Chapter 309
Chapter 309: First City
Well then, it’s Zilbagias Reiju, now known as Hero Alexander.
Hero Alexander here…!
I spent the night in the forest and woke up with the sunrise. It felt strange. Even right after I ambushed Virosa, I slept soundly—there was a tranquility here that I never found in the Demon Lord Castle.
With the dawn, the undead I had hidden nearby had turned to ash. Disposing of corpses is actually super easy. This will definitely come in handy moving forward—
“Alright, let’s go.”
“Yes!”
As planned, we headed toward the familiar settlement of Virosa.
I was worried about having too much baggage, but with my body almost at its peak and a decent amount of magical power, carrying it all wasn’t a problem. Indeed, magical power… it solves everything! Though it is also the root of all evil.
At first, Leila was all fired up, saying, “I’ll carry some too!” but when she tried to lift something, she quickly wore out, looking shocked and saying, “This isn’t how it was supposed to be…” Humans really are weak…
In any case, in the event of an emergency, Leila would need to shed her belongings and transform into a dragon, so I concluded it was better for me to carry everything.
We walked happily across the serene plains.
“Feels nice and relaxed, doesn’t it?”
“Indeed!”
Walking by foot is this slow? I’ve been relying on Leila’s flying for long trips lately, so I had long forgotten this.
With no threats to worry about, I strolled leisurely under the sun. The late summer breeze, the smell of earth and grass. If I had no business to attend to, I’d want to lie down in a meadow and bask in the sun.
I had already roughly pinpointed the direction from our campsite to the settlement, so we arrived without getting lost.
“What? You guys are acquaintances of Theodor?”
“Yeah. It’s been a few years.”
We visited the settlement bustling with vineyards and winemaking. The residents were ordinary humans and were quite friendly even to strangers. By the way, “Theodor” is Virosa’s alias. He apparently stayed here often under the title of bodyguard for the trading company.
“Where are you folks from?”
“From the front lines. As you can see, I’m a hero.”
“Ah, I see. Thank you for your effort.”
Now then.
I was on guard, thinking there might be allies of Virosa in this settlement, but there were none. After a brief chat with the residents to take a break, we headed to the nearest city, Sugusal.
At the city entrance, there was naturally a checkpoint, but we passed through by showing our holy attributes. Both I and Leila entered the city without any checks.
‘They probably didn’t expect that the Demon Lord’s Prince and a dragon would be disguised as humans…’
Even in my prime, I wouldn’t have imagined that. Honestly, the transformation magic is way too overpowered… If you can use holy attributes and appear human, it’s only natural for people to think you’re a hero. Of course, it’s obvious that no one would see through my disguise, and they’d never suspect a vulnerable-looking girl accompanying a hero.
—By the way, while transforming weakens my magical power, there’s one significant advantage to it.
That is that I can no longer take damage from holy attributes.
Without even using the technique that creates a layer of protection with dark magic, when transformed, holy attributes have no effect on me at all. I discovered this by chance during my special training with holy attributes at the necromancy research institute.
‘Well, when you think about it, it’s pretty obvious.’
According to Antendeixis.
‘You possess a human soul, so even being reborn as a demon, you could still use holy attributes. However, since your body is that of a demon, you’d be burned by holy attributes… But what about you in human form?’
—A being with a human soul, in a human body.
‘So, you’re human then.’
Exactly. I completely fall outside the criteria for harm from holy attributes.
Conversely, dragons and night elves—like Leila and Virosa—are judged as “enemies of humanity,” so even in human form, they’d still be burned by holy attributes. That’s why Virosa has faced danger from being exposed in the past.
“Wow…”
In the lively streets of Sugusal filled with many humans and beastmen, Leila’s eyes sparkled as she looked around.
It’s a small but nice town. The stone walls surrounding the town are infused with solid protection magic, and the roads are clean without trash or waste. It’s a testament to the residents’ morals. From what I saw, a market had been set up in the plaza, but as the sun was setting, everyone was starting to clean up.
