In the end, I made some small bags and put the sleeping powder inside them before attacking them with my arrowheads. That should be enough to make several guards fall asleep if I miss a single one.
Eventually, I finished my job, and the box was empty, but Serana was still sleeping. In the end, I did my part of the deal by freeing her from the chains, and then I began to climb the staircase.
Slowly, I opened the door of the dungeon and then checked the outside… it was still cold, and the sky was dark, but the area was completely silent. That was my chance to escape… there were no signs of those who had come to rescue me, and I didn't want to take my chances by waiting either,
'The southern gate is still intact, so it will have fewer guards there…'
As I began to move, I quickly climbed a random building and saw that the sky in the east was getting a bit brighter. The morning was coming, so I didn't have that much time left. At first, I found it odd that the place was too silent, but soon, I found some guards patrolling on the walls. The smell of smoke was also weak, so many people worked until late in the night to extinguish the flames that I created.
The southern wall had around twenty guards. It would have been hard to make all of them fall asleep, but I didn't have any other choice. While I was preparing myself for the escape, I heard the sound of a random warehouse suddenly opening, and then I hid on the roof of the building.
'Just my luck…'
I didn't have time to waste, but it seemed that I was reincarnated in the world playing in the hardcore mode… I became certain of that when the wagon stopped close to where I was.
"Jump in, we don't have time."
I furrowed my brows, and my surprise increased when I began to sense the smell of burned wood. When I checked the carriage carefully, I found the old man who had helped Diran before… the smuggler.
"I was wondering when you would leave the dungeon. I was about to check the area and risk my entire name for this. Now, hurry up and cover your mouth and noise. You will have to hide among all this crap. Blame your own actions for it."
Diran said that he would send help, but I didn't expect the old smuggler again. Still, what other choice did I have? So, I jumped from the roof and opened a space among all the crap the old man was taking away from the town.
"By the way… what is that?"
The old man pointed at my forehead, but I didn't find anything in there. I checked my pair until I found a little parasite sleeping in there… it was Serana.
"Whatever, let's go."
I didn't have time to deal with her, and I was sure that she would eventually vanish by ignoring her for long enough. If her little had any capacity to do some synapses, she would know that following me would be a pretty good ticket to make her return to some sort of dungeon or to lose her head.
Once I had cleaned up some space inside the wagon, I covered my mouth and nose because the smell of burned wood was too strong. Fortunately, that also prevented my smell from spreading around.
Before long, we reached the town gate, and the guards checked things in the wagon. Once again, they did a sloppy job when they saw the old man yawning, and soon, we left the town.
"We are in the clear now, and you can open some holes to make clean air enter."
"I can endure this for a while longer."
The guards left the town in the middle of the night to look for you and the others. You will be fine. They captured dark elves this time only because some of their own sold them out.
Come to think of it, I didn't ask Diran how his allies had been captured. If the dark elves couldn't trust each other, I certainly couldn't trust them… perhaps that was a good chance to move somewhere else. Still, I wondered how much I could trust the smuggler old man to take me somewhere else. Still, Diran promised me some extra money, so leaving now would give me some losses.
While I was considering what I should do, a couple of hours passed, and we eventually found ourselves back at the stone bridge where the hideout was supposed to be. The smuggler knew the hideout was there, so there was no point in pretending otherwise. The facade was unnecessary; he had his own reasons for helping me, and deception would only complicate matters.
In the end, I asked him to stop there so I could leave. I didn't have the best of allies, but it was better than having none at all. His knowledge of the hideout's location meant I had to tread carefully, but his assistance, however questionable, was still valuable. As I stepped out and prepared to face whatever awaited me, I couldn't help but feel a mix of apprehension and tension.
'Wait… would they stay here even after all that?'
"They are here, what a depressing place…"
"I guess it is time for us to part ways. I don't want anyone reading my mind."
"I can't read your mind, and I can read your aura. You are too honest for your own good."
"I don't want anyone reading my aura either."
"I will soon leave you alone; I am just a bit tired of staying in that box for so long."
"If you can read my aura, then you should know what I will do if you get in my way. I don't have time for nonsense."
"No pranks. I swear on my good name among the fairies."
I facepalmed… that didn't mean anything. Regardless, I couldn't stay there, and I couldn't let her go now while she knew the location of the hideout that we were going to use for a while. I had to endure that for a while longer.
After returning to the hideout, I was welcomed by a bunch of people pointing their hands at me, ready to turn me into charcoal. I already had experience with that kind of situation, but it didn't make things any easier this time. The tension was palpable, and I could feel the heat of their attacks even before they unleashed them.
In any case, Diran intervened, stopping his allies from attacking me. His presence was a relief, and his authority over the others was evident. Despite the relief of not being incinerated on the spot, the experience left my nerves frayed. Diran's timely intervention was a reminder that, while I had made it back safely, I still had to navigate the precarious dynamics of trust and suspicion within the group.
"Sorry, we were expecting you, but we have to be cautious. We didn't expect that you would return so soon… by the way, how did you find the right path?"
"I memorized it."