Seeing Eric start walking away, I debated whether to follow him or not because he was going to lead me to a group of people who all were going to have something wrong with them in their heads.

I sigh and follow him because going back to Clare is the priority, and I guess I could tolerate them for a bit.

“Hey, are you coming or not?”

Sighing again, I told him yeah.

Following Eric, he then asked me about other things since we’re a fair distance away from the camp.

“So, do you mind telling me more about your fight in the secret boss room?”

“Why are you asking?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if what you found was a shortcut.”

Shortcut? Hearing what he said, it didn’t cross my mind, but that makes sense because that would explain why I was on the 29th floor.

However, when I saw his face, I got a feeling that he was probing me for something.

I should leave something out and be a bit vague because I don’t know if he wants to know where the shortcut I found is or something else, which my instincts are telling me is the latter.

“I guess you’re right.”

“Really, could you tell me where?”

“I can’t.”

“Why so?”

“I need a map to tell you; it’s in the middle of a forest, so there aren’t any landmarks to tell you where it is, and it is pretty well hidden.”

“I see, that is a shame.”

Changing the subject.

“Okay then, how about telling me who we are going to fight?”

Hearing his offer, I thought about it. If I did tell him, he would know about my identity, and then there was a possibility that knowledge of my disappearance would circulate. It would not be good for me since my father would order that I and probably everyone who came into contact with me be assassinated. Then my father will probably fake my death in a way that I committed suicide or was murdered by monsters or something to hide the fact I ran away with the excuse of me being dead as the reason they were trying to hide me from high society.

However, if I’m optimistic, I could make it so that killing me would not be worth it. If news spread that I ran away far and fast enough, especially about where I live and what I am doing, then I would be too hot a target to kill.

I debated this in my mind as I remained silent for a good minute, which Eric interrupted by saying.

“You really are taking your time at this.”

He said that with a playful tone and smile, and then he said something that I completely didn’t expect.

“You know you don’t have to tell me. After all, you don’t see a young noble child from the old nobility faction running away too often.”

I immediately stopped walking and stared at him with deep suspicion and shock as he said that because how? From what he said, he definitely knew who I was. Is it that I reference my family’s black knights or something else?

He still had a playful expression, but I could tell he was enjoying this, which irked me.

“You’re wondering how I know; well, it’s not what you think. I knew who you were when we first met, Ms. Rita.”

I stared at him with even more shock inside me because he even knew about my name.

“I have my sources, and a really young kid around your age being an adventurer near the Lucendi territory does fall in the realm of possibility. But the main thing that confirmed it with me was your face and the unique presence you gave off.”

What does he mean by the unique presence I gave off? Is it the air of nobility I may be unconsciously leaking or something else? Still remaining silent, he continued.

“I know this is subtle, but you know the name I gave is a clue. I won’t tell you my real name, but my friends call me Athrun.”

After a good while, I finally spoke as Eric, now Athrun, looked at me with that same playful tone and smile.

“You got to be kidding me.”

Athrun snickered for a bit and said.

“I’m kind of surprised you haven’t figured it out. After all, it’s your own brother's name.”

Sighing from my shock, I told him.

“To be fair, we aren’t really that close. We’re more like acquaintances than anything else. Plus Eric, how do I put this, is so brainwashed by my father that he thinks my father actually loves him or something, so he spends all his time studying to become the next head.”

“Really, that is good to know.”

“Yeah, I presume your sources already know what kind of a person my parents are?”

Athrun grimaces at my negative statement about my parents, which he knows is true, so he changes the subject.

“What are you planning next?”

“Next?”

“What are you planning to do after you leave the city since it’s not safe for you anymore?”

“I’m still figuring that out, but I already have a place in mind to hide for a bit.”

Athrun nodded and said.

“I see. Let's get going now.”

Proceeding to walk again, I thought of what he said and walked behind him.

