I wondered if those guys were after me… I didn’t do anything yet to be wanted in this land… aside from walking around despite not being an elf. Regardless, they were dark clothes that also made them look like ninjas ready to cut the throat of someone, but thanks to their slim build and the shape of their hoods, I was able to tell that they were elves.
‘They would have emitted a lot more bloodlust if they were looking for me… they didn’t look bothered either if they had noticed that they lost my trail.’
I had been doing some training to avoid leaving footsteps behind. That was quite fun, too. I did that on the sand of the beach of the coast… the trick was to walk using the tip of my feet. It hurt quite a bit after doing that for a while. Glacien was naturally skilled at doing that since she was a born predator.
Putting that aside… I was heading in the same direction as those guys, so my terrible luck strikes again. Time to take a roundabout way to another town. Missing the next few ones was also a good idea.
I began to head south first after a while and I did that for a whole day before turning east again… I was going to great lengths to avoid trouble. That would be enough to make me not hesitate when the time comes. Even after all that, people still come after me to cause trouble, then they will end up with arrows up their asses.
I walked for another day without approaching any town just to be sure… thanks to that, I reached another town that looked fine and people looked at me like I was a rare animal once more. Still, they didn’t chase me away, so it was fine.
“Grrr... grrr...”
“What is wrong, girl?”
Glacien suddenly looked annoyed while glaring at one tree. I didn’t think that one tree looked weird in any shape. When I checked Glacien’s gaze, she looked to be looking at one particular house above a shop.
“Behave. We don’t want to draw attention here.”
I decided to avoid that tree, but I still looked in the direction of it to see the product there and my eyes opened wide when I saw a certain thing there.
Phantom Quiver (Legendary)
Enchantment Slots - Spectral Arrow (Absolute): Generates real arrows when the quiver is empty, ensuring the user never runs out of ammunition. Wooden Arrows: 10 MP, Iron Arrows: 20 MP, Silver Arrows: 40 MP, Glass Arrows: 80 MP, Steel Arrows: 160 MP, Quartz Arrows: 320 MP, Mithril Arrows: 640 MP
Homing Shot: Arrows fired from this quiver gain the ability to home in on their target, ignoring obstacles for a short distance.
Durability: 05/05
It was an amazing quiver… good enough that made me question why it was being sold, and it even made me consider heading to the shop and bargain for it, even though I had the feeling that I shouldn’t go there.
In the end, curiosity got the better of me and then I headed to the shop. I was surprised to see an elven lady that seemed to be quite old… she should be very old given that she had wrinkles and looked tired as well. She made me recall the old lady, Jalal’s grandmother… I never had the chance to ask her name.
Speaking of which, this old lady seemed a bit familiar as well. Her golden blond hair had a lot of white in it, but her green eyes, the shape of her face and her ears, made her look very familiar.
In the next moment, all my instincts warned me of the danger, even though the old elf lady welcomed me with a warm smile.
“Welcome. How can I help you?”
“... I am just passing by.”
I turned around and decided to leave in a hurry, without letting people know that. It was quite hard to do that with slow steps… All of a sudden, I figured I dropped from the sky and was right in front of me. It was a young woman wearing light clothes that usually elves wear when they are using their bows. She had a serious expression on her face and she had a longbow on her hand as well, but at least she didn’t nock an arrow yet.
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For some reason, Glacien didn’t react to the sudden arrival of this person… Maybe it was because she didn’t attack first, or maybe it was because her left arm was covered in blood bandages. Regardless, it was clearly Clarice… she looked a bit more mature after three years, but it was definitely her.
“You are… Clive, aren’t you? Or should I call you… Reg. Reg… Rectangular Gus? That is your human name, right?”
“Never heard of it. Now, if you excuse me, I have piano lessons waiting for me.”
“Just kidding, I know that you are Regulus. You aren’t hiding your white hair anymore. It has been a while.”
“You got the wrong person, young lady.”
“You can’t fool my Elven eyes, and what do we have here? What a cute Glacierborn Predator. What is her name?”
