Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 269: Yep. It definitely looks like I screwed up….

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"... There's some out of the ordinary monster preying on the city, isn't there?"

'It's either that or some of the high level people who stayed behind have decided to do whatever they want with normal civilians, taking advantage of the fact that there is no one to stop them.... 

But I can't tell them that... 

Surely they would take it as an insult to the people in their city.'

"Yes. Several actually. We're doing what we can, but the truth is, we don't have enough people to cover all the ground," Damien says, while Cael and Fernando yawn behind him, leaning on each other, looking completely exhausted.

"It hasn't been going on for many weeks, really, but not having an effective countermeasure against these monsters.... Well, the result is more than obvious," says Richard, sighing.

"But we're not important. Is Alessia okay? I suppose your visit means you're bringing us another letter from her, right?" Cael asks abruptly, his voice filled with anxiety, as if he has just come to terms with the fact that I am here.

'It seems this boy still holds out some hope...

It's either that or he has a masochistic streak....

Otherwise, I don't understand why he seems so interested in Alessia, even though he knows she's my girlfriend....

It could also be just the interest of a concerned friend, but his tone of voice doesn't give me that feeling.....

Anyway, I don't care what he thinks.....

Alessia is my girl, and nothing and no one is going to change that'

I could have brought Alessia and Delia with me to give the five of them much more direct proof of my relationship with their former partner.

But that would involve taking an unnecessary risk.

At the moment, no one knows where Alessia is, except for me and a few other people.

But if I were to bring her here, to a city where many people must know her.

The number of people who know about her would increase in a way I can't predict, and it would be much easier for information about her current location to reach unwanted ears.

I don't know if there are any Drial Cenit kingdom spies left in this city, but it would be very stupid of me to risk bringing Alessia here.

And I can't tell her friends anything either, as they might mistakenly reveal that information to someone who shouldn't know about it.

Moreover, if they were to find out her entire story, they would probably want to be closer to Alessia to help her.

Not realizing that this would increase the chances of Alessia being discovered.

No.

For now, it would be best for Alessia and her former group to keep their distance.

"No, I was just coming to-...." I start to say, but quickly realize that they are not going to be able to help me.

Not while they're in this kind of situation where they can't seem to leave the city, and not while parts of the city look more dilapidated than Solitary Temple.

"... I was coming to run an errand for you. But I see it's not the best time for that," I say as I start to think about what to do.

'I don't have much time to distract myself if I intend to be back before Alessia and Delia wake up....

But if it's simply a monster problem....

I'm confident that I could help them quickly....

And then I could task them with repairing and maintaining the Solitary Temple in good condition, as thanks....

And if the monster turns out to be too dangerous for me....

I guess I can always use Space Travel to run away'

"No, we can't help you now. Whatever you want, right now we have our hands full with the problems we have in town," Damien says as he stifles a yawn.

"Maybe we can help each other out; why don't you explain to me more clearly what's going on here..." I say, looking at the five of them intently.

"... I understand that you are exhausted now, but I don't have much free time today. I mean, if it's just a matter of eliminating some rare monsters, maybe I could help you without wasting too much time. And then you might listen to my request. I may not look like it, but I'm pretty strong."

After those words, I try to stick out my chest and look as imposing as possible, but it must not be coming off very well because....

"Hahaha... We appreciate the intention, Emir..." says Bernard with a chuckle.

"... But these monsters are not something that could be taken care of by one person alone."

'That reaction hurts my pride a bit... But I'll let them slide for now.'

"Anyway, I suppose we can explain the situation to you a little better. That won't take us long..." says Damien, looking at me with curiosity and suspicion.

"... And if you then still think you can help us, we can point you to where the lair of those monsters might be."

"Agh, Damien! I want to go to sleep," Fernando says, slurring his words.

"It will only take a moment..." says Damien with a placating smile. ".... Besides, aren't you curious about how strong the person who bought Alessia is?"

After those words, Cael suddenly stands up straight, which makes Fernando, who was leaning on him, fall to the ground.

'Haa... I'm not a jealous person, but I'm starting to get annoyed by this guy's attitude. He could at least try to hide his feelings a bit more.'

...

"... Space travel," I say, opening an illusory door from the Solitary temple.

It's annoying to pretend I need to use a full chant to use Space Travel, but I also don't want to overdo it by showing off in front of these guys.

They already seemed overly surprised when they found out that I actually had the Traveler class.

I guess they thought I was an Adventurer, like Alessia.

