Entering Kalinsha castle was not difficult.

进入卡林夏城并不难。

All they had to do was hide in barrels and be smuggled in as cargo. There would be checks, of course, but there were other barrels -- eight in total -- besides the ones they had chosen to hide in, so all they had to do was let the inspectors check those instead. The fact that they could get past security with such simple precautions was due to the diverse nature of the Demihuman Alliance.

藏在桶里被当做货物搬进去就行了。雖然肯定有檢查，不过除了她们藏身之外的——总共有八个——还准备了其他桶子，只要让他们检查那些就好了。这种如同摆设一样随便就能蒙混过去的警备方式大概也跟亚人联合中多种多样的种族构成分不开吧。

The demihumans all came from different cultures and had varying social norms. If they had anything in common, it was that fighting strength meant everything. Therefore, when a powerful individual threw his weight around, he usually got it, and minor transgressions were all forgiven. To demihumans, their personal power determined their capacity for violence and in turn, their social rank. Those lower on the totem pole had no choice but to obey.

齐聚一堂的亚人们有着不同文化和常识，要说他们之间要是有共同价值观的话，那就是战斗力代表一切吧。所以强者想要硬来的话，就算多少有些不讲道理也能放过。对亚人来说自身的强大就是由暴力转化来的爵位，下位的人就只有顺从的份。

Therefore, a strong Zern could put an end to the cargo inspection by glaring at the inspectors.

所以蓝蛆的强者只要瞪眼威吓，货物检查就能基本上省略。

Eventually, there was a loud thunk as the barrels were laid on the ground.

不久之后随着咣的一声，桶被放在了地上，

After that, someone knocked on the top of the barrel.

然后上面传来了咚的一声敲击。

That was the signal that they had arrived at their destination. As planned, Neia counted out three minutes in silence as she listened to the Zern responsible for transporting them open a door and leave.

这是到达了指定地点的信号。宁亚按照计划默数三分钟，同时听到桶外负责搬运的蓝蛆打开门走了出去。

After the three minutes were up, Neia pushed up the divider above her. While the bigger pieces of raw meat did not fall when the divider tilted, the smaller chunks rained down on Neia. This barrel was constructed with a false bottom. Neia was below the divider and the fresh meat lay on top of it.

数完三分钟之后，宁亚把隔板向上推起，随着隔板的倾斜，雖然大块的生肉不会掉下来，但是小块的生肉哗啦拉掉到了宁亚身上。这个桶是二重结构的，隔板下面是宁亚，上面则装着生肉。

The reason why the barrels were filled with fresh meat and not vegetables or grain was so that they could use the scent of blood to mask Neia and CZ’s scent.

之所以装上血腥的生肉而不是蔬菜和小麦，是为了遇到嗅觉敏锐的亚人哨兵时能够掩盖宁亚和希丝的味道。

While Neia found it a little uncomfortable to be soaked in blood and juices from the meat, she still felt happy that none of the countermeasures they had prepared had been put to use.

除了被生肉——血和肉汁淋了一身这点让宁亚有些难受，做好的对策都没有用得上还是应该觉得幸运的。

Neia slowly lifted up the lid of the barrel and peered outside.

宁亚慢慢挪开桶盖向外看去。

She looked around the darkened interior of the room -- there was a faint light that might have been the glow from a magic item -- and after verifying that there was nobody around, Neia slowly climbed out of the barrel.

环视了昏暗的室内——只有一点点可能是魔法道具发出的微光——确认了没有任何人之后宁亚慢慢地从桶里爬了出来。

There were all kinds of foodstuffs and urns on the shelves of this larder. There were also many barrels like the ones which had recently been brought here.

在这个作为食品仓库的房间之中的架子上放置着各种各样的食品和壶。加上刚刚搬来的，桶也有好多个。

It took a lot of work, but she managed to climb out safely. In order to make getting back in easier, she left the divider standing inside the barrel.

费了不少功夫但还是平安爬出来之后，为了再藏进去的时候更方便就把隔板立在了桶里。

They would need to use these barrels to escape after rescuing the Zern prince.

