Absolute Stealth

Sei was in the middle of his meal, but he used Map.

He wasn't searching for the hero. However, the hero was definitely there. He found such a place.

"Your Majesty, there's an intruder."

At Sei's sudden words, the emperor glanced at the military officer beside him. But the officer saluted and gave an answer that contradicted Sei's words.

"We haven't received any reports from anywhere."

At that response, the emperor turned his gaze to Sei.

"I don't doubt your abilities, but infiltrating this royal castle is not something easily accomplished."

"No, Your Majesty. She has been hiding in this royal castle for quite some time now. It's just that no one was able to detect her."

At Sei's words, the retainers around the emperor exchanged glances. In response, Sei paused his meal and added an explanation.

"The royal castle has a thorough security system in place through human surveillance and magical barriers. However, a Gift that deceived even a divine dragon would not have been detectable by human magic."

Yes, it was simple.

Ria had said she visited Manesh several times. And that she couldn't find the hero.

If something was impossible for the divine dragon Reiana, there was no way it would be possible for humans.

And the reason Sei noticed was, in a sense, thanks to his Map after all.

"A place in this royal castle where there's nothing."

Yes, a place where even the things that should be there couldn't be detected for some reason. A blank space.

That's where the hero with Absolute Stealth was.

When he thought about it, it was quite a reliable hiding spot.

If Absolute Stealth had abilities worthy of its name.

Inside the royal castle. A space where many people worked. A place with food, clothing, and shelter all available.

And the blank that appeared on Sei's Map.

There was nothing there.

Even the air that should definitely be there—the Map was showing that it wasn't.

"Your Majesty, please grant me permission to enter the inner palace."

That place had food, clothing, shelter—everything one needed, and it was a safe location.

A section of it was the blank shown on the Map.

 

*

 

Those permitted to enter the inner palace were limited.

Basically, the inner palace was the emperor's private space. In principle, even high officials couldn't enter.

However, the inner palace was also a strictly isolated space.

If one used Absolute Stealth, in fact, there was no safer place than this.

Even Ria probably hadn't considered that.

At Sei's explanation, the emperor nodded while looking surprised.

"If it's the inner palace, certainly, once someone got in, it would be a safe place with such a Gift."

A place where food, clothing, shelter, and even luxury were permitted.

A female knight who was probably in charge of security there had gone pale, but she bore no responsibility.

She simply had the misfortune of facing the wrong opponent.

"Your Majesty, this hero and I will head there. Please lend us one person to guide us. However, given the opponent's Gift, there will be some danger…"

"Your Majesty! Please let it be me!"

The pale-faced female knight volunteered. The emperor stroked his chin and looked at Sei's face.

"Will there be no danger?"

"The hero and I will handle any danger."

Hearing that, the emperor nodded deeply.

 

*

 

People temporarily moved away from a section of the inner palace. Then Sei used his Map to probe the area around the space where nothing existed.

There was no mistake. The hero was there.

"Please leave the rest to us."

Leaving the guiding female knight behind, Sei and Mako advanced.

Toward the space where nothing existed according to the Map, Sei called out.

"You're Kasukabe Misaki-san, right? I'm Kojima Sei, and I've come to return you to Earth. Would you please show yourself?"

"Kasukabe-chan, are you there?"

Since only Sei's Map could detect that there was "nothing" there, Mako couldn't tell anything.

There was no fluctuation of magical power, no presence. But she was definitely there.

And then what Sei felt was a movement in the air.

Sei shoved Mako aside and reflexively blocked with his gauntlet.

His eyes were closed. Because he was concentrating only on the Map, he was able to block that dagger attack.

"… How did you know?"

A voice came from the empty space.

"Because that's my Gift."

Sei shrugged, and a girl's figure appeared before him.

A girl armed with nothing but cloth clothing and a dagger.

The hero with Absolute Stealth. She had attacked Sei without even emitting killing intent.

"Kasukabe-chan, that was scary out of nowhere…"

When Mako, who had been shoved aside, complained, the hero with Absolute Stealth apologized with an awkward expression.

"Sorry about that. But someone who can see through this Gift is kind of scary, you know?"

That was understandable. When he used Identify on her now that she had revealed herself, her abilities were low.

Only the Absolute Stealth Gift had risen to Level 10.

"You didn't need to go that far to hide, the emperor had issued a proclamation to protect you…"

"Huh, what's that? I didn't know."

The inner palace. It was a world isolated from the outside.

The missing person flyers that could be seen in many places around the city apparently hadn't reached here.

Therefore, the hero with Absolute Stealth had been pointlessly putting all her effort into staying hidden.

"A-All my hardship was for nothing…"

Mako patted the shoulders of the dejected girl.

 

*

 

"I'm surprised. To think she really was in the inner palace…"

Having no choice but to deal with this situation, Sei, Mako, and the hero girl were invited to the emperor's office. Elite guards surrounded them, but they were probably meaningless.

Of course, the three of them had no intention of harming the emperor, but if she wanted to, the hero with Absolute Stealth could have killed the emperor at any time. No, she still could.

It was nearly impossible for anyone other than Sei to pinpoint her location. Perhaps in flames or rain, her form might be visible.

