Chapter 11 – Escaping the Empire (3)
Before Seoyun’s sleeping eyes, Hemmer’s Magic Tool Workshop unfolded.
A forge with embers still remaining,
Tools hanging on the wall beside it, and hammers and tongs beneath them,
A dirty, old table and cot placed in the corner of the workshop.
And on the workbench, a few pieces of hardened bread were gathered in a basket.
“This place is….”
Everything was a familiar sight, but it was strangely quiet.
There was no metal sound that always echoed through the workshop, and no Hemmer swinging a giant hammer.
“This is a place deeply connected to Miss Hemmer, isn’t it?”
A seductive and languid voice came from behind her.
Kassela had appeared before she knew it, sitting on the workbench and swinging her legs.
Seoyun looked around and asked Kassela.
“Are you looking at my memories right now?”
“More precisely, it’s closer to a dream made from memories as material.”
Kassela jumped down from the workbench and looked around the inside of the workshop with interest.
“I can’t open a tightly locked dream either. Especially memories related to the Imperial Knights won’t budge at all.”
“That is….”
It might have been because of the security magic placed on the Imperial Knights.
Or perhaps she was afraid of opening that door again herself.
Kassela looked at Seoyun’s expression and laughed brightly.
“Let’s open those dreams when you’re ready, Miss Seoyun. Is it all right if I watch with you?”
“What do you mean….”
“The memories of Miss Hemmer tied to this place.”
Seoyun hesitated for a moment and nodded.
“Yes. That’s fine.”
As soon as Seoyun answered, the frozen scenery of the workshop began to move.
…
Knock, knock-
The workshop door opened, and Seoyun from the past stood outside.
Clothes soaked with rain, a pale face as if she had starved for several days.
Seoyun stood at the door holding old, small Magic Tools.
“I heard you were looking for a worker….”
Hemmer silently opened the door wider and let Seoyun inside.
Then she pushed the bread on the workbench toward her.
A few pieces of bread that looked like their moisture had dried out were placed there.
“Eat first.”
Seoyun was wary.
Seoyun had already been through several people who approached pretending to show goodwill only to harass Transmigrators, or who forced shoddy tools on her and ripped her off.
Seeing Seoyun like that, Hemmer split the bread in half and took a bite first.
“Here, it’s safe to eat. Have you eaten?”
At Hemmer’s action, the past Seoyun accepted the bread.
“… Thank you.”
The sight of her teaching the names and uses of Magic Tools one by one, including the Magic Hammer and tongs.
Hemmer offering the cot in the corner of the workshop.
The sight of her not throwing away the crude circuit Seoyun drew, but making it into an actual Magic Tool and explaining the principles.
“So saying she was no different from family wasn’t an exaggeration.”
Kassela watched Seoyun’s dream and gave her impression in an interested voice.
“That’s right. She’s someone I’m truly grateful to.”
“All right.”
Kassela snapped her fingers, and the dream stopped.
“With this dream, I should be able to find a way to connect us.”
“Can I meet Sister Hemmer right now?”
“No, I have to go to Miss Hemmer’s side first.”
Kassela drew a circle on the workshop floor with her black heart-shaped tail.
“Dreams are ultimately inside the head of a sleeping person. If I could connect to just anyone’s dream directly, why would I make field trips?”
“Then this dream is…?”
“It becomes the address where you two will meet.”
Kassela pointed at the old workshop door with her finger.
“I’ll find the same dream in your dream from beside Miss Hemmer and make a door. Then you can enter Miss Hemmer’s dream even from far away, Miss Seoyun.”
She couldn’t understand Kassela’s magic.
But there was something more important to worry about than that.
Seoyun sank into thought, and her expression darkened.
‘Even if I meet Sister Hemmer in a dream….’
“She’ll suspect it’s a scheme by the Demon King’s Army.”
“Of course. She can’t help but suspect everything. In the end, it’s a dream.”
Kassela held out her hand toward Seoyun.
“So we need an object to leave in reality. Something Miss Hemmer would recognize. A letter, or a precious item would be good. Something to prove that the meeting in the dream isn’t fake.”
After waking from the dream, Seoyun thought for a moment and opened her tool bag.
She took out a palm-sized Magic Tool from inside.
One wing was crooked, and the right leg was a little short, so when stood on her palm, it tilted to one side.
Kassela picked up the chick and smiled as if it were cute.
“How cute! Is it a decoration?”
“It’s a Magic Timer. The first Magic Tool I made.”
“A timer?”
“It’s a thing that makes a sound after a set time passes. There was only an hourglass in the workshop. I needed a way to check the time while working.”
