Volume 3 Chapter 44 (2/2)
Even though we were not using body strengthening we felt almost no fatigue since we were just walking normally.
Once we reached the end of the pa.s.sage I had Snow get up the stairs and check on the situation outside. She had better nose and ears than humans for being a white wolf. I wanted her to confirm that there was no sign of life on the other side of the door.
Snow touched her thumb with her index finger, and stretched out the other fingers. It was the hand signal for [OK]. It was decided beforehand that once we’re here we won’t talk but instead use hand signals for communication.
I had Snow learn hand signals for that purpose. This was one of those.
I switched places with her and pushed up the door to the hidden pa.s.sage. I temporarily handed the AK-47 over to Snow.
If it’s just opening the door with just pure strength and not body strengthening, then I’m the best one for the job. A loud, heavy grinding sound filled the place.
As the vanguard, I first poked my head out and confirmed the situation with my eyes.
….. no signs of people as far as I could see. The dining room I had become so familiar with until a few months ago spread out before me.
I lifted the door, trying to make as little noise as possible, and infiltrated the castle. I put the cover down and called Snow over. She entered the dining room and handed the AK-47 over.
This time Snow went ahead of me, listening for signs of people across the door. Moving inside the castle, I had Snow take the lead. She’s the best one to work in the dark, using her nose and ears to quickly detect signs of people.
Ojousama and I made a detailed map of the castle, and had Snow memorize it. We decided that I could take over the lead and change the route depending on the situation.
Just in case, I put the fireplace cover back on.
With the [S&W M10 2 inch] she was so familiar with in hand, Snow opened the door to the corridor, looked left and right, and called me over.
The two of us carefully walked the corridor, making almost no sound of footsteps. It was because of the boots I specially made for this day.
In order to keep it from making sounds when I walked, I glued soft monster material to the soles. I inserted a plate made of magic liquid metal to the toe tips so they made good protective shoes. Of course, if we ran with them they would certainly make sounds, but so long as we walked it was quiet. To start with, so long as we’re far away they wouldn’t notice.
We went towards the tower while minding our surroundings. The entrance to the tower where madam was kept is roughly on the opposite side of the castle from where the dining room was.
The tower entrance was located underground. You go one floor down via a stairway inside the castle, go through a door, continue on and there will be another door, if you open that door, go up the tower’s spiral staircase, and open the door at the top, you will reach the VIP room where madam is kept.
It seemed to have originally been a room where they kept royal or elite n.o.blemen as prisoners. The bricks the tower was made of were specially-made, Mages’ a.s.sociation produced anti-magic bricks.
It seems to deflect magic over a certain amount. Because the Mages’ a.s.sociation monopolized its production, it was several times more expensive than regular bricks.
Due to those bricks, it is virtually impossible to attack the tower with magic from the outside and rescue the prisoner inside.
If for instance you wanted to destroy the tower, you need to use large-scale magic that exceeds the capacity of the anti-magic bricks. You’ll need something so powerful it’ll destroy the prisoner inside with it. If your intent was a.s.sa.s.sination that wouldn’t be a problem, but rescue is another matter entirely.
Snow, who went ahead stretched her hand out fully and extended her palm. The signal for ‘Stop’.
She then wrapped her left index finger and thumb around the wrist of her right hand that was holding her revolver, with the other fingers outstretched. The sign for ‘Enemy’. She let go of her wrist and extended 2 fingers. In other words, it looks like there were 2 people on patrol coming our way.
She questioned me with the signal for ‘Battle’. I shook my head.
To let the patrol pa.s.s, we opted to hide under cover while holding our breath. I hid under a desk with a flower vase on it, and Snow hid behind a metal full-body armor.
“…. sheesh, I can’t do this, going on patrol this late.” “Quit complaining. This is your job. It’s fine so long as we get paid.” “Well, getting paid is certainly good, but they’re working us rough.”
A 2-man group appeared as they turned the corner grumbling. Now that they’ve come this far I can hear their conversation with my own ears.
“There there, I’ll take you out for a drink next time, after I get paid. I found a nice place.” “A nice place, huh. A nice place for you is probably someplace you can go gambling.” “Don’t say that. It’s hard if I go there alone. You can drink as much as you like, okay.” “‘It’s hard to go there alone’, what are you, a kid?”
The men pa.s.sed by us, laughing, and turned the next corner. After a short while the painful silence returned and we got out from our hiding places.
“!?”
As Snow got out from her hiding place, her arm lightly knocked the metal armor. That moment the armor’s long battleaxe started to slant, and fell down towards the floor.
I slung the AK-47 to my back and dived! I barely made it and caught the long axe as it was about to fall on the floor and make a loud clang. We let out a sigh in relief.
After putting the axe back in its original stand I lightly pulled on Snow’s ear. She put her hands together in apology.
We got our grips together and continued.
