Chapter 149
Chapter 149
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 149
Chapter Title: Revela (2)
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Ever since Carlyle had possessed this world, one thing he'd always felt was that transportation options offered almost complete freedom of choice.
Granted, in a world where you could hop on a rocket if you really wanted to, struggling with transport would be pretty ridiculous in its own right.
“One day is enough?”
“Yeah. I shook down the Mage Tower and scored us some new-model motor wagons.”
“⋯⋯Those guys just handed them over without a peep?”
“They wouldn’t want their tower lord’s embezzlement splashed across every paper in the Empire, now would they?”
“⋯⋯.”
⋯⋯People really should always try to live righteously.
Carlyle mulled over that thought idly from inside the new-model motor wagon Felix had procured.
Still, arriving in Revela early was a huge stroke of luck.
He’d finally pinned down the whereabouts of that slippery bastard. Leave him be, and he’d vanish again.
‘He seems less like an archer and more like a ghost, honestly.’
[The warriors of the Sand Kingdom are born hunters. There’s no one on the entire continent who can match their stealth and concealment skills.]
Exactly.
Let’s talk about Drexler, then.
He was from the Sand Kingdom’s warrior corps—one of their top elite, handpicked from the best.
If you had to sum him up in one phrase⋯⋯
[⋯⋯Crazy bastard.]
“⋯⋯.”
[I’ve seen plenty of lunatics in my time, including you, but that guy’s on a whole other level.]
⋯⋯Well, yeah.
Honestly, Carlyle couldn’t muster much of an argument against that.
If Carlyle and Gray were the type often called crazy for their occasionally radical solutions depending on the situation, Drexler was a madman in the purest, most classical sense.
His motives, his methods, his outcomes—utterly unpredictable.
And yet.
‘He’s a good kid at heart.’
[⋯⋯.]
‘⋯⋯He’s a good kid at heart.’
In stark contrast, the Holy Sword didn’t argue when Carlyle said that.
She’d felt it too, watching from up close—his motives were always pure.
It was just his methods of putting that goodness into practice that earned him nothing but grief.
If he were just some guy causing trouble everywhere he went, there’d have been no wedding bells or family in the picture⋯⋯
‘⋯⋯Come to think of it, that’s pretty impressive.’
[What is?]
‘The Hero goes around saying she’s the closest thing to omnipotence among humans, but she’s never even had a relationship or gotten married.’
[⋯⋯.]
If the Holy Sword’s face were visible right now, she’d probably be glaring at Carlyle with murder in her eyes.
[⋯⋯You’ve never done it either, have you?]
‘Huh?’
[You look like the type who couldn’t. Maybe once during your infinite regressions, if you were lucky.]
She must’ve been seriously irked—usually, she’d just clam up on topics like this, but now she was firing back.
Carlyle scratched his cheek awkwardly.
‘I have, though?’
It was true.
He did.
[⋯⋯.]
‘Not sure if it counts as a proper relationship, but there were a guy and a girl who thought of it that way. It was just⋯⋯ pretty twisted overall.’
[⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯.]
‘⋯⋯Hero?’
[⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯.]
⋯⋯A silence that felt utterly horrifying settled in immediately.
What to say?
It wasn’t just a lack of response—it was a cold, piercing quiet that made goosebumps prickle up Carlyle’s arms.
[You have experience?]
‘⋯⋯Hero, you’re scaring me.’
[Just answer. You have experience⋯⋯? I, I must be the same as you—]
‘⋯⋯Well, yeah, maybe⋯⋯’
Carlyle’s timid reply sent the Holy Sword back into endless silence.
⋯⋯Scary.
Terrifyingly scary⋯⋯
‘Hero⋯⋯?’
[⋯⋯Don’t talk to me. I need to sort my thoughts.]
‘⋯⋯.’
Something told him not to push it, so he shut his mouth.
Unfortunately, tuning out the Holy Sword didn’t make the atmosphere any better.
“⋯⋯.”
Carlyle glanced around cautiously.
A bizarre silence hung over the people around him.
Gray, Panhima, Vespa.
And Blackie, dozing on his lap right now.
With Drexler’s location confirmed, assembling the full Hero Party was a given, so this was the lineup.
“This is the first time we’re all heading out together, right?”
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯.”
He tried smiling and breaking the ice, but everyone just stared back with expressions screaming, “Do we have to?”
“No, really. It’s our first outing as this group.”
“⋯⋯Don’t talk to me.”
Gray snapped curtly, closing her eyes.
⋯⋯Whether it was the one inside the Holy Sword or the one right in front of him, they were saying the exact same thing.
Mana pulsed faintly from her closed-eyed form.
