Chapter 15
Once she finally shook off Angelina, Lisbeth didn’t waste another second and headed straight for the second Secret Passage leading to the Treasure Vault. As a secondary transfer route, there were actually plenty of passages she could’ve taken.
But after hearing this morning that Christia had already sent people to thoroughly inspect most of the Secret Passages, Lisbeth knew all the more obvious entrances were very likely sealed off by now.
“Ha… guess there’s no helping it. Looks like I can only use that one.”
With that thought, Lisbeth let out a sigh and shook her head helplessly. Of all places, that was the one spot she really didn’t want to go. But she also knew it was the only route that absolutely wouldn’t be discovered.
“Ugh… I really wanna know which bastard with no conscience decided to put a Secret Passage there. Still, thinking about it now, I owe them my life.”
After hesitating for a moment, Lisbeth left the little garden and slipped back into the main keep of the Demon King’s Fortress. The Treasure Vault was located deep in the innermost part of the Upper District, while Lisbeth was currently in the Lower District.
If she wanted to go straight from the Lower District to the Upper District without using a Magic Array that would definitely trigger an alert the moment it was activated, she had to use a Secret Passage.
The problem was: the one she was going for now was in a place that made her want to dig a hole and hide.
“Damn it, which idiot thought it was a good idea to put a Secret Passage here of all places?”
After quietly slipping past the guards outside the Fortress walls, Lisbeth easily made her way inside. She crossed the main hall of the Lower District, went down several corridors, and what appeared in front of her was a massive door.
Behind that door was the entrance to the Secret Passage—and also the public bath used by the servants of the Demon King’s Fortress…
“At this hour there shouldn’t be anyone taking a bath, right?”
Lisbeth had two reasons for choosing this place. First, the entrance to the passage wasn’t one of those old push-pull hidden doors she’d used before. This one was formed by a Magic Array. In other words, as long as no one noticed the array, no one would ever know there was a passage there at all.
Unfortunately, the Magic Array for that Secret Passage was set right at the bath’s spring source. And the real kicker: it was in the women’s bath. Unless something truly major happened, no one would bother to thoroughly search that spot.
So whoever decided to set the Secret Passage’s Magic Array there was, in a way, a genius.
Her second reason was that, even though this bath was open twenty-four hours a day to all the servants of the Fortress, there was basically no reason for anyone to come bathe in the middle of the night.
Taking both points into account, this seemed like the only option left to her. So in the end, she could only take a deep breath and push the door open.
“Uwaa, this place is spotless.”
After stepping through the door and walking a few steps, Lisbeth entered what looked like a changing room. Her body might be female now, but her soul was still very much that of a man. Just seeing this place made her tense up a little.
To be honest, this was her first time using this Secret Passage. She had no idea where exactly it would lead once she went in.
But right now, there was only one path laid out before her. She had no other choice. So she sighed once more and walked toward the bath itself.
“Mm, just as I thought, not a single person. That’s a relief.”
Steam still rose from the surface of the bath in front of her. If someone had actually been soaking in here at this time, Lisbeth would’ve been utterly screwed.
But since there wasn’t a soul around, she didn’t need to worry about her footsteps at all. She strode right into the bathing area, practically leaping inside as she made a beeline for the spring.
“Ah, there it is.”
Lisbeth quickly found the Magic Array beside the spring. She injected a small amount of mana into it, and a bluish-green Magic Array flared to life in front of her.
“Alright, here we go. Ha—mmph!”
Once she made up her mind, Lisbeth held her breath and threw herself onto the Magic Array beneath the spring. After a brief moment of not being able to breathe, her body emerged into a pitch-black passage.
“Phew… looks like it worked.”
Because she’d just dived into the bath, Lisbeth was soaked from head to toe. But now that she’d successfully transferred into the Secret Passage, there was no point complaining. She took a deep breath and continued toward the other end.
“Ah, seems like I’m here already. Huh, that was shorter than I thought.”
After walking for about ten minutes, Lisbeth soon reached the other exit. Just like the entrance, the exit was also a Magic Array.
“Huh? Why is the exit a Magic Array too? Whatever, guess it’s for secrecy or something.”
Staring at the array in front of her, Lisbeth didn’t overthink it. She simply reached out, activated it again, then stepped forward into the glowing pattern without hesitation.
“W-w-whoa!!”
The moment she passed through, a rush of warm water suddenly closed in around her from all sides. She instinctively let out a scream and shot up out of the water.
“Which damn lunatic thought this was a good idea!? Why the hell is the exit in a bath too!?”
“Who’s there!?”
“Eh!?”
Just as she burst out of the water, a familiar female voice rang out from the other side of the bath. The instant Lisbeth heard that voice, her whole body trembled. She hastily ducked behind the nearest rock.
At the same time, that voice snapped again from the other side, stern and sharp: “Who’s there? Come out, now!”
“T-this voice… why does it sound so familiar?”
After confirming the other person couldn’t see her, Lisbeth quietly swam around to the other side of the large rock. She poked her head out just a little to see who it was—and in the next second, it felt like her heart stopped all over again.
Because the one currently bathing in the Upper District’s bath of the Demon King’s Fortress was none other than the Head Maid of the Fortress, and Lisbeth’s direct superior—Hilda.
