"Hm, okay, so...let’s rewind a bit, shall we? I seem to clearly remember turning you down. So, then, why are you following me, you little brat?" I sighed in exasperation.

"You left the steps you made on the wall, so I climbed and followed you," She responded with a shrug.

"That’s called stalking, so get lost. Yeah, see, I’m not too crazy about the idea of someone whose family I killed tagging along with me. I’d rather not have the risk of being backstabbed," I replied dryly.

"You don’t need to worry about that. You...you didn’t hear the things they said to me after my appraisal. At best, they would’ve locked me up somewhere, but it seemed like they were much more likely to kill me instead," She remarked with a grimace.

"Yeah, no doubt about that, that’s for sure. But that’s not the point. You didn’t actually experience any of that, so it’s entirely possible that you still hold affection towards them," I pointed out objectively.

"Huh? That doesn’t make any sense. If someone tried to stab you, would you hate them less if they failed?" She countered with a confused tilt of her head.

Ah, right, that’s how her mind works, she has to make logical sense out of everything or she isn’t satisfied. So, what do I do with her?

She isn’t a threat to me, that much is for sure...after all, regardless of whether or not she’s holding any resentment towards me, I’m her best bet right now when it comes to her survival and freedom, she simply can’t afford to try and kill me.

She certainly can’t go back, since she has the Light Attribute, and with her powers having only awakened a few hours ago, she won’t be able to defend herself.

Especially since it’s absolutely certain that she hasn’t been taught anything about Light Attribute Spells. With all that in mind, I’m the only option she has left to turn to, all other roads lead to dead ends or worse.

And given how she thinks, it’s likely that she’s realized all of this already, that’s why she’s following me so stubbornly and desperately. I’m an option that she simply can’t afford to lose.

But, then, here’s the big question, how do I benefit at all from taking her with me? I can’t think of any reason why it’d be more effective for her to tag along than for me to go solo.

"Alright, how about this? You give me one good reason why I should take you with me, and I’ll consider it. A reason that benefits me, by the way," I remarked, deciding to give her a chance.

After all, she was the only one who treated me like a human after I was brought to that mansion, so I suppose I owe her that much.

"Huh? Oh, um, okay, let me think...," She trailed off with a frown, her expression growing more and more desperate with every passing second.

I really don’t want to stick around here...I’d been weaving my way through alleys between buildings, but I’m still pretty paranoid. There’s no way in hell I’m getting caught by more Nobles again, I’d honestly rather die.

"Time’s ticking, I don’t have all night. If you can’t think of anything, then I’m afraid-...," I began dismissively.

"No, wait! Please, don’t go...," She grabbed my arm, tears welling up in her eyes as she stared at me pleadingly.

Ahh, damn it, that’s not fair.

"Okay, fine, I’ll give you a chance...I’ll take you out of the capital, and then head towards a town or village. You have till then to think up a reason why I should let you accompany me, got it?" I relented with an exasperated sigh.

"O-oh, I-...okay, I’ll do my best," She nodded with a slight look of relief.

"Whatever. Alright, it’s gonna be tough to sneak around with you slowing me down, so...get in here," I replied, as I activated my Pocket Dimension Skill and opened a portal into it.

"Huh? What’s that?" She responded in bemusement.

"It’s a way for me to transport stuff without having to carry them. I’ll let you out as soon as I’ve left the capital and am clear of any Knights or danger," I informed her.

"Will I be able to breathe in there?" She frowned warily. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

"Only one way to find out. Get in."

While I was imprisoned, I tested to see if I could use my Pocket Dimension for teleportation, but it didn’t work. I can enter my Pocket Dimension freely, it’s the ideal place to hide in and yes, I can breathe while in there, but the problem is that I can only emerge at the same spot where I entered.

But for anything else in the Pocket Dimension, I can take them out anywhere, and am not limited to the spot where I put them in at. In other words, if I put her in my Pocket Dimension and leave the capital, I’ll still be able to bring her out wherever and whenever I want to.

