Chapter 55
Chapter 55
8. Hunter Alliance -7
Chaos.
"Scatter! And contact the boss right now!"
"Then what about that bastard Hori? Shouldn't we at least detain her? They said she might be in on it."
"Do you not understand what it means that the ledger got stolen? If there's guilt, Boss Joero will personally beat them to death or whatever, so first find the thief!"
"Then all the more reason to hold her! If she's on their side, she'll make contact later anyway!"
It was a madhouse, like watching a pack of rats with their tails on fire. The radical faction Alliance members were in a complete panic over the unprecedented situation of the boss's office being burglarized.
They had reason to be. If not for the magic EMP the gray-haired mage had given me, there had been quite a few traps that would have been troublesome. Mostly the kind that directly targeted an intruder's life.
I had to do something in this opening.
I was currently crouched under the office desk, pushing the function of 『Glass Sword』 to its absolute limit. But I was nearing my limit⋯⋯ I had to do something to escape from here.
So how was I supposed to escape?
First, the escape method was already decided. Stage movement through the 『System』.
The problem was that this movement didn't happen with a simple click like a return scroll in some game.
Stage movement involved being wrapped in white light and transported slowly, during which time you were effectively defenseless. A good example was the sniper Hori, who had fled while fighting me.
Hadn't that one taken a knife to the back from me while trying to escape via return?
The same could happen to me. If the radical faction Alliance members rushed in the moment they saw the white light and each stabbed me just once, my body would end up with at least five holes. In other words⋯⋯ I had to buy time for the return.
The coordinates I'd gotten from the ledger could be passed on to Hori later. Escape came first.
Let me run a simulation in my head first. Okay, once those bastards went out the office door, I'd rush over with a suppressive attack, close the door, and knock over a nearby bookshelf to block the entrance.
Then crouch in the corner of the room and return⋯⋯
BANG-!! KUDUNG!
'What the.'
I hadn't even moved, but I heard the door slam shut violently. And the sound of something like a bookshelf toppling over.
⋯⋯Had I been spotted? Had they blocked the only exit to trap me in and beat me? If so, I needed to drop my stealth right now and break through immediately. I'd find some opportunity for the return. First, someone would have come in, so I'd ambush and deal with them—
With that thought, I sprang up from under the desk.
"Noah Won! Tell me the coordinates!"
"⋯⋯Hori!"
The one who'd locked the door and barricaded herself in wasn't an enemy—it was Hori. She generated 『Nails』 and sprayed them across the door to reinforce its defensive performance, then threw all sorts of furniture to thicken the barricade.
Honestly, I hadn't expected it. I'd thought that even if the gray-haired mage came to save me, that one at least wouldn't.
The reason Hori's role had stopped at causing a commotion and slipping away was to avoid getting kicked out of the Hunter Alliance. She'd assisted only within the limits of maintaining her identity.
KUNG KUNG KUNG!
"I knew it, I said we should detain her!"
"Break through! Get through that door no matter what!"
But baring her fangs so openly in front of the Alliance members like this completely overturned that plan. I was fairly bewildered.
Separate from my bewilderment, I kept things moving. Because I had to get out before that door was breached.
"R3X7E5QNL, these are the coordinates leading to the ritual site. For reference, my destination is different from yours. Elijah didn't flee to the ritual site—she fled somewhere else. And give me back the shoes you took."
"Hmph, I don't need someone like you. And the shoes are outside because I used them as bait, so I can't give them back."
Do you know how much those cost, you little shit.
Anyway, as I'd told Hori, the ritual site and Elijah's current location were different. She had apparently escaped midway and was being pursued by the radical faction group.
I'd been given a choice, in a sense. Rescue the kidnapped beastman children with Hori first, or rescue Elijah first.
The deliberation didn't last long. From the moment I'd gotten my hands on this ledger, I'd decided to prioritize Elijah. The reason was simple. I wasn't a saint, so if I had to choose between an acquaintance and ten strangers, I was the kind of person who had no choice but to pick the former.
"It's a bit of a waste to use here, but⋯⋯ scroll, 『Unbound Black Ink (無緣黑墨)』!"
RIIIP, PABABABABAT-!
When Hori tore open some unknown scroll, black tar-like substances emerged, stretched out, and stuck to the door. It looked like police tape strung up with black tape.