"Now then, regarding the punishment for this incident…"

The emperor's gaze was directed at the female knight in charge of inner palace security and the hero with Absolute Stealth.

The two of them stiffened, but the emperor spoke to them in a gentle voice.

"This is clearly an unavoidable problem. I can't hold anyone responsible for something that even the Founder couldn't detect. However, someone needs to take responsibility…"

The emperor first looked at Sei.

"Duke Pahla, I order you to take responsibility and return this hero to her original world."

This meant the hero with Absolute Stealth herself wouldn't be charged with any crime. And the female knight who was captain of the guards was given three days of confinement.

After briefly discussing the other heroes, the hero with Absolute Stealth decided to return home.

"Should I stay behind? I think this Gift would be perfect for scouting."

Hearing about the remaining heroes, she spoke anxiously.

Yes, they were dangerous. Among the heroes, they were the most specialized in combat… and even more specialized in defense.

It seemed the only way was to defeat them with a preemptive strike without giving them a moment to react.

But Mako rejected that.

"We'll try talking to them first. The gods of this world, the divine dragons, are incredibly powerful. Even the Gift of Time Stop couldn't beat them."

At Mako's words, the hero with Absolute Stealth looked surprised.

 

*

 

The hero with Absolute Stealth returned home.

With this, there were no more heroes in Ogress besides Mako. Next, they needed to head to Garhalt.

"You're leaving already?"

"Yes, Your Majesty. The two heroes in Garhalt may be dangerous."

Kukuri and the others seemed to want to do some sightseeing, but they would just have to give up on that.

"The border with Garhalt can only be crossed by taking a steep mountain road or going through a tunnel. The tunnel requires a usage permit, so I'll arrange one for you."

Thanks to the emperor's kindness, the group's travel time was greatly reduced.

 

*

 

The next morning, the group departed from Manesh.

Trains ran to the town near the border. Near that town was the Dark Labyrinth where Ria originally resided, but now it had apparently become a dragon's lair.

"If we had time, I'd like to challenge the Dark Labyrinth too…"

Sei said that, but it was clearly impossible.

The massive labyrinth that supposedly spanned 70 floors was not a dungeon for ordinary people to challenge. There was no telling how much time it would take or how dangerous it would be.

That said, the current group would probably be capable of conquering it.

Near the border town, it was the carriage's turn again for the first time in a while.

The long tunnel that pierced straight through the massive mountain range had a checkpoint at its entrance, where travel permits were being verified.

His Imperial Majesty, GJ.

The tunnel extended for several tens of kilometers and was wide enough for large carriages to pass each other.

Magical lights lined the ceiling, and there was air circulation, so they didn't feel sick.

"It lacks atmosphere, but it's quite impressive."

Kukuri murmured while driving the carriage.

They rested at night in places where the tunnel was interrupted and open to the outside, and after several days, they arrived at the exit on the Garhalt side.

There was a simple checkpoint there as well, conducting entry inspections.

"Adventurers, huh? Same as in Ogress, but the use of weapons in urban areas is prohibited. If you violate this, there's a fine, so be careful."

Since Garhalt was a nation at the forefront of magic and science, demand for magic stones and magic crystals was high, and there were apparently many adventurers and explorers.

Sei and the others had a different objective, but it was helpful that being armed wasn't a problem.

Of course, if they wanted to, they could just store their weapons in Sei's Folder.

 

*

 

From the checkpoint to the nearby town, the means of transportation was still a carriage.

Plans to lay train tracks had come up many times, but since it crossed the border, they apparently couldn't decide who would bear how much of the cost and maintenance.

The tunnel itself was created 3,000 years ago by the Demon King and Ria using magic, and the maintenance division was also decided then. Though there had been some changes, that arrangement had continued ever since.

In a world with long-lived races, the time span for doing things was also long.

From the westernmost town of Garhalt, not only regular trains but also bullet trains ran.

A bullet train that nearly crossed the entire continent. Considering the enormous size of the Garhalt Empire, such facilities were certainly necessary.

Incidentally, Ogress and Garhalt used the same currency units.

That alone showed how close these two nations were.

"Still, there are a lot of demons here."

Looking around the town, Sei noticed that demons were clearly numerous. There were a fair number of demi-humans, but he rarely saw humans.

"Originally, only demons lived in this country."

Unusually, Bungol explained. As a high orc, his ancestors apparently lived in this country.

Until 4,000 years ago, this land was inhabited by demons living separately by race.

The one who unified them and built a single great empire was the Great Demon King Ars.

Summoned from Earth, he was human yet ruled over the demons and founded this great empire in this land.

However, autonomous regions where each race predominantly lived occupied a considerable amount of territory, and only the lands where races were mixed became directly governed territories.

 

*

 

Before boarding the bullet train, the group checked the map.

The map that the Labyrinth had created and the detailed map they received from Ria.

"We need to get off once before the imperial capital."

One hero was there. Whether to call it unfortunate or not, the other hero didn't seem to be in the imperial capital either.

"A bullet train, huh～. I've never ridden one before."

Mako said something unexpected. Sei always rode one when returning to his father's family home.

"Then you might enjoy this."

Sitting in the spacious seats—perhaps sized to accommodate the larger builds of demons—the group set off on their bullet train journey.