[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 287: Paper Thief

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Noelle entered the Church, and without anyone realizing it, black smoke enveloped her, and changed her form into a different figure.

It looked like an ordinary middle-aged man, with very normal facial characteristics, so anyone would instantly forget about it after taking their eyes off for five seconds.

With the new form, Noelle walked through a row of benches, and finally arrived at a bench that he thought was strategic. It was located right in the middle, and the crowd would definitely cover it later.

Noelle was not worried about losing sight, as she could use《Clairvoyance》 to continue observing the situation.

That's how Noelle's plan finally began.

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After six days of observation, Noelle finally found some information she needed.

First about the changing system of the guard. The guards would change positions and go around every two hours. The list of people on duty will also be replaced every three days.

All that information he got after undergoing a boring routine such as attending morning and evening mass every day. However, there were still some things that were difficult for him to gain clarity on.

Until now, what Noelle still has not found is a gap in the changing of the guard schedule.

The switching process is done so structured and carefully that it does not create a time where guarding is empty.

(it's hard.)

Noelle frowned while rearranging her slightly messy plan. If this was the case, then he had no other choice but to back off the plan, and spend more time observing the process of changing the schedule.

There's no way it's so tight. There must be a gap. And if he found that, then infiltration would be easy to do.

Even so, there are still other issues to think about; Noelle has not confirmed the security system that applies here at all.

As long as he volunteered at the church first, he was not told anything about the security system. In addition, there are no practices or processions that must be done to respond to signals from an active security system. That's why, Noelle is a little troubled now.

He also could not carelessly test his safety system, because the plans he had made could fall apart.

(Do you have any advice? )

『Hehe, do your own thing.』

When he tried to ask Noir, that was the response. But it didn't matter, From the start he did not expect to get a serious answer.

(Hey, what authority can Dominance be used to control the human mind? )

To his question, Noir's answer was, 『Hehe, this oritasku controls everything, including time and reality. The human mind is nothing more than a children's game.』

Indeed, Noelle had guessed that.

He remembered Noir had once given him repeated pain by controlling his body time using the authority of Domination. In this case, controlling one's mind was a very easy matter.

But unfortunately for Noelle, she still had to develop her match with 'Domination' to master the advanced stage in the Domination technique.

So far the control ability is only limited to inanimate objects. He had also once controlled a dying corpse or body, so arguably his control of Domination was good enough.

Noelle had actually never tried it, but she had an idea of how to create the use of Dominance authority.

Whether or not it would work, Noelle thought about using a catalyst or an intermediary to make the effect stronger.

Like if he equipped a coin with Domination authority, then he might be able to hypnotize people's minds to momentarily use that coin. But of course, this was only his own speculation. Noir has not given any confirmation of that.

There are other ways to find out the security system in the church, but Noelle is hesitant to do that.

The risk is considerable, and it is capable of producing prolonged cases.

This was done by capturing one of the guards, then killing him, and with the Domination authority Noelle could extract his memories of the structure and security system on the church.

This choice also gave him the ease to disguise himself as that person, but then if it was discovered, then the result would be bad. They could've found Noelle as the culprit.

That's why, after lengthy consideration, Noelle rejected the idea. He prefers to focus on the original plan which is a little dangerous, but minimal prolonged risk.

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Not felt, the appointed day finally arrived.

Noelle was silent as she watched her figure as Grei Noctis reflected in the mirror.

Unexpectedly, he actually created this form well. Although at first there was a slight problem with the balance center, Noelle quickly got used to it. This form was extraordinary, and had a handsome stature as well despite being quite intimidating.

"I think I can conquer several women at once now," he said in a joking tone.

From his room, the ringing of the church bells that signified the time of morning finally resounded. Noelle immediately turned around and was ready to leave this house at any time.

The house he rented also had a strategic location. It was not too far from the church, and could be reached with just a three-minute leisurely walk.

Soon morning mass will begin, and arguably it is the most appropriate time to carry out Noelle's plan.

As soon as he entered the church, Noelle sat on the second row from behind, and waited until all the seats were full.

