With serious expressions on their faces, both Emir and Alessia walked away from Yair's group.
"Let's clean up this mess. I'll remove all the potions from my storage ring and put in all the heavy objects on it. We'll have to carry other belongings manually."
"Yes, captain"
With Yair's order, everyone walked down the hall in search of the belongings that fell with the adventurer's death. Making a small pile with the heavier objects and another with the lighter ones. Once they finished gathering all the belongings in one place, Yair put the heavy objects in his ring and the rest in cloth sacks.
"Oh, right. Among the belongings, there must be a very important magic item called [Identification Tablet]. It is made of stone and has the same shape and size as a sheet of paper. Which one of you is carrying it?"
"???" Knights 1 to 3 and Alex merely cocked their heads to the side, indicating ignorance.
Yair: "…"
'- I have a bad feeling.'
***
After leaving Yair's group behind, I looked on the map for a quiet corridor and we headed towards it to rest.
"What shall we do now, master? We cannot stay in this city, since many people have seen us with our weapons."
Not only did they see us with our weapons but also that time we went to the market, in which I put all the purchases in my inventory. I left a deep impression on the vendors. So, if they see me in the future they will most likely recognize me and spread the word.
'Stupid potato and carrot vendors.'
I opened the map again. This time in full screen, and checked the situation in the city. I can see how the red dots were mainly concentrated in the commercial street, very close to the west side of the city.
'Haa... The central plaza is strictly guarded, so we won't be able to hire a [Traveler] to help us to use space travel to travel to a different location.'
"Let's stay in the labyrinth for some days."
"That measure will only buy us some time, it is not a solution to the problem."
"I know, Alessia, but we have everything we need to live in the labyrinth for a few days. Besides, we can use the trap room we just cleared as a place to stay. The monsters won't appear again for a month, so the idea is feasible"
That's why the adventurer's guild created quests to clear the trap rooms so that the monsters in the room wouldn't create trouble in the surrounding corridors. It's a strange coincidence that Yair and his group were responsible for that job.
"We can't be here forever"
"You're right. I'm just asking you for time, that's all."
"…" Alessia looked at me very thoughtfully, and a few seconds passed before she nodded "Okay, master. We'll follow your plan"
"Mn, thanks"
Currently, the most realistic option is to use space travel to escape from this city. Carriages are not an option due to all the paperwork behind them. Plus, no one assures me that we won't run into knights patrolling on the way that would drag us into the conflict anyway.
'We just need time. At least long enough for the knights to leave a gap that allows us to enter the central square and contact a [Traveler]. Meanwhile… We have to level up.'
[Black Widow Lvl9]
[Snow Wolf Lvl9]
[Archer Bee Lvl9]
[Shadow Cat Lvl9]
Poison, quick attacks, ranged attacks, and surprise attacks respectively.
If it was my first day in the labyrinth then such a combination would be impossible, and I would step aside and escape. But now everything is different, as even with their variety of attacks, I feel confident that we can win and come out unscathed in the process.
"The priority is the Archer Bee, while the second is the Shadow Cat. The bee will disrupt our rhythm, and the cat will take advantage of our mistakes to deliver lethal blows. If master takes care of them I will take care of the other two."
Nodding in response, I removed an arrow from inventory and shot at the bee.
***
At night, we are resting in the trap room on the 9th floor.
"Fuu, I finished covering the door"
Drying my sweat, I put the hammer, nails, and leftover wood in the inventory. Originally, all this was for the house, either for the garden or for future repairs. But since it is necessary to cover the door to prevent intruders, it is an unavoidable expense.
When I turned around, I saw Alessia preparing the food in a pot over the campfire she had made. When she saw me, she gave me the thumbs up with her beautiful smile.
That time we went to the market and kitchen stores, I kept absolutely everything in my inventory. Even the firewood. Also, when we tidy up the house, she and I keep many other things in inventory. Thanks to this, we don't need anything from outside the labyrinth to camp in this place.
"I already served the two dishes, you can put the pot in the inventory now"
"Right away"
Approaching the pot, I directly put it in inventory, so it stays fresh.
Sitting in front of the campfire, we ate quietly. The movement of the fire has an aura that takes all my attention.
'It's relaxing as well as nostalgic… just looking at it is enough to vividly remember countless things.'
Once I finished eating, I wanted to make sure of something…
'[Reset Status Points] I summon you [Gallant Clone]!'
Emir (Intelligent): "…"
'I'm sure that the profile had the name [Smart Clone]. Did the main body change its name? And yet, how dare you call me?!'
'[Reset Status Points]'
Emir: "…"
'Sorry, sorry! I need you now!'
I quickly renamed the profile back to its original state and, after making a few changes to the Status as an apology, I reinvoked him.
'[Reset Status Points]'
'Hah, good. At least this time he put some effort into it and added points to Strength and other attributes, so I don't have to worry about the extreme imbalance in my status. I don't want to experience the same weakness I had in Heavenly Water House again…. I know what you want, but let me tell you that there is a very important error in your plan. You are dreaming if you think that the knights will make a mistake and neglect the central square. That's a strategic place. When it comes to adventurers thinking of leaving the city, the first thing that comes to mind is using a [Traveler], so there's unlikely to be a hole in their security. But… That doesn't mean we can't talk with the traveler somewhere else other than the central square. This idea is much more feasible thanks to the map of the user interface.'
I opened the map in full screen and watched the movements of the blue dots in the square. Some time passed until two blue dots met, and then I saw that one of them mysteriously disappeared. Without hesitation, I created a marker at the remaining point with the name [Possible Traveler1].
'I have to make sure that it is the traveler who stayed in the square and not the one who left. Until I verify that, the marker will continue to be just a possible suspect.'
'— That look, and his aura… It reminds me of the moment master argued with Mr. Leo for me.'
Alessia slowly started to walk towards me. I didn't initially understand what her purpose was. It was only when she undid the strap on my pants that I understood.
Caressing her head, I told her "No need, Alessia, it's not a good time. Especially in this kind of place"
"We've done it in worse places. Anyway, I know you'll ask me later."
Emir (Intelligent): "…"
'The righteous fall for sinners, huh? Since the main body and I are in a sense the same person, whatever he does will influence me. Our only difference is based on the mindset. When someone is angry and then happy that doesn't mean they are two different people, right? The imbalance in the [State] is similar.'
"Amu lero lero mnnph slurppp"
'Well, it is necessary to continue observing the map before the shift changes… Late. The shift change is happening right now, and the possible traveler is making his way home while other blue dots replace the previous ones.'
"Mnnn churppp mnngh slurppp lero lero"
'I'll have to mark the possible suspect again, and assess if he is a [Traveler].'
At the same time, the knights' shift change also started. One by one, they were replaced. Sometime later, the change ended.
'Hmm, there was no hole in their security so it is impossible to enter the central square directly without raising suspicions.'
"Lero lero lero mnnnph lero lero"
'This time, three blue dots disappeared. One of them must have been the traveler. Normally, a traveler creates an illusory gate through his [Space Travel] skill, but it is not necessary for him to also pass through the gate. Now, when the traveler realizes that businesses are not so active in a city, he is free to go to another city and offer his services there. As long as the city belongs to the Castemira kingdom he can do it in any city.'
"Alessia, I'm going to…"
"Mnnph mnnguh slurppp"
*Splurt Splurt Splurt Splurt*
"Guchu Guchu Guchu"
"Aah~"
'Such customs are already ingrained in her, so I simply patted her head apologizing for the inconvenience.'