Chapter 492: Going Deeper

“Let’s go.”

Once she’d confirmed the location, Celicia ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ didn’t say anything more and took the lead, heading for the depths of the pipe.

The sewer tunnel was dark and dilapidated, yet Celicia’s steps remained light and steady, like an alpine snow lotus swaying in the wind.

Before long, the pipe ahead suddenly bent, and a downward shaft appeared in front of the two of them.

Muen glanced around. Ever since Celicia said they had entered the food-processing factory’s range, there hadn’t been a single drop of water in the sewers. It was as if the water that was supposed to pass through here had, for some reason, been forced to choose another path.

“Won’t we be discovered if we just go down like this?”

Muen looked down the shaft. It seemed this was originally designed as a main drainage pipe as well, but it was now abandoned. The pitch-black tunnel was about two meters in diameter. Since he didn’t dare casually use an illumination spell to scout, he had no idea how deep it went.

But the thin cold wind blowing up from below made it feel like the entrance to the underworld.

He thought of his previous two times going into black markets. As an underground trading venue that couldn’t see the light of day, security there had always been extremely tight—let alone this place below, which very likely wasn’t just a simple black market.

“Of course we’ll be discovered.”

Celicia nodded lightly:

“So use that cherry-sized brain of yours for a second. Do you really think we’d just jump down openly like this?”

“...Fair point. But why a cherry?”

Muen’s gaze drifted to Celicia’s ripe-cherry-red lips.

Celicia just answered with that same cold, indifferent stare.

“......”

“Fine, fine, I was just asking.”

Muen shrugged in surrender.

As for cherries being the fruit that appeared most often on cakes, and Celicia using something like that as a metaphor being really cute—he’d pretend that thought had never existed.

“But if we’re talking about disguise... I’m very good at it.”

Muen puffed out his chest and snapped his fingers with full confidence.

Ting.

With a light clash of blades, a faint arc of electricity flickered. The alchemy domain anchored to his body unfolded, and his presence vanished from Celicia’s senses in an instant.

Celicia raised a brow slightly.

But that wasn’t all. As the light warped, Muen slowly disappeared right in front of her.

“This is...”

Celicia rubbed her white chin, looking left and right. Confirming that whether by vision or perception, Muen had completely vanished.

Very strong, and very practical. Most impressive of all, she’d noticed the magic that made him invisible was built on the simplest possible foundation—the illumination spell people joked that even a professor’s cat could learn in three days.

After thinking for a moment, she nodded seriously:

“I see. So this is the method you use to sneak into women’s baths and peep? Looks like I’ll have to be more careful in the future.”

“No—wait—why is it that the moment I show off a spell, you jump straight to peeping?!”

Muen suddenly reappeared, his face taking on the tragic outrage of a gentleman wrongly accused.

“Do I look like that kind of person?”

“Don’t you? Would a normal person really train an illumination spell to this level?”

“That’s only because the illumination spell is the only one I’m good at... Celicia—Sia—Your Highness—we need to have a serious talk. I honestly thought your stereotypes about me had cleared up, but your perception of me seems stuck in some very crooked place. In your eyes, am I just a perverted bastard whose brain is full of women?”

“Aren’t you?” Celicia’s lovely face instantly chilled.

“Or do I need to find a witness for you? Your senior? Your maids? Or maybe that Saintess of yours?”

“I sincerely apologize. Roughly one-third of me probably does count as a perverted bastard.”

Muen admitted tearfully.

Faced with a Celicia whose temper seemed a bit more volatile lately, Muen felt that his apology skills had improved at lightning speed in just a few days.

If he’d had this level of skill at the start of the school year, maybe he and the Feng Ao Tian protagonist Ariel could have shaken hands and let bygones be bygones.

No... that probably wouldn’t have worked either. Poaching a girl someone had spent ten years painstakingly pursuing wasn’t exactly something an apology could fix.

But apologizing wasn’t a bad thing. At the very least, from this angle, those black-stockinged long legs had a special kind of charm.

After letting his thoughts run wild for a moment, Muen raised his head and sneaked a look at Celicia.

He found she wasn’t actually angry.

Although her expression was always cold, like solid ice that showed no joy or sorrow.

If you spent enough time with her, you could roughly tell her coldness came in different grades—minus ten, minus fifty, and minus a hundred degrees.

Right now she was probably at about minus thirty. Safely in the range where she wouldn’t greet him with a knee to the gut or a solid kick to the ass.

“Since you’re fine, let’s go down.”

