too obviously. Try to wedge them between the stones. If the wall gets full of holes, they’ll discover our infiltration.”

It was obvious advice, but I still needed to say it.

If they had attended the Academy for three years, they would have learned infiltration techniques from senior knights, but these kids had dropped out before even completing a single semester.

At most, they had only hunted some werebeasts and monsters, so how could they have experience with this kind of infiltration operation?

Considering they dropped out on my recommendation, I should take responsibility and teach them well.

“Those on your backs, hold on tight… We’ll move along the wall to find where the barrier magic has disappeared. Agnes, when I signal, activate your veil miracle. Then we’ll climb up immediately.”

“Yes.”

Agnes, riding on Millia’s back, nodded.

“Demian, hold onto Lena properly. If you drop her, you’ll die by my hand. Understood?”

“…I’ll keep that in mind.”

“And… while not being discovered is best, if we’re spotted by enemies… don’t hesitate to rush in and break their necks. If a commotion breaks out and church members come running, we’ll have no way to handle the aftermath.”

Killing priests based on mere suspicion felt extremely uncomfortable… but it was necessary.

Better to kill a few priests than to lose track of those who kidnapped the poor or start an all-out war with the Church of Grimnir.

If they were innocent, devout priests, their god would take care of them.

[Hmm. You’ve become quite the warrior leader. I suppose position and experience shape a person.]

Why are you suddenly complimenting me?

‘Warrior leader?’

[As the head who leads warriors and champions, shouldn’t you be called a warrior leader? Even if your subordinates don’t number even a hundred.]

You’re not wrong.

Warrior Leader Haschal. It had a surprisingly fitting ring to it.

—-

After explaining to the party, I pulled up the mask hanging around my neck to cover my nose and mouth, and looked up at the wall.

It was a strange sensation.

My mana resistance wasn’t completely unresponsive, but… it couldn’t quite get a proper grasp.

Detecting the flow of mana was similar to tracking smoke with your eyes.

In contrast, this was more like staring intently to discern the shape of a heat haze.

They said they implemented magic through holy power, and it was certainly different from ordinary magic.

Like scientists who first discovered the platypus and were confused whether to classify it as a bird or mammal, my mana resistance seemed unable to decide whether to treat this as magic or as a form of miracle.

Still, I could at least determine that the magical effect on the wall was weakening over time.

That was enough.

I moved along the base of the wall with my companions, searching for the weakest point, and finally found a suitable entry point.

A place where I couldn’t feel even the slightest ripple, as if the barrier magic had just worn off.

Good. This will work.

It was the perfect situation for infiltration.

Even with my vision and hearing pushed to their limits, I couldn’t detect any presence on top of the wall.

All that remained was to climb over the wall as quickly as possible before priests came to patrol and check the barrier magic.

When I raised my hand to point at the top of the wall, Agnes nodded and recited a prayer in an almost mumbling voice.

“…Menes, who watches over us from the abyss of night. Your servant begs you, cast your shadow’s hem to conceal us from heaven’s light.”

As she finished her prayer, a dark purple veil spread like a curtain above our heads.

The holy light’s veil descended like thin silk, wrapping around us.

We had become so dark and blurry that we couldn’t be detected even at close range.

The effect is definitely solid.

Assassins and thieves would convert to the Church of Menes immediately if they saw this performance.

“Let’s go. Follow carefully.”

– Whoosh!

I glanced at where Demian and Millia had been standing, now just blurry shadows, then launched myself toward the top of the wall.

It wasn’t my full strength.

If I jumped with all my might, the ground itself would explode beneath me.

Still, even with a jump muffled to minimize sound, I could reach about half the height of the wall.

“Ugh…!”

The impact seemed too much for a priest’s body to handle, as Lacy, riding on my back, groaned softly and clung closer.

So close there wasn’t even a gap between us.

“Hold tight.”

Making sure she wouldn’t fall, I created claws of murder karma at my fingertips, drove them into the cracks of the wall, and used them as support to launch myself upward again.

And once more.

After three jumps, I reached the top of the wall, crouched low, and quickly scanned the surroundings.

Even though I hadn’t sensed anyone, I needed to be careful.

Fortunately, no patrol had reached this area yet.

I could see people with torches in the distance… but judging by their leisurely pace, it would take at least a minute before they got close enough to notice us.

Soon after, Demian and Millia also reached the top of the wall.

They were a bit slower since they had climbed by stabbing in daggers rather than jumping like I did.

Hush had already arrived.

With his black skin enhanced by the black veil, he was practically invisible.

“Let’s go down. Be careful not to slip.”

“Okay.”

“Got it.”

“Yes.”

Descending the wall was more troublesome than climbing it.

Even I had to hold onto the wall and climb down carefully, checking beneath my feet.

If I just jumped down like at Berengaria, the noise would be loud enough to alert the guards, so there was no choice.