The cloaked girl lingered on the stone bridge, her steps faltering as if tethered by an invisible thread.
The crowd was sparse, trickling toward a checkpoint at the bridge’s end where a handful of guards in light armor barred the way.
Every soul seeking entry into Wagner Town faced their scrutiny, a gauntlet of questions and inspections.
Tugging at the sleeve of a passing middle-aged man, Noi ventured, “Excuse me… is there another way into Wagner Town besides this bridge?”
The man shook his head.
“Not anymore. An hour ago, they sealed every route. Word is, spies colluded with the enemy, letting those ship-shaped beasts breach the coastline. Soldiers took heavy losses, and now the whole town’s under lockdown.”
“I see…”
With that, the man shuffled off to face the guards’ interrogation.
The captain of the checkpoint, his eyes sharp beneath a weathered helm, spotted the petite, cloaked figure skulking in the distance.
After a brief exchange with his men, he strode forward, a small notebook in hand, and blocked Noi’s attempt to slip away.
“Remove your hood. Show me your Empire Pass and state your purpose for entering.”
“Uh… alright.”
‘Caught. I’m done for. A black-market nobody like me, nabbed by the guards—what now?’
Her plan to sneak through unraveled, Noi reluctantly pulled back her hood.
The captain blinked, momentarily dazzled by her striking features, but quickly regained his composure.
“Your name? Where’s your pass?”
Noi’s expression sagged, utterly defeated.
She hadn’t the faintest clue what an Empire Pass even was.
Grasping for a lifeline, she stammered, “Er, I’m Noi Verlich. My pass… I, uh, forgot it at home.”
The captain’s pen paused mid-stroke.
He turned to one of his men and said, “Run a check on her records through the mana network.”
The soldier hesitated, scratching his head and replied:
“Captain… you forgot? The Star Alliance’s phones just hit our town. The nobles commandeered the mana network to set up their private comms system. It won’t be back online until tomorrow.”
“Tch. A bunch of bloated, resource hoarding leeches,” the captain muttered, his disdain for the aristocracy worn thin by repetition.
He scribbled a few notes.
“What’s your business in Wagner Town? Got anyone here who can vouch for you?”
“Vouch for me…” Noi’s mind raced, her thoughts darting through the sparse inventory of her possessions.
Then it hit her—a letter from Simon, addressed to the teahouse.
‘Yes, that might work.’
She handed the letter to the captain.
The envelope, crafted from rare Mosod Kingdom parchment, bore the embossed name and seal reserved for the teahouse’s VIPs.
After a careful inspection, the captain, satisfied it was genuine, returned it with a newfound respect.
“My apologies. A honored guest of the teahouse, are you? The branch manager is currently at the Sanctuary. Head to the town center and give this letter to the gatekeeper. They’ll take care of you.”
The captain scanned Noi with a device, confirming she carried no weapons or traces of otherworldly corruption.
He was about to hand her a form to fill out when his gaze snagged on the vermilion sachet dangling from her waist.
His eyes widened in shock,”That sachet… may I see it?”
Noi tilted her head, her antenna-like hair swaying in confusion.
“This?” She unhooked the sachet and passed it over.
The captain’s fingers traced its intricate patterns, sensing the fathomless sword aura and mana woven within.
‘This is no forgery.’
The sachet of the Vermilion Bird Sword Immortal, one of the Empire’s Four Guardian Beasts—a symbol of unparalleled significance.
“My lady, please proceed. Forgive our intrusion; we’re only doing our duty.”
Bowing deeply, the captain returned the sachet and signaled his men to salute.
Under the envious stares of onlookers, Noi was ushered into Wagner Town.
‘Phew. That was close.’
Hurrying down the road until the checkpoint faded from view, Noi let out a shaky breath, the weight of her anxiety crashing to the ground.
She’d half-expected the guards to tear open Simon’s letter and grill her further, but her last-minute gambit had miraculously worked.
Xing Chen’s vermilion sachet had even spared her the ordeal of filling out forms—those endless blanks for identity details that made her head throb.
Had she been forced to write anything, her cover would’ve crumbled.
Still… Noi dangled the sachet in her hand, its faint fragrance wafting up as she squeezed its slightly firm, balloon-like texture.
Her system couldn’t scan items or people remotely, and Xing Chen had insisted she keep the sachet on her at all times.
Now that she was safely in town, she slipped it into her system space to inspect its properties.
[Vermilion Bird’s Protection]
Type: Talisman
Rank: S
Function 1: Sword Aura Shield (When the wearer suffers a fatal blow or channels mana into the sachet, the stored sword aura erupts, its lingering intent forming a protective barrier around the wearer.)
Function 2: Tracking (The sachet is constantly monitored by the Four Guardian Beasts. When the sword aura activates, it locks onto the attacker’s coordinates.)
