156 155.40 floors.txt (2/2)

”Tomorrow or at .......

If I wanted to, I would have liked to level up for a few more days.

But I'm afraid to leave the Palinclones alone and prepare for a long time. At the very least, I'd like to capture the Palinclones in 'Dimension' and figure out what they are doing.

As soon as we reach the continent, we plan to cut off our labyrinth search.

Under the stars, we'll finish our last meal on the ship.

After that, we'll digest the experience we've accumulated and make sure Rastiara and Snow are in the level 20s.

◆◆◆◆◆ ...

And the next day.

We arrive at the ”mainland”.

Unlike the eastern continent, which is a pioneer land, the continent called the ”mainland” is mostly ruled by the hands of people. There are more than a dozen major powers, and the cities are deep in history.

The mainland lies to the northeast of the mainland, and the Living Legend is hidden in a cliff at the eastern end of the mainland.

The slaves and pirates we've rescued may have leaked information that we're on board this ship. That's why we docked not in a port town, but in a place as unpopular as possible. However, it's a pretty big ship, so it's not something we can hide forever.

We might not be able to find it for a few days until we capture the Palinkulon, if we're lucky - that's how I feel.

In the meantime, I'll split up the members of the group for the reason that a large group would stand out. Of course, there's also the reason that we need a ship's guard to protect this expensive ship.

Early in the early morning, when the sky is white, the friends gather on the deck.

However, Dia is the only one who hasn't come up for any length of time, so I have to go wake her up.

I yell out in front of Dia's room.

'Dia, are you awake!　We're already on the 'mainland'!

He knocks on the door intermittently, trying to wake the sleeping Dia up.

However, there is still no reply from inside the room.

I have no choice but to use my minimal 'dimension' to figure out what's inside. Dia is sleeping like she's dead on the bed.

She's sleeping so quietly that I get impatient.

Since my clothes aren't flipping off, I decide to go in and wake her up. Just in case anything happens, I'll be on high alert to deal with it. I don't want to risk my life with the slightest occurrence, so I sharpen my full attention.

I slowly open the door and approach Dia's bed. I don't want to startle her, so I gradually shake her shoulders to help her awaken to consciousness.

This should be a natural wake up call, I thought. But still Dia doesn't wake up.

She is too deep in sleep. It's unusual that she doesn't wake up even after all this external contact.

She kept repeating what she had said in her sleep.

”'I' - no, no, no. I'm sorry, Christ (・・・・)--

In the past I've heard this rant. Once, after fighting Tida on the fifth level of the labyrinth, I was muttering the same thing when I was carrying Dia on my back to leave.

She kept on calling my name and apologizing.

I could only think that she was having a nightmare.

I slapped Dia's cheek hard and forcefully woke her up.

''--Hmm, hmm, ah, hmm ......''

He twisted his face, flinching, and opened his eyes thinly.

The blue eyes in those eyelids felt like they were luminescent.

'Wake up, Dear. It's morning already.'

Oh, you know, ...... in the morning?　Is that where you are, Christ ......?

You're dreaming, Dear. Christ was a false name once, and now he's a Kanami.

When she corrected the mistake in her name, Dia finally opened her eyes clearly.

'Ka, Nami ......?　Yes, it's already a kanami: ......

Rubbing her blue eyes, Deere raises her upper body.

When she removes her rubbing hand from her face, fully awake, Deere takes stock of the situation.

'Good morning, Dear.'

Good morning, Kanami. ......, but what's Kanami doing here?

At close range, their eyes met eye to eye, and Dia's cheeks flushed. I thought that since Dia usually calls himself a man, he wouldn't care much about this kind of thing, but I guess not so much.

'No, I came to pick you up because you're late getting up.

...... Why is it Kanami and not Maria or something?

That Maria told me to go get her: ......

...... That guy is all in the calculation.

Maria, who is not here, shows her anger towards Maria, who is not here. Apparently, she didn't want me to see her sleeping face.

But she quickly shrugs her shoulders and gives up, changing the subject.

'Well, sorry I slept through it. So, we haven't decided on detention yet, have we?

Not yet. We're all waiting for Dear.

He asks about the status of the deck as he gets out of bed. Then, after a minimal amount of grooming, he hurries out of the room.

I told her she could take her time more slowly, but Dia didn't want to waste her time on herself.

Less than a minute later, she went up to the deck and started talking about the division of members.

'Sorry, guys. I'm late.

No, that's fine. Honestly, I don't have much to say to you about the membership split and all that.

Rustyala replies, fluently munching on his breakfast.

I nod my head at her answer.

'There's nothing to talk about ......, have you decided already?'

'For now, the only ones who want to go to the 'mainland' with Kanami are me, Maria and Dia, right? Now we can split it up nicely, four to three.

'Yeah, really: ......?'

Looking around, they all nodded their heads.

I thought Sera was going to argue that she'd prefer to be with Rastiara, but it looks like Rastiara has already convinced her to go.

Snow is in a full foregoing stance. He waves his own flag with the words, ”Go ahead.

'Kanami's only request is that you want to act separately from the dimensional wizard Reaper, right?

Now I just want to take Snow out personally. But it's going to take me a few days to convince them, so I'm giving up for today.

My main goal this time is to capture Palinkron. The best time to take her out would be when the battle with Palinkron is confirmed.

