Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase02 (section)

===Part 5===

Ayato’s group had made it to the top level, but they were still outside the palace walls.

They needed to be inside.

“The Holy Palace, Fortress the Castle,” said Ayato.

The space surrounded by the walls was large enough to hold 5-10 soccer fields.

The pamphlets depicted it as a flat castle surrounded by four layers of wall, but that flat image was broken by the towers jutting up sharply here and there. There had to be at least 20 in all. This created a characteristic silhouette. However, it would be wrong to say it looked “like” something from a children’s storybook. The children’s authors across the continent had actually used this palace as a model for the pictures in their storybooks.

That was the Combined Royal Family’s residence.

It was a massive fortress with the strictest sorcery security on the continent.

Mamilis looked up into the distance.

“The king is looking down at us from the very tippy-top, isn’t he? Not that I know which tower he’s in.”

“No. While the spires stand out a lot, they are far too inconvenient for the king or other royals too live there. You have to climb steep stairways to get there and there isn’t much floor space.”

“So they live in a strange castle, but they all stay down in the boring flat part? What a waste.”

It worked much like living on your own for the first time. Even when you had a room of your own, you would naturally store things and stay in the more convenient locations. If climbing the stairs every single day was a pain, most people would remain on the flat surface level. Even after securing the top level of the city for themselves.

Anyway…

“Needless to say, we would be instantly detected if we tried to climb the wall. But we can’t exactly knock on the enormous front door either.”

“Um, then what do we do?” asked Teleria.

“A palace this size will have another smaller entrance. One that can be opened and closed without leaving a record. It’s unofficially known as the Tryst Gate because the bored royals use that back entrance to sneak out night after night. The Royal Guards and maids all know about it, so it’s mostly an open secret.”

“Yet another secret I didn’t want to know… But, dangerous individual, even if the guards have to turn a blind eye to that door, surely it will still be locked.”

Henrietta said this with a look down at the linkage plug sword on Ayato’s hip. A dubious look.

He knew what she was trying to say.

“Well, this is the royal palace’s security we’re talking about. It’s going to take a high level to break and ordinary sorcery hacking isn’t going to cut it.”

“It isn’t often you complain and give up on something, coach.”

“Oh, I haven’t given up. We just need to get help from someone who can unlock the door for us.”

Mamilis’s eyes widened at his response. Teleria held a hand to her forehead.

Ayato pictured two of his “acquaintances” in his head.

“Then again, that self-proclaimed prince of a bull can’t get into the palace and his maid Micha Angelos is, in a way, even more straitlaced than Miss Henrietta. She wouldn’t help us even if we bowed down to her.”

The special maids like Micha Angelos were meant to guard the swords of succession, so they had some level of authority over palace security. Help from her would have made this so much easier.

“Then what do we do, coach?”

“I see only one option left.”