"Um, okay, I’m going in...," She muttered nervously, before crawling into the portal.

I then shut it with a tired sigh as she went into it, staring up at the sky wearily. It’s gotten pretty dark out, must be somewhere between 8 and 9 PM right now, it was a bit past 7:30 PM after I killed Duralles and his family.

Maybe I should’ve snatched some clothes from the mansion beforehand...it hasn’t been easy, staying out of sight while sneaking around in these dirty clothes. I can’t afford to be spotted, since my worn out clothes are basically rags at this point, plus I’m barefoot.

Otherwise, I could’ve tried to pass off as a Noble, hiding in plain sight. No, even if I did take some clothes to change into, I doubt I’d take a careless risk like that. But still, it would’ve been less stressful.

Fortunately, the area around the Duralles mansion was pretty deserted, making a break for a nearby alleyway was pretty easy, if not super nerve-wracking and tense.

That mansion is pretty close to the center of the capital, where the Royal castle is. I’ve been heading east, in the direction where my village is-...or rather, was.

But having to take these long, winding routes through alleys is eating up a lot of time, I probably won’t reach the outer wall for at least a few hours. Optimistically, I’ll get there by around 1 or 2 PM. Pessimistically, I won’t get there till tomorrow morning, as in after the sun comes up.

There are a lot of stores and street lights around, so even though the sun has fully set at this point, it isn’t as dark as I’d like. The moon’s out tonight and it’s a clear sky, not to mention the lights from vehicles-...huh. Hmm...well, now, there’s an idea.

Gior and Phyurio said they’d cause a commotion in the opposite direction from which I’d left, so that’s likely where the Knight’s focus will be. Of course, they’ll likely be spreading out and tightening security throughout the capital, but that can’t be done instantly.

Incidents like this in the capital are rare, so they’re likely not very experienced in handling situations like this...the sooner I get out of here, the easier it’ll be. If I give them enough time to respond properly to this, getting out will be very difficult, if not impossible.

The capital is surrounded by an outer wall too tall to climb over without being spotted, and there are eight gates that are manned by guards, usually lower ranked Knights.

The gates are located in each cardinal direction, as well as in the northwest, northeast, southwest and southeast. I think the closest gate to my current location is the northeast gate.

If I can get into a vehicle and barrel my way towards that gate at top speed, I’ll be able to escape in no time. It’s pretty high risk, though...all it’ll take is damage to a single tyre to put a wrench in that plan.

Should I play it safe, after all-...hm? I swiftly ducked behind a dumpster, as a nearby door swung open and a guy stepped out.

"Damn Nobles, nothing’s ever good enough for them...," I heard him grumble, as he headed over this way and tossed a bag into the dumpster, before trudging back to the door he’d come out of and slamming it shut.

Must be a Commoner hired to work at whatever store this is. I glanced into the dumpster out of curiosity to see what he’d thrown away. Oh, looks like fabric...and really high quality fabric, at that, it feels so nice to the touch. Haven’t felt anything like this since my previous life.

It’s probably a clothing store that he came out of. And the door he slammed shut, it didn’t close properly...the force of his slam must have prevented it from shutting, it was slightly ajar.

I quietly made my way over to it and peered in cautiously, looking around the area. It was a dimly lit room, and it took my eyes a few seconds to adjust.

Looks like the coast is clear. This seems to be a storage room at the back of the store, and there’s a closed door up ahead too. Good, it’s not in view of the main storefront.

I snuck inside and made my way over to the other door...nice, it’s got a bolt lock on it. Let’s just slide that into the groove, shall we? There we go, now if anyone tries to enter this room, I’ll have more than enough time to react and get away.

Now, then...there’s several shelves stacked with fabric in this room, but also a bunch of completed outfits, hanging in doorless closets. Yeah, imma steal a bunch of them.

Oh, awesome, they have shoes too. Good, my feet were getting really sore, I’ve been healing them constantly while on the move. Well, alrighty, then...time for a makeover...

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