Chapter 596 – Infiltration into the Abandoned Capital

“That castle—it appears to have been repaired by the demons’ hands. While the castle itself shows no damage, the outer wall sections surrounding the capital remain destroyed and untouched. That material over there probably isn’t the original building material used for the castle either.”

“…It would seem so.”

When I said this, Old Sigmund shook his head.

The outer walls that should have once surrounded and protected Beriondora’s capital lay abandoned, covered in snow and collapsed in various places, telling the tale of how fierce the battle with the demons had been.

Here and there, pale stone material peeked through gaps in the snow and ice, so it was possible similar stone had been used for the castle as well.

While slowing the Sirius’s speed, we gradually closed the distance. I wanted to get a bit closer. Even when using the monitor’s telescope function to observe from outside, the current distance was somewhat too far.

“Something magical seems to be affecting the area around the castle. The snow has melted,” Grace said.

“You’re right. Must be a Water Magic or Fire Magic spell formula.”

The snow had melted, revealing glimpses of the capital’s former ruins and rubble.

Seeing how the snow and ice had been cleared in a circular pattern from the castle grounds to the surrounding area, it was clearly under the effect of a spell formula to maintain temperature.

“Hmm. Something—there are many of them.”

Sheila pointed at the monitor, her voice tinged with caution.

As the distance closed, they became visible. Life Detection must have caught them within its range too, as it showed reactions. Multiple dots of life responses flickered around the castle.

Shadows flying around the main street connecting to the castle, the castle’s perimeter, and the black spire.

Monsters. Armor Lizards—monsters resembling lizardmen born with hard scales.

I’ve heard they’re aggressive, nimble, and possess sturdy bodies… but they’re not supposed to be in this northern region. They were marching in formation through the snow-melted rubble-filled streets—along the main avenue. Whether it was guard duty or training was unclear.

And that wasn’t all. Grand Trolls wielding clubs were patrolling around the castle perimeter. Flying around the spire were Shadow Ravens, crow-like humanoid monsters.

Various other monsters were deployed around the castle and its surroundings. Considering they were likely inside the castle too, it would amount to a small army.

However, these weren’t monsters adapted to cold regions. Thinking about it, they weren’t even species with temperaments that could be trained to perform guard movements like that…

“Perhaps the castle’s… Moon Folk relics are creating and controlling those fellows. But if they’re deployed inside the castle in that same manner, both the quality and scale exceed my predictions,” Claudia said.

It was said that since it differed from the magical power gathered by labyrinths, their resources would be limited.

I couldn’t say exactly how the balance of scale and quality measured up, but it seemed to exceed Claudia’s predicted range.

A mass outbreak…? If they lowered the monsters’ quality, could they create swarms large enough to be called that within the BFO?

“There might be some other mechanism at play too.”

“Indeed, there are aspects that don’t seem like the enemy’s hand… but if I had to say anything now, it would be that those monsters aren’t for guard duty. Since they’re unsuited for the location, we should view them as troops for launching attacks,” Rosemary declared, closing her feather fan.

Ashley tilted her head. “Is melting the snow around the castle to improve the environment also for those kinds of monsters?”

“That’s likely part of it.”

“Then it must be in preparation for battle with Verdgar.”

When Rosemary nodded at Ashley’s words, Elliot spoke up. Yes, that made sense. Those monsters are for offense. Melting the snow is probably to keep them on standby until needed.

“That’s about all we can tell from the outside.”

“No. There’s still something I want to check. I’d like to see that castle directly from the deck.”

Saying this, I left the bridge and headed for the deck. Everyone followed.

Using Light Magic, I created a telescopic lens and viewed the black castle through my monocle rather than through the monitor.

And—I confirmed one thing that had been bothering me. That black building material… as expected, it didn’t seem normal.

“The black building material itself carries strange magical power. Because of that, the castle itself is enveloped in magic, making it impossible to see inside with Life Detection.”

It would have been easier if we could see the life responses inside. I thought it was strange when the responses of monsters hidden in the castle’s shadow disappeared.

“How troublesome…” Princess Stephania frowned.

“It’s not all bad news,” I said. “Places covered in such dense magical power become quite difficult to detect through magical flow. In other words, even if we send in Seekers, the worry of them being discovered through magical response detection is greatly reduced.”

Even Halvaronis’s concealment technique has time limits. If we can send Seekers without using it, our possible infiltration time extends, and discovery becomes less likely.

“Claudia. Anything else we can tell from outside?”

“At this point… it’s hard to say.”

Claudia closed her eyes.

Yeah, that’s right. Even if we transmit the information we’ve gathered so far to Verdgar and others via communication device…

“Then we proceed as planned, I suppose?” Princess Adriana asked.

“Yes. We’ll contact them via communication device as planned, advance through the underground, and send in the Seekers.”

“—How about it?”

