Escape 3 - For Another Hope

Our calculations were perfect.

The cheese's shape and weight, the elevation, the initial speed, the timing, the execution...

We tested our design extensively to eliminate all design flaws and possibility of error before arriving at our final iteration.

It was a feat of mathematical and engineering genius, so let us hold our heads high, my fellow scientists.

It's not fair!

Umu, I know all too well how you feel, lion-headed King of Inventions.

We did our very best, made no mistakes, yet we were still ultimately defeated in a surprisingly low-tech way...

That was an amazing back-facing roundhouse. I could swear I even saw a shock wave on impact.

Since there was nothing Sabery about her kick, I have nothing but praise for it! I do have to wonder, though: Is that sorta thing trendy with queens these days?

The Medb we've seen in this Singularity does strike me as being a little different from the one we've seen before.

It's almost like she's been optimized to protect her land or something. Then again...

...it may just be that any Celtic woman could pull off something like that if she trained hard enough.

Regardless, the fact remains that we failed to clean her up. That's our greatest problem.

Uh. We couldn't beat her... (Sad)

You're not going to say you're glad she didn't die, are you?

Yes, in some circumstances, witnessing the death of another can be unpleasant for me, as it can cause me to think of my own death...

...However, such is not the case with sniping, as it does not bring my death to mind. As such, I typically would not care one way or the other.

However, since the survival of this queen has a direct effect on our own chances at living or dying, it would seem I do not have the luxury of indifference.

Now that we've failed to cheese her, she'll be much more alert than she was before. We should assume we won't get another shot at taking her out.

Oh, she'll also probably start trying to root out the culprits and make an example of them. You know, grisly executions and such. Pretty standard stuff with your typical tyrannical despot.

I've had my fair share of attempted assassinations, so believe me, I know what I'm talking about!

You should have seen Sugitani's shooting event. Talk about dangerous!

Course, it didn't change the fact I still ended up Honnoji-ed in the end!

I, too, understand how difficult it is to assassinate someone who has her guard up.

The only course of action available to us is to wait for her to lower her guard, whether it takes months or years.

But...how will I protect public decency this summer if I am locked away the entire time?

So, essentially...we've completely failed and lost our chance to assassinate her. Great.

...Which means we've lost our one and only chance to get rid of the Prison Field.

Uh...

I was surprised too. So much so that I even looked up from the book of the gods.

But I'm not surprised that your assassination attempt failed. What I am surprised by is Medb's self-control in overcoming her weakness.

I thought she was the type to trust her natural abilities so much that she would never bother with further training, but clearly I was wrong.

It turns out she's the sort who is willing to do whatever she has to in order to overcome her flaws.

So it would seem... I had the wrong idea about her too. As the ruler of a kingdom myself, I have to give her credit where credit is due.

Yes, I suppose you're right about that. And now, unfortunately, it seems our hands are tied.

After all, the only way to get around the Prison Field is to assassinate Medb.

You mean you're not all trying to take over this prison for yourselves?

How very pacifist of you. I didn't realize that all you wanted was a way to remove the barrier.

Hmm, if that's so, there is still a way to remove it. All you need to do is follow the right steps.

...

...Hm?

Hold up, hold up, hold up! What did you just say?

There's another way to remove the Prison Field? One that doesn't involve killing Medb?

Hahaha, of course there is, guitarist and girl who's learning to swim. Like any mechanical creation, it can be turned off.

Of course, assassinating Medb would have just sidestepped all that entirely and gone straight to tearing down the whole prison.

But if all you want is to get rid of the barrier, then you simply need to make the appropriate arrangements.

How did we not see this sooner!? This calls all that we know into question! That cursed snake woman must have lied to us again!

So somebody else told you that killing Medb was the only way to get rid of the barrier, huh. Given the crudity of that particular method, I have an idea of who it was.

Still, I don't think you could have done anything differently. I'm the only one here who knows about this.

As I may have mentioned before, there are some things only those of us born of the earth can grasp.

So then...how DO we go about disabling the Prison Field?

I sense the barrier's origin in a stone located somewhere high above the ground.