She temporarily sealed the door, then ran to the corner of the office and curled herself up as small as possible. Hori and I spoke at the same time.
"Stage movement."
"Stage movement!"
My body began to be wrapped in white light.
While the stage movement process was underway, I stared at that fickle beastman. I was curious what on earth she'd been thinking to essentially throw herself into a fire pit.
"⋯⋯What are you looking at, Noah Won! KYAAAK!"
Hori reacted to that gaze like someone who'd been pricked by a nail.
"Why did you do that? If you cause a scene like this, you won't even be able to make excuses. Are you planning to persuade the traditionalist faction and go to all-out war with the radical bastards?"
"None of your business."
"From my position, I'd actually prefer it if infighting broke out and the Hunter Alliance went up in flames. But if that kind of fight happens, shouldn't we tell the mage who helped us in advance?"
"⋯⋯It won't happen, so mind your own business. This is just my own independent action."
I couldn't see her well through the white light, but Hori's expression as she muttered that seemed quite confused. You could say it was the expression of someone who didn't know why she was doing what she was doing.
But I understood.
People sometimes can't be honest with their own emotions. Even more so when they're devoted to some ideology or belief. If Hori followed the will of the Hungry Ghost Path she believed in⋯⋯ there wasn't the slightest reason to save the young beastmen who'd been captured.
But doesn't the arm bend inward? The Hunter Alliance's sniper apparently wanted to save the beastmen's lives, beyond her own convictions.
I had no intention of looking down on that by calling it spineless or two-faced. If anything, I wanted to praise her. Though I wouldn't say it out loud, since she'd probably yell at me asking if I was picking a fight.
Whatever the intention, whatever the impulse of the heart, giving up one's own benefit to save people is a cool thing. I don't know about others, but to me it is.
So I said just one last thing.
"Once I rescue my comrade, I'll join up right away. Wait for me."
"⋯⋯Do I look like a pet dog that waits just because you say 'wait'?!"
She barked like a nipping puppy right up to the end, but I saw the corner of her mouth twitch upward. She was probably thinking something like, 'If Noah Won comes, the rescue probability goes up. I can use that one as a shield to achieve my objective!'
Seeing her tail wag a little too, she was definitely thinking something like that.
Yeah, that's enough. Group projects never required hearts to be in sync. As long as the goal is the same and everyone does their part, there's no problem producing results.
Soon the white light completely filled my vision.
KUNG──!!
"We broke through!"
The radical faction hunters had apparently finally forced open the sealed door, but they were far too late. The transfer was already complete.
FWASH-!
I moved toward the stage where Elijah was.
See you soon, Hori.
Pat.
The white light receded, and the place I landed in was the middle of a dense jungle. Massive trees easily over ten meters tall covered everything in every direction with dizzying green. The leaves blocked out the sky, making it dark.
Tension spiked sharply. From the looks of it, this didn't seem to be a completely contaminated forest, but even so, this level of density was close to a high-risk zone. It wouldn't be strange for a powerful monster to leap out.
So normally I would have moved cautiously and quietly, but the situation was different now.
The ledger.
The ledger and records I'd found in the radical faction boss's office seemed to contain the progress of all sorts of secret projects (the reason it's an assumption is that I didn't have time to read the whole thick thing).
And written on the last page were two coordinates. The ritual site where the sacrifices and altar were prepared and only the ritual remained / and the stage Elijah had fled to.
Recalling the Hori incident, she had figured out the coordinates of Sohye's world and entered to assassinate me despite having never met me before. In other words—the Hunter Alliance had some kind of means to track a hunter's location.
So Elijah's location would be written in this ledger too, and that meant—she was being pursued even at this very moment. I had to find her quickly.
Lucky or unlucky.
"⋯⋯Parts."
Elijah's parts were scattered in a corner of the underbrush. There seemed to have been a light skirmish at this spot. I picked them up and put them in my pocket, then moved at a quick pace in the direction the parts had fallen.
I found other footprints too. The foot size wasn't Elijah's, so these must have been the pursuer's.
She was here. I'd finally found her.
I'd been agonizing over this for days because of her. Once I found Elijah, I planned to warn her to please report in before moving. After that, I'd leave her a word of praise for a job well done.
After getting her out, I'd have to go help Hori.
"Hoo⋯⋯"
I focused and examined carefully.
