"Stop there!"

No way! Not when you're shooting water ball-like stuff after me! The public security in this city is too bloodthirsty!

I ran through the alleys while dodging the mega-lethal attacks from the "public guards". They are making way more destruction than me! Around 300% worse than me. Seriously, how is this "protecting society"? You guys are blasting it to pieces! You should be fired!

Okay, how do criminals escape the long arm of the law in books? ...the situation's kinda on its head, but it's fine taking those stories as a reference. Escaping from the "cops" normally requires one to know what side streets to disappear into...or simply take the route that the pursuers are least likely want to enter.

Despite the city being built on plates attached to a strange tower, they do have sewer systems here. I found a manhole as I passed a corner and threw some webs at it, hauled it open, and slipped inside. Then I dragged the cover back into place...upside-down, but it works.

Since it's better not to let them know about my skills, I detached the web and threw it into my Storage before I ran down the sewer pipe. Ugh, the smell's horrible down here. And it's humid. And dark! Not that the last part bothers me. Good thing there are no monster rats down here, but [Detect Monster] will give me a peep if they appear.

Hehehe~. Those bastards won't know where I'm going down here~~.

---

Okay, I was acting cocky. Sorry! But stop those damn footsteps!

It's been what, an hour or something? But I can still hear the guards chasing me even now! How tenacious! And in a bad way! Just give it a rest already!

Rather, how are they keeping track of me!? Forget about speed and all that, even in this pitch-black darkness, they're still right on my heels!

...ain't that weird? I mean, I've seen them using torches or whatever to create light, so they most likely don't have [Nightvision]. Then there's the fact they keep on chasing me for so long. Wouldn't it be better to go back to the police station or guard station or wherever and ask for reinforcements? Is it that they don't want to lose my trail?

But why all this eager to catch me? I'm not trying to be disrespectful of the dead, but those crooks that died in the alley were...crooks! They should focus on other crimes. Like the jerk that placed the blame on me!

...how are they following my trail anyway? I have the "double AP"-cheat since I'm a Champion, but normal people don't have that. And remembering those magic-like attacks from before, plus the full-warrior equipment I saw them wearing, it's not likely that they have the resources to invest in Scout-line skills as well. Or so I hope. Did they plant a bug on me or something.........*gulp*.

"Fairy, you there?" I asked in a low voice so that it wouldn't create an echo and warn my chasers.

"Yes, I'm here," replied the fairy as she finally reappeared after doing the Houdini when the guards first arrived.

"Are any of these suspicious?" I asked her, showing the various stuff I'd obtained during this short stay in the city.

I mean, the only way I can handle a transmitter is if it's on one of the items I've recently acquired! If they're tracking me through some skill or a bug-sized bug, then I'm dead! I can't escape those!

...the footsteps are getting faster!? Was I right? They are tracking me with one of these things? I did take them all out from my Storage just now, so...

Who's guilty here? The ID-card? The key to my room at the inn? The leftover skewer pins? ...can't be the last one.

"The card is emitting a strange mana signature, but that's it." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Good! Take it and fly in a different direction. Rematerialzie at my side after 10 minutes or so if those guys follow you. Don't get caught." - Garami

"WHAAAA-!?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

I left the confused fairy at a crossroads and kept on running as silently as possible. A small while later...and I couldn't hear the guards anymore. A little later again and the fairy returned.

"They kept on pestering me no matter how fast I flew! Those tin buckets were scary!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Good work." - Garami

"Don't "good work" me!!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

She's quite lively for being the closest thing to an assistant AI in this world. Maybe I should find a proper name for her? Calling her "fairy" all the time's sorta rude. And confusing if I ever encounter real fairies.

"Anyway, what do you make of all this?" - Garami

"Of what part of this whole mess?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"The whole thing. Are the police in this world that obsessive in hunting down a potential criminal?" - Garami

"It wouldn't be wrong of them to do so. some skills that can become extremely dangerous for society in the wrong hands. Giving their all and more to catch any potential super villains such as that is part of the police rulebook." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

...she's got a point. I got some dangerous skills myself. No wonder the long arm of the law has to be somewhat drastic in capturing people then.

