It didn’t take long to make it back to the suite, and Trevor changed into comfortable clothes while Lailah went off. While he had no idea what the day would bring, he decided to take his backpack as well after setting everything aside from a spare outfit in the dresser drawers. He had assumed they weren’t getting kicked out until they were ready to go, at least.

Lailah returned in short order without the painting, as he expected, and she led him back to the elevator to another tunnel. Unlike the first they had arrived from, this one was built to be walked through.

“Sometimes people want to stay incognito, you know? That’s why there’s so many tunnels,” she explained as they walked through. “Plus, as a famous adventurer, it’s just kind of better. You don’t have to go through the front gates, just slip right through and pop up on the other side.”

“I can see where that would come in handy,” Trevor admitted. “It’s less attention, especially on busy days like the ones coming up. I’m assuming people from all over the country are coming?”

“So many,” Lailah confirmed. “The castle’s going to be full of people coming and going, but you feel free to use this tunnel whenever you want to come and go. My sister already knows about it, so if she wants to ditch you and come drinking with me again don’t be surprised.”

“Thank you, that’s really kind of you.”

“Do you really mean that? Or are you just doing that thing where you’re really polite because you think I’ll get mad over it.”

Trevor chuckled. “Well, I didn’t call you ma’am this time, did I?” he asked. “No, I really owe you one. Not just for taking care of Adabelle, but also for helping me out with my suit.”

“Helping my sword sister will always be a priority,” Lailah said, waving a hand dismissively. “It wasn’t so much as helping you, but her.”

“Still, I really appreciate it,” Trevor replied. “Adabelle isn’t very good at asking for help, and neither am I. Like, I brought nice clothes, but they weren’t nearly as snazzy as that. Kadrus does good work, so please thank him for me.”

Silence descended in the tunnels for a moment. “I really can’t get a read on you.”

“Is that such a bad thing?”

Lailah huffed. “It is when you obviously have feelings for my sword sister.”

“I don’t know about obvious,” he said, only for Lailah to stop and turn to face him. Trevor was forced to stop as well, and watched as her face changed to one that clearly asked if that was what he really thought. “If it makes you feel any better, Wayne tried to threaten me with promises of pain if I hurt her. That conversation ended with him calling me a cinnamon roll and pledging to be my wingman before I told him to please not do that.”

“Oh, so Wayne’s already stuck his nose into this situation?” she asked.

“On my side, at least. I threatened him so that he wouldn’t approach Adabelle about my feelings, because I would get to it on my terms.”

Lailah scoffed and crossed her arms, looking Trevor up and down. “You? Threaten Wayne? He’s been here forever, how could you possibly threaten him, messenger boy?”

“I told him that I’d teach Rashie the Baby Shark song if he meddled,” Trevor said with a grin.

The elf paused before shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips. “Yeah, that’s a pretty good threat.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, you should act on it sooner rather than later,” Lailah said before she began walking down the tunnel again. “Because I’ve already meddled and-“

“Actually, I already started to,” Trevor interrupted. “This morning, right before you knocked on the door to barge in, I asked her out to the festival. On a date, specifically. Then you started cackling and walking away.”

“Is that what I walked in on?” she laughed. “I thought you two finally kissed or something.”

“What?” he asked, stopping. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, nothing,” Lailah practically sang. “Just remember that she’s a young maiden at heart, and you only get a pass because you make her feel like she’s taken care of, and that makes her happy.”

“Why does everyone keep giving me passes?” Trevor grumbled, though he did so with a smile. If Lailah was telling the truth, then that meant Adabelle really did feel the same way he did. It wasn’t something he had expected, still somewhat surprised that she agreed to a date, but knowing it made him feel good. Unless… “Wait, really? She said that?”

“I’ll lie to you about a lot of things, messenger boy, but not about this,” the elf chirped. “Just remember-“

“I hurt her, I get hurt, yeah.”

“Nah, she likes it when a man shows a bit of chest,” Lailah said. “Drives her crazy. So whatever you choose to wear on your date tomorrow for the festival, maybe you should keep that under advisement.”

“Really?” Trevor asked. “Wait, was that one of the things you’d lie to me about?”

The elf laughed, but his question was promptly ignored as they reached the end of the tunnel. It led to a trap door in the ceiling that would be easy to climb out of, and she opened it to reveal a plain room with a single guard inside.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

The armored man stood at attention as they entered the building. “Good morning, ma’am,” he said strongly.

“Good morning,” Lailah greeted. “This is Trevor, he’s in the company of Lady Adabelle and he’s allowed to come and go as he pleases.”

“As you wish, ma’am,” the guard responded.

“Alright, Trevor, go through this door and you’ll be in Kadrus’ shop,” Lailah explained. “Come back here whenever you want to head back to the castle. Or, you can just go through the front gate if the shop is closed. Or if you want to. Your choice.”

“Oh, well, thanks a lot Lailah, I really-“

“Okay, see you later, messenger boy,” Lailah said, dropping another peace sign before going back into the tunnels and closing the trap door.

Trevor stared at it for a moment before looking at the guard. “Is she always like that?”

