Magnificent. Artistic. Retro-futuristic. Eternal.

That's how I would describe the city laying before my eyes. A solid iron wall, taller than the 8-floor residential building where I lived before, encircled the massive metropolis. The rusty red color of the metallic constructions and the manyfold chimneys which spewed out smoke and steam reminded me of an unbreakable hide and deep breaths. Backed by the blood-red evening sun, its silhouette gave me the feeling of a dormant mechanical behemoth.

There were also some airships, like the one I saw before, floating above the city. One of them appeared to land on a raised, platform-like structure. Compared to the city, the gigantic airship looked like a little sparrow on its perch and the people like ants crawling on a beast.

However, there was one piece in this dreamy picture that aesthetically differentiated itself from its surroundings but somehow didn’t seems to be out of place.

Stefan noticed it too and pointed at the skyscraper-sized tower in the distance. “What is that?!”

“That, dear Stefan, is the ‘Terminal’. The machine that can open portals to other dimensions is located there. All dimensional traffic takes place through this station. Without this Terminal, there would have been no city here. One could argue that this building is the most important place in this world.”

My eyes were spellbound to the marvelous technological building. The Terminal was probably the only building in this steampunk world that had the hallmarks of a ‘generic’ science-fiction work. Constructed with a white amorphous metal the slightly rotating tower had golden neon light snaking bizarrely all over its surface. Huge pipe-shaped appendages lied flat to walls; their many sections gave the illusion of movement. A sharp point resembling radio stations formed the top part of the building. Though, what caused me goosebumps was the sky directly above the Terminal. An unbelievable ring of aurora light seemingly not originating from anywhere shined softly over the city center like an angel’s halo. If I didn't know better, I would believe someone who claims that this city is blessed by the gods.

Taking in all this with my own eyes was a completely different experience than imagining it in my mind. I had to admit God Bob did a great job in replicating this beauty from my notes.

… Pah, who am I kidding. He far surpassed my expectations. I didn’t add that many descriptions in my novel, but he still recreated the place of my imagination perfectly.

……..

I was so captivated by the view that it wasn't until sometime later that I noticed that our journey had passed a checkpoint and was slowly approaching the city gates. Guards in uniform were controlling and directing the traffic at the entrance. Our ride passed through without any problems. One of the guards even waved after the middle-aged man who sat in the driver’s seat. I guess the hunting team was well known in this area.

Of course, during the entire process, nobody noticed us sitting on top of the vehicle. If someone had asked who we were or wanted to see our papers, I wouldn’t know what to tell. Another tricky problem solved by the convenient Observer ability, hurrah.

When we finally entered the city, we were greeted by something like straight out of a steampunk wallpaper. Medium-sized brick houses lined on both sides of the street with many glass-covered bridges connecting them at the top, conveying the feeling of passing through an archway. Wherever I looked, I saw pipes and gears as if they were accessories on the building’s facade. In the distance loomed the silhouettes of massive factories and other branches of the metal industry. Weird-looking vehicles drove on cobblestone pavement while pedestrians used both the road as well as the sidewalk. There were street lamps every few meters and other sources of illumination coming from the buildings, their brightness contrasting the dark atmosphere of the metallic colors at twilight.

“T-E24MH is looking quite romantic. Though, the air is smelling worse.”

Stefan gave me a nod and said in a fatigued voice.

“We are sticking out like two sore thumbs.”

Well, he wasn’t wrong. The inhabitants of this city were all dressed very elegantly. The men wore gothic pants, leather shoes, and long open tailcoats with a white or striped vest underneath, and the woman donned leather corsets and high boots. Top hats and mechanical goggles, as well as ornamented canes and leather belts, complemented their outfits. They didn’t seem bothered by the warm climate.

Compared to them, our appearance was, well… good that nobody could see us.

“Alright, I think it’s about time we jump off our ride. I don’t know where this truck is heading, but if I have to guess, it would be the monster-hunting guild, and we have no business there right now.”

“Where are we going then? Do you have a plan?”

Stefan's voice became increasingly dry and weary, and I didn’t believe I fare better. The few diarberries we ate in the forest haven’t satisfied our needs for long, and after the adrenaline stemming from the dangers in the third hunting ground had passed, I became aware of how tired I was.

“We want to eat dinner, buy clothes and sleep in a hotel. Therefore, we need to convert the ‘treasurehorn’ horns into cash first. For that purpose, we should go to the trading center which is usually not far from the city entrance. I will explain it later. Let’s get off first.”

