It Seems the Ruins Were Occupied
「Thank you for everything. If you have problems, you can visit us any time.」
「I"ll be counting on that.」
About an hour has pa.s.sed since the attack. I made it off the s.h.i.+p safely and finally set foot on the royal capital.
The guild officials might make a fuss if they saw me and find out I"m a Novice so I asked Myna to hide me inside the s.h.i.+p until the rest of the pa.s.sengers have disembarked. Thanks to her, I managed to get off the s.h.i.+p secretly.
「So this is the royal capital…」
As one might expect from the capital, the place"s atmosphere is full of life and energy, much more than that of Elia. The sheer number of people bustling about was almost overwhelming. But compared to j.a.pan, this was nothing.
I strolled into an inn where I could rest for the night and went through the required paperwork. I wanted to change cla.s.ses as soon as possible, but since there could be thugs in the ruins, going at this hour, between early evening and night-time, was not a wise idea.
They say that the average person"s ability to focus is weakest around three in the morning. It would be best to sneak into the ruins during that time. Until then, I should get a shut-eye and give my body a good rest.
…
And I couldn"t get a wink of sleep. I was too excited. I could finally say goodbye to the days of fighting with my low Novice stats. That thought drove away any hint of drowsiness from my body.
My body was well-rested from lying down, however. I can fight any time, I thought as I made my way out of the inn. I left most of my belongings since they would only get in the way and only brought the necessary stuff - some money and my sword. I separated the coins per piece so they don"t make a sound.
The money was not for purchasing things that may come in handy. If push comes to shove, I could use it to bribe the thugs. I wasn"t sure if that would work, but it"s worth trying.
「…It"s too quiet.」
Even the whole capital is asleep at this hour. Most of the lights were turned off even on the main street which made it difficult to find one"s footing.
「Night Vision.」
I activated Night Vision, a skill common to all cla.s.ses. My surrounding seemed to get brighter. This skill was indispensable for moving through the dark. I hoped the thugs don"t know the skill so they won"t find me easily. It would be best for both parties if I wasn"t discovered. There"s nothing to be gained from fighting.
As I was getting closer to the outskirts of town where the ruins were, fewer and fewer lights could be seen. It would be difficult to even walk at all without Night Vision. I couldn"t hear a single soul in the area.
But as I got a lot closer to the ruins, I began to hear voices. It seemed the people living in the ruins were up even at this hour. With a hearing-enhancing skill, I could hear what they were saying, but unfortunately such a skill is exclusively for bandits. A Novice can"t use it.
(Let"s check the place out.) I told myself as I drew my sword.
It"s not like I was planning to kill all the people here without question. It was simply much more convenient to have my sword drawn beforehand in case they attack me.
There were different types of churches in BBO, and in this kind, the room where you could change cla.s.s would be on the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor. I should proceed silently to the stairs, I thought as I carefully chose my route through the ruins so they don"t notice me.
The path to the bas.e.m.e.nt was closed off. The door that led to where the stairs were was locked. I could feel the presence of people from the other side of the door.
(I guess I"ll try a different route.)
Going through where there are people is foolish so I checked for other possible routes, but they were all closed off.
The locks used were of the same kind as well, most likely placed by the group that"s occupying the bas.e.m.e.nt of the ruins. Just based off what Myna said, it"s safe to a.s.sume the place is being used as a bandits" hideout.
(This is a lot more troublesome than expected.)
I don"t think I can simply knock and ask them to let me in. People were most likely occupying the first floor bas.e.m.e.nt and the ones on the other side of the door were the lookout.
With that, I retreated, careful not to make a sound and went back outside. I made my way to the well at the back entrance of the church and peered inside.
(I knew it.)
Most wells in this type of church served as a backdoor entrance that led to its bas.e.m.e.nt and this place was no exception.
The bottom of this well is connected to the first bas.e.m.e.nt floor. The fact that the surrounding wasn"t closed off meant that they haven"t noticed this pa.s.sage.
But if I simply jumped in, they"d find me right away. Though it isn"t really a quiet method, I"ll just have to make a diversion.