After several fights, those enemies could be defeated by the three of them. However, several parts of the shop suffered damage from the previous incident. Realizing what they had done, they started to act without saying much.
Mr. Schmidt packed food until his valuables, both at his shop and at his home. On the other hand, Nagao and Adolph help Mr. Schmidt by taking several weapons according to their capacity for overcome the next enemy attack. Emilia was immediately brought in by Mr. Schmidt. After all that was done, they made their escape.
As a result of the previous incident, they're accused as suspects. Because of their status, made they must hide while evading the enemy's pursuit. However, the enemy could guess which way they would flee...
"There they are! Pursuit them!"
"They're running toward North!"
"They're headed to X street. There are some guards headed that way!"
Even the three of them, except Emilia, had to create a lot of distractions. Pushing other people until throwing a few things, they did it in order to evade the enemy's pursuit. It all happened in an instant moment...
*Push!* *Throw!* *Swoosh!*
Even though being suspects, they could've evaded the enemy's pursuit thanks to Adolph's abilities. She understood the ins and outs of the hidden paths in the Keldam Kingdom that not many peoples knew about. Not only that, but the time transition from afternoon to dusk also helps them hide from enemies' pursuit.
Thirteen hours before the incident...
At the corner of the alley at dusk...
Adolph observed the area. After confirming the situation, she said,
"Okay!" while giving a sign with her hand. "Everything is safe!"
After hiding all this time, they arrived at an unused building. Realizing that the building was empty, they took a break immediately...
"Didn't.. thought...! They... could guess... until... this far...! This is crazy!" Nagao commented as he took a few deep breaths.
Mr. Schmidt, who was distributing the water and bread, immediately commented,
"You're right!" while looking at Adolph. "It seems... what Nagao said before... had an impact on today...!"
"That's the untamed fire of trust, you Old fool!" while drinking a while afterward. "Now, if we go this way... we can get out of the kingdom... without the enemy noticing!"
Nagao and Mr. Schmidt only nodded slowly after hearing Adolph's explanation. On the other hand, Emilia said,
"Father...," while gripping Mr. Schmidt's clothes with a scared expression.
"Calm down!" while stroking Emilia's head. "Father's here for you!"
Nagao caught a glimpse of that scene as he cut his bread into two halves. Some of his bread crumbs fell to the floor. After storing one part of the bread in his bag, Nagao intended to eat the other part bread. When Nagao was about to eat, Mr. Schmidt spoke to Nagao,
"Nagao... did you... make trouble with the government after the torture incident?"
"What a stupid act if that's true," while munching on his bread. "Then, what about that person's fate? There's no hard feeling here. However, what happened?"
"I killed him already. After confirming who ordered him and considering several things, my instinct said—," while looking at Nagao with sharp eyes—"If the three of us have been framed by someone!"
Nagao had choked on hearing Mr. Schmidt's words. After being given water by Mr. Schmidt, Nagao thought for a moment...
(Unexpected! To hearing that statement from his mouth!) Nagao pondered while holding his chin.
"Hearing the conclusion just now," said Adolph while patting Nagao's back several times. "Then your prediction is a plausible one. At least for now. What do you think, Nagao?"
Nagao nodded slightly when he heard Adolph's statement. Then, he spoke again with Mr. Schmidt,
"To be honest, this question is late. But, who's Elliot Green?"
Mr. Schmidt was silent for a moment after hearing Nagao's question. In a little while, he began to say,
"Elliot Green is—!" Not finished speaking, the three of them heard some sound of footsteps.
"?!" Nagao until Mr. Schmidt immediately got into a standby position.
From outside the building came several voices,
"Are you sure they here?" asked The fat guard.
"Just follow the orders from the chief guard!" replied The skinny guard.
"Calm down, you two! Your voices are huge!" Upset The guard with a medium body.
