Chapter 1386: 144. The Plan

The mist remained hazy, carrying its usual dreamlike beauty.

But the beautiful sight at this moment went far beyond that. Draped over that graceful figure was a carefully tailored pale-purple dress, like a swarm of butterflies spreading their wings, giving her an entirely different air of mature elegance.

Peles leaned against the wall as though she had stepped straight out of a dream. Every inch of her skin seemed to glow, so beautiful that even Ariel, her disciple who saw her day in and day out, was stunned for a moment.

"Oh my, is it already time for me to make my entrance?"

Peles lightly brushed her hair aside, the curve of her smile just right. "I thought I'd have to wait a little longer."

"Waaaaah—Teacher, what are you doing?!"

Before Muen could even react, Ariel was the first to snap back to her senses. She immediately pounced like a starving tiger, charged like a tiger descending the mountain, swept forward with the force of a raging tiger......trying to stuff Peles back into the ring.

But this time Peles had already prepared for it. The instant Ariel lunged at her, she dispersed into mist, then solidified again somewhere else.

"Rebellious disciple, what are you trying to do?"

Peles glared unhappily at her disciple. "You've offended your own teacher again and again. What happened to all those fine qualities of respecting your teacher and honoring the Way? Did you feed them to the dogs? And where did your conscience go?"

"I'm the one who wants to ask where your conscience went, Teacher!"

Ariel was so angry that smoke nearly rose from her head. "What are you trying to do, seducing your own disciple's lover?"

"Seduce? What a filthy word. When have I ever done such a thing?"

"You still say you haven't? You're a soul. Before, you only ever manifested a simple white outfit, but this time you actually manifested a pale-purple dress......this is the first time! If that isn't seduction, then what is? Teacher, are you going to turn into a shameless seductress too?"

Ariel was filled with grief and indignation.

Her teacher had once been so wonderful, yet now she was sprinting farther and farther down the path of becoming a thieving cat.

Could it be that the pain of being betrayed by Liya back then was going to......

"I merely felt like changing my style of clothing all of a sudden. Is there something wrong with that?"

Peles leisurely flicked her sleeve. The illusory dress fit her far better than anything even the finest tailor in the world could produce, making the contours of her figure all the more perfect.

"Besides, this is only an ordinary dress. It doesn't expose anything. Unlike what a certain someone wears at night. Tsk, tsk. I certainly wouldn't have the nerve to wear those. Forget wearing them—even saying what they are out loud would be embarrassing."

"Th-those......those are different!"

Ariel's face instantly turned into a mess.

Then that mess turned completely red.

She ground her teeth, fury rushing to her head like a volcano on the verge of erupting.

If the person in front of her had not been her teacher, in her embarrassment and anger, she probably would have already drawn the Heavenly Fire Greatsword.

"What's different about them?"

Peles turned her head toward Muen, who was doing his best to reduce his presence beside them.

"What do you think, little brother Muen? Is this outfit of mine beautiful?"

"L-little brother?"

The corner of Muen's mouth twitched slightly. "That form of address isn't very appropriate, is it?"

"It's fine. You can call me Big Sister Peles. Ariel calls me Teacher, while you call me Big Sister. We can each use our own form of address."

Peles rested her cheek against her hand.

"So, what's your answer?"

"Th-this......"

Muen's heart tightened.

If he answered according to his conscience, then of course she was beautiful.

Although Ariel's teacher, Senior Peles, was also an old fossil several hundred years old, in her current form as a soul there was not the slightest trace of age on her. She looked like a young woman barely into her twenties.

Yet she possessed a mature air that no ordinary young woman should have.

The contrast between the two, combined with the haziness of the drifting mist, meant that probably anyone with normal aesthetic judgment would be unable to say that she was not beautiful.

But......

Muen shifted his gaze slightly from the corner of his eye.

Ariel was staring at him intently.

Although she appeared to have suppressed all her anger, and not only did she no longer look angry, there was even a brilliant smile on her small face.

Muen's buzzing sense of impending death told him that if he gave the wrong answer now, he would immediately receive the purest baptism of the Heavenly Fire Greatsword.

"Senior Peles's new clothes are, of course, beautiful."

Creak......

The sound of a greatsword being drawn echoed beside his ears.

Muen's expression remained unchanged.

He merely brought his hands together in silence.

"However, as Belrand's universally acknowledged number one good man, I've never been particularly sensitive to so-called beauty or ugliness."

"What joy is there in life? What suffering is there in death? Clothing, looks, dazzling beauty—all of it is nothing more than passing clouds before my eyes."

"For the sake of saving the suffering masses, for love and justice, all I'm thinking about right now is concentrating on causing trouble. I truly don't have much attention left to spare for matters like this."

"Goddess above. Who can blame me when my heart contains only the countless suffering people of this world?"

"......"

"Is that so?"

After a brief silence, Peles nodded in understanding.

"When it comes to shamelessness, I really did underestimate you."

"......"

Beside him, Ariel also slid the Heavenly Fire Greatsword back into its sheath.

It looked like he had passed.

Though her beautiful eyes were filled with contempt.

