Chapter 744: 744

With a casual flick of her wrist, the water mirror collapsed into drifting droplets before vanishing entirely. The mage rose into the air once more, her form lifting effortlessly skyward. In the blink of an eye, she was gone.

Or so it seemed.

Mei knew better.

All of them did.

The mage’s presence never fully disappeared, it merely thinned, retreating high into the clouds. From above, concealed by altitude and mist, she continued to shadow the caravan, watching, waiting.

The carriages rolled forward again, wheels creaking softly against the road as they approached the border wall. To maintain appearances, conversation resumed among the caravan’s escorts, idle chatter about trade routes, weather, and noble gossip. Meaningless babble, carefully chosen to fit their supposed status.

Not one of them dared to reestablish the mental link.

An hour passed like a held breath.

Then, at last, they reached the border.

High above, the watching presence finally lifted away. The pressure faded, the invisible gaze loosening its grip. When the mage’s mana signature vanished entirely, Mei and the others allowed themselves a single, shallow sigh of relief.

They had passed the first gate.

But none of them believed the danger was truly over.

The inspection did not end at the gate.

Knights in polished armor moved with disciplined precision, forming lines as soldiers stepped forward to conduct a thorough control of the convoy. Documents were checked and rechecked, seals examined under enchanted lenses, and wagons searched with methodical care. Every movement was deliberate, practiced, and devoid of haste.

One by one, the carriages were cleared.

For a moment, it seemed they had truly passed.

Then the air shifted.

Mei felt it first, a tightening behind her eyes, a pressure that made her breath catch. The others sensed it as well. A presence descended, heavier and far less courteous than before.

The female mage appeared again.

This time, she did not bother with pleasantries.

She hovered above the gate, her bare feet inches from the stone, her eyes no longer shaped like an eagle’s but something deeper, older. Runes ignited around her pupils as she raised both hands.

"This will be brief," she said.

Mana surged as a huge magic circle appeared before her.

The spell she unleashed was invasive, forceful, less a scan and more a dissection. It tore through layers of false identity, pressed against the edges of their souls, and demanded truth without consent.

Inside the carriages, the artifacts reacted instantly.

Hidden sigils flared beneath clothing and skin, burning cold as they erected barriers around each pawn’s true nature. The pressure intensified as the spell pushed harder, probing, prying, doubting.

Then, a sound only they could hear.

"Crack" unmistakable fine fractures spiderwebbed across the unseen surfaces of their artifacts, hairline breaks forming as the spell scraped past their limits. Mei clenched her teeth, forcing herself to remain still, her expression perfectly composed even as panic clawed at her chest.

The mage’s brow furrowed, for a heartbeat, her spell lingered.

Then she released it. The runes in her eyes dimmed, and the weight lifted all at once.

"...Clear," she said at last.

The knights stepped aside.

The gates opened.

The convoy rolled forward, wheels crossing the threshold into Osita territory at last.

Only when the walls were behind them did Mei dare to exhale.

Within the safety of their borrowed silence, they all felt it, the damage done, the cost paid. The artifacts still held.

But they were no longer whole and every crack brought them one step closer to being seen.

They continued onward, their course now firmly set toward the capital of the Osita Kingdom.

More precisely, their destination lay just beyond it, a vast, domesticated forest under the direct ownership of the royal family. During this season, the forest was traditionally opened to the public, for a hunting party. Festivals were held beneath its ancient canopies, pilgrims and nobles alike allowed to wander its paths. Yet beneath its beauty lay layers of warding and authority that made it one of the most closely watched regions in the kingdom.

As they traveled, passing through town after town, excuses were carefully woven. One by one, members of the caravan were give reasons to separate, urgent trade matters, delayed shipments, familial obligations, alternate routes. The caravan thinned naturally, leaving no cause for suspicion as Mei and the others continued alone toward their destination.

Shaking off people was easy.

What awaited them was not.