Nagao until Mr. Schmidt took a hiding position. Emilia had already been signaled by Mr. Schmidt to remain silent. As they focused on hiding from the enemy's eyes, from another direction, several rats appeared beside Emilia. On reflex, Emilia shouted,
"Argg—huff!" Immediately, Mr. Schmidt's hand covered her mouth.
Realized by that screams, the three guards rushed into the building where Nagao and his companions were hiding. Seeing the arrival of the enemy, Nagao until Mr. Schmidt prepared to make a silent attack.
When the enemy entered the building, the three of them began to disable those enemies from behind the shadows. Adolph slashed and stabbed The fat guard several times in his neck. Mr. Schmidt snapped The skinny guard's neck with a heavy grip. Nagao stabbed The guard with a medium body in the solar plexus while forcefully covering the guard's mouth. All those silent attacks were swift...
*Stab!* *Crack!* *Huff!* *Shroock!*
The three guards died on that spot. When the three of them were about to rush to escape, some guards started to appear from outside. This time, the number of guards was much large. Faced with this kind of situation, they couldn't escape...
"Even they know this hidden path?! Bastards!" irritated Adolph with a low intonation.
Realizing the current situation, Mr. Schmidt got into a fighting stance while hiding behind the wall. Nagao did the same thing. However, a voice calling Nagao,
Nagao immediately turned his head in right-left directions to confirm the source of the sound. But it's useless because he couldn't find the source of that sound. Then, the voice said again,
Hearing that voice again, Nagao immediately looked down. He found that the sound came from a mouse. The little black mouse started to say,
(That skill's effect was still in effect today. However, this mouse was asking for food instead—?!) Before he finished thinking, a notification popped up in front of Nagao...
[A choice appears before you. Are you willing to help this creature?
Yes (X) / No (X) / Get rid of that mouse (X) ]
(After receiving several missions from that damn god, these choices create an unexpected possibility. Alright! If this is how you "play", you bastard!) Nagao thought while making up his mind.
*Click!*
***
For some time, I've been thinking about the effect skill of "Language is Easy". Even so, I only heard a few words from several creatures like this...
Since only worthless voices were always heard, I didn't care, or, more precisely, I didn't consider their voices to exist in the first place. I also kept this ability a secret from Adolph and Mr. Schmidt until now. Moreover, I also didn't intend to talk about this skill in the first place for some reason. At least, that's what I thought before...
At this moment...
(It seems I've to use this skill!) My mind has made a choice.
I immediately said to the mouse,
"You know, we're in a difficult situation. Maybe you're also experiencing something similar," while saying in a crouching position. "I can give you half of my bread IF you can lead us out of here. How about it, little pal?"
Seeing what I was doing, Adolph commented,
"Great! Now you're talking to a rat like an idiot in this situation!" annoyed Adolph with low intonation. "Stupidest joke I've ever come across!"
Mr. Schmidt and Emilia only showed confused reactions seeing what I was doing. Getting mixed reactions toward me, I didn't care about that shit. Then, I said again to the mouse,
"How about it, little pal? I knew you must've got the same position as me, right??" I said in a persuasive tone.
The mouse was silent for a moment. It didn't take long, the mouse said,
I immediately followed the rat's run direction. Seeing what I was doing, Adolph reacted,
"W-where are you going, idiot?! Don't tell me you want to follow that mouse?!" said Adolph in the same tone.
"I'd boldly embrace the uncertainty of tomorrow's twists rather than be trapped in the clutches of regret!" I said assertively in a low tone. Also, I began to chase that mouse.
After following the mouse for a while, I arrived at a room. Adolph and Mr. Schmidt came after I arrived. The room I entered was a living room.
Then, the rat stopped on the rug floor. The mouse said,
I immediately checked what was under the rug. When I checked it, I found a large plank. When I moved that plank, I found an underground hole with an iron ladder leading down. Realizing this finding, Adolph and Mr. Schmidt displayed a surprised expressions. However, I immediately said,
"Don't be taken aback just like that. Now, hurry up!" I said firmly.
