Chapter 166: Wow! The Iona Express! (4)
Chapter 166: Wow! The Iona Express! (4)
Ding!
With the familiar notification sound, a system window floated in the air.
A lot was written on it, but the summary was simple.
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'Oh. He must be dead.'
In other words, Iona’s interrogation was over.
First, I had to check the results.
I set down the documents I was holding and muttered internally.
'Status Window.'
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Name: Yandel
Title: Ghost Buster
Basic Stats
Strength: 14
Endurance: 14
Agility: 14
Dexterity: 16
Magic Power: 21
Traits
Endless Mana (A)
Elemental Affinity (B)
Excellent Memory (B)
Ordinary Weapon Skill (D+)
Lintblum Mana Core (C+)
Lower Mage (C) -> (C+)
Sun God's Blessing (B)
Cultist Hatred (C)
Medicinal Constitution (C)
Element Combination (A)
Blessing of the Sea (B+)
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Unfortunately, the main stats didn't go up. Well, it made sense. The typical stat limit was 30.
Naturally, the higher a stat was, the harder it became to raise it.
Dexterity only saw a slight increase, and since my Magic Power was already at 21, a single "moderate" increase wasn't enough to tip the scale to the next number.
However, it wasn't as if there was no change at all.
While not as dramatic as a full stat point increase, I could feel my total mana capacity had grown slightly.
Also, perhaps because I had skillfully used Pseudo-resonance to enhance specific elemental spells during combat, a plus sign was added to my Mage trait.
Now, I was truly just one step away from crossing the threshold as a magician.
In other words, the realm of an Intermediate Magician was right before my eyes.
…To be honest, it didn't quite feel real.
If I reached the rank of Intermediate Magician, would it be because I awakened through my own ability? Or would I be pulled up by the system's assistance?
Well… it didn't really matter either way.
The only thing that mattered was that I was getting stronger.
With a satisfied smile at the good start, I headed toward where Iona was.
"Professor? Did you find anything out this time?"
"Mmm. There were results, but the content was a bit different from what I expected… I’ll tell you once we’re up!"
Iona tilted her head and lightly snapped her fingers.
Immediately, the blood-red thorn bushes surrounding the area gently scooped us up and lifted us to the surface.
Iona set us down a good distance away. As soon as our feet touched the ground, the area around the mountain villa branch began to collapse.
It was likely because Iona’s thorns, which had been holding the earth together, had vanished.
Rumble—
I spent a moment blankly watching a few trees and the solitary villa disappear into the earth.
Iona, who had pulled out a blood transfusion pack at some point, spoke while sipping from it.
"Lately, lately. Since Student Yandel exposed the Authority of Boiling Silence, spies have been getting purged all over the place, right?"
"That’s right."
Her expression was sour, as if she had just swallowed bitter juice. Nevertheless, Iona drained the blood pack to the last drop before tucking it back into her subspace.
"Because of that, the high-ranking cultists are holding regular meetings! And they’re doing it regardless of which sect they belong to!"
"Oh…."
The cultists, who had previously pretended to be incompetent weaklings and acted as if they were on bad terms with other sects, were now gathering?
The loss of the Boiling Silence spies must have been a massive blow. Now that they were exposed, they probably figured there was no point in hiding how deeply they had infiltrated.
I was a bit worried that catching the bugs hiding in every corner of the Eurelia Continent might lead to unexpected consequences, but…
This was quite valuable information.
It had been a while since I dragged the Boiling Silence sect into the light, and they were still holding meetings?
That meant the evil god cults hadn't unified their opinions yet, and they might even be in conflict.
Conversely, it could mean they had already decided to join forces openly and were now in the process of establishing a plan on how to fight.
The important thing was that they would be taking action soon.
As long as I knew that, I could prepare somehow.
"Do you happen to know where the meetings are being held?"
"Unfortunately, it seems a mere Bishop only knows that the meetings exist!"
"Tsk… that’s a shame. Still, the fact that they’re moving as an alliance is a good harvest."
"Exactly! I’ll have to inform the various nations through the Chairman as soon as we get back."
Iona nodded with a grim expression.
I had tentatively brought it up, and fortunately, Iona seemed to fully recognize the danger of an alliance between the evil god cults.
"Then, are we heading back right now?"
"No? No? The sun is still high in the sky!"
"Uh… that’s true, but… we just destroyed a branch. And you said you had to report to the Chairman…."
"Reports can be done via magical tool!"
Saying that, Iona pulled out something resembling a large card from her robe.
