"Besides, there’s another reason why there are no members of the Demon Race here—can’t you tell? This area was originally a habitable zone at the core of the Adventurer’s Alliance’s influence. Even though it’s now an uninhabited Demon Realm, it’s still surrounded by major Alliance forces. Only a brain-dead demon would risk crossing the inner ring of Alliance territory from the outer Barren Land to build an Underground City in the central plains of the continent surrounded by the Alliance... oh, uh..."
Talia looked at Samael, and Samael looked back at Talia.
"You know what I mean, right?" Samael asked.
"This... why?" Talia hesitated. "The Alliance is hunting me down too. Are we just going to walk right into a trap?"
"This is called penetrating behind enemy lines! We’re in a unique situation, currently wanted by both the Demon Race and the Alliance, but the Demon Race is much trickier to deal with," Samael summarized simply. "By building our Underground City here, we can reduce our two hostile factions to just one—and it’s the relatively easier one to handle.
"While building the Underground City, this surrounding ring of Alliance forces will act as a natural barrier to fend off the Demon Race for us," he explained. "There’s a saying in my hometown: the most dangerous place is the safest place. The enemy of my enemy is my friend. And... what else was there? I forgot. Anyway, I think it’s a great idea."
"It’s a bit of a crazy idea," Talia mused. "But... I have to admit, it really is a good one."
"Alright! The objective is set! We’re going to the center of the continent to build an Underground City!" Samael grabbed a sweet pea pod from beside him and planted it straight into the dirt in the central region of the continent map. "Where is our current location?"
"Roughly around here." Talia picked up a purple sweet pea and placed it in the outer region to the northwest of the continent, right where two charred branches intersected with the two demonic finger marks representing the Barren Land. "This is the border where the Ederic Empire in the north and the Floren Kingdom in the west meet the outer Barren Land. If we want to reach the center of the continent, we need to cross through a third of the Ederic Empire’s territory."
"Good! The route is set! So how do we get there?" Samael reached out and drew a short line in the dirt, cutting through the northern Human Kingdom’s territory to connect the purple pea to the pod in the center of the continent. "Do we just... walk there?"
"That’s impossible. There will be guards running inspections at the Empire’s border checkpoints. Any suspicious solo travelers are subjected to separate interrogations." Talia shook her head. "But we could... blend in with a Mercenary Corps, an adventuring party, or a merchant caravan, using them as cover to sneak in. People vouched for by a group usually aren’t given too much trouble; they’ll just take a glance and let us pass."
"Mercenaries, adventurers, or merchants—which of the three suits us best? Which one has the lowest barrier to entry?" Samael asked.
"Adventurers," Talia replied. "A Mercenary Corps doesn’t require identification, but they generally operate around the borders and within the kingdom’s armies. They rarely return to the interior, which doesn’t fit our route into the Ederic Empire. Merchants, on the other hand, are shrewd; they absolutely won’t hire you if your background is unknown. Adventurers are the easiest to deal with. All we need to do is go to an Adventurer’s Alliance branch and register with some made-up names."
"Becoming an adventurer is that sloppy?" Samael was stunned. "I thought there’d be highly professional explorers or something, like the White Whistle Bondrewd from ’Made in Abyss’, or Leos from ’Delicious in Dungeon’..."
"Most adventurers are just trying to make a living. They hear there’s money to be made, and without knowing anything, they rush in to gamble their lives for a little coin." Talia shrugged. "There are professional Advanced Adventurers too, but they’re most likely heading into the unknown depths of the Barren Land, or to an Underground City built by the Demon Race. We definitely won’t bump into them in a small place like this."
"Oh, I get it. It’s like how extraction shooters have hatchet runners, but also fully geared chads!" Samael nodded his head... or rather, his helmet.
"Alright, so our specific next steps are as follows—" He propped himself up from the ground and stood, patting the dust off his rear armor plates with a loud CLANK CLANK. "Step one: head to the nearest adventurer outpost, making sure to stay far away from Demon Race territory. We conceal our identities, make up some names, and register as adventurers.
"Step two: join an adventuring party that’s heading back to the Ederic Empire soon, and hitch our identities to theirs.
"Step three: traverse the Ederic Empire and, right in the center of the continent, far away from any other members of the Demon Race, build our very own Underground City!"
He stretched and struck the "Praise the Sun" pose from ’Dark Souls’.
Talia couldn’t help but smile. To her, he really was like the sun—dazzling, warm, brimming with an uplifting, positive energy, appearing precisely in her darkest hour.
"However... we need to figure out a way to cover up the gaps in your armor. And we have to come up with an excuse as to why you can’t take your helmet off." She scrutinized Samael’s armor. "Adventurers aren’t stupid either. If it’s completely empty inside, anyone will be able to tell you’re a cursed Knight Armor."