Inside the chick, a delicate and slender Mana Circuit was engraved.
“I made the body and put in the circuit I researched. The wing turned out like this because I was clumsy with tools. Sister Hemmer repaired this failure and gave it back to me.”
“So it’s something you can’t throw away even more.”
Seoyun traced a new Mana Circuit over the chick’s Mana Circuit with her fingertip.
“Sister knows my hand habits. I think she’ll know I sent it myself.”
Seoyun handed the chick to Kassela.
Seeing Seoyun’s serious expression, Kassela no longer joked that it was cute.
“All right.”
She put the Chick Timer into the chest pocket of her shirt.
“It’s just the right size for me to carry. I’ll deliver it safely.”
…
Clang!
A giant hammer struck down on the red-hot mana steel.
The night in the Imperial Workshop was deep, but Hemmer’s work was not over.
As soon as one completed part came out, two knights approached at the same time.
One recorded the part’s weight and mana deviation, while the other compared it with the blueprint and stamped a Sealing Mark.
“Part within standard tolerance.”
“Seal confirmed. Transfer to the next process.”
The completed part went into a locked box.
The key to the box was also split, one each between the two people.
The supply tools counted when entering the workshop were counted again when leaving.
The blueprints were divided by process, and even Hemmer could not see the entire completed device.
Hemmer stretched and clenched her knotted finger joints.
The palm inside the old leather gloves was already worn out.
“Assign me people. The workload is too much.”
The surveillance supervisor shook his head.
“There is no artisan who has passed the security clearance.”
“Then delay the deadline.”
“It is the Commander’s order to complete it within the deadline. The Demon Race invasion is still happening, so it can’t be helped.”
“But I want to rest now too. I can’t focus on work anymore.”
Hemmer put down the hammer and plopped down on the chair at the table.
The supervisor looked back and forth between Hemmer’s heated hands and her work records.
After a moment, a knight placed an hourglass on the workbench.
“Hemmer, exactly one hour.”
“….”
“I cannot permit more than that. If the work is delayed, the time you return to the dormitory is delayed too. It’s a repeating vicious cycle. I hope you understand that I, the manager, can’t go home either.”
The watcher didn’t want an accident either.
However, he couldn’t add more people to this work, and he couldn’t delay the deadline.
“Rest for a while.”
Hemmer said nothing more.
When the watcher locked the door and left, she rested her arms on the workbench and closed her eyes.
…
A safe house inside the castle walls.
Kassela was wearing a black flight suit that clung tightly to her body.
“I’ve arrived.”
-Open the closet. Work clothes for infiltration should be prepared.
Following Erica’s communication, she opened the safe house’s closet.
And then she screamed “Blegh!”
“Ugh, no! What is this!”
In the closet hung work clothes and a Dustproof Mask used by the refinery workers of Purgatory City.
“If I wear this, none of my cute face and figure will show.”
Erica’s angry voice came from beyond the Communication Magic Tool.
-It’s better than suffocating inside the chimney and ruining your lungs. Put it on quickly.
“Director, you’re too strict. Fashion is important to a Succubus….”
-Stop talking nonsense. Fighting is forbidden. If you’re discovered, retreat back into the chimney immediately. Miss Kassela’s survival takes priority over contact with Miss Hemmer. And if by any chance….
“Yes. Memory manipulation and emotional stimulation are also forbidden.”
-Because a Fall that loses trust doesn’t last long.
Kassela changed into the work clothes and checked the Magic Tool from Seoyun in her bosom one last time.
“I’ll be back~”
Kassela left the safe house and threw herself into the night sky.
Small black wings spread silently.
The security around the Imperial Palace was different from before.
Disguise inspections continued at every gate, and aerial surveillance squads were stationed on the roofs.
The light of search magic swept the sky at regular intervals, and mana detection devices were laid everywhere.
‘Hmm…. There are almost no gaps.’
But almost none and none at all were different.
The infiltration route found by the former Princess, Eileen.
The giant chimney that released the refining smoke of the Imperial Workshop.
If a Barrier was installed, the smoke couldn’t escape, and if detection magic was cast, it malfunctioned because of the toxic mana.
Above all, it was a place where any normal human or Demon Race would have their lungs and Mana Circuits ruined the moment they entered.
Eileen had accurately seen through that weakness.
Kassela landed on the edge of the chimney and put on the Dustproof Mask.
The latest industrial protective gear used by the Magic Spring refinery workers of Purgatory City.
“The Empire’s greatest security is breached by mere industrial protective equipment.”