But if they think I can move easily from my home in the capital to Denir City, they will probably start making troublesome requests of me.

That's why I'm taking certain extra precautions when being with them.

The first one is to come to the Solitary temple with Alessia's friends so that they can get to know it at the same time that I check the state of the place.

The temple is the same as yesterday.

It is as deteriorated as ever, with some holes here and there throughout its structure.

That is probably why it has not been attacked, as it gives the impression of being uninhabited.

Which is true now that Delia doesn't live in it. 

I told Alessia's friends that we were coming here because I had to stop halfway to replenish my MP with a potion, which is obviously not true, but none of them seemed to notice the lie.

And it serves me right that they think my capabilities with the Space travel skill are not very good.

That way, they won't ask me to take them to visit Alessia or some such nonsense.

Through the gate, we arrived at the mountain where I got the Traveler class so long ago.

Alessia's friends told me that the monsters that have been harassing the city for days are griffins.

The monsters are large enough to lift large boulders into the air, which they have been hurling towards the city to force people out of their homes before taking them to the mountains to consume them.

The size of the griffins makes them relatively resistant to arrows, if only a few archers shoot at them.

And since they move at high speed and there are few people with archery skills left in the city, the citizens of Denir have found it impossible to repel them efficiently.

Additionally, due to their limited number of skilled individuals, they are unable to organize a hunting party to search for the monsters in their nest, as this would leave the city unprotected.

That is why they have only been able to devote themselves to patrolling the city, since the griffins do not attack places where they see armed people watching, which indicates that the monsters have a certain degree of intelligence.

This is the situation that has generated this air of despair in the people of the city, who can only stand by and watch as their city is slowly destroyed and their loved ones are taken away one after another to be monster food.

"Well, I think we should scout north a bit..." I say, looking sideways at the five guys as I point in the direction where I know the griffins are.

When they informed me in Denir City of the monsters’ approximate location, I was quickly able to locate the griffins they mentioned, thanks to the map on my interface.

It was easy. I just had to look for the larger red dots on the mountain.

Alessia's friends still look extremely tired, but they look around with alert eyes.

"... I think it's best to start there, since in that direction the mountains start to increase in size."

'I don't know if my words will make much sense to them, but they don't seem to have any intentions of questioning me....

In fact, I don't like the way they are looking at me lately....

Maybe I shouldn't have shown them that I can use space travel....

Alessia wrote to them about me in the letter I delivered to them several days ago....

What exactly did she tell them about me?...

If she told them that I was an Adventurer, and now I'm showing their friends that I can use Space Travel....

Hmm, I have to think of a way to make sure they don't find out my secret.'

"Ok. You lead," says Damien, giving me a look full of suspicion and motioning for his companions to follow me.

'Yep. It definitely looks like I screwed up.... Anyway, if they have observed anything unusual coming from me, now I just have to act in a way that allows them to make sense of what they saw'

The main characteristic of an adventurer is their inventory, and I have something that can mimic that ability.

All I have to do is make it look like I remove my weapons from my storage ring and not from my inventory.

As we climb the mountain, Cael and Fernando seem to be struggling to keep up, so I guess they are the most exhausted.

However, the truth is that Fernando is wearing full body armor and a shield.

That is not the best equipment for this kind of trek.

Between the capital and Denir City, there are a lot of mountains blocking the free pass from city to city.

Those mountains are gradually growing in size towards the north until they reach the End of the World Range.

That mountain range represents the limit of the known world, at least in that direction.

Between the Castemira kingdom and the end of the world mountain range, there are a few small kingdoms of very warlike people. 

Those kingdoms are in constant conflict with each other, fighting over a cold and barren land that is of no interest to the Castemira kingdom or the Drial Cenit kingdom.

"I think they should be behind those rocks," I say in a low voice when we are already a few meters away from the red dots, which I imagine are the griffins.

"How do you know?" asks Richard curiously.

Emir: !!!

"It's just what my intuition tells me," I say with a nervous laugh.

'Shit... I have to be more careful. This is exactly why I usually avoid forming groups with strangers.'

' - Sure... intuition. I guess it was silly of me to expect him to tell us the truth. After all, he has no reason to trust us other than what he knows about us from Alessia. I suppose he must possess a magical item that enables him to track the movements of monsters.'

'He doesn't seem very convinced with my answer, but now I can't think of anything better, and it's getting later and later. Alessia and Delia must have woken up by now...'

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