CH 111

With my magi location deployed to its maximum range, I quickly made my way to the 16th floor.

It is generally believed that the 19th and floors of this dungeon are just a hassle and not worth much. That’s why adventurers don’t come to these levels. The only time they come here is when they want to reach the transfer monument on the 21st floor. Naturally, such adventurers come from the 16th floor.

In other words, there is usually nobody else who moves from the 21st floor to the 20th floor. …I’m an exception.

In short, there is a high possibility that the purpose of those who have just come up from the 21st floor and are still wandering around there is me.

I’d like to return to the surface as soon as possible, and if I’m going to return to the surface, it’s faster to do so from the 21st floor but Magi Location doesn’t work well across floors, and I was unable to find the transfer monument room on the 21st floor. I didn’t want to be ambushed in such a secluded place, and I also didn’t want to act suspiciously by entering the dungeon and coming out immediately, letting them know I was aware of their pursuit.

I wanted the guild to think that they had lost sight of me and failed to track me, so I would try again tomorrow. It would be a shame if they found out and decided to take strong measures.

I took the shortest distance possible through the 19th floor and arrived at the 18th floor.

I guess it’s a relief to be here for now. There are other people’s eyes on this floor.

After yesterday’s incident, I thought that if the guild didn’t give up on me, there was a possibility that I would be monitored.

It was a good decision to extend the scope of my Magi Location in preparation for that.

This morning, I was able to see a suspicious person following me after I left the inn. But I thought it might be a coincidence, so I went into a side street pretending to buy some fruit and spent some time negotiating with a street vendor

I hunted orcs while avoiding people and stocked my magic bag with meat as I made my way through the 18th floor to the 17th floor.

From here, I had to be careful not to run into the watchers who had come up from the 16th floor.

There was only one suspicious person who followed me from the inn. If that’s the case, I’ll be able to wrap it up with the transfer monument, I thought until that moment.

The magic stones I’ve been selling lately are only D-rank, including the Light Magic Crystal. This means that I am limited to the 11th to 20th floors. I’m sure the guild is aware of this, but it’s highly likely that they don’t know which specific level I’m getting the Light Magic Crystal from. So they wouldn’t have known which floor I would end up on, the 11th, 16th, or 21st floor.

In reality, however, three people appeared from the 21st basement side.

In other words, the guild must have placed people in the monument room beforehand and sent them to the 11th, 16th, and 21st basement floors when I moved.

This is probably the reason why there were more people than usual in the monument room on the first basement floor earlier.

After carefully passing through the 17th floor and the 16th floor, I stopped at a place where I could see the transfer monument room and checked inside.

There are two people inside, near the entrance by the wall.

“…”

Are they just adventurers just taking a break? Or…

I waited for the moment, watching the situation for a while.

“Okay, here they come.”

I use my Magi Location to track a party of adventurers heading towards the transfer monument room and adjust my position so that I’m slightly behind them as I head towards the room. Then, in front of the room, I followed them into the transfer monument room, making an expression as if I just saw them by chance.

“……*sigh*.”

While confirming using [Magi Location] that the two people who were inside from the beginning noticed us, they moved quietly and headed to the transfer monument. Then one of them tried to take a step here, and the other tried to stop us saying, “Hey, stop.”

The other party looked at him suspiciously, and I walked past them, touched the monument, and returned to the ground.

“Power that guides magic and controls everything. Sacred World Open [Magi Location]”

Casting the next spell while observing the surrounding from an omnipresent viewpoint through activating [Magi Location].

“Sacred Flame, bringer of silence… [Holy Fire]”

I lit the lantern with the white fire on my right index finger.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

I walked through the dark alleyways, relying on the light from the lantern and the information from the [Magi Location].

Even though summer was approaching, it was still a bit chilly at night. I buttoned up my robe tightly and pulled the hood over my head.

As I walked, trying not to make a sound, I thought back to my days in Elem.

“I really screwed up…”

The thought came out in a small whisper.

I thought I was being very careful and cautious, but one little mistake, selling the Light Magic Crystal, and I was done.

I hadn’t expected that the Light Magic Crystal would be so valuable and important that it would move the guild to such an extent. The number of people that the guild used to follow me yesterday must have been over ten.

In addition to that, from the way I felt before I left the 16th underground floor, I do not want to think about what they were planning to do after they found me in the dungeon.

There is practically no law or public authority inside the dungeon. The only thing that maintains security in a dungeon is the mutual surveillance of adventurers. And yet, being targeted by the Adventurer’s Guild would be extremely unfortunate, wouldn’t it?

Well, not every adventurer in this town has been targeted, and if I’m right, I don’t think I’ve made enemies of all the Adventurer’s Guilds.

As I was thinking about this, I was close to the wall, so I blew out the lantern’s flame.

Now, what I’m going to do. It’s—

—Escape at night.

Or more accurately, an early morning escape. Or is it a morning run away?

Well, it doesn’t matter.

Yesterday, I left the dungeon in the afternoon and was thinking of escaping the town as it was, but of course, I had to give up because I was being followed. So, as usual, I went back to the inn, took a nap, and checked using [Magi Location] to make sure the watchers were gone before I escaped.

I climbed up the steps installed in the wall to avoid making any noise.

Many towns in this world have staircases inside the walls that lead to the top of the walls. This may be used for defense, but it’s also useful in situations like this.

Not that most people would ever run away in the night!

I looked down at the town of Elem from the top of the wall, trying to get a firm picture of the town in my mind, illuminated by the moonlight.

It was time to say goodbye to this town.

There’s so much to remember, so much to think about, so much to worry about, so much to do–

“–Well, I’ll just do what I want.”

And then I threw myself outside the wall.