Kassela smiled and folded her wings.
“The Demon King will be very pleased.”
Thud-
Kassela threw her small body into the chimney.
Hot wind and smoke enveloped Kassela.
But the Crimson Mana of the protective suit rose and let the heat and contamination flow outside.
Tap-
“Passage complete.”
Kassela, having arrived below the chimney, clung to the ceiling and began moving through the workshop.
Knights were coming and going through the passage. Their faces were tired, but they continued guarding without slacking.
Then one knight stopped walking.
“Hm?”
A little ash that had fallen from the work clothes was scattered on the floor.
‘Tch…. He saw this?’
“Who’s there!”
The knight’s eyes turned to the ceiling where Kassela was, and his hand moved to the sword in its sheath.
Kassela’s tail swayed.
“Would you like to sleep for a moment?”
A sweet voice flew toward the knight.
However, the knight’s armor shone blue.
Mental Defense Magic.
The knight did not fall asleep.
‘This is why, if only it weren’t for this ugly protective suit!’
The power of Kassela’s Charm Magic was weakened while she wore the work clothes!
“Knight, don’t be so cold…. Sleep with me?”
She cast the spell strongly once more.
The eyelids that had already grown heavy with fatigue slightly closed under Kassela’s spell, and the knight staggered for a moment.
That one moment was enough.
Kassela’s body slipped into the darker decorations on the ceiling.
The knight, opening his eyes again, pointed his sword toward the empty passage.
A fellow knight approached the knight who had even drawn his sword and spoke as if he were pathetic.
“Slipy, did you doze off again just now?”
“No, no. I’m telling you no. There are strange traces near the chimney. I need to report it.”
The knight took out a Magic Tool and reported somewhere.
‘Has the way back become even harder? With one Charm, he looks like he’d completely fall….’
Kassela clicked her tongue regretfully and watched the knight’s muscular back as he left.
‘But I have a job to do.’
She began moving her feet toward her destination again.
And,
Kassela finally arrived at the ventilation opening of the workshop where Hemmer was.
Inside, Hemmer was asleep with her head down on the workbench.
Kassela came down silently through the ventilation opening.
The blacksmith’s swollen palms and old gloves soaked with oil and iron powder.
The playfulness disappeared from Kassela’s face as she looked down at them.
She carefully placed Seoyun’s Chick Timer on the table.
And seeped into Hemmer’s dream.
…
The place where Hemmer opened her eyes was her old Magic Tool Workshop.
In front of the unlit forge, in the middle of the dark workshop, stood an unfamiliar woman.
Black horns. Thin wings. A Succubus with a heart-shaped curled tail.
Hemmer immediately grabbed her hammer.
“The Demon King’s Army?”
Kassela showed her employee ID without trying to hide it.
“Yes. I’m Kassela from the Demon King’s Army Fallen Department.”
“What did you do to my dream?”
“Nothing much. I came to install a door.”
Kassela stepped aside and pointed to the closed workshop entrance.
“If you open this door, you can see the person you wanted to meet.”
Hemmer did not lower her guard and looked sharply at Kassela.
“So the rumors that the Demon King’s Army kidnaps and corrupts people weren’t false.”
“It’s natural to be suspicious like that. But today I didn’t come to persuade you to Fall. I simply came to let you have a meeting with Miss Seoyun.”
Kassela lightly bowed her head toward Hemmer and said.
“And after you wake up, check the table. I’ll leave an object there.”
Then Kassela disappeared from there like dust.
Hemmer glared at the place where Kassela had disappeared.
The words left by the departed Succubus.
‘If I open the workshop door, I can meet Seoyun?’
And,
From beyond the door, a familiar and dear rhythmic knock echoed.
Knock, knock… knock knock- knock-
“No way….”
It was Seoyun’s signal asking her to open the workshop door.
‘The Commander said Seoyun had been captured by the Demon King’s Army.’
It could be a trap for Falling.
It might be a scheme by the Demon King’s Army to seduce her and drag her outside the Empire.
However, that knock was definitely Seoyun’s signal.
Even if it was a trap, Hemmer could not ignore that knock.
She did not want to leave Seoyun outside the door.
Hemmer’s hesitant hand slowly rose to the workshop entrance doorknob.
Creak-
The workshop door opened.
Beyond it stood Seoyun.
“Sister.”
Hemmer said nothing for a while.
Seoyun, who was said to have been kidnapped by the Demon King’s Army, stood before her eyes.
Looking at Seoyun with worried eyes, Hemmer asked first.
“… Have you eaten?”