Damn, is this how you treat people?
Histori wordlessly hooked her arms under Amir’s armpits and began carrying her, flying swiftly from the corner of Vulcania’s city toward the Great Forging Assembly at the very top.
“The current altitude still isn’t high enough; there’s a risk of being spotted. Can you fly a bit higher?”
Amir calmly assessed the distance between them and the ground, then issued an order to the person in front of her—
“Also, ahead, veer slightly to the right front. Otherwise, we might get caught in a searchlight.”
“Hero, I’m already trying my best to fly high. I’ve never flown with someone else before.”
“Hmm, but this shouldn’t be your first time, right?”
“…”
Before Histori could accidentally drop the Hero into the magma from a trembling hand, Amir continued—
“Since you were able to bring me back up to such high ground at the cliff, then gaining a little more altitude should be quite easy for you. Believe in yourself.”
“O-okay.”
Damn Amir, she even brought that up…
At this point, Histori felt too embarrassed to say anything rude to Amir.
She silently gritted her teeth and spread her wings to their fullest extent.
“Hero, how does this altitude feel now?”
“That’s about right. Be careful not to make any sound. I remember there are a few sentry posts around here. Even though they probably can’t see us, it wouldn’t be good if they heard us.”
Thus, under Amir’s direction, Histori carried her at an altitude of at least twenty meters above the ground, darting through gaps between buildings, swiftly approaching the Great Forging Assembly undetected.
Baron was absolutely right. For that so-called Great Forging Festival, they had indeed tightened security to the highest level.
Looking down from above, the entire Great Forging Assembly resembled a heavily guarded steel fortress.
Many patrollers held high torches, their flames casting layered, overlapping shadows on the walls behind them.
As for the places humans wouldn’t notice, they were filled with all sorts of unknown mechanical traps and alarm devices emitting faint red lights.
“Lady Amir, we’re almost at the Great Forging Assembly ahead. However, the ground below doesn’t seem to have any landing spots. What should we do next?”
“There appears to be a ventilation window on the side wall of the Great Forging Assembly. If we’re careful, we should be able to land there without making a sound.”
Amir pulled out a rope with an iron hook from the side of her thigh and said calmly to Histori—
“But before that, take a deep breath, relax a little, and get ready to jump down with me.”
“Huh? Jump down? Now?”
Histori’s eyes widened in surprise—
“But we still have some distance to the window of the Great Forging Assembly…”
“Now, Histori. Fold your wings. No matter what happens next, absolutely do not make a sound or move around.”
Before Histori could process what Amir meant, Amir suddenly flipped over from beneath Histori, swapping their positions.
The next second, Amir’s figure vanished from Histori’s sight.
A strong sense of weightlessness instantly seized Histori’s heart.
A fierce wind howled past her ears, and the stone pavement below rapidly expanded in her vision.
“…Wah!?”
“—Shh.”
Just as Histori instinctively closed her eyes and was about to let out an uncontrollable scream, a slender finger slowly extended from the shadows, lightly covering Histori’s lips.
The next moment, a viscous, dense force supported Histori’s body.
“…?”
Histori slowly opened her eyes and found she hadn’t crashed to the ground but was instead cradled in Amir’s arms.
“…Lady Amir, that just now, was…”
“Shh, not a sound yet.”
Amir’s face appeared in the shadows for only an instant before dissolving back into a dense mass of darkness.
Histori was carried through the air like a ragdoll by that mass of shadow, swiftly sliding forward by Amir, skimming close to the ground.
She moved like a shark gliding through the deep sea.
The heavily guarded patrols ahead now seemed full of holes.
Whether it was the sentry posts, gates, or alarms, they all seemed to become blank paper before Amir.
All she had to do was cut a straight line through that paper like a pair of scissors.
Whoosh—
After rushing to the vicinity of the Great Forging Assembly’s wall in this bizarre manner, Amir, holding Histori by the collar, continued vertically up the wall and casually tossed the grappling hook into the darkness above.
Clang.
“…What was that sound!?”
The patrol below immediately raised their searchlight at the moment the hook caught the window, sweeping it around a few times.
Unfortunately, they saw nothing, only two birds perched on the high window, lazily flapping their wings.
“What’s wrong? Intruders?”
“No, just a few dumb birds hitting the wall. Let’s continue.”
“…”
Held by the collar by Amir and hidden beside the window, Histori silently patted her chest and let out a big sigh.
…This is too absurd. Is this also one of the Hero’s abilities?
Somehow, I feel like this ability to run invisibly through the night would be more fitting for me?
“We’re here.”
Amir gently patted her hand, fully reappearing from the shadows.
Her voice still sounded as calm as ever.
Shaking her head slightly to ease the dizziness, Histori looked around.
They were on a thick brass pipe, not too high up, only about ten meters from the ground.
As for the area they were in now, it seemed closer to the so-called core area, because directly below them were storage areas for forged items, with glass cases containing various weapons and armor that looked quite high-end.
Hmm, since this is a storage area for forged items, then the place storing the Sacred Artifact should also be nearby, right?
However, when Histori looked carefully around, she found that this place, which should have had guards every five steps and sentries every ten, was surprisingly empty.
Only two Dwarf guards proved there were still living people here.
Living people, yes, but…
“…Snore, snore snore snore snore snore…”
One guard’s snoring was as loud as a bellows.
The other guard was still awake, but he was just squatting on the ground, carving a crooked turtle into the floor tiles with an engraving knife.
It wasn’t just full of holes; it looked like they’d found two idiots to guard the door.
“…”
Histori silently looked up and exchanged a glance with Amir.
…Is…
Is this a trap?