Carlyle wasn’t exactly an expert on such movements, but he could tell she was practicing some incredibly complex ‘pattern.’
If the Holy Sword were in her right mind, she might’ve explained, but all Carlyle could gather was that she was training at something.
Vespa and Panhima beside her weren’t much different.
Eyes closed, each circulating their ki or mana internally.
“⋯⋯.”
Hmm.
Hmmm.
Sure, it was great that everyone was diligently training on their own without him nagging.
‘Panhima says they’re doing it for me⋯⋯’
They’d noticed his impatience themselves, so this effort was probably for his sake.
Good sign.
Good, but⋯⋯
‘I wasn’t hoping for this razor-thin ice atmosphere.’
Holy Sword quiet, everyone in the motor wagon quiet.
What to call it? He had nothing to do.
Just stare out the window and kill time—that was it.
He stroked Blackie’s head as she snored softly in a daze, gazing at the roadside blurring past the window.
Revela’s borderlands, gateway to the continent’s largest port city, sparkled with waves like gleaming jewels.
The sea peeking through the trees along the coastal cliffs was breathtaking.
And then, for just a moment.
The briefest instant.
In the gaps between those trees, his eyes met someone’s.
Top hat, monocle, cane.
And blue irises.
-We'll meet again, Carlyle Bellfast.
A memorable sight.
And with it came an automatic flashback to a phrase.
The words of a certain girl who’d been deeply entangled with that man.
-Oppa’s fine, right?
“Hold up—stop—!”
He pounded on the driver’s seat, and the startled driver slammed on the brakes.
With a screech, the motor wagon halted, and Carlyle bolted outside, scanning the surroundings frantically.
But the figure he’d just seen was nowhere.
Everyone stared at him oddly, spooked by his reaction, but Carlyle stayed silent.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“⋯⋯Nothing.”
Carlyle spoke quietly.
“Thought I saw a familiar face.”
A face that shouldn’t exist.
It had just flashed by.
◆
'So⋯⋯'
Where to start the investigation?
Carlyle scratched his head as they passed through Revela’s gates.
This port city was a melting pot throbbing with people from every nation.
With money and connections, anything was possible—but fresh off the boat, poking around recklessly would draw unwanted eyes.
If the Ten Glyph Society went to ground because of it, that’d be a disaster.
Was there a way to approach them without that risk?
Frowning over it, Carlyle wished for a miracle solution from the sky. These situations always gave him headaches.
And they say words plant seeds.
“⋯⋯Huh.”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯Huh?”
Not from the sky, but right there on the street, walking along.
He’d bumped into someone solution-like.
Carlyle pointed at the person ahead.
Elena’s eyes widened as she alternated glances between Carlyle and the group lined up behind him.
“P-Player!”
“⋯⋯.”
“Total player—!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯What kind of greeting is that after so long, Senior?”
She’d say anything to his face.
Still, it was nice to see her.
“What brings you here, Senior?”
“Oh, just helping with my dad’s business⋯⋯”
Elena eyed the people behind Carlyle warily.
Clear signs she wanted nothing to do with them.
“I-I should get going⋯⋯!”
“⋯⋯Don’t be like that. You’ll hurt my feelings.”
“N-No⋯⋯! I really have somewhere to be! There’s an auction soon!”
“An auction?”
“They say rare stuff from the Far East is coming in! A secret auction just for select members!”
“⋯⋯.”
Carlyle paused.
“Items from the Far East?”
“Yeah? Why? You interested?”
“A bit.”
The Ten Glyph Society they were chasing alongside Drexler hailed from the Far East originally.
Same origins might mean some leads.
“Hmm⋯⋯ Yeah? Dad’s not even sure exactly where from. But lately, some Far East group’s been flooding them with goods.”
“⋯⋯.”
“Something about making Revela their base. They’re building capital by distributing items⋯⋯ I’m here for recon, too.”
Somehow.
Totally unexpected.
‘Smells fishy.’
They’d hit the jackpot right out of the gate.
Aw, Elena looked so pretty all of a sudden.
“You’re the best, Senior!”
He grabbed her hand warmly in excitement.
“Thanks! You just saved us a ton of time.”
Seriously, rare as their meetings were, no one brought luck like her.
Hence her reaction.
“⋯⋯L-Let go⋯⋯!”
“Hm?”
“Let go, p-please, just let me live⋯⋯!”
Elena trembled, on the verge of tears.
“I-I don’t like players⋯⋯! I want a prince on a white horse!”
“⋯⋯.”
“S-So please, spare me!”
⋯⋯Probably thanks to the stares from the women behind Carlyle.
The kind of looks that could flay skin with sheer intensity.