Day 291
Travelling on foot is practical if you have the endurance, but we avoided the high mountains and deep valleys where possible in order to save time. Continuing to run through the night, we had to cut through some dangerous areas but we kept a steady pace and weren't attacked by any nocturnal monsters. Thanks to everyone's determination we arrived at the capital earlier than planned.
However, as a result of our relentless pace, the youngest members of our party – excluding Kanami-chan and I who are still less than a year old – finally gave in to exhaustion. [Usurper] had until recently been living an unhealthy lifestyle and was still quite physically weak, and because [Witch of Mystic Flame] and [Merciful Maiden] both had weaker bodies due to their specialisms it was difficult for them to keep up as well.
Thanks to their leveling up and increased physical abilities, they were just about able to keep up with us although as time went on they began to sweat heavily and their breaths came with ragged gasps. As their clothes and armor absorbed the sweat it grew heavier and started to make it harder to run, so they eventually stored most of their clothes in their [Item Boxes] and ended up running nearly naked.
[Usurper] started dressed in comfortable clothes so he didn't really have to do much, but it was quite interesting how few clothes the beautiful young girls [Witch of Mystic Flame] and [Merciful Maiden] ended up wearing.
Their flushed appearance and the sweaty underwear that stuck to their skin gave the pair a strange but very erotic appeal.
Well, since there was no one else around to see at the time, perhaps there was nothing for them to worry about.
It would have been fine to slow down the pace, or even stop for a while and take a break somewhere. Whether it was the determination forged through successive Labyrinth conquests or just pure guts, they had become stubborn and pressed on without stopping even though it wasn't really necessary.
Of course, it's not a bad thing to push past your limits as doing so is an important element for continued growth.
Indeed, the fact that they pushed themselves and managed to keep up with us the whole way is honestly quite commendable.
That said Avenger and [Cavalier Defender], a front-line fighter despite being a girl, both had energy to spare so they encouraged and assisted the others along the way, but even still it was quite a feat.
More likely I think, those three persevered so well from the fear that if they made us late I'd inflict some even more brutal training on them!
Judging by the result, and the shadow of terror I caught in their eyes, I think I'm probably right. Well, this topic is probably better left alone.
After all, I barely had any intentions along those lines.
Well, be that as it may, we ended up arriving much earlier than planned. Rather than being late, it's better to be early and then be ready to act on an opportunity as soon as possible.
However because we arrived early, it was still dark and the capital's gates were firmly closed.
In short, we're too early. Damn!
Of course, the lights were lit inside and guards were on duty to keep watch for monsters through the night, but the law forbids opening the gate during the night time.
Even though the guards are there, they won't open the gate at night for anyone except the royal family, so there's no chance they will open it for us.
If it came to it, we could get over the wall without hesitation. However, there's also no real reason to hurry so we decided to wait outside until the sun rises and the gate opens normally.