"But this time, the guards were way too aggressive. Firing magic blasts in the middle of the city, even if in the middle of the night and with no civilians nearby, is an obvious breach of the law." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

That came as NO surprise either. They didn't even give me a chance to surrender. They just went trigger happy. Shoot first, and ask questions later. Or perhaps, never.

"And speaking of lawbreakers, that access pass is fishy as well. It is illegal to use those sort of cards for such a purpose." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Really?" - Garami

"Yes. Would you trust a society that stalks your every step just because you have your identifications on you?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Not really. It's fine to ask for the pass when entering or leaving the city, but allowing them to know where I am 24/7? That's too much "Big Brother" for me, and perhaps anyone else, to handle.

"There were also some events where a corrupt government framed innocent civilians with faked position data to cover their crimes, so that law turned mandatory for all cities in the world by the hands of the World System." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Hurrah for good rules.

But this means that the pass was rigged to keep an eye on me from the start. But why? And was it only my pass, or is everyone bugged? I think I overheard some people say that all 6 ports of this city were giving out 100 of those passes, so was I only unlucky with mine, or is there some goal in assaulting 600 newcomers to the city?

......I got it! The guard that handed me the pass and the jerks chasing me weren't real guards! Or, they at least aren't working for the good of this city. They're trying to destroy it! Specifically, by chasing (or killing) people who're coming to the city now that it's returned from a "city on some ridiculous high towers in the middle of the wasteland" to the "lake country Velantas".

...but why are they doing all this? And am I even right about this hypothesis? .........I got no clues. So it's time to gather some.

"Where did you lose the pursuers?" - Garami

They kept track of me because of that pass, but now that I don't have it anymore, it's time to flip the roles of the hunter(s) and the hunted.

"No worries~. I found the lair of a nasty monster, so I dropped the pass there before returning. The pursuers are most likely dead by now." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"......for real?" - Garami

"There were signs of a C-rank monster living there, so most likely." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Let's forget about those guys. Even if they did have some clues on them, I don't wanna risk my life for it. C-rank monsters are bad news. I've learned that the hard way in the Water-Knot. Plus, unlike those "manufactured", experience-less guys, C-ranks in the outside world have fought, evolved, and clawed their way up to that rank. They're basically me, but with more experience. Scary...

"No chance of them somehow surviving?" - Garami

"Probably not. I saw some high-leveled spider webs here and there. They must be trapped at this point." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Hey! I was the one who compared them to me, yes, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to steal my web gig as well!!

"...? Can't those guys just evade the webs then?" - Garami

If the fairy could see them, there's no reason those guys could do the same.

"The unknown monster is using some sort of mana-based skill to keep the webs hidden. And since I am linked with the [Magic Eye of Sight] skill, I could just barely notice the webs. Anyone who does not own the same skill at the same level as Garami would have to be a genius magician and scout at the same time." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Yeah, those guys are doomed. But just to be safe..." - Garami

---

I had the fairy bring me to where she saw these superior hidden webs...and I've lost.

No, I didn't fight anything. If I did, I'd be killed in three seconds flat. That's how bad that giant crawler in front of me is.

We're inside some sorta hollowed cylinder-like area of the sewers, where tons of sewer water are released as waterfalls down to the bottom. And in the air room created from that is a gigantic web that is being concealed through some sorta magic, just as the fairy told me about.

And in the middle of the mess is a giant spider. Its body is partly purple, partly black. And it has 16 legs for some reason, with eye-like orbs all over its body. Luckily for me, it's 100% blind. So says the fairy with the knowledge from the Kigal-Note. That species is using threads as a replacement for its non-functioning sensor organs. Add that to its almost-perfect stealth web, and you got a master assassin in dark areas like this light-less sewer.

Add some Poison and Curse attributes, essential parts required for a spider-type monster to evolve into this species, and you got something that crawled out from a nightmare. Literally. At least for those guys up there.

The monster spider is giving its undivided attention to the jerks who were chasing me before. And boy, even those guys don't deserve that kinda hospitality. And there's no way I can get out there to gather some clues about their identities. Never mind saving them! Not that I was ever gonna do so anyway. I'll at least pray for your guys...?

Hey, who'd known? It seems there are some clues to get here after all. Let's retreat and discuss it with the fairy afterward. We need to...play our cards right if we wish to bust the mastermind of this attack.