We kept our distance from Farris and Zaimon, using Lynel to turn invisible and Najira to hide our magic power as we followed them.
“Shouldn’t we get a little closer?” Misa asked through Leaks.
“Lynel and Najira are both weaker here than they are in Militia’s World. I tried to adjust the spell formula, but it resulted in a time limit.”
The Lynel and Najira I’d used while clinging to Baltzarond’s ship had naturally weakened because of that. The best way to prevent it from happening was casting it twice, but doing so would shorten the spell time more and more with subsequent castings. Eventually, the spell would end before activating.
It was more realistic to end the spell, wait three seconds, and use it again. For that, it was best that we kept some distance.
“There’s many people around. They shouldn’t be able to detect us at this distance. That is, unless they’re more skilled than I am.”
We put ourselves at over twice the range of Shin’s ability to detect them, just in case Zaimon had better detection senses.
“Is it even possible for anyone to have sharper senses than father?” Misa wondered in disbelief.
“This isn’t Militia’s World, so anything goes,” Shin replied with a shrewd look. “The weight of the air, the reverberation of footsteps, the sharpness of the wind—all of it is different. That includes how people can be detected. Unfortunately, as we’ve only lived on a shallow-level world until now, it’d be best to assume the other side has the advantage.”
Shin stopped walking. Seeing that, I stopped too.
“Is that Zaimon person stronger than you, father?”
“It takes more than a difference in sword to break the Ruinflow Sword in one blow. At the very least, he has more physical strength, speed, and magic than me right now. Even for a deep-world resident, he must be considered a powerful being.”
Those who lived in harsher environments naturally ended up becoming stronger. It only made sense for residents of deep-level worlds to have more magic than Shin.
“So they’re really strong...”
“Misa. The strongest is the one who remains standing until the end,” Shin replied to his daughter. “Let’s go.”
Zaimon and Farris had left the palace of Pablohetra, so Shin resumed walking. We walked down streets with unfamiliar buildings, being careful not to bump into any other people out and about.
Eventually, the two stopped before a gate. Beyond it was a garden, with a rustic castle in the distance. For a castle placed in the middle of a city, it was far too formal and imposing, more of a fort than a castle, an obelisk constructed to demarcate the front line of a warzone. Ottolulu had said that all schools had lodgings within the palace, yet it seemed the Tigrisfort Academy had chosen to build their castle outside the palace grounds.
“Stop. I’m going to end Lynel and Najira here,” I said, cutting off the spells.
Just then, as Zaimon was about to enter the gate, he paused. He turned around and scanned the surroundings with his Magic Eyes.
“Is something the matter?” Farris asked.
“I felt a strange fluctuation in magic.”
“That doesn’t sound beautiful.”
“It was probably just my imagination, but Balandias has many enemies. Stay on guard. You may be able to see something with your Eyes.”
“I will be careful.” Farris opened the iron fence of the gate. “Come to think of it, what did you think about Shin?”
“What do you mean?”
“You were trying to size him up from the start, no? You knew Balandias had nothing to gain from attacking the ruler of that world on the spot.”
Zaimon laughed.
“There’s no fooling your Eyes.” He walked through the gate. “For someone from the shallows, he was strong. I would still win against him in a duel, but he probably has a trick or two up his sleeves. If I were to face him, I’d have to take care to defeat him for good.”
“A typical judgment coming from you.”
“How would you fight him?” Zaimon asked.
Farris thought for a moment. “Like a cloud, like the wind, like the waves. His sword is like nature, so be careful not to be captivated by it.”
“Cryptic as ever. I’m asking how you would fight him.”
Zaimon and Farris entered the castle together.
“Phew... It worked out somehow,” Misa said, sighing from where she hid in the shadows.
I cast Lynel and Najira on us once again before walking up to the gate. I looked inside at the state of the castle.
“Hmm. Every inch of the grounds past the gate is being observed by Magic Eyes. Not even an ant can move here without being detected.”
It was excessively heavy security, but it was probably because of how many enemies Kaltinas had.
“What should we do? If there are Eyes watching the whole place, we’ll be spotted the moment the spell ends...”
“It just means I was right to bring you along.”
Misa tilted her head, then gasped in realization. “Were you thinking of spirit magic? Specifically Gennul’s.”
“Since there are Magic Eyes on the whole place, that would be perfect.”
She nodded and raised her hands over her head. Darkness wrapped around her entire body before she flicked it away with a wave of her hand. Unlike how this normally went, this time there was no lightning—she was probably trying to stay quiet. A spirit in a midnight black dress with six wings then appeared. She swept her long hair back elegantly and used Najira while drawing a magic circle over us.
“Titegenne.”
Two glittering feathers appeared over our chests, folded together. One was the feather of a fairy, and the other was the feather of the Wolf of Hiding.
“I fused the powers of Gennul and titi together. We should be able to pass through any tiny crack like this.”
It was a fusion of spirit magic with spirit magic. In essence, a simple version of Alha Alfrem.
“You’re becoming more similar to Reno.”
“Father. There’s a time and place for everything.”
Despite her words, Misa looked pleased.
“There’s no guarantee they’re relying on Magic Eyes alone to spot intruders. We’ll proceed with Titegenne as well as with my concealment magic,” I said.
Misa had the power to cast both as the fake Demon King, but it was safer to stick to a single role each.
“Let’s go.”
I took a step towards the gate. My body transformed into mist, passing through the iron bars. The moment we entered the range of their Magic Eyes, Gennul’s power activated, turning us into spirits of hiding that couldn’t be observed.
“It seems there’s a time limit on Titegenne too...” Misa mumbled.
“We shouldn’t stay for long then.”
We walked through the garden and stood before the doors of the castle. I gave Shin a look, and he nodded. He couldn’t sense anyone nearby.
Since we were on Balandias grounds, I couldn’t see well with my Eyes. We’d have no choice but to guess where we were going. We slipped through the crack in the front door of the castle and arrived at a large lobby. There was a staircase at the back leading up to a hall with various corridors leading in different directions.
“He went up,” I said.
“How can you tell?” Misa asked.
“He’s always liked the view from high places.”
We had no other clues hinting at where Farris might have gone. Instead of searching through every room, it was better to guess where he could have gone based on past information. We climbed the stairs and carefully aimed for the top floor. After walking for a while, we heard footsteps, indicating that there were at least a few people nearby. Their conversation became audible as they approached our position.
“Gather all the castle lords. A Silverwater Ranking Skirmish with the Demon King Academy of Militia’s World has been decided for tomorrow.”
“A miniature world with no nickname? Do they have any traits?”
“No clue. But according to Ottolulu’s investigations, they’re practically the same as an ephemeral world. The ruler’s name is Anos, and he’s a misfit. The others are probably all misfits too.”
Students in the Tigrisfort Academy uniform were coming down the stairs.