’So, we only have two days left.’

Ryan thought to himself as he walked at a steady pace toward the main entrance of the city of Kalistia, flanked by Beatrice and Karol.

According to the information they had, the meeting with Ophelia was supposed to take place in exactly three days, of which an entire one had already been consumed between dawn and the long flight.

Time was working against them, but the priority right now was to secure their infiltration into Wind Valley without raising any suspicions.

Without saying a word, Ryan murmured and used Inspect; he wanted to make absolutely sure that the relic was truly applying its effect, since what Runa had added wasn’t just the effect of changing their stats, but also their race.

For Ryan, it was highly important to ensure that it showed Beatrice as a human and not as a demon.

’I already passed the dwarven city’s inspection without any problems when I went with Karol, but... she is still a demon. So... if my skill detects her as a human, she should be fine, shouldn’t she?’

And indeed, the stats Ryan saw in the system were no longer those of a demon principality, but rather those of a B-rank assassin belonging to the human race.

He felt a sense of relief upon confirming that everything was really functioning effectively.

Although it was true that Ryan actually planned to gather information by infiltrating the city, doing this was also a way to test the efficiency of the people from the village.

Even though Alicia was the one who took the initiative, she probably thought this was a good way to keep the villagers from idling around.

Suddenly, Beatrice halted her march and positioned herself directly in front of Ryan, blocking his path.

"Stop right there for a moment, Ryan." Saying that, she raised both hands and, without warning, began to mess up his hair with quick and precise movements.

"What are you doing? Stop." Ryan complained, trying to pull his head away.

"It will only take a moment, hold still." Beatrice demanded with a softness that brooked no argument.

She proceeded to explain her reasoning while ruffling his strands. Even though Ryan’s hair was now a deep red color due to the effects of Runa’s camouflage relics, he still maintained exactly the same tidy hairstyle as always.

If his current appearance somehow made someone think there was a resemblance to the person on the bounty posters, then that would cause them trouble, based on Beatrice’s reasoning.

The different color might not be enough to throw them off.

Karol observed the scene from the side, nodding her head as she noticed the changes in the party.

The relics had altered their appearances quite a bit. Beatrice now sported hair of a vibrant yellow tone and light eyes, while Karol wore hers a deep black color.

Beatrice wore a sort of broad scarf that covered a large part of her face and completely hid her horns, leaving only her protruding hair and eyes visible.

After a few seconds of manipulation, Ryan’s red hair fell disheveled across his cheeks, covering a large part of his forehead, giving him a much more careless and rebellious look.

"Done." Beatrice said, stepping back with a satisfied smile at her handiwork.

’It wasn’t even strictly necessary, but oh well. If this gives her peace of mind, I don’t see the problem.’

Before resuming their march toward the city’s massive stone gates, Ryan raised a hand to make one last clarification of vital importance for the group.

"From this moment on and while we are here, I will use a different name. The name I used in the dwarven city was a pretty careless move on my part, and I do not want to repeat that mistake. I will call myself Krai."

Beatrice placed a hand on her chin, remaining deep in thought for a moment with her brow slightly furrowed.

"Krai... alright. But I can’t think of anything for myself." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"Don’t worry about that." Ryan responded immediately. "I had already picked out code names for both of you before we arrived."

Ryan pointed first to the beautiful, yellow-haired demon and then to the black-haired mage.

"You will be Lily, and you will be Rose."

Thus bestowing the name Lily upon Beatrice and Rose upon Karol, Ryan established the identities they would use in front of any strangers.

Beatrice accepted her new name with a calm nod, while Karol puffed out her cheeks and grumbled under her breath about it sounding like a flower’s name, but they ultimately moved forward toward the entrance without any major issues.

The plan was simple. They had to slip inside the city and pass through the guards’ checkpoint without generating any conflict, posing as a party of intermediate B-rank adventurers.

Upon reaching the gates, the guards briefly inspected them. The magical detection scrolls passed over them, but Runa’s relics did their job to perfection.

Not a single alarm sounded, no S-rank stats leaked through. They let them pass with a simple wave of a hand.

’Perfect. I had my doubts, and even though I checked with my Inspect skill multiple times, I thought maybe the magical tools they used would be more refined at detecting demons. I am glad that wasn’t the case.’

Ryan let out a sigh.

’Otherwise, this would have gotten complicated, even if I was prepared to simply get out of here as fast as possible.’

As they advanced through the bustling streets of Wind Valley, Ryan looked around, noticing that the civilians and merchants passed right by them without even paying them any attention.

’Nobody is looking at us strangely. It’s like we are invisible.’ Ryan thought with a certain amount of relief.

"It’s only natural." Karol commented in a low voice upon noticing his expression, keeping close to him as she walked.

"Large cities like this are always taking in and letting go of dozens of adventurers every single day. It’s very common to see new faces arriving at the guilds and inns. As long as we aren’t on the bounty posters or turning out to be demons, we won’t have any problems here."

’Well, that’s precisely what we are. The most wanted and a demon.’ Ryan thought in response, though he kept the comment to himself.

Despite the irony of the situation, he was glad they could pass as normal people.

They walked through the commercial districts until they found a decent-looking inn, where they rented a secluded room to plan their next moves.