救出蓝蛆王子之后说不定还要借助这些桶出去呢。

CZ, the other infiltrator, had just made it out of her barrel. She was shorter than Neia, so climbing out of the large barrel had been more tiresome. However, her physical abilities were far beyond those of Neia’s and even Remedios’, so she had managed to get out by herself before Neia could go over to help her.

另一个潜入者希丝也刚刚从桶里出来。她比宁亚还要矮一些，要从大桶里出来也有些吃力，但凭借那远超宁亚甚至超越蕾梅蒂欧丝的身体能力，还是在宁亚过去帮忙之前就自己爬了出来。

“CZ-san.”

「希丝小姐」

“...Hm?”

「……嗯？」

“There’s meat stuck to your hair.”

「生肉粘在头发上了」

CZ looked unhappy. While her facial expression did not change, that did not mean she had no emotions. Perhaps it was because she had been with CZ all this time or because Neia’s eyesight was excellent, or perhaps looking at the Sorcerer King’s bony features all this time had honed her ability to scrutinize others, but Neia had a rough grasp of how CZ felt.

希丝一副不高興的样子。虽说她没有什么表情变化，但是并不是没有情感。不知是因为这段时间一直跟希丝在一起呢，还是宁亚的视力比较优秀呢，亦或是一直看着魔导王那骸骨面容上的表情而提高了洞察力呢，宁亚就是能大概明白希丝的心情。

CZ fumbled around to try and get the small bits of meat out of her hair, but they were stuck to the strands on the back of her head and she could not get them out.

希丝在头上摸索着想要把肉片摘下来，但是紧粘在后面头发上的却怎么也弄不掉。

While I was told to cut my hair short because long hair could be easily grabbed in combat, it seems there are many other drawbacks to it.

（虽然被教导说是长头发在战斗中会被抓住所以短头发比较好，不过其他的不利因素也很多啊）

Neia went to CZ’s side and picked all the chunks out before tossing them into the barrel.

宁亚来到希丝身边帮她把头发上肉片全部拿下来丢进了桶里。

“...Thanks… Don’t want to infiltrate this way again.”

「…………谢谢。……再也不用这种潜入方法」

“We’ll have to do it again when we escape.”

「之後逃脱的时候还有一次呢」

“...”

「…………」

CZ looked despondently at the barrel, then pulled a towel out of nowhere to wipe herself off before handing it to Neia.

希丝绝望地看了桶一眼，凭空拿出了一条毛巾擦了擦手然后把毛巾递给了宁亚。

The moist towel had a softness and fineness which Neia had never felt before. Neia imagined that it must have been very expensive. How had she gotten her hands on something like that? Were they common in the demon world?

这条湿毛巾有着宁亚从未感受过的柔软和精细。宁亚想这个大概很贵重吧，她又是怎么弄到这种东西的呢，难道魔界这种东西很多吗？

As all these questions and more ran through her head, Neia wiped her hands that had been made sticky by the meat, and then wiped down CZ’s hair with the clean bits. While it only made her feel better, it was better than not wiping at all.

伴随着诸多疑问，宁亚擦了擦被肉弄得有些黏呼呼的手，然后用干净的部分擦了擦希丝粘过肉的头发。虽然只是心里安慰，但也比不擦好。

“...Thanks.”

「…………谢谢」

“Don’t mention it.”

「不用谢」

While Neia was doing this, CZ took out her weapon.

在宁亚这样做的同时，希丝拿出了自己的武器。

That strangely-shaped device was apparently a ranged weapon called a spell gun. It used mana to fire bullet-like bolts, and it felt like a crossbow. CZ had said something about the gunpowder not showing any signs of combustion or something, but Neia had not understood any of it, so the explanation was wasted on her.

那个有着奇怪外形的武器好像是被称为魔道鎗的远程武器。使用魔力发射出弹丸一样的箭矢，跟十字弓感觉差不多。希丝说就好像是不会燃烧的火药一样什么的，因为完全不明白所以听了也是白听。

She had wanted to test it out, but CZ refused to part with it, so CZ’s fighting ability was still an unknown. Still, she was a difficulty rating 150 demon, so Neia felt that there was nothing to worry about there.

就算想看看实际使用效果，但希丝却不被允许外出，所以希丝的战斗能力还是未知数。不过既然是难度一百五十的恶魔，宁亚就没觉得有什么好担心的。

“...Hm.”

