Chapter 169
Chapter 169
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 169
Chapter Title: The World's Strongest Spirit User (4)
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Galen began addressing Anton point by point, who was showing a perfectly reasonable, flustered reaction.
"First off, even if there are demon collaborators within the Spirius Family, it's not like every single one of them without exception would be a follower, right?"
"Realistically speaking, no."
Fortunately, demons didn't have abilities like brainwashing beams or hypnosis apps.
He'd heard there were magic weapons that could blow away someone's consciousness and force their body to move, but that hardly counted as mental control.
In short, anyone who was into demons was following them of their own free will.
At least, he could somewhat sympathize with people like that old guy from before—Maurice Brutain, the original king of vanity explosions—who'd despaired after banging their head against an unyielding talent wall and turned to forbidden methods.
But the problem was that most demon followers were either lazy bums who wanted power without the effort, or psychos who got off on others dying as long as they were having fun.
In any case, thankfully, those weirdos were a tiny minority in the grand scheme of things, and most ordinary people had a normal level of conscience.
If you pushed without evidence, the whole family would rise up against the church, but if even one piece of proof came out, most folks would flip out.
"At most, the ones directly involved would be the Spirius bloodline and their die-hard loyalists who follow them blindly. Anything beyond that would make secrecy impossible."
"Yes. So the handling of those magic weapons must be done in strict secrecy. They wouldn't store something that could end them if discovered in an external warehouse, either."
"I agree that there's probably a secret warehouse somewhere inside the main estate."
Anton nodded at first, then voiced his concern about the follow-up.
"But how do you plan to find it in just one night?"
"I don't know if we can find it tonight. We're just going to try. I have a knack for finding things that aren't visible to the eye."
"...Alright, fair enough. But what about infiltration? Since our investigation started, security has been tighter than usual, if anything—not looser. If we get caught, this won't end as a minor issue."
"Then we don't get caught."
Galen calmly pulled something from his pocket.
It was a scrap of black cloth. He draped it over his face like a mask.
Not satisfied with that, he took out another one and handed it to Lilia.
"Here you go, Lilia."
"I didn't think we'd actually end up doing this."
She pouted a little but obediently wrapped the black cloth around her face.
Both had come to the church secretly wearing black robes that blended into the night, and with the hoods pulled up, only their eyes peeked out—like textbook thieves or highway robbers.
"...Wait, why the hell do you carry stuff like that around?"
Anton, whose sense of disbelief had barely recovered from his runaway thoughts, asked incredulously. Galen shrugged.
"For situations like this."
"Why prepare for situations like this?!"
"Because we did, we can move right away like this."
"No..."
"Lilia and I have 'officially' never been to this city. Cover the faces, and our identities stay hidden. We won't even run into anyone in the first place."
Do all young people these days act like this? Anton's head spun.
This wasn't him being some out-of-touch old fogey. A gem mage and an archbishop going out for a masked break-in on the spot? How was that normal by any stretch?
Yet he couldn't bring himself to yell at them, not only because their statuses weren't beneath his own.
"Of course, it's not exactly honorable. I know. But isn't it better than just standing around wringing our hands?"
"A thief out to catch demons is a righteous thief!"
"Urgh."
He couldn't argue against their words.
These were people who'd come to help him—the original lead on this case—and here they were, eager to take action. What right did he have to butt in?
They weren't caring about gem mage dignity or shirking dirty work, and if that didn't earn his gratitude, he wasn't human. He was just purely worried.
"Fine. I won't stop you anymore. Just one question?"
"Go ahead."
"Hiding your identities with masks is separate, but rummaging through a warehouse means you can't let them detect an intruder at all. Do you have a way past the guards?"
"Want me to show you?"
"...Here?"
"We were planning to head out from here anyway."
Puzzled by the cryptic words, Anton followed them outside.
Aside from the lodging quarters, hardly any buildings had lights on, so the surroundings were pitch black.
Of course, as archbishop, Anton's eyesight could make out objects easily with just the faint moonlight and the sliver of light leaking from the office window.
Galen closed his eyes briefly and opened them, speaking quietly.
"No one's around..."
"No light either. Even if someone's staring at the sky, they won't notice."
Lilia added, naturally grabbing Galen's right arm and leaning into him lightly.
"I'm ready."
"Shall we go?"
Galen extended his left arm—the one not hooked with hers—toward the ground.
"[Life: Spirit: Bestow]" "[Spirit Creation]"
⟨ Spirit Creation ⟩
Anton's eyes lit up, having briefly suspected they were just showing off some lovey-dovey display.
Whiiiiiing!
As a priest, he couldn't sense mana, but he felt the wind's movement clearly. It was unmistakably artificial.
Soon, both their bodies began to float up simultaneously.
"This is...!"
"Spirits aren't exclusive to the Spirius Family."
Galen flashed a grin at the slack-jawed Anton and gave a light nod.
"If anything happens, we'll send up a big signal. If a commotion breaks out, please help."
"Y-Yeah. I'll keep an eye out."
"We'll be off then."
"See you later!"
The wind supporting them surged upward rapidly.
Anton let out a hollow chuckle as he watched them shoot up and melt into the night sky.
True to form for people who shattered common sense just by existing, even their wall-climbing method was beyond imagination. Did that count as vaulting it?
