Chapter 226 - Seeking Closure

“Glacien, you can bite my leg the next time with all your might when I mention the possibility of starting another revenge mission.”

“Awoo?”

For someone like me who valued efficiency above pretty much everything else, revenge was truly a waste of time… I would have given up on this if I hadn’t already invested too much time in it. It would make me feel like a moron if I did that. Still, I had the feeling that I would feel much worse soon since this wouldn’t be easy to solve.

After the dwarves began to advance through the Elven territory, I watched their backs for a while and waited to find signs of the Elves that joined their sides, but they didn’t show up. 

In the end, the Elves that stayed behind in that town were forced to join the other group that came to investigate them. The same thing was happening to other towns that had some deserters, so the situation was truly becoming quite annoying.

‘I guess the deserters were told to do something else to make sure that the dwarves would trust them. They leaving their lands should already be plenty of proof that they meant business, so perhaps I am wrong about this… their task should be something else then.’

I had no idea what that something else was… my plan to lure out that asshole failed miserably. Come to think of it, this kind of plan had too many factors beyond my control. It wasn’t reliable at all.

I stopped to consider my options… I could just advance through the dwarven territory and then explore some labyrinths to complete my forging skills. Then return when the war is reaching another stage and then look for that asshole again. It should be easier this time around and I wouldn’t be focusing too much on a single thing that was making me waste time.

‘... I don’t think that guy will put Clarice in danger, so she should be fine once the conflict starts. It isn’t certain that it will start, anyway.’

Checking the dwarven territory should be easy, but checking their towns and cities would be pretty hard since they lived mainly underground. I could enter their territory, but it would mean letting them have massive chances of surrounding me… then again, their war machines shouldn’t be that good in a confined space.

I also was interested in their products, but it was unlikely that they would sell anything to me. I had the Thief class, but I wasn’t planning to steal anything. It would be fun though to confirm if I could steal something, then return it without being noticed and then steal it again just to gain more and more experience. It seemed like a good way to break the system.

“Well, no point in thinking too much, right, girl?”

“Awoo!”

“You are supposed to say that there is a point in thinking a lot, but I am tired of doing that, so let’s move on.”

We headed to the dwarven territory, and I told Glacien to warn me if she sensed any magic traps or magic barriers. It was hard to say if she had such senses, but she was quite high spec, so I imagined that she would.

We began to move to the mountains while using the camouflage amulets, so no one found us. In the distance, I could see some dwarves in some tall hills surveying the area… they sure are being cautious, even though their frontline should be a couple of kilometers in Elven territory already.

When it comes to defense, they should be quite good, but that was practically meaningless, since the Elves didn’t want anything with mountains, only with forests. South of their territory, there was the great sea. In the West, there was the beastkin, but they were also quite chill. That left the Northern border that was split with the Aesira Empire and the Mistralin Union… The harpies caused problems now and then, but it wasn’t much since they didn’t like to fight in confined spaces.

Mistralin Union was made of pixies and dryads. Pixies can be quite the troublemakers, but they aren’t that violent. I tried to recall what I knew about them, but it wasn’t much since the empire didn’t deal with them often.

The only faction of the pixies, if it could be called that, was the whispering wind clan. Their goal was to spread chaos and trickery across the world. The Whispering Wind Clan of pixies revels in mischief and pranks. They seek to disrupt the order of human and other mortal societies, believing that chaos and confusion bring balance to a world too rigid in its rules. Their ultimate goal is to bring an era of endless unpredictability where nothing is certain, allowing for creativity and freedom in all life.

They were certainly a group that I wanted to stay clear of… while I was thinking about that, we approached the base of the closest mountain and soon found traces of the dwarven society. There was a large cave ahead that didn’t look natural, and the surrounding area had the ground covered in brick. 

‘It seems too close to the border for them to make a town or city here… so it should be a military post.’

There was a chance that the elf that I am looking for could be hiding here, but I couldn’t enter there with Glacien. I probably could escape if I try my hardest, but Glacien might suffer some serious injuries. Leaving her outside alone could be dangerous too.

“Do you smell elves there?” 

“Awoo…”

It seemed that she could… I wasn’t planning to go to such a place, but I had the feeling that I should. It was the usual feeling that I had to do something while I had the chance. It could be the last time that I would have the chance to do it.

What I’ve come to realize is that the incident from three years ago, even though I don’t think about it all the time, has stayed with me in many ways. For a long time, I thought I could just move on by ignoring it, by letting time smooth over the sharp edges. But the truth is, the things I’ve faced in the past three years have shown me that ignoring something doesn’t make it disappear, it just hides it, letting it fester and influence my thoughts and decisions in ways I didn’t always notice.

I think what I truly needed, and maybe still need, is closure. Not to dwell on the past, but to finally face it, understand it, and let it go. Running away from problems may feel like a solution at the moment, but it doesn’t resolve them, it just postpones the reckoning. And I’ve realized I don’t want to carry that weight any longer. It’s time to confront it…

If I keep doing that, then everyone will keep looking down on me and sending people to get in my way. I had to make my point clear every single time until anyone foolish enough to come for me gave up completely out of fear for their lives.

“All right, girl. I am going to head there for a bit, but you will have to wait for me here. With the camouflage amulet, you will be fine.”

“Awooo!”

“I am just going to confirm that my target isn’t here. Don’t worry, I won’t pick a fight with all the guys there.”

“Grrr…”

“Don’t grrr me… I am the brains of our group and you are the nose, so just relax a bit.”

I could tell that Glacien didn’t like my plan even a bit. As expected, I should make a vehicle for her to pull and then she would feel like she would have the chance to help me in situations like this, when the chance of me having to run away for my life would be pretty common. I had been increasing her strength and endurance, so she soon would be able to do that and keep her speed.

A forge and an alchemy shop… it would be hard to make a wagon big enough for both. I shouldn’t focus on too many things either, but I wanted to make a lot of things.

While I was thinking along those lines, I led Glacien to the back of a large bush in the area and then put a large mana core on her camouflage amulet. It was going to last for two hours, so I couldn’t waste time with useless things.

“If something happens, you should head north. I will meet you there, okay?”

“Awooo!”

I scratched the back of her ears and then decided to move on… it was time to test my infiltration skills. I haven’t been training them that much recently, but this was a good chance for it.

After focusing my eyes a bit at the entrance of the cave, I noticed that an area beyond the entrance and in front of it was pretty clean. Still, the areas surrounding it in a half circle were more dusty.

I could feel the presence of a magic barrier ahead, its faint energy radiating through the cave like an invisible wall. Knowing that approaching it directly might trigger something dangerous, I decided to take a more cautious route.

I loaded my grappling crossbow, aimed at the jagged ceiling above, and fired. The hook latched securely onto the rocky surface, and with a sharp pull, I hoisted myself up. From there, I relied on the claws embedded in my gloves, carefully digging them into the ceiling as I clung to it like a shadow. Slowly and methodically, I made my way forward, staying as high and out of sight as possible, my every move deliberate to avoid alerting anything, or anyone, that might be guarding the barrier. The rough texture of the ceiling provided just enough grip, and the faint sounds of my progress were muffled by the cavern’s ambient echoes.

I passed above the barrier and I couldn’t sense any other ahead, but I decided to stick to the ceiling since it would give me an advantage… I only had to be cautious and avoid letting small pieces fall on the below.