Mr. Schmidt went in first until only I was left. Before I could get down, the mouse said,
I immediately took another half-bread out of my bag. While putting bread under the chair, I said,
"As promised before. So, when we continue it?"
*Squeak!*
Not long after that, several rats that had surprised Emilia earlier re-appeared. The guide mouse started to say toward them,
Some rats immediately brought the bread I gave. The guide rat climbed onto my shoulder. I immediately entered the hole by going down the ladder. When I was at the mouth of the hole, I tried to pull the rug until the plank to its original position with the help of some rats. After returning to their original positions, I immediately down into the hole.
*Tap!* *Tap!* *Tap!*
After I got below, I met Adolph until Mr. Schmidt. I was surprised because this hole is connected to a large underground aqueduct tunnel. However, I soon got rid of that feeling. Guided by the rat earlier, we were immediately escorted to the exit routes.
A little while later, we arrived at the exit of the aqueduct tunnel. As we were about to part ways with that mouse, the mouse spoke to me,
Instantly, I got several notification boards...
[You've gained +60 Exp points and +50 Stats.]
[Congratulations! You've completed the Hidden mission, "Empathy for Warrior of Life". This mission provides a special reward.]
In a brief moment, the status board with a picture of a whistle appeared before me with some descriptions...
[Ultrasonic Rodent Whistle with Normal level.
This whistle has useful for summoning several other rodents wherever you are. The rodent you've called will obey you. You could lend until you could give the whistle to the partner you want. If you meet a rodent-type monster, you must defeat them first to apply the function of this whistle.
Pros: the rodents you call could perform the tasks according to their capacity.
Cons: you must provide the Returning a favor according to the mission you gave toward them.
Usage: use this whistle once when calling them. Maximum use is three times a day.
Warning: once you use it, do not blow it again. It'll make them annoyed and not heed your calls.]
(Tricky item but not bad!) I thought while thinking.
After getting the reward, I replied to that mouse,
"Thanks. I'll call you back when I'm here!"
Then, I gave this whistle to Adolph while saying,
"Because you're an assassin, I'm giving this to you," while giving it to Adolph.
"Y-you sure about this?!" she said with a surprised expression.
"Well-suited pair," I said determinedly while turning toward Mr. Schmidt. "Old man, did you have a suggestion about where we must go?"
"I've acquaintances in Angendal,"
"Okay, let us go there!" I said with an assertive tone.
In the end, the four of us headed to the Angendal Kingdom.
***
Twelve hours before the incident...
Elsewhere, precisely, at the Defense Council Office of the Keldam kingdom at night...
"So, those rodent creatures began to unravel the intricate puzzle I'd laid before them?" While looking at his office window.
Oliver Hard, who delivered the report, could only remain silent with a pale expression. It was as if a storm was brewing in his mind. Both of his hands until his face began to sweat excessively. Even this had already happened before he could speak his report.
After several moments Marquess Raya looked at the scenery through his office window, he spoke again,
"Okay!" while turning to Oliver. "Clairvoyance!" While opening both his eyelids simultaneously.
His eyes began to search every location. Like brain neurons that work fastly, his skills track all places. From the view of a house to the monsters in the forest, he could see every scene of them. Everything takes place in a fraction of a second.
Finally, he found the location of his target. As Marquess Raya knew the target location until the path he was walking,
"Bingo!" He said in a confident tone.
Immediately he began to write down some of the things in the paper. When he was finished, he handed the paper to Oliver,
"This is a location of the target until several routes that they might pass," while smiling at Oliver. "Harness the winds of hunting and sweep them away into the fire of eternal oblivion!"
The royal guards started pursuing their target after receiving information from Marquess Raya. This pursuit becomes a "survival arena". From here, the incident of Nagao with Oliver fell into a big river with a rushing stream...
*Splash!*