The boy breathed a sigh of relief and moved a little closer to Aslan, speaking in a hushed voice, "We've received a new piece of information, but I'm not sure if it meets your requirements..."
Not long ago, someone acquired a gemstone encased in strange metal fragments. Everyone who saw the gem was astonished by it, and whoever wore this marvelous gem would receive praise from all, even if the person holding it was an ugly woman. The metal fragments were originally intended to be melted down and reforged, but for some unknown reason, the metal simply wouldn't melt.
Upon hearing the information the boy brought, Aslan frowned slightly, closing his eyes in thought. If it were just a gemstone, he wouldn't be that interested. After all, gems with wondrous powers didn't seem all that rare in this world. But now there was a prerequisite—it was discovered inside strange metal fragments.
Aslan had no interest in the gem, which had been named the "Gem of Venus." He was far more interested in the metal fragments that had encased it. Aslan had reason to suspect that the metal was part of Aphrodite's machine body wreckage. After all, the power the gem possessed seemed to be the ability to make people adore its wearer. Aphrodite's mechanical body had the ability to modify human consciousness using radio waves, so it would make sense for the gem to have retained a similar ability after being influenced by her power.
This was, by far, the most likely lead related to the Machine Gods that Aslan had obtained. A smile appeared on Aslan's face, and he tossed one of the two tokens hanging from his hand to the boy. It was a claim tag for luggage at the storage area, and the luggage this token corresponded to was, naturally, gold coins.
After catching the token, the smile on the boy's face became even brighter, and his posture grew more respectful. This was a major client, but earning a reward from him was no simple task. The gold coins he received this time would be enough to support him for the next few years.
"Thank you for your generosity. I'll throw in another piece of gossip for you. It seems the gem was bought by a certain noble lady. She's sent out invitations to all the respected ladies and young misses to come to her manor for a viewing. It might be a good chance to sneak in. To be honest, if it's you, you could put on a dress and no one would ever recognize you as a man."
Aslan's mouth twitched. He would just take that as a compliment from the boy.
But if this latter piece of information was true, then that party was indeed worth attending. It would be best if he could see the metal fragments himself to confirm their composition. After all, the Ring of Contract on his hand was created from the core fragment of a certain Machine God; the materials of the Machine Gods shouldn't differ too much.
"Thanks for the information."
Aslan stood up from the bath. Now that he had the lead, it was time to put a temporary end to his enjoyment. At the very least, he needed to investigate this matter thoroughly. Once he confirmed they were fragments of a Machine God, he would have to trace the whole affair back to its source and find the locations of the other Machine Gods as best he could. If he wasn't trying to avoid directly offending the entirety of Rome, Aslan really wanted to enter the capital, sneak into the grand library, and search for clues about Ares.
To avoid attracting more attention, Aslan personally used magical means to acquire the rest of the information. Indeed, a noblewoman had obtained a miraculous gem and the metal fragments that had once held it. This lady had in fact invited many of her friends, relatives, and other prominent families to come and see it. Perhaps it was to show off her capabilities, or perhaps the lady simply didn't care about the gem's true value. In Aslan's view, the more precious something was, the more one should cherish it. Yet she had invited many people she didn't even know, only having heard of them, to view it together...
Was she that confident in her manor's security?
Since the information was confirmed, he would naturally have to brave this lion's den.
Aslan clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. He had originally thought about entering the manor as the attendant of some young lady, but based on the information he had gathered, the noblewoman had strictly invited only women. Perhaps the fact that women were not as strong as men was the reason this lady was so confident the gem wouldn't be stolen.
Faced with this situation, Melusine, far from comforting Aslan, had a strange smile on her face. She even excitedly began picking out clothes for Aslan to wear to the manor, all of them, without exception, being women's dresses. It seemed Melusine was very eager to see Aslan in a dress. She even held a dress up behind Aslan and blew softly in his ear, seemingly wanting to try and get frisky with a cross-dressing Aslan.
Aslan found that ever since Melusine had reverted to her original form that one time, she seemed to be getting more and more proactive in her advances. He was used to a jealous Melusine; this version of her was truly hard for him to handle.
Melusine even kept saying that there's a first time for everything, jokingly asking if Aslan was afraid to wear a dress. On one hand, he wanted to prove he wasn't afraid at all, and on the other hand, it was necessary for the infiltration. It seemed this ordeal was unavoidable.
Looking at the list of invitees he had gathered, Aslan targeted a noble family from a region slightly farther away. After ensuring that this family had never met the hosting noblewoman, he prepared to intercept their carriage on the road. It just so happened that this lady had two daughters. He and Melusine would take their identities. It could be done easily with suggestion magic. He had learned his magic from Morgan; on one hand, the magical foundation of Great Britain should be rare on the continent, and on the other, his magic carried traces of the Age of Gods, so it shouldn't be exposed halfway through.
Of course, even if the suggestion magic was broken, he and Melusine could always resort to force. If it weren't for the need to keep a low profile upon their recent arrival, he would have done things the forceful way long ago.
In the outskirts outside the city, several carriages were steadily approaching. Aslan had been waiting here for a long time. The moment he saw the carriages approaching, he stood in the middle of the road, forcing the convoy to a halt.
Looking at the noblewoman who stuck her head out to inquire, Aslan made direct eye contact with her. "My apologies, madam, but we'll be borrowing your identities! Suggestion!"