After some time recovering, I get up with a little difficulty. My feathers are burned and my skin is burning, but I’m still alive.

Just what am I doing? I knew I shouldn’t have come to this floor...

As I think about my suffering and feel my body burning with every step I take, I try to move on.

There’s no turning back, anyway...

Looking at where I am, I can see a great abundance of trees in front of me, while behind is hell.

I can’t understand this ecosystem...

As the trees don’t have a lot of leaves, it is possible to see the sunlight passing through them.

I would like to prevent attacks by climbing trees, but be sure I will fall if I keep jumping from branch to branch...

Whit this thought, my journey without any direction was decided to be on the ground.

[...]

As soon as I got a little deeper into the forest, I started to hear a person’s voice.

It may be a little risky, but I have nothing to do now...

I walk to the place, following the voice of what seems to be a boy and I end up meeting two people.

One of them, the person to whom I was hearing the voice, is an ordinary-looking boy with black eyes and hair. The only thing stands out is that he is dressed all in black and has a large cloak hiding his body.

My gaze only caught a glimpse of his body, as my eyes soon focused on the person beside him.

Beside the young man is a bald man, probably over 2.5 meters tall, carrying a large shield on his left arm. His armor is robust and certainly very heavy.

His tanned skin and large muscles cause tension in the air around him. Furthermore, his look is extremely serious.

I think I should run away... There is no more time.

- Hey, Frank, look at this, a lost Gallinus. - The boy speaks with a slight smile.

- Hmm. - The man just confirms.

- ~~What should we do with him~~? - Says the young man, approaching me.

Since I have no escape route, since my body can’t stand running, I just watch them until I notice something.

...Eh? Is that really right?

The moment I noticed it, I decided to try to bet.

The young man approached me slowly while smiling, probably not wanting to surprise me.

But, before the boy gets close to me, I walk to the front of the big man.

He’s even scarier up close...

Since my height is very low, the pressure I feel is much higher than it probably should be. I even start to sweat cold, wondering if I made the right choice.

This man looks at me slightly for a while, before lowering his right hand indicating for me to ge on it.

Without hesitation, I climb his hand and then look back at the boy. He looked at me incredulously, as if he couldn’t believe I chose this man over him.

Maybe he could deceive others, but I wouldn’t fall into such a trap!!

When the boy was approaching me, I could see a hint of wine around him, while the man with shield remained a green color.

Among these two colors, I will clearly choose green!

- ... I can’t understand how this Gallinus chose to approach you, but now we have a supple of emergency food... - The boy says until he sees the look of his companion.

The big man has the same serious look as before while watching the young man, but I feel even more pressure.

- I-I’m kidding, don’t take it so seriously! - The boy explains, while trying to calm the man.

- Hmm.

After the man’s light response, he takes me to his shoulder and lets me stay on him.

It looks like this guy took a liking to me... I don’t think any animal wants to get close to him.

- Okay... What should we do now, Frank? We need to get to the next floor soon! - Says the young man with a serious look.

Great, if I’m with those two, I might be able to go to the next floor...

While I am listening carefully to the boy, the man in the shield, who is being called Frank, brings a small pill to me and makes me eat it.

I know it won’t be poison, but... What was that?

Soon I start to notice something strange with my body. My burns started to stop burning, and when I look at my wing, I notice the burnt feathers have been restored to normal.

...Amazing! Where do I get more of this?!

Since there is no one who understand me, the two continued their conversation.

- Anyway, Frank, before we continue looking for more idiots, I just noticed something different about this Gallinus. - He speaks, watching me closely.

Did he discover my intelligence?!

Frank also turned his face to see me, making me overwhelmed.

- You noticed? On his neck is a contract necklace.

Ah, they are talking about this necklace...

- This Gallinus is already someone’s servant, but he is alone... He was probably abandoned.

No, you are wrong, I was the one who decided to walk alone... But even if these two think I’m an abandoned Gallinus, why are they so serious?

From what I’ve heard from other people’s conversations, people often abandon weak animals to get stronger ones, so this situation is certainly not strange.

- Hm... - Frank answers weakly, also not seeming to understand what his friend wants.

- It seems you didn’t observe well, but this necklace is different from the normal ones, since it has the Gallinus design on it.

... Is this something important? Aren’t necklaces all the same?

The man with the shield looks at me intently until he finally realizes this.

- I heard only the church, which is searching for Gods, carries necklaces like this... And they certainly would not throw a necklace like that out, since they are practically unique.

...What? Is this necklace important!? But Suzy managed to get me out of there with this necklace...

For some reason, I felt a sens of crisis.

- It is very likely this Gallinus has fled some priest, so we must be careful. - Speak the boy, before turning to a direction and start walking. - Well, let’s continue our search.

Frank starts to follow him, as I get lost in my thoughts.

I must find a way to hide this necklace...

[...]

... How long have I been with this group? Some hours?

After joining them, even for a short time, I learned many interesting things.

For example, I discovered there is a bag called dimensional bag, which is capable of storing even a tree, despite being the size of a fist.

I also learned about the purpose of this floor, it’s necessary to get the 4 elemental stones, which are each in a specific region and the easiest way to get them is to steal from other people.

Another thing I discovered is how to compare the opponent’s strength through the colors withing their bodies. The more intense and the greater the color, the stronger the opponent is.

Now, the reason I learn about these things is... Because these two are thieves.

I mean, Frank can’t steal anything, because of his size, but he manages to get attention while the boy steals the others.

Together with the two, we stole about 20 people we met along the way.

This is kind of fun...

Watching that boy, I started trying to copy his way of walking and acting, trying to become as stealthy as he was.

They both looked at me strangely because of this, but they let me continue with it.

Although our relationship started out badly, I am now starting to get along with these two.

Ans so it continued until nightfall began.

- It took a long time, but now we are ready for the next floor! - Says the boy with a glass of beer in his hand.

- Hm! - Frank answers, also with a glass.

The two could have gone to the next floor earlier, but they decided to disturb the other participants and go the next day.

- It looks like this Gallinus can’t take it anymore, so you two should sleep while I watch. - Says the boy.

Frank and I accepted the offer and went to sleep.

[...]

With the sunrise, I wake up.

Beside me, with an empty look, is Frank, who is probably drowsy.

Those two must have changed positions in the middle of the night...

Watching this, I started to wonder if Suzy is okay.

This place is quite big, but I hope she met Maria.

Watching the surroundings were extremely dark and the fire’s flame almost goind out in the middle, I get up slowly.

Time to see the fruits of my learning.

Seeing Frank didn’t notice me, I peer over to where the boy is sleeping and grab a small bag from his waist.

Then I turn in the direction the sun is rising and, even though the forest was very dark, I start to enter silently.

I don’t mind leaving Frank, but I’m going to steal this idiot who wanted to eat me...