When Princess Elham attached the bracelet—modified from the ring we received from the elders—to Corulis’s arm, the magic stone in its setting glowed faintly purple. A similar reaction to the rings we wore.

“It seems to be working fine.”

We had stretched out the ring portion and further reinforced it with processing. Protected by structural reinforcement magic, it was sturdy, and we had spares. A magic tool for Corulis.

Now then. Going forward through the underground would be me and the usual party members, plus Corulis. And Princess Stephania to facilitate communication with Corulis. We’re leaving Caduceus behind to monitor the Sirius’s movements.

The Demon-Slaying Knight Order would primarily provide rear support due to insufficient rings. Forset and Sion’s group would also remain in the rear. Forset has the role of maintaining the concealment technique, and since Sion’s group has sharp senses, they should be able to notify us if there’s any strange movement in the above-ground areas.

We’ll have Alpha wait in the back. We need her to standby on the Sirius.

“If we detect any signs that our movements have been noticed above ground, we’ll perform a diversion,” Elliot confirmed the plan.

“Yes. Thank you.”

Even if it’s a diversion, it’s not for combat purposes. The Sirius and the Demon-Slaying Knight Order would simply show themselves. In that case, the plan is to fire Great Magic from underground at whatever enemy took the bait or at the castle itself, conduct sabotage, and then quickly retreat.

At the very least, they don’t seem particularly concerned with repairing the outer walls themselves or maintaining guard patrols. No life responses or magical responses detected.

We moved the Sirius to hide in the shadow of the northern outer wall, and from there, descended onto Beriondora’s land with everyone participating in the infiltration mission.

When I used Water Magic to lift the snow and ice, Corulis began digging through the ground from there. Using the claws on both hands, it cleared away soil like it was tofu.

Elmer of the Demon-Slaying Knight Order used Water Magic to cover the dug-up soil with snow, making it less conspicuous.

“Well then, we’re off.”

“Indeed. Be careful.”

“We’ll do our best too, Theodore-sama.”

Seen off from the deck by the rear support group, we followed behind Corulis. We launched magical lights to ensure visibility in the darkness.

Using Earth Magic, we sent the soil Corulis dug up behind us, solidifying the ceiling sections to prevent collapse as we steadily advanced forward. We maintained sufficient depth to avoid detection from above ground.

No sound or vibrations. Seraphina was eliminating them. Because of that, it was very quiet. Whether from tension or to avoid detection, everyone remained as silent as possible.

As for Corulis… it occasionally twitched its nose, advancing while staying alert to the surroundings. We couldn’t completely rule out the possibility of monsters in the soil or demons with special abilities on guard duty. If that happened, our only option would be to deploy the Seekers without being noticed and retreat.

Nothing particularly unusual in Caduceus’s field of view either. No changes in Beriondora’s castle visible on the monitor, nor in the patrolling monsters. No enemy presence behind the Sirius—or in the surrounding area. The Demon-Slaying Knight Order members were closely watching their respective monitors.

We had Caduceus transform into a topographic map, reflecting our current progress position, making the current situation easier to understand for everyone watching with bated breath on the bridge. And so—we reached right up close to the castle amidst the tension.

“Seeker One.”

“Understood.”

Claudia, Marlene, and Princess Stephania were carrying the three Seekers. When Claudia embedded a Seeker into the soil of the ceiling section, it burrowed into the ground as if scratching through… heading toward the surface area. They said they could disguise themselves by covering themselves with surrounding soil and stones, but the Seekers were also capable of moving in a way that assimilated with the ground surface. Naturally, if the building material was stone, they could move while burrowing into it too… but what about that castle?

If the interior also used that black building material, it would be quite troublesome.

We relayed this to the bridge side as well. The monitor for Seeker One, controlled by Princess Adriana, activated—and we could see the Seeker just barely peeking its face above ground.

Now then. I’d like to continue forward and send Seekers Two and Three directly into the castle. Corulis dug further ahead.

And just as we were about to reach directly beneath the castle—that’s when it happened. Corulis backed up slightly, lightly shaking its fingertips. Not waving, but more like it had unexpectedly hit something and was in pain.

“Seems it hit something hard. There’s something it can’t dig through,” Princess Stephania said.

Something it can’t dig through, huh.

We exchanged looks.

“Corulis. Could you let me take the lead?”

When I said this, Corulis nodded slightly and yielded the front position.

Using Earth Magic, I cleared away the soil ahead across a wide area. And what appeared from beneath it was—

“This is…”

A metal glowing in dark silver with a smooth texture. Different from the black castle above ground.

Across the surface of the unidentified metal, magical power lines occasionally ran through, glowing green.

“…Really, it’s always the bad predictions that come true.”

Claudia shook her head in disgust. Then she said:

“While it’s on a completely different scale from the labyrinth’s, this is one of the Moon Ships.”