Only a few crew members, who were strong in their own right and firm in will, regained a bit of clarity.
I initially wanted to tie up those remaining fools and leave with them, but with just a few of us, it would be nearly impossible to bypass Moon City's vigilance.
Moreover, I'm afraid the Moon People haven't realized the transformation of this city, nor their own mutation.
If they stop us, it would be difficult to explain what happened; it might even turn into a confrontation, making it truly impossible to retreat unscathed.
So I anguished for a long time, weighing the options repeatedly, and finally decided not to alert them prematurely, nor to act rashly, but to plan carefully for a safe departure.
After all, the Moon People haven't actually imprisoned us.
The ship is almost repaired. As long as I explain to them tomorrow that I must return to the kingdom to report, we can just leave directly.
If things go smoothly, I'll be able to return to the ground with all my gains and the entire crew safely.
I naively thought that if I was just a bit more cautious, I could avoid losing anything.
This was yet another mistake of mine.
In the deep of night, I lay on the bed with eyes wide open, unable to sleep.
The events of the day were vivid in my mind, refusing to dissipate.
Even though the bed beneath me was wide and soft, closing my eyes made me feel as though I was sinking into a lightless deep sea, a constant illusion of being devoured by a pure black abyss.
——Or perhaps, it was not an illusion.
Uneasily, I got up and paced around the room, carefully checking each rune.
I had already inscribed spirit-protection arrays throughout the entire outpost.
If possible, I actually preferred to return to the ship to keep watch through the night, but I couldn't just abandon those fools.
The array operated as usual, without any damage or signs of attack, but this did not bring me any relief.
I constantly felt that if I closed my eyes and slept, I would not be myself upon waking.
Lose the spirit of adventure, lose the spirit of exploration, and even the current unease and fear would vanish without a trace.
Even after what seemed like countless checks, I remained restless on the bed.
"...Better not to sleep after all."
I did not expect that I, who was sailing the seas not long ago, would be confined in an invisible prison, tossing and turning in a room like a little girl afraid of nightmares.
I tugged at the corners of my mouth but couldn't muster a smile.
So, I simply jumped out of bed and went to the window to gaze at the night view outside.
On the White Moon, there is no alternation of day and night like on the surface; the sky here is always dark.
During the day, the ground beneath and the buildings of the entire city emit a soft white light, illuminating the dome. But at night, this light silently extinguishes, leaving only the streetlights made by the Moon People, sparsely lighting the streets.
However, this doesn't mean the Moon People have any nightlife to speak of.
It's not like a harbor city here; there's no rough and coarse laughter of sailors, no all-night revelry in taverns, and no salty yet familiar sea breeze.
The streets are empty, like a static black-and-white painting, with lighting casting stiff shadows on the flat white pavement, seemingly refusing the presence of any life.
In this dead silence of the night, even the sound of the wind seems to vanish completely, with no air currents brushing through.
The unease in my heart intensified and swelled.
With a sudden grip on my ever-present magic wand, the emerald green magical glow illuminated the dim interior.
1. Reconnaissance Bird♛
The dazed look of the Moon People guide before she left resurfaced again in my mind, and after hesitating for a moment, I softly chanted a spell.
When the chant ended, magical power gathered at my fingertips, and before long, a lifelike little emerald green bird was woven.
I reached my hand out of the window, watching this little bird gently flap its wings and fly into the silent, soundless night of Moon City.
Then I closed one eye, and the vision of the Magic Bird appeared before me, overlooking the spotless city below.
Before that guide lady left, fearing she might do something unexpected, I quietly left a hidden mark on her.
However, she had returned in a straight line to the Moon People's residential area and hadn't moved for some time... she must be asleep by now.
Following the scent of the mark, the bird flew swiftly.
Not far ahead, just right there——
Then, through the window of her residence, I saw a suffocating scene of blood.
Blood spread across the floor, forming a dark-colored lake, and what stood out all too starkly were two still pure white eyes, as translucent as pearls, within that pool of blood.
"——!" Follow current novels on novel fire.net
The bird perched on the window ledge, staring blankly upwards.
The Moon Miss I had seen less than half a day ago, now with limbs twisted, almost embedded in the ceiling, with fresh blood still dripping from her hollow eye sockets.
Gazing at the Moon Miss's corpse on the ceiling, through the sensing of a Legendary Mage, I instinctively came to the conclusion:
She gouged out her own eyes and then used anti-gravity magic to press herself onto the ceiling—facing toward the ground.
In the next moment as the chill surged through my heart, my vision suddenly went blank.
Within less than a second, the sensing of the Reconnaissance Bird was completely severed.
2. Arrest for Public Trial
4. Moon People Internal Strife
9. Pure World Moon City♛
10. Great Success/Extreme Failure