Every city has its own secret passages, used during special times to provide escape routes for important figures. These routes always wind through the mountains... Making it harder for the 'enemy' to spot them.
By the time Sean and Freya officially landed in the city, it was nearly dusk. In his vision, [Daytime: Clear, 0:30:30] showed only thirty minutes left before nightfall. Almost at the very end, the surroundings were pitch black.
The airship landed, and Freya handed the wages to the foreman who had worked hard over the past two days... "Take this. You can head back tomorrow. I might find another airship for the rest of the journey." "Yes... understood, my lady." Throughout the trip, the foreman had been nothing but respectful, not daring to slack off. Even if he didn't know their identities, he had followed them from Koga City and witnessed the grand farewell from those nobles... He didn't say it, but that didn't mean he didn't know.
"Let's go, Sean."
The two descended from the airship platform, weaving through the crowd toward sparser areas. Freya pulled up the hood of her cloak to half-cover her face, but her red attire was like a blazing flame in the night, impossible to hide.
"Everyone's staring at us!"
Sean's vision kept flashing with notifications... This time, he finally noticed how his attention alerts stacked—directly showing [Being Watched...] x10 at the end. Did that mean ten people were looking at him? He glanced around...
The airship docked at a secluded corner of this fortress city, surrounded almost entirely by soldiers, with no other residents. Sean guessed it was something like a military zone. Because of the soldiers, no one swarmed them after landing. Someone had tried to approach for questioning earlier but stopped upon seeing the badge in Freya's hand.
"That's normal. We took a special passage, so of course we'd draw attention. I just don't want too many people knowing I'm here." Freya said, the [Urgent!] emotion above her head still not fading.
The two left the military zone and stepped into a bustling market.
The city, built like terraces, had a market with its own unique character. Since they landed at a high point, they could see rows of lower districts below. On one side, houses clung to the mountain; on the other, an open, empty vista...
Sean walked to the edge of the stepped street and peered down—about ten meters high, he guessed. Layer upon layer, like city walls.
Earlier that day, Freya had mentioned this was originally the southernmost major city of the Basharan Empire. Now, it looked more like the southernmost fortress. If someone tried to storm such a city with infantry alone, the cost would be unimaginable—at least ten times the number of defending soldiers. Of course, that was just Sean's rough estimate of a direct assault!
"Careful not to fall." Freya warned from beside him.
"Where are we going now? Where are your subordinates supposed to meet us?" "We have a Skycover Wing base in Cliffpeak City. We'll head there." Freya said.
So they had a base. Her wizard organization wasn't that small after all...
Walking down from the highest point, Sean counted exactly two levels and several turns before they finally reached a shop on a quieter street with fewer people. This area was different from others—almost every shop was closed. It had just turned dark, and plenty of people were still on the streets. A few closed shops made sense, but here, every single one was shut.
"Is this it?" "Yeah. You can remember this place. If you ever need it, I'll allow you to use my organization's support."
Watching her knock on the door, Sean felt puzzled... Telling me this now? How am I supposed to remember every route we took? He glanced back at the path they'd come from, noting a few spots that left an impression—he might recall them if he walked it again. At that moment, Sean really missed having maps. If he had something like the maps from Tylermian, he wouldn't need to worry about this. He'd have to learn to draw maps himself from now on!
Creak~
Just as Sean was thinking, the door opened.
"Chief!" The girl who opened the door was so startled at seeing Freya that she nearly slammed it shut. Such strength!!
"Kalyana, how have you been all these years?" Freya said with a smile.
The girl wore a black-and-white outfit that looked to Sean like a maid's uniform... except without the white blouse and socks—instead, leather boots and a mixed-style short top. Black hair, black eyes... gave Sean a sense of familiarity. She wasn't as tall as Freya, but above average for most girls.
Data: [HP 4000/4000, MP 2000/2000, Neutral]
"Very... very well..."
Her gaze suddenly landed on Sean.
"He's one of us. Where are the others?" Freya didn't wait for an answer and walked straight into the room... Sean naturally followed.
Inside wasn't a shop but an ordinary residential house. Fur decorations and handwoven flower-basket ornaments hung like willow branches, making the whole room look beautiful.
"Where are the others?" "The others..." The girl hesitated, then changed her wording. "Chief, you'd better come see this." She hurried to a small room inside, opened a door, and revealed a hidden passage. As she opened it, she glanced briefly at Sean.
"He's fine. He can know." Freya vouched for Sean again before the girl dared to open it.
It was a secret door.
Inside was a much larger space. It looked like a dining room—a big round table surrounded by chairs. But the difference was that three people sat in the seats. Three motionless girls!!
When Sean saw them, he also noticed the magic affecting them. [Stiffness~]
And there was no duration shown after it. That meant it was permanent magic?!
"What happened to them!" Seeing this, even Freya couldn't suppress her [Agitated!] emotion.
"I... I don't know." The black-haired young witch beside her said timidly.
"Don't know!" "They started arriving at Cliffpeak City four days ago. I didn't know why they came, and they didn't say—just that they needed a rest for the night before heading south to Koga City. But that same night, they kept saying they felt unwell and uncomfortable. I didn't think much of it at first. But when I came back from outside and saw them again, they were already like this." The black-haired girl explained.
"How could this happen!" Freya walked to the round table, staring at the three girls under [Stiffness~].
"Oh, right. I found this on them..." She pulled out an object and handed it to Freya.
A letter. More accurately, a piece of paper. Probably a clue left by the three girls before they were [Stiffness~].
"Small village... already dead..." "Everyone frozen... or fled..." "All places empty..."
The last few words weren't even finished.