Claire's thrust was so fast that her blade became nearly invisible, save for a faint glint of moonlight reflected off it. However, I had kind of expected this reaction to me pocketing her panties, so I immediately dove to the side the moment I saw her twitch a single muscle.

But even with that pre-emptive dodge, the sharp tip of her sword missed my side by mere centimeters. She was just that fast.

As I landed, I rolled to get back into a standing position, and drew my own sword as I faced the daughter of the esteemed House Symphonia once more.

Claire eyed me coldly, as if looking at prey. "I see you're as lucky as ever, but don't expect that luck to hold forever. I'm only holding back just enough to not kill you, and I won't fall for any of your tricks either. If you surrender now, you'll save yourself quite a few stab wounds."

After delivering those lines that sounded a bit too sinister for a princess's retainer, she took up a proper fighting stance. I raised my sword, but I knew it was a pointless act. There's no way I'm ever beating this woman in a fair swordfight.

I raised my free hand–

Slash

I hurriedly jumped back, but not before Claire's sword traced a thin red line on my arm.

"I told you already, your clever tricks aren't going to work anymore. No matter what skill or spell you try to use, I'll stop them all."

She started to slowly approach me. I tried to step back, but found that my back was already up against the barrier.

"Um, Claire, you know I only did what I did for Iris's sake, right?"

Claire paused for a moment. "... I know that. Even I can figure out that much."

She then glared at me. "But what you've done risks destroying the very authority of the royal family itself!"

"So what? I just wanted to HELP my precious sister. If someone I care about NEEDS HELP, even I will spring into action!"

"And there you go again! Calling Iris-sama your sister, getting her to keep secrets from me... you're too dangerous to be allowed to roam free outside a dungeon!"

And now her true feelings have surfaced. She raised her sword, poised to strike. At the same time, I saw a flash of silver hair outside the window. Looks like Chris got my message, but it might be too late to save me–

———!

With a sound like glass shattering, the impenetrable barrier suddenly disintegrated into a million pieces before vanishing altogether.

Claire froze in shock. "How–"

"Bind!" Chris jumped through the window and trapped Claire with her rope before she was noticed.

"Gah! You– so you were here too, mysterious Boss!" Claire struggled, but the rope bindings were very secure. I've experienced Boss's Bind myself so I can vouch for its effectiveness.

Chris didn't respond, instead quickly tying a gag around Claire's mouth. She then stepped closer to me and whispered.

"Hurry and grab your stuff, we need to get out of here before her backup arrives."

I pulled open my wardrobe, then triggered the mechanism to open the false back, where I kept my emergency money. "Thanks for the bail-out. By the way, how'd you find the barrier-killing item so fast?"

"E-Eh? Ah, well... I was just lucky, I guess?"

Well, that answer wasn't suspicious at all. But like Chris said, we're short on time. I gave her the money bag, then I pulled out the unsecured planks in my floor, revealing a hidden space where I stored my prototype inventions. I then shoved them all in a second bag I brought.

With the two packages secured and Claire's muffled cursing following us, Chris and I leapt back out the window, shimmying down the rope.

"Come on, this way, Assistant-kun!"

Chris practically dragged me through the alleys of Axel. After leaving my mansion, I took a nap at our camp outside town. A few hours after sunrise, I was suddenly shaken awake by Chris, who seemed very excited to show me something. When we reached the end of an alley near the center of town, she stopped and turned to me.

"So, Assistant-kun, this is going to be our hideout from now on!"

Chris flourished her arms as she presented me with... a mansion. It wasn't a small mansion, either. On the contrary, it was so large that it made my old mansion seem like a regular-sized house. Not to mention it was right in the middle of Axel.

"Oi, Boss, there's no way we can afford this mansion, is there?"

Chris smiled smugly.

"Of course not! That's why we'll be using it without permission! Don't worry, it's been unowned for years, and there's no one in the market for such a large property in this beginner adventurer's town."

"Wouldn't it be hard to come and leave without being seen, though?"

