We walked through the tall grass for a while, approaching the cave entrance. When a tree passed in front of us and blocked the opening, I turned to Lie.
"We're being watched, Lie. We're not going into this cave. They'll send men to raid it. Let's hide in the tall grass. They can't see us right now because of the tree's angle."
"How do you know we're being watched?"
"Forget the setup in town. Even our meeting was too much of a coincidence. That means they were watching us while we moved through the forest. That man just left us. They'll keep watching. Hurry up. Get into the grass."
Together, we used the tree's angle to hide among the bushes.
They probably didn't see me place the orb. Just in case, I acted like I was sitting down and placing it by chance. Besides, they can't see from this distance.
I kept thinking to myself as we hid. Lie, in a low voice, wanted to know what I was thinking.
"What do we do now, Rei?"
"I don't know. Attacking might be risky. Even just hiding and stalling for time is good. We don't know the inside of the cave. If there's a continuation, they might think we went deeper and search further inside."
"You're right. At worst, we buy time."
About five minutes later, five men with swords arrived at the cave entrance. They prepared and suddenly entered the cave. We stayed hidden where we were.
I turned around and looked at the continuation of the valley. Beyond it, the valley descended. It was like a small cliff. It looked like we couldn't go down.
"Why don't we have any weapons, by the way, Rei?"
"I don't know. I guess we didn't have time. We'll get some later."
We kept hiding for another ten minutes.
"Rei, it seems like they moved further into the cave. Should we get away from here?"
"No. They probably have special members just for surveillance. I think we'll sleep behind the mountain tonight."
"I see. This place seems safe enough. They probably won't check if they don't hear anything."
"You never know. They might want to inspect it. Let's crawl behind that rock."
"Okay."
We crawled behind the rock. We were in a better position now. We leaned our backs against the wall and tried to rest.
"I think we should keep looking around tomorrow, Rei."
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"Maybe. But we need to be careful. We'll probably be watched twenty-four seven."
"Knowing I'm being watched is really unsettling..."
"There's nothing we can do. Tomorrow they'll figure out this trick we pulled too. Their tension will keep rising."
"You're right. We're in a tough situation."
We decided to sleep behind the cave, slowly observing our surroundings. While Lie started to fall asleep, I kept watch, observing the area. After I heard the raiders leave the cave and move away, I leaned against the rock and began to sleep.
The first day had come to an end.
I woke up after about six hours of sleep in the early morning. Lie was still sleeping beside me. I began thinking about the situation.
They were probably watching us when that man wanted to come with me too. I refused and moved on to the area. That means I indirectly told them that I don't fully trust even my own teammate. The opponent must expect me to give incomplete information.
I kept thinking for a few more hours and waited for Lie to wake up. When she did, we exchanged a quick good morning.
"Today we'll go to the elf village using the path on the right. That side is safer."
"Okay. But something came to mind last night. What if you disguised yourself, transferred team leadership to me, then joined the opposing team to infiltrate them? You could return whenever you wanted. Wouldn't that make sense?"
"I thought about that. But they've probably taken specific precautions against it. If I make a mistake, I'll die immediately."
"You keep saying 'I thought about that.' Is there anything you haven't thought about?"
Lie jokingly tapped my shoulder.
"Sorry..."
"It's fine. No problem. Let's head to the elf village."
"Let's go. But I forgot to tell you about something."
"What?"
I told her about the king's daughter wanting to marry me and how the king also desired it. When Lie heard what I said, she was stunned. She gently squeezed my left arm with her right hand.
"Are you serious?"
"Yes. I'm not joking."
"I think it's because you rescued her. But what if she gets jealous of me?"
"I'm worried about that too. But I'll handle it somehow. We'll be watched constantly here. We'll be safe in their village."
"Alright. Let's go then."
"Hold my hand. I have a teleportation ability to that area."
"Oh. Okay."
Lie held my hand. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and tapped on the regions section. We suddenly teleported to the village entrance. I walked into the village with steady steps. Lie caught up behind me. The villagers kept eyeing us.
"Rei!"
The moment Celebria saw me, she rushed over. She came up to me. Then she shot a sharp look at Lie.
"Rei, who is this?"
"She's my friend. We're on the same team."
Celebria looked Lie up and down.
"I see. So you two are on the same team."
Lie stepped forward and respectfully offered a greeting.
"Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
I could sense signs of jealousy on Celebria's face.
"Um, Celebria. Could you tell your father? Can we stay here for a few days? We could be killed in that village."
"Killed? Of course you can stay! I'll go tell my father right away so he can arrange a place for you."
"Thank you."
Celebria ran toward the king's building with hurried eyes. The two of us watched her from behind.
"Rei, what are we planning to do by staying here?"
"This place seems safe. At the same time, I want to get a few poisons from here."
"What are you going to do with poison?"
"I have a few things in mind."
"You're not going to tell me again, are you?"
Lie lightly scratched her forehead and kept observing the surroundings.
"The surroundings look nice. There are cute little blue buildings."
"Yes. I'm going to have you live here for a while."
"It seems fine by me. I can live here."
"Alright, good then. We can say we've moved here for a short while. I don't think they'll imagine we're staying here."
"You're right."