Infiltration: The Hero's Other Long-Time Friend (3)
A hooded enigmatic figure—known simply as Chris, without a family name—was prowling the halls of the mansion.
Having circled the estate's exterior for a rough reconnaissance just moments ago, she had waited for the night to deepen further before slipping inside. With her specialty, stealth magic, she passed through everything with ridiculous ease. No one spotted her; she had infiltrated the mansion without a hitch.
But...
'It's way too easy.'
From beneath the hood, Chris scanned her surroundings with cold eyes. The corridors were bizarrely vast and unnaturally long. The mansion's interior was far larger than it appeared from outside. This inner section sprawled endlessly like a labyrinth, vast and convoluted beyond normal physical laws. It was undoubtedly a special phenomenon called 'magic', just like the spell concealing her body now. As someone highly sensitive to mana and magic, she had already discerned this from her external survey.
But...
'The security is way too lax, isn't it?'
There had been guards at the entrance, unmistakably golem types. She had evaded their sightlines by taking a wide detour around the mansion and vaulting the wall. But after that, she hadn't seen any other patrols. Even with her magic aiding the infiltration, was it possible for security to be this sloppy?
There were alarm spells to detect intruders and intricate-seeming barriers, but Chris had dismantled them with absurd ease. From her initial survey, they had looked like ironclad fortresses layered with stone walls. Yet up close, they felt more like wooden planks slapped with convincing paint—mere props to check the boxes. The eerie laxness planted a seed of unease in Chris's heart. She had pierced a gap in the magical barriers without detection and slipped through, but it felt like invisible threads of vigilance were clumsily tangled around her body.
She had infiltrated far more easily than expected, but that didn't mean she could relax. Honestly, her heart had been pounding thump-thump-thump-thump with anxiety for a while now, loud enough to be deafening... The corridors were so unnaturally quiet that the sound echoed even louder.
'My heartbeat's too damn loud. It feels like it'll burst out my ears.'
'Should I turn back...? No, no. I can't do that.'
'I have to free Emilia as soon as possible. I have to eliminate Count Melrn.'
By nature, Chris was a soft-hearted person. But through her long friendship with Emilia and Mine Hwangnyeo, she had learned that a merely tender heart couldn't achieve her goals. She steeled her faltering resolve with the courage those two had taught her. Okay. I can do this. I can do it. After all, she had made it this far undetected. Half the mission was already complete. All that remained was locating Emilia and escaping the mansion with her—
"—Ngh?!"
Pew! Something gleaming shot from beneath Chris's hood. What she had drawn from her bosom and hurled was a silver dagger.
Thuk! The flying dagger embedded itself in the heart of a shadow in the dim passageway. The mana-infused blade pierced the soft carpet and seemed to sink into the floor. But the next instant, it floated up as if shoved by the shadow... wriggling and undulating like a living creature.
"Oh my my my, I tried to watch you sneak around, but you spotted me already~."
The shadow that had repelled Chris's dagger pulsed like a living organism. And beside it, a human silhouette rose from the darkness, as if guarded by the shadow itself.
"Welcome, intruder. I am Mona, the contractor and holy slave attendant of the Master... Pleased to meet you♪"
——Succubus Mona appeared right in front of the turned-around Chris...
"Ufufu, hehe, heheheh. Nice to meet you, guest. If it's alright with you, may I guide you to a reception room to entertain you properly?"
"......"
Ignoring Mona's pointless chatter, Chris drew her favored daggers from beneath her hood—one in each hand. The mysteriously curved blades gleamed bluish in the moonlight from the window, like beasts' fangs, Mona thought, narrowing her eyes. They weren't enchanted, but she could tell they were special items forged from rare ore.
——Not an ordinary intruder. The use of such weapons, hiding with magic, dispelling Mona's detection spells... Mona was all but certain this was no average foe. Of course, she had deliberately weakened those detection spells to make them easy to break.
"......Emilia."
"Hm?"
"Is the Hero Emilia here?"
An androgynous voice that made it hard to discern the gender. At the question, Mona giggled and pressed a finger to her lips.
"The Hero, you say? Oh dear, I already ate her♪"
"Shut up. I can still sense Emilia's mana."
"......No sense of humor. And 'eat' didn't mean that kind of eating."
Mona let out a cheeky hehe. And from behind her—and behind Chris in the middle of the corridor—came the sound of clank-clank-clank-clank growing louder from afar. At Mona's command, the patrolling golems were converging on this spot.
"Tch...!"
Chris's decision was swift. With escape routes blocked fore and aft, she hurled herself at the nearest window. Crash! The glass shattered, and Chris's body soared into the air. She was on the second floor; with proper form, she could land safely in the garden below unharmed. Shake them off first, then plan the next move—
"Wha...?"
Thud!
The next moment, Chris could only land in stunned confusion. She had definitely leaped toward the outer garden. Yet she touched down on a carpeted corridor. The same corridor she had just tried to escape from. In other words, right where Mona still stood. And Mona, who had been several meters away moments ago, was now right in front of her nose...
"[Substitution Magic]. Every entrance and exit in this mansion is under my control~."
The window Chris had jumped through had temporarily linked to the one near Mona. As Chris froze in her landing stance, still processing the situation, Mona reached out toward her.
"Capture♪"
And the next instant—
Clank-rattle-rattle-rattle!
Heavy iron chains flew in from all directions, instantly wrapping and binding the hooded intruder, hoisting her into the air.
Clank clank clank clank clank clank clank clank
Even in the dead of night, the heavy clanking of armor echoed. Having summoned every patrolling golem, the corridor was deafening with the noise alone.
'Aw, did I call them for nothing?'
She had gathered the golems expecting more resistance, but the intruder fell faster than anticipated. Still, their presence had flustered the foe into following Mona's lead, so it wasn't entirely pointless.
"Alright, alright~. All done. Now, let's see that face~ Wonder if you'll be my type~?"
Mona approached the chain-bound intruder with bouncy steps. The captive twisted and writhed like a child in tantrum, trying to escape, but there was no breaking free from chains forged by Mona's spells. Mona reached for the hood and yanked it off.
Revealing the intruder's face—
"Eh?"
Mona could only gasp in shock at what lay beneath. It wasn't about attractiveness or lack thereof. There simply was no face under the hood. Just a lumpy mass of black clay, like a crude doll—
Shieeek!
'Oh crap...!'
The next instant, Mona sensed sharp killing intent, but the light was already flashing from behind. The shadows blanketing the corridor floor—where Mona had hidden moments ago. The intruder had melted into them too, and now, seizing Mona's moment of distraction, burst forth, lunging at her. The daggers in both hands reflected the magic lantern light, slashing unhesitatingly at Mona's slender neck.
Like beasts' fangs. To sever the prey's breath, the twin blades gleamed as they hurtled in...!