"You'd think so, but I did my research when choosing a place. I discovered that the noble who originally had this place built decades ago had a forbidden romance with a commoner female adventurer, and used to meet her secretly. He got away with it for years until he was caught. When I heard that story, I figured he must've had some sort of secret exit if he hid his rendezvouses for that long despite living in such an exposed location."

She pushed aside an old crate that was sitting in the alley, then stepped forcefully on a large cobblestone on the ground. There was a click, then a section of the wall close to the ground swung open. The opening was hidden from outside the alley by the crate.

She turned to me and grinned.

"And sure enough, I found it!"

"When did you have the time to research all this? I was only asleep for a few hours."

She puffed out her chest with a prideful expression.

"Your Boss is just that amazing! Well, that, and I also have some very special sources of intel. Now, come on!"

She ducked into the tunnel, then waved me in. I followed, and was surprised to find that past the low opening, the tunnel had standing room. I guess it makes sense that a noble wouldn't want to crouch-walk or crawl a long distance. The tunnel descended immediately past the opening, with stairs heading straight down, then once it reached below street level, it leveled out and turned toward the mansion.

Once I was inside, Chris indicated a button on the wall.

"And this is how we close and open it from the inside!"

Chris hit the button, and the opening swung shut. Leaving us both in total darkness.

"Um, Boss, I thought you didn't have any night vision skills."

"... I don't."

I can't see color too well with my night vision, but I got the impression that Chris was blushing in embarrassment. The eager Boss getting all flustered after acting so smug is cute.

I had the urge to tease her, but before I could say anything, she suddenly turned to me and held out her hand.

"It would be bad if I tripped down the stairs, so I'll have to bring a lantern in the future, but for now, please lead me, Assistant-kun."

I could clearly see her smug grin returning. Dammit, that's just unfair, doing that when I wanted to be the one to tease her. I can't win against Boss, can I?

Well, so be it.

"Alright then."

Trying to hide my own embarrassment, I took her hand and starting leading her down the stairs. Even through her glove, I could feel the warmth of her hand. It wasn't as warm as my face felt, though.

"..."

"..."

We went through the entire tunnel in silence. I was a bit surprised that Chris didn't try to tease me more.

At the end of the tunnel, we encountered a ladder, so unfortunately I had to let go of Chris's hand. At the top of the ladder was a wooden door. I pushed it open, and we found ourselves in a massive bedroom, which I presumed was our noble predecessor's. Glancing back, I could see that the door was disguised to look like the wood paneling running around the walls. I wasn't sure how it would open from the inside.

The bedroom itself was very nice, albeit dusty and unfurnished aside from the bed. I sat on it and tested the mattress.

"Hm... this is actually pretty great. I guess you don't need to buy me a new bed after all, Boss."

Chris stood with her arms crossed, smirking at me.

"Why, Assistant-kun, it sounds like you're claiming the master bedroom to yourself."

"Oh, so you didn't realize it yet, Boss?"

Her smirk faded a bit.

"Didn't realize what?"

I pointed to the entrance to the tunnel.

"We can't use the front door, so the only way for us to leave is via that tunnel. In other words, if you take this room, then that means I'll be passing through your bedroom anytime I want to leave."

"Isn't that fine?"

"Eh?"

"After all, I know you're a shut-in who won't leave this mansion unless he has to. Darkness told me all about it. The only time you'll ever leave is when we decide to do a thieving group job. Am I wrong?"

"... okay, fine then. You can have this room. Just remember that there's a risk of me accidentally walking in on you changing or something, and it wouldn't be my fault at all, so you'll have no right to attack me for it. If you're okay with that, you're free to have this room."

"... I mean, you could at least knock."

"And risk waking you if you're sleeping? Absolutely not! Now, I'm off to pick out my bedroom."

With that decided, I left the room to explore the mansion some more.

The second biggest bedroom turned out to be nearly as impressive, with a bed that wouldn't lose to the other one, so at the very least I'll be a comfortable shut-in in the near future.

I picked out a good hiding place for my prototype inventions, along with the ring and priceless treasure I've been carrying since the castle raid, then wandered around for a while. As I observed earlier, this place is far bigger than where my party lives. It's... actually a bit concerning. Since the mansion wasn't in use, it was filled with dust, and I can't imagine keeping the entire place clean with just the two of us.

