The next day.
From early morning, the main streets were clogged with carriages bearing noble crests, arriving one after another from every corner of the Empire. Lavish wheels rolled over stone roads without pause, guards in polished armor riding alongside them with tense expressions.
The atmosphere was unmistakably heavy.
Common citizens shut their doors and windows tight, pulling their children inside. No one wanted to be caught between nobles, soldiers, and whatever storm was about to break. When nobles gathered in this number, trouble always followed.
I stood quietly at the edge of the street, half-hidden beneath the shadow of a building, watching the procession pass.
Waiting.
For the right moment.
Then—
"Why are you here?"
I didn’t even need to turn around to know who it was.
"Come on, boss! Wherever you go, I, Feiz, must follow!"
I sighed. "Even if it’s hell?"
"Haha... well, that might be a bit much."
As expected.
Feiz scratched the back of his head awkwardly, grinning as if this were some grand adventure instead of a potential death sentence. He’d been like this lately—clingy, overly enthusiastic, and far too respectful for his own good.
A shameless flatterer.
Somewhere along the line, he’d convinced himself that I wasn’t just some random academy student. No—apparently, I was a mysterious figure infiltrating the underworld for some grand purpose.
The more I told him otherwise, the less he believed me.
Unfortunately for both of us, the truth was painfully mundane.
I was just an ordinary student. One who happened to know a little too much about how this world was supposed to unfold.
"But seriously, boss," Feiz lowered his voice, glancing nervously at the passing carriages, "are you really going? Wouldn’t it be smarter to run while we still can?"
I didn’t answer right away.
Instead, I watched a carriage emblazoned with a high-ranking noble insignia roll past, surrounded by knights whose eyes scanned every shadow like they expected an ambush at any moment.
"I have to go," I said finally.
Feiz frowned. "Why? You’ve already done more than enough. This situation’s way too big now."
He wasn’t wrong.
This had long since spiraled beyond something a single person could control. Once power capable of leveling the Imperial Palace itself entered the equation, the idea of "safe places" stopped existing altogether.
Running wouldn’t change anything.
No matter where I went, if things truly went wrong, nowhere in the Empire would be beyond reach.
Even if I ran away to save myself, the people I care about would still be left in danger.
That much was certain.
So there was no real choice here.
I had to succeed in this mission.
Those bombs they planted—
they were far more dangerous than I’d initially assumed.
Crude in construction, yes, but terrifyingly effective if detonated in the wrong place. If even one of them went off, the damage wouldn’t stop at buildings—it would shatter lives.
"You should leave now," I said quietly. "Only I can get inside from here."
"Understood," Feiz replied without hesitation.
I paused for a moment, then added, "And what about what I mentioned yesterday? How’s that progressing?"
"All preparations are complete," Feiz answered immediately. "Don’t worry. Just focus on returning safely."
I let out a small breath.
Efficient as always.
Feiz had carried out my sudden, last-minute orders flawlessly, without a single complaint or unnecessary question. That reliability was precisely why I trusted him.
I’d already taken out an insurance policy—just in case things went wrong.
Whether that person would act the way I expected was still uncertain, but it was better than walking in blind. In situations like this, preparation was the only thing standing between survival and disaster.
As I lifted my gaze, I spotted it in the distance.
The carriage.
The one I’d discreetly marked earlier was approaching exactly on schedule, its wheels rolling smoothly over the stone road. Timing couldn’t have been better.
Without hesitation, I reached into my spatial storage and pulled out an item I was all too familiar with.
A steel helmet.
The same one that had helped me conceal my identity more times than I could count.
Holding it in my hands, I felt a strange sense of nostalgia.
Ah... this weight.
This cool, solid presence.
It had been a while.
As I placed the helmet over my head, the cold metal settled against my skin, grounding my thoughts and sharpening my focus. The world felt a little more distant—safer—behind that layer of steel.
Without looking back, I moved swiftly and boarded the carriage of some unsuspecting noble.
The door shut with a soft click behind me.
And just like that, the mission began.
The inside of the carriage was far quieter than I expected.
The noise of the streets—hoofbeats, murmurs, the rumble of wheels—was instantly swallowed the moment the door closed. Thick curtains blocked out the light, and the air inside smelled faintly of polished wood and expensive incense.
Luxury.
I steadied myself as the carriage lurched forward again, blending seamlessly back into the noble procession as if nothing had happened.
"—What the hell?!"
A sharp, startled voice broke the silence.
I turned.
A young nobleman sat frozen across from me, his eyes wide, hand halfway to the dagger at his waist. His ornate coat bore the insignia of a mid-ranking house—important enough to matter, insignificant enough to be expendable.
Good.
"Relax," I said calmly, my voice muffled by the helmet. "If I wanted you dead, you wouldn’t be breathing right now."
He swallowed hard.
"Guards—!" he tried to shout.
Before the word fully left his mouth, I pressed two fingers together and released a thread of mana.
A faint shimmer pulsed through the air.
"Sleep."
His body slumped instantly, consciousness snuffed out before panic could turn into resistance. He collapsed against the cushioned seat, breathing slow and steady.
I caught him before his head hit the wall and gently laid him down.
"...Sorry," I muttered. "I’ll return you unharmed. Probably."
I shifted him to the far side of the carriage and took his seat, adjusting my posture to mimic his silhouette as best I could. From the outside, nothing would look strange—just another noble riding in silence.
The carriage continued onward.
Step one: infiltration, complete.
Now came the hard part.
I closed my eyes and extended my senses, letting mana flow thin and wide, slipping through the carriage walls like mist. The familiar structure of layered security unfolded in my mind.
Knights stationed at intervals. Hidden mages woven into the escort. Detection barriers overlapping in ugly, inefficient ways.
"Tch... they really went all out."
As expected. With so many high-ranking nobles gathering in one place, the Empire wasn’t taking any chances.