The closer they drew to the capital, the quieter they became. Conversation died away, replaced by heavy, shared disbelief. None of them dared speak, even aloud as the pressure mounted.

The scans from before changed.

At first, they had been intermittent and distant. Now they were constant, layered, and aware. These were not simple detection scan they felt from crossing the border. This ones were more wide-spread, overlapping fields of perception, deep, intuitive magic that did not merely search for anomalies, but felt for them.

Days passed under that invisible scrutiny.

Their bodies grew weary, their minds strained. Sleep brought little relief. Even when the scans receded, the sensation lingered, like a phantom touch that refused to fade.

The irritation they had felt before intensified.

It was no longer a mild discomfort, but a relentless itch beneath their borrowed skin, an instinctual warning screaming at them to flee. With every step closer to the capital, the truth became clearer.

They had entered the lion’s den.

Had it not been for their mission and servitude to Murmur, had it not been for the crushing vigilance that blanketed the land, Mei and the others would have shed their disguises without hesitation and run as far from the capital as their legs could carry them.

Each wave of scanning magic felt like countless eyes opening at once, gazes converging, pressing down upon them from every direction.

They knew and truly understood that they were still safe.

They had not been discovered. No alarm had been raised. No pursuit followed their steps. And yet, the sensation refused to loosen its grip, leaving them feeling as though they were being singled out, toyed with by something.

The reality was there weren’t, which was a truth they were forced to swallow, again and again: they were not special in this regard. The scans were not meant for them alone.

They were for everything.

The land itself was being watched.

This realization came from observation. As they moved through settlements and shared roads with travelers, merchants, and guards, they began to notice the reactions of those around them. Individuals with notable strength or cultivated mana would stiffen briefly when a scan passed, eyes widening in momentary surprise before relaxing once more.

Then they would carry on.

No irritation. No mounting pressure. No instinctive urge to flee.

For many, the sensation seemed almost forgotten, like a familiar presence that had faded into the background of daily life. A reminder of protection rather than intrusion.

That difference was damning.

Where others merely noticed the scans, Mei and the others suffered under them. It was like their nature bristled against the pervasive scrutiny, reacting violently to magic designed to embrace, protect, and preserve.

The incompatibility was clear, to people like them, it felt like being slowly skinned alive under a thousand patient eyes.

Unknown to them, what they were experiencing was not by chance or planned.

It was a decision.

High within the inner circles of the Osita Kingdom, the Head of Securities had authorized it, a measure born from long years of failure, compromise, and bitter lessons. This season, more than any other, defined Osita’s bond with its people. It was a time of openness, celebration, and royal presence. And with that openness came vulnerability.

For decades, the kingdom had sought ways to make this period safer.

They had fortified borders, multiplied wards, layered detection spells, and stationed elite mages at every conceivable point of entry. Yet no matter how dense the net became, there were always gaps.

A sufficiently advanced spell could slip through.

A powerful enough artifact could render its bearer invisible to conventional scrutiny.

Cases like Mei and her group were expected. The security council understood a hard truth: there were threats they could not directly detect, no matter how refined their methods became.

So they changed their approach.

It took years. Countless failed attempts. And more than a few disastrous trials before they finally succeeded. When they did, the result was classified immediately, sealed as one of the kingdom’s most closely guarded secrets.

The wide-scale scan itself was not the achievement.

That part was easy.

Osita’s mages and warlocks had long been capable of maintaining a massive, continuous sensory field across their territory. What had taken time, what had demanded innovation was redefining the purpose of those scans.

And the sensation Mei and her companions were experiencing was a direct result of this decision.

In simple terms, the scans were designed to emit waves that latched onto hidden intentions.

For those who carried harmful or hostile intent toward the Osita Kingdom, the effect was unmistakable. The discomfort Mei and her team felt was a clear example of this. For those without such intentions, the scans were nearly nonexistent, easily overlooked, fading into the background like ambient magic.