‘Is Arlo disconnected?’
Philekia, who had been assigned to watch over Osian with Arlo, was puzzled.
As augmented humans specialized in surveillance, they were able to send and receive biosignals to each other, allowing them to communicate over great distances.
But just now, Philekia realized that Arlo's signal had disappeared.
Even if he didn't want to send a signal, the tiniest trace of it should have remained but it was completely gone.
‘Arlo is dead.’
Philekia's eyes fluttered wide.
‘How is that possible? We may be good at infiltration and surveillance, but he's still an enhanced human.’
They were relatively weak compared to other enhanced humans who specialized in combat, but they were also strong enough to tear a normal human apart with their bare hands.
No matter how careful he was, he died without even sending a signal for help.Did he get caught? I doubt it. Rather, Philekia thought Arlo overreacted.
‘Arlo, you idiot. I told you to be careful!’
Philekia gritted her teeth.
Given Arlo's usually arrogant and selfish personality, he must have acted without consulting her.
‘At least we have information that the other side has a powerhouse capable of killing an infiltrating Beta-class entity.’
Arlo's death didn't sadden Philekia much.
Rather, she chose to take small satisfaction in the 'data' she had gained.
It wasn't that they didn't have a mutual friendship, but he hadn't been one of her favorites, so she didn't shed any tears over his death.
‘So what do I do, keep an eye on it for now, or retreat to call for backup?’
Philekia first sent a biometric signal to the other enhanced humans.
[It's me, Philekia. As you know, Arlo's dead.]
[What the hell did he do?]
[He's a disgrace to our team, a disgrace.]
There are four of us in total, working as a team to monitor and follow him.
The other two have also sensed Arlo's death, so Philekia gets straight to the point.
[What are we going to do? Do we continue as we are or do we retreat?]
[Isn't it right to step back? If the other party killed Arlo, then they must have noticed the presence of the watchers.]
[That's because Arlo was careless and let his guard down. How will they find us in hiding? If we back off, the researcher won’t be happy.]
As the two augmented humans argued, Philekia was torn.
She realized that the right thing to do was to back down.
But if she walked away, she wouldn't get anything out of it, other than the information that the other side had a stronger opponent.
‘So I've been keeping an eye on them.’
Philekia stared at the clearing between the Violet Fox's back gate and the attached buildings.
There, she could see a group of shirtless men working out.
They looked like they knew Osian, so she kept watching, but it didn't seem important.
‘No, wait.’
Philekia felt a prickle in the back of her head.
One of the people she'd seen in the clearing a moment ago was gone.
‘Where is he?’
She chatted with the others, but her eyes remained fixed on the clearing.
If he had moved somewhere, the visual information would have picked it up.
And yet she missed it? That meant something had happened.
Just like right now.
“Who are you?”
“.......”
Asmer's voice came from behind her.
Philekia's entire body stiffened.
‘He’s behind me?’
She hadn't even realized it until the man spoke.
She had thought that Arlo had been caught off guard, but now she wasn't off guard at all.
“Well, if you don't want to answer, that's fine. I'm sure you didn't have the best of intentions, given that you were sneaking around and snooping anyway.”
“Now, wait a minute, I was just curious about you guys!”
Philekia pleaded desperately, her voice rising to that of a frightened woman.
It was a strategy to appeal to the other's sympathy.
“Curious? Why were you curious?”
Asmer, on the other hand, only reacted to the word 'curious'.
“Well, you know, they're all screaming so loud, and they're lifting and lowering heavy things.”
“Why is that interesting? That's normal.”
“What?”
Philekia wondered what the hell this crazy guy was talking about.
“That’s not normal.”
“No. My mistake, I stand corrected.”
“Ah, as expected.”
“That is not ordinary. It's a beautiful, sublime act.”
“.......”
I'm in trouble, she thought to herself, and in the wrong hands.
Whether she realized it or not, Asmer continued to expound on his philosophy of chivalry.
“The path of asceticism to refine the body to become a knight. Washing away the dirt engraved in the world’s storms, and creating only the pure and strong body of a knight. How beautiful it is! But is that strange?”
“That, that……get lost!”
Philekia feigned a stammer, then pounced on Asmer's vulnerability.
She didn't need a weapon. Her fingers, genetically engineered enhancements, had already grown sharp, animal-like nails that could tear through thin steel plates as she aimed for Asmer's carotid artery.
Philekia's vision snapped sideways.
‘What?’
No voice came out but Philekia could see her own headless body in a spinning world.
Asmer's sword had been faster to decapitate her than her nails.
“Hmm. I see you're the one with the disturbing thoughts. I thought I'd preach the greatness of knighthood.”
Asmer turned away in disappointment.
*
‘Philekia is dead.’
The realization forced the other two enhanced humans to make a call.
If the two of them had fallen so easily, there must be something to it.
[Maybe our positions have been targeted.]
[You know what? We're splitting up. Let’s see if one of us can live.]
They tore apart as if they were being squeezed.
If only one of them made it safely, that would be good enough, and they both hoped it would be them.
But they were overlooking one option.
Neither of them might make it back.
-Pish!
A bullet flew through the alleyway and lodged in the forehead of an enhanced human fleeing.
His bones were stronger than humans, and while he could deflect a standard handgun, he couldn't stop a sniper rifle with special ammunition.
“Clear.”
Lorraine Ponk raised the muzzle of her rifle. Even though she was over five hundred meters from the fleeing augmented human, she shot him in the eye without scope.