By piecing together the small remaining traces, I could imagine what had happened at this spot. The injured Elijah had thrown projectiles like wires or stones at the pursuer to draw attention, bought time, and then concealed herself.
The pursuer had lost Elijah. The wandering footprints failed to catch her trail and headed off in the wrong direction. But I could see it.
Cut marks on leaves, the angle of something brushing past, faintly stamped footprints. I knew the direction. It was this way.
Following the sparse remaining traces, I came to a place where moonlight streamed down through the thick undergrowth. I raised my head and looked up.
In the very center surrounded by greenery, through a tiny gap barely visible in the sky above, a pitch-black gate of a color I'd never seen before was open.
Gates came in various colors. On Earth, blue gates were common, and on other stages entered through the System, yellow and red ones were often seen too.
Black (黑色), huh⋯⋯
Since it was information from the Community bulletin board, I couldn't trust it completely, but the general consensus among D-rank hunters was that 'gate color doesn't mean much.' It wasn't like the plant bastards that appeared changed just because the color was different.
The established theory was that the strength of the monsters that appeared was proportional only to the size of the gate.
That black gate's size was ultra-small. It was closer to a half-opened gate that couldn't even spit out a monster. Gates like that appeared and disappeared repeatedly on Earth too—bubbles, so to speak. And yet. Something.
Chills.
"⋯⋯⋯⋯?"
I suddenly shuddered. Before my reason could even register the danger, my body reacted first to the eerie atmosphere crawling up my spine, and goosebumps rose all over.
How should I describe this? Right, it was ominous.
There was no basis or sign. It was ominous for no reason. This similar sensation⋯⋯ I felt like I'd experienced it somewhere before, but it didn't come to mind right away.
"Status Window, friend list."
Pat. ZZZZT──
⋯⋯Noise?
[El%jah]
[Sergi#s]
[Kim Sohye]
[⋯⋯]
What the hell.
The System menu was broken. It wasn't at a serious level, but errors were occurring. I went blank for a moment at the eeriness that fact conveyed.
Then I came to my senses. I understood that this area was dangerous. Then what about Elijah?
"Elijah, chat, 1! Send!"
[Noah Won : 1]
[Transmission error]
"⋯⋯Damn it!"
The message didn't send.
"Then, Sergios, chat⋯⋯"
ZZZT-!
[Error]
The moment I tried to send a message to Sergios to confirm, the chat function went dead with crackling noise. The noise was getting worse.
I couldn't tell whether this transmission error was because Elijah was dead or because of a sudden System error.
I looked around as if flailing. And I discovered a thin, precise wound on a tree.
That was left by Elijah's wire. The trace continued in one direction. I moved my body quickly instead of spending time thinking, and ran through the forest following the trail.
I hadn't known her for long. I didn't know how Elijah had grown up, whether her parents were alive and well, none of that. It was also uncertain how long she and I could maintain our cooperative relationship.
I needed her for the ritual, and she needed me—we were bound only by mutual benefit.
But.
[Elijah : How was your day today, Noah? If it was a good day, a recommendation and a like! (expectant)]
[Noah Won : Where did you learn that]
[Elijah : People often play around like this on the Community⋯⋯ (wink)]
[Noah Won : Don't learn stuff like that]
Over that mutual benefit lay a thin layer of light, sand-grain-like moments. Even if it was a thin layer that would blow away in a strong wind. She and I.
Had shared casual small talk like this⋯⋯
Yeah, we're friends.
That's reason enough to save her.
At the end of following the trail, I discovered a burrow leading underground. Parts and a bit of blood were scattered at the entrance. She was in here.
"Elijah!"
"⋯⋯Noah? How did you get here?"
When I called her name into the burrow, Elijah replied in a remarkably nonchalant voice. That composure made my blood boil for no good reason, and I shouted.
"How did I get here, what the hell happened! What is all this, running away all the way here⋯⋯"
"Hic!"
That hic wasn't a sound Elijah made. Elijah soon crawled out from inside the burrow and peeked out, and in her arms was some little kid. The hic had come from that one.
Wolf-like ears twitched above the kid's head.
Elijah muttered with a rather apologetic look.
"Sorry, Noah. I was going to stay hidden and wait for the right opportunity at first, but they were about to kill the children right in front of me, so without realizing it⋯⋯ heh."
"'Heh' is⋯⋯ ha, forget it. I'm just glad you're alive."
"You too, Noah."
Like you're one to talk.