Ethereal Ascendance: A Journey of Transformation(Vol 5)

Vol 5/Chapter 20: Disguise and Infiltration

"But what should we do next?" Cyra finally relaxed after we left the shield and hid in the forest to be safe.

She was as eager as me to rescue Reed, but only a fool would try to break in now.

"That dome-shaped building seems to cover most of the military base. The messenger from the Republic never mentioned it. If such a huge building existed before the outer shield appeared, the Republic would have noticed for sure. Was it really built in just the past two days?" Adrian seemed to notice something we missed.

"You're right! The messenger said they only saw the isolation shield go up a few days ago. Even with magic, how could they build so fast?" I was shocked as I realized this. A solid dome covering millions of square meters would take a huge amount of work and time. Though it looked simple with no decorations, it was just so big!

Even on Earth, it's impossible to secretly finish such a big project inside the shield in a few days. We couldn't figure out what was going on.

"But this could be good news. Since it's so big, there must be weak spots in the defenses, right? If we can, we could quietly break through the outer wall to get inside. Maybe no one would even notice!" Cyra said cheerfully, not wanting to think too hard about it.

She had a point. According to the Republic's info, the base was originally only a quarter this size. It expanded to this size after the shield went up. So it took over a lot of forest land in just a few days. There's no way they could bring in enough soldiers that fast. Cyra's infiltration plan might work!

"You're right, we don't need to go through the walls on the ground! There's more space on the roof. If we can make a hole in the roof, we can sneak in!" I agreed. It's great that angels can fly.

"But how can we easily find a weak spot? Don't forget, making a hole will be very noisy!" Adrian sighed, not looking hopeful. "The enemy knows the area, we don't. They can make many mistakes. But if we make one mistake, we lose everything. We must be extremely careful!"

Usually, sneaking in from above might work. But the Empire's military clearly thought of this. From Adrian's experience, he could tell the patrol we heard earlier wasn't on the ground. It was on the domed roof!

Since the building was so big, the slope of the dome roof was quite gentle. Soldiers could easily patrol up there. From up high, they could see the ground clearly. This helped make up for not having enough defenders.

"So what should we do?" Now even I was out of ideas. Adrian was right that we need to be careful. If he thinks it's not plausible, we can't be reckless.

"We still have over a day... why don't we try a different approach?" Adrian suddenly looked south towards the forest, seeming to have an idea.

"Huh?" Cyra and I were confused. We had no clue what he was thinking. Surely he wasn't considering asking locals for help?

But we soon found out what he meant.

On the way here, Adrian saw a town not far south of the forest from the air. For a rural area in the Empire, it seemed quite big. There was a castle next to the town. Based on the location, it was likely where the local lord lived.

"The Ilandra Dominion uses a feudal system. Each lord has their own land in the Empire. They used to even have their own private armies..." Adrian explained his idea as we flew.

"But a few years ago, after the civil war ended, the new Emperor Reider took power. He increased central control and promoted state-owned systems. Most lords were heavily suppressed. Their local power was greatly reduced and their right to control armies was taken away. So many lords don't actually get along well with the central government. They may seem cooperative on the surface, but they secretly dislike it!"

This wasn't really secret information. Many organizations that follow international affairs know this, like the Adventurers' Guild where you can look it up with points. But Cyra and I only came to this world a few months ago, so we don't know as much as Adrian.

"So you think the local lord might help us? But that's treason! It won't be easy to convince them. We might even get arrested!" Cyra warned, not sure about the idea.

"At least I think no lord could easily accept such a huge military base being built in their territory. The base itself is an insult to the local lord's authority! We'll need to investigate in person to know more. My plan isn't as direct as you might think. But how can we know if we don't try?" Adrian seemed confident about what to do next as he pointed at the military base we came from.

...

"Cyra, remember you're a man now! Stop brushing your hair behind your ear. It looks weird!" We were on the main road to the town, arguing about our disguises.

"Whatever, it's just a habit! You're no better. And it's not like I've never been a man before..." Cyra clearly disagreed. After putting on the clothes, she looked in the mirror and winked at me, trying to look cool. "How do I look? Handsome, right? In the past, I could make thousands of girls fall for me!"

"Of course! The illusion from disguise magic bending light makes you look handsome. But be careful how you act. Don't let people figure it out!" I couldn't help but complain. He did look a bit handsome, but...

Our disguise magic uses light elements to change the light reflecting off our faces, kind of like AI face-swapping. Since Cyra was already good-looking, and maybe because of some feminine movements, he looked very girly! But with men's clothes, people shouldn't recognize him... right?

"What are you worried about? I'm playing a young master now. It's fine if I'm a bit girly. Maybe that's fashionable for nobles!" As I was about to argue with Cyra's excuses, Adrian called from outside the carriage.

"Feliciana, are you done changing?"

"Yes, we're done!" I quickly replied, pulling Cyra as we jumped down and went to the front of the carriage.

In theory, disguise magic could create clothes too. But since Cyra and I weren't very good at it yet, we decided to just change clothes to avoid mistakes. This way we only needed to focus on keeping the face illusion, which was easier. We bought the two carriages from a nearby town. Being able to fly as angels is convenient - we finished everything in less than two hours.

"Not bad. I remember disguise magic is quite advanced. Angels really are as good as they say!" Adrian nodded, satisfied with our disguises. Then he quickly added, "But remember, don't talk at all. Let me handle everything no matter what happens. Otherwise we'll be exposed right away!"

Voice-changing magic is wind magic, which Cyra and I can't do. So we had to pretend to be mute for now.

We chose men's clothes to fit Adrian's plan. To easily meet the local lord, posing as merchants was best. You usually need the lord's permission in person to do big trade deals in their land.

So now we're pretending to be merchants from another place coming to discuss business. Since we're acting as businessman, it wouldn't make sense to bring women with us. To avoid trouble, we decided Cyra would pretend to be a young master who doesn't appear in public much. Adrian and I would be the carriage driver and butler who handles daily tasks.

"Listen up! You chose to be the driver, so drive properly! If the ride is bumpy and I get shaken around, I'll cut your pay!" Once we were ready, Cyra got into character right away. She bossed me around arrogantly, then got in the carriage to enjoy the ride.

"I'll shake you to death!" I couldn't help but laugh. I chose this role so I could sit with Adrian and talk easily. And it was the only role I could think of. Since Cyra and I can't talk to strangers freely, we have to rely on Adrian to handle different situations. It wouldn't make sense for him to be just a driver.

We had already put the horses and carriages not far from town earlier. So we soon reached the town entrance.

"Stop! Where are you from? Show your identification papers right away!" We didn't expect guards at the town entrance. They stopped us and started questioning us as soon as we arrived.