"Tell me, are card people common in this world?" - Garami

After sneaking away from the nightmarish spider's den, I started a war meeting with the fairy.

"Even Terra Sol is not that weird." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"So what's the verdict for when a bunch of human-sized playing cards takes on human appearances, dresses up as city guards, then start chasing people throughout half the city?" - Garami

"They have to be tokens controlled by a third party... Master, you are not trying to say what I think you're saying...right?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"That the true identity of those guards were card people? Yup, a billion points to you." - Garami

The fairy froze in the air with her mouth open. Stop overreacting. It was easy. When the nightmare spider started tearing the "guards" to pieces, what appeared wasn't flesh and bone, but paper particles. The intense damage from the spider's attack must have killed the illusion used to make the cards look like real people.

"But those kinda card tricks can't be your garden-variety skills." - Garami

"Correct. If the focus of these tokens are "playing cards", then the culprit must be someone with an evolved variety of the Gambler class!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Gambler, huh. And I bet there's only one place they get proficiency for their classes." - Garami

The casino! I've never been to one...I think. My past life's memories are damn blurry. But even if they've gone underground and started with an abduction/killing/falsely accusing business, there have to be rumors about any cardsharks out there that can turn cards into people through illusions or whatever.

And I honestly just wanna go to the casino. Slots, poker, roulette, bunny girls, Russian roulette...maybe not the last one.

"Master, you are aware of the possibility that the culprit may not be part of the real city guards. Why not go to the station and explain the situation?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"And risk ending up meeting the culprit face-to-face? No way!" - Garami

I've read enough stories about corrupt police to see how that idea's gonna end.

"But going to the casino is just as risky. Your appearance has to be known by the mastermind at this point." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

There's that complication... But I did have my hood on for all the time I was outside...

"I'll just need a disguise. Changing my outfit should do. Nobody's seen my face, and even if I'm new to town, the culprit wouldn't know I'm the one who fled from his card troopers." - Garami

And the culprit may be after newcomers to the city. They place some sorta tracker on the poor suckers, then they make the tagged party get the blame for some sorta crime, then they hunt the target down with lethal force. Probably thanks to the card guards. That's what I can gather from the latest events.

As for why they are doing this, I got no clue. The point here is that a face such as mine, an albino demon with purple-black horns, is bound to gather attention from people. Mostly because there's prolly not anyone like me here in the city, which means they can easily deduce that I'm new to the town.

There is also a chance the culprit may approach me again, unaware that I'm already their "target". Be it a goon or the boss himself, if I manage to squeeze some information outta them, then it's worth the risk. I just need to make sure I have an escape route to the sewers ready at any given moment. Heh. As if that's so bad. Trying to have an escape plan while foraging in the Water-Knot must be a million times worse.

...no, I shouldn't underestimate the city life. Let's try to keep a big safety margin.

"Th-that is...maybe true. If we are going for a simple costume change, then there are no problems. Master does have the Weaver class, so clothes should not be a problem, even if we are stuck down here..." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"All that's missing is food, shelter, and a way to change my appearance." - Garami

Specifically, a shelter against that nightmare spider. I don't wanna sleep anywhere near it, or any other potential sewer monsters. The sewer smell? I've smelt worse in the Water-Knot. Decayed corpses beat anything else for the "worst smell" award.

"The last one withstanding, I know a way to fix some grub and a bed." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

She does? Now I'm interested...

---

"Okay, you didn't need to produce a real shelter! But good job!" - Garami

"Ehehe~~." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

A small spelunker tour through the sewers led me to a real, house-like facility that has a river of fresh water flowing, a kitchen garden filled with overgrown plants, something like a solar lamp in the ceiling for the plants, and some strange markings at the entrances to the cave-like area where the building is.

According to the fairy, the markings can ward off weaker monsters so they don't come and attack when people are sleeping. Unfortunately, they don't work on stronger monsters, but they at least leave something of an "unpleasant aura" for those guys, which kills most of their interest to get too close to the markings. You just don't have to pick a fight with those behemoths.

...isn't this an honest-to-goodness safe area!? Is this a game or something?

"Fairy, what is this place?" - Garami

"A shelter. Or more specifically, a man-made safe area inside the sewers. This place is big, big enough that it may take days to reach a damaged pipe or waterway. Therefore, multiple of these shelters are placed here and there in the tunnels so that the sewer workers can take a proper rest without worrying about potential monster attacks." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"The problem here's that there are monsters in the sewers in the first place." - Garami

"Didn't I mention that it takes multiple days just to reach one section of these tunnels? This sewer system goes into the pillar the city is built on." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"...yeah. Patrolling after monsters is impossible." - Garami

Who decided to make such a difficulty: "extreme hell" sewer? They should have their heads checked.

I entered the building...or, I tried to. The damn door was locked. Luckily, the key was hidden nearby. Inside a secret room underneath a suspicious-looking brick in the ground.

I opened the door and found a living room, a kitchen, and several bedrooms. Nice place to take a break after a long day walking through that labyrinth-like sewer system.

