66 Tail : Fatigue

Though he would have liked to take Eliza's advice and relax for a bit, Linnaeus was still wide awake by the time darkness had fallen over the small forest settlement. This was what he had been waiting for so, after extricating himself from Eliza's clutches and signaling to Emilia to stay back, he departed the Inn in the middle of the night.

Nothing had happened in the last couple of days so Linnaeus took a gamble by assuming that their enemies were trying to avoid damaging any of the businesses. If they were an operation supported by the Hunting Guild, it would significantly reduce the prestige of the latter if they were to damage the property of the various business owners. Some of these individuals were extremely powerful so, while they obviously wanted to put pressure on new faces, they seemed to be avoiding causing too big a scene...

Hoping that his deduction struck at the heart of the matter, Linnaeus did his best to muster up his confidence as he ventured out under the cover of night.

Unlike Central City, the Southern Forest Settlement wasn't particularly well lit so it was easy to move, mostly, unseen. Linnaeus couldn't really pretend that he had gone completely unnoticed as, despite there being a number of people out and about, there would be long periods of time where he didn't acquire any experience in his [Stealth] and [Presence Concealment].

When you managed to evade detection from higher-level individuals, the system rewarded you with drastically increased experience. Thus, long periods where he gained no experience whatsoever were a dead giveaway that 'someone' had noticed him.

Without being dishearted by this fact, Linnaeus did his best to move with purpose, believing most of the people that had taken note of him were just curious individuals wondering what he was up to. So long as he continued on his way without causing any trouble, they would quickly lose interest since most people couldn't really be bothered to poke their nose into other people's business.

This was something Linnaeus was banking on as, if someone continued to tail him after others had lost interest, their intentions could be assumed. They were either someone who had been assigned to watch him or someone that had taken notice of him and decided to seek trouble. In either case, both were people Linnaeus would have to deal with so he moved closer to the outskirts while trying to drop the tail.

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It was unfortunate that the settlement was distinctly different from the slums he was used to as, even if he wanted to be sneaky, the distance between buildings made it very difficult. This was one of the reasons behind why he drew so much attention as, in some cases, the distance between buildings could have easily fit another building in between...it was very annoying.

Despite this, Linnaeus eventually dropped all his tails after about an hour of traveling by essentially pretending he was just training his Skills and Abilities without any actual purpose. Since being a Thief was one of the primary Classes, at least according to the information he had obtained, it wouldn't be difficult to convince people he was just trying to polish his techniques even if they stopped him.

Unfortunately, other than brief periods where he would get a decent chunk of experience, Linnaeus was still being followed by at least one person. He could deduce this from the fact that, when he did get experience, it was usually the same exact value. Since this was determined by the level difference and other factors, the likelihood that two people gave the same exact amount was relatively slim.

With the intent of luring his pursuers out, Linnaeus began to follow a complex route that, if you knew the layout of the settlement, clearly indicated his intent to return. If they had any intention beyond simply observing him, they would be compelled to act before he could reunite with his allies so this was the best way to bait them out after leading them around for more than an hour.

Though he didn't doubt there were people as, or even more, cautious than himself, Linnaeus quickly learned that his degree of caution was abnormal. People weren't nearly as patient as he could be at times, something he had cultivated due to his weakness and the fact that everyone around him, for a period of time, could have been considered an enemy.

Meeting his expectations, Linnaeus found his way blocked by a petite figure wearing a black cloak. It was a little silly to see her hiding her identity, especially considering the two holes that had been cut in the hood to allow for her horns to protrude freely...

Seeing that Linnaeus wasn't even startled by her arrival, the girl giggled playfully as she mused, "You aren't half bad, are you? The real question is, what are your intentions in luring me out like this~? Do you really intend to fight me...?"

At the moment she finished her words, the hooded-girl pulled out a set of six throwing knives, each held between her fingers in a fan shape. As for Linnaeus, he tensed up considerably but managed to appear calm as he adopted a half-battle stance and asked, "What are your intentions? Why is your group interested in my Party...?"

In truth, Linnaeus had already done a bit of information gathering so he had a decent understanding of the group's purpose. Still, he wanted to know how the girl would respond as information could be manipulated freely, especially in an area where one organization had most of the power.

