"Sir, we are a caravan from the Lowe Commerce Association, traveling from the Empire Capital to Valuva. Here is our permit, please take a look."
The Full-Armor Knight took the documents and inspected them carefully. He then scrutinized the Dwarf and Half-Elf. "What level are you Adventurers?"
"Silver."
"I'm Gold Level!"
The Knight nodded, took something out, and stamped the Dwarf and Half-Elf's identification papers. "You two cannot remain in the Holy Kingdom. You are to leave the country within three days of completing your commission. The caravan, please proceed to the Central Port District to register and pay taxes before entering Valuva."
"Thank you for your guidance, sir!" Mr. Ah Le placed his left hand over his heart and bowed. The Knight nodded in response before riding away.
"The Central Port District? Isn't our destination inland?" the Dwarf asked curiously. Rorschach was a bit curious as well.
Ah Le kept Singrev in suspense. "We'll be there today. You'll all understand when you see it."
As dusk approached, the road grew wider, and small villages and other buildings became more dense. The traffic of caravans, coming and going, grew heavier. Suddenly, the sky darkened—not because the sun had fully set, but because a massive, cigar-shaped flying object was blocking out the light. It steadily slowed in the air, descending languidly from the clouds, its outer skin shimmering with the Spiritual Light of magic arrays.
Anyone seeing an airship from directly below for the first time would inevitably feel a pang of dread and fear—what if it lost control and came crashing down? But the colossus in the sky seemed to disdain such worries. Its Dwarven engines roared, pushing it onward and returning the sky to the caravan.
"So huge! Our engines! How did you humans ever think to stick 'em on a balloon to fly?"
"So you use them for carts and ships?"
"They can pull mining carts, pump water from the mineshafts, and power the pumps that hook up an entire city's taps to beer."
'Okay, okay... so that's how they drink!'
The airship and the caravan shared the same destination. A cluster of towers reaching for the sky was silhouetted on the horizon, supporting a wide platform like a gigantic plant. Airships of all sizes were docked along the edges of its "leaves." In addition to the airships, great birds could be seen carrying Knights to and from the structure.
"The Central Port District is actually the largest station for docking airships. The Royal Capital doesn't allow airships to fly over it, so reaching here means we are very close to Valuva. The building complex ahead is called the 'Sky Tree'."
The Central Port District is the gateway to Valuva, and Valuva is, in effect, the gateway to the Holy Kingdom.
The ducal family of Valuva were the progenitors of the Royal Family. They control a formidable cluster of fortresses in the lands directly ruled by the crown. In the long-gone era of war, the Royal Capital served as a bridgehead against the Empire, a place that continuously rallied the strength of the entire Southern Continent's Order God World.
The image of His Majesty the King defending the nation's gates was a great morale booster during the times when relations with the Empire were tense and the Holy Kingdom was at a disadvantage. As long as they didn't commit any major transgressions, successive Kings would be posthumously canonized as Saints by the Order Church.
But now, a long era of peace had allowed the Royal Capital to degenerate into a land of drunken extravagance. After hearing Mr. Ah Le's explanation, Rorschach gained a new understanding of the magnificent structure:
The Holy Kingdom's slender neck... its main artery.
Upon reaching the port district, at the "roots" of the Sky Tree, it was again Mr. Ah Le who went to handle the formalities while the others checked into an inn. This time, not a single person suggested going out for a stroll. Everyone either dutifully stood guard or stayed in their rooms.
Rorschach locked his door, undid his outer robe, and removed his Leather Armor.
He studied it carefully under the lamplight for some time. No hidden compartments, no secret patterns; he couldn't see anything amiss.
[Magic Detection] had no effect. At the very least, it wasn't a magic item and didn't have an active Magic Circuit.
Rorschach then carefully heated it over the gas lamp for a moment. Aside from the fragrant aroma of conditioning oil and wax, nothing happened.
'Is it really just an ordinary piece of leatherwork?'
The association's leather armors were all of an identical style, including the one gifted to Rorschach. This had given him an opportunity to have the agency's specialist swap it for another.
But he would have to switch them back eventually. Rorschach noticed a serial number under the commerce association's logo on the armor; it would probably be discovered when they took inventory of the shipment.
Speaking of the specialist, Rorschach cleared his throat. "If you don't come out now, I'll have to test this new spell I just learned on you."
After a rustling sound, a black-clad figure crawled out from under the bed. Rorschach wasn't sure if it was Brother Xiao or Brother Jun. "Brother Rorschach, how'd you spot me? I didn't bring any Magic Tools here today."
"Hmph. Now get out, I need my privacy." In truth, Rorschach had just been bluffing, but it had actually paid off.
"You got it, brother! Good night, good night!" With that, the black-clad figure vaulted out the window and vanished.
Rorschach poked his head out to look. 'He just jumped from the sixth floor... These agency specialists are really something else.'
The new spell was [Frozen Ray], a First-level Spell gifted to him by Unuk. He had already learned it on the road, and the panel displayed:
[Frozen Ray (Blue)]
Energy Deprivation (Blue) Ray (Blue)
Rorschach had obtained two very interesting traits.
The Ray trait allowed Rorschach's elemental attacks to be more focused and sustained. Paired with Magic Concentration (Purple) and Elemental Transformation (Purple), it had resulted in [Rorschach's High-Pressure Water Gun] and [Fake Red Dragon Breath].
As for "Energy Deprivation," it touched upon the micro-thermodynamic essence of freezing: stripping matter of its heat—that is, the kinetic energy of molecular motion.
'Could I learn the Absorption Technique?' That was Rorschach's initial, excited thought. But after trying it, he found that it couldn't strip away energy like Magic Power—at least, not at its current Blue proficiency level.
Would it change after being upgraded to Purple? And if the process was simply "deprivation," then where did the deprived energy go? These were two questions Rorschach wanted to understand.
No one had ever conducted related research—at least, none that Rorschach had seen. He wasn't even sure if this world of magic obeyed the law of conservation of energy.
'I'll figure it out later. At least I can have a cold drink whenever I want.' Rorschach picked up the light beer from his bedside table. He activated the Elemental Spell [Touch of Frost]—which consisted only of the "Energy Deprivation" trait—and the beer was instantly chilled.
Magic really can make life better.
As someone who insisted on drinking his soda and beer ice-cold even in the dead of winter, Rorschach took a satisfied sip.
'Wait a second... I think I've had a blind spot here.' Rorschach's gaze fell upon the leather armor once more.
In his past world, using temperature changes to hide and reveal information was a common encryption method.
Rorschach had just tried heating it. In his past life, back when technology was less developed, heat sources were far easier to obtain than sources of Cold Energy. Therefore, messages hidden via temperature change were typically revealed with heat.
But this was a world with magic.
Rorschach had been stuck in the mindset of his previous life, so he had only tried applying heat. 'But what about cooling?'
Facing the leather armor, he activated [Touch of Frost] again. Rorschach steadily channeled his Magic Power. In an instant, the area before his palm reached the freezing point and kept dropping. The hand channeling the Magic Power felt no cold, but water droplets began to condense on his palm and the armor.
Rorschach's expression sharpened, and he retracted [Touch of Frost].
It had appeared. A pattern of dark gold emerged in the palm-shaped area.