"This place seems nice." - Garami

"I completely agree with that~. Way better than our previous environments." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Most of those places were either inside a Dungeon or out on the open sea (lake).

"There should be some rations in the pantry, and the vegetables growing here should be edible. So all that is missing is a disguise for Master~!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

That shouldn't take so long. A day or two, I guess...if I had any recipes for clothes! ...psych.

"Fairy, look up any stylish-looking clothes in the Kigal-Note." - Garami

"Okay~. But shouldn't we look for something less eye-catching?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Idiot. I wanna be noticed for once. ...even if I hate it." - Garami

I REALLY hate this idea. Even if it's of my own creation. But it's the fastest way to smoke out the culprit. Not that I have that many options to choose from!

"In that case, how about this flower motif~? It's so pretty~." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"That's a summer dress! Give me something decent to walk around in a casino with! And start looking up those potential places at the same time!" - Garami

"Your treatment towards avatars is horrible, Master!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

You're linked to even [Parallel Thinking], so it's pure skill proficiency grinding anyway! And I don't have to do it!

---

After that, it took a whole day just to find a good design for my next outfit.

The casino? There's only 1 possible option in this district/this tower. I'll have to gamble that the guy is lurking around there. Fitting, considering where we're going. Please don't let them be in one of the other districts. It's dangerous to go and get my boat from the dock. That cheating, bug-planting guard #2 may still be there. And he may have friends even!

"Hmm...this will not work, Master." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Huh? What?" - Garami

"The outfit! Do you have concentration issues!?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"My skills say no. And what's so wrong with it? The clothes, I mean." - Garami

"They are all pure white!! You'd only be seen as a suspicious person if you were wearing this!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

Hmm...I guess she has a point, but...dying this stuff manually is too much of a pain. The Weaver class is supposed to give a skill that does that, but it's still outta my reach at the moment.

"Grr...then I will dye it!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Huh? How're you gonna do that?" - Garami

"There are many plants we can make simple dyes from in the garden! Even without the [Dyeing] skill, it should still be possible to do so with the materials in this shelter!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Okay, okay. If that's what fancies you." - Garami

"Yippie! But it would be much better if there were some flower motives on the clothes..." - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"You sure love your flowers." - Garami

"Of course I do! After all, I...? Why do I love my flowers so much?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Don't ask me." - Garami

It's strange if you think about it. She's a skill. Why is she having preferences different from mine? ...probably some sorta programming. The same stuff that turned her from a real AI-like ball of light into this upbeat, gothic-looking fairy. The same one who is using the knowledge written in the Kigal-Note to make black and purple dyes from the flowers growing in the garden.

"...I'll give a hand, Bloom." - Garami

"Yay! ...? Who is "Bloom"?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"You. That's your name from now on. It fits you better than calling you "fairy" all the time." - Garami

"Bloom...bloom...ah! You only took it from "blooming". How slouchy! Lazybutt!" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"Shut up. It fits you." - Garami

"How so!?" - Avatar of [Gamemaster]

"I don't know. ...just because?" - Garami

I honestly don't know the reason myself. But something in the back of my head is telling me "it can only be that name".

"You dislike it?" - Garami

"I didn't say that! I love it!" - Bloom

"That's good. Let's focus on the dyes...what a drag." - Garami

"You're giving up too fast!" - Bloom

I mean, it's not like this is important to my survival. I simply can't get my groove on.

"Isn't there some other skill or class that can help with this boring stuff? Something that can be used for other purposes later on?" - Garami

"Just how much do you despise doing an honest hour of proper work? ...well, there is the Alchemist class, but it is not an easy beast to tame." - Bloom

"Alchemist?" - Garami

What's that? It stirs my inner edgelord.

"It is a class that uses magic-like actions to merge materials into items. But you have to clear a special quest to unlock it. Sure, the quest only requires the documents related to it to be started, which can be found in the Kigal-Note even, but the difficulty of this puzzle-like quest is enough to send even grown men crying back to their mummies-" - Bloom

*Ding*

"I cleared it." - Garami

"NO WAY!!?" - Bloom

Wow. Nice reaction.

Not that it was that difficult. Only around the level of a high-tier rhythm game in my world. The quest was only to keep some sorta magic-like wave stable until the timer went down. It's prolly a trial version of a proper alchemic crafting session.

"Now, to obtain my new shortcut in life-" - Garami

"WAIT! Even if Master obtained Alchemist, we do not possess Alchemic Circles that are used for the alchemy!" - Bloom

"Eh? Seriously?" - Garami

"Yes! Even if I say it is magic-like, Alchemist is still a crafter-line class. Even it needs the necessary tools of its trade for it to work." - Bloom

......so, no life shortcuts. Tch. Okay, fine. If that's the case...

"Time for a weaving festival." - Garami

"Oh, to earn enough proficiency so that you can obtain [Dyeing] from the Weaver class...again, why are you so against normal work, Master?!" - Bloom

"Principles." - Garami

And I have a great idea of what to make with all this stuff. Hehehe. You better prepare yourself, mastermind!