Author Note:

I have created a patreon page. If you want to support my work, please visit it. There you could find 6 chapters in advance for patrons.

https://www.patreon.com/finlegost

You can find the character concepts here:

https://www.instagram.com/finlergost

Thanks to my patrons.

*******************

After talking to Lilian, I went back to the place where I am staying to sleep.

The next day, I went to Julia's to tell her that I was going on another trip.

When I left Julia's place, as it was close to the time we always meet, I went to meet Deirdre at the entrance of the guild to tell her that I have to leave.

But I didn't count on her wanting to go with me…

At first, I tried to refuse. Since, although I would like her to accompany me, the memory of what happened with Joseph prevented me from letting her come with me.

But, after arguing for a few minutes, I was forced to agree.

Since she told me that, if I don't take her with me, she will enter the labyrinth on her own.

Which, now that she is registered as an adventure, she can do without getting in trouble with the guild.

And, since I feel responsible for having given her access to places in the labyrinth for which she is not yet ready, I had no choice but to accept her demand.

But at least I made her promise, as a condition, that upon our return from our trip she would tell Charity about our forays into the labyrinth.

Once she agreed, we went to Charity's place for Deirdre to tell her about our trip and ask her for permission.

Since, if her guardian doesn't give her permission, I don't plan to take her with me, no matter how much she tries to blackmail me with my guilty feelings.

We are inside the building where the foreigners live.

While I wait for Deirdre to talk to her guardian, I am in the common room and watch as therians and reptilians entertain themselves in various ways.

There are some playing cards, others playing with what appear to be bone fragments, and others engaged in some sort of strange dance.

As I watch them, it dawns on me that they all appear to be adults, and I think that perhaps Deirdre is the only child who has come on the expedition.

Hmm, I'll have to ask her about that later…

When Deirdre returns to the common room, I see that she has a beaming smile on her face.

I guess she got the permission she wanted.

As we leave the building, we head toward our next destination.

A place that a visit to is a must, in my opinion, before embarking on a trip.

I'm referring to Ozy's store.

"Well. I've agreed to take you with me, but first I want you to meet someone," I say as we are heading towards Ozymandias's store. "This person is someone I want you to meet in case we have to part ways before heading back to the capital."

"And why would that happen?" she says as she walks along, jumping up and down with joy.

"A lot of things can happen during a trip…," I say, and Joseph's smiling face pops into my mind with a twinge of pain. "It's best to be prepared. He can sell you potions at a better price than the guild, plus he's a good friend of mine. If you need help, you can go to him."

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

As we walk, I ask Deirdre about how exactly her cloaking ability works.

It seems to work exactly as I had thought yesterday.

Hmm, so the idea I had will work for her.

I just hope Ozy doesn't disappoint me and has what I'm looking for.

Even though, as we were walking here we were chatting happily, Deirdre suddenly falls silent as we enter Ozy's tent.

I don't blame her.

Ozy is wearing a strange, dark, bird-beak-shaped mask that gives him a sinister look.

Since I'm used to my friend's eccentricities, I don't make a big deal out of it.

But I understand that it looks strange and intimidating to someone who doesn't know him beforehand.

When we walk in, I introduce him to my new companion and, after talking a bit about why he's wearing the mask, I ask him about the subject of my idea.

"So... Ozy, do you remember those special bombs you had given me?" I say, crossing my fingers that my idea will work.

"Yes," he says in a strained voice. "I can't give you any more if that's what you want. I only gave you those things at that time because it was an emergency. But they're not something I'm interested in getting out of this store."

"No, no," I say hastily. "I just want to know if you would have something similar, but that only creates a small cloud of smoke. Something that would hide a person from view for a few seconds."

At this Deirdre opens her eyes wide, understanding my idea.

"Hmm. If so, there won't be a problem. I do have something like that. I created them a long time ago to sell them to adventurers, but they weren't very successful. 5 copper each" he says relaxing his tone of voice and, pulling out a dark pellet the size of a person's eye from inside a drawer, throwing it on the floor.

As soon as the pellet hits the ground, it explodes, creating a small cloud of black smoke around Ozy, hiding him from our view.

A few seconds later, the cloud of smoke disappears, and we see Ozy again.

"As you can see, the smoke doesn't make it difficult to breathe or bother the caster in any way, although it is true that the caster's vision is also obstructed while inside the cloud... anyway, how many do you want?" says Ozy, taking out another pellet and leaving it on the counter for us to examine.

"This..." says Deirdre, rummaging through her bag and counting the money she's made these past few days in the labyrinth. "I'll take about 30."

"You could buy more," I tell her, frowning. "they'll come in handy in the fights"

"I know, but my bag only has 30 free spaces, since I have taken up the rest with my stuff," she says with a smile, "but I can always come here and get more when I run out"

"Ozy, can I ask you for more?" I say, turning to the elf.

"Yes, as many as you want," he says cheerfully, pulling out a drawer full of dark pellets.

"I want 10000," I say with a smile, because I know he must not have that many. But I want to buy enough for Deirdre to have for a year.

The trip may take a long time, and I don't know what we'll find in the forest once we get there… It's better to be prepared.

Besides, it's not a burden to me.

Since I can store 999 items in each one of the spaces of my inventory, as long as they are similar.

And, as my adventurer class is level 77, my storage skill adds 70 slots to my inventory. So, I have plenty of room to spare.

At my answer, Ozy starts laughing "Heh, no. I don't have that many," he says between guffaws. And, when he calms down a bit, he continues, "Now I only have 1000. You'll have to wait until you get back from your trip to pick up the rest. By that time, I'll have them ready"

"Ok, I trust you," I say and pass him a platinum coin across the table.

"This is quite a bit more than what those bombs cost," Ozy says, frowning as he rubs his eyes, moist with laughter.

"I know. Consider it a gift for being such a good friend all this time," I say with a shrug.

"Hmm, that sounds like you're paying me to make me your friend..." and his frown deepens.

"Well..." I say, looking for a way to better express my intention. "Take it as a token of my appreciation. You never know what might happen on a trip, and I want to leave you a gift before I go."

"The best gift you can give me is to come back before another 9 months pass," he says with a half-smile, taking the coin, "but that's ok, I'll accept your gift."

"Ahh. I wanted to know if you could keep an eye on my partner, in case she comes back alone. As you understand, she's not very familiar with the city," I say to Ozy, turning to look at Deirdre, who is surprisingly quiet.

"No problem. But I'm serious, don't take another 9 months to come back!" he says with a serious, stern expression on his face that doesn't suit him at all.

"No, no. I promise," I say, laughing at the look on his face.

...

We leave the store having bought potions for Deirdre and me, plus my partner's new tools.

"What's the matter with you? You seem kind of quiet," I say to Deirdre after having seen that we've been out of Ozy's store for a while, and she doesn't seem to be back to her usual talkative self.

"You didn't have to buy those things for me, I just..." she says and goes quiet again before finishing the sentence.

"I wanted to. I don't see the problem," I say, beginning to understand her silence. I suppose she finds it strange to have things bought for her, since she was a slave before coming to this continent. "We're a team, aren't we? Having you be able to fight better also benefits me."

"Hmm, ok," she says, but she's still not back to her usual self.

"Changing the subject. I see you've quickly gotten used to the money here," I say, trying to distract her.

"Huh?" she asks and, when she seems to understand what I mean, she explains, "We use the same system on our continent, although it is true that the coins have different designs."

"Ahh," I say and my mind goes back to the conversation I had with Regis, the vampire hermit, over a month ago.

Now I am the one who is silent and thoughtful.