As the trio strolled through a bustling commercial street, Cheeko the cat suddenly leaped out of Barrett's backpack, pausing in front of a small shop selling raw crystal stones.
The wooden crates, draped with a layer of white burlap, served as shelves displaying crystals of all sizes. Sunlight slanted down, making the stones shimmer with a dazzling glow. The shopkeeper, a dwarf with a bushy beard, was fiddling with a silver coin in his palm using a magnifying glass.
Cheeko snatched a pebble-sized crystal in its mouth and bolted, like a sneaky cat swiping a neighbor's sun-dried fish. The dwarf, fuming, puffed out his beard and glared, grabbing a short-handled hammer from his side and hurling it at Cheeko.
The heavy hammer whistled through the air toward the cat, only to be caught mid-flight by a fair, slender hand. The dwarf shopkeeper looked up to see EeDechi holding the hammer, while Barrett dangled Cheeko by the scruff of its neck in his hand.
Cheeko still had the crystal in its mouth, though it had already swallowed half. The dwarf took one look at its chubby, ball-like figure and the pitiful expression it wore after being caught red-handed, and half his anger melted away.
"This weird cat—your pet, huh? Looks like it's got a taste for crystals," the shopkeeper said with a grin. "Back when I was mining underground, I had a mole rat as a pet. It loved chowing down on chalcocite and was just as fat as this cat."
He glanced at Barrett and added, "Still, stealing's stealing. If you folks don't have the cash to pay for it, how about leaving this cat as collateral?"
EeDechi tossed a handful of gold coins to the dwarf shopkeeper. The dwarf dropped his magnifying glass and silver coin in a scramble, fumbling to catch the gold. He picked up one coin, bit it with his front teeth, leaving a jagged, clear imprint.
"Thanks, generous customer!" The dwarf shopkeeper waved goodbye to the three adventurers. "You're as big-hearted as the great Supreme Overlord himself."
"You like eating crystals?" Barrett asked, cradling Cheeko like he was holding a round ball.
Cheeko nodded honestly, and its belly suddenly turned more transparent. A faint blue glow of energy shimmered inside, swimming around like fish in its gut. Cheeko meowed a couple of times, looking like it wanted to grab a pen and write.
EeDechi pulled out paper, a quill, and an inkwell from her backpack. Cheeko chomped down on the pen and started scribbling:
{I've got a racial talent. If I swallow something alive, I can shift into a rough mimic of its shape. If I swallow something dead, I gain its magical power.
{A while back, I ate a cat, so my body turned into a cat. I've got a real thing for crystals. I'm the team's scribe now—can you pay me one crystal a month as my salary?}
"Salary?" EeDechi raised an eyebrow but nodded. "No problem, you'll get plenty of crystals. Just don't go snacking on anyone else's stash."
Cheeko gave a small nod, then squirmed a bit before writing another line: {Cats can't help stealing fish when they see it. When I spot a really gorgeous crystal, I can't hold myself back either.}
"This dumb cat's handwriting is that good?" Franco's face was full of disbelief. After chugging a bottle of greater vitality potion and half a bottle of stamina potion, he was back in action—waist no longer aching, legs no longer shaky, ready to bounce around like a kid again.
Cheeko tilted its head at him, clearly annoyed. Franco reached out and twisted its head straight. "What're you staring at, you stupid cat?"
"Don't call it 'stupid cat.'" EeDechi smacked Franco's hand away. "Your Justice Value's a measly 2. Its Justice Value is 386—that's 193 times higher than yours!"
"Oh, really?" Franco scoffed, grabbing Cheeko's tail. "This little fat cat's kinda cute, though. From now on, you're my familiar, got it? When I start rubbing elbows with high society, I'll bring you along and steal the hearts of a noble girls."
"Quit daydreaming." EeDechi packed up the pen and paper. "Let's go…"
Suddenly, a creepy feeling of being watched hit her, like someone was lurking in a corner, peering through a spyglass. EeDechi whipped around, eyes wide.
The wide street was nearly empty, with only a few scattered pedestrians. In a quiet shop, the owner dozed over the counter. At a fruit stand, the vendor lazily swatted mosquitoes with a soft rope. A satyr squatted in front of the fruit stall, and a kobold drove an empty open cart past. Nothing seemed off—everything was as still as a windless pond.
"That feeling of being followed again?" Barrett whispered, noticing EeDechi's odd movement.
EeDechi nodded, pulling her wide-brimmed felt hat a little lower.
If you ignored EeDechi's usual carefree attitude, her senses were razor-sharp when she was on high alert—sharper even than the seasoned Barrett.
"Can you spot the watcher?" Barrett asked.
EeDechi's disguise was his handiwork: her black hair dyed blonde, a common wide-brimmed felt hat hiding most of her face, a coarse cloth scarf wrapped around her neck and chin, and her usual black outfit swapped for plain, masculine clothes. Now, at first glance, EeDechi looked like an ordinary farm boy—poor enough that he couldn't afford a hat that fit right.
Even if you tossed EeDechi in front of Ainz, he'd probably have to squint and wonder who the hell she was. As a veteran adventurer, Barrett was damn proud of his disguise skills.
"I've got a gut feeling the stalker's human. But the humans around here? Their movements all seem normal," EeDechi said.
Back near the Dragon Zoo, EeDechi had felt that same creepy sensation of being watched. She thought she'd shaken the tail then, but now that feeling was back, clinging to her like a leech. A flicker of worry sparked in her chest.
"Doesn't feel like a scout from the Sorcerer Kingdom. If they suspected us, they'd have searched us by now," Barrett mused. "Could it be someone from the Slane Theocracy? Maybe that spy Vaelynn sniffed out earlier is hunting you down."
"The folks from the Slane Theocracy probably wouldn't recognize me, right?" EeDechi said hesitantly. "Don't forget, I've got that magic seal item. One of its passives is 'immune to all magical detection.' The only way to spot me is with plain old eyesight."
"Your wanted poster is plastered all over the streets of the Re-Estize Kingdom," Barrett said in a low voice. "But you've got a point. Relying on a crude sketch from a bounty notice to find someone in disguise is like trying to find a fleck of gold in a pile of sand. More importantly, nobody would expect us to waltz right into E-Rantel, the heart of the Sorcerer Kingdom."
"How about I cast a mass confusion spell?" Franco slid his wand into his palm.
"Using magic will only draw more attention," Barrett said, quickening his pace. "We're sure it's not the Sorcerer Kingdom's scouts tailing us. Let's hit the teleportation array and get out of this city—jump straight to the Slane Theocracy. No tracker's following us through that."
The trio picked up their pace, weaving through bustling streets and slipping into the narrowest alleys. With Barrett leading and a map in his hand, getting lost wasn't an option.
Barrett glanced at the map for a moment, then said thoughtfully, "Maybe we should bring in Vaelynn, that elf ranger. We're missing a sharpshooter for ranged skirmishes and someone to handle scouting and lookouts."
"No way!" EeDechi and Franco shot back in unison, their refusal sharp as a blade.
"We can't drag regular people into our fight," EeDechi said, explaining her stance.
"Vaelynn's got too much stamina, and she's way too energetic. Her pace doesn't match ours, and she'd throw off my rhythm in a fight," Franco said flatly.
"Your stamina's kinda lacking, isn't it?" Barrett said, his tone carrying a hint of a jab.
Franco coughed. "Look, as a mage, I spend my time unraveling the mysteries of magic. It's normal for my physical stats to be a bit weak. Thanks to my bloodline, I've got solid resistance and self-healing, but if someone gets up close and ties me up in melee, I'm screwed. You guys better have my back when that happens."