Reik glanced at the girls out of the corner of his eye; he was about to break the silence when Chloe beat him to it, doubt clearly written across her face.
"How are we going to make them believe Vault's betrayal?" she asked. "Many of humanity's high command trust him blindly."
Reik tensed for a second. She was the only one who knew nothing about the group chat. Before he could come up with an excuse, Olga stepped in with astonishing naturalness.
"I contacted Celestine using long-distance magic," the dark elf declared in an authoritative tone. "We have reached a temporary alliance."
Reik gave her a mental thumbs-up. She hadn't lied—she had merely "adapted" the group chat into long-distance magic.
"Listen, even if we're in an 'alliance,' to avoid unnecessary trouble, I'll go in first to introduce myself," Reik proposed.
Both hesitated, but eventually nodded. They knew that the presence of a dark elf at the gates of Iris City could cause a bloodbath before anyone could say "truce."
The City of Women
Upon arriving, Reik couldn't help but be amazed.
"This city is beautiful…" he murmured. It was worthy of being the stronghold of one of the Seven Princesses.
However, what astonished him the most wasn't the architecture, but the demographics. There was a massive imbalance between the number of men and women. And then there was… the clothing. Reik swallowed and averted his gaze from the passersby.
'Wow, I'm still not used to the fashion in this world. Not that I'm complaining, but my concentration has its limits,' he thought, trying to focus his mind on the situation.
He remembered fragments of the original story. If his memory didn't fail him, there was a traitor in this city: Beasley. Thanks to him, in the original timeline, Iris fell quickly.
'The plan is simple: gather evidence of his collaboration with Vault, show it to Alicia, and prepare for the attack,' he outlined mentally. But there was a problem: he didn't know where the guy lived, and he didn't want to go around breaking doors. First, he needed the blessing of the local leader.
"Halt! Strangers are not allowed to enter," said one of the guards at the main gate. Her face was flushed a deep red.
"State the purpose of your visit," added the second, her voice trembling slightly as her eyes wandered over Reik's body, which his clothes barely managed to conceal.
Reik stepped closer and, unintentionally, his eyes fell on the soldiers' uniforms. They offered no protection, leaving almost everything exposed.
'Those bodies are… no, don't be lustful, Reik…'
'I'm just conducting a technical inspection of the armor. As an exorcist, I must evaluate their defense… though it's clearly nonexistent,' he justified to himself with cynicism.
Seeing the guards on the verge of losing their composure, a narcissistic thought crossed his mind: 'Have they never seen a handsome man before?'
He suddenly remembered the world of Baki. Yujiro Hanma emitted such an overwhelming amount of hormones and an aura of dominance that no woman could resist him.
'Maybe I have a similar trait,' he reflected. That would explain why he conquered Olivia so quickly in his world and why Olga seemed ready to pounce on him at any careless moment during the journey.
He coughed lightly so the girls could regain their senses.
"I've come to meet your leader, Alicia Arcturus," he said with a gentle smile that nearly made one of the guards start drooling.
"We… we weren't notified of any visit," one of them managed to say, trying to regain her professionalism. "Without an appointment, we can't let you pass."
"Tell your leader I come on behalf of Lady Celestine," Reik replied, maintaining the pressure of his charm.
The name of the Elf Queen had an immediate effect. The guards looked at each other, stunned and uncertain.
"Wait here for a moment," one of them said before running toward the interior of the fortress to inform Alicia.
Reik remained there, waiting, his pulse quickening slightly.
'Well, the time has finally come to meet the legendary Knight Princess!'