CH 175

Chapter 175 – Hidden Passageway

In the meantime, I was watching Ze’ev and Julaf, who had managed to escape from Dragia, through the monitor.

Julaf was holding the [Copy Doll], which still had the [Camera Marker] attached to it, so I could monitor them at all times.

“Phew… We should be fine now that we’ve made it this far.” (Julaf)

Julaf sounded relieved when he spoke, all the while lending his shoulder to Ze’ev.

They were in the district that spanned the outside of the palace, hiding in a dimly lit alleyway amidst the dense jungle of buildings.

“No… They’ll find us here. Urakio’s senses are sharp.” (Ze’ev)

“Ah, that sheep garbel, huh? As expected of the Four Heavenly Beastmasters. There are so many people with special abilities.” (Julaf)

“Well, he’s usually a guy who slacks off and sleeps all the time. But under these circumstances, there’s no way he’s got time to take it easy. They’ve probably received direct orders from King Dragia to search for us.” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev’s concerns were spot on. I had heard King Dragia giving them such a command through the monitor.

“How do we get out of here…?” Ze’ev muttered to himself with a frown.

“…The safest thing to do would be to leave the city.” (Julaf)

“But it would be next to impossible for us to make it through the gates. They’ll definitely be reinforced with even more soldiers than normal.” (Ze’ev)

The outer wall was up ahead. In other words, it was a dead end. Despite that, Julaf still insisted on going towards the wall.

Ze’ev seemed nonplussed, but he quietly obeyed since it looked like Julaf had an idea. From my point of view, there didn’t seem to be anything beyond that point.

But as they approached the wall, I witnessed a strange sight.

This was the northwest area of the city. It was a residential area, with many buildings lined up in rows adjacent to the city walls. But they came across a single shack that was positioned right up against the walls.

“What is this shack? We can’t get to the other side from here, can we?” (Ze’ev)

All of the buildings had some space between them and the wall with enough room to pass through, but the small building in front of them was the only one where that passageway was blocked.

“It’s fine, we’re going inside.” (Julaf)

“Isn’t it locked?” (Ze’ev)

“You just have to open it like this.” (Julaf)

As Julaf said that, he raised a leg and kicked down the door.

“…You’re crazy. It’s hard to believe you were a former noble.” (Ze’ev)

“Hahahah, I’m just a humble adventurer now.” (Julaf)

Julaf gave an invigorating smile, and they then went into the shack. The rear wall of the shack was right up against the city walls. But while the hut itself was made of brick, that rear wall was made of wood. It was impossible to tell this from the outside.

“Stand back a bit, Ze’ev.” (Julaf)

“Julaf… No way you’re about to…!” (Ze’ev)

Lightly pushing Ze’ev to the corner of the shack, Julaf aimed a kick at the wooden wall this time and broke through.

But I thought it was strange. Even if he destroyed the wooden wall, wouldn’t the thick protection of the outer walls be right on the other side? But why was there a cavity beyond this wooden wall that he just destroyed?

Did he destroy the outer wall as well with that kick he just delivered? If so, he had some pretty crazy leg strength.

However, beyond Julaf’s gaze wasn’t the solid earth on the other side of the outer walls that I expected to see. It seemed that the wall hadn’t been penetrated through.

“O-Oi… What in the world is this?” (Ze’ev)

Ze’ev approached the area that he had kicked and checked it out with a look of surprise.

There was a hollowed out passageway, just big enough for a single person to stoop down and walk through.

“You wouldn’t know about this, but it’s a hidden passageway. I built it when I was still a kid, living in the imperial capital.” (Julaf)

“You made it?” (Ze’ev)

“Yeah. Well, I made it together with Louis-sama.” (Julaf)

“Louis… Were you close with the second prince?” (Ze’ev)

“We used to be playmates back in the day. Louis-sama was a mischievous kid. He was always dragging me around. But of course, he wasn’t allowed to leave the imperial capital. If the soldiers found him, they would naturally take him back. So Louis-sama decided to build a hidden passageway in another part of the city.” (Julaf)

“And this is that passageway?” (Ze’ev)

“Yeah. He did some behind-the-scenes work and had the nearby residents carefully lay down the groundwork. This shack was built in a single day.” (Julaf)

The second prince, Louis, seemed to have been an energetic person—a man of action. As long as he had an idea that piqued his curiosity, it seemed like he would immediately take action and carry it out. But apparently, it also seemed that he was well-liked by the citizens because of his friendly and generous nature.

“But… couldn’t carelessly making a hole in the outer wall potentially lead to some pretty huge problems…?” (Ze’ev)

“Well, it was a long time ago, and I thought the hole might have been sealed up by now. But… lucky me. Anyway, here we go.” (Julaf)

It was originally a secret passageway made for kids to pass through, so it was pretty small. They forced their way through and made it to the end of the passage, where a boulder was placed. When they shifted the boulder aside, light streamed in from the other side. It seemed to lead to the outside.

This portion of the outer wall was surrounded by tall bushes, so they crawled into the thicket. With the two of them managing to successfully escape from the city, they sat down in the tall bushes and heaved a sigh.

“I never thought there would be a passageway hidden here. You should have mentioned it before we invaded the imperial capital.” (Ze’ev)

“My bad. It was something from when I was a kid, so I totally forgot. I only happened to remember it recently.” (Julaf)

“…Anyway, this is where it starts. There are soldiers positioned on the outer walls, right? If we go out like this, they’ll find us, won’t they?” (Ze’ev)

Exactly as Ze’ev said, there were soldiers still patrolling and keeping watch up on the walls. But in the next moment, a soldier’s painful groan could be heard above their heads.

“…! Did you hear that?” (Ze’ev)

“Huh? What is it?” (Julaf)

It seemed that Julaf hadn’t noticed. Ze’ev was a garbel, so it appeared to only have been audible to him with his excellent hearing.

Then, a small figure alighted in front of them.

—It was Sol.

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