To me, it’s a normal sight that could nearly make me want to cry, but everything must be fresh in Leila’s eyes. Just that makes her seem somewhat out of place—and quite noticeable.
But if I pointed that out, it would only make her shrink away. Plus, those who notice will quickly figure out that she’s not used to mundane life. She’ll get accustomed to it eventually, and for now, all I can do is—
“Over there is a bakery. They have a simple pictorial sign for those who can’t read, doesn’t it? That one over there is probably a blacksmith.”
“The sign has a hammer on it!”
“And over there is a general store. Let’s stop by later.”
“I’m looking forward to it!”
If we keep chatting happily like this, we won’t look suspicious, perhaps resembling a sheltered girl just out from the academy or temple.
Even if Leila’s true identity were to be discovered, I don’t think it would lead to anything fatal. I could just say, “She’s the daughter of the white dragon who assisted in the demon castle assault operation. Given the current circumstances, I’m her bodyguard,” and we could make it through.
If the white dragons were more recognized as allies of humanity, then there might be no harm from holy attributes toward Leila… but with dragons as a species being generally hostile, that’s a tough road ahead.
I wonder how the white dragons, who were driven into the alliance zone due to the schemes of the Dark Dragon King, are doing now. I’d like to find that out as well…
In any case, I plan to stay in the city of Sugusal for one day.
…Which means, in one day, I’ll find the night elf operative lurking here, eliminate them, and leave without anyone being the wiser by tomorrow morning…
Normally, that would be impossible, but that’s not the case for me.
“Excuse me, where can I find the Cortera Trading Company?”
“It’s that fine building over there.”
“Thanks.”
I asked a resident for directions and headed to a certain trading company facing the main boulevard.
Cortera Trading Company— a puppet organization of the night elf espionage network that has expanded its market to several countries.
They operate fairly legitimately as a trading company, and their employees have no awareness of being puppets of night elves. The company sells goods, provides loans, and in the process, gathers information from local residents and rulers, which the night elves lurking within then analyze and send back to the Demon Lord Kingdom—
“Hello. How can I help you?”
Upon entering the trading company’s hall, I was stopped by the bodyguards at the entrance. There was an intimidating-looking human and a wolfman with a scarred face. Their build was impressive, but their posture seemed unstable, like they could easily tip over if nudged.
“I’m looking for a guy named ‘Theodor.’ He asked me to deliver this letter to ‘Ixel.'”
I pulled out a sealed letter from my pocket.
—How the night elf operative avoids being exposed by holy attributes.
The most certain method is to seamlessly integrate into the land so that there’s no need for exposure. Slip in when vigilance is low and build trust with those around you. As a merchant of a large company, as a craftsman, or as a bodyguard—
Apparently, in this town, the night elf operative has been operating under the name “Ixel” as a merchant for over ten years. Of course, he must have infiltrated the alliance zone even earlier. Night elves, being long-lived, operate on a timescale much longer than humans…
I hear Virosa has repeated infiltrations over ten-year spans, which is undeniably a hardcore mission, even for the enemy.
Well.
That ends today.
“Theodor’s guy, huh? It’s been a while since I’ve heard that.”
The older bodyguard relaxed his fierce expression slightly.
“Is he doing well?”
—I hesitated for a moment.
“…Yeah. His sword skills have been amazing.”
The rocket pendant swayed beneath my shirt—
“That guy’s strong, for sure. Glad to hear he’s alright. By the way, Ixel is inside, do you want to meet him?”
“No, I was just asked to deliver this letter, so I just need you to give it to him.”
“I see. Then I’ll make sure to pass it on.”
I handed the letter to the bodyguard and quickly left.
The wax seal on that letter bore a crow emblem. It was something Virosa always used.
The contents of the letter appeared to be a casual update, but hidden within were coded messages at regular intervals.
They’ll probably notice the handwriting is different, but that’s irrelevant.
I signed it using magical power as “Zilbagias Reiju.”
The night elves should notice it—
And if the code goes through, the merchant “Ixel” will
appear at the inn where Virosa was staying tonight.
—There, I’ll take him out and extract more information.
Even the dead have their secrets.