「…………嗯」

CZ produced the Ultimate Shootingstar Super and a quiver of arrows out of nowhere like a stage magician before handing them to Neia, and in turn Neia returned her the dirty towel.

希丝好像变戏法一样用同样的方法凭空拿出了终极超级流星和箭筒交给了宁亚，宁亚则把脏毛巾还了回去。

Initially, there had been a discussion on how Neia would bring her bow along. The bow’s stave was very long, and when one added camouflage on top of that, she would not be able to close the lid on the barrel, and if the barrel were opened she would be exposed.

一开始关于宁亚要怎么把弓箭带进去还进行了讨论。弓本身就很长，再加上上面各种各样的装饰物的阻碍放进桶里的话隔板就盖不上了。要是桶子被打开就会暴露了。

While they could have let the Zern carry it in, the bow was a magnificent piece of work and it would have left an impression on others. In addition, the Zern had also refused, for fear of being drawn into all this if the rescue mission failed.

虽然也可以让蓝蛆装备，不过因为太过高级会容易给人留下印象，不愿意在救出行动失败时被牵连进去的蓝蛆拒绝了这个提案。

In the end, when everyone had told her to leave the bow behind, CZ said that she could store her weapons in a mysterious space in the air, so she could put the bow in there as well.

最后当大家倾向于把弓留下来的意见的时候，希丝说自己能将武器收纳在空中的谜之空间里，所以可以顺便带走弓。

The uneasiness of bringing a valuable item lent to her by the Sorcerer King on a mission in a dangerous place blended with the reassurance of not having to part ways with her weapon. Caught between the two emotions, Neia thanked CZ for her kindness. It would seem CZ had accepted Neia as her junior back then, and after that CZ had occasionally acted like her senior.

把向魔导王借用的重要道具带到在危险地区进行的任务所带来的不安感与可以不用跟武器分开的安心感，在两种感情的交织之中宁亚对希丝的亲切建议表示了深深的感谢。似乎就是那时宁亚明确地被希丝当做了后辈，并且之后希丝总是不时要表现出前辈的姿态。

Part of that was how Neia had to address CZ as “CZ-san”, because CZ would make a fuss if Neia did not. However, CZ was a pretty girl, and when she made a pouty face -- she could tell even though CZ did not show expressions -- Neia actually found it kind of cute.

让宁亚在对希丝的称呼后面加上「小姐」就是这其中的一环，如果宁亚没有加希丝就会一副闹别扭的样子。不过宁亚偷偷觉得美少女的希丝那闹别扭的表情——虽然没有表情但宁亚能明白——还是给人可爱的感觉居多。

After they had each readied their weapons, CZ was the first to move.

Neia pricked up her ears to listen for any movement outside the door, but there was nobody there.

“...Let’s head out.”

Time was short, so Neia nodded.

The Liberation Army was approaching Kalinsha while the operation to rescue the Zern Prince was in progress, so the battle for Kalinsha would begin soon.

1: Neia and CZ would infiltrate Kalinsha and rescue the Zern prince.

2: The Liberation Army would approach Kalinsha and begin their attack.

3: If the Zern prince was rescued, the Zern would act as a fifth column within the city walls.

4: If item 3 failed, then instead of the Zern opening the city gates and guiding the Liberation Army in, Neia and CZ would have to handle that task. However, that was far too much for them to take on, so they would only do what was within their capabilities.

Those were the key points of the battle plan.

The important thing was that if they could rescue the Zern prince, then they could count on the Liberation Army and the Zern to relieve them even if they were forced to hunker down and defend themselves. This was good for the Zern as well; if the rescue succeeded, they could release the prince after Kalinsha was taken back.

In other words, whether or not they could take Kalinsha back simply and with minimal casualties all hinged on successfully rescuing the prince.

As she felt the weight crushing down on her shoulders, Neia groaned as her tummy hurt again.

Therefore -- there was not much time. Once the Liberation Army began their attack on Kalinsha or if they were detected before that, Kalinsha’s security posture would be upgraded.

In accordance with what they had planned, CZ produced a bottle of what looked like perfume out of nowhere and sprinkled it on Neia and herself. It seemed to be some kind of consumable magic item that contained the first tier spell [Odorless]. There was not much of it, so they had to conserve it as much as possible.

