As the trio dug their way to the surface on the other side of the border, they had officially made it to the next district over.

"Remember, if someone asks—We're from here." Elegy reminded them.

"Obviously, we know that much." Sorbet crossed his arms.

That being said, they were met with their first obstacle the moment they hopped out of the tunnel. Namely, a female angel saw them exit the hole, saw the outstandingly dangerous looking blade, and came up to them to ask some rather reasonable questions.

"What the hell are you doing?" Was her first query.

"Just... diggin' a hole." The boys replied, darting their Eyes around suspiciously.

"Did you dig your way under the border?"

Immediately, Hats shot her theory down, stumbling over his words just to get the point across.

"N-Nuh uh, 'cause the bars would get in the way-!"

"This idiot!" Sorbet shut him up, "Ha-ha, stop making us sound guilty, dummy! Look missy, we were just digging a hole for the fun of it, now please move aside so we can continue."

"So if I were to go through that tunnel, I wouldn't end up over there?" She pointed to the other side of the fence.

"Gods forbid a group of boys have some fun here." Elegy threw his arms in the air, "Look, if you wanna know, we were trying to dig straight down."

Suddenly, everyone's ears grew to hear his story out. Sorbet and Hats knew that he was lying, obviously, but what exactly was he trying to cook up to keep her from finding out?

"Dig down? And why in the world would you wanna do that?" She cocked her head back.

"To get to the bottom of things." He grinned.

"Oh my God..." Sorbet facepalmed.

Despite this, Elegy continued the explanation with the cheery mood he had created.

"Nah, but seriously." He smiled, "We wanted to see what would happen, but as it turned out, we hit a hard rock surface pretty quickly, so we got back out. That's all, really."

"I find that hard to believe." She still seemed skeptical, even peering over the edge of the hole, "Wow, you actually weren't lying! There's some sort of rock layer down ther-"

"Whoopsie!" Elegy shoved her down the hole, "My bad! I totally slipped!"

"You damned...! Get me out of here this instant!" She screeched from the bottom of the hole.

"Oh, bummer! Would you look at the time?" Sorbet nudged the other two, "Sorry, we're late for a very important date! Ain't that right, you two?"

"Mhm, mhm!" Hats and Elegy nodded in unison, "Sorry, but we'll be off now. Toodles!"

"Morons!" She hissed as a group of passers-by curiously approached her new dwelling.

Success, at least somewhat. Their hopes of coming out on the other side without any commotion were utterly crushed, as now they were locally known as the dimwits that pushed a girl down what was effectively a well of sorts. Regardless, no one was pursuing them, because their main goal was to get her out first and foremost.

"Phew, at least the guards didn't seem to care." Sorbet heaved a sigh of relief, "Though that's kind of scary in its own right."

"For future reference, we really should make sure to emerge in a secluded area, like an alleyway or something." Elegy replied.

As the two admired their hard work and successful crime, the third member still had quite the sour aftertaste left in his mouth.

"I feel bad, maybe we could've explained our situation better..."

"Oh, we definitely could've." Sorbet replied.

"Eh?"

"Yeah, but it'd take way longer and it'd be a much bigger pain in the ass." Elegy added.

"Think of it this way—If we took our time to explain everything to her, whose to say she still wouldn't report us to the border patrol?" Sorbet explained, "And even if she didn't, it might have taken us hours before she finally let us go. By then, bedtime would've come and we would be left out in the streets again."

"But now she's definitely gonna report us." Hats reasoned.

It was this thought that naturally guided Elegy's gaze to the nearby clothes shop. Immediately, he saw the perfect way out.

"Well now, how is she gonna be able to describe us even?" He pointed out, "Apart from Hats' golden arms, she could see neither mine nor Sorbet's gilded parts."

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

"So what are you saying?" Sorbet tilted his head.

"I'm saying, we ought to get ourselves a new fit!"

The establishment was somewhat secluded, there wasn't much of a line, and given how Hats was still completely naked, he would be given a full outfit instead of the "One article of clothing per cycle" rule the other two had to follow. Stepping up to the counter after a few measly minutes of waiting, they greeted the female shopkeeper in a friendly manner.

"Heya, we're here for some clothes." Elegy smiled, "Especially for our friend here. It's his first time..."

"Eugh, where the hell do you get off making my place sound like a whore house?" She clicked her tongue with a scowl, "Fine, whatever, here."

Rude, but nonetheless she was dutifully doing her job. After putting on his first ever proper outfit—a black tank top and White trousers that made him look like a bodybuilder, Hats was pretty content. However...

"You got something to cover his golden parts up with?" Sorbet asked.

"What you get is what you get." She glared at him, "I thought you already knew that..."

"Hmm. Well whatever, got anything for us?" Elegy shrugged, "Don't we get one article as well?"

"Oh right. Here." She halfheartedly tossed them a pair of leather gloves and knee-high socks.

An odd choice in regards to the latter, especially since everyone there was male, but it was more than enough. Thanking the girl before turning the corner, Elegy and Sorbet immediately got to work.

