Returning Home

The day after the Astur and the others raided the Treasury, they still haven't left the city. Spending their time in the hotel, the three of them are lazing around. Due to their recent actions, every exit is currently under lockdown.

As they are eating lunch, an uncountable amount of spiders crawl out from the vents and various other crevices, converging near the door into a humanoid figure.

"... I think I lost my appetite," Ystur says, putting her utensils down.

"Illsrvati, can't you come in through the door like a normal person?" Astur asks.

"It doesn't matter. Besides, entering like this has a bit more impact than knocking on the door and waiting for someone to let me in," Illsrvati says.

"Hmm… true," Astur shrugs, "So are you here to join us now that you've lost the bet?"

"I haven't quite lost yet. You've still to escape from the city. Remaining idle in this hotel can hardly be considered getting away. But I must say, I am surprised that you managed to escape from that chase, especially after making a mistake with that car of yours that you paid so much to repair."

Astur's ears twitched, "As long as you don't mention that we can still be friends."

"Right, anyways, the fog outside is your doing, isn't it? It's only a matter of time before the stunts you pulled the other day are traced back to you. And the fog has been catching quite a bit of attention from certain people, such as the high command of the military and the coalition against you."

"If the city is left in ruins within a couple of days, I blame you for telling the police about us," Astur says.

"Even if I don't, it wouldn't be difficult for them to pinpoint your identity, especially after you created this fog. And while we're still on this topic, can you do something about it? It makes gathering information far more difficult than it needs to be. Not only is visibility reduced, but I can't hear beyond what I can see," Illsrvati complains.

"I'll think about it," Astur says, turning her attention to the TV across the room. "Kretea, how much longer do you think it will be until the lockdown is over?"

"It should be within two days. The general public is very dissatisfied with the current status quo and there have been several reports on the local news about people crowding the County's Capital Building, demanding that people be allowed to come and go. And there are also people from beyond the city wanting to enter, both reporters and thrill-seekers, curious about the fog. The biggest obstacle is the Crusader Forces. A large bulk of the coalition army is gathered in the neighbouring city. There haven't been any talks as to whether people from over there have arrived and entered, but I wouldn't be surprised if they've been allowed to enter the city," Kretea says.

"Ystur, what do you think our opponents will do?" Astur asks.

"Eh? Why are you asking me?"

"Because it would be good for you to learn about this kind of stuff. Being able to predict the movements of others is an essential skill that's needed to survive in a hostile environment. So what are your thoughts?"

"Uh… I don't know. Uh… people are gonna do stuff and uh… other stuff."

"When we get back I'm going to make you study psychology, war tactics, and anything else that might be useful."

"Can I not?"

"What makes you think this is up to debate?" Astur asks.

"But… okay."

Ystur gives up arguing. Ultimately, she understands that it probably will benefit her to learn about such things, but she doesn't really want to take the time to learn when she can use that time to play. But she also doesn't believe Astur can watch her 24/7 and has silently started planning for a chance to slack off.

"Kretea, what are your thoughts on the opponent's movements?" Astur asks.

"The is most likely a detachment from the Crusaders already in the city and cooperating with the local law enforcement. Given the situation for both regular people and businesses within the city, the lockdown will end soon, but the people who are leaving and entering the city will be under strict watch, especially anyone leaving. As such, leaving through conventional means will be a difficult task. The more unconventional exits, such as through the sewer system, should also be under watch, and given the out of the way nature of such areas, they are most likely to be heavily armed as well. With the cooperation between the Crusaders and the Police, the Crusaders should know about our presence in the city and should have traced the heist back to us by now. Assuming they don't know our exact location, there will likely be people with sensory abilities stationed at all possible exits of the city to spot any Demon nearby."

"But what if they know where we are now?" Ystur asks.

"I don't believe we would be here right now if they knew our location," Astur says and turns to Illsrvati, "So what is the situation like? Have those Crusaders shown up?"

"Don't ask me, I can't get any decent information with this fog blocking everything. This is why I came here in the first place, do something about the fog, it's obstructing my business," Illsrvati complains again.

"I'll think about it," Astur simply gives the same answer as before.

"So how and when are we going to leave?" Ystur asks.

"There are plenty of ways for us to escape and we can leave whenever I feel like going to buy more smokes and alcohol."

Hearing this, Kretea gets up and walks to the door, "I'll be right back." And then a couple of minutes later, she returns with a couple of bags from the store in the hotel lobby. "Here, locally produced cigars and strong liquor. The sooner we leave the better, we shouldn't be away from the war front for so long."

"Not that you're wrong, but there shouldn't be a problem if we don't return for a couple more days."

Not saying anything, Kretea merely holds the shopping bags in front of Astur's face.

"Er… alright we can leave."

While Kretea and Ystur grab the few belongings they had around the hotel room, Astur turns to Illsrvati and pops open a bottle, "So what about you? Are you coming with us now or do you want to deal with the various problems of leaving the city on your own?"

"You say that is if you won our little game, do you have that much confidence in escaping?"

"As it currently stands, there isn't anyone who can stop me from leaving this city if I want to leave. The only ones capable of such feats aren't around or in a position to stop me."

"Sigh, I'll be staying here for now. There are still some things that need to be taken care of. I'll make my way to the Sea of Trees within a few days," Illsrvati says as her body dissolves into countless spiders and leaves the room.

In truth, Illsrvati had known that she had lost the game after watching how Astur entered the vault and escaped pursuit. Although she had known that Astur was called a Goddess by the Oulvgar, she never really thought she was an actual Divine being, she had assumed Astur had some kind of foresight or something similar that allowed her to masquerade as a God. But after observing her for several days now, Illsrvati has reworked her thinking. While not completely sold on that part where Astur is a God, she is aware that she has all sorts of strange abilities and does not doubt that Astur can leave the city whenever she wants to.

After Kretea and Ystur gather their things, they follow Astur and check out from the hotel. Once again, Astur proceeds to indefinitely borrow another car without permission and they drive up to a convenience store near the south exit.

Astur turns to Kretea and smiles, "Kretea, I don't want to wait too long, so I need to borrow your luck."

"What--"

Not giving her any time to respond, Astur drags Kretea's face into her bosom while she lights a cigar.

"Huh, I can't believe that actually worked," Astur mutter as she releases Kretea and starts up the car engine. "Brace yourselves, we're going Astral again!"

Bringing herself, Kretea, Ystur, and the car into the Astral Plane, Astur speeds right passed the checkpoint as they begin their return to the Sea of Trees and the Holy Oulvgar State.

"Wait, Mom! Don't forget to bring everything back out from the Astral Plane this time!"