“But how do we get in Athlerona without being caught?”

We stopped a few metres before the gate of Athlerona as I asked.

“Hmm,” Ein also stopped to think.

The four of us stood at the side of the busy main road that led to Athlerona.

“I can try with my magic, probably,” I hesitated.

 

Suddenly, right at that time, a middle-aged man approached us.

“Are you guys perhaps confused on how you can enter Athlerona?” He asked.

I quickly stood guard, and so did the others.

“How do you know that?!” I asked.

“Well, it often happens, actually. Are you guys a merchant or adventurer or what?” The guy asked.

“We are merchants,” Ein lied without batting an eye, but I guess he wasn’t really lying as his family specialized in trades.

“Ah, must be unlicensed merchants that want to enter to do trades, aren’t ya?” The middle-aged man asked with a face that seemed to say ‘Ain’t I clever?’

“Yeah, exactly,” Ein just went with the flow.

“Where’s your item, though?” the middle-aged man asked with suspicious eyes.

“We’re here to purchase the items to be sold outside Athlerona,” Ein quickly answered.

“Ah, so that’s how it goes,” the middle-aged man quickly believed his answer.

I guess Ein’s answer really made sense…?

I’m glad he’s so quick-witted in this kind of thing.

 

“Worry not, this kind of case often happens. Merchants and adventurers that can’t gain permit to enter Athlerona… Well, this must be fate,” the middle-aged man said.

“What do you mean?” Clavis asked.

“I can help you enter Athlerona, but…,” the middle-aged man said as he rubbed his chin with his hand, his eyes looking at us calculatingly.

“We can pay,” Ein quickly said, seemingly grasping the situation.

“Oh ho. Aren’t you perceptive?” The middle-aged man chuckled.

“Here, help us in,” Ein took out a bag of gold with ease and placed it on the man’s hand.

“Ooooohhh!” The man’s eyes were practically shining.

 

“Come here, enter the barrels in my wagon.”

The man’s attitude took a 180 degrees turn for the better. We were treated like a honoured client, despite how shady this all seemed like.

We didn’t say anything and followed his instructions, hiding in the barrel that was in his transport carriage.

After making sure that we were hidden, the man took his carriage to the gate of Athlerona.

 

Due to being in the barrel, I couldn’t really hear what they were talking about outside.

If push comes to shove, we could just fight and run away… We were disguised anyway… But hopefully we won’t have to resort to doing that! After Ein had paid quite a hefty sum, too.

Suddenly, I heard footsteps and felt that it was brighter than before.

“What are inside the containers and barrels here?” An unfamiliar voice resounded.

I unconsciously held my breath, feeling nervous.

“They are my goods. Wines, harvested products. I’m here to sell them, I told you,” the middle-aged man’s voice resounded.

“Hmmm,” the guard seemed to be scanning everything inside the wagon before I finally heard their voices and footsteps going away.

Is this a success?

 

Apparently, it was a success.

After a few moments of the carriage running and turning here and there, it finally stopped.

The middle-aged man helped us to go out of our hiding.

“And we’re done,” he said after we went down from his wagon.

I looked to the left and right and saw that we were in a secluded area in Athlerona, and it seemed like we were in the slums, even.

“Thank you for your assistance,” Ein bowed.

“Haha, we’re just talking business here. If you need another help, you can find me at the main street of Athlerona, selling my items,” the middle-aged man said before adding, “Of course my help doesn’t come for free. There is no free meal in this world, after all.”

“I get it,” Ein nodded.

“Nice doing business with ya!”

With that, the man left us.

 

“So… we really managed to enter Athlerona just like that?!” Clavis asked in a wonder.

“Well, yeah,” Ein nodded.

“Doesn’t this seem too good to be true?!” Clavis lowly howled.

“I think so too…,” I said with a low voice.

“Yeah, the security isn’t all that good, is it?” Carbuncle asked.

“Actually, this kind of thing happens in every city,” Ein began to explain.

“I’ve seen this kind of thing happening even in Riviera. Some merchants and adventurers can’t gain permits, so they’re using illegal means to come and go out of a city that has tight security like Athlerona.”

“But what if we’re some dangerous people? Won’t they be doomed?” Clavis asked.

“The people who dabbed in this kind of illegal business of smuggling people tend to have eyes to discern who the dangerous people are. Well, I mean, they wouldn’t want to risk their lives or riches to be lost too. Apparently, our disguise is a success as we weren’t seen as some suspicious or dangerous people,” Ein explained.

“And even if some dangerous or bad people entered the city, if they were to create a ruckus, they’d quickly get caught anyway,” Ein added.

“Ah, I see,” I finally could accept Ein’s explanation.

 

Actually, I wouldn’t mind with anything as long as we could get our mission done. The methods didn’t mean anything, only the results would be meaningful, right?

What’s the phrase again?

The end justifies the means.

Yes. In this kind of situation, I’d agree wholeheartedly to that phrase.

Now I get why people say that the winners write the history.

If we were to succeed, this wouldn’t be a problem at all.

But if we were to fail, then yes, it’d be a big problem.

So, it’s really a do or die mission, and I will not accept any other result than success.