[Description: As the eldest sister, the Vermilion Bird cares deeply for her four younger siblings’ safety. She crafted a sachet for each, infusing them with her pinnacle sword intent. Should danger strike, she’ll rush to their side to protect them.]
‘No wonder Xing Chen was so confident letting me come alone. This sachet’s practically a second life.’
Tying it securely to her belt, Noi strolled into the heart of the town, her eyes drinking in the alien splendor of this other world.
A towering crystal spire, radiant with icy blue light, pierced the skyline.
The buildings weren’t mere brick and mortar but crafted from exotic materials she couldn’t name, their vibrant hues shimmering under paint that carried a sweet, floral scent.
The aesthetic wasn’t jarring—more like a fantasy realm sprinkled with hints of advanced technology, or perhaps a world teetering on the cusp of transitioning from magic to science.
Familiar devices—elevators, faucets, streetlamps—dotted the landscape, their outward appearance mimicking her old world.
But a closer look revealed their inner workings: sleek magical arrays paired with minimal mechanical parts, elegant in their simplicity.
A lettuce-shaped car rumbled past, its exhaust spewing toxic fumes from burned mana, only for the roadside flowers to absorb the mist like a natural filter.
This wasn’t the bustling core of the town, and Noi wandered with leisurely curiosity, noting the scarcity of people.
Most locals shunned cars, opting to walk or ride bicycles that gleamed with rainbow-hued light.
“Hey, beautiful! Over here—yeah, you!”
A shop clerk waved enthusiastically from a nearby storefront.
Approaching, Noi realized he was hawking phones.
“Look at this—Star Alliance’s latest tech! This little white brick lets you communicate in real-time through the mana network. Pretty handy, right? Feeling tempted? Just 3,999 star coins, and it’s yours!”
The familiar gadget being called a “brick” drew a stifled laugh from Noi.
Sensing her interest, the clerk thrust the phone into her hands.
“Why don’t you try it out?”
To his astonishment, Noi navigated the device with effortless grace, her fingers dancing across the screen with the fluency of someone who’d wielded such tech for decades.
‘This feels… too natural. Not something a world like this would just whip up on its own.’
The phone’s software was basic, mostly system defaults, but its UI bore an eerie resemblance to the designs of her past life.
Subtle clues nagged at her, hinting at the true origins of this technology.
“Who invented this?”
The clerk beamed.
“Who else? The Star Alliance Leader, of course! Half the mana-tech we use today came from his genius, and he shares it freely with us Empire folk. A true saint!”
As if to prove his point, he gestured toward a massive screen at the crossroads, playing a propaganda reel about the Empire’s heroic history and their eternal stand against the otherworldly beasts of the Sin Domain.
“See that screen? Another of the Leader’s inventions. Can you believe it? Capturing people inside it to play back like that—pure magic!”
“Impressive,” Noi said with a polite smile, declining the clerk’s sales pitch before continuing toward the Sanctuary in the town center.
Along the way, she spotted an elderly elf with pointed ears struggling to push a cart up a slope.
The cart jostled, spilling neatly packaged novice nun outfits and white stockings across the ground.
The old woman braced her knees, panting heavily, and massaged her stiff back with a weary grimace.
After watching for a moment, Noi stepped forward, gathering the scattered clothes and placing them back on the cart.
The elf grandmother offered a warm smile.
“Thank you, dear.”
“It’s nothing. Why are you hauling these clothes alone, Grandma?”
Easily pushing the cart up the incline, Noi struck up a casual conversation.
The old woman chuckled, shaking her head.
“The town’s in a mess right now, with the young ones out saving folks. I figured I’d help by delivering these clothes for the girls to change into, but my old bones aren’t what they used to be.”
“No way! You look plenty young to me.”
“Elves are like that—young in looks, but our bodies give out faster than you humans. What’s the point of a few extra decades if you’re just dragging out a tired life?”
The topic grew heavy, so Noi deftly steered the chat toward lighter matters, soaking up the old woman’s stories to patch the gaps in her own common knowledge.
Guided by the elf grandmother, Noi pushed the cart to a grand, sacred structure—a church, startlingly similar to the Gothic cathedrals of her old world.
“Here we are, dear. Thank you again.”
“Grandma, what is this place?”
“The Sanctuary. I’m staying here for a bit. Say, why don’t you come in for some porridge? I made it myself.”
Noi opened her mouth to politely demur, but her stomach betrayed her with a loud gurgle, flushing her cheeks crimson.
The old woman laughed heartily.
“Come along, you adorable white-haired lass.”
With a kind grip on Noi’s wrist, she led her into the Sanctuary.
Unnoticed, a boy in bloodstained clothes and a straw hat glanced around warily before slipping in after them.