Did she already know what I would ask her for?

Ch 274: Just a few more weeks…

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It's been several weeks since Alessia and I returned to the capital, and I'm currently in the No Man's Zone of the Altamira labyrinth.

Today, I've already visited all of the trap rooms I know, and I've cleaned them of monsters.

That's why, right now, my best option to get stronger quickly is the No Man's Zone of the Altamira labyrinth.

One thing I soon discovered about the No Man's Zone is that my interface map is relatively useless here.

The map on my interface does, in fact, record the terrain I travel through, but it only does so for a day or two at most.

This gives me an understanding that the No Man's Zone must change from time to time.

This means that if I want to register large percentages of the No Man's Zone on my map, I have to rush in a kind of race against time to try to register more land than disappears every day.

I imagine that's the real reason why many adventuring groups start living in the No Man's Zone when they try to reach the upper floors of the labyrinths.

But for now I'm not interested in trying to go to the upper floors, so I'm not worried about this new detail I discovered about the No Man's Zone.

Moving slightly to the side, I dodge the bite of one of the monsters I'm fighting, while I cut the next closest monster into pieces using Wind Slash Sword Style.

I am currently fighting four monsters known as Velociraptors.

A velociraptor is a bipedal reptile-shaped monster with a long, stiff tail and large, sickle-shaped claws on each of its long legs.

That last detail of the monster’s anatomy means that, when fighting them, I not only have to watch out for their tooth-filled jaws but also for their long legs, which they use to leap up and try to knock me down and tear me apart with their claws.

They are also incredibly fast.

However, I've been improving my speed recently.

'Activate Agility profile. Sword breathing style'

Spinning around at a speed that surpasses even the wind cheetahs, I slash vertically at the head of the first monster that attacked me before it manages to react.

Then I stand on guard awaiting the next attack.

Velociraptors are not as fast as Wind Cheetahs, but they have better mobility and coordination, and they are much more intelligent.

They also have a magic to camouflage themselves with the vegetation of the area, so their bodies take on the color of what surrounds them, becoming partially invisible.

Fortunately that magic is useless in front of my interface map, as I can easily find the camouflaged monsters by looking at the red dots on my map.

Still, I have to be cautious.

More than once, monsters have used this ability of mine to find them against me, leading me to attack in the air or in the trees.

Since, taking advantage of the fact that I can't distinguish them clearly with my eyes, they often wait until the last second to avoid my attacks with a dizzying leap and then take the opportunity to counterattack.

Right now there are still two Velociraptors in the area near me, but they are hidden in the wooded area of the No Man's Zone.

'It looks like they won't attack me while I'm on guard...

But I can't chase them into the wooded area either...

If they're already hard to fight in a well-lit area, it would be stupid to go looking for them in the shade of the trees...

Haa...

I guess there really is no other way'

I store my great sword in my inventory, and, taking a more relaxed stance, I turn my back to the monsters and start walking away from them.

The two red dots follow me at some distance, moving along the edges of the path for a few minutes, until...

Quickly pulling out my sword from my inventory, I quickly turn 180 degrees and give a wide horizontal slash while activating Weapon of Justice.

The two monsters that were stealthily trying to attack me from behind explode into a pile of golden particles as they are brutally sliced by the force of my attack, each leaving one of their claws as a parting gift.

Whenever I return to the No Man's Zone after having gone to the Bajamira Labyrinths or the lower floors of the Altamira Labyrinth, I find the difference in size between the monsters shocking.

These Velociraptors are only about 4 meters long and 1 meter high, so they barely reach my waist.

So far I have never encountered Velociraptors in the Golden Labyrinth, but I imagine they will be huge.

I suppose the immense size of the monsters in the Bajamira labyrinth and the first floors of the Altamira labyrinth is meant to intimidate people with little experience.

But having a large body is of little use if the monster's stats do not match its body.

In any case, it would only serve to make that monster an easier target to defeat, as it would have a larger area to hit.

That's why monsters in the No Man's Zone are much more dangerous.

Not only are they faster, tougher, and stronger than their larger counterparts, but they are also much harder to hit.

After saving the monster loot in my inventory, I start walking down the No Man's Zone path again, looking for the next group of monsters.

Suddenly, on my interface map, a blue dot with Beatrice's name appears just a few meters behind me.

'Shit, there it is again...

But at least I don't get startled every time I see her anymore...

I have to calm down...

It doesn't make any sense for Beatrice to be here now...

If she knew where Alessia and I were currently, obviously I would have heard about it, as we should have already received a visit from the assassins of the Drial Cenit kingdom...

And she definitely wouldn't show up as a blue dot on my interface map.'

As it has always happened so far, after a few seconds the blue dot disappears from the map without a trace.

At first, it scared me to death every time I saw Beatrice's blue dot appear in places like the corridors of the labyrinth I was walking through at the time, Erick's store, Delia's clinic, and even my own house.

But now I've started to get used to it, and I no longer have to try so hard to maintain my carefree air when I'm with Alessia and Delia.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

They have noticed that something is bothering me, but only Alessia has confronted me once about it, complaining that I've been weird lately and that I hardly spend any time with them.

Fortunately, I was able to divert her attention with sex.

That's another reason why I've been coming to the labyrinth alone most of the time for the past few days.

I can't risk routinely taking my girls with me into the labyrinths if I can't rely on my senses to protect them.

These hallucinations about Beatrice's presence are surely a product of stress or lack of sleep, as I have been sleeping only one or two hours a day for several days now, taking advantage of the moments when Delia and Alessia are asleep to keep leveling up.

This is probably a clear sign that I should slack off a bit with the use of energy potions, but I can't stop now.

I need to get stronger as fast as possible so no one can dare to lay a finger on my girls.

'Just a few more weeks...

Hmm… I think it's about time I got back to my girls...

It must be about to dawn.'

That thought runs through my mind as I kill on the run two teriars and a wind cheetah I found along the path before even giving them time to be able to use their slowing magic against me.

"But first I have a few more things to do." I say, storing my great sword in my inventory.

I exit the labyrinth by normal means and head off to sell the runes I've been gathering over the past few days.

The sky is still completely dark as I move through the streets of the capital.

The merchant, to whom I have always sold my runes until now, seems less and less surprised to see me return so often and buys my runes with a glint of ambition in his eyes and a perpetual smile.

In recent weeks, the man has begun expanding his store and hiring staff to guard the entrance.

'Good. One unfinished task completed... 

Now I should get back to our house before Alessia and Delia wake up…

But… 

I'd should go and have a quick word with someone I'd forgotten about since I heard about the whole Alessia thing…

It shouldn't take me long'

Once out of the store, now with several hundred more gold coins in my inventory, I move into an alley with few people to open an illusory door to the war zone.

The sky is now starting to lighten on the horizon, but I still have one last errand to run before I finally go to check on Alessia and Delia for a few hours.