 

“So, we’re going to part ways here?” Clavis asked as he looked at me with some kind of complicated gazes.

Eh, why? We’ve agreed to do this. Why did Clavis look as if we haven’t discussed this before?

“Yeah. You and I are going to gather information in the city. Big Sis Lyra and Big Sis Kuu should enter the royal castle to see how things are,” Ein stated our agreed plan again.

“But at the end of the day, we should meet again, right? There’s no way I can really stay over in the castle,” I quickly said.

“Yeah, that’s the plan,” Ein nodded.

“Where are we going to meet, then?” Carbuncle asked.

“I’ll rent a room in an inn. We can use that to meet and rest,” Ein said.

“Eh, we will all share a room together?” I was surprised.

Wouldn’t it be too cramped?!

“Well, can’t risk getting caught by anyone, right? But don’t worry, I’ll rent a spacious enough room for the four of us,” Ein quickly came up with a solution.

“Okay, that’s a deal then,” Carbuncle quickly agreed.

“Which inn are we renting?” Clavis asked.

“Oh. We’re going to look for one right now,” Ein answered.

“Huh?! Then how are Lyra and Carbuncle going to know where to go?” Clavis asked.

 

“Uhh, I can use my dark magic to keep in touch with you guys, or at least locate you guys, so…,” I quickly volunteered.

I can just mark their shadows and do something with it.

But Ein shook his head at me and said, “No. Let’s not waste your power, Big Sis Lyra. Let’s just meet again in this area at around dinner time for today. After we all know where our basecamp is going to be, from tomorrow onwards, we will just go there once we’re done with the day.”

“That sounds like a plan,” Clavis nodded.

“Oh… I don’t actually mind using my magic… It’s not that exhausting,” I said.

“No! We never know what lies ahead us. It’s always better to conserve energy,” Clavis insisted.

“Big Bro Clavis is right, Big Sis Lyra,” Ein agreed with Clavis.

It’s pretty rare to have Ein and Clavis get along so well and agree on something like this.

“Okay then…”

Left with no other choice, I could only agree.

 

“Okay then, let’s part ways here,” Ein said.

“C’mon, Lyr! I can’t wait to look around,” Carbuncle excitedly said.

“Remember we’re here not for fun!” I quickly told Carbuncle.

“Well, we have to look around too so we know the way, no? Then let’s look around,” Carbuncle didn’t seem to take my words seriously, but I couldn’t find any word to refute her words.

With that, we parted ways here.

 

Carbuncle and I walked towards the direction of the royal castle. It was easy to locate where the castle was, as it was the tallest building among the other buildings in Athlerona city.

“So, Lyr, how are we going to enter the castle and how are we going to disguise ourselves? Are we going to use violence and settle everything right now?” Carbuncle asked.

“No, no, no! We can’t do that!” I answered in my panic upon hearing her words.

“It’s going to be bad in the long term, so we should do things slowly and stealthily,” I quickly added.

“Hmm, okay, so what do you have in mind?” Carbuncle asked.

“Well… You wait here, I will enter the castle as a cat to see the situation. I will come out and bring you with me once I know what we should do,” I didn’t have the time to be thinking over this again, so I quickly said what I had in my mind.

“Huh… Okay. So, you mean I can freely roam about now?” Carbuncle asked.

“Sure, but… Don’t attract any attention, okay?” I warned Carbuncle.

“Yes, yes, just take it easy,” Carbuncle said.

“Don’t go too far too, or I won’t be able to find you.”

“Aye aye,” Carbuncle answered perfunctorily.

I sighed as I’ve said everything that I needed to say and couldn’t really add anything else.

With the hopes that Carbuncle heard my words and upheld the promise, we parted ways there.

 

I turned to a narrow and secluded alleyway that I could find nearby to transform into a cat.

Then, I jumped here and there to enter the royal castle.

Whoa, this is what I’ve been practicing around for. I never thought it’d come in handy like this.

Being a cat came with the perk of being able to slip here and there unnoticed, and even if people were to notice me, they wouldn’t really be guarding against me.

 

And just like that, I managed to enter the royal castle of Cielle kingdom as a cat.

As I wandered around the outer side of the castle, I came across the castle’s workers, be it maids or just other workers like gardeners.

Some of the workers that seemed to like cats would try to approach me, while those that didn’t like cats would do their best to chase me away.

But despite that, I couldn’t really enter the castle building as everyone would try to steer me away from the doors, be it the cat haters and cat lovers.

 

“I’m sorry, kitty, but you can’t enter.”

“Ahh, hey, hey! Go away! If you dare to enter, I will xxx you and ooo you!”

S-scaryyy!!

 

Sitting on the grass of the outer royal garden, I looked up to see the tall building that was just right in front of me, thinking on what to do.

Should I try and climb my way inside? As a cat, that’s plausible, but I am not sure if I can enter after climbing… What if my efforts will be in vain?

If only someone would carry me inside…

Why is it that among the workers that love cats, nobody tried to take me in with them?!

I lamented over the professionality of the workers here.

Or am I not cute enough to compel them to sneak me in?!

Geez, what am I to do now?