I Maxed Out My Luck Stat-Chapter 25: Exit Path

The jig was up.

Richard already knew that fact.

He had tried to figure things out by himself, but it was clear he didn’t know what he was doing.

It was only through pure luck that Neia had not asked this question beforehand, but now that she had done so, it would be stupid of him not to reveal the truth.

Yes, he would come off as pathetic.

But—

’At least we’ll both be clear of our situation and will figure it out together...’ Sighing deeply while shaking his head, Richard finally told Neia the truth.

"I’m looking for an exit."

"E-exit...?"

"Yes. I thought I could find it and take us home, but..." Richard held his breath as his barely audible voice trailed off.

He felt so embarrassed revealing the truth to his companion.

’I wanted to manipulate her into thinking I’m a dependable guy, but it looks like that plan has failed...’ Richard sighed while shaking his head. ’I guess I’ll just have to—’

"You mean you deciphered another exit route?"

"W-what?"

"I mean... As you must already know, I am aware of the Hidden Tunnel that leads to the City of Brilliance. But to think you were seeking another route. I don’t understand what’s wrong with taking the regular path, though..."

’Eh? What’s this?’

It was only at this moment that Richard recognized a terrible truth.

’S-she knows how to get out of here?!’

What an idiot.

Can you believe this guy still didn’t know that Neia was part of the Six Eyes of Infinity?

He had severely underestimated her and was still operating under the assumption that she was a prostitute who had been somehow smuggled to the Mountain Range. Even after seeing her High Rank Principal Disposition, he couldn’t fathom her being a part of something as dangerous as a Bandit/Kidnapper group.

Well, that last part wasn’t really his fault.

There were many ways to weaken or seal off Principal Dispositions in this world, so maybe he simply assumed that was what happened to her.

The more likely answer, however, was that he simply didn’t think about it.

He never figured out how.

"Um, Richard... Did you hear what I said?" After receiving the silent treatment for about a minute, Neia had to speak yet again.

She cocked her head to the side, staring curiously at Richard with her large blue eyes.

It caused greater pressure to mount on him.

’She thinks I knew of her knowledge of a route out of here. But I never knew that until she mentioned it. Now she is wondering why I didn’t ask her to simply guide us earlier...’

He gulped.

His brain instantly went into maximum overdrive to save him from this predicament.

’This situation tells me two things...’ A sharp glint appeared in his ordinary brown eyes. ’One is that she developed a high opinion of me, which is why she made such an assumption. Second is that her expectations of me are yet to falter. I could use this situation to my advantage...’

Indeed!

Richard could see the light.

The situation wasn’t as hopeless as he initially feared.

If he steered the course of this ship just right, he could salvage his diminishing reputation and create an even bigger impression on her.

’But what can I say? What should I even tell her?’ After struggling to come up with a compelling story, Richard finally gave up and chose a very common route.

"It was a test."

"A test?!"

"To see if you would discern my true intentions..."

"A-ahh... I didn’t know that!"

"Hmph..." Richard used all of his strength to force a smile while smoothing his hair. "Then you have failed the test."

"I have? Noooo... I’m so sorry! I didn’t... I should have... arghh...!!"

An anguished cry left Neia’s lips, and she began to react in an exaggerated way—at least in Richard’s eyes.

’Damn. Why is she acting like this?’

Since Richard didn’t know Neia’s thought process regarding him, or how much she really valued his perception of her, he thought she was simply overreacting to his words.

"T-think nothing of it. Let’s just go home..."

He tried to salvage the situation while patting her shoulder.

However, her expression of guilt and internal disappointment did not vanish. It was almost as though she felt utterly ashamed of herself.

She couldn’t even look him in the eye, and her beautiful face turned crestfallen.

"P-please... I know this is impudent of me... but can you give me another chance at this test?"

"Hm?"

"I promise I will decipher it this time!"

"W-well... You know..." Richard was at a loss for words yet again.

After all, there was no test.

It was just an excuse for him to escape responsibility and return home. In fact, he hadn’t even expected this conversation to drag on for so long.

’I just wanted her to think of me as mysterious. Right now, she’s supposed to lead us back to the city using the route she knows...’ Richard wanted to cry at this point, but he remained calm and tried to use his remaining brain cells to think of a way out.

Unfortunately, looking at the young woman’s pleading face short-circuited the last remnants of objective thought he could construct.

In the end—

"Alright. One last chance..."

—He had to succumb to her desperate wish.

’Pfft! There isn’t even a test, so it isn’t like she will figure anything out anyway...’ Even though he thought this way, Richard felt uncomfortable with the way Neia kept staring so intensely at him and everything around him.

He unconsciously took a step back and accidentally tripped on something.

This caused her to gasp.

Not because of his sudden fall but because she noticed something glistening on the ground.

She quickly rushed towards it and found what resembled a disk with an emerald gem at its center. It had the appearance of an alien saucer from movies on Earth, but even Richard knew that this wasn’t something like that.

This was a common tool in this world known as a Pathfinder.

"T-this... Could this be what you were looking for?" Neia raised the device and pressed her hands on the emerald surface.

Suddenly, a brilliant surge of harmless energy appeared and momentarily blinded their eyes.

Then, right before their eyes, green-colored footprints began to appear on the ground. The prints pressed in a certain direction, seemingly leading somewhere.

This was the Pathfinder.

A Mystic Object with the purpose of recording the path someone took and revealing it to the user so that they would be able to find their way back.

It was effective in deciphering Labyrinths and navigating Illusions.

Right now, however—

"Whoever left this... must have traveled from the hidden route. He must have left this Pathfinder here in case he needed to find his way back. H-how did you know about this? Could it be that... it was you who left it here?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Richard smirked, not saying anything to accept or deny her statement.

He simply walked ahead and followed the footprint.

Using this method, they entered one of the many caverns in the Mountain Range and found an underground spring. The spring glowed with brilliant white, with multiple blue sparkles dancing around it.

This was what they had been searching for.

An Exit Path!

"Let’s go..." Richard stood before the spring and turned to the stunned Neia.

He stretched his hand out to her and smiled in a reliable way. The brilliant glow of the waters reflected on his ordinary face, giving it a certain charm that even Neia could not help but find simply wonderful.

Without hesitating, she gave him her hand... and the two of them plunged into the water.

[A/N: Apologies for my delayed upload. I was busy with some IRL stuff, so I took a break from writing this story. It isn’t dropped yet, nor do I wish to drop it. So if you really like this story, please support me with your comments and votes. Honestly, they keep me motivated to continue... Thank you.]