Ethan, Void, and Jake took a step forward after being selected as the squad leaders, maintaining a firm posture before Ryan.

The elven and beastmen assassins waited in silence in the village courtyard, as if they were processing Ryan’s strategy.

However, Ryan knew he needed to clarify the logistics of the journey. They couldn’t simply leap into the void from a dungeon floating directly in the sky without having a clear course on the map.

Turning his head slowly, Ryan focused his attention on the figure of Alicia, who remained a bit to the side, observing with her usual analytical expression.

Ryan crossed his arms and asked her the question out of curiosity.

"Alicia, what is the closest city to this sky dungeon?"

Alicia took a couple of steps forward on the white stone tiles, adjusting her clothes before responding.

Her knowledge of this world’s geography was superior, so she looked directly at Ryan with complete seriousness.

"The closest place to this floating dungeon belongs to the nation of Kalistia. It is quite an extensive territory. Flying constantly with Miss Karol’s magic, I estimate that the squads should be able to reach the borders of that nation in about six hours of continuous travel."

Hearing the direct mention of her specialty, Karol immediately interjected impulsively.

Even though a few moments ago she was complaining about waking up early and lazily dragging her feet, pride in her flight support capabilities made her speak up quickly.

She looked at Ryan with her cheeks slightly flushed, interrupting the conversation.

"Hey, six hours would be the normal time if I used only my own power, but it could be a bit faster if you take into consideration the physical and magical buff Ryan can give me."

Karol stared intently at Ryan before continuing with her technical explanation.

"With your enchantments boosting my base agility and psyche stats, energy consumption would decrease and my flight speed would increase quite a bit, allowing us to cut down the travel time."

Ryan nodded his head slowly, processing the information in his mind immediately. Combining his support buff with Karol’s flight magic was the perfect way to optimize the journey.

"You’re right, I agree with that. I’ll use my buff on you before we leave to ensure the trip is as short as possible."

Ryan replied in a serious tone, looking at the mage. Alicia waited for Ryan to finish speaking and then continued with her explanation without losing her posture, picking up the logistical details.

"The nation of Kalistia is our general destination, but the closest city within that nation would specifically be Wind Valley."

Alicia clarified the situation, mentioning the exact spot in the region where they would carry out the operation for this mission.

Ryan refocused his gaze on the three squad leaders, who were listening to the names Kalistia and Wind Valley with absolute attention. Ryan took a step toward them, changing the course of what would have been an ordinary military infiltration.

"Each group must explore different parts of the city. We will divide the city into sectors, covering the north, east, west, and center. For this plan, I don’t want you sneaking around in the shadows of alleys using stealth. The plan requires you to enter the city completely blended in with the crowd, acting like ordinary adventurers or simple civilians walking through the markets."

The leaders nodded seriously, listening to their king’s specifications. Ryan continued to explain the purpose firmly.

"The purpose of all this is to listen for rumors in taverns, to see if there are any active bounty missions or searches for me or the S-rank heroines. I need you to check the local guild’s bulletin boards and pay attention to the merchants’ gossip."

Ryan paused while observing them, noting that everyone seemed to understand. Then he continued with the explanation.

"Basically, your mission is to find a way to figure out if the world currently has us as a primary target because of what happened and the holy knights we killed."

Right at the moment Ryan finished assigning the infiltration instructions, the heavy echo of hurried footsteps interrupted the seriousness in the courtyard.

The small blacksmith of the dwarven race came running into the courtyard, breathing with evident difficulty due to the physical exertion.

Her brown hair was completely disheveled, filled with tiny flakes of ash, and her cheeks and arms showed dark soot stains from spending the entire night working by the fire of the anvil without any rest.

However, despite the fatigue, her hands carefully held a bundle wrapped in a thick linen cloth, protecting it with utmost care. Runa stopped in front of Ryan, trying to catch her breath while extending the package to him with a proud gesture.

"Here are the relics you ordered. It took me hours of continuous work to stabilize the mana suppression runes in the metal, but I managed to finish them just in time before dawn so you could head out."

The dwarf spoke in a tired but firm voice. Ryan took the package gently, pulling back the linen cloth to reveal four small, circular objects made of dark metal that emitted an almost invisible silver glow.

He knew that the dwarven blacksmith’s skills were exceptional for this type of runic artifact.

’I already got to test the efficiency of these relics first-hand when I went to the nation of the dwarves. These relics will mask our rank and race, allowing us to blend in with the people of Wind Valley like ordinary folks without raising any suspicion.’

Ryan analyzed the scenario in his mind while holding the artifacts. They wouldn’t grant physical invisibility, which fit perfectly with the idea of walking through the streets of the city of Kalistia without drawing anyone’s attention.

With the equipment complete and the strategy defined, Ryan gave them the order that would begin the descent to the outside in just half an hour.

Ryan kept the relics for his own core group, where he would go with Beatrice and Karol, and handed the rest to Ethan, Void, and Jake so they could distribute them to their respective groups and prepare to march.