A Journey Unwanted

[Realm: Álfheimr]

[Location: Heart Kingdom]

[Pulchritudo]

[Banquet]

"So that’s the job done, then," Gretel mused, folding her hands behind her back as she took another slow look around the vault. Even though the lance was already gone, her silver eyes continued passing over the collection, lingering briefly on the countless treasures surrounding them. "And that was easier than I thought it would be. I was expecting considerably more trouble after seeing how much effort the Duke put into protecting this place."

Mikoto could not help but agree.

At least, partially.

His red eyes remained fixed on the vault around them, his delicate features settling into a thoughtful expression.

("I doubt Hermes was satisfied with merely adding a few more wards.") Mikoto reasoned. ("Someone like him wouldn’t respond to what happened by simply making the defenses stronger and then walking away. He knows something was taken. More importantly, he probably already knows that whoever took it understood how to get through his security.")

His gaze narrowed slightly.

("It could be that he’s watching us right now. Waiting for us to return to Goiim and waiting to see who exactly sent us here and why.")

The possibility was difficult to dismiss.

Hermes Trismegistus had not struck him as careless, nor had he seemed particularly surprised by their disappearance. If anything, the Royal Guard had been far too composed throughout the entire encounter.

("If that’s what he’s doing, then rushing back to Goiim immediately would be stupid. It might be better to stay here and wait for him to show himself.")

Mikoto’s expression remained calm.

The masked man was difficult to decipher, but one thing had already become obvious.

He was not a fool, not even remotely.

Gretel, meanwhile, continued staring at the displays before eventually turning her attention back towards Mikoto.

"But I’m curious about something," she said. "Why did Goiim specifically want a lance like that? I mean, she went through all that trouble to get it. Is she some sort of collector, or does she just have a strange taste in weapons?"

"She’s probably aware of the lance’s origin."

Mikoto’s answer came easily enough.

Since they were waiting for Hermes to make a move anyway, there was little harm in allowing a conversation to continue. More importantly, if Trismegistus really was listening, then there was some advantage in allowing Gretel’s suspicions regarding Goiim to grow.

Gretel tilted her head slightly.

"Its origin?"

"Yes." Mikoto finally looked towards her. "You have a general idea about the Angels, don’t you?"

Gretel’s brows rose somewhat.

"Just a little," she admitted. "You hear people mention them every now and then, especially when you’ve traveled as much as I have. I ran into plenty of rumors about them when I was a traveler. Stories, old accounts and religious nonsense, things like that."

She paused, thinking.

"But I never really understood them. I knew they existed—or at least that people believed they did—but I never managed to make much sense of where they actually fit into everything."

She glanced at Mikoto.

"And honestly, I didn’t expect you to bother explaining any of this to me."

There was no accusation in her voice. If anything, she sounded amused by the rarity of Mikoto willingly offering information.

Mikoto did not comment on that part.

"That lance belonged to one of them."

Gretel’s expression changed slightly.

"An Angel?"

"Yes." Mikoto’s eyes returned to the empty display. "It’s not something made for human hands. That’s why it looks so unimpressive while dormant. Its shape doesn’t tell you what it actually is." He paused briefly. "The main reason I’m telling you any of this is because you’re curious, but there’s another reason."

His gaze shifted; he did not need to extend his senses.

He was already fairly certain Trismegistus was listening.

"So understand that what you’re seeing isn’t the weapon’s true state. It’s dormant. That’s why it seems so simple."

"Huh." Gretel did not sound particularly shocked; instead, she looked thoughtful.

Mikoto noticed.

Given how little she actually knew about Angels, he had expected the revelation to carry more importance. But if her understanding of them was only surface-level, then it made sense that the information would not immediately mean much to her.

Their origins were known to exist, but knowledge of the Angels was hardly widespread. As far as Mikoto understood it, there was so far only one church in this realm that possessed anything approaching extensive knowledge about them.

"And Goiim wants something like that?" Gretel asked after a moment.

Her expression became more serious.

"Does she actually know what it is? I mean, really know. Not just that it’s some strange old weapon with a lot of power hidden inside it."

"I wouldn’t know." Mikoto’s expression remained unchanged. "That chick has her ulterior motives, after all. Whatever she knows, she clearly isn’t interested in sharing all of it with us."

