After finishing the important explanations with the three of them, it was time to adjourn.
"Good. You can all ride. Tomorrow morning at six, we'll meet at the eastern gate and head toward the eastern country by bicycle. Be prepared—pillows, plush toys, anything like that is fine to bring. I'll prepare the bicycles for you. If you have any questions, ask them tomorrow. Meeting adjourned."
As soon as I finished speaking, I stood up, and Grace immediately complained again.
"Who would bring plush toys? But if we're leaving tomorrow, I'll have to say goodbye to my family tonight."
After they stood up as well, I turned and walked toward the door. Just as I reached it, something occurred to me, and I turned back to ask them.
"Oh, right. I forgot to ask—can you all take care of yourselves? From here on out, there won't be any attendants to help you. You'll have to be independent."
They say that when nobles become commoners, life gets very hard, because they've never done manual work. All three of them were nobles who had attendants serving them since childhood. Once we set out, there would be no attendants. I wasn't sure whether they could adapt.
"What do you take us for?!"
"We weren't raised spoiled!"
"Eis can."
The moment I said that, the three of them shouted back at me. Ethefelis seemed annoyed, but her reaction was muted. Still, what was that. "Eis" she mentioned? A nickname? Was she referring to herself in the third person?
I couldn't be sure. Ethefelis rarely spoke. I wanted to ask, but there would be plenty of chances later, so I let it go.
"...Good, then. Also, Grace and Ethefelis, do you had registered adventurer?"
"I'm not registered."
"No."
"Then you should hurry and register. Adventurers don't have to pay entry fees when entering other cities."
Benefits are meant to be used—there's no reason not to. As for Jacob, he likely had a merchant license, which would also exempt him from tolls.
"Okay. Miss Ethefelis, let's go to the Adventurers' Guild together."
"Okay."
Grace and Ethefelis decided to go to the guild together, they bonded quickly. They are the nobles, they had probably met before.
Just as I grabbed the doorknob, I detected a group of people approaching. I immediately turned around and pointed at the wall, calling to the three of them.
"Wait. Someone's coming—probably people from the temple. Get against that wall, quickly, and don't make a sound."
Though they looked confused, they followed my instructions and pressed themselves against the wall. I unlocked the door, went to the wall myself, raised my hand, and spoke the name of the magic.
"Optical Camouflage"
As soon as I finished chanting, a faint, nearly invisible transparent barrier appeared in front of me, shielding all of us. Moments later, the door was shoved open violently, and a group of people in white robes rushed in.
"Why is no one here?! The Saintess said it was this room!"
"Did they already finish talking? The Brave might not have gone far—chase them!"
"We must make the Brave submit to the temple!"
The reason I unlocked the door was so they could open it and see this scene. If no one was inside but the door was locked, that would have been suspicious. Judging by their agitation, they didn't think that far.
From what they were saying, it seemed the entire temple already knew I was the Brave. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before my identity was fully exposed. That Archbishop—I swear I'll smash his mouth in.
Only after the temple people had gone far away did I speak again.
"All right, they're gone."
"Mr. Karen, why couldn't they see us?" Grace asked first.
The principle behind Optical Camouflage was the same as a certain mage's invisibility cloak. The side of the transparent barrier facing me wasn't invisible, but the another side was. From the outside, all they saw was the wall behind us.
"It's light magic."
That was the light element of this magic. The reason the Brave had light magic—to escape people like them.
"Really? But I heard you say something strange."
"I'll tell you tomorrow. That needs to stay secret too. If you want to confirm whether you really can't be seen, go check now—they might come back soon."
Jacob and Ethefelis stepped outside. The transparent barrier wasn't a real wall—it was more like a field that could be passed through. Luckily, the temple people hadn't searched the room, or we would've been discovered.
Jacob looked shocked—and excited.
"They really can't see you! Grace, when you step out, it's like you're walking through a wall. That's terrifying."
Grace was only halfway out when Jacob pointed at her body and told her to look. It really was unsettling—like a ghost appearing.
Grace looked down at herself and let out a shocked, excited cry.
"It's true—my body's gone! That's amazing! Huh? It's back?"
Once they'd confirmed it, I dispelled the spell and headed for the door, waving as I left.
"I'm heading out. See you tomorrow. Make sure you eat before you leave your home."
I managed to exit the royal castle safely. Thankfully, there were no temple people at the gate—what a close call. I pulled out my pocket watch and checked the time.
It was 11:13 a.m.