I just shrugged, part of me coming to this dungeon was to confirm that if Renna’s husband’s allies could be of any use when it comes to information, the other half was to make potions using the materials here and also gain some other classes.

I knew that I was being a bit reckless, but it was better to show people who I was and see if they could be trusted or not instead of playing that annoying game that takes too much time of trying to measure each other’s intentions slowly.

“I believe that you want to know the people involved in the incident on Frostkeep. Am I right?”

It looked like they had a pretty good information network, despite living inside a labyrinth and hiding. Still, the border was pretty far away from the empire, so I wondered how they knew that. Then, I recalled that in the alchemy book, there was a recipe to change one’s appearance, too. They probably are everywhere using that kind of potion to obtain information that can be useful to them.

“That is right. If you have that kind of information, what would you want in exchange for it?”

“... Hm. I can’t say that we have that kind of information. We do know that elves and humans were working together at that time, though. Their goal was to make Lady Clarice return home, and cause some conflicts with both sides. My guess is that they wanted to force both sides to talk about something that I am not familiar with yet. I believe that the mediators are here with the same objective in mind.”

I felt like sighing. It wasn’t something only a human or two were involved… that would make things a lot harder for me. Heading to the empire now would be a bad call to hunt for those guys, but at least I was a bit satisfied knowing that the empire as a whole was involved in that mess.

I didn’t know much about the emperor, but if he was allowing this kind of thing to happen where old ladies were suffering accidents and almost losing their lives, he was either too incompetent, or he was simply a sick bastard.

“What about the elves involved? They should be those close to her, am I right?”

The most obvious suspects would be her brother, Cellica and Renna. Clarice said that her brother wasn’t a liar. Renna didn’t pass that image to me, so perhaps it was Renna… but back then, would she have done this much?

“It might sound convenient for me to say this, but while those close to her are involved, they also aren’t involved. They had orders to find her and bring her home, but they didn’t say the methods. The problem wasn’t the people involved, but the person they chose. He is one that can be easily bought and he has been hidden in the last year because he finally chose his real patron.”

“That guy, huh?”

I could tell who it was… it was indeed the elf leader of that party that we found in the labyrinth. He didn’t pass the feeling of being trustworthy in any way. Still, who would he follow if not someone as influential as Arslan?

“Do you know who his master is?”

“I didn’t even tell you his name, but it seems that we are talking about the same person… the last time he was seen, he was in the northwestern part of the land. If they find you, they will certainly try to attack you. It will be better if you make it easy for him to recognize you.”

That made sense… I had grown a lot in the last three years and back then, I was using a disguise too. Using the same type of clothes and showing the same bow probably will do the trick. Now then, what was this guy going to ask me in exchange for all that information?

“What do I owe you for this knowledge? I have some mana cores, materials from other lands, and I can enchant items too.”

“We don’t need any of that. I would just ask you to leave the labyrinth immediately.”

That hit me like a lightning bolt… it kind of hurt. Was my presence really that dangerous or annoying for them? Hearing something like that was even worse than being chased out, somehow.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“... All right.”

This was a bit troublesome since I couldn’t get classes and make the camouflage potions, but a deal was a deal. My fame was already a sorry sight, so I couldn’t risk hurting one of the few things of value that I still had, my word.

“My apologies.”

“No worries. Let’s go, girl.”

We turned around and then headed to the exit of the dungeon. While I was a bit hurt, I at least had my pride to consider and not showing that was the best option.

… …

“He indeed left… I wonder if he was worried that fighting me wouldn’t be a good call or he was just readily following the part of the deal.”

The veteran dark elf couldn’t help but think about that while holding his chin. He just now realized that Regulus didn’t ask their names either. He was either not interested in who they were, or he truly understood that situation since he was someone who was being hunted down as well.

“Humph, he did the right thing in leaving. I alone would have been able to defeat him.”

The younger dark elf made the first sigh… it looked like this one needed to learn the difference in strength between people without using identification. In any case, the older dark elf had other things to consider. The half-vampire Regulus seemed sincere enough with his words and actions, but one can’t be too used… it was better to be cautious, even more so when this is a matter that determines the safety of his people.

“Ayla.”

“I am here.”

A dark-elf suddenly appeared behind the veteran dark elf; she was using a uniform similar to the ones used by the unseen arrows, but it looked like her skills were even above them given that it looked like she materialized out of thin air.

“Follow him until he reaches the territory and then watch the entrance of the labyrinth… I don’t want to believe that Renna would risk our location, but those mediators convinced all the elders to join them. We need to be cautious.”

“Understood.”

… …

I left the labyrinth two hours later and then let out a sigh when we reached the outside. I thought that I toughened myself enough to let things like that bother me, but it looked like I still could make some improvements in that kind of field.

I scratched the back of my head and then decided to change my mood, so what if people didn’t want to be related to me? Even those who were in similar situations? This world isn’t a middle school where bullied kids stick together since they don’t have friends.

“Ugh, this brought back some annoying school memories… Whatever, I can live without friends. We can live without friends, right partner?”

“Awoo?”

“Et tu, Brute?”

I put that aside and then checked the map that Renna gave me… northwest of my current position there weren’t many towns, most of the elders preferred to remain close to the central parts of the Aeloria Dominion since it would make it easy to communicate with others. It also would give them some room to move in case of invasions.

That guy told me to show myself to lure out those who had wronged me before, but now that I think about it, it would give the enemies the chance to ambush me. I had to prepare for that. Making another magic smoke bomb would do the trick, even more so since the skill is almost reaching level ten.

Magic Smoke Bomb Lv 09: Throw a magic smoke bomb that creates a cloud of obscuring smoke, reducing the accuracy of enemies within the area and allowing you to reposition or escape. Cost: 30 mana.

“We didn’t have time to make mystic link level up, but you should keep using your skills just in case. We should reach that level soon. Magic Trap is also at level nine… I should work hard to make these skills reach level ten before finding the next target.”

“Mew, mew, mew!”

“All right, let’s go.”

I checked the area once more and confirmed that no one came looking for me yet. I also didn’t want to cause trouble for the dark elves. Perhaps I could buy more information from them in the future… With that in mind, I decided to use my bike and leave a clear trail for pursuers. While that also seemed retarded, at least it would make me confirm sooner than later if Renna and the others would betray me to the empire.

I wasn’t sure if they would be comfortable in selling me out and showing that they could do that kind of thing in front of Clarice, but there were plenty of other ways for them not to do that in front of her.

Before long, night began to fall and since I wasn’t making much progress with the magic smoke bomb amulet, I decided to camp under a tree and then let Glacien hunt dinner while I worked on that project.

Since I had some experience, I decided to invest in my mana regeneration… it would be nice if I could get mana conservation as well, perhaps that would decrease the cost of keeping my skill active, Tame Beast.

‘I could double the experience points of the class by having two pets. They also would give me experience if I leave them in a labyrinth, at least on the first section. They won’t die.’

That seemed like another cheating way to gain experience… I wonder why I didn’t hear much about tamers. Was that hard to pull it off? One just needed the Beastmaster class and a lot of mana regeneration.

I couldn’t help but notice that perhaps I was feeling lonelier than usual thanks to what had happened in the labyrinth. I at least knew that my pets wouldn’t betray or run away from me, not like they had a choice in the matter. Thanks to that kind of thought, I only felt worse…

While I was thinking like that, I suddenly felt the atmosphere in the area changing… I kept working on my amulets, but soon I felt my Enhanced Hearing implement catching the sound of leaves being smashed and branches trembling.