It took a lot longer to traverse the distance of the hallway with Claire at the helm rather than Percival. It seemed that she was also unfamiliar with this area. Regardless, we managed to bypass all the points of entry with little difficulty, thanks to Claire or Clarice, as they knew her, being a recognizable face to most of the guards on duty. I remained mostly quiet, but I could tell that we were being observed by the numerous guards we encountered.

  Many of them greeted Claire on sight, while others seemingly ignored her presence. I was unsure what to make of it. The way Percival and Mordred interacted with her, I would assume that Clarice Angea -the alias- was well respected around here. However, it appears that her reputation isn't as solid as one may expect.

  Having the feeling that she wasn't leading us to the right place, Claire stopped before a duo of guards. She conversed with them in a hushed manner before looking back at us. At her request, the pair began guiding us toward what I assumed to be the nearest path to the exit at her request. Their stature was surprisingly stiff as they walked ahead of us, chatting silently amongst themselves.

  The judgmental gazes of the other guards nearby were to be noted—no doubt looking for anything suspicious to pounce on. Naturally, we would not be so generous as to have provided such an opportunity that would present itself to them, though. So in a matter of minutes, we would find ourselves back on the streets of Astana.

  We appeared aimless as we followed behind Claire's leadership. It would be natural to assume that we were moving to a new location. Preferably to get something to eat if I am being honest.

  "I believe someone promised that we would get something to eat when we arrived at the manor, Miss Clarice," I say suddenly, breaking the ice.

  "Finally decided to chime in more?" Claire responds teasingly.

  "Only when I desire to speak. Hearing the sultry sound of my voice is a pleasure that not all people in this world deserve. Especially cocky assholes like Sir Percival," I responded, matching her tone.

  "Well, Sir Percival wouldn't be too keen on hearing that. That is a guarantee."

  As we walked by, the various large and extravagant buildings blurred together, and I noticed a noticeable shift in the infrastructure. While these are smaller and more practical, the buildings here seem to be at least more expensive in comparison to the ones a few blocks away.

  "Are you going to tell us what all that was about? I thought that we were going to stay in that fancy place. Instead, we are wandering around even more," Bonner chimed in.

  "Not to mention that you are rather present for a missing person," Q adds in as well.

  From where I am standing, both of them are correct here in this instant. Mordred did state to us that Claire was missing for the last few weeks in their world, yet here she was before her. It appeared that she owed us an explanation on the matter. Her demeanor changed slightly when Q and Bonner voiced their curiosity about the matter.

  Her teasing aura shifted to a slightly more concerned one. Her eyes turned towards our party before moving to face the direction that we were going previously.

  "I can't go into full detail at this moment, but rest assured that I will enclose all relevant information soon enough," she explained briefly.

  Initially, I met her shifting eyes with a skeptical gaze of my own, but soon I realized that she was continuously looking over her shoulder. Although it was rather subtle, it appeared that she was on the lookout for something. Seeing no reason to pry further information from the small female, we opted to follow her a bit longer simply.

  As we traveled down the street, I began casually looking around at the various groups of humans and elves that we stumbled across. There was a new trend that was becoming prevalent among the group of people we spotted. Each new person or group was donning various types of plated armor with multiple color palettes. As an experienced gamer, I quickly decided on the area we found ourselves in.

  "You see this shit, too, Mark?" Bonner questions instantly.

  "I have my glasses on, bud. There is nothing wrong with my eyes," I scoffed in response.

  The clatter of armor, the thick smell of adventure and ambition. It was quite a sight to see a collective of this magnitude of Adventurers. Men, women, humans, elves, and even some beastmen, and surprisingly, even some lightly armored demi-humans were present here.

  "They all look too different to be guards around here. These must be-"

  "You would be correct. We can lose them here for the time being. This section here is Astana's Adventurer District," Claire comments, finishing Q's thoughts for him.

  Adventurers are a concept that is usually prevalent in Isekai and Fantasy settings. While their reasoning and purposes vary from person to person, it is common nature to anticipate that there might be some powerhouses around here. In my experience as a viewer, it is easier to spot a central or essential character from a crowd of adventurers, but being here amongst them, it is significantly harder. Having the viewer's perspective would be incredibly useful in this moment.

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  "Real-life Adventurers, huh? I am assuming that Adventuring is a bona fide profession here. Considering that many of the people here are wearing flashy armor and robes, I assume the payout must be good for certain groups," I mentioned.

  "As you can tell, Astana is a relatively wealthy city. It is one of the many cities on the travel route to the capital of our domain. Other than the Capital and Freeling Port, Astana has the largest eligible Adventurer roster. Due to the bandit and monster situation currently plaguing the region, prices in certain sectors have begun a steep decline. Fortunately for me, housing was one of them a couple of weeks back," Claire begins.

  Soon after she began, we passed the heavy crowd of adventure parties and continued down the street. At first glance, I will not deny that the scenery was oddly familiar to me. That shouldn't have been the case, but it made sense once we came to a stop.