''That's right. We'll want to split up as much as possible since we can easily communicate with the Reapers. Also, I'd like to go with a smaller group if possible: ....... To be honest, I don't mind if I'm the only one looking for--

That's no good. It's like they're going to fight on their own and get turned back on their own.

''No, no, no, if we were to get into a battle, I don't think we'd ever lose if we were fully prepared and one on one ....... Palinclone was a knight with an auxiliary magic focus, wasn't he ......?

''That's true. In the days of 'Celestial Knights', we were always battling for the lowest rank in terms of combat ability. I've never seen you beat Serah in a mock battle.

It's only Tida's magic we have to be careful with. But that magic seed is cracked. As long as the black liquid doesn't stick to it, we'll be safe.

''--That's why Palinkron will never fight you head on. Kanami will never be able to fight in a perfect state, and he will definitely somehow get his magic power in and use spirit magic. There's no doubt about it.

...... Right. Let's all surround ourselves with them and take them down.

Those were compelling words.

He thought that if they faced each other properly, the battle would soon be over with Rowen's swordplay, but it would be better not to think so naively. Honestly, I can't imagine myself being overwhelmed by Palinclone.

''So let's go with a party of four. The name of the party is 'Palinkron Busting Squad'!

Rustyala says, half-jokingly.

But the other two laud the party name with a terrible smile and praise the joke.

'A good party name. Yeah, I have to thank that knight for sometime, you know. Hmmm, ugh. ......

”Hahahahahaha. The scar from that bastard's cut still hurts. You may have gotten away with it at Lauravia, but this time you won't get away with it. I'll grind him up for sure.

It was Maria and Dia who were full of killing intent.

I'm afraid that the moment I meet Palinkron, I'm going to release my magic without question. I have a question to ask Palinkron, so please don't do that.

Then let's get going. We can't stay on the beach where the ship can easily be found, so we'll jump over to that cliff from here. I'll jump with Maria on my back, and Kanami will take care of Dia.

I will. Now then, Reaper, Miss Sela, and Snow, take care of the house.

We say goodbye to the detention members while carrying Dia on our backs.

With Snow and the others seeing us off, me and Rustyala leap out of the ship.

Then we kick the rocks of the cliff like beasts and climb to the top of the cliff.

Once we reach the top, we wave to the ship and blend into the forest on the cliff top.

We literally walk through the forest with our swords cutting through the forest, where there are no animal trails.

It's not a path for humans to follow, but it's better than the labyrinth. Even Dia and Maria, who have low physical abilities, are following along with no problem.

We continue on through the forest for about half an hour and emerge into an open space.

It's a plain colored in pale ochre and green.

This is the 'mainland'. To be honest, it doesn't look all that different from the settlements near the Allied nations.

I opened the map and checked the direction.

The city can be seen faintly on the horizon beyond that. We find our way in Dimension and enter the city as travelers.

We wear large cloaks to cover our bodies. It can't be helped, as they all have sharp physical features.

After covering up the burn marks and black hair, I lead the way and after another half hour, we arrive at a bustling city.

A port town in the east of the mainland of Valt, named ”Cork”.

The plan is to gather information in this cork, which is frequented by many people.

However, as far as I can see from a distance, the security is a bit cumbersome. Surrounded by a wall about five meters high, armed men are standing at the barrier.

After all, the home country of the Valt is close to the battlefield, so they are on high alert.

Probably, if you go to the checkpoint without any message, you will be detained. Then, after a background check, the Allies' charges will be discovered and they'll be arrested.

I have a feeling we can get by with bribes, but I want to make that a last resort.

All right, let's find a spot where we can sneak in.

Rustyala pushed for infiltration with force.

'Are you sure you're okay?　If you can sneak into a wartime city that easily, you have a problem.

''No, there's no such thing as an intelligence agent as capable as us ....... If you can get past the wall in an instant, you won't even get caught in the 'magic stone line' (line). They'll just think you're a bird or a small animal.

'That's how it works: ....... I don't know much about how those things work, so I'll leave it to you.

Well, let's jump on your back like we did before. Okay, Maria, over here.

Rustyala beckons Maria to join him. But Maria, with a difficult face, shakes her head.

'It's your turn. I'm next, Kanami-san.'

Well, it doesn't make a difference which--

It's my turn.

Oh, yes.

Lastiara nodded, overwhelmed by Maria's power enough to wear the heat.

Dia seemed to want to complain with her mouth slightly pointed, but I guessed Maria's thoughts and didn't say anything.

I guessed Maria's thoughts, too, and my face contorts.

I'm happy for the favor, but it's also painful. I know that they don't have that kind of awareness. But I feel as if I'm blaming myself for not choosing any of them.

With the pain in my stomach that I'm getting a little used to, we move to a thin layer of security and take Maria on our backs.

'Please, Kanami-san,'

Yeah, hold on tight.

I use 'Dimension' to pick up information about the surroundings.

After making sure there are no people beyond the jump, me and Rustyala start running at the same time. We run across the plains with murderous acceleration, bouncing across the earth like cats.

I kick the wall once and change direction directly upwards. A horrible inertia takes hold of her body. We shake it off forcefully and climb over the wall.

This is how we succeeded in getting into the port city of Cork.