"So let's discuss serious business instead."

Muen's expression did not change in the slightest, his entire body radiating righteous virtue.

"This world is waiting for us to save it."

"......Sigh, fine. This is rather amusing, but if I keep teasing you two, a certain little bomb is going to explode outright. I don't want to get stuffed back into the ring and put in solitary confinement again."

Peles teased her disciple one more time, then, before Ariel could completely blow up, turned gracefully and dissolved back into mist.

When she condensed again, she had already returned to her usual appearance.

Her face was hazy once more.

The "teasing" from just now seemed to have been nothing more than a simple game.

"I already heard your idea from inside the ring. Based on what I know......your thinking is correct."

"Oh? Senior Peles means......"

"You should actively infiltrate and search the place."

Peles said, "Based on what I know about the position of Tower Master of the Origin Tower, if an outsider like you tries to investigate him through any other method, there's no question that he'll notice very quickly and then trace the investigation back to you just as quickly.

"You have no foundation here whatsoever, and there's no way you'll be able to escape that kind of pursuit."

"So it really is the same as I thought?"

Muen murmured.

He had no helpers inside the Tower.

No people of his own.

No foundation.

That was destined to be a major problem.

Although the identity that old hag in a little girl's body had prepared for him was extremely useful, in the end, it was only a stepping stone.

It allowed him to easily mingle with the upper levels of the Origin Tower, but if he actually wanted to use it to accomplish something......

That would be much, much harder.

So in the end, he still had to take a risk.

"But infiltrating and searching the place is no simple matter either. As Tower Master, the security around that room will be far beyond anything you can imagine."

At this point, even Peles became somewhat more serious.

"If you get caught while gathering intelligence normally, there may still be room to maneuver. But if you're caught there, then you really won't even have anywhere to run. How many contingencies do you think a veteran Truth-Rank mage would lay down inside his own 'lair'? I don't think I need to explain that to you."

"I know that too. Who doesn't know what mages are like? But comparatively speaking, this is already the best method available. So the key is figuring out how not to be discovered and not to get caught."

Muen sighed.

The other party was, after all, the Tower Master.

His strength, status, intelligence......

All of it meant that the place Muen was about to break into was certainly not something as easy to penetrate as a young girl's bedroom.

"But fortunately, we have Senior Peles, don't we?"

Muen smiled.

"Since Senior has already said all this, that means you definitely have a way, right?"

"......"

Peles glanced sideways and avoided that devastatingly handsome face.

She could finally understand why all those young girls had fallen one after another because of that face.

Sometimes, women cared about looks to an extent even more exaggerated than men.

Apparently, even an old auntie several hundred years old like her was not immune.

"A way? Of course there is. To tell you the truth, I actually served as rotating Tower Master once myself."

Peles shook her head, her voice carrying a trace of nostalgia.

"Although that was a very long time ago, I imagine a few little back doors I left behind should still be useful."

"That's great."

Muen was delighted.

It could even be called an unexpected bonus.

"As expected of Ariel's teacher! You're reliable."

"Now that's something I like hearing."

Peles covered her mouth and laughed softly.

"Of course I'm far more reliable than a certain someone. Otherwise, who do you think taught that certain someone to be reliable in the first place? Without me, a certain someone would be terribly reckless."

"Damn it! Who are you calling unreliable?!"

Ariel angrily lunged at her again.

Peles easily dodged once more.

The two of them circled around the classroom like overgrown children, and before long, the entire place was left in "complete chaos."

"But......although we now know how to get there, there's still another problem. How do we make sure Douglas isn't there and won't come back halfway through?"

Fighting was fighting.

Messing around was messing around.

Serious business was still more important.

Muen rubbed his chin and sank into thought.

Now that they had Senior Peles's help, their chances of success had undoubtedly increased by more than half, and they would be spared a great deal of trouble.

But in this whole matter, Douglas himself was still the biggest problem.

If they happened to run into him......

Then even the current Senior Peles would probably be powerless.

So when Muen infiltrated the place, Douglas absolutely could not be there.

"Isn't that simple too? Just find someone to lure him away and keep him occupied."

Peles looked as though she had already thought it through.

"Oh? Who?"

"Naturally, that useless rebellious disciple of mine."

"Hm?"

Muen's gaze fell on Ariel, who looked completely bewildered.

Ariel blinked.

Then she exploded in anger.

"Bastard Teacher, are you deliberately trying to get me caught so you can take the opportunity to monopolize Muen?! That's despicable! There's absolutely no way I'll let you succeed. Even if we get caught, we're going to get caught together—"

"What are you thinking?"

Peles gracefully spun aside, avoiding Ariel's deadly flurry of little fists.

Then she let out a soft sigh and leisurely said:

"Don't forget, my rebellious disciple......"

"You're not my only one."

......

Within the empty void space, Huggins, who had not yet suffered any substantial punishment and was currently trapped in despair and fear, suddenly shuddered and wrapped both arms around himself.

He turned in a circle, looked around at the empty surroundings, and murmured blankly:

"That's strange. There's not even any wind in this damned place. So why did I suddenly feel cold?"