"O-Oi, what are you doing!?" Hats whimpered as they cut the ends of the socks with the serrated blade, "That's...!"

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In short, the two cut through the legwear until both socks were now more akin to cylindrical tubes. Putting them on Hats' arms to cover the gilded parts, and then gifting him the gloves, they had essentially managed to properly cover him up, only leaving a bit of the shoulders peeking out.

"Oh right. Give me the tank top." Elegy took his shirt off, "We'll swap."

"Eh!?" Hats looked down at his cool tank top before backing away, "...Mph!"

Sorbet was quick to get the jump on him and yank it off from behind him.

"NOOOO...!"

"Dude, this is for the sake of us not getting found out." He returned a one bombastic side-Eye, "Looking cool won't do you much of anything if you're asleep."

"Sorry, but that's the case." Elegy comforted him, "But come on? What's wrong with my shirt? It's plenty cool in its own right, no?"

Inspecting the threads with tears in his Eyes, Hats could only reply with sobs.

"Yeah nah, I think that type of clothing was only cool in your time." Sorbet agreed, "That stuff won't fly anytime else."

"Just shut up and hand me the tank top."

And so, with a heavy heart, the trio was now halfway done with their encryption. Just one more step was required before they could fully pull off the shuffle of appearances and become truly untraceable.

"Sorbet, pants." Elegy pointed at them, "Rip 'em."

"E-Eh? Hey now..." Sorbet backed away slowly, only to get held in place by a vengeful Hats, "O-Oi, you asshole! Let me go, this isn't funny!"

"Elegy, get the sword." Hats heartlessly ignored him.

"Yahh!!"

Three slices were all it took. Elegy didn't even need to depant him first, for he was that skilled with the blade. One slice to cut the right leg of the pants off, the other for the left, and the third...

"...Eh? M-My pocket!" Sorbet cried out after witnessing the damages, "You cut off my right pocket, asshole! What the hell, now I look all raggedy!"

"It's for aesthetic purposes, the asymmetry is what makes it look good." Elegy smirked smugly, "Thank me later."

A steady punch was thrown his way, sending him tumbling on his butt. Sorbet was furious, and he wasn't gonna let such a travesty slide.

"You bastard...!" He tried to go in for seconds, but Elegy expected the attack this time and swiftly dodged, "Gah! Oof!"

"Don't look at a present's teeth, didn't anyone ever tell you that?"

"Presents don't have teeth, moron!"

"It's an expression!" Elegy shot back, "It means you ought to suck up those emotions and say thank you regardless of what you think of it!"

Growling at each other like a pair of rabid dogs about to fight, they were forcibly separated by the mentally youngest of them all, Hats. With his mighty strength, picking them up by the hair was but a simple task.

"Aren't you forgetting about something?" He asked expectantly.

"...Hm?" They stared blankly at him.

"The mission?"

"Ahhhh~"

The time for infighting over petty disputes was over. They're supposed to be a team, but for the longest time the only things on their mind were how to mess with each other and trip them up at every moment, and Hats noticed this.

"I'm sick and tired of always arguing! The hell are we, divorced parents?!" He gave both of them an earful, "From here on out, I'm drawing the line! No more bickering! One for all and all for one!"

"Sorry..." Elegy meekly fixed his attitude, "Oh, I like that. One for all and all for one, did you make that up just now?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"...Screw this, we're wasting daylight." Sorbet freed himself from Hats' clutches before walking off, "Come on, this way."

"Hey, get back here!" Hats hollered, "We're not done yet...!"

"Nah, we're done." Elegy consoled him, "You did good, thanks for getting us back on track."

"He's still mad, though."

"Maybe, but when has he not been a grumpy prick?"

"Ehe, true."

Despite everything, Sorbet was still moving forwards. He might not like that he has to hold back on everything he wants to say to these two, so he remedies this by not looking at their faces. At the very least, Elegy appraised, he's smart enough to do that much.

"How much longer do you reckon we'll be on the road until we reach the next district?" Elegy asked casually.

"Dumbass, we only just made it to this one." Sorbet shot back.

"It'll be a while, that's for sure." Hats kept the peace by giving Elegy his answer, "But we'll make it. Even if it takes us hundreds or even thousands of days— we have the formula down, so it's only a matter of time."

"Hmm... And luck." Sorbet said pitifully, "You never know what's waiting for us after each step."

"Yep, but that's what makes it so thrilling!" Elegy grinned, "It could be a boring walk to the very end, we could run into a monster, or heck, we might even find something that'll shorten our remaining distance significantly."

Finally, talking like a true civilized adventuring group, the boys spoke their mind without reserve. Some were pessimistic, while others—for example—couldn't withhold their excitement at the thought of such adventurous uncertainty. And none of this would even be possible without their mediator, who was just as eager to give his two cents on the matter.

"I think it'll be worth it." Hats said warmly.

"...Hm?"

"Whether we make it or not, it'll be worth it." He elaborated, "Before this, I was so afraid of everything, but now that I'm with you guys, everything feels so breathtaking!"

"Cheh..." Elegy smiled back, "Right?"