I'd heard from Jan beforehand that prisoners could be made into Royal Guards, but Kuhl and the rest all held citizen identification cards.
They must have been given them when they were imprisoned. With these, I could appoint them as Royal Guards without any issue.
Honestly, the Mourning Specter party's strength was completely untrustworthy aside from Klye, but they were familiar faces, they were entertaining, and the fact that they weren't evil people alone satisfied the conditions I sought in Royal Guards.
Besides, even if their strength couldn't be trusted, if what that staff member said was true, their evaluations were at least 25. That was more than five times mine. Surely they'd prove more than five times as useful.
Using Kumo, I guided my new companions to Princess Alicia's—Your Highness's building.
It might have been their first time seeing the streets of Code, as they were visibly tense during the carriage ride.
It's fine, you'll get used to it quickly. The city may be extraordinary, but the people living in it are normal...
Watching the Mourning Specter members looking completely dazed, we soon arrived at the building.
Getting off Kumo and heading inside, I'd wanted to have Jan and Olivia meet the new Royal Guard candidates, but it seemed both of them were out.
I didn't know what their usual jobs were, but this was far too careless... Then again, even the princess herself couldn't open Your Highness's room.
Oh well, I was the one in charge of selecting the Royal Guards. Might as well go ahead and finish the registration.
I turned to Kuhl and the others and spoke.
"I'm going to have you registered as Royal Guards for Princess Alicia."
"!? A princess...!?"
"Hawaw... This is my first time meeting one..."
Lusha, who had somewhat recovered, spoke in a sweet voice.
"What's with you guys, princess virgins or something...? That's lucky. I've already met three in the past half-year alone."
"...That probably has nothing to do with being Level 8, boss."
The princess of Zebuldia, the princess of Yggdrasil, and the cursed princess. Well, there was an imperial princess in the mix too, but I'd met far too many.
For the record, I'd met the Emperor, but I couldn't recall meeting many princes. Especially in the past half-year, it'd been ages. Princes tended to have tighter security than princesses anyway... Though this mission might add four more to the count.
Oh my, my royal collection is growing (nonsensical).
"This city runs on a pretty unusual system. I don't have everything figured out myself, but being able to step through and instantly reach whatever floor you want with just one room is pretty amazing, right? Make sure you study it properly. I plan to try out various things myself too, so let me know if you notice anything."
"...There's no way I'd spot something that even a Level 8 like you hasn't caught..."
Zuli muttered a retort under her breath. That wasn't true at all.
Kaiser and the others hadn't made contact yet, and without the Mourning Specter who always came to my aid, calling the Mourning Specter party my trump card was no exaggeration.
I usually relied on Klye, but that wouldn't work this time.
"I'm different from Klye. I'm going to push you harder than ever. Well, you've all been helped by Klye plenty, so it's nice to be on the giving side for once."
"D-d-do you think we can...?"
Kuhl's face went pale as he asked. That depended on them. Let me give them a little push.
"If you can't, you just die."
"..."
Kuhl swallowed hard at my words.
...Well, even if they couldn't manage it, if Kaiser and Saya rescued all the royals, Klye would probably get rescued too. But I'd keep that quiet. I needed to prepare to back up Kaiser and the others as well.
Leading the restless newcomers along, I arrived in front of Your Highness's room and snapped my fingers, creating a window.
Your Highness immediately plastered herself against the window. She seemed to have nothing to do.
Her constant good mood might be because communicating with others was one of the few entertainments available to her.
When I waved, Your Highness beamed and waved back. I doubted that even equipping "Comfortable Vacation" would change this princess at all...
From that gesture's conveyed purity and an indefinable air of nobility, Lusha's cheek twitched as she spoke.
"I... I give up."
"There's no way you could compete with her! She's a real princess!"
"H-hey, don't say unnecessary things! This is an audience, you know!"
You guys really are a bunch of characters.
Zuli shot back a retort, Kuhl tried to corral everyone, Kutry watched with a pouty expression, and Elize stared at Your Highness, her thoughts unreadable.
I stepped forward, gesturing to the new Royal Guard candidates.
"I'd like to make them Royal Guards. Is that alright?"
Your Highness watched my mouth movements intently, then nodded eagerly and quickly mimicked the same finger-spinning gesture I'd made.
It seemed she could appoint Royal Guards even without Jan around. I'd share my snacks with her later—if I could get them to her.
Well, with five more Royal Guards added, that left twenty-two remaining. Quite a lot.
I furrowed my brows, gave Kuhl and the others a once-over, and for the first time in a while put my mind to work.
...Maybe I should stall for a bit.