Gretel’s gaze dropped slightly.

"But then..."

She hesitated.

For a moment, her eyes seemed distant as she considered the implications of what Mikoto had just told her.

"If that’s really something that belonged to an Angel, would it actually be a good idea to hand it over to her?"

Mikoto did not answer immediately.

He simply looked ahead, his small armored frame remaining perfectly still for a moment.

"Probably not."

Gretel gave him a sideways look.

"Probably?"

"Probably."

The bluntness of the answer made her sigh. "But I’m guessing we’re going to hand it over to her anyway, right?"

There was a dry quality about the way she said it, as though she already knew the answer before asking.

"That’s right." Mikoto did not even look at her. "Whatever she’s scheming, whatever she’s planning to do with it, it’s ultimately worthless."

Gretel watched him for a moment.

"If it were anyone else who had just told me they put a stolen lance into the fourth dimension and not to care about a possible betrayal, I probably would have assumed they were an idiot," Gretel admitted, her tone carrying more amusement than actual disbelief. She glanced once more at the empty display where the weapon had been, then back toward Mikoto. "I might even have questioned whether they understood what they were saying. But with you..." She gave a small shrug. "Unfortunately, I’ve already seen enough to know that saying something ridiculous doesn’t necessarily mean you’re wrong."

"Consider me deeply moved by the confidence you’ve placed in me," Mikoto replied flatly, the words so dry that they bordered on mockery. "It’s reassuring to know that, after everything you’ve seen, you’ve finally developed enough faith to accept whatever nonsense comes out of my mouth."

Gretel’s brows lifted.

"Whoa. Was that sarcasm?" she asked, putting on an exaggerated look of surprise. "You can actually be sarcastic?"

Mikoto gave her a sideways look, his expression remaining completely composed.

Gretel’s small smile lingered.

"It’s actually kind of nice seeing you express yourself this much," she admitted, her tone becoming a little more genuine beneath the teasing. "You’re usually so closed off that sometimes I wonder whether you’re even listening when people talk to you. I just wish the kids could have seen this side of you."

Her smile widened slightly.

"They would’ve loved ’Ella’ too."

Mikoto’s expression barely changed, but there was the smallest tightening around his eyes.

"I should punt you through one of these walls."

The threat was delivered so calmly that it lacked almost any genuine animosity.

Gretel merely hummed, and she did not move away. She had apparently decided that Mikoto was not actually going to follow through, or perhaps she had simply become sufficiently accustomed to his blunt threats that they no longer carried the same severity.

"Right, right," she murmured, waving the threat away with the same casualness she might use to dismiss a minor inconvenience. "I’ll keep that in mind."

Her eyes moved around the vault again.

The shattered display was still sitting exactly where Mikoto had left it. Nothing else appeared disturbed. The wards remained stable, and the room was silent.

Gretel’s expression gradually became more thoughtful.

"But I’m guessing there’s a reason we’re still lingering here." She turned her attention back toward Mikoto, studying him expectantly. "We already got what Goiim wanted. You stored the lance away, we haven’t triggered the wards, and yet we’re still standing around in the middle of the Duke’s vault instead of leaving."

Her head tilted slightly.

"So I’m guessing you noticed something."

Mikoto remained silent for a moment as his gaze shifted across the room.

("She’s surprisingly sharp.")

He did not say it aloud; instead, his red eyes narrowed slightly.

"The Royal Guard is probably watching."

Gretel’s expression changed almost immediately.

"Ah." She glanced around, this time with considerably more purpose. "That would make sense."

Her eyes briefly traveled toward the entrance before returning to Mikoto.

"If he really followed us here, he’d probably want to know where we were taking whatever we stole. Especially if he already suspects we’re connected to someone else." She paused, thinking it through. "Then he’d probably follow us back to our supposed employer, wouldn’t he?"

"Right." Mikoto’s answer was immediate. "But he’s wasting his time."

His red eyes moved away from Gretel; for several seconds he simply stared ahead, his delicate features strangely calm. There was no visible tension in him despite the fact that someone powerful enough to be a Royal Guard was apparently observing them.

Then Mikoto spoke again.

"So you might as well come out."

His voice remained flat, but the words carried clearly through the vault.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!