After recording a few of the trial completions with the party members, Fabian didn’t have anything to say about the difficulty of the trials, only the naming of them.
However, after some persuasion from Shiro, he eventually agreed.
Making sure that every Simulator was upgraded, Shiro had Fabian send them to a training hall of sorts so that it was independent from the guild. That way, he could earn some money for the orphanages rather than split it off to the guild. It’s not like he’s using their resources due to the fact that the machines were now actively absorbing ambient mana to power themselves.
After she had sorted out the problem regarding the simulators and the standard of adventurers in this city, it was time to discuss the main problem which was the demons.
“So you said that the magic circle may stretch across the entire city right? Wouldn’t that cause a second round of mana deficiency due to the mana required for the spell?” Fabian asked as the safety of the people was his main concern.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be powering the magic circle entirely by myself. Plus, it’s bigger than what it actually seems. Its main job is to search for the demons after all.” Shiro waved her hand.
“I see… Are you able to wait a few days though? I want to make sure that the patients in the hospital are safe before you try anything.” Fabian asked as Shiro nodded after a short moment.
“Sure I don’t see why not.”
After talking to the pope for a little longer, they left the building and made their way through the city.
“What shall we do now? We got a few days to burn before we look for the demons.” Lyrica asked.
“I’m going to pay an old friend a visit. After all, I got a glimpse of the future, there are a few things that I need to remember.” Shiro replied as it was time for her to track down the Dragon Master himself.
After all, her older self informed her of Vatican City’s destruction at the hands of Dominic. With both dragons and demons attacking the city, the people and no chance of survival and the casualty rates were off the charts.
“Oh? Who’s this old friend of yours?” Lyrica raised an eyebrow.
“Hmm… I say old but I haven’t actually met him yet. I know him in the future.” Shiro replied. She wasn’t going to mention Rakurth’s race just yet because Yin might go on a rampage.
“Do you want us to join you?”
“Nah it’s fine. Just continue to do some dungeon runs with Lisandra while I deal with this. It’s easier if I go alone since stealth might be needed. Plus, since me and Lisandra’s levels are linked, you’re helping me by taking her to dungeons.” Shiro smiled as Lyrica nodded her head.
Splitting up the party, Shiro launched herself onto the highest roof that she could see and started to search for the nanobots that she had planted on Dominic’s body.
Finding the signal to be slightly out of the city, she raised her eyebrow before jumping into the rift.
Dashing her way through the city, Shiro noticed that the signal started to stray towards the direction of the Colosseum, located in the centre of Rome.
‘Hmm… how peculiar.’ She thought to herself.
{Do you think he’s keeping the dragons there?} Nimue asked curiously.
‘I highly doubt it. They’re probably in a different dimension since he can call upon them at will. I wouldn’t be surprised if he could do something similar to Thiria.’ Shiro shook her head.
Stalking the signal for a while, she soon spotted the cloaked man himself riding in the sky on the back of a small dragon.
Narrowing her eyes, she wondered if she should just kill him now.
However, she had a better idea and decided to play a bit of trickery. Conjuring up some nanobots, she changed her outfit to fit the ‘Rogue Assassin’ that people know after her demonstration of her guns in the elven continent.
That way, even if she’s spotted, they wouldn’t know that it was her. Of course, only until she revealed her guns to the world as Shiro then they’ll know she was the source of it all along.
Following behind the dragon, she watched as he dismounted not too far from the Colosseum and proceeded to make his way through.
Doing the same, Shiro’s appearance caused a huge commotion to occur as they recognised her to be the one who owns the only set of working guns in this world. Some fled in a small panic while other’s took pictures. Shiro ignored all of this and entered the Colosseum.
Upon entering, she immediately noticed Dominic’s signal going deep underground.
From what she could see, things looked normal as the Colosseum was revamped into a fighting ring for adventurers and people were betting on the winners. No one is allowed to kill and the victor is decided when someone is either knocked out cold or pushed out of the arena.
Those who commit murder are put under arrest during this event.
Ignoring the stares directed towards her, Shiro stepped into some shadow and activated her illusion skill, camouflaging her body before phasing through the ground to chase the signal.
Sending her mana through this place, Shiro was shocked at the size of this underground city of sorts.
The outer rim was padded with mana absorbent materials which meant that it was hard to find this place from the outside.
But now that she was inside, she could see the vastness of this underground city.
The black market was to her left while fighting arenas was to her right. In front of her was a long line of buildings of unknown nature.
The entire underground city was lit up with ceiling lights powered by mana crystals, giving the entire place a dark feeling.
Furrowing her brows, Shiro decided to change her disguise a little while trailing behind Dominic. After all, she was quite curious as to what kind of items were being sold here.
Browsing through the wares, there were quite a few cursed weapons and armour. In addition to this, she could also spot a few slaves in the distance which caused her to furrow her brows but that was about it. It wasn’t her responsibility as she didn’t cause this.
The only reason she showed concern to the people in Vatican City was because her skill caused a mass case of mana deficiency which could have killed thousands.
Shaking her head, she continued to follow Dominic as he soon entered a building.
Snapping her fingers, she modified the nanobot a little so that it would act as a mic for her to listen in on his conversation.
###
“Have you brought the payment?” An unfamiliar voice asked.
“Mn. Have you brought the information?” Dominic replied.
There was a strange coldness to his voice as Shiro understood that he was probably acting while he was in the group of people.
“Of course. I don’t do fake business after all.” The unfamiliar voice chuckled.
“Though I must say, you’re pretty ruthless to carve up your party members like that, even the kid. Looking at his expression, I must say he must have been pretty shocked at your actions.”
“Shut it. Just give me the information without the small talk.” Dominic snapped back as the voice chuckled once more.
“Very well. Here you go.”
Hearing some shuffling, Shiro watched as Dominic left the building.
Narrowing her eyes, she decided to pay a visit to his trade partner.
Phasing through the walls, she saw a person sit on the table while guards surrounded him.
His posture was hunched over as his physique was on the skinny side. His hair was messy and dark marks could be seen under his eyes.
Thinking about it for a moment, she snapped her fingers and sent out a wave of nanobots to infiltrate the guards bodies.
Hearing the snap, the man quickly turned around to see Shiro’s disguised self. Before he could act, her body flickered in front of him and grabbed his throat.
Celestial Path enhanced needles were stuck in his body, preventing the use of mana while the guards were frozen in place due to the nanobots in their systems.
“Speak, what information did you provide to Dominic?” Shiro asked as her disguised voice rang out quietly.
“I’ll talk, just let go of my neck.” The skinny man squeezed out, raising his hands in defeat. As a trader in the black market, he valued his life over most things so he was going to go along with her demands. Plus, seeing as how his guards are frozen and his mana was blocked, the person in front of him was not one to be messed around with.
