Editing Sorcery Hacker:Volume4 Phase02 (section)

===Part 1===

The blue sky shined overhead.

A grassy field stretched out in all directions.

Ayato Criminaltrophy stared into the middle distance and muttered to himself.

“Oh, no. This place is so liberating I don’t want to leave. But we have to head back to the bottom level.”

Tall and slender Mamilis Coster tilted her head. As a grandma’s girl through and through, the dark elf was making loops of flowers with the children as she looked elsewhere.

Far in the distance was the long stone bridge into the capital that Ayato’s group had used to sneak in before.

“Coach, we’ve escaped the lower level. We’re free now, so can’t we use the bridge again to get into the upper levels?”

“We entered the capital but there’s no record of us leaving. And they think Miss Teleria was arrested and imprisoned. Trying to get through the front gate now will only get us caught. Needless to say, their strictest security will be at the one entrance from the outside.”

That meant they had to return to the filthy bottom level surrounded by the wall.

It turned out they could climb back up onto the looping bridge using some stairs installed for maintenance and inspections.

Even with the armored train destroyed, they still stayed off the metal rails and stuck to the small space on the very edge.

“Okay, let’s review what we know.”

Their goal was to find Queen Astaroth Revolver, who had likely snuck into the capital, and capture her before she could cause some kind of major incident. To do that, they needed a way to move freely between levels, not just enter the bottom level.

The Sorcery Hacker raised a finger as he explained that premise.

“The Precipice runs between levels, but it forms an overhang and it has nonflammable oil, oxidized mana-conducting silver spikes, and other traps, so we can’t climb it. If the sorcery devices flying around on patrol spotted us, they would fill us with holes without even asking any questions.”

“But…”

Teleria looked to Geranud and the other children walking with them.

Yes, there was a way of getting past the impregnable Precipice. And it was something even those small children could do. That suggested it was a matter of perspective, not strength.

“Huh? Coach, why do we need to climb the wall when there are those flying tools. What were those lewd suits called?”

Mamilis was referring to the wing gliders they had used to sneak into the Academy Towers. The term “lewd suits” made Teleria and Henrietta briefly freeze.

But that wouldn’t work.

“We can only stay in the air for a count of five. Those Shade Swallow flying sorcery devices would swarm us and attack after that. And flying fast enough to escape them is essentially impossible. Attempting it would only get us shot down.”

Something soared by overhead.

The pitch black silhouette had a curved, bow-like silhouette.

It was about 3 esoule<ref>Approximately 3.6 meters.</ref> long.

It had a very different design from ordinary flying types that would fly around and shoot down any targets with projectile magic. The black craft made of polished oxidized mana-conducting silver acted as a thick guillotine. They coordinated as a group to attack a target.

It gave Ayato a chill even though he knew they were safe for now.

Of course, it was probably their presence that caused unmanned flying sorcery devices to be misidentified as a threat and brought down with enough frequency to act as a plentiful resource on the lower level.

As much as Ayato would love for her to wear that “lewd suit” again, he did not want to see that tall and slender brown girl being sliced through by the Shade Swallows.

“Hop!”

“Don’t fall, Isabella.”

Watching the 6-year-old girl jump to the red roof from the bridge at a few dozen esoule up was no easy task for Henrietta, but there wasn’t anything she could do to help. These children were used to this, so any unexpected stimulus could affect their timing and actually increase the odds of an accidental fall.

And so Ayato’s group made the effort to return to the bottom level.

The bare-chested bull raised a hand in greeting.

“Hey. So you made it back, huh?”

The children’s playful mood must have told him none of them had come to harm. It was these little things which may have earned that minotaur so much trust.

Micha Angelos expressionlessly clapped her hands together as if brushing off a powder.

Now, how much of the slaver group had been eliminated in this short time? Knowing that maid’s firepower, she would have supplied enough of a magic barrage to conquer a battlefield.

“From the look of things, I take it you cleared your first hurdle,” said the minotaur.

“What’re you talking about?” interrupted 3025th Prince Geranud. He sounded curious rather than suspicious.

When they explained it to him, he grinned.

He apparently had some ideas.

“Then come with me. I normally wouldn’t let outsiders know about this, but I do owe you for saving Isabella.”

That reasoning made Teleria smile a little, but was that little gang leader not aware that they had saved him too?

“I’ll make an exception for you, so c’mon and I’ll show you our secret weapon.”