"What did you just do?"
The young prince asked, brushing his head.
"I've casted harmless mental spell in your mind, Your Highness."
I told him.
I went on.
"The madness disease in essence is a deadly magical curse. To be more specific, it is compulsion magic. It's a form of corrosive magical energy which invades one's mind completely. The black liquid and fog we saw earlier were mediums in which the magical energy can be imbued and manifested."
"And the one spell you casted on me can fight it off?"
He asked back with perceptive eyes.
I nodded to him.
"Correct, Your Highness. The corrosive energy of the madness disease won't be able to penetrate the protection of my mental spell instilled in your mind. You won't have to worry of falling to the disease even if you got wounded by an infected. Not that we would let it happen to you."
The young prince nodded to my explanation.
"I understand. Thank you for your help."
His gaze was firm and dignified. The youthful and frightened air I saw previously had disappeared from him.
He truly was an imperial royalty.
The prince turned to my comrades and went on.
"I am indebted to you all. If it weren't for you five, I would had died back then. I am not as powerful as my siblings, but I'll make sure the Eternal Throne repay the deeds you've done for me."
Radjah Tsang Manusha.
Born out of a humble palace maid's womb. The lowest ranked concubine in His Majesty's harem.
The prince was so low in the hierarchy of the emperor's children that His Majesty pitied the boy and named him 'Radjah.'
It was from the ancient language of Dunia, meaning king or lord.
That name was the only thing strong of the prince. For he was about as powerful as a commoner given his mother's background.
No. Even some commoners had much more freedom and authority than His Highness.
I had seen the prince once before coming to the forged land.
It was in passing as I was accompanying my father for a noble function in the capital.
The prince was much older than he was right now. About fifteen years older.
All he did was sitting in dark corner as his more powerful siblings took the stage and handled the matters of the empire.
Nobody cared for him.
Yes. Not one person put any mind to his person.
So what was exactly happening right now?
"You're not spared from danger yet, Your Highness. We still need to escort you safely out of the city."
I told him as I casted the counter compulsion spell to the rest of my comrades.
Once everyone's mind was secured, I turned to our scout.
"Devisha, I need you to head outside and scout the surroundings for us. The madness disease outbreak changes almost everything we know of Tsuchi. If we're going to plan an escape route, we need to learn the current state of the city."
"Anything in particular you want me to find?"
"Where the infected are mostly scattered throughout the city. As well as the rest of the Jherendal soldiers. I want to know where our enemies are."
"Understood."
I temporarily dispelled the shield rune on the single window in the attic to let Devisha out.
"Stay on the high rises and avoid being detected by the infected. As long as you keep out of their sight, you should be fine."
I told the Tsahanam mercenary.
The veil-cladded woman replied with a reassuring nod and leaped out of the safe zone.
Given how building-packed Tsuchi was, Devisha should be able to get to almost everywhere in the city without having to land on the street.
I then turned to the rest of my comrades.
"While Devisha is scouting the city for us, we should start planning for possible escape routes. Darius, bring out the map."
The archer immediately reached for a paper bundle in the satchel hanging on his waist.
It was the map of Tsuchi we brought along with us from the lobby.
We might had learned of the city and memorized its terrain as much as we could. But it would be foolish to not still bring the map with us.
As soon as Darius spread the huge drawing on the floor, all of us immediately huddled around it, including the young prince.
I opened the discussion.
"We generally have three ways out of the city. Toward the land to the east. Toward the Great Katcha Lake to the west. Or through any direction via airship on the landing port inside the city."
"If we're escaping to the land, we need to reach the outermost layer of the city, which is the Fifth Wall district."
Shanny pointed out.
"The harbor where we can find a boat and escape to the lake is located on the Third Wall district."
Jonah added.
"The landing port in Tsuchi is located in the Fourth Wall district. We could hijack one of Jherendal's airships there and fly away from the city. I know how to do that."
I stated.
Darius brushed his beard at our words.
"We're currently in the Second Wall district. So the closest would be the harbor."
"But will we find a boat down there? It may be closer, but we won't be able to escape if we can't find a vessel to take us away from the city. Same case for the airship."
Shanny said.
I nodded to her concern.
"We have a way to be certain."
I resumed touching the back of my ear and spoke.
"Devisha, we're planning to escape through either the outermost wall in the Fifth Wall district, or the harbor in the Third Wall district, or via an airship from the landing port in the Fourth Wall district. Can you scout those areas for us?"
[Understood. There's a vantage point near me with good view of all locations. I'll make my way there.]
"Alright. Be careful."
I turned to the map once more.
"Let's determine more specific routes to our destinations. We'll start with the harbor. How are we going to get there?"
"What if Devisha sneak to the harbor ahead of us so you could create a portal directly there? Like how we did to reach the Tamelan Square. It would be much safer and quicker."
Darius proposed.
Shanny nodded with him.
"We could also do the same if we're heading out through the Fifth Wall district or the landing port."
I agreed with their suggestions since I was thinking the same as well.
"That would be the most ideal way. But let's assume Devisha won't be able to reach there and we have to get there on our own feet."
"The city roads are too dangerous given the infected. We can't rely on them for safe passage. Even the back alleys"
Jonah said.
"What about the underground sewers? It's supposedly running throughout the city. We don't have a detailed map of the structure, but Serafina can find us a way with her detection field."
Shanny proposed.
Darius nodded to her and pointed to a part of the map.
"If we're taking the sewers, there's the Randopa canal not far from here. We can find a gate leading underground there."
The strategy meetings we did in the lobby were not in vain.
My comrades would not be so knowledgeable of the city if it were not for our time studying the city and discussing various scenarios that could happen in the trial.
"It is possible for some of the infected to go underground into the sewers, but most of them would be focused on hunting prey on the surface. The sewers indeed would be our safest route. There should be a path leading to the sea where the harbor is located or even to the easternmost part of the city."
I stated.
I went on.
"Assuming Devisha can't reach our destinations ahead of us, we'll head to Randopa canal and enter the sewers once Devisha is done with her scouting. In the sewers we would find our way to either the harbor, the landing port, or the outermost wall. That is how we'll escape the city and complete this mission."
My comrades nodded to the plan confidently.
We all continued studying the map to be more certain of the grounds we would soon cover.
It was then the young prince spoke up to us.
"You are them, aren't you?"
His words brought frowns to our faces.
"What do you mean, Your Highness?"
I asked.
The young prince was staring at us studiously. Determining.
"The ones who saved Loro. The heroes."