The security at Kyndrill Palace was super tight. Not only were there troops all over the ground, but they even had airships patrolling above the buildings.
But these human soldiers weren't much of a threat to me and Adrian anymore. We could easily trick them just by using invisibility skills and some flying moves.
"But now the problem is, how do we find Reider?"
Nicola was right - the palace layout was super complicated. The whole palace was very quiet. Except for some patrol guards, we couldn't see anyone else around. But since we couldn't sense enemies from far away, even though we managed to sneak inside, we were like blind people trying to figure out what an elephant looks like - totally lost.
Never mind all those winding paths between different buildings, almost every building was about the same size, with passages connecting to each other inside. We couldn't tell which way led where! In this situation, we didn't even know what most rooms were for, let alone find our target!
"Eh? She's actually nearby?"
While we couldn't find Reider anywhere, the light elements coming from angels was very eye-catching. Earlier we were so far behind Nicola, I thought she'd already charged in. But surprisingly, she was doing the same as us - quietly crouching outside a second-floor window.
"Shh... better keep it down, or that Reider might run away!"
When she saw us appear and fly down beside her, Nicola quickly put her finger to her lips to warn us. Seeing her act like this, I got excited and whispered:
"Is Reider hiding in this room?"
We'd been searching everywhere with no luck, but Nicola had found him by herself! Though this room didn't look special at all - it seemed like just a place for servants to rest, not somewhere an empire's emperor would stay. Plus, after watching for a while, it was totally dark inside - basically nobody was there!
"It's not that simple. I just used my foresight and found there's some secret passage in this room! But now that he's here, the future is becoming uncertain with many possibilities. We'll have to see how things go!"
Nicola turned her head slightly to look at Adrian beside me, seeming unsatisfied. But I didn't really understand what she was saying, so I had to ask:
"Wait! What secret passage? If you already knew about it, why are you waiting outside instead of going in? And what's this got to do with Adrian?"
"You're so slow, aren't you very sensitive to time stuff..."
Nicola seemed annoyed again, but she still explained the situation to us.
Basically, when she was flying nearby, she accidentally foresaw a royal guard secretly coming to this room alone and opening a secret door using some kind of authentication. Since there was only one possible future without Fate Breaker's interference, following that timeline, she could foresee herself going through the secret door behind the passage, following the guard to another place, and successfully finding Reider there!
Unfortunately, for some reason, the other party already knew that outsiders had invaded the secret passage, and was just about to escape. At this point, Nicola, who was planning to chase, got blocked by a huge man and a strange girl. As for what would happen next, because Nicola's foresight ability started showing many different possible branches from that point on, she couldn't really tell how things would develop.
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"From what you're saying, could it be that I was nearby when you got blocked and saw what happened? Or maybe there's another Fate Breaker who's been by the emperor's side all along?"
Adrian couldn't help analyzing. Truth is, Fate Breakers should be very rare and hard to find. But the empire's emperor was no ordinary person - having one or two hidden nearby hoping to change an unchangeable future wasn't completely impossible. But hearing Nicola's words, I somehow had a bad feeling too. Maybe assassinating Reider wouldn't be as easy as we thought.
"Careful, someone's coming!"
Just then, we heard footsteps coming from the wooden corridor on the other side of the room. Nicola perked up - this was almost exactly like what she'd foreseen. She quickly signaled us to stop talking.
In theory, what should happen next was the royal guard walking in alone and opening the secret door leading to where Reider was hiding, but suddenly something unexpected happened...
"Vice Captain, bad news! We just got reports from nearby patrol that they spotted a black shadow passing over the palace! Since the whole capital is under a protective shield, it can't be natural birds, and plus the city guard reported losing contact with some soldiers, so they strongly suspect enemies have infiltrated the palace. Please hurry to meet with the Captain to begin search!"
Another imperial soldier, who sounded like a messenger, suddenly came running after him, explaining urgently. Then the Vice Captain, who was about to enter the room, abandoned his original plan and hurriedly left with the messenger.
"This... is quite different from what you said before!"
I was stunned, and felt worried too. Could it be that earlier when Adrian and I carelessly showed ourselves and flew down, we were spotted by patrols on the ground?
"Isn't this all because of you two!"
Nicola glared at me and Adrian hard, but didn't dwell on it. She flipped through the window straight into the room that had been empty all this time.
Right now all the palace guards must have increased their alertness - staying outside too long might get us discovered! The room that Vice Captain left would definitely be safer than outside.
Adrian and I jumped in without hesitation. Looking around, the room's furnishings were very ordinary, clearly just officers's rest quarters, even having a two-room layout with a living room and bedroom. As for all the furniture and decorations, they were spotless, showing that someone used them often - maybe even that Vice Captain just now!
"The secret entrance should be here!"
Nicola went straight to the bedroom, opened a cabinet there, and pointed inside. From her attitude, I suddenly understood - this girl probably wasn't going to wait anymore, she was ready to force her way in!
"Wait, didn't you mention before? That soldier had to use some kind of authentication to enter the secret passage behind the door. I think this might be some kind of magical device, maybe even connected to the whole palace's alert system! If we mess around here, won't we risk alerting everyone!"
Adrian saw things weren't good and quickly ran over to block her, kindly reminding her.
"Like I need you to tell me that - you think I'm the kind of person who wouldn't think of this?"
Of course, with Nicola's personality, she definitely wouldn't be scared off. She very disdainfully pushed aside his blockade, gently moved away the clothes used as cover, and revealed the solid wall behind the cabinet.
"Strange, where is the mechanism? I only remember that soldier seemed to make some gestures on the wall with his hand, then said some weird words, and the door opened by itself... but I couldn't see exactly what movements..."
Since Nicola had watched everything from hiding in her vision, she still wasn't very clear about many details of opening the door. But this seemed to be within her expected range, and didn't really trouble her.
"Oh right, you just said there might be an alert system connected to the whole palace. So if the entire door including the device suddenly disappeared, would this alarm still trigger?"
She seemed to think of something and turned around to follow up on what Adrian said earlier, asking with interest.
"Huh? Probably nothing would happen... right?"
Even Adrian with his broad knowledge was stumped by this question. Hearing her ask like this, he of course understood what Nicola wanted to do next, and quickly added:
"Of course if the device is set up somewhere else besides the main door, it might not be alerted in this situation!"
"No doubt this time we have to take a gamble, but I'm completely confident we won't run into the situation you mentioned!"
Obviously Nicola must have discovered some clues from the many chaotic future visions. She turned to me very confidently and signaled:
"Now it's time for your reality-changing ability to shine - hurry up and make this wall disappear!"