"Well, what's now?"

"Dunno, everything happens so fast. Thankfully I still keep this pin saved in my pocket. Too bad that I need to throw away that outfit." said Rowan

"Damn that old geezer, he didn't want to let go till the end."

"How is your birthmark, Rowan? Is it getting reduced?" worry me.

"Nope, we're fighting bad guys there! And there is no official around to witness," said Rowan while showing his birthmark on his right forearm.

"Here, It's still 33. How about you?" said Rowan.

" Same as you, I think...." I showed the birthmark on my forehead to Rowan, holding my bang back.

"29! It's the same as when we just got here. We'll be fine, we still have more than enough days left" said Rowan to me.

The birthmark is reduced by 1 point every passing day. People replenish it by doing a good deed or just merely working in society. Although on average, people who live in Houzz could have many digits numbers than people who live in Cordville.

"Well, we're lucky enough to be able to escape from there. How could you not know about what happened to Jill?" Said me.

"I bet he didn't report Jill's death yet? We should try to leave Houzz as soon as possible. This place is Stein family's playground, and Jack as one of Stein family members.... at least for now.... will have a bit of power to order an arrest for us". advise Rowan.

We're walking across the street, blending with crowds, trying not to make any commotion while exiting the city. Rowan saw a guard is heading toward us from afar, so we turn over to a small alley and make a detour.

"Do you see that?" asked Rowan

"What?"

"The guards are asking pedestrians about something when showing a piece of paper. I bet they tried to catch fugitives.... well, it could be us," said Rowan.

We can't exit in the same place as our entrance, because they suddenly screening thoroughly all people who want to exit the city. It's like they're trying to find someone from the crowd. So Rowan suggests several options:

First, whether we wait till the situation cools down a bit and find our way out from the city in the next few days ... or we try another route that is often used by a smuggler. If we choose the second option, it might be a bit dangerous as we will encounter many criminals and Rowan even can't confirm whether the "hidden exit route" is real or not. Since he has never used that route and only have heard about it from some strangers talking in the guild. Yet, the first option is quite risky too. Time is crucial here, if we wait for longer, our situation might become worsen. We don't even prepare ourselves to stay here for days! With limited resources and coins, we're out of luck. Thus, we choose the second option as the best option that we could afford now.