Surprise Visitor

Using the information gained from the mother slime, Theodore was able to form a map in his mind. To his dismay, however, there were problems with the said map, but for the moment, it was sufficient in helping him find another route out of the sewers that did not involve going through the locked doors and the hidden room.

With the help of the map he formed in his head, Theodore was able to make it back to Kalman's workshop within the night.

Upon his return, Theodore cleaned, ate some late-night snacks, and went to bed. He'll discuss his findings with the others the next morning.

Or so he thought he would.

However, in the morning, a visitor suddenly arrived at the doorsteps of Kalman's workshop. Fortunately, they completed the compiling of the Albatross Notes a few days ago and weren't at risk of being caught. By this point, the documents were safely tucked away in Kalman's study upstairs. Theodore had no problems with it, as he would have no need for them once he leaves this city. Kalman, on the other hand, should find it much more useful and won't likely try to mess with it in any way.

Regardless, the visitor was a face, or rather, a mask Theodore had not seen for a long while. It was Annaliese, who Theodore thought had long forgotten him.

"Long time no see, Theodore. How have you been?"

"Fine, but mostly bored. How long do I have to stay here? I've been stuck here for over two months now and it's killing me."

The first thing Theodore did when he saw Annaliese was complain. It was as if he's speaking to an aunt that he'd see every now and then. Part of it was because Theodore had to act as if he had truly been stuck in these grounds and not, say, sneaking around and stealing from here and there. That said, even before he began to take action, he had wanted to vent his frustration of being trapped to Annaliese. She was the one who brought him to this place, after all.

"It wasn't my call to make, so there's no use complaining to me," Annaliese retorted, shrugging as she spoke.

Theodore stomped his foot onto the ground in protest, making it known that he was most displeased. Truth be told, Theodore would not even act as spoiled as this back when he was still living at the temple, yet somehow, with Annaliese, he felt at ease to do so.

"Besides, why do they have to stick me in this place anyways? I get that the elders don't fully believe in my story, but it can't be that hard to keep an eye on me as long as I'm in the city, right?"

"Well, I'm sure the elders have their own reasoning."

"That doesn't answer anything! Well, whatever, one of these days I'll sneak out on my own!" said Theodore, acting as if that's not what he's been doing for the past few nights.

"If you're really going do it, then you wouldn't be saying it out loud now, would you?"

"Who knows, I just might."

Theodore began to pout, his arms crossed. He was acting rather childish, like a ten-year-old. Even Theodore himself wasn't sure if this was all truly just his acting or if this was a part of his ten-year-old self.

"Now, now, don't trouble Annaliese too much," Fiana, who had been watching on the side, chimed in. She was quite terrified that Theodore might tip Annaliese off on what they were doing. "It's not something she could help either."

Fiana also found it uncanny that Theodore could just revert to a ten-year-old on a whim. She had gotten so used to Theodore as the Demon Lord that it was odd seeing Theodore acting his age like before. Then again, Fiana hasn't exactly been speaking with him all that much these days, not since Kalman exposed him as the Demon Lord reincarnate.

"I can't change the Circle's decision, that much is no lie," said Annaliese, "but it's not as if I can't do anything either."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Fiana was surprised by what Annaliese was saying. She didn't think that there would be any leeway in the Circle's decision.

Theodore as well raised his eyebrows in curiosity and his eyes were wide with expectation.

"I figured that you might be bored and frustrated. So, I made a few arrangements. Of course, I needed to send in a request to the Archmage which took quite a while to go through, but I've received permission to take you outside for a day."

"Wait! Are you serious? I get to go outside!?"

And during the day no less. No need for sneaking about.

"Just for today, and only within the city. I can't take you outside the walls, unfortunately."

"Are you sure it's fine?" asked Fiana. "I thought that he was here because he might attract the wrong sort of attention from others due to the special treatment he had received. Is it really okay to take him outside?"

Perhaps Fiana was just being paranoid, but she couldn't help but feel that there was something more to this, especially since this was right after the night Theodore had destroyed a mother slime.

"No need for worries," said Annaliese, her voice reassuring. "I've prepared a countermeasure for that."

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End of Chapter 104

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