“We're done here. What about there?”
Lorraine radioed into her beacon and Diolan's voice came over the comm.
[I'm in pursuit, too. I'll be done soon.]
She knew the words weren't false as she heard a panicked augmented human voice over the beacon…and the merciless scuffle that followed.
It wasn't like when he'd subdued the runaway mage earlier; then he'd been gentle with it because he didn't want to kill it, but now he didn't need to.
“Well, I guess I don't need to see the results.”
Even an enhanced human is no match for Diolan because Diolan was 'that' in the first place.
‘Enhanced humans…This is getting annoying.’
Lorraine pondered for a moment ‘Do I have any recent memories of being involved with enhanced humans?’
'Osian said he fought them in the ancient ruins. But I thought he'd killed them all, so how did they know who they were and come looking for them?’
‘Well, they didn't come in right away, but they're just watching, so I don't think they're trying to do anything right now.’
More importantly, where is Osian, who is the cause of all this?
*
Osian was eager to get started on the project but from the start, he encountered a practical barrier.
“The Academy of Magic is only open to those who are authorized, and I'm not sure I'll be able to get in.”
Thalia had left a personal beacon, telling him to contact her if there was anything she could do but I was nervous to contact her right away.
‘The first thing I need to do is sneak into the Grand Cloister.’
I could get in through the main entrance, but as an outside guest, I would have limited space to move around.
The Grand Cloister was a prestigious wizard academy and boasted a very large campus, which meant Osian would have a lot of grounds to cover.
‘I'd have to be a worker to be able to move around freely.’
Even a magic academy was not without its workers.
There were janitors, dormitory wardens, cooks in the cafeteria, and people selling goods in the canteen.
All sorts of people were there, doing their jobs.
But there was a problem.
The process to get into the academy as an employee was complicated.
“Oh, I'm sure you can do that.”
The answer came from Ronan, unexpectedly.
“Is it possible?”
“In case you've forgotten, this is Tirna, and it's safe to say that there's very little you can't do with money here.”
“In other words, I could buy a fake identity with money.”
“Or make one.”
“Then I guess I could use disguise items or artifacts.”
“Oh, I don't recommend that. The Grand Cloister Academy has magical item detectors at the entrance, and if you use a disguise item, they'll catch you right away.”
“So you're saying I need to use my hands, not magical powers.”
“I can get you some identification. But I don't recommend you go in there.”
“Why?”
Ena, who was just finishing up in the kitchen, interjected.
“It's too conspicuous.”
“Conspicuous?”
“Mr. Osian. Think about it. You look so gorgeous and charismatic, what do you think people will think when you walk in there in a shabby staff outfit?”
“.......”
That was the problem.
Osian's looks were, quite frankly, too conspicuous.
A janitor with a face like that? Anyone would think it was suspicious.
“If it’s that appearance, it would be okay to dress up a little and pretend to be a wizard……No, that won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“You're too chunky for a wizard.”
Osian's frame belonged to a trained knight.
Even if he dressed like a mage, he couldn't hide the aura that emanated from his physique.
Besides, if he pretended to be a mage when he didn't know how to use magic, he’s not going to get away with it.
A worker or an internal employee was perfect.
“......Well, I didn't like the idea of being a wizard either.”
Osian talks as if he can do it, even though he can't.
In truth, there was a part of him that wanted to be a wizard but Osian chose to deny it.
“It's quite difficult, because even if I create a fake identity, I won't be able to get in, not even with a disguise item or artifact.”
“What? Why not just do it?”
Ena asked, wondering what that meant.
Osian and Ronan gave her a puzzled look.
“Hoo-hoo. Miss Ena. Disguise is not as easy as it sounds.”
Even those who are not skilled at it know that disguise is difficult.
Especially in the case of Osian, he had too much spirit, and no amount of disguise could erase it.
Just like no matter how many coats of paint you put on a masterpiece, you can never completely cover up its artistic value.
“Hmm.”
Ena studied Osian's face for a moment, then said.
“Do you think it will work?”
“It’s possible.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“Yeah. It's worth a shot, I'm good at disguises, even if I look like this.”
Osian and Ronan fell silent.
Ena had added 'disguise' to her resume, which included cooking, cleaning, all sorts of odd jobs, driving, and working with heavy machinery.
“Oh, and of course, I was a fugitive out there, so I had to be good at this to get away without getting caught.”
“Oh, well.”
“That makes sense.”
Yeah, well, at least he'd been there, so he could understand.
Ena took a moment to retrieve a makeup kit from somewhere, then ran her fingers through Osian's hair and lightly smudged makeup over his face.
Finally, she put on a pair of glasses, and Osian's image was transformed.
She made his hair look unkempt, as if he hadn't done it on purpose, and added some color to it.
She also shaded his face to give him a tired, sullen look and added a pair of high-powered glasses.
It made him look very different.
Osian, checking his face in the hand mirror Ena had brought him, watched in wonder.
Then a thought struck him.
“With your ability, wouldn’t you be able to change my appearance through illusions?”
“But what if that triggers a magic detector?”
“Witchcraft shouldn't be detected by magic detectors.”
Osian's point was sharp.
Ena glanced away from Osian's gaze and muttered something apologetic.
“It's just, you know, I wanted to try it. It looks like fun.”
“.......”
“Never mind, let's try some more!”
Ena eagerly thrust the costume at him, as if she'd just discovered a fun toy.