Novel Full Chapter 224: Magical Grimoire
The soot and grease-stained faces of Mika and Runa filled with an immense brightness. The heavy tension of the long days spent locked away in front of the burning fire evaporated before their intense smiles.
"It works!" Both girls shouted in perfect unison, letting their sharp voices echo throughout the dirty workshop. They advanced with great speed across the center of the room, dodging sharp pieces of scrap metal scattered across the floor.
They high-fived each other right above their heads with pure and genuine joy. Ryan smiled slightly as he watched them celebrate, crossing his arms comfortably beneath his dark trench coat.
Their arduous work and the solitary nights of confinement had finally yielded a tangible reward. Having intellects of that enormous caliber entirely at his disposal was a massive advantage for his impending battles.
[Give me that.] Beatrice’s serious voice sounded once again through the small silver metal. [Can you hear me, Krai?]
’It seems that Helen did a good job on her aerial journey crossing the continent. Even though she arrived in the nation of Kallistia much sooner than I thought she would, Vel is quite useful, he is very fast.’
Ryan thought to himself, firmly holding the glowing communication relic right in the center of his gloved hand.
"I can hear you with absolute clarity, Lily." Ryan said with a firm and deeply grave voice. He fluidly used the secret code name they had previously agreed upon for the Principality demon.
The very first time they arrived to infiltrate the enormous nation of Kallistia, absolute secrecy was their greatest shield.
"Have you experienced any problems after I departed from that place?" He asked with a remarkably soft tone.
Ryan mentioned this and patiently waited for the answers regarding the current state of affairs inside the enemy capital through the communication link of the magical relic.
[No, everything is perfectly in order.] The demon responded from the other side. [Although for a while they heavily reinforced the city’s security, there were armed soldiers absolutely everywhere. Ryan’s sudden appearance at the main gate caused a massive disaster on that occasion.]
Immediately, the entire scene made itself present inside Ryan’s mind like a strong, bright flash. He remembered that on that specific occasion he had decided to leave through the prominent main gate, without hiding himself after losing the specific relics meant to conceal his sheer power and appearance.
He had to fight in a direct and completely crushing manner against the heavily armored guards of the city. In addition to the local adventurers who found themselves directly involved due to the sheer reach of his enormous power.
Beatrice took a noticeably long pause on the other side before responding.
Ivis pressed herself very closely against Ryan to get a closer look at the active functioning of the small relic that gave her so much curiosity.
She had already verbally expressed her deep curiosity regarding the operation of such an incredibly small relic.
And that genuine curiosity, for just a brief second, seemed rather amusing to Ryan.
[But, outside of that event, everything is completely fine. And my personal subordinates have managed to properly infiltrate many highly valuable locations directly from the deep shadows of the city.] Beatrice added with her typically calm tone of voice.
"I see, I completely understand." Ryan responded, speaking directly into the small silver relic resting in his open hand.
His cold mind processed the incoming information, actively adjusting to the high efficiency of his small but steadily growing espionage network. It was comprised of a rather unusual group. Elves, and demi-humans. All placed under the direct charge of a highly competent demon.
"Now that we have successfully verified the perfect functioning of the relic, things are going to move entirely in our favor. You must be prepared, I will need you all to return to the village shortly. Therefore, Lily, keep that relic with you at all times, use it constantly." Ryan ordered, firmly imposing the unquestionable dominance of a king.
"And if something unforeseen happens inside the city before that specific time. Let me know about it immediately." He added.
[I fully understand, in that case. I will be highly attentive, whether something happens, or you actively ask me to return alongside Rose.] Beatrice responded in a very positive manner.
[Hey, R-Krai. Do you also want me to stay right here with them inside the capital?]
Helen asked, suddenly interrupting the ongoing transmission with a tone of immense doubt lingering in her rough voice. Her scandalous intervention caused the small earring to buzz quite forcefully, physically heating the silver metal against his glove.
"No, you must return here immediately." Ryan responded instantly, without leaving a single trace of hesitation in his spoken words.
’I certainly hope that by flying in such a massive hurry toward the city, you managed to leave the wyvern in a very well-hidden location.’ Ryan thought to himself with a sharp twinge of unease and a bit of genuine doubt gnawing away at his dark head.
He knew absolutely perfectly the wild, highly impulsive, and thoroughly clueless nature of his absolute strongest and most problematic woman.
[You all heard it, Krai wants me right back with him very soon. So I will be leaving right this instant.]
Helen said loudly in the background with her usual arrogant and openly defiant tone of voice directed toward the other girls in the party. She sounded extremely proud to be reclaimed so incredibly fast, acting as if it were a matter of returning to warm her master’s personal bed back in the village.
[Stop being so annoying, he just wants you close by solely so you do not cause endless problems like you always do. Is that not right, Krai?] Karol said, intervening directly in the network with a sharp and clearly mocking tone.
The cunning spy mage easily pierced the warrior’s immense ego with a single properly poisoned phrase. Then, Ryan simply stopped injecting his thick mana into the small silver relic. The magical light extinguished instantly in his open palm, and their active connection was abruptly interrupted, completely closing the network.
He was not going to waste his highly valuable time listening to a completely useless jealous fight taking place thousands of kilometers away. Then, he slowly raised his right hand and placed the small earring directly onto the lobe of his own right ear.
The silver metal felt incredibly cold resting against his warm skin.
"Do you believe it is fine for them to remain inside Kallistia right now?" Irina asked as she approached Ryan with a soft and deliberately slow pace, lightly brushing against the dark fabric of his clothing. "Perhaps they should also return right now alongside Miss Helen."
The beautiful elf looked up at him from below, her large eyes filled to the brim with genuine concern.
"I understand that you are worried about them. But, it is highly convenient for us that things remain exactly that way." Ryan added with complete naturalness.
"Convenient? Why would you say that?" Mirian intervened with highly evident and noisy curiosity.
The slender archer firmly crossed her arms directly beneath her perky breasts, slowly approaching the boy from the opposite side.
"Because from this highly remote and deeply hidden location, we absolutely cannot be attentive to the various things happening on the outside. If there are any active plans for massive attacks between the nations, or if the Church decides to mobilize its troops, there will surely be rumors about it."
Ryan explained, fully detailing his utterly ruthless vision of the overarching landscape. He placed both of his hands flat on the wooden table in front of him and responded with strict seriousness.
"As long as this completely isolated place, and Ophelia’s personal territory, are not actively in the crosshairs of the surrounding nations or the church. Then we will be able to carry out our specific plans without any problems or major setbacks."
Ryan swept his calculating gaze over the girls currently present, ensuring that they properly understood his cold logic.
"Because of that, for at least a little bit more time, I want them to remain actively positioned as spies inside Kallistia."
The boy concluded, making it perfectly clear that this was not a matter of cruel abandonment, but rather an issue of pure positional advantage.
They nodded their heads slowly upon finally understanding the incredibly heavy value behind his calculated decisions.
’And also... I want to make absolutely sure that during these coming days, the relic continues to function without any flaws whatsoever.’ Ryan thought entirely to himself, lightly touching the silver earring dangling from the edge of his ear.
He desperately needed to properly verify the overall stability and the maximum effective range of the magical network before the fateful day of the invasion arrived.
After carefully organizing the various ideas swirling inside his head, Ryan lowered his gaze and stood there looking directly at Runa.
The dwarf returned his steady gaze, thoroughly wiping her dirty hands with an old, heavily stained rag.
"By the way, the principal reason for my specific visit to this place today, was entirely different. I want you to perfectly replicate the power contained within the scrolls, in order to create complete magical grimoires."