Going to the 29th-floor camp, I saw the white-colored tents and numerous strong-looking adventurers around them.

From their gear and presence, they give off a really strong aura, different from the adventurers on the 19th floor, like they are seasoned veterans.

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

I felt eyes staring at me as they looked and were surprised to see me, slightly more than the people in the 19th-floor village.

They began whispering among themselves, with most of them being baffled that I was here, and I felt no actual malice coming from them since they were just curious.

Turning back to look at me, he said.

“We’re almost here; I hope you change your mind about us.”

Seeing a really big tent in front of us, much bigger than the other tents around it, Athrun opened the flaps to let me in.

Going inside, he introduced me to everyone, which were two people. One was a guy with a muscular build who was doing maintenance with a full set of plate armor and a giant shield. The other was a girl wearing a white robe with gold trimmings and holding a staff, sitting and reading a book.

Looking at them, I was getting the feeling that the guy, who I'm guessing is a tank, is a masochist, while the girl, who I’m guessing is a healer, is a sadist.

Something was telling me that this was the case because I feel like I've seen this before, but I better put up my guard just in case I’m wrong.

“Hey everyone, this is Nyx, and we're helping her. It’s the kid I told you about when I went to Farsbarrow to get my sword repaired. Apparently, her family is coming after her, and they might be targeting a close acquaintance, so we’re also helping her with that since we have nothing better to do.”

Hearing what he said, the two of them looked at me with an amicable smile but then with some surprise for some reason, but turned back to an amicable one again, which I found strange.

“Hello, I am Cro, a tank.”

“And, I am Sarah, a healer; it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

They greeted me normally enough, which was off-putting because I wasn’t expecting them to be so… normal.

That, how do I put it, tasted weird when I said it inside my head.

Compared to the named pilots I had to deal with in my past life, they seem like normal people. Maybe Kinwall was over-exaggerating them or something.

“I’m Nyx; it's a pleasure to meet with you all. Sorry for troubling everyone with my problems, and thank you in advance for helping me.”

“It's no problem at all; we are happy to help.”

Hearing Sarah's completely normal response, the thought of them being people with a screw loose started to die down.

Interrupting our conversation, Athrun asks Sarah.

“By the way, I don’t see Nox anywhere.”

Sarah gave Athrun a troubled look and said.

“He ran away somewhere, and we weren’t able to stop him.”

Athrun, upon hearing that, took a deep sigh that sounded all too familiar.

“Give me a couple of minutes; I’ll go find him.”

Stepping outside, I watch Athrun by the open door to see him standing still outside with his eyes closed. To my slight surprise, his blonde hair started glowing into a golden color. Sparks of electricity started to form around his body.

I felt a tingling sensation on my skin for a while till he stopped and looked in a certain direction, while his hair was still glowing.

Before I could notice anything, there was a sudden flash of lightning, and he disappeared before my eyes.

I stood there, completely confused about what just happened, till Sarah walked next to me to explain.

“Don’t worry, he just turned himself into lightning and moved to find Nox.”

How can he do that? I was surprised by what she said. I've seen it in games and stories, but I didn’t think someone could do something like that in this world. He must be really powerful to be able to do that.

I was kind of jealous that he was able to do that; maybe I could do that if I had magic because that seemed really cool to do.

A couple of minutes later, I hear Athrun's voice in the far distance. I turned to look and saw him running toward us while dragging someone by the collar.

I then turn to Sarah and ask her.

“Is that him?”

She had a wry smile and said yes as Athrun stopped running and took a moment to catch his breath to say.

“Sorry for the wait; I had to get this idiot back.”

Athrun wasn't too pleased when he said it, different from his usual jovial tone.

“And Sarah, you know what to do; could you heal up this idiot? And Nyx, let's go back in; I want to give you something.”

Seeing the person in front of me, he looked really beat up is what I could best describe it. There were some bruises as well as burns across his body, bumps on his head, and a black eye.

