The Enemy Territory

I turned to them all once again.

“I’ll go first. And no matter what the situation is, I’ll contact you.”

“So, if you don’t contact us, it’ll mean that the bracelet doesn’t work, right?”

“Exactly. And if that happens, you should destroy the magic circle immediately.”

“No, we’ll go in to help you.”

Eric insisted. I was happy to hear him say it, but it would not do.

“It could be an instant kill trap. We would all die then.”

“I see. An instant kill trap that even you can’t disarm.”

Eric did not look pleased, but Goran seemed to understand.

At least fifteen minutes had passed since the enemy came out of the magic circle.

Who knew when they would close it from the other side? I had to hurry.

And so after exchanging a few more words, I jumped through the circle.

My vision distorted and then there was a blinding light.

I was in a great hall that was brightly lit. The walls and floor were made of polished marble.

In fact, the hall was so large that a dragon like Kathe would fit inside comfortably.

There was one large door. It was also big enough for Kathe to pass through.

And there were 3 Arch Vampires standing in front of me. I quickly chopped off their heads with the Devil King sword.

As there were no other enemies in the room, I activated Magic Detection to see if there were any traps.

At the same time, I talked into my bracelet.

“I’m using Magic Detection now. But it seems to be safe here.”

‘…’

While I didn’t get an answer, I did hear some breathing.

Eric didn’t know what the situation was here.

And so they were staying quiet, just in case.

Once I was sure that there were no traps,

“Alright, it is finished. You can come out now.”

Immediately, the teleportation circle flashed, and the others arrived.

‘We don’t know if they are listening to us or not. So let’s talk with telepathy.’

‘I know. So, where are we?’

Eric scowled.

‘This great room is made of marble. Do you think it might be a palace or castle?’

‘It could be, but I don’t believe there is such a building in our kingdom…’

Eric would have known of such a grand building.

‘So, it’s a different country then?’

‘That is possible. And that would complicate things greatly.’

Eric was the king. And so his presence in other countries would result in political problems.

‘It’s an emergency, so it cannot be helped.’

‘That’s true. After all, they are the ones that attacked first.’

‘Well, I don’t see the problem. We just have to keep our identities a secret.’

Goran said with a grin.

‘Now, if this really is the vampire base, would their boss be here? Can you tell, Locke?’

Eric asked. And so I widened the area of effect for Magic Detection.

‘Let me see… They have magic protection on all of the walls, so it’s difficult to detect things.’

‘Yes, but I’m sure you can do it.’

‘That’s easy for you to say.’

Besides, if I forced it, they might detect us as well.

We had to be careful here.

The only people here who could use magic was me and Kathe. So I would have to do it.

And so I very carefully continued to use Magic Detection.

‘Well, of course, they’ve thought of that…’

‘Indeed…’

‘There was a high lord that came. And Locke killed him. There must be someone above him…’

‘I agree…’

Aside from Serulis, the others were all using Telepathy to talk to each other.

Grulf was moving around the room and sniffing.

‘Grulf, stay by my side.’

I said to Grulf as I searched. Grulf quietly returned and sat down next to me.

After a few more minutes, I was finished.

I had used both Magic Detection and Magic Exploration. And so I made a report to the others.

‘This building is incredibly large. I don’t know what kind yet, but there are a number of humanoid monsters in the area.’

‘You were able to tell how large the building is?’

I wasn’t surprised that Eric would ask that. But Magic Detection was about searching for magic energy.

It allowed me to know the number and positions of living things and magic tools, but not the size of a building.

‘They have protection on every single wall here. Thanks to that, I was able to tell the size.’

‘I see. And how strong is this magic protection?’

‘It’s quite strong. And it has a high resistance to magic and physical attacks.’

‘Are the humanoid monsters vampires?’

‘I’m using Magic Exploration right now, but it seems very likely that they are vampires.’

Kathe said as she searched the room.

‘So, how big is this building, exactly?’

‘It’s bigger than Eric’s palace.’

‘Hoho. That’s impressive.’

Just then, Grulf sniffed and started to poke my hand with his nose.

When I looked at him, he turned his head towards Kathe.

I think he was asking me why Kathe was allowed to wander around, and not him.

Well, she was much stronger, for one. And she was also a Sorcerer. That’s why it was fine.

However, perhaps it was commendable for Grulf to be concerned about a member of the pack.

And so I patted him on the head.