Although the Infant Dragon I tamed didn't have wings or even was developed for long-distance running. It still could waddle run across the ground with its powerful scaled legs tearing across the root-covered ground of the forest we were traveling through while heading towards the Beor Mountains.
"Jake. What are we going to do about our Falna updates?" Tina asked after we continued jogging towards the mountains in the distance.
And at Tina's question, I shook my head with a wry smile as although thankfully I was able to collect some Status Thief so we could unlock our Falna's to view it. Still, with having not even been in our goddess Familia for a year, we couldn't change to a different god.
Unless... I could upgrade the Status Thief to something that could wipe our Falna's clean somehow so another god or goddess could fill it.
But regardless I answered Tina's question as it deserved its weight with how she was tied to me. "I can try to wipe Hepheastus's signature from our Falna's leaving the essence empty so another divine could take over... Or we just go until the natural year is up and we can naturally switch over or something."
Then Tina said something that made me frown. "Kinda makes me feel bad. We didn't even leave a note for Hephaestus after all."
'Sorry Tina. But Orario... Is not something I care for.' I thought with a frown as I finally sighed and responded bluntly. "It's a shit move on our part... But Orario is fucked, I am not going to be Hera's crafting slave as she is well aware my crafting abilities far out scale my level. To say nothing of a Zeus member or just any higher level psychopath killing me for looking at them wrong." I finished with Tina grunting in agreement.
For the next few hours, we quickly rushed through the countryside avoiding the main roads knowing it was exactly where Hera's adventurers would first check using high-level adventurers running down the roads at sound-breaking speeds to find us.
But thankfully I had made sure to buy maps not long after arriving in this world which came with the enlarged maps of Orario itself. So we weren't lost with us used a compass and running directly towards the tallest mountain peak within the Beor mountains which had a dwarf kingdom built upon and within said mountain.
A loud hiss rang out as we were riding my Infant Dragon and I blinked seeing a squad of surface-born goblins with stone weapons running away from us on our dragon mount.
"Ignore them," I said with a wry smile as there was no value in killing the surface goblins that were supposed to be less than half as strong as their dungeon counterpart.
Then as we continued our journey Tina then spoke with a bit of humor in her voice. "Jake actually wouldn't it be funny if we went to Melen instead of the mountains?" I looked at the back of her head with a look of utter confusion as she was riding in my lap and as though sensing my utter confusion she continued.
"We already are gone out of Orario's typical routes if we are seeing wild monsters, and our switching between foot travel and mounted travel will obscure our tracks... But we could just turn West and follow the Lagog River that merges into Melen and use the river to wipe away any of our traces." Tina explained and I just had one point.
"Beside it being the place they 'least' expect us. What's to keep us from getting caught by Hera?" Tina actually looked up with a deadpan as she retorted.
"They won't look for us for long in Melen, so long as we keep our heads down and don't make a scene we will be fine... Plus you already have the equipment to fight underwater so we can get all the materials and Excellia we need via killing the monsters coming from the side dungeon exit... Maybe we could even use the tunnel to get back into the Dungeon itself and make our way into Orario as well?"
My lips twitched at the utterly mad idea...
But the thought of the haughty elvish queen Albion being utterly flummoxed as we are hiding just under her nose living life in the tourism-filled city of Melen... That filled my spitful heart with glee and without a word I turned the Infant Dragon towards Melen according to my compass.
-
Two days later of camping in the wilderness and taking the long route to Melen we finally made it to the city with only a pack of Kobolds and a single Orc being attempting to mess with us during the nights as we camped out.
But I had... Gone above and beyond and using a cut-down tree I fused a cabin I could fit inside of my inventory and to reinforce the five-meter wide single room wooden cabin I fused a great amount of dirt and eventually stone into it to make it stronger than just basic wood.
'I mean, is it actually camping when I can slap down a literal house?' I thought wryly as we entered the city of Melen while looking around like the tourists we were.
Melen was completely different from Orario in design as instead of being a walled-in city like Orario was. Melen was a widespread coastal city with large grand properties and estates that bordered the Melen Lake and we quickly learned that the Familia's actually had the practice of claiming parts of the beach in which monsters would commonly wash up so they could fight them.
Of course... If the adventurers died fighting the monsters that made their Familia's look weak and the worst sin in this city was getting a rich tourist killed on your Familia's beach.
[Melen. The City of Luxury!]
That was the signboard leading into the city and as we came into the city with beautiful well-made clothes that I had fused together and Tina driving the carriage I also fused together with my Infant Dragon pulling said carriage.
We quickly were accepted into the city without the normal checks as I played at being a young master visiting the beautiful beaches with Tina obviously being my servant/loveslave.
"Young sir, do you have any questions as to where you wish to go?" A guard asked respectably as I leaned my face on my hand boredly as Tina filled out the paperwork for our entry pass into the city.
"Hmm, I want a nice beach house. Also, it needs to be close to the Red Light District that way after my waist is sore I don't need to ride in my carriage far." I said snootily and the guards face twitched but he happily told me how the Goddess Pallas had bankrupted herself with loans after her Familia was wiped out by a monster wave so her estate was being sold off.
"Thank you." I said boredly and then I tossed the young guard a thousand Valis piece as a tip and he smiled at the coin that was probably equal to a whole week if not a couple weeks of payments for his work with how the Valis was worth so much more outside of Orario and their ridiculous prices for stuff.
Tina then having finished the paperwork continued to drive the carriage into the city of Melen towards where the Pallas estate was while I had a thought as I lost my arrogant demeanor.
'The goddess Pallas that Athena killed? What even is her domain's being the daughter of Triton?' I thought before shaking my head as Tina had to yell at some kids to stay away from the very unamused Infant Dragon pulling the carriage.