Classroom of the Elite: Amnesia Haven

Arc 3 - 3: Start of the Infiltration

"How many trips have you taken to New City?" I queried Manabu as we took a break at a certain building near New City.

If they were aiming to reclaim the former Kingdom of Arabakia, Damuro would naturally be the top priority. That, or the Cyrene Mines. Both of them are closer to the fortified city of Alterna. I only heard Spearhead putting their attention on Rhodekia, located far north of Shadow Forest, which was heavily orcs-oriented, though. Orcs are the most powerful race in Grimgar alongside the undead. Meaning they had chosen the harder option.

"We do it often," was Manabu's response. Then, "But we were never able to infiltrate the two key locations where the king is likely to reside. We're looking for a relic in Rhodekia to aid in that regard."

"Those cheat items, huh?" Sou bitterly remarked. He didn't seem to like it much.

Relics were items that couldn't be created with current technology. They were clearly made in the past, they said. That, or from another world. They have powers beyond reason. Though in some cases, they demand a certain payment from their users. Payments that could take lives were included.

"But what about the Cyrene Mines?"

Miyabi sighed. "The lower levels are too crowded for us to break through. Our numbers should be just balanced and consist of highly skilled members. In addition, our thieves can't explore the deeper parts for a variety of reasons."

Nazuna continued. "You think Masumi-chan's group is in trouble?"

"...I wouldn't wish them trapped in one, but it is a possibility," Akane nodded. "The Wonder Hole's geography renders the occurrence of earthquakes a major problem for explorers. The inhabitants are not yet fully known either... Let alone the scope of the area."

"If what that thief said is true," Fuka cut in, shooting me a smirk. "We won't need that shitty relic. Heh, the existence of relics in that place isn't even certain. Given the culture of orcs and everything."

We planned to start the infiltration at night. Yuki, Ikuto, and I will be the main intruders into the city, as planned.

"We will force our way in if peaceful options aren't completely possible," Manabu directed to Honami, who hung her head. "Some sacrifices must be made to reach a mutually beneficial agreement. Afraid to do so, we will be the ones to receive them. Soma's talk about the Undying King has truth in it. We should be prepared in case he does return."

Choosing the option with the least amount of conflict is indeed the best. What we are facing is a nation of goblins, and if we are not careful, the other races and Arabakia itself might target us.

Goblins apparently have a kind who can understand human languages and speak them. They reside in two key locations, and one of those two key locations is in the castle, where they're constantly with the king. They may also understand languages other than human.

Fuka snorted. "What we want is merely information, isn't it? The remains of history. Legacies. Whatever Arabakia once had back in the day."

"Yes."

"What can we offer them to gain access to all that?" I asked.

They would have to come up with a pretty decent offer to convince the goblins to provide that access. I had several guesses as to why they wanted the pieces of intel, but I had to admit I didn't have any idea how they were ever planning to achieve them.

"Uhh..." Honami began to say but quickly stopped.

Manabu stared at me. His gaze was appraising.

Honami's group looked distinctly nervous, while Manabu's team tensed up. Well, there were a few exceptions like Fuka or Nazuna. They just don't give a fuck.

But their reactions are pretty odd... They're like...

Manabu opened his mouth after a while.

***

New City was surrounded by a four-meter-high wall made of earth-like material. While it wasn't a great height, one would normally need the help of tools or other people to climb it. Goblin patrols also periodically walked over them with a number of watchtowers in between.

Manabu's group had tried to explore New City even before the creation of the Spearhead clan. They had naturally found a location where the watchtowers were far from each other, and the goblin patrols gave ample time for all of the party to enter. The party had already done that, in fact.

In a certain section of the wall, there is a 90 to 120-second gap in which we can climb the wall without the patrols noticing.

I climbed up first by running and climbed up rapidly like I did a while ago. Yuki and Ikuto followed behind, though not performing the same action. Extending my hand from the wall, I caught the hand of Yuki who leaped up before I hauled her up quickly. I repeated it to Ikuto.

"Follow me," Ikuto said as he lowered himself to the ground. It had the same material as the wall.

Yuki followed in his footsteps before I came behind. As I muffled the sound of my footsteps, advancing with Yuki and Ikuto to the front, the latter turned his head back and went stiff briefly. I showed my confusion on my face, What's wrong? Ikuto shook his head and returned to leading. I thought I saw Yuki smiling faintly in my field of vision. Yeah, what's wrong with them?

Anyway, the ground I'm standing on isn't ground, apparently. It's a roof of the many twisting tunnels. They make for quite a headache and easy for pedestrians to get lost.

There were small and large holes in many shapes to let in air and light. Many solid buildings in between as well. But more than anything, my gaze was drawn to the giant five-armed building far from our location. Countless holes are glowing from there, and I estimate the height to be over thirty meters tall, at least. That's the castle?

Ikuto smoothly guides us through the dizzyingly short roofed tunnel. The height of the tunnel's roof forced us to duck. Even Kanji had to be so. He was only 160 cm, while the roof of the tunnel was 150 cm. I'm 173 cm myself.

There were tunnels with high roofs and ceramic lighting or such. They always had goblins chatting on the side of the road. So that's a no.

New City is just as big.

Ikuto planned to check out one of the two key locations later that night before we took a break. On the way, it's not uncommon to weave in and out of tunnels to avoid the goblins, sometimes waiting a long time for them to disperse. We can't just kill them. Patience was the key to this expedition and the two people in front of me seemed to be quite used to it.

After many hours, and with the time approaching dawn, we finally arrived at the intended location.

"Still hasn't changed, huh...?" Yuki muttered.

We positioned ourselves on top of one of the roofs of a solid earth-like material building. The buildings around us encircled a large vertical hole in the center. It was not directly vertical, there was a staircase on the sides leading downwards, and it was filled with goblins going up and down. There are many sentry goblins surrounding the hole. They meant to defend it, no question about it. Compared to the other areas we've found so far, I can understand why anyone will see it as a key location.

Ikuto sighed. He looked a little disappointed but quickly composed himself. "We're going to the castle after a break. We should rest."