Chapter 457
The plan for getting in was dead simple.
You could also say that without the Entertainers backing us up, we didn't have the breathing room to cook up anything fancy and pull it off.
I knew where Barze's mother came from, and I had a pretty solid guess about where she was being held.
That's just how it went—push Barze's quest far enough, and you'd end up there sooner or later.
Course, that meant the player was siding with the Heretic Church, so you'd be raiding the place. After all that, Barze would show you around a beat-up noble estate.
One of the smaller buildings on the grounds, a room off to the side.
That was our mark.
"Okay, looks about right."
"Whoa, Nell's hair turned brown."
"Amina's hair's a nice black too."
"And mine's this kinda dull gold... there."
The stuff they had in this world sometimes blew my mind—better than what I remembered from Japan.
This hair dye was a magic tool too. Put it in, and it'd fade back on its own after a while.
'So, we got you here, but what's our job now?'
'Even if it's the sticks, us spirits showing up would stick out.'
'And three of us, too.'
We'd thrown on old clothes, so we probably passed for ordinary kids from the street.
The Lightning Triplets with us asked what they should do next. Their getups were their usual Spirit World look, which would've screamed "look at me" even in the woods outside town.
"Could you mess with the weather a bit? When I give the signal, I want you to drop a big thunderbolt—give everyone something else to stare at."
'I can take that one myself.'
"Also, keeping a Spirit Passage open for us to bail out would be a huge help."
'I'll handle that.'
I couldn't exactly drag them along, but they had their parts to play.
Raise a racket, pull eyes somewhere else, and slip into the estate while everyone's distracted.
The oldest sister volunteered for the diversion. The youngest said she'd keep the getaway route ready.
'So what about me?'
The second sister pointed at herself, a little lost.
She didn't seem to notice her older and younger sisters grinning behind her. I gave a wry smile.
"Well, if you don't mind... please, have a seat."
I laid out a cloth and motioned for her to sit.
'All right.'
Kids running around by themselves would've drawn attention.
So we needed someone to play guardian, even if just for show.
I stood behind her as she settled onto the cloth and pulled out the makeup kit I'd brought.
"I'm gonna change your hair color. That okay?"
'That's the stuff Dark made, right? Should be fine.'
"Here we go."
The makeover began.
Tweaking a spirit's looks—something halfway between flesh and something else—to pass for an ordinary person took some doing, but it wasn't impossible.
Dyed her pretty blonde hair a dark brown, matched her brows and eyes with magic tools.
Dulled down her pale skin with foundation to make her look plainer.
Dabbed a tear mole by her eye, finished with some light, grown-up makeup.
Brought her hair back in a braid and tucked it under a hood.
"Phew, that'll do."
'That's something. If I weren't feeling her magic, I'd never know she was a spirit.'
'Yeah, you're pretty handy, boss.'
The second sister, now made up to pass for a mother, looked done.
'That's... me?'
"Just a disguise. Honestly, something more glamorous would suit you better."
I passed her the hand mirror from the kit, and her eyes went wide at the face looking back.
"Now, just change into these. Then we're ready."
She still had a bit of a sharp look, but she could pass for a mother now. She kept glancing at the mirror while I handed over the old clothes I'd sized for her earlier.
'R-right.'
She took them and ducked into the bushes with her sisters, emerging a few minutes later.
"She'd fit right in."
"Yeah, she would."
'How... how is it?'
"Looks good to me."
She'd turned into a peddler woman.
She looked at me all worried, checking herself over. When I just nodded and said it was fine, she let out a sigh of relief.
Now that we had a guardian, we were ready to move.
I'd thought about slipping in under cover of night, but first we needed to get a lay of the land.
'I'll open a Spirit Passage into town. You two take care of things here.'
'Yeah, go have fun.'
'Take your time.'
The town in the distance didn't have walls like Freihait, but it had enough to keep monsters out.
Rolling up to the main gate would've been a bit too loud, so Amina and the second sister had scouted from above earlier, mapping out the layout.
We stepped out of the Spirit Passage into a quiet part of town.
Thought about dropping into the slums, but with our group, that'd just be asking for trouble.
"Okay, coast is clear."
The exit opened into an alley off the main street. I poked my head out, looked around, and slipped out when I was sure nobody was watching.
Once everyone was out, we were in.
"Alright, let's head for the market like we planned."
"Right."
"Got it!"
'So I lead the way?'
"Please. We're just kids tagging along."