Snow ordered me to stop. We were on a straight path with nothing in it. If we continued down this path, turned right, continued again, and turned left, we would reach the tower’s underground entrance.
Snow called me over so she could talk to my ear instead of using hand signals.
(Lute-kun, this hallway is rigged with a barrier.) (Barrier?) (There’s a magic device you surround your bed with when you make camp in the middle of a trip. When an animal crosses the bounded s.p.a.ce it makes a loud sound only the user can hear to let them know.)
If I’m not mistaken, 3 years ago those fake adventurers also drove some stake-looking things into the ground when we made camp. I recalled a difficult trauma.
But I’m glad I had Snow go ahead to be sure. If there were magic traps there’s no way I would notice.
(You think you can disarm it?) (No problem, but it’ll take some time, is that alright?) (How much time do you need?) (Probably about 5 minutes, I think.) (Fine if it’s that much… Don’t use magic, okay. They’ll notice you.) (I know that of course.)
Snow put down the hammer to her revolver and holstered that favorite gun of hers. In order to disarm the trap she crouched down on a corner of the floor.
There were some stake-looking things put on the left and right walls. Looks like they’re the barrier devices Snow mentioned.
…… 3 minutes into disarming the traps, Snow suddenly stood up. She gripped her right wrist with her left hand, stretching out 2 fingers—The patrols roaming the castle are headed our way!
This is a totally straight hallway, and there’s no room to hide. With the sole exception of a large vase where about 2 children could fit in.
Not having any other choice, we hurriedly hid inside the vase. Though I said 2 children could fit inside, it’s still a vase after all. There was no s.p.a.ce inside, and Snow and I had to hug facing each other.
I could feel the sensation of her grown up soft chest through her vest and cartridges.
No time to fully enjoy the sensation, footsteps and the sound of conversation can be heard even inside the vase.
“Did you really see a person’s shadow?” “Yeah, I trust my eyes. I only caught a glimpse but I definitely saw something move.” “But the magicians and our friends are fortifying the outside, not even a rat should be able to get in. How did they get in here.” “h.e.l.l if I know.”
The two continued their conversation. They seem to be on guard from surprise attacks because they saw something. But they couldn’t find any shadow anywhere.
“…. Looks like you’re seeing things after all.” “But I’m pretty sure I saw a shadow moving.”
“It looks like we’re going to get through this safely.” I unintentionally let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, my eyes met with Snow’s while we were still hugging each other. Her pink lips were there right before my eyes. There was the sweet scent of her breaths, and her pearl-white teeth. Because of her excessive charms, I unintentionally drew my head back to take some distance.
*clunk*–
“Who goes there!” [[!?]]
I had misjudged the distance and the back of my head hit the vase, making a light sound! Of course, the patrol duo noticed and called out. Snow’s blameful gaze is painful.
They faced towards the direction of the sound–the vase and raised their voices.
“Oi, is there somebody in there?”
There were the sound of footsteps coming close.
Snow asked with her eyes, [Are we going for it now?] However, the tower entrance is still quite a long way off. Still, we’re definitely going to be found as we are. I guess it’s sink or swim now…?
The footsteps were coming even closer.
“Squeak” “Uwaa! What the… it’s a rat?”
It seems that a rat appeared from behind the vase and scurried away. The tension between the two men loosened.
“Looks like you saw a rat’s shadow. Never thought your eyes would be too good, eh.” “Hahaha, that’s for sure. But the higher-ups told us not to let even a rat pa.s.s through. This means we’re doing our jobs right, huh?” “Right.”
The men laughed as they resumed their patrols. Snow and I each let out a sigh of relief simultaneously.
I never thought I’d really be owing favor to a rat. Thanks to it I was able to keep my head.
After confirming they had taken their distance from us, Snow signalled that it was okay to come out. We vacated the vase, taking care not to make any sound.
This time, Snow returned the favor and pulled my ear. I pressed my hands together in apology, like she did a while ago. Then, Snow once again went to work disarming the barrier.
The barrier was disarmed after about 3 minutes from when she resumed work on it. Due to it being a cheap item, it’s structure was rather simple, and it wasn’t too difficult to render it inoperable. We’re lucky they’re not ones intended for indoor security.
We gathered back our spirit and went for the tower entrance. We turned right, went straight, and there was a door to our left.
Snow stopped to a halt. She told me with a hand signal that there were 2 people from their scents, men, probably carrying magic-boosting staves. She was able to judge all that from the scent of the special wood.
I signalled her back that we’re going to break in here at once. Snow will handle the guard on the left, I will handle the one on the right.
As we had decided beforehand, we were to go all out with our magic and run up the tower in one stroke. It was a race against time.
Snow gripped her beloved gun tightly. I also made sure of my grip on the stock of my AK-47, and counted down with my left hand.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1–
“Go!” “!?”
We immediately gave our bodies an a.s.sist with body strengthening. We jumped out from the cover of the corridor and aimed the AK-47 and revolver at our respective targets.
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