Navigating through the Holy-See’s ground floor was quite easy for Shaily, as she knew the layout well, and had the Shadow sprites to scout ahead and make sure no one could surprise her.
She made it to the cloistered garden without too much effort.
The sun should be rising soon, I need to go fast if I don’t want to be seen…
Another [Summon Self] cast and she found herself landing on her bed. She looked at the door, hearing no movement from the guards’ room next door.
It looks like they didn’t hear that. I should be thankful that these guys don’t really care about the job.
Almost out.
Shaily walked up to the large windows.
Pareth was waiting at the bottom of the cliff, some six hundred meters below, he had been there for a few days already, playing dead.
It’s time, come up.
With his Blessing of the weightless, the skeleton slowly floated all the way up until he stopped a few meters below the church. Shaily was incredibly tense during these few moments despite her current escape attempt still going undetected as of now.
[Dispel mist] created a hole in the anti-teleportation barrier surrounding the Holy-See, and Shaily summoned herself through the window.
She fell down until Pareth caught her. But contrary to her hopes that he would be able to float while carrying her, they were quickly plummeting toward the ground, which was a corner of the cultivated fields surrounding the nearby human city.
That’s an S rank blessing?!
As they were approaching the ground at a dangerous speed, Shaily had to make a fast decision.
Let me go!
Pareth let go of Shaily, and she kept falling while his blessing finally slowed his fall again.
This is gonna hurt.
In the air, Shaily curled up into a ball, then, right before hitting the ground, she activated [Maiden bolt]. She hit the ground like a meteor, but miraculously, thanks to the spell’s temporary impact resistance and the relatively soft muddy ground, she was only mildly hurt.
Ugh.
I better save my mana.
Getting a healing potion out of her newly-acquired storage ring, Shaily got her health back to full, and tried to quickly clean her dirty clothes from the mud as much as she could.
Pareth landed next to her without a sound.
[Trial completion : Escape the Holy-See (Incomplete)]
[Additional rewards task : Defeat a Siren-Queen (Incomplete)]
Still incomplete?
Really?
Do I need to get further away or something like that?
Well, I need to go hunt a Siren either way…
I should go before they notice I’m gone…
Shaily looked at Pareth, she had always thought that Sofia was sending him to her storage ring when he disappeared, but now she wondered if he was not just going into the bone armor’s storage.
She emptied a few bones to make space, then tried storing Pareth.
That actually works?
She took Pareth out to see if he was alright, and he seemed perfectly fine.
That’s one issue taken care of, then.
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Shaily ran to the human city a bit further up the mountain. Under the cover of darkness, she walked up to the outer walls, invoked some [Dispel mist] to disable the potential alarms and anti-teleportation rituals that were likely to be running through the walls, and summoned herself through the thick layers of stone.
Getting there.
I don’t see any guards from here… According to what I saw from above, this should be one of the poorer districts.
Now… Do I try to sell the Saint item or the potions?
In both cases I will look suspicious with how I’m dressed… I can summon the bone armor but that’s even more suspicious, isn’t it?
Though I guess if it’s around the adventurers' guild, it might be fine. I should look around for the artisan alleys. Even if it’s a human city it should still have one, right?
Shaily quietly walked through the sleeping city until morning, being careful not to cross paths with any guard patrol. Avoiding them was surprisingly easy as it seemed most of them were level forty to fifty at best, a far shot from the average exidian guards, who were all people who had at least gone through the first trial.
I suppose it makes sense considering how weak the wildlife is around here. It was hard to even get Pareth to level twenty.
The life of the human farmers must be pretty peaceful.
Finally, around sunrise, the shops started to open, and Shaily activated the bone armor before entering the small shop of an apothecary, which was in an alley with multiple smithies and other such warfare-oriented craftsmen.
To her surprise, the shop owner was actually a summoned Hero.
[Hero - Lv. 8]
That almost made Shaily turn back, but considering the woman was only level 8, it was unlikely that she was a danger in any way even if she had contacts with the church.
The short green-haired human lady busy organizing herbs on a tall shelf yelped in fright when the tall armored adventurer entered her shop, but seeing no drawn weapons, she quickly switched gears.
“S- Sorry, you surprised me, what may I do for you?” she asked, quickly moving behind the shop’s counter.
“I am the one who should apologize, I’ve had no time to take off my armor… Erm, anyway, do you buy potions? I have a surplus of Sieva Extract,” Shaily explained, ten flasks of red liquid appearing on the counter, further startling the short apothecary.
The apothecary nodded, glancing at the red flasks on her counter, “Healing potions are always in high demand. I can buy them for eighty silver a vial, if they are genuine. Do you mind if I check them?”
“Go ahead.”
The apothecary grabbed one of the flasks, bringing it close to her close to her face, she inspected the label.
“Anton S. ?” she read out loud, “Did you get these from the church?” she asked, recognizing the name of the fellow apothecary who had crafted these potions.
Shaily started working up a sweat inside of the armor, but thankfully the helmet hid her anxious face, and she quickly made up a convenient lie.
“I occasionally run errands for the high-priests and I often receive part of my pay in potions.”
“Errands?” the apothecary repeated, her eyes still focused on the potion, “Well, I shouldn’t pry into the church’s affairs… Are you selling all of these?”
“Yes.”
“Hmm… This is a big transaction, so I need to verify that these are all genuine, I hope you don’t mind,” the human apothecary explained, which Shaily answered with a nod.
The apothecary opened a flask, smelled the contents, nodding to herself, then she grabbed a small glass flask-looking thing, which she used to extract a single drop of the potion. Then, to Shaily’s surprise, the meek-looking level 8 Apothecary grabbed a short herb knife from her counter, pulled back her left sleeve, revealing an arm covered in scars and bruises, and stabbed her own arm without as much as a pained noise. Red blood started flowing on the floor of the small shop.
What the hell!
Shaily lost for words as she watched the Apothecary smile to herself after using the drop of potion on her new wound and watching it close up with a sizzling sound.
You… You didn’t have to…
The apothecary’s next words shook Shaily even more.
“This one is good,” the small lady told her with a bright smile, before opening a second flask.
She stabbed her arm again.
It’s not just Sofia. Humans are all crazy!!!
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Adding the eight gold coins from the potions to the twenty-two she had found in the magisterium’s ring, Shaily was sitting on comfortable starting funds. In a single morning, she bought two sets of good quality clean clothes, information on where to find a Siren Queen from the local adventurers’ guild, and enough food rations to fill all the empty space in her storage. The magisterium already had a waterstone and a lightstone in his possession, so these were taken care of. With twenty-three gold coins left in her possession, she quickly stopped at an inn to clean herself before going asking around about the Vasperian embassy.
She was in for a surprise when a familiar person welcomed her inside.
S- Senior Agran?!
What is he doing here?
“Welcome to the Vasperian embassy, young lady; what brings you here?” the pale vampire politely asked.
Ah! Ah! Right, he doesn't know me.
“Hello, I am seeking a space mage to send me to Vasperia.”
Agran looked intrigued at the request, “Is that so,” he answered, fiddling with his curved mustache. Shaily nodded and maintained eye contact afterward, trying to appear calm and confident. The old Vampire was assessing her and whether he was to accept her request, she knew that he was that kind of person, after all, she had already been his and Cardinal’s subordinate for almost three months. “The fee is twenty gold,” he finally said, “You will need to answer a few questions first. Follow me.”
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