Port

Although Sigma was suspicious of Rose, and he didn't want to share the secret behind his powers with anyone, he could feel that Ed, Eclair, and Sabrina weren't people that he needed to be wary of. At least he couldn't see them planning anything since they were the naive ones for inviting a stranger to sleep at their house.

"You don't look particularly thrilled at the idea of working with us for a while longer?" Sabrina asked while they headed to the headquarters.

"No," Sigma replied.

"At least you are honest about it…" Sabrina said while forcing a smile. "I know that you have some tricks up your sleeve, but I still can tell that you aren't strong enough to travel alone."

"That seems to be the case, isn't it?" Sigma asked.

"And yet, you don't feel concerned about it," Sabrina said. "Why?"

"Strength and power are too different things. Besides, they aren't the only things that can determine the outcome of a fight," Sigma replied. "There are numerous ways to approach a problem, even more so if you have enough cards in your hands and time to use all of them accordingly."

That made sense, but Sabrina and the others didn't know the cards that Sigma had, so they couldn't imagine how he would be able to deal with certain situations, even the most basic ones like problems against numbers. In any case, they will have time to see why Sigma was so confident.

When they reached the headquarters, they found Rose still lying down in the same position they found her two days ago. This time, though, she was sleeping while snoring. Sigma furrowed his eyebrows… that woman told them to come early, and she still was sleeping two hours after sunrise. Still, all of a sudden, she opened her eyes.

"Oh, you are all here already…" Rose said and then yawned before scratching the back of her head. "I considered what you said yesterday and decided to repay for the favor. I am not entirely sure you are someone that we can trust, but debts must be paid."

Rose looked behind them toward one of the guards that usually stay at the entrance of the building, and then the guy approached and gave Ed a map of the continent. It was a bit too simple, but she was expecting that he would complete it as they traveled toward the other cities.

"Under normal circumstances, you would have to travel for ten days to cross the distance between one city to the other, but monsters are starting to separate us from the other cities," Rose explained. "Ed told me yesterday that you were planning to hunt the Verdiris and the dual-headed hyenas. The hyenas should be easy, but the Verdiris increased in number tremendously in the last few weeks."

Sigma looked at Ed, and he explained that he didn't hear of that because he wasn't involved with that area, so Rose didn't inform him. In any case, Sigma studied the map once Ed passed it to him, and then he found that the cities that were still standing were pretty, forming a circle that was more or less of the same shape as the continent. It was a bit hexagonal… the map also showed the distance between the cities and the ocean, and it didn't look like the continent was more than two hundred kilometers across. It was very small…

"You will find large concentrations of monsters in the red marks and in the areas with the interrogation marks. There is a high possibility that demons have camped there," Rose added.

There were several question marks and dozens of red ones. There were plenty on the path between the cities, but Sigma also noticed that there was a lot more on the Eastern side of the continent than they were on the western side.

"Why are there so many groups on the other side of the continent?" Sigma asked.

"It looks like there is a port there, and a lot of people from outside would come using it," Rose furrowed her eyebrows. "The demons are controlling that area to make sure that no army will arrive and come to fight them."

"Even after this many years, they are worried about that?" Sigma asked. "Did many people come from outside and try to help? How is civilization beyond this continent? Is there any ship left that could be used for transportation?"

"Yes. I don't know, and I don't know, and… I don't know," Rose shrugged. "We have our hands tied up here already, and we don't have the leisure to worry about the other areas. At least with so many enemies there, we can rest easy for a while since it will be a problem if all the enemies there decide to look for the survivors here and in all other cities."

That seemed to be the case, but something was off… if they used their numbers, they should be able to accomplish all that in less than one month, so why didn't they do it?

"Ed, Eclair, and Sabrina are going with you to help you on the search for this girl that you are looking for and affirm that you aren't exactly an enemy," Rose added. "They also are going to talk with the other leaders and pass another message."

"I suppose I shouldn't know about the contents of the second message," Sigma said while closing the map.

"It is fine by me. If you ask nicely, I will tell you," Rose showed a smug smile.

"Nah, I am fine," Sigma said and then turned. "Let's get going."

"You are no fun," Rose shrugged. "Anyway, good luck on your journey, and bring back my members in one piece."

"The likelihood of me returning here is pretty low if I find her or not," Sigma said. "Still, I will think about it if I am in a good mood at the time."