Though there was still a bit of light left in the day, Linnaeus' Party returned to the Briggs Fortress Settlement in the hopes of bypassing the evening rush. This ended up being a small blessing, at least from Eliza's perspective, as, for the first time since their registry, Renka was absent from the various reception and exchange booths.

Seeing the troublesome redhead was missing, Eliza's mood had improved considerably, so, with Linnaeus and Emilia in tow, she happily dragged them off to secure a table. As for Krone, he had volunteered to exchange their materials, insisting that they should all take turns to avoid any kind of issues.

Linnaeus didn't completely agree with Krone, but, as the man was trying to repay him in his own way, he elected not to mention the flaws in such an arrangement.

Fortunately, contrary to Linnaeus' expectations, none of the other Adventurers gave them any real trouble, but, considering they were still inside the Guild, this wasn't all that unexpected. Though a few people had eyed Emilia from a distance, only one man had enough gall to actually approach the table in an attempt to proposition her. When she glared back at him, however, he was quick to depart, his own ears flattening as he awkwardly returned to his boisterous Party.

Linnaeus had noted the man's wolf-like ears and a tail, but, based on the color of his fur, it was safe to assume he wasn't a Vanargandr. According to Emilia, the fur of every Vanargandr was a shade of blue, the only exception being the elderly and the so-called 'Children of the Moon'. The latter consisted of Vanargandr that had been born with pure white fur and, though there were a few exceptions, the vast majority also had moon-like eyes. They were greatly respected by every tribe, as, in exchange for significantly reduced physical prowess, the Children of the Moon often developed Blessing related to prophesy and foresight.

The Vanargandr also lacked have the concept of prostitutes, even if it wasn't their intention, she felt greatly insulted by any man who thought they could mate with her for no better reason than her appearance. She was a huntress and a warrior before anything else, so, from her perspective, she should be the one selecting and protecting her mates, not the reverse.

As a result of her frustration, Emilia made a show of sticking close to Linnaeus for the rest of the evening, souring Eliza's otherwise good mood. This resulted in the latter spending a little too much of her earnings on alcohol, so, for the second time in as many nights, Linnaeus was forced to piggyback her to the Inn, much to the amusement of various passersby...

All-in-all, it was turning out to be a relatively uneventful evening, but, even before reaching their Inn, Linnaeus had the sinking suspicion things were about to become more complicated. There was more foot traffic than normal, and, even from a distance, he could see black smoke billowing from the direction of their temporary residence.

Upon reaching the district where their Inn was located, Linnaeus, Emilia, and Krone stared blankly as several people worked together to put out a fire that had spread to several buildings, their Inn included.

Based on the conversations in the surroundings, it seemed that a group of drunkards had tried to accost a young woman, who, in her rage, used her Blessing to severely injure her four aggressors. Unfortunately, as was often the case with fire type Blessings, she also ended up setting fire to the surrounding buildings and, despite a concerted effort to extinguish the flames, things got out of hand pretty quickly when a wagon carrying undiluted alcohol caught fire.

Linnaeus' first instinct was to assume this was some kind of scheme, but, as it didn't make sense for anyone to go out of their way to cause so much collateral damage just to inconvenience his Party, he discarded the thought. The original attack happened within an alleyway connecting to the nearby bazaar, not their Inn, so, while it was frustrating and inconvenient, the likelihood it had any relation to them was small.

Since it was rather loud in the surroundings, Eliza ended up opening her eyes groggily before asking in a slurred tone, "Wash goin' on...? Fire...?"

Knowing she wouldn't really be able to hold a conversation in her current state, Linnaeus shifted Eliza so that she was properly situated on his back before softly muttering, "It's okay. You can go back to sleep. There is nothing to worry about..."

Though the settling blaze served as a stark contrast to Linnaeus' words, Eliza didn't seem to care all that much, as, in response to his assurance, she just tightly hugged him before dozing off once again. This caused Emilia to issue a light hum at the side, drawing Linnaeus' attention to her eyes, which, due to the flames, reflected an eerie glow as she mused, "How envious~." while biting the end of her index finger.

Since there was no sense in just standing around, Linnaeus elected to ignore Emilia's comment as he said, "We should find a place to stay for the evening. I doubt the proprietor of the Inn will be returning our booking fees so there is no reason to stick around."

Hearing Linnaeus' remark, Emilia nodded her head in understanding, but, despite knowing the answer, Krone still asked, "Do you want me to carry her...?" in regards to the slumbering Eliza.

Though he was beginning to grow a bit, Linnaeus was still around the same size as Eliza, so, when he carried her, it looked like a younger brother carrying his much older sister. Fortunately, even if it was his lowest Attribute, his Strength allowed him to carry Eliza without too much difficulty, so, without even having to consider it, he shook his head and answered, "She would be upset if she learned I let someone else carry her..."

Krone already expected Linnaeus' response, but, as he could tell the latter wanted to go around collecting information, he felt obligated to offer. They could easily find each other using the Party function so it would have been more efficient to split up, even if it was also marginally riskier.

