Cosmos at night was not a place suited for going out.
Not only because of the chaos, but because going out at this time also greatly increased the chances of running into petty criminals looking to fish in troubled waters.
On top of that, members of the Knights were constantly roaming and patrolling every corner of Cosmos. If they spotted someone, they might seize them without a word, interrogate them, or even arrest them as a suspicious person. As a result, no one in Cosmos dared to wander around at night without reason anymore.
Yet under Emerald's lead, Shien left the inn.
"Have you been to Cosmos before, Emerald?"
Seeing Emerald walk ahead as though she knew the place like the back of her hand, Shien was genuinely surprised.
Even if she had visited Cosmos before, its current state should have made it impossible for anyone to be familiar with the terrain.
After all, the positions of the buildings here could change at any moment, and even which routes were passable was uncertain.
Logically, even someone intimately familiar with Cosmos should not have been able to move through it so effortlessly, much less when Shien had already shifted the city's buildings around so much today that its layout no longer resembled its original form.
Yet Emerald walked ahead with a clear destination in mind, her steps never hesitating in the slightest. Shien found it truly strange.
"..."
Perhaps sensing Shien's surprise, Emerald turned back to look at him. Without saying anything, she simply took his hand and continued forward.
Seeing that, Shien could only suppress his doubts. Carrying the Holy Sword, he followed Emerald as they turned left and right through one narrow path after another.
They kept winding through the maze for nearly two full hours before finally emerging