As soon as he made sure the crowd began to rush to sit down, at that moment Noelle immediately used the illusion to make a projection of herself remain in the chair, she said, while the original figure turned into a barely visible black mist within the church.

(I hope it goes well.)

Noelle felt like swallowing her saliva despite being in the form of fog. He then moved towards the door behind which was a staircase leading underground.

Care in the prayer room is no problem now. What might be Noelle's inhibitor is the guards that are underground.

After descending the stairs, Noelle finally arrived at a straight hallway with many doors by her side. If he doesn't remember wrongly, this underground passage connects the church with every Lunatic Order headquarters in the entire city of Fencen, including the Nautica Bar.

Noelle remembered this path quite well because she had already passed it several times. Therefore, he had no trouble finding another path to go further and further underground.

Down one floor to the bottom, Noelle arrived at the room with as many doors as before. But Noelle believes that this room is different.

The room on the previous floor was commonly used as a base for the Lunatic Orders that were gathering. The real count starts from this floor.

To make sure that there was no mistake from her memory, Noelle checked one of the rooms behind the door. And sure enough, what was behind that door was a pile of potatoes that were still fresh as if unaffected by time and pests that kept moving.

(First and second floors contain food supplies, then ..).

Noelle immediately moved past the second floor, and arrived at the third floor. There, just like before. Like a warehouse, with each room filled with weapons and church supplies that are a little dusty.

(So the third floor contains equipment, yes ..).

Strange enough because here minimal guard, but it does not need to think about now.

The number of floors is four, and the last should be an archive warehouse, or something like that.

Noelle again moved down the stairs and arrived at the fourth floor underground. There, the number of guards was slightly more than the previous floors. And there too, Noelle finally felt a strong presence from one room.

Unlike all the previous floors, there was only one door here, and it was guarded by eight men of complete armor typical of the church. They were all old, so it could be assumed that they were veterans of the Lunatic Order.

Fortunately, they still did not pay attention to the existence of Noelle who was in the form of smog. So Noelle can enter through the door slit smoothly—

( …?! )

As soon as she entered the room, her body became heavier, and Noelle immediately fell to the floor. Only then did he realize that he had returned to his physical form as Grei Noctis.

It didn't take long until he understood what was really going on.

Creating a field where magic cannot be used. Noelle was quite an expert at it, although she rarely did so because there were no special needs. Moreover, some truly powerful top-tier magic like that of Gild back then would not be able to be erased.

How《Magic Interference》 works is by messing with other people's magic using their own mana as an intermediary. It's like Noelle's blood slowly mixing with the blood in someone else's body, which Noelle can then control at will.

The way it works is very simple, and one can easily cancel out the effect of《Magic Interference》 if they have incredible control over their own magic energy.

Because of this, Noelle tried to cancel it.

He searched for foreign magic energy within his magic circuit, and tried to wipe it out. However, he felt nothing but his own energy.

Noelle frowned herself when she felt something strange.《Magic Interference》ini is a little different than he knows.

It was actually able to negate her magic a moment after Noelle released a bit of magic energy.

It's not like《Magic Interference》. There must be something else involved here.

Noelle looked around, and only realized that this room was actually very spacious. There were many shelves towering to the ceiling, and many strange items were neatly arranged yet strangely. Also, each such item has a paper marker attached to a certain section, inscribed with a random arrangement of numbers that Noelle does not understand.

"What is this ... magic tool? "

Although she could not use magic now, Noelle could still feel it. It was very clear that the magic energy within the huge jlah was spewed out from every item that was there.

(Then it is clear. Not《Magic Interference》which obliterated my magic, but the items that are here.)

There must be one or two items that have similar effects but are stronger than《Magic Interference》 here.

"The first and second floors are the food supply storehouse, the third floor of the paraphernalia, and the fourth magic tool, yes …."

But all of this is no ordinary magic tool. If it was an ordinary magic tool, the amount of magic content would not be too much, and the shape was also designed according to its function.

However, everything here had an abundant amount of magic power, and its form was also abstract enough that it was incomprehensible what it was for. In fact, there was one item that looked like a human skull, but had a powerful dagger stuck in its forehead.