It was difficult to guess what Krone was thinking. However, considering Eliza's character, things wouldn't end well if she awoke to find someone else carrying her. Emilia might be acceptable, to an extent, but, she would never accept Krone being the one to carry her unless it was an actual, life-threatening, emergency.

Since he couldn't readily discard the slumbering Eliza, Linnaeus dutifully carried her during their search for a place to stay. She was actually a lot lighter than she looked, and, though it was a little awkward, the soft feeling against his back wasn't exactly unpleasant.

The only real complaint he had about the situation was the fact that Eliza was drunk at all, so, in the future, he intended to address her developing habit in the hopes of nipping it in the bud. It might not matter all that much at normal times, but, during situations like this, she was a major liability to the entire Party.

Fortunately, despite wandering around for nearly two hours, nobody tried to bar their passage or cause trouble. This coincided with the idea that the fire was completely unrelated to them, as, if it had been part of some grand scheme, someone should have appeared to at least lure them into a trap.

Instead, Linnaeus and Co found a place pretty close to the actual gate they exited through when heading out for the Monster Ant Colony. There weren't any important buildings here, but, as they also served as the first line of defense when the Monster Ants assaulted the fortress, they were all very durable. The only problem was, in exchange for relatively low rates, you also had to sign a basic contract that stated you would directly assist in the defense of the premises should an attack occur.

Though it was a mild inconvenience, the contract only applied when they were actually staying in the hostel-like dwelling. When the moved out, the terms no longer applied to them and, while they were outside the settlement, they obviously wouldn't be expected to defend the property. It was more of a way for the owners of the hostel, a portly merchant, to protect his assets.

From the information Linnaeus was able to purchase, the same merchant owned most of the buildings and businesses within the area, so, in a way, he had his own small army for whenever an attack occurred. Despite this, he wasn't actually all that well off as, for the last couple of years, he had been trying, and failing, to secure a position within the Inner District.

While this information wasn't exactly relevant to Linnaeus' Party, understanding the balance of power in the region was never a bad thing. After all, the clause within the contract hadn't stated they would only be required to protect against monster invasion, so, if there was any discourse between the merchant and surrounding businesses, there was a chance they would get wrapped up in the conflict.

Fortunately, such conflicts usually took place behind the scenes, so, even if the merchant had the idea of using his guests as soldiers, it would be at the expense of their reputation. The fact he was unable to secure a place within the Inner District showed he hadn't made the type of connections that would grant him impunity, so, at least for the time being, there was no cause for concern...

With his information gathering complete, for the evening, Linnaeus made his way back to their shared living space, a circular residential wing that connected a total of ten rooms into the same common area. This was one of the downsides to staying in a hostel as, not only were the rooms small, but even the bathrooms were communal in design, split between gender.

Linnaeus didn't particularly care about bathing amongst strangers, as he had been forced to wash in public since he was a young child, but Eliza would undoubtedly insist they move out. It was for this reason he had been willing to sign the temporary contract, as, once Eliza finally sobered up, they would undoubtedly be moving to stay elsewhere.

For now, however, Linnaeus checked in on Eliza and Emilia, finding the former sprawled out in a rather slovenly manner on the bed while the latter was performing routine maintenance on her spears. The fluid contained within a Monster Ant's body, known as hemolymph, could quickly rust weapons if they weren't properly cleaned. This would drastically reduce the sharpness and attack power of a weapon, so, unless you wanted to fight with your bare hands, routinely cleaning and oiling your weapons was necessary.

Since it was a good opportunity, Linnaeus decided it was a good time to perform maintenance on his own gear. It didn't really bother him that she was only wearing her nightwear, so, after a quiet exchange of greeting, he sat down next to her before pulling out his own spear, following Emilia's example while also incorporating the techniques he had learned from Baro, the kindly Blacksmith that had provided him important information about the Fifth Floor.

In this manner, the two sat in relative silence, but, even without looking, Linnaeus could hear the gentle thumping of Emilia's tail. She was, in many ways, a very honest woman, so, while she had a number of troublesome quirks, it wasn't difficult to get along with her. He also got the feeling that, even if the situation became life-threatening, she wouldn't abandon their Party. This was a trait he respected a great deal and, though it wasn't very realistic, this peculiar racial trait often made him think about trying to recruit other Vanargandr to their Party.

Unfortunately, the Vanargandr were relatively rare, even within the Tower, so, even if they could find a few on the Fifth Floor, there was a very good chance they were already part of a 'Pack'. If Emilia's words were to be believed, members of the Vanargandr tribe would fight to the death for the Pack they had joined and, while smaller Packs often joined to form larger groups, the idea of betrayal was so frowned upon that it might as well be a foreign concept. This made them highly sought after companions when forming a Party, so, in many ways, Linnaeus had been fortunate to acquire just a single member of the gluttonous species for his own...