What's that? I should have plenty of time to clean while I'm being a shut-in here? Don't be ridiculous. In this situation, there is only one solution, and that is to get a maid! Not that I have any idea how we'll find one.

On the ground floor, I found the dining hall, and then, adjacent to it, the kitchen. It was impressive, much like the rest of the house. I could make good use of my Cooking skill here.

Only problem was, there were no ingredients.

I went back upstairs and threw open the door. Chris had her pajama shirt on and her shorts were halfway down her legs.

"Oi, Boss, time to hit up that black market you told me about. I can cook, but we need to stock up on ingredients."

Chris silently pulled her shorts back up. She then grabbed her dagger, and started walking towards me.

"H-Hey, I told you this might happen, didn't I? You knew the risks of taking this room! Hey, lower the dagger!!"

I turned and ran into the hallway, but Chris caught and tackled me almost immediately. She straddled my back while pressing the tip of her dagger against my neck.

"Oh, sorry, Assistant-kun. Sometimes I just slip and fall and accidentally stab perverts. It's a risk of living with me, but if you're okay with that, you're free to stay in this mansion, alright?"

"I completely understand. I promise. I'll knock every time."

Chris sighed, then released me and stood up.

"Actually, you did have a point; it would be annoying if I got woken up. It'd be easier if I just screened off a changing area for myself. But anyway, I haven't slept at all since last night, so just make do with some jerky for now, okay? Once I wake up, I'll take you someplace good."

Once Chris was rested and ready to go, we took the tunnel out to the alley. It turns out there's a hidden switch behind the bed that pops the hidden door out. By the way, we still didn't have a lantern, so I held Chris's hand again. It felt less warm this time, but maybe that was just my imagination.

Once outside, Chris led me through the back alleyways of the town, going deeper and deeper into what seemed like an endless maze. It was a side of the town I never even knew existed.

We eventually came to a tavern. It had a dirty exterior, and even though it was still early afternoon, there was the sound of clinking glasses, jaunty music, and raucous laughter from within. Yep, this definitely screams thieves' den.

Chris turned to me.

"Watch everything I do very carefully. You'll need to know how to enter this place on your own."

I nodded, and Chris led me inside.

That trope from cowboy movies where as soon as the protagonist enters a saloon, the music stops and all the occupants stare at him... didn't happen. The drinkers kept drinking and the musicians kept playing.

Chris led me over to the bar, where a surprisingly gentlemanly-looking old man was wiping a mug. He glanced up at us, and although he didn't make any overt reactions, I thought I saw a light of familiarity in his eyes when he saw Chris. As we sat, he spoke first.

"It's a fine night tonight."

Chris tapped the countertop with her finger.

"Yeah, it's not too hot yet. What's on tap today?"

The bartender placed the mug on the counter.

"Aside from the usual, we've got Dark Crimson Beer, Winter Shogun's Breath, and a new shipment of Dragonclaw Lager that just came in from Brydle."

Chris picked up the mug, inspecting it.

"I don't suppose you have anything stronger? I heard there's a special brew you've been serving lately."

She placed it back down.

The bartender shrugged.

"Follow me to the back and I'll show you what else we have."

He left the bar and went through a door in the back, and we followed, finding ourselves in a stairway heading downwards. As we walked behind him, Chris nudged me and whispered.

"So, did you catch all that just now?"

I nodded.

"I need to ask for the special brew, right?"

I looked at her for confirmation... and found a very disappointed expression on her face.

"Uwah... to think you can't even follow simple instructions. You're not going to survive in the underworld at this rate."

"E-Eh!? Wait, so was it the part about asking what's on tap? Or–"

"Explaining it is against the rules. You have to learn yourself. Well, I'll come back here with you later to give you another chance. For now, pay attention. We're here."

The bartender was holding open a door at the bottom of the stairs, and as Chris and I entered, we found ourselves in a large, open room, with tables, another bar, a bulletin board, a receptionist counter– wait, is this–

Chris grinned.

"By the look on your face, it seems like you've figured it out. Assistant-kun, welcome to the Thief's Guild, Axel Branch!"