。

CZ cracked open the door, peered around outside, and then slipped out.

They had selected their route and decided on how to deal with various situations after consulting the map of Kalinsha, and they had already discussed what duties each of them would be handling.

Neia exited the room as well, then carefully closed the door so as not to make noise before running after CZ.

Though I’m not really helping much…

Frankly speaking, under the present circumstances Neia was nothing more than a burden. That much was instantly clear when one looked at CZ’s running stride. She ran like her father moved through the woods -- no, she was far better, being both swift and silent. She was definitely using some kind of technique there..

She’s a demon, but she uses techniques like a human… It’s always the ones you can’t judge by their appearances which are the scariest, huh?

While they could have left everything to CZ, Neia’s presence was both to keep an eye on CZ and also to ensure that it was a joint effort between the Sorcerous Kingdom’s CZ -- assuming she was truly bound to the Sorcerer King -- and the Holy Kingdom’s Neia that rescued the prince. That way, the Holy Kingdom could act like they had contributed to it.

The passages were dark. It was night-time. Moonlight streamed in through the windows -- or rather, the only thing which entered was the moonlight. There were no other sources of light here, no magical illumination or torches.

This was because many demihumans were indifferent to the darkness. However, there were different degrees of being able to see in the darkness. While some species had complete darkvision, most of them simply had superior night vision. Therefore, Neia and CZ avoided the moonlight and slunk from shadow to shadow.

As a human being, Neia had to focus herself and sharpen her senses. Not only could she not see clearly due to the darkness, the patrolling guards did not carry light sources either, so she could not spot them from afar.

While she did not quite understand why the larder had lights, that was probably for the sake of those species who lacked darkvision.

The two of them kept their footfalls as quiet as possible while they ran through the castle towards their destination.

Considering CZ’s physical attributes were far superior than Remedios’, even a pace which left Neia panting and barely able to keep up was probably slower than a jog to CZ.

They occasionally spotted demihuman guards, which was their cue to hold their breath and quietly wait for the opposition to move on. They could not kill them, because that would mean having to take care of the corpses and hide their traces. Since they were in the midst of the enemy, it would be best not to be spotted at all until the rescue was a success.

Fortunately, Neia and CZ were not spotted, and they continued forward.

There were few guards within the castle thanks to most of the personnel being assigned to the walls and the watchtowers, as well as the city’s prisons. The Sorcerer King had killed a great deal of demihumans, which meant that they could not set up a tight security net. Thus, vigilance within the castle had grown lax, according to the Zern.

The reason why they could proceed safely was because the Zern had reconnoitered the area ahead of time and made nearly-perfect preparations, but Neia still felt a twinge of uneasiness.

There were two challenges in their way.

The first was the long passageway they had to traverse in order to reach the tower.

The second was the bridge to the tower -- the aerial walkway.

There were no hiding places there, and obviously there would be sentries standing watch as well, not just one guard, but several of them. In addition, at least one of them would be stationed out of the line of fire for ranged weapons because they were on guard against ranged attacks,

While they had discussed the matter in a big group in front of Gustav’s map, they would still have to pass through both these places in order to reach the tower.

If we could use [Invisibility] to deceive their eyesight and [Silence] from the priests to deceive their hearing, we would be able to infiltrate perfectly… that’s why adventurers -- who form groups that can take on all kinds of situations -- are so highly-valued.

Eventually, the two of them reached their objective.

This was the first challenge, the long passageway. If they tried to run straight down it, they would be spotted before they could cover the distance. In order to avoid that, they needed to reach a location where they could execute ranged attacks while not being spotted by the opposition.

That was why they had come here, the level above the long passage, the room directly above where the guards were stationed.

If they lowered a rope from here and rappelled down the outer walls, they could take a shortcut without being detected.

“...Is this the place?”

In response to CZ’s question, Neia consulted the map in her head and the route they had taken, and nodded a yes.

“...Hm. Not bad.”

CZ’s reply sounded like she was praising a junior, and then she pressed her ear to the door. Then, she quickly and silently opened it.

While the room was filled with various sundry items, it looked like it had not been used in a long time, and there was a white layer of dust on the ground. However, there were traces that the Zern scouts had been here. They had moved between the window and a very large shelf.