'Kids, huh. You had a few more like you running around, the world'd be a lot more interesting.'
I knew I wasn't exactly ordinary. The second sister gave me a look and started walking.
She made her way toward the market, light on her feet, playing the part of a woman peddler with kids in tow.
We each carried a pack, looked the part.
Hiding in plain sight, playing at being travelers.
"This place is dead."
"The east's got all sorts of rules. I guess it's no surprise, but I didn't expect it to be this bad."
Stalls were few and far between. Hardly anyone was buying.
People weren't talking much either, and hardly anyone gave us a second look.
A market's energy tells you how a town's doing.
This little foot traffic didn't look good. Didn't the magistrate here see it?
"...Nothing's any good either. Maybe nothing's coming in."
I glanced at the stalls as we passed. Even Nell, who knew her trade, didn't see anything worth a second look.
"Then trying to sell anything would just be asking for it."
"If we do buy something, accessories are probably our best bet. The east's famous for its ore. We could play merchants looking for that kind of thing. That should work."
"So a shop instead of a stall?"
"Some stalls have them too. 'Big Sister,' let's try that one."
'Got it.'
We settled on hunting for ore goods, the east's specialty, and stopped at a stall selling accessories.
'Mind if I take a look?'
"Don't touch anything."
'I know.'
The shopkeeper's attitude was a red flag too.
He watched us like a hawk, keeping an eye on us kids.
Accessories were second nature to the second sister.
If they were selling them here, maybe local craftsmen were making them.
'Anything better?'
"You blind? Every last thing here's top-shelf, made by our own people. The ore's straight from the mines. You'd be hard-pressed to find better anywhere else."
She looked for a few seconds, then said there was nothing worth buying. But the shopkeeper was serious, confident in his wares, and decided she didn't know quality.
He sniffed, looked down his nose at her. The second sister let out a long sigh.
'Huh. This plating's coming off. If you want it to pass for gold, you'd better put out something decent. This one's glass. And that over there—'
"W-wait just a minute!"
She started pointing out every flaw in the goods.
We watched the shopkeeper squirm, but he was too busy panicking to notice us.
'So? Whose eyes are blind? Didn't you say all this was top-shelf from the mines?'
"Ugh..."
He broke out in a sweat under her sharp eye.
'Hmph. I heard I could find good buys here, but maybe I need to push further east.'
"...Can't be helped. You know as well as I do, the lord here hiked up the entry tax. Keeps merchants out. We ain't selling this junk 'cause we want to."
The second sister let out another sigh, and the shopkeeper looked away, embarrassed, and did the same.
"Not often you see a market this slow."
"Wasn't always like this. Merchants used to come through, had some life to it. Then the lord's girl ran off with some two-bit singer. He jacked up taxes, hired adventurers, tore the place apart looking for her. You hike taxes to cover that, and merchants stop coming."
The shopkeeper started running his mouth, and out came the information we'd come for.
To him, it was just griping. To us, it was just what we needed.
'Huh. So they find her?'
"Yeah, after ten years, so they say. Word is she's at the lord's place now."
'And taxes come back down?'
"Down? If they did, this place'd be humming, wouldn't it?"
The second sister shot me a look. I nodded for her to keep going.
'How's that?'
"Debt. They borrowed from all over to find her. Now they're in over their heads. That's why taxes haven't budged."
So Barze's father was still making trouble.
If we just grabbed her and ran, this whole town might go under.
'Is that so.'
"S-so, how about buying something?"
'Not paying premium for cheap goods.'
"C'mon, be reasonable."
'My eyes are blind, remember?'
"Look, I'm sorry about before. Truth is, I need to get out of here. Being in this town ain't good right now."
I'd figured on slipping in and out with Barze's mother quiet-like, but if we did that, these people would get hit even harder.
I needed to find a way to get her out without making it worse for them.
'Something going on?'
"Just a rumor, but I hear that singer who ran off with the lord's daughter is back in town. Got the lord all jumpy. They try that again, there's no telling what happens. I want out before it does."
So there was a clock ticking now.
We'd made it just in time, but my luck—always showing up right when things were about to blow.
"Ah, there. That's him. Hard to miss with those creeps he's with."
I was still trying to figure out a clean way to pull this off when the shopkeeper leaned in and pointed. We looked where he was pointing, and there were two men in black robes.
One of them I recognized. Barze's father.
I mean, what right did he have showing his face around here?