With a pretend pout, the girl pursed her lips before placing her throwing knives away and answering, "It's simple, really. Our group is one of the more powerful forces in this region. We may not be that strong compared to foreign organizations but we work hard to keep order within our territory. You really don't have to worry all that much as, when you leave the settlement behind, our forces will no longer target you."

Hearing the girl's response, Linnaeus was actually a little surprised, even if it didn't show on his face. This caused the girl to nod in approval, apparently mistaking his silence as comprehension since she turned away moments later and disappeared into the shadows.

Though it was possible there was some elaborate scheme going on, the girl's departure seemed to indicate that her words were the truth. This left Linnaeus at a loss as, while it wasn't that far from his initial speculation, it was so much 'tamer' than he expected...

Linnaeus had assumed the girl's organization worked with the Hunting Guild and, while this was still very likely, their purpose seemed to be pressuring outsiders. If his Party decided to stay and settle in the area, they would undoubtedly try to pull him into their fold. If they only stayed for a few weeks, however, it didn't seem like the group would try to stop them at all. Rather, their actions seemed to be measured in order to gather information and keep outsiders from causing trouble by pressuring them during their stay...

Realizing he may have genuinely been stressing over nothing, Linnaeus rested with his back against a nearby building as he slouched to the ground. He suddenly felt extremely fatigued and, while he still kept his guard up, it suddenly felt as if all his previous actions were driven by paranoia.

If he really thought about it, there would be no way to keep actual order in such a distant settlement if there was some evil power machinating behind the scenes. Though there was undoubtedly a fair amount of corruption in the upper echelons of the organization, they would have been eliminated by stronger powers if they truly acted with impunity.

Now that he looked back on the past few days, Linnaeus noticed that most of the actual residents were rather lackadaisical regarding the very obvious actions of the secretive organization. Just the fact that the Proprieter gave them a discount and a free meal indicated that he was very used to such incidents taking place. Otherwise, he would have been a lot angrier as the Inn was his primary source of income, not some roughshod shack that could be found within the overpopulated slums...

After sitting in silence for the better part of half an hour, Linnaeus finally pulled himself to his feet and began making his way back to the Inn. Along the way, he thought about how Eliza, Krone, and even Emilia had reacted upon first entering the Fifth Floor. They behaved as if the sight of thousands of people living alongside each other without conflict was completely normal and, while he had been doing his best to accept this inherent truth, Linnaeus' past experiences made it difficult to change his behavior in a short period of time.

During the relatively short walk, Linnaeus observed his surroundings from a different perspective than the one he generally used. He tried to view the people going about their business, not as future enemies, but people that simply wanted to live a life without hardship. Some of them had immense power at their disposal but, instead of using it to suppress others, they became business owners who happily served their customers with smiles on their faces, the complete opposite of expectations.

Though it would take him a long time to truly understand the thought process of such individuals, Linnaeus was beginning to understand how people like Rebecca, and the various other elders in the slums, came to live there. They would have easily found a place for themselves within the Megacity yet, as if power and authority were completely meaningless to them, they chose to live the final few decades of their lives helping others.

Linnaeus was beginning to realize that he had always viewed the world from the perspective of a Street Urchin, someone constantly looking to escape a terrible situation. He realized that there had actually been a number of people throughout his journey that harbored no ill will towards him but, as a result of his anti-social nature and over-cautious mentality, he had never even given them the chance to help him. The only exceptions to this were people like Rebecca but, at the time, he didn't really have a choice in the matter...

Before he realized it, Linnaeus found himself back at the Inn and, as a result of his dazed state, he nearly bumped into a middle-aged drunkard with a wiry red beard. This startled the man and, for a brief moment, it seemed like he was about to explode in a drunken tirade. Instead, immediately after he saw Linnaeus cautiously standing a few meters away from him, the old man actually apologized before laughing as he walked off, accompanied by a few of his friends as the night was still young.

Seeing a drunkard showing simple courtesy was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back, at least within Linnaeus' mind. He dragged his feet up the stairs, each step heavier than the ones that came before. Then, after entering his room, Linnaeus made brief eye contact with Emilia, giving her a simple shake of the head to indicate there were no issues before ultimately plopping down face-first onto the bed. Afterward, for the first time in a long while, complete darkness claimed his mind as he slipped off into a deep state of unconsciousness...albeit only for an hour...