CZ produced a rope out of nowhere. It was the same color as the castle wall.

After that, she secured it to the large shelf. She used all her strength to tug on it to see if it could take the weight of Neia and herself, but it did not budge, and it showed no signs of fraying.

The size --and weight -- of the shelf was a factor, but the web-like strands stuck to the shelves was probably more important. The Zern who had come to this room beforehand had fixed it in place with sticky threads taken from the Spidans.

The window opened easily, and CZ looked at the city walls outside. After verifying that there were no patrolling guards in sight, CZ slung her weapon onto her back and said, “I’ll go first.”

She threw herself out of the window and slid down the rope to the window below.

She took her weight on one hand and used the other to push open the next window, which opened easily. That too had been the work of the Zern.

CZ then slid inside. Her skilful movements had only taken a few seconds.

After confirming that the room below was safe, CZ poked her face out and beckoned to Neia.

Neia grabbed the rope and leaned out of the window.

While the window on the floor below was only four meters away, they were now over 100 meters off the ground. If Neia fell, she would go SPLAT. No, it would be worse if she did not die. She would surely be tortured until she gave up what she knew and then she would be killed. Falling to her death would be a merciful alternative.

The rope had evenly spaced knots along its length -- handholds, in other words -- and there had been no problems during the several practice sessions they had conducted. However, training felt completely different from the real thing.

Ahh, I really don’t want to go…

But she had no choice. If only there was something like a balcony that she could just jump down on--

Neia gripped the rope tightly as she pushed her entire body out of the window. She crossed her legs to firmly clasp the rope between her thighs.

After this, all she had to do was descend slowly.

The ground’s just a little lower. The ground’s just a little lower.

She slowly went down the rope, reminding herself not to look down over and over again.

She shifted her weight from her right hand, and then to the left, just what like she had practiced. The wind blew and made her body shake at an intensity that could not be compared to training at all.

Come on, come on, come on, me! CZ should have been more scared than this!

The window was open because of the Zerns’ help.

However, if someone had locked the window after the Zerns opened it, then CZ would have had to climb back up. With that in mind, Neia -- who only needed to make a single trip -- had it easy in comparison.

She finally approached the window, and CZ reached out to grab Neia’s body. Thus, she pulled Neia in with incredible strength.

“Thank, thank you.”

“...Mm. But, too long… I’m taking it in, hold this.”

“Yes.”

CZ leaned out of the window and raised her magic gun. Neia held the rope as indicated. There was a pop-hiss of expelled air and Neia felt a force tugging on the rope. CZ had cut it with her weapon.

She pulled the severed rope back into the room and dumped it in the corner. They would not be using this route on the way back, so she had pulled it back in rather than let it dangle freely, but there were merits and drawbacks to that.

The merit was that it minimized the risk of being spotted by the sentries on the walls.

The drawback was that if anything happened and they could not exfiltrate by their planned route, they would not be able to climb to the upper floor with this rope.

In the end, the two of them had decided that the drawbacks of being spotted outweighed the merits.

“It’s done, CZ-san. Next we need to get past the first obstacle…”

“...Mm. Let’s go… got to kill them. Can you do it?”

“Mm. I think I can.”

Once they stepped out of this room, they would be in a position to shoot the sentries stationed along the passage.

If they could not kill them before they raised the alarm, all their effort would be wasted.

Neia took out her bow and nocked an arrow. CZ raised her magic gun as well.

“I’ll take the right, you take the left, CZ-san.”

CZ formed a circle with her thumb and her index finger.

The two of them exchanged looks, and then CZ pushed open the door.

Neia made eye contact with a nearby -- about 1.5 meters away -- demihuman. He did not know what was going on or who they were. The demihuman was so surprised that he could not parse the situation, but Neia did not hesitate and put an arrow into him.

With a katsun, the arrow pierced his skull through the forehead.

飕地朝额头刺去的箭矢轻易的就贯穿了头部。

I did it!

（成功了！）

While Neia’s skills had played a part, most of the work had been done by the Ultimate Shootingstar Super™.

虽然也有宁亚的技术成分在，但大部分还是托了终极超级流星的福。

Thank you, Your Majesty!