The guard stifled a laugh before putting on a more professional face. “I assure you, I have no idea what you’re talking about, sir.”

“Yeah, I guess not, huh?” Trevor asked with a laugh. “So, just through this door, then?”

When the guard gave him a confirming nod, the young man left the room. Lailah had said this was Kadrus’ shop, and Trevor found himself surrounded by clothes, cloth, and tools. A young dwarven woman stood behind a counter while the elderly dwarf himself was measuring a customer in front of a tall mirror. Pausing, he was quickly noticed.

“Mister Trevor, come back any time,” Kadrus said, barely taking his eyes off of his customer.

“Thank you, sir, for all your help,” Trevor responded, bowing first in his direction and then towards the young woman. He stopped on the way out to stare at a navy blue outfit that looked suspiciously like a sailor’s suit before stepping into the city for the first time.

The streets were bustling with activity and Trevor found himself going against a tide of traffic. Despite his best efforts, he was pushed against the building almost immediately in order to stay out of the people’s flow. While the paved roads were wide, the amount of pedestrians was unreal to him. Even in his city back on Earth there wasn’t as much foot traffic as this, and it certainly wasn’t as varied.

Despite the discomfort of suddenly being part of the crowd, he couldn’t help but stare. Trevor had seen the city from the balcony last night, but that was different than seeing it at ground level. The buildings were all made of stone and around three stories tall. The shops on the first floor were all painted different eye-catching colors with signs all over the place.

From his spot pressed up against the tailor shop, he could see that the stores were varied, too. A butcher shop was next to a pub across the street, and there was a small store advertising crystal balls next to a one that sold perfumes and colognes. A man walked out of that one, and as he walked by Trevor the young man caught a scent he didn’t expect: new car.

“They really have everything here, huh?” he chuckled to himself before looking down the street. If he wanted to step into traffic, there was only one good way to go thanks to the way people were moving, but he wasn’t sure if that was the right way to his destination. Thankfully, Trevor had an item for that.

Retrieving his PathGuider 5000 from his inventory, he set it over his eye. “Alright, so what’s the best way to get to Klar’s,” he muttered to himself.

The Trinket pointed him across the street towards a building’s drainpipe. It weaved around the traffic, but then started to go up the building. “Is that really the fastest way?” Trevor asked in a deadpan voice. He looked at the people, which showed no sign of slowing down, and he sighed. “Quest Master, what stats are best for… rooftop traversal, I guess?”

[[Trevor Anderson, I’m so glad you asked! Strength to climb? Check. Dexterity for control? Perhaps a little more. Speed for distance? You’ve got a Trinket for that.]]

“Speed for distance?” Trevor repeated loudly, ignoring the looks of surprise from pedestrians. “Is this thing going to have me jumping streets or something?”

There wasn’t any answer from the Quest Master, so Trevor took that as confirmation. He glanced at the crowd again, really not wanting to become beholden to the wave of people going through the city, and started feeling a little claustrophobic.

“Fine, fine, let’s put my point into Dexterity, then,” Trevor said.

[[Stat increase complete. Dexterity is now 3. You have no more banked points remaining. Happy climbing!]]

“Can you show me my status screen?”

[[Trevor Anderson

Human

Level 6 (0/2)

Banked Points: 0

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 3

Stamina: 2

Magic: 1

Mana: 1

Speed: 1

Specialty Stats

Capacity: 5

Power: Inventory

Skills: Quick Growth (Human), Temporal Dimensional Storage (Inventory), Stacks (Capacity)]]

Looking them over, Trevor nodded to himself. He had been wanting to upgrade Speed for a while now, but figured that it was probably for the best that he upgraded the other physical stats first. A part of him wanted to put the next increase into Stamina so it could be 3 just like Strength and Dexterity, but he knew that would lead him down a dark path to also wanting to increase Magic and Mana.

Which wasn’t inherently a bad thing, he just didn’t have any abilities that needed them. There were magic items that operated off of it, like the magic key to his home, but so far that was it. If he came across anything else that needed it, then his views could potentially change, but right now they were both fine at one.

Once the status screen left his vision, Trevor looked for the closest thing that seemed like a part in the crowd and went for it.

The young man thought he would stumble and push more through force than finesse, but reality surprised him. As he made his way through the sea of people, he found himself barely touching them as he dodged, weaved, and spun around people as naturally as a hummingbird flitting around a garden. Halfway across the street, he couldn’t help but grin.

“Okay, Dexterity is cool,” he laughed to himself as he backtracked into the middle of the street before surging forward. It all felt so perfectly natural to move his body in this way that he found himself backtracking for a chance to play in traffic a little bit longer.

Eventually, he had his fill, and Trevor made it to the other side of the road. He inspected the drainpipe, having expected a flimsy aluminum one like he had back on Earth, but was surprised to find that it was actually rather sturdy. It was as big around as he could grab, and there were several brackets holding it in place. Even as the young man tried to shake it, it didn’t move.

Taking a breath, Trevor stretched. “Alright, Strength, don’t fail me now,” he whispered before beginning his climb.