Professional Stalker on Our Date (1)

"Jun," Grill tossed a gold coin as he passed.

"What?"

"Follow them, and then report anything unusual to me."

Without hearing Jun's complaint, Grill, together with the party of 6, walked away.

"Sheesh, you want me to follow them? What for," with a sigh, Jun chucked the coin into his pocket and got up. He muttered to himself, as he watched the pair finish up their errands at the counter, "If that's what you wish for."

Jun was a mage-assassin class adventurer. One of his skills was [Surround Camouflage (A)], which simply turned him invisible. It didn't matter what kind of clothes he wore, or the kinds of magic buffs he had on his body, this skill would hide it from the others. Even certain monsters would have trouble sensing his presence if he stood still. Unless the girl had some insane spatial sense, he trusted that he wouldn't be found out.

Why the girl? Because just before the adventurer was knocked into a coma-like state, her mana spiked to a dangerous level. He wondered what kind of passive spell would require such a large amount of mana.

They sashayed towards the west gate, as couples would, they held hands and flirted with each other. Surrounding passerbys would give them an awkward look when they passed.

There was much to say about this scene besides how carefree the two looked.

If Jun remembered correctly, they took a simple quest of picking the Rochert berries. It was a type of red berry used in potion crafting and was hard to find, especially during the winter. Though, if you found one, it would be conspicuous because of the colour.

However, the fact that they acted in such a sweet manner made Jun feel that something was off. They should be more serious with they're work shouldn't they? What was it that made them confident?

They passed the gate after greeting the guards on stand-by.

"Hm? Good to see you here Jun-dono, what brings you here today? No adventurers this time?" one of the guards who Jun was familiar with, Douglas, gave him a heads up.

"Nothing much, I was given a task to complete so I need to go..

"Alright, you looked rushed, hurry on."

He let Jun pass, Jun thanked with a nod.

"Where did they..." he clicked his tongue. He forgot to anticipate the refugee camp that had grown in size.

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"Huh.. we lost him?"

"It seems so. I didn't think a weak barrier like this would be effective against him," Liliath said.

I mean yeah.. he was being all-ninja with his weird optical camouflage skill. If it weren't for the map we'd have no clue he was following us. Liliath may know but.. even she said his presence was rather hard to perceive.

Anyways, now we've lost him, there's no way to toy with him anymore.. heh. Looks like he's waiting outside the gate. We still have a chance later don't we?

Liliath and I went through the process of a quick hunt. I manage to take on a small pack of 3 frost goblins with ease this time around. By 'with ease', I'm saying that I'm getting a little better. No more running around like some kid.

Then we came upon a blue snake-like creature, a spider the side of my head, and a mother slime with the baby slimes following behind her?

Okay, that's cute.

"Ah, it's going to become prey," Liliath said.

"Is that.. a Kuffball?"

A small round furball-- a wild Kuffball appeared.

To be honest, a Kuffball looks like an egg-shaped yeti.

"Gurururururr," it rubbed its hands together in a sinister manner.

"Should we just let it be?" I watched as the mother slime went the other direction.

"Perhaps we do this instead?" Liliath said.

The Kuffball charged forwards, the baby slimes quickly hid behind the mother slime. With its claws, it tried to tear into the body but..

Boing!

At a tactical retreat and rolled backwards into the snow.

"DEF stat 100000," so that's what it does.

"What if we set the HP to a million and return the DEF to normal?"

The Kuffball shook its body like a dog, spraying white everywhere and charged once again. This time, it tore through the flesh of the slime.

"Yikes.."

"It seems HP only does so much," Liliah frowned at the result.

The slime's Vitality went from 88% to 0% in one attack. That's because the Kuffball broke the core in one go.

I guess it makes sense. Destroy the vital points that's the end.

The baby slimes that lost their mothers quivered and scattered. I felt my heart sting at the sight.

Maybe we should've saved the slime after all..

The Kuffball, celebrating its victory, walked away with it's two skinny legs. The way its butt shook at every step was an eyesore, so I killed it by throwing the spear I got from the most recent goblin loot after equipping [Throw (S)].

I think I'm starting to get used to killing things now.

"Liliath, quick question, monsters propagate normally right? Sexual reproduction and all?"

"Yes,"

"Then why did the Kuffball kill the mother slime? Or maybe I should ask.. can the slime not be eaten?" the goo continued to spread on the ground.

"Slimes.. that I'm not particularly sure. Perhaps to some species, slimes are a food source. The ecosystem of this world was something I'm not too knowledgeable about."