（感谢您，魔导王陛下！）

Just as Neia’s arrow pierced the demihuman through the head, CZ’s spell gun blew off half of the other demihuman’s head.

在宁亚的箭贯穿亚人的头的同时，希丝的魔鎗将另外一匹亚人的头轰飞了一半。

The demihumans made more noise than she expected when they collapsed. Neia hurriedly pricked up her ears. Fortunately, she could not hear anyone running towards this place. It would seem nobody had spotted them yet.

亚人倒了下来，发出了比想象中还大的声响。宁亚急忙竖起耳朵。幸运的是没有朝这里跑过来的声音。看来还没有人察觉到的样子。

“...Hurry.”

「…………快点」

They had already assigned their tasks beforehand. As CZ dragged the corpses into the room they had just entered with the rope, Neia used the smell-clearing item CZ had lent her. After that, she reached for the waterskin on her belt and poured the powerful wine within all over the place, washing away the chunks of meat, brains, skull and bloodstains on the ground. As the stench of alcohol filled the air, CZ emerged from the room, then produced an empty wine jug and poured a little bit of the jug’s wine inside before quietly ripping it up and leaving it in place.

任务分配早已经决定好了。在希丝将尸体放到刚刚——用绳子降下来的房间里收拾好的期间，宁亚使用从希丝那里借来的除臭道具。之后，把装在腰间的水袋里的烈酒洒得到处都是，擦拭掉飞散在地上的肉片、脑浆、头盖骨和血迹。在强烈的酒气充满在四周时，从房间里出来，希丝再度从神秘空间拿出空空的酒瓮并将水袋里的酒倒一点在里面，然后安静的弄碎后放在那里。

“...Let’s go.”

「…………走吧」

“Yes.”

「是」

While they had tried to cover it up, it was very likely that the next shift would sense something was up when they came to take over. She would be able to relax if they could put the bodies into CZ’s mysterious pocket dimension, but CZ said that she would not do so, thus they left the corpses in the room. Of course, they had made preparations there too, but there was no way to make sure that they would not be found.

虽然动了手脚，但在看守换班的时候很有可能会觉得不对劲。要是尸体也收进希丝的神秘空间就多少能轻松点了，不过希丝说不会那么做，所以尸体就放在那个房间里了。当然那边也做了手脚，不过无法断言说绝对不会被发现。

They had to assume that they did not have the luxury of ample time.

应该要认为时间没有多充裕。

They finally reached the second obstacle, the aerial walkway. Of the several scenarios they had come up with, this was the closest to being ideal. They still had time and nobody had spotted them yet.

终于到达第二个难关的天空道路。这是在设想好的几个状况中最接近理想的一个。时间还很够，也没有被谁发现。

“...It’s a race against time now.”

「…………现在开始就是和时间的赛跑」

“I know. If I slip, don’t worry about me.”

The path from the castle to the tower was roughly two people wide.

「我知道。如果我不小心打滑的话，不要理我也没关系」从城堡到塔之间的道路大概有两个人的宽度。

There were no walls on either side -- it was open to the air. Apparently several people had fallen off the side before, and after seeing this, all she could think of was that it was only to be expected.

左右没有墙壁，是露天的。似乎有好几个人掉下去过的样子，看到过这个景象只会觉得是理所当然的。

This aerial walkway was the reason why this place was the final redoubt when engaging invaders during a siege.

这个天空道路是守城战时迎击敌人的最后堡垒的理由就是这个。

A large force could not pass through here, so an advantage in numbers would be nullified. At the same time, there was also the risk of falling. If there was a spear line at the end of the path, breaking through would be very difficult. This design was the kind that attackers hated. One would need magic casters with attack spells like [Fireball] to take it down.

让大军无法通过而将数量的优势无效化，同时还有掉落的危险性。在道路终点让持盾的长枪兵组成战列的话，要突破就会很困难，是对进攻方来说是相当讨厌的构造。有了会使用<火球>[Fireball]之类的攻击魔法的魔法咏唱者[MagjicCaster]之后方才能够攻略吧。

Using ranged weapons for a sustained attack was disadvantageous for Neia’s side, which was operating stealthily and under time constraints. Therefore, all they could do was charge into close range and finish off the enemy, while the enemy could hit them with ranged weapons and they did not have the benefit of cover.