But the veteran who'd seen it all regained his composure quickly.
The young ones were working hard; an old man couldn't just sit idle.
Whether they succeeded in finding clues or botched it and caused an incident, he needed to prepare for both.
Anton got ready to head out himself.
Flying through the night sky was comfortable.
It wasn't past midsummer yet, so the night breeze up high felt pleasant, and their posture was stable—like floating gently on calm water. In the air, not underwater.
It was a spell they'd practiced multiple times during the few days of rest after crushing the sirens and sweeping the demon horde, so neither Galen nor Lilia felt anxious.
The only downside was mana consumption? It wasn't efficient enough for casual long-distance flights like riding a wyvern, nor did they have endless life mana.
But for this short distance, it was no issue at all.
The Spirius main estate and the church weren't tucked in some city corner; ignoring all roads, flying straight from above, they arrived in no time.
"Down there."
Still clinging tightly to Galen, Lilia peered at the ground and spoke.
They hadn't just played around those past few days. The idea of sneaking in to rummage wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing; they'd already simulated it.
They'd memorized the terrain around the Spirius estate during cozy nighttime strolls.
They hadn't entered the mansion itself, but they'd gotten help from the Kalia Merchant Group. They knew roughly what buildings lay inside the walls.
With her hawk-like eyes scanning from above and combining it all in her mind, Lilia successfully sketched a precise bird's-eye view.
"That must be the rear garden, that looks like a training ground, and over there is probably..."
Galen listened carefully to Lilia's explanations, pausing briefly before selecting a landing spot.
Shuuuuwung!
The wind spirit enveloped them softly and pushed downward.
No one could see them. The guards' gazes were naturally fixed outward on the walls, and even those who glanced around briefly never imagined someone invading from the sky.
Moments later, two shadows landed lightly in a pitch-dark spot with no lit buildings nearby.
"So far, so good."
Galen muttered as he dismissed the hardworking spirit back to the wind.
Water Flow Manipulation and Spiral Eddy had already scanned the area long ago. No lights, no people—so chatting was fine.
"Where to now?"
"We should check the warehouses first."
Galen whispered back to Lilia.
"Magic weapons aren't just jewelry; they come as weapons or armor too, right? And they won't have just one or two."
"Exactly."
"They couldn't display them all outside. And they wouldn't toss them in just any storage. An armory or... treasure vault seems likely."
"Treasure vault?"
"Noble families all have at least one. They collect rare items from everywhere, stored in vaults only blood kin can access. And those 'rare items' include weapons, armor, and accessories."
"Perfect for hiding them! Hmm, but even if only blood kin can enter, isn't it too obvious? They wouldn't assign blood kin for management or guards."
"Right. So either the staff are all in on it, or there's another secret space inside the vault, or maybe it's hidden somewhere else entirely."
"So, check the treasure vault first?"
"Yes. It's the least guarded."
Because if it wasn't the vault, they'd have to search personal spaces of top brass like the family head or former head—guarded by elite bodyguards like fortresses.
The treasure vault, however, was sturdy enough as a building, plastered with locks, so it needed fewer guards. In an emergency, alarms would summon reinforcements before anyone could loot it.
"Let's head that way then!"
Lilia took the lead. Galen followed stealthily.
They had no insider info on the vault's location, naturally.
But Lilia, who'd mapped it from the sky, had memorized every guard position.
Excluding those circling the outer walls, the rest guarded blood kin quarters or key facilities, obviously.
The inner guards weren't expecting stealthy intruders past the outer ones, so security was lax. Slipping through blind spots was easy.
After scurrying around diligently, they finally spotted a promising warehouse area.
Lilia hid Galen in a corner shadow, swiftly scouted stealthily, and whispered back.
"Can't sneak past the guards. Have to take someone out."
"Then the whole sneaking in was pointless."
Neither looked flustered.
They'd known this was coming.
Galen drew mana from Domain Legion.
The mana seeped quietly into the ground through his feet. A cross-section of the underground began forming in his mind.
"...Huh?"
Galen, deep in focus, tilted his head.
"What's wrong?"
"No... there's some space underground."
"A secret room?"
"It's secret since it's hidden, but... why no passage?"
"What?"
"It just feels like an isolated room. No entrance to it at all."
"...What is that? A tomb?"
"Doubt they'd build a warehouse over a tomb. Let's check it out."
The probing mana shifted purpose.
Ssssh!
An earth doll rose from the ground and sidestepped. Another emerged in its place, then stepped aside.
Each doll displaced dirt equal to its size automatically.
At a speed incomparable to shoveling, a silent tunnel bored through. Nearby guards noticed nothing.
Once the hole was big enough, Galen and Lilia entered. Dolls kept spawning, retreating, and digging ahead.
After advancing underground a bit...
Suddenly, a wooden wall appeared instead of dirt—the support for that mysterious space they'd detected.
"Someone's on the other side."
Galen whispered barely audibly. Lilia nodded understanding.
Kwajik!
She smashed through the wooden wall with her body and charged inside.
"Ack!"
The person inside got smacked by Lilia before they could react and dropped unconscious.
Or rather, it wasn't a 'person'.
"Well, now."
Galen's eyes narrowed.