I'd realized that without worrying about self-preservation, I could quickly gather people from the prison. And Kuhl and the others might come up with a brilliant idea to rescue Klye. There was even a chance Kaiser and the others could make headway on completing the mission.
Neither Olivia nor Jan had told me when I needed to have them gathered.
There might be more suitable Royal Guard candidates out there, so there was no harm in moving once I heard the deadline.
Whether it was because things were getting lively or not, Your Highness's eyes were sparkling.
That's right, that's right—they weren't bandits like the Bikers. They did seem weaker than the Bikers, though.
Your Highness pressed both palms flat against the window, peering through desperately. I placed my hand against the glass opposite hers, looked at everyone, and spoke.
"There are plenty of vacant rooms in the building, so feel free to use them. Once Princess Alicia's attendants return, I'll introduce you... I'll basically be around here, so if anything comes up, come find me. That's it—dismissed."
I'd done a fair bit of work. Time for a nice break.
§ § § Kuhl Saiko was the Mourning Specter party's strategy planner. But he wasn't the leader.
The party had, up until now, basically operated under the leadership of their leader, Klye Andrich. With Klye gone, it was clear just how much his presence had been the party's pillar.
It was Kuhl who had suggested forming the party and given them a title reminiscent of "Thousand Transformations." But Klye Andrich had been, without question, a hero.
The words Klye had spoken were harsh, but they were correct through and through.
The ones who should be saving their leader were Kuhl and the rest—the ones who had always been saved.
Klye had come to this city for a task even more demanding than what Kuhl and the others faced.
He should count himself fortunate just to be able to provide support when something came up.
To rescue their leader, they first needed to understand this city. They'd confirmed the basics like the class hierarchy, but Kuhl and the rest still knew almost nothing about this city—about Code.
A city where the urban systems of an advanced physical civilization still functioned.
With their low combat capabilities, Kuhl and the rest couldn't rescue Klye head-on. They needed some kind of clever stratagem that exploited a gap in the system.
They temporarily dispersed, then reassembled in a room in the building. Kutry, who had apparently been checking out the room's functions, spoke with admiration.
"This city is seriously amazing. Even just this one building—if you took it to the outside world, you'd become a billionaire. The prison was already off the charts... Hmph. This isn't going to be easy."
"Indeed. We already knew the urban technology was highly advanced from the prison alone—"
The prison had been hell. While there was no physical pain, Kuhl and the others had received absolutely no treatment as human beings.
Privacy went without saying—all joy of living had been stripped away.
Tasteless food, rooms permanently lit so you couldn't sleep, an environment where no outside sounds penetrated, forced showers, and even toilet times were strictly regulated.
But even so—Kuhl and the others had remained intact. Lusha had screamed and cried every single day, yet she never collapsed.
That, too, must have been some kind of urban system—a system to keep prisoners in a state of neither living nor dying.
This building had functions similar to those in the prison. Now that they were free, those city functions were incredibly convenient.
But as an enemy, they were extraordinarily troublesome.
Lusha, who had apparently settled into a room, taken a shower, and tidied herself up, spoke urgently.
"I tried it, but this city—magic doesn't seem to work. The spell dissipates the instant it activates... I want to help big brother, but... I might not be able to do anything useful..."
"Same here. It's pretty rough. No keyholes on the doors, and I can't think of any spell to fool an unknown surveillance system. I'm stumped."
Both Lusha and Zuli had clearly improved since the Martial Emperor Festival. But even so, they were still outmatched when it came to this city.
I looked at Elize, the most skilled member of the party, but she just shrugged. The Light Spirit Church's prayer magic couldn't be used either? Was this also a function of the city?
The Mourning Specter party had no members specialized in combat. If even a single mechanized soldier showed up, Kuhl and the rest would be wiped out.
Maybe they should focus on finding a way to rescue the leader without fighting.
"Let's gather information first. A prison break is impossible. I want to know what kind of situation Klye is in as well... When Thousand Transformations moves to achieve his goal, it should cause great chaos in the city. If we seize that opening, we might manage something. The quickest route would be... to have the royals that Thousand Transformations rescues grant us release..."
"That's... way too convenient, isn't it? The boss's goal is protection, right?"
"Yes. So I think we need to perform well enough that we could at least make such a proposal."
They would gather information and find a way to rescue Klye. At the same time, they needed to keep close watch on Thousand Transformations' movements.
Even Thousand Transformations, with all his divine schemes and ghostly stratagems, couldn't possibly protect the royals without making a single move. They couldn't afford to miss a single moment of opportunity.
If they could present some hope of rescuing Klye... and if they could demonstrate that they were at least somewhat useful, he would surely cooperate with them.