Chapter 156: Chapter 156

Humans were always bound to feel greater temptation toward that which was forbidden.

Even in the Kingdom of Ajun, a wasteland of magic, it was a natural phenomenon for those who wished to indulge in magic to appear.

Envy toward the mighty magical capability of the Altoan Empire, which was said to have once ruled the world.

A substitute for those who were born with inferior physical capabilities and despised within the warrior culture.

And even a longing for legendary magic such as eternal youth, immortality, and resurrecting the dead.

The reasons to pursue the power of magic, which the priests of the Goddess Order could not fulfill, were diverse.

Unable to openly form groups like in countries where the New Faith faith was permitted, they formed a secret society.

They used the name ‘Gray Cloak’, taken from the title of a sage in ancient folklore.

Those who had continuously yearned for magical knowledge happened to make contact a few years ago with the spies Cheryn had sent to Ajun via Treba Territory.

The spies crossing over were caught by the feelers they had extended to the east to procure resources necessary for magic research.

Naturally an illegal organization within the Kingdom of Ajun, instead of turning them in, they established an earnest secret relationship with the royal house of Pendia.

Pendia supplied advanced magical knowledge, and in return, the Gray Cloak provided various secret information from within Ajun.

Absorbing the advanced knowledge of the Magic Society, which had been built centuries ago, along with Cheryn’s magic-tech revolution and knowledge of Altoan ruins, they shed tears of emotion.

For it was no different from light descending upon blind men who had been groping in the dark for over decades.

Just seeing how they had created and offered the title ‘Queen of Mysteries’ to a foreign queen showed how immense the Gray Cloak’s respect and gratitude toward her were.

*

“I apologize for hosting you in such a humble place.”

Zad, the mage who had brought the rescue team, spoke while politely bowing his head.

Contrary to his words, the lodging he provided was quite comfortable.

The large room on the second floor was warm as the fireplace had been lit in advance, and the wool bedding was also well-washed and neat.

After washing themselves with hot water prepared in advance, they entered into earnest discussions.

“How much do you know about this operation?”

“All I know is to serve you with all my heart and follow your instructions. I do not know who the guests are or what business brought you here.”

In response to Colun’s question, Zad answered politely and brought out a communication device directly linked to the royal palace of Pendia.

Seeing this, the rescue team also pulled out the communication device they had packed along, inserted a quill pen, and sent a message.

“Your Majesty, we have arrived in the capital and completed the contact.”

After reports of the same content were simultaneously delivered, an answer came back before long.

[That is a relief. Then I now grant permission to inform Zad of the objective of this operation.]

Having received Cheryn’s message, Colun nodded and spoke to Zad.

“You must have heard that Prince Meleo, the eldest son of the King of Ajun, divorced Princess Cassia.”

“Yes, I have heard, but… could it be…?”

Indeed, as expected of a mage whose mind worked quickly, Zad guessed the rescue team’s objective from that statement alone and widened his eyes in surprise.

That he realized it quickly was also because he had previously received a few related directives from Cheryn.

After receiving directives such as ‘Confirm Princess Cassia’s location’ and then taking in guests, it was not difficult to guess their objective.

“That is right. We have come to rescue Princess Cassia.”

“With seven people… wouldn’t it be difficult? The place where she is imprisoned is none other than the royal palace dungeon.”

The palace of the Ajun royal family, the Moon Castle, did not possess magical defense capabilities due to the national ideology of despising magic.

However, in return, it maintained a guard system that was physically far more thorough than that of Pendia.

Nearly five hundred royal guards, who were not knights but possessed combat prowess far superior to ordinary warriors, were stationed there, and the number of knights loyal to the royal family exceeded thirty.

Furthermore, if things went wrong, even the thousands of guards maintaining city security would come running.

Although their martial power was closer to conscripts rather than proper soldiers, that sheer number of armed forces was still tremendous violence in itself.

At Zad’s words that breaking through such security with seven people was absurd, Shan removed his eyepatch and looked at him.

“Ah!”

As the room with closed windows was not fully lit by the fireplace light alone, Shan’s eyes, sitting in the shadow, glowed a bright green.

To think that the Queen had sent the knight who would soon become her consort here!