用远程武器连续进行攻击，这对隐密行动且有时间限制的我方不利。因此在这个危险的地方里，只能在敌人飞过来的远距离攻击中进行突击，到无法利用掩盖物的近距离里解决对方。

In that case, they would need to close the gap before the sentries spotted them. But at a closer look, the path was uneven. It was designed to slow down anyone trying to run across and force them to slip and fall off the sides.

那样的话，在尖塔入口那里的岗哨的警卫兵发现之前，必须尽可能赶快拉近距离。但仔细一看，道路是凹凸不平的，这是意图拖延冲过去的人的脚步，并且让人有机会绊倒掉到下面去。

This is dangerous… if an enemy runs into me and grabs me... I’ll fall off and die. If I’m not careful…!

（好危险啊……。要是敌人撞过来，紧紧抱住的话……就会掉下去死掉了吧……。不注意点的话！）

After screwing up her determination, Neia realised CZ was staring at her. Although they were of the same sex, being stared at by CZ, the doll-like beauty, made Neia a little embarrassed.

下定决心的宁亚留意到希丝正盯着自己看的事。被如同人偶般端正的希丝凝视，虽然是同性却不知为何害羞起来。

“W-what?”

「什、什么？」

“...Using it… Neia, wait here.”

「…………要用。……宁亚，在这里等」

“Eh?”

「欸？」

“...I’ll take care of the door guards. No matter what happens, don’t come out.”

「…………我来处理入口的警卫兵。发生什么都不要出来」

“--Eh?”

「──欸？」

Before she could get an answer, CZ vanished.

在回答之前，希丝就消失了。

She had disappeared. This was not some super high-speed movement. CZ had been standing here until just now and then she had vanished into the air like she had been an illusion.

是消失了。不像是用超高速度移动的样子。刚刚还在这里的希丝简直如同幻影一般溶入空气中消失不见。

A wave of confusion assaulted Neia. However, CZ had already told her to wait, so she ought to stay here and wait.

混乱感向宁亚袭来。但是，希丝都那么说了，那就应该相信她在这里等着。

Neia concealed herself at the entrance to the aerial walkway and listened carefully to the tower and the path behind her for anything out of the ordinary.

宁亚隐藏在天空道路的入口，竖起耳朵倾听尖塔和自己的身后──过来的路──有没有什么发生什么异常。

Several seconds later -- something happened at the guard post.

数秒过后──岗哨出现了动静。

She heard a scream and then the sound of a guard collapsing.

可以听到悲鸣和警卫兵倒下的声音。

Neia poked her face out to see what was going on and saw CZ emerge from the guard post. CZ waved to beckon Neia over.

为了察看状况而探出脸来的宁亚看到希丝从岗哨中出现。希丝朝着宁亚招手叫她过来过来。

As Neia began to panic and wonder what was happening, CZ’s waving gesture grew larger, until her entire body was moving.

像是要让愕然的想着发生了什么的宁亚着急，招手的动作变大，现在已经变成全身都在动。

Could she not go, now that CZ had done that much?

都做到这样了就不能不去了吧。

Neia bent low, then ran across the windswept, frightening aerial walkway as she paid attention to her footing.

在吹着风相当可怕的天空道路上，压低身子的宁亚注意着脚边冲过去。

After she was across, she could smell blood from the guard post. Several dead demihumans lay on the ground, and CZ stood inside, with her usual blank expression. She held what looked like a very sharp and large knife in her right hand. The blade was smeared bright red, and she had her spell gun in her left hand.

去到之后，岗哨传来了血腥味。几个断了气的亚人们倒在地上，和往常一样毫无表情的希丝就站在那里。右手拿着把看起来很锐利的大型匕首，刀身上被染得鲜红，左手则拿着魔鎗。

“...Clear. Move in.”

「…………镇压[Clear]。前进。」

“Eh, eh…”

「欸，欸欸。」

“...Can’t disappear any more today.Be careful.”

「…………今天已经不能再消失了。要注意行动。」

“Got it.”

「我知道了。」

It would seem there was no need to explain, so Neia did not ask, but merely followed behind her.