The people around the camp we were in were mildly amused by it, like they had seen it before, which is likely the case.

Everyone at Athrun’s party does not seem amused by him. I guess he has a screw loose or something because Athrun had the exact same expressions and feelings I would have from dealing with named pilots in my past life. Plus, I don’t know why, but that guy is giving me Deja Vu; it reminded me of a certain pair of idiots who were always butting heads with each other in my past life.

Grimacing, I better go back to minimize contact with this guy.

Going back into the tent without looking back, I saw Athrun and Nox putting on their gear.

Noticing me coming in, I ask him.

“What are you going to give me?”

“I saw that you just have a dagger with you, so I’m giving you this.”

Tying a sword to his belt, he then tosses me another sword that looks identical to the one he just tied to his belt.

I caught it and asked.

“You’re giving it to me?”

“Yeah, I usually dual-wield, but I think you need it more since you’re in the third stratum. Just be careful; it’s really sharp because it’s made out of pure mithril.”

“I see, but how about Kinwall since he is lending them to you?”

“Oh that, it’s fine.”

With a wry smile, like he felt guilty about something.

“He kind of expects us to break or lose things, so it won’t really bother him too much, I guess. Plus, he doesn’t mind if it’s with you, right?”

Hearing his response, I guess he is kind of right.

Seeing him back with his playful smile, I unsheathed it to look at it, which was a bit difficult since it was a bit big for me.

I was a bit surprised when it looked like a normal, plain sword. Thinking about it, it made sense because Kinwall had lent it to them, and he knew they might lose it, so he didn’t put much effort into it.

After seeing it, I put it back in its sheath and tied the sword to my belt, next to the empty scabbard that was supposed to hold my sword that I lost.

After I was done, I saw Sarah and Cor come inside, which made me instinctively put up my guard against him.

Cor had a big smile on his now-healed face, which he said.

“That was fun; you really know how to throw a punch. It’s a shame that I didn’t get to kill that desert-armored lizard with my bare fist.”

Athrun sighed at him, which was strangely similar to how I sighed when I had to put some named pilots in line in my past life.

Cor continued with his smile as Athrun gave him a death glare while turning his head to me.

“Hi there, I’m Cor; you’re Nyx, right?”

Hearing his enthusiastic greeting, I thought that I might be wrong about him, like everyone, thinking that he was more eccentric than crazy. However, that soon shattered when he said the next few words.

“Let's fight.”

Without warning, he drew his blade and swung it at me. With a hair’s breadth, I moved back as time slowed down and saw everyone’s surprised reactions.

Realizing I dodged his swing, his big smile grew even bigger, and he swung another swing.

I dodge his swing and counter with a quick draw of my dagger. I moved my dagger at his head, but it was faint because I pulled back and moved my free hand, which was my left, to palm strike his chest since that is the second most effective way to incapacitate someone from personal experience.

Seeing what I was about to do, he moved to the side, which was what I wanted because that was also a feint.

As he moved just out of the way to my right to dodge my palm strike, I took him by complete surprise and swung my leg at the most effective place to incapacitate someone, especially when they were a guy.

I swung my leg, in full force, at his crotch. Immediately he fell over, clutching his private areas as his face turned pale and in agony.

Seeing him fall to the ground like that, Athrun ran up to me to ask if I was okay and apologized because they didn’t expect him to do something like that.

I ignored what he was saying because unpleasant memories began filling my mind, which made me feel all sorts of unpleasant or downright awful memories.

Not only that, my body, on muscle memory, began walking to Cor as Athrun wondered what I was about to do.

I was behind him, where he was on his knee still clutching his private area, too much in pain to see his surroundings.

Pulling my foot back off the ground, I kick him again in his nether region, then again, and again, and again, and again.

I did not stop as he started to beg or when he was frothing at the mouth; I just didn’t stop as my body moved on its own while I stared coldly at him.