What's more, Noelle doesn't remember that a magic tool has to be named with a number code. The name of a magic tool should be in accordance with the wishes of its creator, unless the creator does have a unique naming sense to name all his creations by arrangement of numbers.

"The "artifact? "

That's all Noelle thinks. Until now, he still did not understand exactly what an artifact was. All he knew was that it was similar to a magic item.

(There are many magic tools in the castle, but I don't know which of them are actually artifacts.)

Noelle did not carry the magic tools and artifacts she found from the castle. So he can't confirm it now.

『Hehe, it's easy. A magic tool was created by someone, whereas an artifact was something that was created naturally. You should understand that.』

(That's not important right now.)

Noelle was playing with time. The longer he's here, the more danger it becomes.

He carefully walked quickly, and walked down the path between shelves filled with 'artifacts'. Until finally, a simple wooden door caught his attention.

There was a board hanging on that door, that said 'Archive Room'.

Without hesitation, Noelle immediately opened the door and entered after propping up the door with a spear she found on a nearby shelf.

The space behind the door was completely in line with Noelle's expectations. There are many files that contain important information. The amount is too much to check directly in a short period of time.

All he was looking for was information about the Asterisk. More than that, he doesn't care. But it would be better if he could find something related to past events.

While busy searching the archive room, Noelle could vaguely sense the presence behind her, and she suddenly turned to look at the figure.

Magic could not be used, so Noelle could not just pull the sword and kill the figure behind her. However, even without doing that, the figure behind him would not be affected.

Because from the beginning, what was behind him was not a living creature, but a small doll in the form of a girl, using a black dress made of hair, and a little doll in the form of a girl, and the two button eyes that seemed to stare directly into Noelle's soul.

Noelle was wary. Although the doll looked non-threatening, its form was a little too terrifying that Noelle had unknowingly raised her vigilance.

The doll did nothing. Just standing quietly looking at Noelle with her button eyes, then fell to the floor just like that.

For a moment, Noelle did not understand what had just happened, but she was really not given the time to feel calm.

A blade that had inexplicably emerged from nowhere shot out and targeted Noelle's forehead. However, Noelle's incredible instincts and body reactions made her manage to dodge, and the blade stuck into the wall behind her.

Although it managed to dodge, it seemed that the blade was much faster than Noelle's reaction.

Noelle glanced at the blade, and quickly noticed the scar of slash and blood running down her cheek.

(It's bad.)

Without letting her blood touch the floor, Noelle immediately wiped it off with her own clothes, then began to focus on finding the file.

Everything would be fine if he sped up the search. Noelle was sure of that.

Instead, the longer he was flabbergasted by the incident, the more dangerous the situation was.

After destroying the archive room, Noelle finally found three envelopes with the title 'Asterisk', the file she was looking for.

Without hesitation Noelle immediately stuffed all the files into the pouch in her coat, and hurried away leaving the archive room.

He returned across the gap between the artifact shelves, and then became aware of something.

(How do I get out of here? )

The original plan was to turn the form into fog. However since magic did not work, he was unable to transform.

After a long inner debate, Noelle finally made a decision.

He looked around, and found some things that he could use.

(If it is true that all these objects are artifacts, then ..).

Noelle took out a hand-sized metal ball-shaped artifact, and began injecting a large amount of her magic energy into it.

Because magic energy is injected into an object, the protection system《Magic Interference》gagal removes it. That's why the beginning of this plan can go well.

Noelle waited until the reaction she expected arrived.

The metal ball shone with a faint violet light, and Noelle directly threw it into the corner where the most minimal artifacts were.

The metal ball enveloped in violet light hit the floor, and instantly—

"Good! "

—Size explosions occur, shaking the entire room, and making some of the artifacts that are around fall from their shelves.

At once the door opened and the guards rushed in. Noelle did not waste the opportunity, and after erasing her existence she immediately ran away leaving the artifact storage room.

Of course, after leaving the room, he instantly turned into mist.

Not far behind him, a glistening golden quill pen could be seen hovering and landing lying just like that on the floor.

On the shaft of the quill, there was a paper label that read '0-41'.

No one was aware of its appearance, and no one was aware that it had disappeared.

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