Chapter 99
[Alexander: We have a problem. A group of main palace guards is headed your way right now. What should I do now?]
It took some time for the message to sink into Aurora’s mind but she was quick enough to take action.
“Change in plans. We need to look for a safe place. Natasha, we must also find a way to smuggle you out of the Northern Republic.”
This might be a dumb idea when you look at the state of affairs. Smuggling a run-away princess out of her country was calling for trouble.
Especially when the smugglers were people without any official recognition,
Oh sure, on paper the Northern Republic was being all friendly and caring toward Rocx Academy but anyone could tell that they did not care about the connection being made here.
Aurora could not help but feel like she had stepped into a well-crafted trap. But she had no idea who had laid out this trap.
“By the way, why were you so quick to trust us, Natasha? I never asked before but you seemed to have no problem following us around. You didn’t even doubt us once.”
That was a good question Rita asked. In all the excitement, Aurora had forgotten that their trio had been strangers when they first met Natasha.
“Oh. that’s because Lord Karan vouched for you. He was the one who wanted me to go and study in your academy. I guess I instinctively trusted his words.”
“Karan? How dare he not inform us that he is involved. I’m going to kill him the next time I see him.”
Aurora could already imagine the sheepish smile of the other god inside her mind. It was irritating to know that he played her like this.
But now that Aurora knew that Karan was behind this plan, she could also relax a little. That god was someone Aurora did not need to take care of at least.
Besides, there was a chance that Karan did this to help Aurora out. She might not be able to see the full picture right now but the benefit must be there.
“Anyway, we’ll need to think of a way to get out of Northern Republic without using the train. The only other way to cross the bridge would be through the abyss.”
That was going to be a problem for Aurora. Now that she had said it out loud, she could spot the problem.
Had it only been her and Rita, Aurora might have taken the risk of traveling through the abyss. But taking the untrained Northern Princess through the abyss was a no-go.
Especially when you look at the condition of the abyss below.
It was not the first floor or even the fifth. The abyss below the Northern Republic was a part of the deeper abyss. Somewhere between levels 6-10. This was not safe to travel for a kid.
“I have another idea. There are some mecha suits prepared by the Northern Republic. They had not been made public yet but I think the guards said that they can travel across the bridge. If we can get our hands on one, then we can travel across the bridge without taking the train.”
“Is that even possible?”
“No, it should be possible. Natasha, you gave us some very fortunate news.”
Aurora had not spoken up about this possibility because she had not been sure when the original prototype for the ‘power-suit’ had been developed.
The normal mecha used by the Northern Republic was only capable of short-distance travel and had more firepower.
But in the future, they had developed a fast-traveling suit that reduced the time needed o cross the connection bridge.
It seemed like the prototype has already been made by this time.
“Do you know where the mecha suit is being kept?”
Aurora had a few ideas about the possible location. But none she was confident about. It would be better for her to cross-check where the suit was before taking any action.
“It should be in the royal palace. I am not sure where exactly it is being kept though. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be sorry. We can look for it once we break inside the royal palace. You have nothing to be sorry about.”
Natasha had helped the pair out a lot. And it was time for Aurora to play her part and break into the royal palace.
[Aurora: Lose the people tailing you and head toward the royal palace. I will send you the details about what we need to do.]
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[Aurora: Lose the people tailing you and head toward the royal palace. I will send you the details about what we need to do.]
Alexander was hiding his presence when the message broke his concentration. He wanted to curse at the sender but it was too late for him to do so.
“I heard a noise. I think he is hiding this way.”
Alexander pressed his back against the wall and cursed the soldiers tailing him. Why did they have to be so persistent?
Alexander had taken care of the stalkers as soon as possible but he had made a mistake and one of the stalkers had gotten time to send an emergency beacon.
It would not have been a big deal had it not been for the royal guards. It seemed like the royal guards were the ones stalking them.
And now Alexander had a bigger problem on his hand.
‘Head to the royal palace, she says. It’s easy for Aurora to do this since she doesn’t have people after her.’
Even though Alexander complained about the task, he knew that he would follow the orders.
Mainly because the royal palace was the best place to hide for someone like him. The guards would not be able to imagine him hiding away in their stronghold.
Besides, the news of the new mecha-suits interested him as well. He had only seen the other side use mecha-suits once but it had piqued his interest.
“Hey, I can see him. He’s there.”
“Fuck. I have no other choice now.”
Alexander cursed as he was discovered but he was not afraid. He had a last resort prepared for these kinds of situations.
“System, initiate the sleeping spell. Make it as powerful as you can”
[Order confirmed]
One by one, the royal guards fell asleep but Alexander also felt his power weakening.
A sleeping spell was a powerful tool but it took too much magic at his current level. So Alexander avoided using it as much as possible.
“Fuck you Aurora. You and your demands”
But even though Alexander complained, he knew that he would follow the goddess to the end of the world.
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“I have to ask a question. How do we get to the royal palace from here? I don’t see a way to get up that high.”
Aurora was aware of this problem even before Rita opened her mouth. The Northern Royal palace was built almost 1 km above the normal town and the only way to go in and out was through the connection bridges.
Of course, one could use flying magic and such but it was asking for trouble.
“There are a few secret ways to get into the Northern Royal Palace so we’ll have to see. The easiest way would be through the maintenance channel.”
Most Royal Palaces had a maintenance channel that could only be used by the emergency staff. But its location was hidden and the staff going in and out was not aware of where those channels were.
“But are you sure we should do this? We don’t know when the time for maintenance would come. How about an emergency exit? There should be one right?”
“W-Well, there is one but I don’t think it will help us out much.”
Natasha looked uncomfortable at Rita’s enthusiasm. But it did seem she was taking it seriously.
And Aurora had thought about the emergency exit as well but she had also discarded that idea right out of the gate.
But it seemed as if it would be their last resort to get to the palace. And the easiest one as well.
“How can we know whether it would help or not unless we try?”
“No, you don’t understand. That place is not safe at all for us to climb up through.”
Rita seemed to not want to back down and Natasha looked uncomfortable.
It was not like Aurora was not aware of why Natasha was against going in through that route but Aurora had a feeling it was about time.
“I think we should take the emergency exit as well. I have a few ideas of how we can make it work so do not worry.”
“Alright. But don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.”
Aurora knew it was going to be a long climb from here on ahead. And she hated the thought of plunging herself into that space. But for now, it was the best option they had available to them.
Regrets could come later.