I finished preparing to head out for the Level 9 trial. Since this was a mission to uphold the Explorer's Guild's prestige, the Guild provided as much backup as possible.
I was given the option to return to Imperial Capital Zebuldia first, but there was nothing I could do even if I went back.
I couldn't exactly bring Gaark with me, and since all my Treasure Weapons were inside Mimi-kun, there was no way to select which ones to bring. As long as they kept my usual Treasure Weapons charged, that was enough.
I didn't think I needed weapons, but just in case, I had them prepare a light short sword and hung it at my waist.
A short sword wouldn't exactly be a combat asset, and I had no intention of drawing it either, but appearances were appearances, I supposed.
Once everything was ready, I regrouped with Kaiser and the others.
Kaiser and Saya weren't armed either. The two of them were carrying bags at most—no swords, no staves. Looking at them like this, you'd never guess either of them was a Hunter.
Kaiser's outfit was decorated with metal chain ornaments all over, flashy and a bit unconventional, but Saya's attire... was it some kind of uniform or something? She didn't look like a Mage either. Just an ordinary girl you'd see walking around town without raising any eyebrows.
Kaiser looked me up and down and spoke.
"Thousand Transformations—don't you carry a weapon?"
"That's what I should be saying to you."
I was planning to leave the fighting to the two of them anyway... well, not just the fighting, but everything else too.
"The weapon of my Martial Dance of the Shattered Army is the dance itself, you see."
"Same here. I don't need a weapon to activate my ability."
Hunters were supposed to have increasingly powerful equipment proportional to their Level, but... was it different once you reached Level 8, or were Martial Dance of the Shattered Army and Night Banquet Ritual Hall special cases?
But thinking about it calmly, Code had already fought the Explorer's Guild twice—they had to be on guard against visiting Hunters. Coincidentally, our particular styles might actually be ideal for an infiltration mission.
Even Code wouldn't expect Hunters to show up looking this defenseless.
Behind Kaiser, the branch chief from Kaiser's home branch and the branch chief from Saya's home branch were having a difficult-looking conversation.
Then Kaiser's branch chief looked up and waved me over with his hand.
Did he need something? I couldn't really ignore it, so with no choice, I walked over, and the somewhat timid-looking branch chief from Kaiser's branch spoke to me hesitantly.
"Nice to meet you, Thousand Transformations. I'm Warren Cole, branch chief of the Galista branch of the Explorer's Guild. This time, my branch's Kaiser has caused you no end of trouble..."
"Oh my, it's quite alright..."
This was one very deferential branch chief.
As I stood there at a loss, Warren bowed repeatedly and continued.
"Kaiser is, even in Galista, an extremely... difficult-to-handle Hunter... a free-spirited one, you see... but there's no mistake that he's the strongest in Galista. The trial this time was a terrible trap, but... Kaiser's abilities are second to none among Level 8 hunters. He'll surely prove useful in the Code assault as well. He's not just some fool. His combat style is a bit conspicuous, but if he starts causing trouble, you have my permission to punch him and stop him. Please, I'm counting on you."
"Ah, yes..."
What did he take me for? There was absolutely no way I could punch and stop him.
Next, Saya's branch chief stepped forward. Unlike Warren, she was a strong-willed-looking woman. With her stern facial features, she gave off an inexplicable urge to bow in prostration.
"I'm Coralie Cromiz, branch chief of the Explorer's Guild's Terrace branch. Thousand Transformations."
Her gaze—her eyes—were far from friendly. The complete opposite of Warren.
Coralie looked me up and down without any hesitation, then spoke rapidly.
"Saya is—my daughter is—an indispensable Hunter for Terrace. I regret pushing that girl into this Level 9 certification trial. But it can no longer be stopped now. The girl herself is motivated—and so I have a request for you. It's fine if the mission fails. But you must—bring Saya back alive. Understood?"
"Ah... yes."
To think a branch chief would actually tell me it was fine if the mission failed... even Warren beside her had gone wide-eyed.
Was Saya maybe not that strong after all?