Zad, who had been staring at him in shock with wide eyes, hurriedly bowed his head.

“I apologize for failing to greet you properly, Your Highness!”

“How many people can help us?”

“The Gray Cloak has a total of seventeen members; ten are here in Tizal, and seven are staying in other regions. And I have taken on the role of managing them.”

The Gray Cloak was fundamentally a point-to-point network that maintained anonymity, and joining was only possible through the recommendation of an existing member.

Other than Zad, the leader, the rest did not even know each other’s identities and communicated using masks and aliases.

The ones who heard the explanation clicked their tongues in admiration.

“Heh…”

“Thorough indeed. They didn’t survive in the Kingdom of Ajun for nothing.”

“But is it fine for you to show your face to us like this?”

If someone were captured alive during the operation, your identity would be exposed.

At Aran’s concern, Zad smiled and shook his head.

“It is hard to make a living by running an inn like this. My face, my name, and my identity as the owner of this inn are all fake, so it is fine.”

In the first place, how could a mere innkeeper pursue an expensive discipline like magic?

Most members of the Gray Cloak were second sons or lower of prestigious noble families, or came from wealthy merchant families.

Among them, Zad’s true identity right before their eyes was none other than the guildmaster of the capital’s Architects Guild, and he had been running the secret society’s affairs by creating things like secret passages all over the city of Tizal.

Shan already knew this thanks to Cheryn giving him a heads-up in advance.

While he was lost in thought, Zad continued his explanation.

“The problem is that none of them can command an army. No, in fact, even if there were, it would be unreasonable to have them help a force raiding the royal palace.”

“Mm, indeed.”

There were no soldiers loyal enough to charge into the royal palace just because their commander ordered it.

Even if tried, it would only result in losing one valuable spy.

In other words, exercising physical force had to be handled entirely by the seven people present.

“Can’t we scatter the soldiers by spreading rumors? Like saying people from Horais invaded from the west.”

The one who said that was Hakan.

Hakan, who hailed from Horais, knew that the tribesmen from the western steppe sometimes took boats northward to raid the Kingdom of Ajun.

Though both sides were equally poor regions, it was still a struggle to somehow find something to pillage.

“Not bad. If it is about spreading rumors, there are quite a few who can help.”

Zad agreed, nodding his head.

If the rumor spread and the King dispatched even a portion of his forces, the security of the capital would weaken by that much.

When they informed Cheryn of this via the communication device, a reply came back.

[That is a good idea. Or you could also spread a rumor that Pendia might send troops through the Demonic Realm.]

Originally, the route from Treba Territory entering the east of Ajun through the Demonic Realm was used by the Gray Cloak to communicate with Pendia.

However, now that the communication device had been delivered, its relative importance had dropped, so it was better to utilize it in this manner.

This would also have the effect of diverting attention during their escape.

For the most part, they would assume the escapees were heading south or east, so no one would expect them to head southeast to cross the Blade Mountains.

“Then assuming we divert their attention like that for now, we need to know the internal structure to infiltrate. Is there any secret passage or something?”

A palace with a long history was bound to have one or two secret passages.

At Abras’s question, Zad shook his head.

“There should be a few, but unfortunately I do not know them. Probably no one in the organization knows either.”

Even though he was the guildmaster of the Architects Guild, the Ajun royal palace was a building constructed nearly a thousand years ago, and since he was not the descendant of a historic architect family, he could not know that much.

To know the secret passages inside the royal palace, one had to be royalty or someone of a status trusted by them.

Shan suddenly felt regretful that Cheryn had not come along.

If she had been here, just scattering spiders would have allowed her to find a secret passage suitable for infiltration before long.

The conclusion reached after various deliberations was simply to climb over the wall.

For sometimes a simple method was the answer.

Fortunately, even if Zad did not know secret passages, he was able to draw up at least a map of the royal palace interior.

It was thanks to having entered and exited several times whenever the aging building was repaired.

“The dungeon is in the eastern part of the royal palace.”

“Then we scale the eastern wall… and pass by two palaces.”

“If we run into royalty, should we kidnap them?”

“Let’s not. They will only be a burden. Those Ajun bastards won’t care unless we capture the King himself.”