"Oh well. It's alright.."

As for goblins, it's because there's a settlement nearby. By logic, it's good to wipe them out for good but-- it would affect the ecosystem. A while back, I remember seeing a goblin dead on a large patch of spider web.

Gulp.

But damn, I really pity those slimes. I can't believe we just used the mother slime as a guinea pig. Ugh.. feels bad.

We found the red berries, and also found a mushroom. Liliath and I took turns poking the cap because of how beautiful it looked. It looks like diamonds but it's soft. Appraisal says it's not toxic.

Well.. let's be honest here. You know nature's call is unavoidable out in the wild. Now that I think about it, we're lucky the guy didn't follow us all the way here. If not I'll have to [Absolute End] him.

"We haven't really explored the north gate haven't we?" I asked nobody, but I also expect Liliath to answer. Which she did.

"The North gate.. the northern area of the kingdom houses various mechanical industries and research sites?" Liliath pulled up the system map.

About the system map, Unknown did some great work for me and added a CommandCenter widget. Basically, I made it like a virus that tagged any 'friendlies' that passed by and they would fill up the blank areas for me. If anyone used [Appraisal] of any form to check the 'friendlies' stats, the [widget:tethered] skill would disappear. Though there are still blank spots here and there, a lot of Erudite Kingdom has been covered.

Erudite Kingdom is built at the very Southeast region of the continent. Which also means the directions of the south and east are covered in sea. That's why seafood is a norm here.. and also why you could see flying sea creatures around every now and then..

Asides that, I think having the capital of the empire built at this spot is.. how should I put it. Just plain weird? It's like backed against the wall.

'Prune's Special Quest completed'

Huh. That's fast. No wonder she wanted to go to the orphanage.

'What quest was it?' I asked.

'She kissed a frog,' Nine replied.

Liliath and I gave each other a confused look. She kissed the 'Princess'?

"Right. In regards to the high elf. Are we really to not do anything? We do have the teleportation widget don't we?" Liliath asked.

"Mm…"

True. If we seriously wanted, we could just spend 300 points to teleport Laura to Erudite kingdom and tell her to chase her Oppa. And if we spent 400 points, we could send her straight into his arms.

"We'll see? I don't know if we want to spend those points. It's like the price of a lot of exotic tea you could try."

Liliath pouted a frown. I wanted to laugh.

We returned after killing another hoppin or two.

He was still at the gate.

I wondered if it's a good idea to let him find us or should we just pass him by using the concealment barrier? We still hadn't had our share of bullying have we?

"What do you think Liliath?"

"I thought we'd make his life hard," She tilted her head cutely.

I think it's time to get serious then--

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The couple finally returned from the trip. Jun heaved a sigh. For a moment he thought he had actually lost them. If that were the case, Grill would've absolutely grilled him for his shitty work.

They passed the gate once more.

"So, how did it go?"

"Just fine.."

"Any good spoils this time around?"

"Sorry, I'm still busy.."

"Huh? What quest are you taking exactly?"

"Can't disclose, just let me in can you?!"

"Fine, fine," with a grin, Douglas stepped aside.

Jun was afraid he would lose them again this time around if he wasn't careful. Unable to trace their movements in the crowd, he quickly ran to the guild.

Just as Grill had said, their presences were weak. Jun wasn't sure if it was because it was part of their nature, or that his skills had gotten rusty.

They had just finished exchanging their spoils for some money. After which they went to have a small lunch by the guild's tavern. Jun found that he himself was hungry, so he ordered a set as he observed the two.

"What have you found so far?" Grill, his face hidden under the hood sat down next to him.

"No, nothing suspicious," Jun replied, trying his best to keep his cool.

"Did you see them fight? How was their coordination?"

"Is this fee for the whole day?"

"Yes. Don't dodge the question," Grill glared.

"I lost them."

"Runt."

"I lost them ookay?! They probably have some magic to reduce their presence.."

"It happened to me last time. But are you certain about that?" Grill jerked his chin. Jun turned to the two.

"Say ah~"

"Um.. kay.."

The guy was being fed by the girl little pieces of wheat bread. Her smile was as bright as the sun, simply awe-inspiring. You could hear the male adventurers in the room grounding their teeth in frustration. The female adventurers held their cheeks and looked away.

What a pink space.

Jun bit his lips. Even though he was already 36 years old, he still hadn't found a girl he could call his.

"Make sure to do your work properly. Whichever it is, tell me if you notice anything suspicious," Grill said in a cold voice before leaving, not before stealing one of the wheat bread on Jun's plate.