As if reading my thoughts, Coralie continued with deep emotion.
"That girl... is a pitiful child. Ostracized by everyone because of the power of her anomalous ability—her epithet and ability name were both given by me. I did it with the wish that fewer people would fear her. Please don't misunderstand—her 'Rustle' is an extraordinarily powerful anomalous ability. The strongest among all the Hunters I've ever encountered. However—inside, she's just an ordinary girl, and that's why I'm asking you, the renowned Thousand Transformations. I looked into your track record. Having an anonymous Level 8—one with accomplishments worthy of reaching Level 9 even through official examination—participate is fortunate indeed."
"Anonymous—that's a harsh way to put it. But you're right. There are reasons for my anonymity."
Warren and Coralie shot each other sharp glances.
Good grief, my reputation was too high. I wished they would look at the real me instead of relying on rumors.
As I was sighing, Gaark and Selen arrived. Selen ran over and spoke with excitement.
"Humankind! I want to go to Code too—can't something be done about that? I'm interested in an Advanced Physical Civilization that's the polar opposite of Yggdrasil, which was built using the power of spirits."
"Uh... want to go in my place?"
"Hey, Klye! Quit with the stupid jokes—Selen will take you seriously! If something happened to you in Code and you got hurt, what then?!"
Gaark barked out angrily, cutting in.
Well, actually, sending Selen instead of me might improve our success rate... after all, Selen could use teleportation magic all on her own. She was far more suited for this than me.
And while we're at it, the reason I'd ended up in the dangerous situation of having to go to Code in the first place was partly Gaark's fault too—.
In response to Gaark's words, Selen said with unexpected confidence: "There's no need to worry, Gaark. This humankind's tactics are perfect—as long as you don't consider the scale of collateral damage. In fact, when Yggdrasil was half-destroyed by this humankind's tactics, there weren't any casualties."
"............"
Klye, what the hell did you do?—Gaark glared at me with an expression that said exactly that.
It seemed the gag order I'd put on Selen was still working, more or less. The fact that my tactics had supposedly half-destroyed Yggdrasil at some point was concerning, but I wouldn't nitpick about it now. That was all Keller's fault, anyway.
And as for people who called Gaark by his name—this might be the first I'd seen. Was this an improvement over having the right arm?
Regardless, before Gaark could scold me, I flashed a hard-boiled grin and spoke.
"The three of us will do our best, so just wait, Selen. There'll probably be another chance to go to Code someday."
"...Understood. I suppose there's no choice. I can't exactly get in the way of Thousand Transformations..."
It wasn't a matter of getting in the way, but still... she'd heard about the dangers of this commission right there alongside everyone else, and yet she still wanted to go. The princess of Yggdrasil was aggressive.
Gaark looked me in the eye and spoke in his usual tone.
"Thousand Transformations—there's nothing new to tell you at this point, but... don't let your guard down. Show them the power of Zebuldia's Level 8 Hunters."
"Ah, yes..."
The other branch chiefs were all worried about the Hunters from their own branches, but Gaark was something else entirely.
Well, there were two Level 8 Hunters on this trip after all. If I considered the Abyssal Flame Annihilator to be my allies, the only thing to worry about was whether the aftershocks of their attacks would reach me.
This time, I planned to leave the heavy lifting to Kaiser and Saya without doing anything unnecessary. It would surely work out.
When all the concerned parties had gathered, the chairman who had overseen the examination finally arrived with several staff members in tow.
Upon seeing our appearances, the chairman furrowed his brow for an instant, but quickly composed himself and nodded.
"Hmm, lighter equipment than I expected—but I have no doubts about the abilities of Level 8 Hunters. This is a covert mission, so that attire will draw less suspicion. Particularly you, Thousand Transformations—your outfit is quite fitting. Far more natural than not carrying any weapons at all, and more importantly—you look like nothing more than an insignificant man. The name Thousand Transformations is more widely known than Martial Dance of the Shattered Army or Night Banquet Ritual Hall, but no one would suspect a man like you of being Level 8. Your talent for disguise exceeds my expectations."