Possessing a brutal and rough culture, Ajun people took pride in dying in battle and going to the Goddess’s sanctuary, and despised fearing death.

If a royal were taken hostage, they would have to end their own life to preserve their pride, and if they failed to do so, they were not worth saving.

Of course, as with all such cultures, not everyone kept to it, but it meant that generally speaking, that was the case.

“First off, Plan A is to rescue her smoothly without getting noticed at all, and if that fails, Plan B is to cause as much commotion as possible to create chaos…”

Considering every element (from the individual skills of the rescue team members to the tools they possessed and the assistance of the spies) they engaged in a fierce debate.

What to do after rescuing her was also a problem.

No matter how powerful a warrior Shan was, even if he could cut down a thousand men alone, he could not protect one person from a thousand charging enemies.

A few hours flew by in an instant as they devised various plans regarding which route and what method to flee by after rescuing her.

Looking at the finalized plan at last, Royal Knight Abras let out a dry laugh.

“Truly, if this succeeds, it will be an operation worthy of being sung about for ages.”

If things went really smoothly, it would end with quietly pulling Princess Cassia out without a sound, but depending on circumstances, mass slaughter, arson, and assassination could be added.

If a mere seven people turned the royal palace upside down, it was indeed an achievement more than worthy of being made into a song.

Of course, considering a knight’s pride, there were a few things that should not be done recklessly, but the time for Pendia and Ajun to care about methods and means while deeming such things dishonorable had long since passed.

*

After devising the operation, the rescue team spent their time idling in the room Zad had provided for them.

No matter how things proceeded from now on, a period of hardship was bound to follow for a while.

It was necessary to conserve as much stamina as possible, doing only enough training to prevent their bodies from stiffening and muscles from softening.

Shan went outside during broad daylight when his eyes did not glow, wandering the streets of Ajun.

Of course, there was already a map at the hideout, but looking at it directly in person was better for engraving it into his mind.

‘It’s really filthy.’

That was Shan’s impression of Tizal, the capital of Ajun.

The poorly paved roads were muddy with half-melted snow, and the stench of scattered waste vibrated from all directions.

The foul stench of unwashed people could be smelled everywhere, and the items sold in the market claiming to be meat or cheese gave off a pungent sour odor.

Thinking of Hasra, which had become clean thanks to road and water pipe maintenance and where fresh food could be bought at the market due to the distribution of refrigerators, one could guess that the difference in national power between the two countries was at a level that could not be calculated simply by numbers.

If there was any merit to this country, it was that arms and armor made of rare metals could easily be found in ordinary smithies.

Unlike Pendia, where steel was usually the best material, in Ajun there were many items made of special materials that would become astronomically expensive if taken down south.

That Ajun gained the upper hand in conflicts with Libert, including the True Silver War, owed a great deal to the superiority of such equipment.

Walking around, he occasionally spotted people presumed to be thugs in the alleys.

Dressed in shabby clothes, they waited with weapons like handaxes concealed on their persons for prey to enter.

However, as Shan always stuck to main streets and avoided shadows out of concern that his eyes might glow, he never got into trouble with them.

It was not that he was afraid of those bastards, but for the operation, he had to avoid attracting attention.

Spending time like that, it reached the fifth day.

Zad came to inform them that the day of the operation’s execution had arrived.

“It is said that fifty royal guards headed east this morning.”

“Oho.”

“Fifty men… does that mean their force has been cut by one tenth?”

As time passed, they might send even more troops, but conversely, they might return after deciding it was a false rumor.

That night, the rescue team cautiously emerged from the hideout.

Everyone wore armor made of hydra hide, and Shan additionally wore a chainmail shirt specially crafted by Cheryn over it.

With this, even if it was not on par with plate armor, it would block most ordinary attacks.

The mage Bezel softly chanted a spell.

[“Stereagram, Apyhleoro…”]

After muttering for a long time as if it were a fairly difficult spell, dark-purple air currents wrapped around their bodies.

It was a presence-concealment spell that slightly reduced movement noise and made them less easily noticed by others; while the effect was not particularly grand, it was useful in a situation like this.

“Alright, we move.”

A somewhat disappointing point was that the surroundings were quite bright as the moon was close to full.

