Project GB is an official initiative by Re:Library.

And to cap it off, Mira proudly announced, “But I do know the password.”

Mira had placed such a call in the past, and the Fifty Bells’ Hidden Sasori had told her the password. So she insisted that it was best for her to go alone.

“Ah, but wait, you don’t know where the branch is, right? So I’ll show you the way.”

Alma’s eyes lit up as she thought of that, but Mira saw straight through her lies.

“What do you mean? Just earlier you said you don’t remember the exact location.”

Earlier, when Mira first mentioned the branch, Alma said that it was somewhere near the east gate, but could not remember the exact details. So in short, Alma could not guide Mira there.

“…Okay okayyy, I’ll keep being tortured by deskwork and wait for you.”

In the end, her own words had destroyed her chances of leaving, and Alma capitulated. She turned around and waddled back to her office, pouting and sulking the entire time.

But she had not given up entirely yet, as she languidly reached for the pile of paper and let out a very evident sigh, her eyes locked on Mira the entire time.

“It looks like you have it rough. I guess leading a large country also comes with a lot of work.”

There were obviously various other ministers and officers who took care of other duties, but there were always things that required the empress’ direct approval.

When Mira seemed to recognize the immense amount of work, Alma looked up with hope, as she really wanted to get away from it all even if it was just for a short moment.

After all, interrogating Jorg was an important matter, and Alma could use that as a valid reason to leave the palace. But that would require Mira’s approval too, since it was Mira who was familiar with the Fifty Bells.

“I’ll take my time getting there, and when coming back, so just hang in there.”

And because of that, Mira mercilessly trampled on that hope. Alma shouted, “Grandpa you bullyyy!” as Mira headed out to search for the Fifty Bells’ branch near the east gate.

After leaving the palace, Mira summoned Pegasus and flew east, watching the city below her for around five minutes before she landed in front of a large gate.

The city walls were at least fifty meters tall, and the gate built into it was around twenty meters tall. But it remained closed, and it had hardly ever been opened.

That was no surprise, since the only thing to the east of the city was a vast forest, and there were no other cities or towns in that direction.

The only people who went in that direction were adventurers and hunters who made a living off the wilderness, and they did not need to pass through the large gate, as there was a smaller door for people next to it.

In recent years, the large gate had only been opened when the army conducted training exercises in the forest.

Because of all those factors, this section of the city was the least noisy one, compared to the other three gates.

“It really is so tall…”

After sending Pegasus away, Mira looked up at the gate and the walls that stretched far above it.

Despite it being the least used gate, the walls there were still much taller compared to the other gates.

It had been built that way by design, since the forest on the other side had many tall trees, and some monsters could climb on them and then attempt to jump over the wall.

(That reminds me, there was a time I helped defend the city from them.)

As she thought back to a time when a high level beast had spawned in the forest, and she fought alongside the Twelve Apostles, Mira walked over to the guard station next to the gate. The gatekeeper there would surely know a lot about the buildings around there.

That was the most efficient way to find the Fifty Bells’ branch, asking someone who was familiar with that area.

There was an armed soldier standing in front of the station, and nearby there was also a bulletin board with various wanted posters.

The posters mainly depicted murderers, as those tended to be the worst criminals who deserved being hunted down like that. But there were others as well, even including a beautiful woman.

She was branded as a thief, who would first drain men of their energy, and then make off with all their belongings.

(Somehow…I doubt they regretted that end.)

Harboring those thoughts while looking at the bulletin board, Mira approached the gatekeeper.

“Hello there, can I ask something real quick?”

When Mira spoke to him, he turned around with a smile and replied, “Hm? What is it, did you get lost?”
She really wanted to shout, “I’m not a child!” but contained herself, silently shaking her head.

“No, I’m not lost. I’m just trying to get somewhere. I was told the Fifty Bells have a branch around here, would you happen to know where it is?”

By now she was used to being mistaken for a lost child. Or rather, she had accepted the fact that it would happen commonly, and got better at moving things along quickly instead of having to explain things for long.

“I see, so you’re just running errands. It’s not really far from here, go around that corner there and find the general store. You’ll see a big building behind it. That’s where you want to go.”

The gatekeeper replied while pointing to a corner nearby and carefully gave Mira directions. In the end, he was still treating Mira as a child, not a lost one, but one running errands, and there was little Mira could do about that.

“I appreciate your assistance.”

Mira tried her best to act like an older person as she thanked him, and then headed to that store he mentioned, and along the way…

(Wait? Why did he mention errands?)

Somehow, the gatekeeper’s first reaction to hearing about the Fifty Bells’ branch was to assume it was for errands, and Mira could not understand why.

When she had visited the branch in Sentopolly, she had seen a small inconspicuous house, where the branch director Mattie was researching how to grow plants in the wastelands. Mira could not see a reason why anyone would regularly visit such a place.

In the end, Mira decided it was not worth the effort to think too hard about it, so she turned around the corner and continued walking.