"Yes, yes, exactly..."
If only this were actually disguise... This was the real thing! A Hunter whose genuine weakness was praised—that kind of person probably didn't exist anywhere else in the world besides me.
And this time I was carrying barely any Treasure Weapons. Selen hadn't returned them to me, so I didn't even have the 'Comfortable Vacation.' All I had on me were the usual items—the Barrier Ring, Dog Chain, and a Space-Time Bag defective enough to hold nothing but chocolate.
The minimum necessary tools had been placed in Saya's and Kaiser's Space-Time Bags (Saya and Kaiser had quite expensive, proper Space-Time Bags!!), so I was confident I was the lightest-equipped of any Hunter who had ever taken the Level 9 trial throughout history.
As I was smirking at the chairman's dismissive look, he handed me three cards.
Thin cards made of a cool metal. Strange patterns I'd never seen before adorned their surfaces. Characters I'd never seen either.
These were the entry cards for Code that had been included with the commission.
"They're the pass cards, so to speak. Issued by a city system that originally existed within Code—items impossible to reproduce with modern civilization."
All three cards appeared to be identical. I handed one each to Saya and Kaiser.
"The only ones who maintain contact with that nation are those who operate in the shadows. Thief guilds, secret societies, brokers who broker jobs for Red Hunters. Code trades with people like that who can't appear on the surface—exchanging information, resources, or even people from the outside world in return for relics of their Advanced Physical Civilization. The cards included with the commission are apparently used by such individuals when entering Code."
The only ones with contact were shadow operators. Whether it was because the founding king had been a Red Hunter or whatever else... Code might not be as civilized a nation as I'd imagined.
Saya asked for clarification.
"They don't verify identity or anything?"
"Apparently not. Even if you presented identity documents issued by another country, they're a closed nation and wouldn't be able to verify their authenticity."
In most cities, you were required to show identification when entering. Come to think of it, I hadn't shown any when entering Yggdrasil either.
Maybe that was just how a completely isolated city worked.
"We've investigated those cards as well. When Code seeks talent from outside, they issue cards and distribute them to various affiliated organizations. Those organizations select individuals suited to the request, give them the cards, and send them into Code. Possessing the card itself serves as a guarantee of identity to some degree."
Three Level 8 Hunters. If the mission failed, it would be a major incident.
Gathering that information couldn't have been easy either. From his smooth, unprompted answer, I could tell the Explorer's Guild had done everything possible in advance from the moment the commission had been received.
Responding to the chairman's words, Kaiser raised a question.
"...But if that's the case, couldn't we increase the number of infiltrators? Just steal the cards issued for those shadow folks."
"That thought did cross our minds... but Code is an important trading partner for those people. They exercise extreme care in handling the cards. If a card were stolen, Code would be reported to immediately. That would only heighten Code's alert level."
Kaiser nodded as if satisfied, then grinned.
"So the safest and least suspicious method of infiltrating Code is to use the cards that were sent and blend in with those shadow operators, approaching from the front."
"...Martial Dance of the Shattered Army, you really are perceptive."
"Well, it's obvious once you think about it. Suspicious cards sent from an unidentified client. I thought the Explorer's Guild was being reckless by wanting us to infiltrate an isolated city without arousing suspicion—but if the city's entry and exit management is loose and many people pass through, it's actually not a bad approach. The only question is whether this Martial Dance of the Shattered Army's inner radiance stands out too much among that crowd of thieves."
That was true—Kaiser would indeed stand out among that sort of crowd. Saya too, for that matter.
Infiltration mission... thinking about it again, this might be what the Mourning Specter was worst at.
But for this particular mission, it was a stroke of luck. If it didn't involve fighting, even I could be of some use.
"You'll ride an accommodation carriage to Code. It's the only means of reaching Code that those shadow operators jointly manage. Regarding your movements after infiltration, you'll adapt to the local situation as you see fit—but first, I want you to make contact with the commission client. They should be able to tell you the situation inside Code."