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It was a bright night illuminated by the full moon.

Maxwell and I, and also the Ogre, were flying through that moonlight sky. A silver-haired girl accompanied by an old magician would be quite a charming sight to those who beheld it, but Den’s figure was too out of place.

“Uh, this… Kind of feels like a fairy-tail, doesn’t it?”
“Flight magic has been around since the olden days. What are you surprised about now?”
“I know that much, but still… Bah, nevermind. Den, please guide us.”
“Okay. Me will guide.”

Den who wasn’t used to flying proceded by taking a step forward as if walking. Gradually he raised his speed, perhaps slowly getting used to it.

Maxwell and I were used to flying already, so we didn’t have to make such weird movements to fly. The Flight magic had quite an impressive movement speed, so we didn’t have to rush that much. The night was still young, so we had time to spare.

Rather, we had to pay attention for Den not to crash to the ground or someone from below discovering it.

We flew north for ten-odd minutes. But then, I suddenly realized something I shouldn’t have. But now that I did, I had no choice but to confirm it with Maxwell.

“Hey, Maxwell…”
“What is it? Don’t lose sight of Den now.”
“I’m paying attention to that, don’t worry. Rather than that, couldn’t you have used this magic back in Maleva?”

Back then, I became completely drained of strength by the time we left the town, and after that, I had to suck it up and deal with the shame of being carried by him. If he just used this magic at that time, I could’ve avoided showing such a disgraceful appearance.

“Maleva had grasslands around and everything was in plain sight. What would you do if somebody had seen us?”
“You have a point… But still, isn’t it the same now?”
“Raum has a dense forest all around. You can see what is right above the city, but on a slanted angle the view is obstructed.”
“So that’s how it is?”
“Thus, I judged that it should be no problem if we fly in this area.”
“I see. Then it’s fine.”

I was not fully convinced by his explanation but decided to just keep following Den. And after about one hour had passed, Den suddenly stopped in place.

“We here.”

He made a brief comment and pointed at one corner of the forest. It was a strange place, with a giant boulder protruding from the forest.

“Oh?”
“That boulder. Bottom open. Me live there.”
“Open? Oh, so the lower part of it is hollow.

Due to his words lacking variation, it sometimes took a little time for us to understand what he was trying to say. But even that started to sound normal the more I got used to his speech, which was quite strange in its own way.

“I see, I see. So that is how it is…”

Maxwell was acting strangely convinced after hearing Den’s words. It was certainly a conspicuous boulder, but I still didn’t get what was so special about it.

“Let’s go, Reid. I became a little interested now.”
“I wish you’d be fully interested in this, though. There might be clues leading to Klein waiting for us beyond this.”
“That too. Or rather, that is why they did it…”
“I don’t get what you mean, though?”
“I do not have any conviction yet. I will brief you after we reach the place.”

After saying that to me, Maxwell descended straight towards that boulder. Den also followed behind him in a timid manner. Seeing that I raised a flustered voice.

“Hey, don’t go ahead of a scout! What do you plan to do if they were ambushing us, good grief…”

Following behind them, I also landed on the rocky area. In the northern side of that area, in a place where moss grew due to the lack of sunlight, there was the entrance to Den’s home.

From afar, it didn’t look like it led to the inside due to how camouflaged it was with brown and green colors.

If there were no faint traces of being trodden, even I might have overlooked it.

“This is quite well done. It’s a natural camouflage.”
“Here. Will lead you inside.”
“Okay, I can’t sense any humans, so there should be no problems. Maxwell, give us light.”
“Okay. Crimson one, Gold five, Jade one—Light.”

I asked Maxwell while pulling out my dagger. Maxwell quickly chanted the spell and produced a small light. Crimson one meant it was the smallest illumination, and Gold Five meant it would last for five hours. Jade was for the distance, and it was now set to the distance until my dagger.

The magic light got absorbed by my dagger and it lit up like a torch. Even if it was of the lowest level, it was still light magic, so it was more than enough to illuminate our immediate surroundings.

Den’s cavern was quite long, reaching all the way to the center of that huge boulder. At that point, it turned into a wider space, and it was filled with the skin and bones of various animals. There were also fruit cores and such. Probably Den’s leftover foods.

The rotten skin and bones were giving off an unpleasant smell, filling the entire space.

“Ugh… Den, you have bad ventilation here, so at least throw away your trash. You’ll grow sick.”
“It’s okay. Me have healthy body.”
“Well, that’s enviable.”

If I lived here, I was confident I’d get sick within three days.

In the center of that garbage-filled place, there was a giant magic circle still remaining on the ground.