What’s the situation?
[It’s… quiet… It seems they haven’t noticed our intrusion…]
Rudell heard Silphier’s voice over the communicator.
“Good, keep monitoring.”
[Y-yes…!!]
With that final word, Silphier’s voice cut off.
Taking a deep breath, Rudell peered around the corner to check the hallway.
“Any signs? See anything?”
“No, still quiet.”
Despite the lights being on, there weren’t many people inside.
It seemed like most were working overtime in the office, with voices drifting from various rooms, but hardly anyone was coming out.
That might explain why the only people Rudell and his group had seen so far were a few employees wandering around with half-dead eyes, giggling like lunatics.
“By the way, did you see that person just now? I thought they were a zombie…”
“They probably worked themselves to the bone…”
Viewing it through the eyes of Leje, a person from a world without labor laws, it was indeed a pathetic sight, and she sent them a sympathetic glance.
Rudell too felt a pang of pity from memories of his previous life that suddenly surfaced.
But that wasn’t what mattered now.
Hiding in the shadows of the empty hallway, Rudell and his group moved forward.
After what felt like a while…
“I think we’re here…”
Rudell stopped in front of a large door.
On the outside, it looked utterly ordinary, aside from its size.
But despite its lackluster appearance, it was a very important place for the Gold Rush Company.
“This is the ledger room, right?”
“Yes.”
If the information from Aitri was correct, this was indeed the ledger room.
All information about transactions would be beyond this door.
“Silph, how’s the situation around?”
[Ah, still quiet…]
“Good…”
Nodding at Silph’s response, Rudell approached the door and cautiously placed his hand on it.
At that moment, he felt a faint magic power.
It was a security spell.
“Just as I thought…”
“What’s wrong?”
“There’s security magic on the door. If we open it carelessly, an alarm will sound.”
“Then what? We can’t go in?”
“Not exactly.”
Answering her question, Rudell grinned slightly.
“We just won’t open the door to get in.”
“Ugh… is that really the plan? It feels gross.”
“Hmm…”
Responding to the low groans from Leje and Kurt, Rudell summoned his magic.
At the same time, shadows extended around Rudell, engulfing the two, and Rudell also vanished into the shadows.
Moments later…
“But that was too easy to break through.”
“I really hate this.”
“Same here.”
Rudell emerged inside the ledger room, looking at Leje and Kurt.
Regardless, Leje and Kurt, looking pale as if they were about to be sick, spoke up.
According to them, it felt like they were falling endlessly.
“Okay, okay. We don’t have time for this. Let’s find the ledger and get out.”
Watching the two, Rudell turned his head.
At that moment, what caught his eye was an array of bookshelves that could easily be classified as a library.
“Oh my…”
“Are you seriously thinking about searching all of this?”
Letting out a low sigh, Leje and Kurt reacted to the sight.
If they tried to search all the ledgers here, it could take months…
No, it could take years.
“We don’t need to see all of them, we only need to look at about a month’s worth of records.”
As Rudell walked between the bookshelves, he answered their question.
Kentric had last been spotted about two weeks ago.
And he had first been seen in the Empire about a month ago.
So if they found records from that time, they might uncover clues related to Kentric…
“Let’s see…”
The group rummaged through the ledger room for quite a while looking for the records organized by date.
A little time passed.
“I think I found something?”
“Where…”
Leje paused in front of a bookshelf and pulled out a ledger, while Rudell approached her to check the date written on it.
The date in the ledger was exactly one month ago.
“About a month… this seems right.”
“Then let’s hurry and get out.”
“That’s what we should do.”
Having achieved their goal, there was no reason to stay here any longer.
“Silph, we’re finished here! How’s it looking outside?”
[It’s… quiet… Uh, hurry and get out!!]
“Good, everyone be careful while leaving.”
Just as Rudell and his team were about to move,
“Wait a second.”
“Leje? We don’t have time, we need to get out.”
At Rudell’s puzzled tone, Leje moved towards something.
Following her gaze, Rudell spotted a safe in one corner of the ledger room.
“A safe?”
“Doesn’t it look suspicious at first glance?”
“Hmm…”
While other ledgers were casually placed on the shelves, the safe stood out in an eerie corner, showcasing its presence…
It definitely suggested that something important was inside.
“I don’t like this feeling…”
Although he didn’t sense any magic from the box, a gut feeling inside Rudell kept warning him.
If they touched it, something troublesome would surely happen.
Meanwhile, Leje cautiously held the door of the safe…
“So, how are you going to take that…”
At that moment,
“Hhaah…!!”
–Kwadjik!!
With a short battle cry, Leje pulled the safe door, and with a sound of tearing metal, the door came off completely.
And in that instant…
–Wae-e-e-e-e-e-e-e-!!!
The ear-piercing alarm shattered the stillness of the night.
And the interior of the Gold Rush Company began to shake with chaos.
[Ah, what’s happening inside!? The guards are rushing over there…!!]
“Oh… ahahaha… I didn’t see this coming?”
“You seriously…”
Rudell could hear Silphier’s anxious voice through the magical tool as Leje awkwardly laughed, holding the broken door.
And because of that sight, Rudell had no choice but to smack his forehead.
*
The Gold Rush Company’s Imperial Branch.
At that moment, it was like a battlefield.
“Head that way! We have to find them!!”
“If you can’t find them, we’re all dead!!”
Armed guards were scouring the building, and the entire place was covered in a magic barrier.
And naturally, Rudell and his team remained hidden in the shadows, observing the situation.
“I can’t take this anymore…”
“I-I’m sorry…”
“It’s fine, what’s done is done.”
With a look of discomfort, Leje apologized, and Rudell let out a short sigh.
What’s done was done, and there was no picking it up now.
Instead of laying blame, the priority was to think about how to escape from this place.
“Silph. Can you hear me?”
[Chizizizizizizizzzz…]
Rudell called out to Silphier by tapping the magical tool, but all he could hear was static, likely due to the magic barrier covering the entire building.
“Darn…”
In other words, it meant they had to find a way to break through the magic barrier and escape without outside help.
“Easy to say…”
To cover such a large facility with a magic barrier was already a significant task in itself.
Moreover, even if they somehow broke through the barrier and escaped, a pursuit team from the company would be right on their heels.
Since Gold Rush Company had committed many heinous acts, they had many enemies, and naturally, their combat units were quite elite.
Of course, that might not be a dangerous match for Rudell and his team, but if they got caught by the company’s combat team, the Empire’s soldiers trailing behind would be the bigger issue.
Avoiding a clash with the Empire’s forces was of utmost priority.
Even though the Gaia Church officially requested an investigation from Rudell and his team, asking for responsibility in this situation was a bit too much.
“What do we do now?”
“I don’t know… I think I need to think a bit…”
Currently, they were perched above the hallway decorated with an arched structure.
It was a shaded area, and since nobody paid attention to it, they still had a bit of margin.
However, how long that would last was something Rudell didn’t know either.
Just then, while Rudell was racking his brain to escape this situation,
“You two! Check the secret passage! They might have slipped through there!”
“Understood!”
With the captain of the guards’ shout, two guards sprinted down the hallway, and seeing that spectacle, Rudell’s eyes sparkled.
He then stood up and turned towards Leje and Kurt, who were watching him.
“Let’s follow those guys.”