It seems to be a control device. And because of how powerful the barrier it emits is, its control spell is actually quite simple.

I don't see any supplementary power units anywhere, so I think that just turning this device off should let you shut down the barrier.

A stone located high up off the ground? I wonder if it's anything like the Five Elements Mountain on top of Wukong?

Or maybe it's more like a floating boulder from the Heavenly Realm? Buuut, um...I don't think I saw anything like that outside.

It could be something that's made out of stone.

Something made out of stone? But we did not see anything like...

...

That's it!!!

That statue stood out like a sore thumb when we first got here...but at some point, we must have gotten so used to it that we stopped paying it any attention.

Now I see. It was hiding in plain sight all along.

Incidentally, that was one of my 48 Pushing Fifty Techniques in action: "Say something that sounds appropriately detective-ish to prevent anyone from grilling you on why you didn't notice sooner."

I recommend it to anyone working in middle to upper tiers of management.

Given that even a genius of my caliber failed to notice this, any grilling of that sort would be meaningless. The real question is, what do we do now?

So if we can manage to do something about the control device in that statue, we may be able to get rid of the barrier... Is that right?

Well, yes, but Medb is very aware of how important the device is. Security is bound to be tighter than ever.

What's more, using my Presence Detection, I can tell there's someone else in this prison who's nearly as powerful as her.

That must be Vice-Warden...Quetzalcoatl.

Meanwhile, we remain weakened. If we attempt to approach the device without a plan, we will surely be cleaned up.

I really don't want to die... Do we have no other options?

Maybe we could persuade her to let us out, or win her over with a bribe.

If only it were that easy.

Actually, that sort of approach might just be your best option.

For example...in addition to myself, I've heard there's another maximum security prisoner who happens to be a master of disguise.

I presume you can take it from there?

Now I see. That does seem worth considering.

Aha, so that's what you mean...

It looks like all of the intellectual racers like Enkidu's idea.

Ahh, it's so much nicer being able to talk over here. How about you, Fujimaru? Figured it out yet?

I can't believe you're able to keep up with such brainy Servants! That's amazing, Senpai!

I don't doubt that you're telling the truth...but I can also tell from your wry smile how embarrassed you are to be praised like that.

Me neither. A master of disguise, huh... How could someone like that help to resolve this situation?

？！

We'll get this master of disguise to trick Quetzalcoatl and have her deactivate the Prison Field for us.

There are just two things we need to confirm. First, is Quetzalcoatl authorized to do that?

Definitely. I've noticed that the Prison Field's range and strength are adjusted occasionally...

...and it has happened at times when Medb is far away from the prison. In fact, the most recent adjustment was made right before you all arrived.

I'm guessing she contacted the prison to inform them she was bringing in a group of powerful prisoners so that they could strengthen the barrier a bit before they arrived.

And it could not possibly have been Medb who made the adjustment.

While Medb is surely the core of the barrier's power, the fact that the barrier is rooted here in this location tells us something important.

It is impossible for one person to manage alone.

Good. Now here's the second thing: if we're going to trick Quetzalcoatl into following false orders, those orders will naturally have to come from a false Medb.

Is that going to work? I mean, can this person really disguise himself as Medb well enough to fool her?

If this master is as good as they're rumored to be, that shouldn't be a problem.

I'm told that they can transform into anyone, male or female.

Supposedly, they can mimic their target's Spirit Origin somehow.

This could be a problem. I know only two people with such skill in disguise, and one of them I would very much prefer to avoid.

I will just ask directly: Is this master of disguise a detective?

Hm? No, I don't think so.

For one thing, detectives usually send people to prison, not get sent there themselves.

If this person is anything, then according to the rumors I have heard, I would say they are...a phantom.

It sounds like you should be able to dig your way to the cell of this mysterious master of disguise from here.

...Okay, I've officially made their cell the next checkpoint. If you want to get rid of the Prison Field, you'll have to get this phantom person to join you.

Once you've done that, you'll be that much closer to your escape!

All right everyone, get ready! The prison break race is back on!