Of course, while this was better for moving through the capital at night without torches, it also made it easier for night watchmen to notice them.

As they moved forward, before long they saw torches approaching from ahead in the alleyway.

Just like in Pendia, Ajun’s night watchmen usually moved in pairs.

“Hakan, left.”

“Yes.”

Shan spoke softly to Hakan and nocked an arrow to the bow he held.

His bow was one Zad had bought for him, a longbow made of yew.

Compared to Hakan’s composite bow, it was cumbersome and large, but its draw weight alone was magnificent.

“Three, two, one.”

Along with the twang of bowstrings, two arrows struck the night watchmen.

The man on the left had his neck pierced by Hakan’s arrow, and the man on the right had his eye impaled by Shan’s arrow.

The man struck in the eye died instantly as his brain was scrambled, while the man with a pierced neck spewed bloody foam from his mouth a few times before collapsing.

“Let’s go.”

The corpses produced that way were immediately buried in a snowpile stacked in the corner of the alley.

Doing just this would keep them undiscovered at least until the snow melted.

Dispatching five pairs of night watchmen, the rescue team smoothly approached the eastern wall of the royal palace.

Shan closed his eyes, focused his hearing, and after confirming no one was above, scrambled up the wall.

“Wow, he’s not even a cockroach, how can a human climb a wall like…”

“Shh, quiet.”

Hakan, who had mumbled without realizing it, quickly shut his mouth when Aran jabbed his ribs to stop him.

Having scaled it smoothly, Shan transformed A Thousand Shapes into a grappling hook, tied it to a rope, and dropped it down.

Having already been hardened while crossing the Blade Mountains, the rescue team members smoothly climbed up.

Instead of searching for stairs guarded by royal guards, they lowered themselves using a similar method, enabling them to enter the royal palace smoothly.

“Huu…”

Up until now, everything was going smoothly according to plan, but the very fact that they had infiltrated the royal palace swarming with hundreds of royal guards and knights inflicted psychological pressure.

With tense expressions, the rescue team members moved behind Shan who led the way.

Across various parts of the royal palace, there were royal guards keeping watch at palace entrances and intersections, but Shan smoothly dealt with them one by one through joint attacks with Hakan, just as before.

The problem arose around the time they arrived near the dungeon entrance.

“Intruders-!”

A voice echoed, piercing through the silence of the night.

Judging by how it came from a somewhat distant place, it seemed someone on patrol had discovered the royal guards they killed.

“Tch.”

Shan clicked his tongue while looking back, but he was not overly disappointed.

In the first place, even Shan, who had known all the royal guards’ deployments and secret passages when rescuing Cheryn back then, had nearly been caught, so wishing not to get caught while infiltrating without any of that was a burglar’s greed.

As the quiet palace instantly began to grow chaotic, Shan looked back at the rescue team members behind him and commanded.

“Move to Plan B.”

“O Goddess, grant boundlessness of vigor to your knight…”

“Let’s go!”

After Priest Lysac, who had accompanied them, immediately bestowed the Blessing of Vitality upon Shan, the rescue team members bolted together toward the dungeon.

Instead of running with them, Shan turned his steps toward the largest palace standing far off.

“Who goes there!”

“That bastard is the intru… wait?”

The royal guards who came rushing hurriedly pointed their weapons straight at Shan as he walked into the open intersection.

But only for a moment; seeing Shan’s glowing green eyes, they panicked.

“That guy, could he be?”

“Why is he here…?”

While the enemies were bewildered, Shan took out a glass bottle from the bundle he had received upon parting from his group.

Inside it was a sticky, milky-white liquid.

When Shan threw it toward the guard holding a torch, the guard reflexively swung the torch he held, striking the glass bottle.

With a shattering sound, pure white flames flared up and engulfed the guard’s body in fire.

A comrade beside him stepped back in horror and shouted.

“F-Flames of Purification!”

“That’s right. Normally it shouldn’t be used on humans, but fortunately, since you bastards don’t treat us like humans, we don’t have to treat you like humans either.”

Shan nodded at his reaction and hurled a second glass bottle toward the torch in front of the palace further off.

The secret art of the Old Faith, which they used to burn pagans and heretics in the past, slowly began to consume the royal palace of Ajun in flames.