Channeling mana into her fingertip, she began to write characters on the card.
The card, which had been absorbing mana as she touched it, suddenly vibrated. Before long, it spat out a single word.
Pop!
『Understood.』
"???"
No, it literally spat out the word.
I didn't know the principle behind it, but the word drifted in the air for a moment before quickly dispersing into the atmosphere.
Perhaps she liked my stunned expression, as Iona chuckled and flashed a V-sign.
"Report finished! Now, now. Let’s leave the previous matter to the Chairman and do our own work! Where did you say the next branch was?"
"You want to do… more?"
"Yes, yes! If we back off for no reason, we’re just giving them time to prepare for us! So we have to strike while the iron is hot!"
When I listened to her, it did sound like she had a point….
"…You said that with the information a Bishop-class can access, they only know about the existence of the meetings, right?"
"Right?"
"Then wouldn't an Archbishop know more?"
"Do you know where one is?"
"Yes. Remember the lie that branch manager told earlier about the undead storage warehouse in Kundal Port? The person in charge there is an Archbishop of Narrow-minded Usurpation."
Sawtooth Nails Sophia.
An Archbishop of Narrow-minded Usurpation, she earned the epithet "Sawtooth Nails" because of her habit of biting her fingernails.
Of course, she didn't bite them for no reason. To be precise, she had a habit of biting her nails whenever she exercised her granted Authority.
She was a high priest who was well-versed in controlling the undead and skillfully handling all sorts of curses, making her a quite troublesome opponent.
She was so diligent that there wasn't a single day when her nails were intact.
That was Sawtooth Nails Sophia.
For the record, she appeared as a hidden boss in H&A that you could choose to fight or ignore.
She wasn't someone you met during the main story; you had to track her down using clues from the environment.
Because of that, many players finished their first playthrough without ever meeting her.
However, if you defeated her, the scale of the undead army that appeared in the Great Invasion chapter would be drastically reduced.
That was why I had planned to wipe her out by borrowing the strength of the Church of Righteous Light once I became close enough to them.
Undead and curses were bound to melt away helplessly before Holy Power, after all.
At least, that was the original plan.
But the skill Iona had displayed before my eyes was far more incredible than I had imagined. It was enough to make it worth taking a shot.
"What do you think? Would you be up for it?"
"……."
After hearing about Sophia and the undead warehouse, Iona closed her eyes as if contemplating.
In that state, she swayed her upper body back and forth like a metronome before suddenly snapping her eyes open and nodding.
"Good! Good! Let’s try it! But if we go right away and fail, it’ll be hard to touch them for a while. So let’s finish off the other two places Student Yandel mentioned before we try!"
"That sounds better. We won't need to interrogate them this time, right? Archbishop Sophia will know more than a Bishop-class branch manager anyway."
"It’ll be much faster if we’re just going there to kill them. It’ll take less effort since we don't have to worry about anything!"
"Ah, but you haven't forgotten that we need to fight a bit too, right? That was the condition."
"Of course, of course. I don't know what your goal is, but it’s important to Student Yandel, right? I’ll leave a few alive so you can finish them off yourself!"
The plan was quickly coming together.
This was what I liked about talking to Iona.
Instead of weighing this and that, she moved straight to action once she decided to do something.
It was the same when I said I would buy Elisha from the auction house.
Thinking back, there must have been many potential problems. But as soon as Iona thought it was okay, she had granted me permission to leave.
"Right. Carla, Elisha. What do you two think?"
"I will follow whatever Master desires."
"Ahem. I am a bit worried it might be dangerous, but since we’re just tagging along, it should be fine."
As the conversation seemed to wrap up, Iona, who had been standing a bit away, poked her head in.
"Now, now. We’re all done talking, right? I’m teleporting us immediately!"
"Oh, yes. Just a moment."
Carla and I held hands, and Carla and Elisha held hands.
Linked together like that, I reached out to Iona.
After staring at us blankly for a moment, Iona grinned and grabbed my hand.
"Well then, shall we head to the nearest one first?"
Iona chanted the spell in a somewhat cheerful voice.
Dark red magical light covered our vision like a curtain.
.
.
.
.
.
In that manner, we were able to subjugate several more cultist branches at a rapid pace.
Ding!
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Name: Yandel
Title: Ghost Buster
Basic Stats
Strength: 14 -> 15
Endurance: 14
Agility: 14 -> 15
Dexterity: 16
Magic Power: 21 -> 22
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Sweet.
