Published: February 1, 2026
Astarnia was a land surrounded by sea and jungle, yet trade with other nations was frequent.
The road built for that purpose was narrow while running through the jungle, but widened as it neared the country, spreading open before a large gate that directly welcomed people in.
Merchants’ caravans, finally able to rest after a long journey, and adventurers confident enough in their skills to cross a route with practically no proper supply points—all of them entered the country smiling. Local hunters heading into the jungle and adventurers marching off in high spirits toward the labyrinth left the country gates.
The bustling flow of people coming and going seemed to prove the nation’s prosperity, and indeed that impression was not mistaken.
“We made it while it’s still light.”
“Earlier than I thought, actually.”
Lizel and the others were among the crowd heading into the country.
Unlike the well-maintained road they were on now, the route they had taken earlier was basically just cutting straight through game trails in the jungle—but no one could tell. Not only did they show no sign of fatigue as they walked, thanks to their gear and their abilities, their clothes weren’t even dirty. No one would imagine they had just crossed untouched jungle with no path at all.
“We cut through with every shortcut ever. Didn’t even take half a day, yeah.”
“I feel like those were shortcuts people really aren’t supposed to use.”
Smiling, Lizel recalled the scenes they had passed through in the jungle.
Walking game trails, counterattacking monsters that tried to assault them, leaping across rivers, cutting straight through monster nests, jumping off cliffs, climbing slopes too steep to stand properly on, then sliding straight down others. If they had avoided all that, it certainly would have taken a proper half day, but the “shortcut I’ve used since I was a kid,” as Eleven put it while remembering his childhood, had surely saved them a lot of time.
It was simply a route that normal people absolutely could not use—should not use. And yet Gill and Eleven had crossed it at an easy pace.
“Well, any part that was really impossible for you, I just carried you, so it was easy for me.”
“Having Big Brother around makes it real comfy. Being able to jump off that cliff carrying me and the leader? That’s just insane.”
“Don’t lead us through a route you can’t even use by yourself.”
“That one stretch has been a pain in the ass since way back, y’know.”
They weren’t dirty, but they were damp and smelled of earth, and they were debating whether they wanted a shower first or food first as they reached the gate.
Of course, guards stood watch there. Their outfits had a similar design to the demonic bird cavalry like Nahas, but the colors were different.
They wouldn’t waste the limited demonic bird cavalry as gate guards, so these were probably regular soldiers. Even so, compared with partedar, they were just as lightly armored.
One of those gate guards suddenly looked at Lizel’s group, eyes widening, then immediately nodded as if something had made perfect sense. Wondering what that was about, they approached and held out their Guild Cards for identification.
“Adventurers, huh. You may pass.”
Gill and Eleven stared at Lizel with perfectly serious faces.
“When did you manage to make arrangements ahead of time?”
“You hate being double-taken at that much, leader?”
“They have a very rude misunderstanding here.”
How had the gate guards in every city other than the Capital City reacted up until now?
More importantly, how had people reacted whenever they learned that Lizel was an adventurer?
After seeing that over and over, Gill and Eleven simply could not believe that Lizel could call himself an adventurer and be accepted without even being double-taken at, without anyone freezing up. It was deeply, thoroughly rude.
Lizel smiled, put away his Guild Card and said he’d have been happy if he had finally started to look properly like an adventurer.