Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation - Volume 3

Chapter 6: Infiltration and Impersonation

The city of Rikarisu is one of the three largest settlements on the Demon Continent. At the time of the Great Human-Demon War, it served as a home base for the forces of the Demon Empress Kishirika Kishirisu. Even now, it is sometimes referred to as Old Kishirisu Castle.

The first surprise it has in store for first-time visitors is its unusual location. Rikarisu sits in the middle of an enormous crater, the rim of which forms a single continuous wall around the city. In times of war, these natural defenses helped the city to ward off many enemy sieges—and today, they still serve to protect the city against marauding monsters. 

At the very heart of the city stand the ruins of Castle Kishirisu, half-destroyed during the events of the Laplace War. Imposingly thick outer walls surround the broken black-and-gold castle itself, a sight that offers visitors a constant reminder of the Empress's faded glory and demonkind's violent, painful past.

Rikarisu is a storied city. A place rich with history. 

And when the sun sets, visitors will come to appreciate its true beauty.

—Excerpt from Wandering the World by the adventurer Bloody Kant

Those words were the sum total of what I knew about the city of Rikarisu, which we'd now arrived at. 

There were only three entrances to the city, all of which were cracks in the rim of the crater. The walls of the crater were surprisingly tall. Unless you could fly, it'd be difficult to make your way over them.

A pair of armed guards were stationed outside each of the entrances. They evidently took their security seriously here. I shot a thoughtful look over at Ruijerd.

"What is it, Rudeus?"

"Ruijerd...we can get into this city, right?"

"I've never set foot in it myself. They always chase me off."

Humankind feared and loathed the Superd on an almost primal level. That much had been obvious just from Eris's initial reaction. I'd been hoping it might be a little different with other demons, but...based on what I'd heard back in the Migurd village, that was probably just wishful thinking.

"Just curious, but what does chasing you off usually involve?"

"The guards start shouting at me when I approach. Before long, large numbers of armed adventurers come running out."

Okay, so we probably weren't going to get a chance to explain ourselves. The guards would probably just scream, "Halt," then call for backup...at which point we'd be crushed under a massive wave of burly men.

"In that case, I guess we'd better go with some sort of a disguise."

Ruijerd shot me a sharp look. "A disguise?"

Hm. Was that going to be an issue? "Look, hear me out. For the moment, our top priority is just getting inside, right?"

"I'm not objecting. I just don't know what you mean by a...disguise."

"Huh?"

Wow. Apparently he wasn't even familiar with the concept. Then again, I guess he could have gotten into the city easily enough otherwise. "A disguise is just...a way to alter your appearance and hide your real identity."

"I see... And how would we go about doing this?"

"Hmm, good question. Why don't we just hide your face for now?" I squatted, put my hands to the ground, and began channeling my magical power into it.

***

"Halt!"

There were two soldiers guarding the gate we approached. One was a stern-looking man with the head of a snake; the other a cocky-looking guy with the head of a pig.