When the vehicle slowed down to take a curve, we jumped off. I left one of the horns on the truck as payment for the trip even though I knew I didn’t have to. Just for manners.

We landed hard on the pavement. My legs wobbled a bit from the long drive.

I informed Stefan. “I will ask for directions.”

Beforehand I disabled my Observer Status. Immediately I could feel multiple gazes landing on me. Kind of scary to be recognized by the world again. I really wanted to turn the ability back on, but I had a mission to fulfill. I walked to a neat-looking man in a black tailcoat reading a magazine before what seems to be a clock shop and asked for the location of the trading center. The man didn't even look at me and just mumbled down a series of instructions in annoyance. Works for me, I guessed.

I turned the Observer Status back on, and instantly most of the unpleasing staring was gone. My current appearance provoked way too much attention and not the good kind.

“Let’s go. The trading center isn’t far away.”

We quickly made our way to our destination. On the way, I found a dirty linen sack on the ground in a small alley. We could use it to store the horns.

I also made an interesting discovery regarding our cloaking ability. I paid considerable attention to not bump into other pedestrians or get run over by a car and getting isekai’d again, but I realized that they were evading me on their own. I could rule out the possibility, that my ability was off because not even one of them was looking at me or showed any other signs of recognizing me.

Could they still perceive us somehow? How did the Observer Status really work? Maybe, we were not invisible? Or not physically at least. It was possible, that our ability could force them to subconsciously ignore us, like some kind of mind control, and only when they got stimulated too much would they break through the influence. Hmmm, psychological invisibility?

There were still quite a few people walking around at this hour. I decided to test my theory some more. I accompanied a slow-moving old granny. I sauntered between her and the right building facade, both of us together taking in the entire sidewalk. Now, if I was truly invisible, the other pedestrians would try to walk through me, because in their eyes there would only be a big empty space between the granny and the buildings. Instead, I noticed that they were circling around us to the road taking a much longer route. I had to tell Stefan about this.

“Hey Stefan, have you noticed that the people are subconsciously avoiding us? God Bob really thought of everything when he designed this ability. We don’t even have to worry about crashing into someone.”

Pat, pat, pat. Bump! “Aowww!”

As if on cue, a small boy ran into Stefan, bounced off, and landed on his butt.

“Ouch, mister, where did you come from?” Without waiting for Stefan’s response, the boy swiftly stood up and was on his way again.

“Hmmm, Markus did you say something?”

…

Nighttime arrived when we reached the trading center. Strange, why was nobody here? The light was also out. Usually, the center should still be open until midnight.

We went to the big double glass doors preparing for the worst.

Locked.

“Great, what do we do now?”

… “I don’t know.”

“Aren’t you the expert here?”

Stefan looked at me like it was all my fault. How could I know that the trading center was closed today? I never wrote something similar in my novel.

“Technically, we could just take the food, water, and clothes from a shop. The same with the hotel, just take an empty room. Nobody will find out anyway.”

Huauehh? I couldn’t believe what I just heard. Did Stefan just suggest theft and freeloading?

“No, definitely not! I have a better plan which doesn’t include becoming a criminal. I know of a certain shop where we could sell the horns for a reasonable price. The protagonist and his friends used it fairly often in my novel. I only haven’t suggested it before, because the owner can be a bit tricky to deal with. However, he is still someone who I have designed, and I know exactly which buttons to push.”

“Fine, but if that doesn’t work out, we will do things my way.”

“Fair enough.”

I knew the name of the street but not how to get there, so we asked for directions again. This time it took a while longer because our poor appearance frightened some people who quickly ran away, while others ignored us as if we were some beggars asking for alms and some just didn’t know. Felt bad to be judged by our looks. We eventually found someone who was familiar with that street and who was kind enough to explain the way to two strangers.

……..

We were standing before an antique but otherwise unremarkable tool shop. A dim light shone through the mat windows. I couldn’t read the shop’s name since the universal translator wasn’t able to translate written words, but from my memory, I knew that the shop was called ‘Warren’s Workshop’.

“So, you say you want to do the negotiations alone? Shouldn’t we get some appropriate clothes for you first? You are covered in dirt and sweat, and you also need to comb your hair.”

I shook my head and put the sack with the horns over my shoulders.

“No, I am dressed just right for the negotiations. Wish me luck.”

With these words, I entered the shop.