Chapter 44 Part4 (1/2)
<chapter 44.=”” bayran=”” infiltration=”” -=”” 4=””>
Prince groaned as she attempted to set up the tent, but was unable to, so Kratia came over to help. While they were at it, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo started cooking dinner. He took out fresh vegetables and meat from his inventory, and even had rice, which was all hard to acquire, even from the secret shop. Seeing that, Prince's eyes popped out.
”Where did you get that!? Did you go to the surface or something?”
”I obviously bought it from the secret shop.”
Of course he'd brought it from the surface. He had stored the Lawrence shop's best products in his inventory, but he'd never have guessed that she'd figure it out on her first try! Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was shocked by her insight and somehow gave her the slip, but it unfortunately had the opposite effect.
”Liar. I've never seen such juicy meat before... What kind of meat is this? No, the meat's one thing, but I've never seen this grain in the secret shop before! I've never seen these spices before either!”
”s.h.i.+n Woo, you know how to cook too?”
”Yeah, I know camp cooking. Wait and see. You'll love it.”
While Lee s.h.i.+n Woo prepared a fire and the food, Prince and Kratia hung around him, fiddling with the meat's bone or chewing on the uncooked rice rather than setting up the tent. It seemed like they couldn't believe how good the ingredients were. Then, Retadane, who had been diligently studying the maps, silently said.
”Saving the best products and giving them to her favorites is just like her.”
”What!? Junior, are you and that terrifying shopkeeper...”
”Senior, this is all money. You can buy the shopkeeper's affection with money.”
”Affection!? As I thought, you...!”
”Ah, this senior's a real pain in the a.s.s.”
The dinner menu consisted of a stew that consisted of meat, veggies, and wine. He'd also used the meat's fat to fry off some Arancini as well.
The stew and the rice were finished at the same time. He added in the leftover veggies, meat, and cheese from his inventory, and then crushed the bread into a fine powder. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo coated the mixture and fried it off. If he were to add a hot ragu sauce, it'd be perfect.
”This really is a man's cooking...”
”That's what I said. Please make do with this ready-made sauce.”
”I've never seen this 'ready-made' sauce before. Mm, it's delicious!”
Prince grabbed the Arancini with both hands and downed them, throwing all etiquette away with the wind. Kratia didn't really like eating, but it seemed like she was satisfied with the taste, and Retadane was surprisingly a glutton.
Her face was as icy as ever, but he could tell that she was satisfied with the meal based on how much she ate.
”Thank you for the fine meal. It's not nearly enough in return, but I'll brew us some tea.”
”Thank you. How's it going...?”
”I keep looking at the maps, but it's hard. It may be impossible to find a route without any danger.”
”When I'm finished cleaning, I'll come and help you.”
Once they were finished doing the dishes and preparing camp, the four gathered around and put all their attention into finding the safest route. They were shocked by how large Bayran was, and they were just as surprised to find that the Empire had laid magic traps all over the city.
”Why did they have to go this far...? Wasn't this a city designed for spirits?”
”...This... It seems to operate by drawing magic from the city's inhabitants. There must've been another reason.”
”Probably. Last I saw her, the princess was really tired, and she seemed to be hesitating about something. Perhaps another project was underway at the same time as the Spirits' Spring project.”
”The Spirits' Spring Project...”
The party studied the maps and conversed; in the middle of that, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo dwelled on the word 'Spirits' Spring'. At first, he'd thought they were modeling it after the Spirits' Spring on the surface, but there was a chance that it was something else entirely.
Especially because Bayran was covered by a type of mana he was quite familiar with... spatial mana. It was even more likely if the Archmage, Feotane Von Seldin, was involved with the city.
'Well, I guess I'll find out when I get inside. And so long as the Archmage himself doesn't appear, I have nothing to worry about.'
He was able to get Retadane's help, so the current situation was a lot better than he'd antic.i.p.ated.
They were beginning to decipher the contents of the maps and Lee s.h.i.+n Woo relayed these details to the faraway Chi Paul through his a.s.similation skill and his darkness element induced telepathy, and nodded his head. The sight of the Empire's darkness covering Bayran made him feel like a demon would pop out.
”In other words, they're on my stage...”
”What did you just say, Junior?”
”Nothing. I'm just excited as to how strong our enemies will be.”
With Retadane's memories and the four maps, as well as Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's insight, they were able to complete the map by tomorrow morning.
”If we go through this route, then... we should be able to avoid critical danger.”
”Even if we can deal with the magical traps, we can't deal with all the physical ones. If we're unlucky, then... we may end up with normal critical injuries.”
”I don't think critical injuries are normal in any way...!”
”There are also critical, critical injuries.”
”!?”
The four heroes (+Jin) had finished off yesterday's stew, steeled themselves, and set off on their designated route. Fortunately, there was no threat of danger along the way, but the closer they got to the city's walls, the more shocked they were by the scale of the city.
”What a huge moat.”
”It must be hard for humans to manage. To my knowledge, it was cared for with the help of water spirits, but... I'm not sure how it is anymore.”
[Kyahaaaaaah!]
Once Retadane was finished talking, they heard a shriek from the center of the moat, which was wide enough to be a lake. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo could see the spirits coming up from underneath the water.