Chapter 96

I descended into a dark alley before I uncloaked the two of us. At this point, Oortez was just tagging along quietly. If he made a move on me, I would erase him on the spot. Even if he teleported away, I could easily track him down because a good chunk of his soul was in my possession.

"We're going to have an audience with the Hero King."

"It's not so simple like that. There are procedures you have to follow." He advised.

"Do you come here often?"

"No."

"Tell me then, how acquainted are demons with humans? It's impossible for the Hero King to not notice backdoor dealings with the demons."

In my previous world, students were all taught the dark history of our world. Tyranny, indoctrination, corruption, these tended to creep into society through agents of darkness. Unfortunately, we were not foreigners in that regard, only all too familiar. The reason was that the society I came from was a part of an interstellar civilization and it was up to everyone's due diligence that a dark history would not repeat itself. There of course were other reasons such as assessing whether "First Contact" should be initiated with another civilization.

Anyway, based on my preliminary understanding, this country had only entered the early stage of it and approaching middle stage. Someone or some group was pulling the strings.

As much as I wanted to just barge in, that action might just make the world my enemy. After all, I had to follow that annoying Edict thingy, or at least not deviate too much from it. Moreover, even if Smoothie was considered a hostage, I still needed a just mean to take her back.

"I suppose I can't be hasty in this situation."

"What will you do?" He asked as a matter of fact.

"Investigate. Of course, I can't do so in this form."

In the blink of an eye, I transformed into a beautiful young lady with platinum hair.  This hair color might be a bit rare in this country but I took pride in my celestial appearance, although adjustments had to be made this time to ensure I was adequate enough to attracting attentions. Since I planned to enter the castle openly for a chat first, my appearance had to be proper. My clothes had to change to fit my new sizes, and shoes to match. Speaking of which, I only moderately modified design of my celestial gown.

"How about it?" I asked Oortez, "This should do?"

"It is suitable." He remarked calmly.

I wonder where his impatience went?

"You seem quite relaxed?"

"What choice do I have?"

"Well said! But, think of it this way, my existence should grant you new knowledge. Wouldn't that mean something to you?"

"That is true..."

"Then you better observe me carefully."

"Fair enough. I shall oblige."

Good. I'll slowly win you over so that you'll eventually serve me. That good for nothing rabbit will regret his decision to ever mess with me.

With my hands in front of me as if holding water, I uncharacteristically chanted, "Come, thousand blossoms. The dream has come to you."

On top of my palms, a small flower with white petals, like the strawberry flower I remembered from my previous world, bloomed with astounding speed. It was not a onetime bloom, but a continuous growth that generated countless phantom petals. In merely a few seconds, I was holding a handful of soft white petals.

"Be my eyes to see and my ears to hear, now go."

A gentle breeze swiftly carried the petals away, scattering them into every corner of the human capital city.

With my evolution, [creation] was now capable of generating substance within this world, not just my subspace, albeit temporarily. They acted as my clones but no status would display because they had no true substance.  

There might only be thousands of petals scattered within this enormous city but those were enough. My range of operation was no longer restricted to one kilometer radius but tens of kilometers.

"Nothing beats a stroll. It's been too long since I've walked along humans. Let's go. I'll hide your status and change your outfit."

The people here although discriminated against beastfolks and alike, seemed to be on equal terms with reptilians of the north. I could sense many reptilians wandering the streets within the city through my surveillance network.

The buildings here were mostly constructed of wood painted with various colors. One of the standard color seemed to be beige with the other being red. The roofs were generally covered with green clay tiles which were inclined to facilitate drainage.

The majority of the people here had darker hair color with somewhat lightly tanned skin. Their attires were fairly uniformed but extremely rich in color, a sign of abundance and a developed culture. However, from my standpoint, the degree of conformity was a cause for concern.

Let's hope it's because of the festivity.

Like many festivals I was aware of, vendors and stalls provided all type of services, many in the food industry. There was one type I had been looking for since a while back.

"Do your reptilian folks enjoy festivals?"

"We do."

Everywhere we went, I could feel gazes on me. But, just as quickly, many gazes would disappear as I turned my head.

Of course, I knew who was looking my way. My surveillance network wasn't just for show. While most of the onlookers were just curious folks checking out two foreigners, a few of them were intelligence operatives camouflaged among the civilians.

With both of our statuses hidden, those who tried to check were probably thinking we were unknown heroes or those who held unique positions within the government. It likely caused a bit of confusion but no one paid too much attention, oddly enough. It was the intelligence operatives who kept their eyes on me to track our movements. One agent even decided to tail us with only a few meters between.

As expected... Can you all just hurry up and report us to the Hero King so we can all move onto the next phase? My patience isn't infinite, you know?

While browsing various shops, a few items grabbed my attention.

"I wonder if this will look nice on Smoothie?"

Right now, I didn't have any money with me to buy anything. If I created money out of thin air, that would be the same as committing fraud. Alternatively, I could replicate the item but I wasn't confidence with all the intricate details.

It really was a nice hair clip dotted with tiny purple crystals in a flower pattern.

"Dear customer, would you like to try it?"

"May I?"

"Go ahead, go ahead!"

The shop owner offered it to me with both hands.

"Oortez, can you do the honor?" I took the hairpin and casually handed it to him.

He cracked displeased smile before taking on the task.

"As you wish, milady."

He's not that bad of a person, is he? It's not because I removed that trait, is it? Perhaps the burden of knowledge had twisted his original personality. I wonder if we can get along after all?

I smiled while bemusing myself with such fleeting thoughts.

After he carefully clipped it onto my hair, the shop owner placed a handheld mirror in front of me while praising, "You look absolutely beautiful!"

It looks pretty good but it's a bit heavy. Actually, the color doesn't seem match well with Smoothie's green hair.

"Thank you."

I took it off by myself this time. The enthusiastic shop owner said, "if that one isn't satisfying, how about this one?"

The problem was that not only did I not have money, Oortez didn't have any money either. Though, even if he did carry any, it would have been lost in my subspace somewhere.

"No, I'm just browsing." I replied with a warm smile.

"I see, if you don't find any ones you like in other shops, definitely come back to my shop, okay? We take custom orders, guaranteed to satisfy your need!"

I thanked the shop owner once again before taking my leave and visiting other shops.

All the while, I did not stop surveying the entire city's every nook and crook. Nothing escaped my sight, be it underground or behind magic seals. My |void| trait could penetrate every type of obstacle known to the mortal race.

Hero King, there you are. Your intelligence network is impressive but now it is within my grasp. It's no different than my own. I've made my move. I'm waiting for you to make your move.

It was only a matter of time before I pinpointed the exactly location of Smoothie and her group. For now, I surveyed the city patiently, listening in to conversations across the city.

On a different note, I found out the reason for festivity. It seemed that a Hero King selection tournament was due. Incidentally, according to new intelligence, Oortez and I were deemed as possible candidates to partake in the Hero King selection tournament. Of course, it was all likely just a facade. There was no way for a tyrant to give up his comfortable seat.

This year, the tournament might end up quite differently than he anticipated. A secretive group, likely considered "the resistance," had snuck into the capital with plans of their own.