Starting today, we've decided to take on work from the Adventurer's Guild. Yesterday, after ordering a dress, we spent some time outside the city modifying our camping house.

Incidentally, the dress will have a fitting after the first week, and the final adjustments will be made the week after. I'm really looking forward to it.

The camping house, which previously only had a bathroom and a bedroom, has now evolved into a two-story 2LDK. Rio's magical growth shows no signs of stopping, and now she can casually create an entryway to a subspace large enough to play soccer in. I can't go that far, but managing the deployment of the camping house is no problem for me. Just in case, we made a second camping house, and each of us stored one in our respective subspaces.

"There sure are a lot of people at this hour," Rio remarked.

We've finally managed to visit the guild in the morning. Since this is the time when everyone competes for requests, the area in front of the request board is crowded.

"How about we check out the mine today?"

"The mine? Not the forest?"

"I’m kind of tired of the forest for now."

The real reason is different, but that's a secret from Rio. I’m not even sure if it’ll work, after all.

"Haha, that’s fine with me. Come to think of it, there weren’t any mines or caves in the Demon Forest, were there?"

"Exactly. So I’m curious about what they’re like."

Looking at the request board again, I noticed there were also standing requests for the mine. Apparently, iron ore is always in demand.

"By the way, what else can we mine besides iron ore?"

"Why don’t we ask one of the guild staff?"

And with that, today's work was decided. We gathered information from the guild staff about safety tips for the mine, the monsters we might encounter, and the types of ore we could mine. Afterward, we left the guild, purchased mining tools, and headed out through the eastern gate toward the mine.

"I bought a pickaxe on impulse, but was it really necessary?"

With gauntlets strapped to both arms, I pounded my fists against the air and turned to look back at Rio.

"Well, I think you're pulling off the 'rookie adventurer' look just fine," Rio said with a wry smile.

Her comment made me chuckle dryly. Honestly, I could probably just punch through walls, so buying the pickaxe might have been overkill.

"...Maybe using a pickaxe to strike the walls with its sharp edge allows for more delicate control."

"Can you actually do that?"

"I don’t know."

When I admitted it frankly, my eyes met Rio’s, and we both ended up laughing.

We were now climbing the slope that led to the mine. There were other adventurers heading there as well, but since it was still morning, we hadn’t passed anyone returning from the mine yet.

"Still..."

"What’s wrong?" Rio asked.

It seemed she hadn’t noticed. I, on the other hand, couldn’t ignore the odd phenomenon that had been bothering me.

Since leaving the Mimina Trading Company two days ago, someone had been tailing us. While I used to think it was impossible to identify someone purely based on sensing their presence, I’ve recently gotten better at it. Perhaps it was because, after being swindled before, I wished I could discern people’s identities just by sensing their presence.

When we left the Mimina Trading Company, I hadn’t thought much of it. Even when they followed us to the Rashiyu Trading Company, I figured it was a coincidence. But when they were still around today, it was hard to write it off as happenstance.

"There hasn’t been any harm so far, but it’s unsettling."

"I see... Should we confront them directly?"

"Hmm, I’m not sure. It’s still within the realm of coincidence, so maybe not yet."

"Good point. If they deny it, we won’t get anywhere."

"Exactly."

"Didn’t you say you could identify people through presence detection now?"

"Yeah."

"Then maybe you could track where they’re going instead?"

"Ah, that’s a bit trickier."

"Really?"

As we walked up the slope, chatting about the situation, the presence behind us remained steady. The person maintained a distance that kept them out of sight but well within the range of my presence detection, making their efforts meaningless.

"I can sense where they are, but I’d need a map of the city to pinpoint their location. That’s beyond me right now."

After all, I’d only just arrived in this town and didn’t have the layout memorized. It’s not like a game where you have a built-in map and can see your current location.

"I see. You’re so versatile, Shu, that I kind of expected you to be able to do anything. …Oh, wait, maybe there’s a skill for that?"

"Huh?"

"Haha! Just a thought. But it’d be super convenient if such a skill existed."

A map skill, huh... I remember thinking it would be handy to have something like that before.

Until now, I’d assumed that my skills and magic were limited to my own abilities. But if I think about it, the appraisal skill already breaks that rule. Being able to know things I’ve never learned doesn’t make sense. If that’s possible, then a map skill might not be out of the question.

"Hey, Shu?"

I retraced the path we’d taken so far. In the Demon Forest, I’d explored a decent amount around the mentor’s house. Since leaving the forest, I’d visited a few towns, and even destroyed a castle. Well, that aside...

"Geez... You’re impossible," Rio said with a sigh.

I wasn’t particularly directionally challenged, so maybe I could make this work. A map skill with ally, neutral, and enemy icons would be unbeatable. Setting that as my goal might not be a bad idea. Now I was starting to feel fired up!