Chapter 191

Chapter 191 Strongest Sage, Slips Pass

『I've erased our sounds with soundproof magic, but be careful not to kick a stone . And it looks like there's a demon guarding the passage, we'll decide how to deal with it once we get closer . 』

『Yes!』

『Got it!』

We stealthily progressed through the passage .

Then I saw the passage curving while probing the mana reaction as we walked .

And there's a demon at the end after the corner .

There's only a single demon on the lookout .

We should reach the city once we got pass it and reached the door at the end .

『 . . . This is, slipping pass this demon would be a better idea here . 』

A lone lookout like this usually performs safety checks regularly .

Killing this demon would be the same as telling other demons there's an intruder .

Let's save that as the last resort .

『Slip pass . . . There's only one passage here right? Wouldn't the demon find us just like that . . . 』

『There's a way if the enemy is alone . I'll cast a spell for that, you girls, walk forward once I give you the signal . 』

I approach the passage's corner .

A spell to make yourself invisible is enough if you merely needs to deceive a lookout .

Anything would do if it was humans, but we're up against a demon .

Demons with sharp perceptions tasked to stand watch could even detect those who have hidden their body and sounds with magic by slight vibrations on the ground .

I'll be fine on my own, but to let the girls pass here, I've got to meddle with this demon and temporarily cease the demon's perceptions .

And do that in a way that won't get me noticed .

『 . . . This is quite far . 』

From the passage's corner to the demon, it's 40 meters away . Unfortunately, Disqualified Crest cannot send magic through walls .

The passage probably has been structured like this to prevent magic attacks through the walls .

While thinking that, I made myself disappear with magic, and took a step into the section after the corner .

Then I set magic barriers slightly above the ground, and stand on it .

. . . The demon doesn't seem to notice me at all .

I stealthily approach the demon as such .

When you're in close proximity to a demon, their mana perception is the hardest ability to elude .

If you don't walk with a specific stepping to lower interference on the surrounding mana, simply standing around will expose yourself once you've gotten this close .

Once the demon is within my magic range . . . I cast a spell called 『Disturbance』 .

It's a spell that dulls the target's perceptions for a duration of time .

Ruli and the girls should be able to slip pass the demon without getting found out now .

『Now's your chance! . . . The demon would notice you if you tread on the ground so walk on the barrier I've put on the passage . 』

『U-understand!』

『Got it!』

The girls then walked toward me while stepping on the barrier .

Since they're just walking normally, the surrounding mana have been thrown into disorders (especially around Iris) . . . But the demon doesn't notice it .

The three passed by the demon just like that and got out of the passage .

『I-it really didn't notice us!』

『We were walking right beside it and yet it didn't notice us at all . . . 』

We arrived at the town while conversing through comm magic .

By the way, once you're connected through the comm magic, its effect on the surroundings is pretty diminutive, thus there's no problem using it .

『 . . . They'll suspect us if we're just standing around here . For now, let's look around the town while pretending to shop around . 』

I walk toward the center of the town afterward .

But still, it's really . . .

『This town feels gloomy somehow . . . 』

『And the adventurers aren't carrying weapon . 』

Alma said the exact thing I thought .

This town's mood is obviously not normal .

The populace seems to be mostly humans, but they have gloomy expressions on their faces .

And the adventurers don't have any weapon with them .

Restrictions on arms . . . or not, doesn't seem like it, but ordinary adventurers would have never gone without one .

There must be a reason behind this .

『Let's put our weapon away . It would raise suspicion otherwise . 』

『Gotcha!』

We put away all our weapons into Storage magic in a deserted place, and took another stroll .

Judging from the stock at the stores, distribution of goods seem to flow just fine .

If I had to say, medicine selections are not good . . . or rather, it feels more like they can't catch up with demands .

Most of the stores selling medicines have empty shelves .

The few remaining ones are rip-offs .

The guild came into view while I was thinking that .

『There's a guild here . Let's take a look at the quest board, I'm also intrigued about the no-weapon situation here . 』

『Maybe there's a lot of quests that don't require you to carry a weapon? I mean, bringing one while doing such a quest would only be a bother . 』

『That's a possibility . . . But normally, there's less than 10% of quests that don't need a weapon no?』

Adventurers' job is fighting .

Monsters could sneak on you even during gathering quests, it's unthinkable why an adventurer wouldn't carry a weapon .

There are quests for beginners where you don't need to fight (like carrying luggage), but the number should be extremely small .

『You're right . . . Perhaps there's a peculiar quest or something . 』

We went inside the guild while having that conversation .

And over there was . . . a single quest tag for mining ores .