“I need to infiltrate the Alchemical Factory.”
“I’m giving up on understanding this person now. Can someone explain?”
“That word means exactly as it sounds. Miss Graykencos.”
“Hmm.”
The group gathered in the cabin stared blankly at Ivan. Ivan nodded silently and continued his explanation.
“The security posture at the dock is comparable to wartime.”
“… Have you ever been to Kalion Dock?”
“Officially, no.”
Elpheira remained silent at Ivan’s words.
“Isn’t it strange that the security on this island is stricter than it was back then? The carts heading to the logistics warehouse are practically tied down. Isn’t this obviously inefficient handling?”
Corporations will do anything for profit. And when the owner is an elf, ethics are no longer a significant concern.
From their perspective, such thorough security in factory operations borders on overinvestment. Who could possibly attack an island belonging to the Kalion military in the first place?
Not even the demons have directly struck the mainland across the sea even once. Elves reign supreme on the sea, and their paradise floats upon it.
So, the current security on this island could be seen as bordering on paranoia toward their own kin.
The only presence that could make the Kalion military tense was the elves themselves.
Listening to the explanation, Edel raised her hand.
“But isn’t it strange? While the Alchemical Factory does export to the continent, their main products are for elves. Why would a company focused on the domestic market be hostile to elves?”
“We need to figure that out.”
It’s certainly suspicious that a company dealing with elves would be cautious around their own kind.
Plus, if they’re issuing strict orders at the dock over concerns about the councilors’ children visiting, it raises even more questions.
“But… what if this is just personal matter? If something happened and it’s truly unrelated to us?”
Rundis brought up an unconventional point. Ivan shook his head. It seems she hadn’t quite grasped the situation yet since it hadn’t been long since she joined the party.
In a newly visited area, in the face of some kind of “suspicious incident,” there’s no room for personal matters to interfere.
Moreover, there are currently three issues in Kalion:
1. Alexander is hiding on one of the country’s islands.
2. There’s a possibility of civil war or similar conflict.
3. Betrayal by Veolgrin or potential methods to assassinate him.
These three could converge into one scenario depending on the situation. For example, Alexander assassinating Veolgrin and inciting civil war, or Veolgrin joining forces with Alexander and starting a civil war, and so on.
In a situation of extreme lack of information, it’s a rule to keep all possibilities open.
And there’s no such thing as ‘coincidence’ in front of any possibility. Failure due to lack of information is inevitable, and resolving the situation through sufficient information gathering is fate.
Because this world is never benevolent.
One must always assume the worst and take the best actions. Like solving a puzzle, or rather, like playing military strategy and chess. Carefully, yet boldly, and ruthlessly, move by move.
“If it’s truly unrelated, it’s actually better.”
“…Really? Not exile?”
“We can find out why they wanted to hide it from their own kin so desperately. If it’s information that the wealthiest capitalist and current councilor member in this country tried to conceal, it might be helpful no matter what it is.”
Even using the nobility’s weaknesses to dig for information was one of the basic operational protocols for the Counterintelligence Command.
“…If the nobility won’t listen, we’ll infiltrate and investigate from the inside.”
While Lucia jotted down Ivan’s explanation in her notebook, Rundis sighed and lowered her head.
“Aligning with Krasilov might have been my father’s worst decision.”
*
Late at night, Ivan was lurking near the perimeter of the Alchemical Factory’s stronghold.
If it could be called a perimeter. It was more like a smooth wall almost akin to a castle wall. There were no footholds or terrain to climb.
And atop it were numerous surveillance devices. Magical engineering devices constantly infused with magic through superior design.
Behind them were arrays of alarm spells and bio-restraint measures accompanied by familiars, crowded without gaps.
From a security standpoint, it was superior to the headquarters of the Counterintelligence Command. Just looking at it made it difficult to find vulnerabilities.
However, even during the time when elves were actively engaged in warfare, espionage, infiltration, and factors such as ambushes and protection of allies were the roles of humans.
At that time, the most formidable opponents for Ivan were not elves. They were dwarves. Those skilled craftsmen would dig underground tunnels and wreak havoc from the rear, born with a talent for neutralizing allies’ facilities with peculiar tools.
And now, there were dwarves in his party. The daughter of the top dwarf leader, fully versed in dwarven magical engineering.
“Lucia. Mana is leaking.”
“Oh, sorry. I’m nervous, hehe.”
“Elves are sensitive to mana. Conceal it.”
Ivan lowered his body, scanning the wall. Normally, he could reach it with a few leaps, but it was difficult to perform such acrobatics now.
