I stroll out of the inn with a few more copper coins in the pouch. I achieved the information I needed. I had no business staying there any longer.
I'm feeling tired.
The journey on the road of Muri was certainly long and tiring. I need to get some rest and recover my energy as well as my mana to continue with my plans. There is no good in rushing things. If I get caught by the guards traveling to the castle right now, I might as well die.
So, the first thing I do after exiting the inn is find some lodgings to spend the nights here.
Not long ahead of the road, I come to a halt near a place named "Hollow Lodgings." Outwardly, it looks as if it is a haunted house. A blue fire glows within it, flashing upon the windows.
People are going in and out of it constantly.
"One night for one person: 3 Silver Coins!" That's what the advertisement board reads outside of the Hollow Lodgings.
"Seems cheap," I say to myself, entering the building.
On the counter is a gloomy lady, her eyes devoid of life. She's tall, in a pale dress that makes her look like a ghost. Her hair is a mess, and she has dark eyeliner under her eyes. She's not a very pleasant sight, all in all, but what am I expecting from a lodging named "The Hollow Lodgings?"
"Can I get a room for one? For one night." I ask her.
"Three silver coins." She replies, putting out her hand.
Her reply is robotic. No emotions behind her voice.
I grab three silver coins from my pouch and place them on her hand.
Without a word of gratitude, she places the card for the room in my hand. "Room No. 4, second floor."
I take my leave from the counter just like that.
Moans fill the hallways as I move up the creaky stairs. Murmurs fill the walls, otherworldly murmurs. The lights inside the lodgings aren't the usual flames. They are blue, leaving an eerie feeling to the entire building.
'Maybe this is one of those places where it's run by the undead ghosts. The room service is ghosts. The manager is a necromancer who keeps working the life out of the undead. This must be something like that,' I assume, walking up the staircase.
///
No matter how many screams of love escaped through the walls to mine, I slept well in the night. Elves are very sleepy creatures, in truth.
Whenever we are tired, nothing stops us from having the sweet slumber we deserve. I'm no exception.
Earlier that morning, I had woken up to write the planned letter to this princess I am going to sleep with.
Girls have hearts. All humans do. And that is why a person is emotionally fickle. I've lived well past three centuries in this undying world. Technologies had developed, magic reigns supreme, and I've warmed the bed of plenty of women. Even I had fallen in love once when my heart was fickle.
No longer. Not anymore.
From the limited information I have gathered from the talk with the two strangers in the inn, I've concluded that this princess is slightly delusional. Maybe, not slightly. But entirely.
So, I must be a delusional man to fit right in with her, just like the strangers suggested.
That's why I wrote this letter in the early morning with only the light of the lamp on my desk.
I pocket the letter into my trousers and grab the white cloak I kept hanging on a hook in the wall.
"Cloak of Synthia, rise to your shadow form." I cast the spell upon it, and shadows emerge from the white fabric, gradually shifting its color to an eldritch dark.
I carry this cloak with me everywhere for this reason. And I've always valued this cloak like it's another life form. It's a level 30 cloak that I came across while exploring deep within the dungeons.
Then, I walk to the windows and open them wide.
The sun has not yet risen. The skies were dark; dawn was yet to arrive.
I climb up to my window sill and gaze at the city streets. Most of the street is asleep. The street lights flicker with a gloomy and unsatisfying feeling to it.
"Perfect," I murmur to myself, seeing the state of the city. There is no better time to hide in the shadows than the periods untouched by light.
Along the building wall, I crawl to the highest point of the roof, leaping from one window sill to another. My hands, trained. My movements, swift.
At the highest point of the roof, I perch like a bird, my cape flowing in the wind. I draw my hood, concealing my face.
Leaping from one roof to another is certainly more entertaining than simply running along the dark streets like a thief. It's more reassuring this way, with the winds of the higher points pushing you along the way. It'll be a hassle for a guard to catch me.
Leaping from one roof to another, silent as a mouse crawling along the walls of a house without a squeak, I reach closer and closer to the castle in the distance.
Magnificent pale and blue towers rule the skies of Muri. Moreover, there is a wall just like the one surrounding the city of Muri around the castle also. Climbing along it would not even be possible.
At the very top of the tallest tower, where it is rumored the princess lives, is an ethereal orb with golden rings spinning around it. That must be the source of all mana to the castle and the city. I can sense more mana from it than a boss in an S-rank Dungeon.
By Dawn, I perch on the rooftop of some building right beside the walls of the castle.
Magi Knights, tall, in mana-powered silver armor crawl in the streets, holding spears and swords.
Gladly, none have noticed me. It's a Level 30 [Cloak of Synthia] I am wearing. It increases my stealth stats threefold.
However, even this cloak will not be stealthy enough to let me climb over those gigantic pale walls.
I'm always ready for anything. I know what I do, where I am going. That's why I always carry so many potions with me.
I grab a small glass tube that contains a transparent portion from underneath my cloak.
[Lvl 10: Invisibility Portion] The system materializes the name tag above the object.
"Show me the abilities of the portion, system," I order, and the abilities of it pop up in my system.
[Invisibility Portion: Description]
Lvl. 10
Allows you to be transparent for 20 minutes with one drop
Cannot be tracked by magic circles
"Hm, perfect."
I put a drop from the invisibility portion to my tongue, and my body turns invisible right at that moment.
No one can spot me now. I'm safe, for twenty minutes.
"Wind Mount." I cast another spell, leaping into the air. Wind mount allows me to ride the wind, which can easily throw me over the wall. As a mage, I have my advantages.
The sudden change of wind alarms the knights below as a shivering cold mist pasts by them. They look around each other to find the apparition, but I'm invisible now.
They can't even catch a glimpse of me.
I step onto the very peak of the wall. Right beside me is a Magi Knight who's staring into the distance from the top of the wall, standing there like a statue. No movement at all. Simply, a frozen knight that'll move when an intruder is spotted.
Of course, he cannot see me.
Then, I turn my gaze to the castle.
Magic drones float everywhere in the air, scanning every inch of the castle.
Hundreds of knights crawl across the alleys, even more than the number of knights outside the wall. It's like another city down there. Even a mana dragon is flying around within the walls, searching for any intruder who uses mana to hide themselves.
This crowd of knights.
This is way too much, even for a mage like me.
'Another day,' I think to myself, leaping off the top of the wall back into the skies above the city. 'I'm not stupid to face that.'