I tried to ignore her, but Glacien wasn’t following me. She was enjoying being patted by Clarice… I was betrayed, even by my own pet, who wasn’t supposed to betray me in any circumstances. Here starts my journey as a solo labyrinth explorer, through and through…
Putting that aside, that sure was a mouthful race name. It would be tough for Glacien if she were to hear that all the time.
“Sorry for scaring you. I just heard that an unknown creature was in the town, and when you looked at our base, I got a bit worked up. When you came to the shop and soon left, I decided to get rid of my doubts by checking on you.”
“I see. Sorry to have bothered you.”
“Hm? Aren’t you going to keep denying your identity?”
“Too much of a hassle, and I really don’t care if you know who I am or not.”
“So mean! Aren’t we best friends? Well, perhaps not… since the last time we saw each other, my inaction made you leave the town as the culprit of a crime that you didn’t commit.”
“I really didn’t care back then and I don’t care now. I care that you are holding back my ally against my will. Are we going to have a problem here?”
“No, but she is so fluffy. Can I enjoy this bliss for a while longer?”
“No.”
I was doing my best not to spoil Glacien. She was also an ally that could die at any moment, after all. I would do my best to avoid that, but things can happen… that was one of the reasons that I didn’t want to get overly attached to her. If she dies, I might soon follow if I get too distressed.
“Anyway, what are you doing here?”
“None of your business.”
“Hahaha, you are as harsh as ever. Well, I am glad that you are doing fine despite everything. Well, I am not sure if I am in a position to warn you of anything, but you probably shouldn’t head to the dwarven territory. We are a bit at odds with each other thanks to some problems at the border. They might mistake you for an elf.”
I let out a long sigh. My luck was really terrible. Perhaps all those problems in my life were just things that were bound to happen, and fate was a force that couldn’t be ignored in this world.
In any case, Clarice looked a bit different from I remember. She was a lot more pushy… Considering the bloody bandage on her arm, it looked like she was up to something dangerous and she didn’t want to get me involved since she still feels bad for what happened the last time.
“All right, have a nice day and a safe journey.”
Clarice let Glacien go and then turned around, but Glacien betrayed me again and then stopped Clarice in her tracks… Before long, she turned to look at me.
“Chi-chi-chi!”
“Sorry, your language suddenly looks a lot harder to understand than before. Let’s get going. Clarice must have a lot to do as well. Like bothering people on the streets, bothering people on the streets, and bothering people on the streets.”
“Hahaha, don’t ever change, Regulus. It is alright, girl. Follow your master. Can you at least tell me her name?”
“... Glacien.”
“Alright, go. Glacien. Don’t let him wait. You should know by now that he isn’t very patient, caring, humble, or charming. But you should know that he should know that he has at least one redeeming quality, buried deep down and almost drowning under all that grumpiness.”
Glacien whimpered a bit and then looked at me. I wonder if it was some kind of animal instinct that made her act like she wanted to help someone in trouble. Nimir also acted like that, even though I was quite certain that their actions were completely illogical.
Glacien returned to me and then Clarice waved at us. Before long, she turned around and began to leave. Still, she soon turned around and then approached to whisper something.
“By the way, if you ever find a group of people covered in dark cloaks, just use my name, alright?”
“So… you were part of that group, the unseen arrow, huh? Even despite what they did before?”
“You got it all wrong. I am just trying to find the person who did that to Jalal’s grandma. I confronted my brother about it, but…”
Clarice showed a nervous expression as she glanced around, her eyes darting to the corners of the streets as if checking for possible observers. Her gaze lingered on the shopkeeper, the woman whose features had a striking resemblance to her own. The shape of her jaw, the curve of her nose. There was little doubt in my mind that they were related.
Still, the resemblance didn’t matter right now. The shopkeeper’s wary demeanor and Clarice’s own actions told me this wasn’t the time or place to discuss the unseen arrow. She pressed her lips together and then hesitated for a short while.
“Where can we talk about this?”