-1641- Stop prying

Night.

When everyone else had already fallen asleep, Rozen and Suguha both put on their FullDive devices and once again descended onto the land known as ALfheim.

"So? All refreshed after your bath?"

Rozen asked Leafa.

But Leafa's reaction was somewhat strange.

"O-O-Of… Of course…!"

Leafa seemed as if she felt guilty about something and couldn't bring herself to look at Rozen's face. Her eyes wandered, her cheeks flushed, and she looked extremely flustered.

For a brief moment, her gaze fell on Rozen's lips, and then her face turned even redder. She quickly turned away, even shifting her whole body to look behind her, clearly avoiding eye contact with him.

"What's wrong?"

Rozen was confused.

No matter how perceptive he might be, Rozen couldn't understand everything unless he fully mastered Mind's Eye, which, in its perfected form, could reveal the past, present, and future of everything. Expecting Rozen to read Leafa's thoughts from just her reaction would be asking too much.

And naturally, Leafa wouldn't let Rozen know what was on her mind.

"No... Nothing at all!"

Leafa clumsily tried to cover up.

"Are you sure?"

Rozen looked at her suspiciously.

"I'm sure!" Leafa snapped, glaring at him angrily. "It's a girl thing, so stop prying and let's get going!"

With that, Leafa spread her wings and hurriedly took off into the sky.

"What's that about?"

Rozen rolled his eyes but didn't ask further. He spread his wings too, soaring into the blue sky.

The two of them crossed an ancient forest and entered a grassland area glowing with golden-green light.

Along the way, they encountered no monsters, eventually reaching a mountainous area and heading for a towering, snow-capped peak.

"See that mountain?" Leafa pointed at it and said, "That mountain is really tall, higher than the flight ceiling. To get across, we can't fly over it; we have to go through a cave."

The most challenging part of traveling from Sylph territory to Alne was here.

"The cave is pretty long, and there's even a neutral city inside it, called the Mining City—Legrue."

Leafa explained as they flew.

"Legrue isn't as massive as the Gnome capital's subterranean fortress, but because it produces high-quality ores, many merchants and blacksmiths live there. But for us, the cave is not exactly ideal."

This was because, although the cave was spacious in width and height, sunlight and moonlight—the source of energy for flight—couldn't penetrate it. This meant that the fairies' wings wouldn't be able to recharge inside.

Even if the cave wasn't teeming with monsters, for players who relied on aerial combat, the restrictions were still considerable.

Especially for Sylph players, who excelled in flying, many of them disliked entering this flight-restricted area.

Thus, Sylph players who wanted to visit Alne for sightseeing or business, even if it took extra time, usually traveled north through Cait Sith territory, bypassing the mountain range.

"Our relationship with the Cait Sith is very good," Leafa said. "They specialize in the Beast Tamer skill, allowing them to tame monsters and animals. They often provide us with tamed animals as mounts, and our leaders have a deep friendship. There's even a rumor that our two races might officially ally soon."

This would undoubtedly be a significant event for all of ALO.

If the Sylph and Cait Sith formed an alliance, their combined forces could resist the aggressive Salamanders and no longer be subjected to their bullying.

Because of this, both Sylph and Cait Sith are taking this alliance seriously, and interactions between them have become more frequent.

"I have a few Cait Sith friends, too, and when I decided to go to Alne, I thought about taking the northern route."

Here, Leafa glanced at Rozen somewhat irritably.

"But you're in a hurry, aren't you? You don't want to take so much time, right?"

She seemed sure of this.

"You have keen insight."

Rozen shrugged, acknowledging the fact.

While he wasn't exactly frantic, Rozen did want to avoid wasting time on a detour.

If possible, he wanted to uncover this world's secrets and locate Asuna as quickly as he could. Playing the game was secondary; a bit of enjoyment was fine, but once he rescued Asuna, he could play to his heart's content.

So, if Leafa suggested an alternative route, Rozen would have declined and chosen this one.

Leafa understood this, which was why she chose this route directly.

"Since we're going this way, we'd better be prepared for a long journey." Leafa advised, "Once inside the cave, we won't be able to fly. It's better to save our flight time for when it's really needed. If we run out of flight time, the hovering limit will kick in, and in the cave, where there's no sunlight or moonlight, our wings won't recharge."

In other words, once inside, Rozen and Leafa would have to walk through the cave.

"Look, we're here."

With Leafa's guidance, they arrived at the base of the white mountain range.

The white mountain range towered like a natural barrier, blocking all players' paths.

Midway up, there was a large cave exuding a chilling aura.

Around the cave were menacing monster carvings, with a huge demon head protruding above the entrance, glaring down at intruders.

"This is the only path from Sylph territory to Alne—the Legrue Corridor."

Leafa looked at Rozen.

"It's quite cool inside, but the visibility is low, and most of the monsters are beastmen. We just need to follow the map we bought in Swilvane. It'll take us to a bridge over an underground lake, and once we cross it, we'll be in the underground mining city, Legrue."

Leafa planned to rest there briefly, repair her equipment, restock on supplies, and then continue on to Alne.

"For now, let's let our wings rest and recharge completely before we enter."

Leafa shared her plan with Rozen.

"Got it."

Rozen nodded, agreeing to her plan.

But a moment later, he frowned slightly, turning his head to look behind him.

"What's wrong?"

Leafa asked instinctively, a bit surprised.

"…It's nothing."

Rozen didn't answer immediately but stared at the rear for a while, his gaze flickering before casually looking away and responding to Leafa's question.

Seeing this, Leafa didn't press any further.

The two of them engaged in idle conversation, and once their wings had fully recharged, they entered the cave, heading deep inside.

No one noticed that shortly after Rozen and Leafa entered the cave, a group of players appeared there.

"Let's go."

At their leader's command, the group rushed into the cave, pursuing Rozen and Leafa.