After crossing a long mountain road filled only with trees, which had become unbearably boring, he finally arrived at a flat, slope-free terrain.
Behind the dense mountain forest, a knee-high grassland spread out in the sunlight that poured down brightly.
The atmosphere felt oppressively hot, but he forced himself to enter anyway.
Insects swarmed around the rice plants that dyed the horizon light green, and every few steps he had to brush away spider webs or green caterpillars from his face. Clock frowned.
The slave girl following from behind was stepping exactly on his footprints, so she suffered little damage.
Suddenly, when he glanced back, he saw a moth the size of a fist sitting on the girl’s head. Combined with her carefree, expressionless face and the cheerful weather, his strength almost left him.
"...Finally arrived."
He kept walking for several hours.
A vast human settlement covered by gray outer walls appeared, sandwiched between clear blue sky and lush green ground.
Port town Shinitt.
The most prosperous trading town in this country, located south of the capital with a mountain in between.
It was said to support half the economy of the Crotopone Kingdom—a port city that could be called the nation’s blood, standing above the capital.
It had once been nothing more than a port, but its location controlling the four seas quickly turned it into a town and eventually the country’s largest economic scale.
The capital, the heart of the nation, was connected by a roundabout street because of the mountain. At first glance, it seemed perfect for shaking off the Hero and escaping.
There were two checkpoints along the way. He hoped they would delay the search here too.
He had to go in boldly from the front... no, that was way too risky. He needed to enter through a back route.
This trading hub was just one town, but it was important to the kingdom. It had the military strength to respond to emergencies. Right now, that was terrifying for Clock.
The kingdom was the enemy. Anyone cooperating with the Hero was obviously certain to be the enemy. He should think of every human carrying out state duties as the enemy. That was normal for a thief like him who lived by stealing, but what mattered was recognition.
He walked along the outer wall, far from the main gate of Shinitt, looking for landmarks.
The girl, who had no idea what Clock was looking for, watched him with a puzzled expression. When she tilted her head wondering what he was doing, his boot accidentally hit something.
"Ah, that’s it."
Clock brushed the dirt off the ground with his foot, and a wooden board appeared.
He opened it to reveal a large hole. A hidden entrance for town invasion.
The existence of this secret hole was one reason he had chosen to escape from here.
No matter how much he investigated, if there was no record of someone who looked like him passing through the main gate, the search in this town would be postponed with high probability.
He pictured the villain who made the hole—ostensibly a weapons merchant, but secretly trafficking humans and a habitual tax evader.
He was one of his drinking buddies, and while he was in the capital, he sometimes provided information to the national military police. He had been told this hole was for use when he messed up.
If the timing was right, he might even tell the kingdom he was leaving. The guy was useless, but he had helped him.
He signaled the girl to go ahead.
When he saw the girl enter the side passage toward the town, he followed and closed the cover.
It was pitch black, but there was only one way forward, so he didn’t get lost.
They advanced crouching together.
The girl, who hadn’t noticed the path had turned left upward, stopped.
Clock, who hadn’t noticed, slammed his face straight into the girl’s soft butt. "Nyaa?!" A girl with a mixed-color scream leaked out. He slapped her ass and urged, "Up. Hurry."
They exited into the house interior beyond the hole.
It was his second time passing through here, but Clock sincerely admired the idea of digging the hole from inside a house.
It was hard to find from the outside because of the high grassland, and on the inside it was just a bought private house, so it wouldn’t be easy to locate.
Securing an escape route was no problem. The master of tax evasion was truly skilled.
The place was kept as a ruin, so nothing useful for daily life was left behind. There shouldn’t be any residents, but he checked just in case since he hadn’t been here for a while.
It was a two-story building, but no items were placed in any rooms. Here and there were traces of other people’s shoes, but they were dry and old. Dust covered the entire floor, and there were no signs of human hands anywhere.
Not only was no one living here, there was no sign that anyone had come recently.
If no one was using it, it meant the owner was doing fine without any issues.
"Alright, you handle the luggage here. You can eat the food in the bag. Don’t go outside."
He tossed the bag against the wall and instructed the girl to wait.
The girl, as usual, nodded expressionlessly with no emotion, then sat back against the wall in a chokon pose.
"Ah, and I almost forgot... My name is John. Traveler John. Got it?"
The girl blinked at him as he headed outside.
He hadn’t planned to tell her his name since she couldn’t speak, but it was for safety.
He confirmed no one was around and stepped outside quickly.