Celicia twirled the parasol lightly in her hand, and in that instant, Muen felt her presence vanish as well.

Then, before he could say anything, she jumped straight into the vertical shaft.

She really was decisive.

Muen snorted softly and jumped after her.

Pinpricks of light followed Celicia like tiny sprites, illuminating the tunnel. She held the parasol with both hands, and whatever material it was made of, it didn’t deform at all during the fall.

So rather than falling, Celicia looked more like she was floating down.

Muen, who couldn’t use magic, had no way of making himself float. He could only drive his short blades into the tunnel wall beside him to slow his descent while using his alchemy domain to muffle the sound.

Soon, the two of them landed.

Nothing unusual happened.

Shadows shifted.

After temporarily dropping their disguises, they both looked ahead.

On one side of the tunnel, huge fan blades turned lazily behind a mesh of metal.

In the glow of the illumination spell, faint dust motes were visible drifting through the air.

It looked like some kind of ventilation device. The breeze they’d felt earlier probably came from here.

They exchanged a glance and saw the same hint of grimness in each other’s eyes.

Since this setup was still running, it meant they’d come to the right place.

This supposedly abandoned black-market site... clearly hadn’t been abandoned at all.

Celicia shot Muen a look.

Muen shrugged and obediently walked up to the massive fan.

Cold light flashed along a blade.

The metal grate in front of the fan was silently severed. Muen caught it with both hands and slowly set it aside.

He glanced at the spinning blades. Although they turned lazily and not very fast, the edges were extremely sharp, presumably to keep sewer rats from getting stuck here.

Naturally, this was nothing to the current Muen. His figure flickered—and he was already on the other side of the fan.

The whole process was smooth as flowing water. If an ordinary person had been here, they probably would have applauded and praised it as a brilliant magic trick.

Once through, Muen turned back, extending a hand like a courteous gentleman offering assistance to a lady:

“Need a hand?”

Celicia lifted her eyes and gave Muen a cold, expressionless sideways glance as usual.

Then she simply flicked her hand.

With a crack, the spinning blades froze solid, and Celicia, still holding the little parasol, didn’t even lower her head. She just tilted her body the slightest bit and slipped elegantly through the gap between the fan blades.

Once through, she turned back again, quietly watching Muen.

Muen: “......”

Date Rule No. 57: Never try to act cool in front of someone cooler than you. You’ll only humiliate yourself.

Damn it, she was so cool.

......

They continued forward.

As they went deeper, the sounds from farther away gradually reached their ears.

“That’s... the sound of machinery running?”

Muen tilted his head and listened for a while, frowning.

“Seems like it.”

“Too bad the sound of the water is smothering it. I can’t hear clearly.”

“Then we just go a little farther.”

Muen snuffed out the starlike points of his illumination spell.

Because in this darkness, sudden bright light had appeared from ahead, washing the space in front of them like daylight.

By habit, Muen ducked behind cover and squinted into the distance.

“Searchlight magic?”

On a shadowed platform in the distance, a blindingly bright spotlight swung back and forth irregularly. Anywhere its light swept over, not even the stealthiest rat could hide.

Searchlight magic counted as a type of illumination spell too—but in Muen’s view, this was just a crude use of the illumination spell, and he looked down on it.

Even so, he could see the place was very tightly guarded. The searchlight was just what showed on the surface; who knew how many layers of defense were hidden in the dark.

“What now?”

“Infiltration, peeping—aren’t those your specialties?”

“......”

Too exhausted to explain yet again that he was only good at infiltration, not peeping, Muen let out a helpless sigh. His figure warped once more and merged into the air.

But the moment he confidently tried to slip through the area ahead of them, his expression suddenly changed. He hurriedly stepped back a few paces, his body reappearing.

“What is it?”

Celicia’s brow quirked slightly.

Muen didn’t answer right away. He frowned in thought for a moment, then slowly stretched out his hand.

Under the distortion of light, that hand faded and blended into the environment. But as Muen pushed it farther forward...

The patch of blended light and shadow suddenly began flickering, warping. His hand didn’t reappear, but the way that area kept shimmering made it look exactly like... a mass of mosaic.

The thought that if he went any farther, he’d turn into a walking mosaic made Muen’s expression grow even more serious.

“I see. Interference magic.”

Just by watching Muen’s movements, Celicia had already figured out the problem blocking their path.

“Smart. Interference magic can’t actually stop all magic from being cast, but when it comes to concealment spells that require extremely precise mana control, it’s very effective.”