"Two girls?"
Cysper muttered softly from behind after hearing that, then seemed to immediately realize he was currently using Cyra's body, so he didn't say anything more.
"We're from the Cresthaven Papal Dominion..."
I glanced back at Cysper. Although he now had Cyra's appearance, he was indeed the Pope. The Pope's personal presence carries quite an impact! Unfortunately, I couldn't directly reveal that to the other party, and I didn't plan to disclose my own angel identity either. So I just gave an ambiguous answer, then asked in return, "Who are you?"
Very little information could be guessed from the other party's words, but it was certain that she was definitely not a local resident. The reason was simple - ordinary civilians wouldn't have the audacity to act like this.
"A spy sent by the True Church? Perhaps you could be of some help..."
The mysterious girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded slightly.
"Never mind who I am for now. If you truly want to investigate the situation here in Parristol, I can introduce a person for you to have a good chat with. Then you'll find out whatever you need to know. However, if you want to know any other information, I can't say too much. After all, the issues behind Parristol may not be something one or two countries can resolve..."
The other party didn't seem to doubt our identities but was still withholding something. However, judging from her words and demeanor, she didn't seem like a member of the local rebel groups either. So the only possibility left was the kingdom - perhaps she was also a spy, but from the Astralrealm Kingdom.
"This place isn't suitable for a detailed discussion. We need to go somewhere else..."
At this moment, the voices on the street were getting louder and louder. Those who had come to clear the corpses had already arrived downstairs nearby. The mysterious girl peeked down through the window, then led us towards the back of the house.
This room seemed to be a street-side shop based on the layout. The first floor was the shopfront to attract customers, while the second floor was for living quarters, similar to the small room Nicola and I rented in the capital Norvale, though it was now also vacant.
At the back of the house was a small courtyard, typically a leisure space for residents to socialize and hang laundry. The mysterious girl leapt directly from the second-floor window onto the adjacent roof next door and waited there for us.
"What should we do? Should we really go with her?"
Seeing Cysper unhesitatingly climb over the window to follow her, I hesitated for a while and immediately summarized the current situation to Mia and Reed through the Spiritual Network.
"It should be fine! If there's no unexpected situation, she's likely a kingdom's military personnel, just as you guessed earlier. You can follow along; there shouldn't be any danger. But don't be too careless either! If you notice any abnormal signs, report to us promptly!"
Reed's voice came through. But...
This is the second floor! With the enemy's identity still unclear, I naturally couldn't casually reveal my angel identity either. But without wings, is it really appropriate to climb over walls and walk on rooftops? What if I lose my footing and fall down?
For Cysper, it was no problem since the Pope's former body never had wings anyway, so maneuvering rooftops was second nature. But for a newbie like me, the distant ground below was truly daunting.
"Don't dawdle! How can you not even dare to jump this little bit? Don't tell me you haven't even reached the first rank?"
The mysterious girl looked at me standing on the windowsill for a long time without any further action, finally unable to resist muttering softly in surprise.
"Who said that? I'm coming over now!"
For a sixth-rank adventurer to be thought of as not even first rank - where could I put my face? Gritting my teeth, I climbed over and grabbed the windowsill, inching my way step-by-step until I finally made it onto the rooftop.
"Looks like you really haven't trained in martial arts. Don't tell me you're actually a mage?"
The other party sized me up and down, clicking her tongue lightly before finally turning and starting to lead the way along the rooftops.
"It's not far from here, this is the local middle-class residential area. The resistance groups rarely patrol around here."
Under the bright moonlight, I could vaguely make out that the other party looked very young, probably only in her late teens or early twenties. Her movements were also quite skilled, at least fourth or even fifth rank by my estimate.
"Be careful, don't slip!"
Cysper didn't say much more upon seeing this, only quietly reminding me from behind. Some rooftops were covered in slanted tiles, making it easy to slip. Even he couldn't be too careless walking on them. After all, with Cyra's body, the physical strength was far inferior to the Pope's original body without wings.
Walking on the rooftops avoids many detours, but our current route didn't head straight towards the city center. Along the way, we could see that patrols were not lacking on the streets below, but since most rebels weren't from formal military backgrounds, they lacked strict organizational discipline. Most of them huddled in corners slacking off, while some patrolling soldiers holding torches hadn't moved positions for a long time, clearly goofing off.
"Um...have you been to the Chromos Tower area? What's the situation like over there now?"
After hesitating for a while, I finally mustered the courage to ask this question.
"Do you know where Parristol's new king is located right now? Is he inside that tower?"
I could actually see the Chromos Tower in the city center very clearly, but I didn't dare charge over recklessly. Because apart from that tower, there were some extremely tall and magnificent buildings nearby, including one that looked very similar to a temple, with lighted lamps at the entrance and people clearly stationed there guarding it. This showed that the defensive forces around the central tower could not be underestimated.
"The Chromos Tower has been the royal residence of the Loren Dynasty for generations. Of course the royal family can only reside there. As for that new king Adrian? I've actually caught a glimpse of him from afar. Age-wise he should be around my age, but unfortunately he's clearly just a puppet figurehead put forth by the rebel groups in the end, with no real power!"
The mysterious girl leading us couldn't help but snort derisively upon hearing my words, then shook her head and sighed.
"I just didn't expect there were still living descendants of the Loren Dynasty. The forces behind Parristol are indeed not simple."
I fell silent then, as the disdainful attitude in her words was obvious. In fact, regarding this issue, I haven't figured it out myself until now, which is also one of the purposes of this journey.
"We're here!"
After walking a bit further, we arrived at a spacious courtyard area, with mostly single-story houses around. The mysterious girl leapt straight down from the rooftop to the ground below, then turned and slipped into the house underneath.
"..."
Now on the rooftop, only Cysper and I were left. We looked at each other, suddenly at a loss for what to say or do.
The reason was simple - we didn't dare jump down!
Without wings spread, angels basically have about the same physical abilities as ordinary humans. Even after rank increases that enhance physical qualities, it's at most only a slight improvement over regular people. If we jumped down directly like she did, we might not die but would likely end up crippled.
But if we revealed our wings to fly down, what if we couldn't retract them in time and the other party saw us on the ground? After working so hard to conceal our identities until now, I felt reluctant to expose them so quickly.
After all, we're committed to this act, can't half-ass it halfway through.