Chapter 100: Bad Decisions

Now that they had gotten rid of the assassins.

They only had to wait for the right moment and time to head out and find those responsible.

Now that Ivis was unconscious once more.

Ryan’s group relaxed for a moment to talk about what had happened.

"I think you two should get some sleep; there is still plenty of time before we go looking for those guys."

"Yeah, I’m really sleepy," Karol commented, tossing Ryan the relic that granted the permanent skill to reveal stealth before throwing herself onto the bed.

"And you? Will you stay awake until then?" Irina’s voice sounded worried.

"Yeah, I’m used to it. Besides, it’s better if I’m the one on guard."

"Can I stay by your side for a moment?"

"Sure. Is something bothering you?"

"It’s just that I haven’t been able to fulfill my mission of finding my friend and convincing her to join us yet."

"Hm, I see. But don’t worry about that; once we deal with these guys, we can take care of it." Ryan turned to look at Ivis, who still remained motionless.

"I suppose she’ll stay like that until I wake her up. So you should go to sleep as well."

"Alright, but be careful."

After that, Irina also lay down to sleep.

’I hope this doesn’t get any more complicated. Even if these guys don’t pose a problem, I really don’t want to spend any more time than necessary in this city.’

Ryan spent the night awake.

For now, he was focused on what he had to do; he would deal with whatever came next afterward.

When a few hours had passed, he felt doubtful as to whether Ivis was truly unconscious or just faking.

He began to touch her.

’She’s not reacting. Well, I only have to wait one more hour anyway.’

...

When the time came, Ryan woke Karol; Irina woke up from the noise as well.

Irina approached Ryan.

"I know you didn’t sleep, but... won’t that affect you?"

"Don’t worry, that’s not an issue for me."

"Is it time?" Karol asked while stretching.

"Yeah, I’m going to wake her up."

Ryan activated his skill, and once she recovered, Ivis opened her eyes.

She looked at them with disgust.

"I... was hoping this was just a bad dream."

"Don’t complain, Ryan is being far too kind to you," Karol grumbled.

Then Ryan sat on the edge of the bed.

"Just to be sure, are you willing to cooperate properly?"

"..."

She didn’t respond.

"Well, I guess I’ll have to help you make a decision."

Ryan took off the glove from his right hand and held it out.

"Lick my hand."

"How do you think I’ll—"

She couldn’t say anything else; her body went straight toward Ryan, she dropped to her knees, and began to lick his hand.

Her expression was now one of panic. She seemed to have understood that she didn’t have a single chance, so as best as she could, she managed only one sentence of affirmation.

"I won’t resist. I’ll take you there as I promised..."

The conversation ended there, and they headed out through the window.

Ivis told them that the hideout they were going to was outside the city, but it wasn’t that far.

She mentioned it would be easy for her to leave and re-enter using her stealth skill, but then she asked Ryan:

"How do you plan to leave without the dwarves finding it suspicious? They’ll most likely detain you, and by the time they release you, it will be far too late."

Ryan let out a dry laugh.

"That won’t be a problem. I guess you don’t know how Karol brought you here."

"Eh? What are you talking about?" Ivis commented with uncertainty.

"Karol, take over," Ryan said, grabbing Ivis by her tunic from behind.

When Karol activated her flight skill, they immediately rose into the air.

"Hey, hey... let me go!"

"Don’t talk nonsense. This way we’ll leave without being seen, and we’ll get there very fast."

Ivis kept complaining the whole time, saying she had never been so humiliated in her life.

But, following her directions, they finally saw the place.

"It’s right there, in that abandoned tower."

"I see. Let’s land here; we’ll walk the rest of the way."

So they descended, even though they were still a distance from the tower.

"How do you plan to get there without being discovered?"

"I wasn’t planning on hiding. We’re going through the main door."

"What? Don’t be stupid. If they see me with you, they’ll have me killed."

Then Karol grumbled as they moved forward.

"Shut up already. You’ve been complaining the whole time, but if you say one more word, I’ll turn you to ash."

Ivis fell silent. They began to walk faster.

When they were close to the tower.

An arrow landed in front of them.

"If you take one more step, you’ll die! Go back the way you came!" someone commented from inside the tower.

A group was gathered at the top of the tower, pointing their weapons from there.

"Ryan, those are the same adventurers who fought with us in line before entering the city."

"Yeah, I already figured as much."

"Hey everyone, look! It’s the B-rank group. That bitch Ivis betrayed us."

"I knew it was a bad idea to come straight at them," Ivis whispered.

Out of nowhere, in a brief instant, a sound resonated, like a whistle that couldn’t quite be emitted.

"Eh? And where’s the B-rank?"

"He was right there a moment ago."

"It doesn’t matter. Just get your weapons ready."

"Just be careful with the mage; she’s A-rank like us."

The men stood in front of the tower window, pointing their bows at Karol and Irina, while others held spears and swords.

"You’d better put your weapons in this chest, because against us, you’re only going to waste them." The voice sounded calm.

"Who said that?"

They spun around.

"What the hell, how did you get here?"

"When did you—!"

Ryan was sitting on a massive chest.

With his elbow resting on his knee and his chin on the back of his hand.

"I don’t know how you were able to get here so fast, but it was a mistake!"

They attacked with spears and arrows.

But the whistle-like sound resonated once more.

The arrows hit the wall, but Ryan was no longer there; now he was behind them, looking in the direction of Karol and Irina.

When Karol saw him, she waved her hand in greeting.

"Who is this guy... how can he be so fast..."

Ryan turned toward them.

"The ones who made a mistake were you, by sending those assassins. Did you want a little revenge for yesterday? What idiots."

They began to conjure skills.

"That won’t do you any good," he said in a calm voice. And then he added:

"Debt Seal."