She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (WN)

Mira took off riding Pegasus and left Sentopolly behind, running through the air above the wastelands for a few hours. The sun was setting and stars started twinkling in the sky like sparks. The stars had been bright every night since Mira had arrived in that world, but tonight they were brighter than ever. It was only second to the sky she had seen from the Abandoned City in the Sky.

「Look at this wondrous sky, Pegasus.」

Seeing that breathtaking scenery, Mira spoke entranced. Pegasus neighed and nodded, electric spark-like particles emanating from his tail and trailing behind them.

Some time after they admired that scenery, a spot of light became visible far away where the sky met the horizon.

The Lucion river that came from the large southern mountain range stretched out in front of them, and Irene, the capital of Roseline, stood by its bank

Hidden by the veil of darkness, Mira landed in an empty back street, thanked Pegasus and sent him away, then walked out to the main street acting like she had always been there.

Mira was in the main commercial district of Irene, which was brightly illuminated even at night. The fire providing that light was produced by spirits, so it was unusually bright and made the streets look like it was still daytime. That light invited people to walk out at night, so the streets were just as lively as in Sentopolly, even though the buildings were nowhere as grandiose.

(This place looks quite different as well.)

The people in the streets were of a large variety of races, most of which seemed to be in a good mood as they shopped. That much was still the same as what Mira remembered, but other than that Irene was much larger, dwarfing the size she had in mind, and was more densely populated.

The main street was around ten meters wide, both sides lined with countless stores, and the street itself sprinkled with carts. But that did not slow the flow of people at all, the place packed like a crowd watching an event.

Mira walked along the street, from time to time peeking out of the crowd to see the stores. Eventually she spotted the main Melville store, which she instantly went to visit, purely out of curiosity.

(Hmm, so these are the people supporting Chimera.)

The store specialized in selling weapons and armor. From daggers to battle axes, from leather armor to full body knight-like thick armor. Any adventurer of the warrior class could walk in there and suit up without issue.

The store was built with wood and stone, making it look rather subdued and simple, though it was filled with adventurers. From what she could see, their skill level covered the entire spectrum, from the lowest ranks to the highest, and all of them searched for equipment suitable for them.

(Hm, what was that back there..?)

As she observed the store, she noticed something odd. An adventurer, who looked like a high ranking one, walked down a set of stairs that had a ‘No Unauthorized Entry’ sign in front.

Mira knew the only possibly authorized personnel of the store was the staff, but as she pondered that yet another adventurer approached the stairs.

(Was that an entry pass or something?)

Mira saw the adventurer show a card to one of the store workers before walking in. That gave her a certain idea of what could lie beyond those stairs, a restricted section of the store selling dubious goods, essentially a black market.

Given the Melville corporation was already helping a group like Chimera Clauzen, them doing other shady stuff was easy to imagine.

「Hey you, can I ask you something?」

Thinking of that, Mira walked straight towards that worker and raised her voice.

「Yes, how may I help you?」

The lady turned around, leaning down with a smile and speaking with a soft voice once she saw who was talking to her.

「I just saw a few people passing by, what’s down there?」

As she spoke, Mira pointed to the stairs with the sign.

「It’s a place where they sell specialized weapons for exclusive members, apparently.」

The lady followed Mira’s finger with her gaze and replied, though her reply did not sound too convinced.

Mira tried to ask for more details from her, but apparently only the upper management of the Melville Corporation, and the relatives of the owner handled the business down there.

No one in the regular store knew what type of weapons they sold down there, or how the members registered.

「Hmm, I see. Sorry for taking your time like this.」

「No worries, feel free to ask anything else if you need help.」

After that Mira left the store and looked up at the building from the street, smiling to herself feeling like she had finally found some dirt on them.

While she still had found no information about the Graveyard of War Memorials, her main objective, she walked through the city feeling pleased knowing she had unearthed some suspicious activity in the Melville corporation so quickly.

Keeping those thoughts to herself, she began visiting all the other stores she could find around. Her appearance to others looked only like a young girl with a curious mind, garnering warm looks from those around, though a few also scolded her telling her to return home before it got too late.

It was getting late at night when Mira reached the other side of the commercial district. There was a large crossing there, and past it started the residential district. The lights there were dimmer, making it seem like that portion of the city was wrapped in a dark veil, and it was so silent it felt like the opposite world to the commercial district.

(I wonder where that Graveyard of War Memorials is.)

It was like Mira had reached the end of a happy dream, and as she stared at those dark streets she remembered her original objective. Leaving the lights and bustle behind, she began checking any alleys that looked suspicious.

The alleys were all dark, completely different from the streets she had been in earlier, and everyone she saw seemed to be hiding something. If the commercial district was the bright side, its stark shadows lived in the back alleys.

Idle thoughts in her mind, Mira wandered aimlessly through those streets.

If someone like Zef who was enamored with history did not know the location of the Graveyard of War Memorials, then it was probably something kept secret from regular people.

It would be faster if she went to a history scholar or the city management to ask about it, but she would need to be very careful to do that. If she asked some random person it could easily spark rumors that someone was looking for the Graveyard of War Memorials, which would quickly reach Chimera Clauzen’s ears and raise their guard.

That was the reason why Mira had decided against that from the beginning. Summoners had gained a lot of advantages with the changes to the world, so she would have a lot more options.

Still, she wanted to find at least one more clue, so she kept visiting the back alleys.

「Hey girly, would you like five of these?」

A voice spoke to her from behind. Turning around, she saw a large man, and instantly knew what he wanted. The moderately overweight man wore a well made coat, and seemed to be a rather wealthy individual.

His eyes seemed to be licking Mira as he stared at her while waving a silver coin in his hand, and no matter how burly it looked, it was obvious how lustful and excited he was. Even Mira felt uncomfortable facing him and had to take a step back.