80. Alone in a Foreign Land

All right, we're in! Coming with Stara really was the right choice!

That's right! We have to thank Stara for teaching us how to sneak past the borders via a security loophole.

It's not the time to celebrate yet. Stay vigilant, all of you.

What do we do next?

Let's head towards the area where the Echo Crystal particles vanished. Here are the coordinates according to the sensor. Will you lead the way, Stara?

Of course. This way, follow me.

The location the coordinates indicate should be right ahead, everyone get down! Eastrise soldiers are coming!

There are so many soldiers here... but why? This doesn't seem like a particularly dangerous place.

I'm not sure either. Still, thanks to them deploying so many soldiers here, the defense at the border is much weaker. That's how we got past it so easily.

There are more soldiers here than at the borders. Which means...

It's like they're telling the whole world that they're sneakily doing something important here.

...This indeed calls for an investigation...

Still, we can't break through their defense by force. Besides, we need to be extremely cautious on this mission, so we'd better not act before we have a plan.

How about we head downtown to look around instead?

Ugh... it would've been much more fun to just launch a straightforward attack.

Hey, don't say stuff like that!

So this is Eastrise! While it's only to be expected, it really does look exactly like it does in the simulation.

We aren't even in the city center yet. Due to Raeon's personal preference, the royal palace of Eastrise, also known as the Forbidden City, is extremely extravagant, built in the style of ancient architecture. The Archive, which I've shown you back in the training room, is also there.

Come to think of it, Stara, you showed me Alchemy powers once. Can everyone in Eastrise perform Alchemy too?

Uh... while it's not prevalent like magic is in the Empire... It's probably more widespread here than in Bifrost.

Now that we're on this topic, wasn't Alchemy the main reason Bifrost and Eastrise turned upon each other? Bifrost believes in materialism only. They analyze everything, even god-slayers.

Hey, aren't you guys hungry at all? Instead of discussing all this, I'd much rather check out what food this city has to offer.

All right! I'll show you what authentic Eastrise cuisine is really like!

Let's go!

Wait, something's going on. Look, some locals are running towards us from the direction of the city center.

Hey! Don't go that way, it's dangerous over there!

What's going on?

The Watchtower is attacking random citizens. You'd better run if you value your life!

What...?!