Strength was at 25%, overall muscle strength was less than 40%, and the flexibility of rotation muscles was similarly lacking.
Proper technique.
And also grip strength.
“Alright, it’s done. This… made by Rundis—.”
“Circuit nullification auxiliary device.”
“…It seemed to have a different name, but anyway, that’s it.”
As Lucia assembled the mechanical devices, she looked up. Even in the darkness, her red eyes were gleaming.
Ivan received the device from her hands.
‘Unintentionally, all party members can use magic.’
Lucia, a half-vampire, and Rundis, an expert in mana engineering, not to mention other elves, it was fortunate that the party consisted entirely of magic users. It was because he had no talent whatsoever in magic.
The same applied to these types of magical engineering devices.
“Over there, there, and at 130 meters, 87 directions, that thing. We need to disable those three first. We have to enter simultaneously, should I take the right or the left?”
“Take charge of surveillance.”
“Excuse me?”
“Follow exactly where I step.”
Without waiting for Lucia’s response, Ivan sprinted.
As he leaped over the wall, he twisted his body. Invisible, yet clearly felt, thin lines of detection devices scanned his back.
Twisting his waist, he evaded the next device’s field of view. Like a spider, he grasped the wall, and at the precise moment, he thrust the spike held in his hand perpendicularly.
With superb strength, well-crafted ends, and precise technique, the spike was driven in silently. Deep enough to hang on with just two fingers.
With a flick, he bounced his body. Two strikes against the wall, then another click, driving in another spike in less than a millisecond.
Under the time of a superhuman, even in the slow fading afterimage, he aimed precisely at the target once again.
– Click!
This time, Lucia drove the activated mana device into place. At the strike pierced from outside the line of sight, the magical device touched by her fingertips quickly became nullified.
Now, the next one, 2.5 meters above on the right.
As he leaped over the wall, he flipped his body to adjust the angle. The flowing vision was dizzying, but the spatial awareness was perfect. At the moment of leaping, he could calculate his velocity precisely by reverse calculating his angular momentum and distance traveled.
“Now come up.”
So, everything was pretty much as expected. It required a few acrobatics, but it was more about technique than strength. The issue arose from muscle, not skill, right?
“Um… Oh. The same?”
“You don’t have to mimic my movements exactly. The surveillance devices have been neutralized.”
It was inefficient to mimic every move he made in mid-air to find a square.
With that in mind, Lucia followed his trajectory reasonably well. Her speed and finesse were lacking, but it wasn’t exactly a failure.
“Well done.” Ivan nodded. It wouldn’t have been easy to mimic without using magic and relying solely on bare hands.
“Phew… Whew. Alright. What’s next?”
“Practice, repetition, mastery.”
Turning her gaze along Ivan’s touch, Lucia clutched her forehead and sighed.
“I messed up.”
Three more walls similar to the one she crossed and at least twenty more surveillance devices were part of the lengthy security system before her eyes.
“Not a bad design for infiltration missions.”
“Huh?”
“It means it helps with growth.”
With a smirk, Ivan handed her a few more spikes. Lucia, receiving them blankly, looked up at Ivan with a bewildered expression.
“Why are you giving me these?”
“The demonstration is over, now it’s the real thing. Lucia. If any alarm in that security system goes off, today’s operation is a failure.”
“So, you’re sayin it will lead to a dead end!”
“Do you need to learn more?”
“Do I really need to learn something right now?!”
“There might not be another environment as safely controlled as this.”
Lucia was perplexed by Ivan’s words.
But it wasn’t too bad. Lucia had already learned enough from Enrique. What she lacked wasn’t training but real-world experience.
So, would there be another environment as safe as this one? This wasn’t a demon realm. Even if she were caught here, her life wouldn’t be in danger.
If she failed, of course, she had planned to throw Lucia to the guards and act alone, but if she didn’t fail, it didn’t matter.
“Even if I make a mistake, you’ll support me from behind, right?”
That kind of complacency creates vulnerabilities.”
“This is driving me nuts.”
Grumbling, Lucia tightly gripped the spikes and slowly began to step on the wall.
*
“Hmm.”
Ivan let out a suppressed groan in front of the now melted Lucia.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen this.”
Staring through the glass window of the first research lab of the Alchemical Factory, Ivan narrowed his eyes.
“You… are you okay?”
“Deeply troubled.”
Whispering quietly, Ivan glanced at the floating mass, about the size of a forearm.
“It’s a demon.”
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