  Claire turned to face us once again, and after looking around, I noticed that this was the same alleyway that we traveled down not too long ago today. Though there was a notable missing door on this occasion, leaving nothing more than a plain, stone wall bare before us.

  I placed my hands on my waist as I stepped in front of my two friends to get a better look at the wall. Standing next to Claire, I would trace my hand across the horizontal and vertical grooves etched into the stone.

  It was a rather strange experience, but I was certain that this was the same alleyway as before. As I turned to face her, I could see the twitch of her ears before witnessing the small, elven female exhaling a breath of relief. Her eyes trailed up to my magnificent figure before latching onto my own.

  "It is safe now," she says confidently.

  "I do not believe that we were in any danger from the get-go," I responded.

  Naturally, I was lying through my teeth to perform some form of bravado to cover up my actual concern. Though my response seemed to prompt a raised eyebrow, I would quickly dismiss the action by speaking up once more. Using my left index finger, I would gesture towards the wall before us before opening my mouth.

  "This alleyway is the same as before, right? Where is the door?"

  It appeared that my attempt to divert the attention of the female was a success, as she turned to face me. In a fluid motion, Claire's hand extended towards the barren wall and spoke, but yet... I did not hear a single thing. It wasn't that I was ignoring the sound of her voice, but it appeared that she didn't make even the slightest of sounds.

  So one could only imagine the look on my face when a mirage of green ripples appeared before my eyes. It took a brief moment of reflection to realize that the young woman must have cleverly hidden the door via either the same magic or a similar magical spell that she was using to disguise herself.

  "You just utilized magic once more…" I mentioned to her.

  "Not only that, but she just broke out two spells, damn near simultaneously," Bonner adds.

  I turned to the male, to whom he gestured at his ears in response. Taking his words into consideration, I believe he was addressing my earlier question.

  "You could not hear her as well?" I asked the male directly.

  He nods in response and confirms my theory. Even with his advanced hearing, which is superior to my own, Claire's voice was unattainable to even Bonner at that moment. It was pretty fascinating, if I am being honest. To me, it seems Claire appeared to be able to utilize a spell that could nullify sound exiting her mouth, but considering that she was able to access her spell fully, there must be more to it.

  My eyes drifted to the female and witnessed the smug expression on her face. No doubt she appeared to be reveling in the fact that she had a leg up on us, or specifically me, in this instant. Her Cheshire-like smile stretched across her face while she reached for the doorknob to grant us entry into the building.

  Strolling in with a pep in her step, Claire would guide us back into the same establishment that we had arrived at earlier. It was just as empty as it was the first time, but even more so considering the apparent lack of the man known as Horace on this occasion. Q was the last one to enter, and once he closed the door, Claire's magic must've activated on its own.

  The green ripples manifested and caught my attention nearly instantly, causing me to turn around and marvel at them. It was truly remarkable to consider it. Magic exists—real deal magic and not the sleight of hand, hocus pocus variety either.

  I could not help but curl my lips as I imagined the potential that I must possess in this new world. No doubt my comrades felt similarly. Q's sly grin and Bonner's reserved smirk were all that I needed to see to know that. So, the simple word 'Q' was enough to grasp our collective mindset.

  "Badass."

  What existed behind us was no longer a door, but the stone wall of the interior. The only door that remained was the one across the room from us. It resided next to the bar that Horace had stood next to earlier today. Yet, standing in the middle of the room and ultimately landing at the center of our collective attention was the small elven woman. The green ripples radiated off of her body, and in that instant, her real appearance lay bare.

  "It appears that you are quite the secretive Claire-or Clarice, as the other men called you—the gate and now, Mordred and Percival. Yet, I believe Horace knew you as Claire. I am pretty sure that you owe us a proper explanation of this situation."

  Her bold aquamarine eyes glossed like a crystal upon hearing my words enter her pointed ears. They even wiggled slightly as she pressed her hand across her collarbone. In my eyes, she appeared to be quite graceful at that moment. Her teasing and playful nature was substituted with a significantly serious expression akin to that of the Arch-Captain Silvers.

  Her flowing blonde hair streamed across her wrinkleless features as she cleared her throat. Her unmoving hand, tightly clenched around the delicate fabric of her clothing, was pressed against her side.

  "I believe that I mentioned to you that my name is Claire von Angea. Lady Ana von Angea is my mother. I was telling you the truth regarding that.- "She starts before catching her breath.

  It was a noticeable shift from her earlier acts of bravado and mischief. Her petite frame trembled slightly, and her hair began to sway, yet she remained strong. I turned to Q and Bonner, but much like myself, they were probably equally confused as they were intrigued.

  Bonner was largely emotionless, standing there like a character in a cutscene. Q was somewhat similar. Her muscular build twisted from left to right as he seemed to stretch while she spoke. However, she seemed to be having some internal conflict, so it seemed to me that she overlooked their strange actions.

  "-I would like to take the time to inform you of certain details of our engagement. So I encourage you to listen carefully. I will start at the beginning."