Chapter 48
Chapter 48
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 48
Chapter Title: Words Can Be Shackles or Salvation (8)
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Words can become shackles, or they can become salvation.
The day after setting up base camp, the full-scale investigation began.
For now, they decided to scout the remaining areas first, excluding the land they'd already surveyed.
Thanks to ten days of diligent scouting, there wasn't much left.
Well, since they'd roughly marked things on the map here and there, it probably wasn't perfectly accurate.
Even if they generously checked the surrounding areas too, with this many people, they could cover everything in about two days.
...Sigh. It'd be great if they found the Troll Lord's hideout or some trace in the uninvestigated sections.
Then they could relocate the base nearby, and the rest would just be in-depth searches.
The tedious, exhausting work of endlessly circling the area would end in just two days.
But no one here was filled with such hopeful thoughts.
Honestly, after combing through over 70% of the swamp for ten days and finding nothing...
It didn't make sense for the investigation team to discover it in just two days.
A guy that meticulous wouldn't have hidden his lair so sloppily, so they must have overlooked it in their haste.
Tch. If I'd known it'd be like this, I would've let him run a bit farther and uncovered the hideout then.
Well... no use thinking about that now.
"Phew, swamps are brutal, huh."
I overheard the soldiers moving with me chatting as they wiped away sweat pouring like rain.
"Yeah. Sweating buckets."
"It's the humidity. All that humidity."
Sure enough, it was incredibly humid and hot, just like they said.
Like moving around inside a lukewarm, sticky swamp.
Having to search tree bases, bushes, and even inside the swamp itself in these conditions—how could it not be exhausting?
Still, they kept at it without a single complaint.
Even chatting idly.
"By the way, did you see that article? The one about Hero Academy."
"Oh, that thing. Devil possession?"
That's when 'Hero Academy' jumped out from the soldiers' chatter.
"Yeah, one of the students caused a devil possession incident, right?"
"Yeah, she was a problem child from the start, I hear. Got expelled from the academy and her own country."
"A hero candidate, too... What a mess."
"Hey, enough chit-chat. Get back to work."
That's when Knight Hans, the captain of this investigation team, gave them a look.
"......"
A Hero Academy hero trainee who caused a devil possession.
I'd seen the article too.
She'd always been a bit of a problem student, and it escalated to this... or so the academy's explanation went.
On top of that, her home country exiled her and banned her from entry?
...I heard she was that country's princess.
Did they really have to go that far?
Lin Pacific... that was her name.
Her full name was even mentioned, which felt off.
It came across like they were piling all the blame on her to wash their hands of it.
Honestly, with Hero Academy's training methods, a student falling to darkness and getting possessed by a devil isn't that surprising.
Until now, people just shrugged it off as "that's how the academy is."
But over the past three years, with Jenny Harkur—a beacon of light they had to follow—there...
The academy's student mortality rate plummeted.
Incoming students must have started feeling hope.
'Now we won't die or get hurt. So that's how it's supposed to be.'
But without that guiding light, without anyone teaching survival...
That hope swells into equal despair.
Naturally, the darkness grows just as much, and incidents like this are inevitable.
But why did her own country abandon their princess?
No matter how heavy the 'devil-possessed hero' label is, is it enough to disown your own daughter?
"Hmm... Lin Pacific."
She seems to have a heartbreaking story.
"Ugh..."
Suddenly, a signal from below.
"E-Excuse me, I need to step away for a bit."
"Pardon? Ah... sure."
Captain Hans glanced around and nodded at my words.
The area's safety was already secured when we started investigating.
A quick bathroom break was fine if I didn't go too far.
...Honestly, who wants people hovering while they do their business?
Still, for any emergencies, I kept it close enough for them to rush over.
After handling it in the swamp, I turned to head back.
Rustle—
"...!!"
Suddenly, a rustling sound from the opposite direction of the group.
A troll or monster? I was about to dodge when—
Clang!
A sound of metal breaking.
Metal? In this swamp?
An armed orc squad maybe?
Unlikely, but just in case, I turned toward the noise.
"Huh?"
A bit away, a human woman.
And a troll raising its arm high toward her.
Anyone could see she was under attack.
Dangerous.
I have to save her!
But the knights and soldiers are too far.
What do I do?
What do I do? I have to.
Can I?
Can I beat a troll?
Me, who struggled against a single goblin not long ago?
No, I have to.
Calling someone else now would be too late.
She'll die.
My thoughts raced at tremendous speed.
In a comma's worth of time, my mind cleared, and I reached a conclusion.
The moment I did, I pulled an instant bomb from my pocket.
I'd brought a few just in case.
Sticking to knights and soldiers for protection leaves you helpless in emergencies.
I never imagined the emergency would feel like this, but anyway.
I have to time it so she doesn't get hurt.
Not to injure, just to draw attention... from a bit farther!
Whoosh—
The instant bomb flew quickly toward the troll.
Crash!
Glass bottle shattering.
"Kek?"
The troll flinched at the sound and looked toward the bomb.
That instant.
💥 BOOM! 💥 "Kreeeek?!"
The bomb exploded, unleashing a massive blast and shockwave at the troll.
Since it landed a bit farther, no flames or shrapnel hit, but the deafening roar and the nose-stinging smell of oil and volatiles panicked it.
In that gap, I rushed to the fallen woman and shouted.
"Hurry, over here!"
"......"
Up close, she was strikingly beautiful.
Long sky-blue hair like a clear sky, large smoky-gray eyes.
But those eyes looked vacant, as if she'd lost her reason.
Her blue light armor was torn and ragged everywhere.
A ornate golden hilt embedded with dull gem-like stones... but the blade was completely shattered.
A truly wretched state.
...Not something from fighting one troll, right?
More like worn down over days.
"Keeek?!"
Ah, not the time.
Gotta dodge!
Grab!
I grabbed her dazed, unmoving body and hurriedly pulled her away.
Thud!
A troll fist the size of a man's head slammed into where she'd been.
The muddy ground cratered, and the troll strode forward.
The bomb had aggro'd it temporarily—only temporarily.
It spotted us again and came charging.
But... by now, it should be fine.
Slash!
"Kek? Kriiik?!"
The troll made a weird noise, its throat split as it toppled.
From behind the fallen troll, Captain Hans poked his head out.
"You okay?! We heard the explosion and came running... Huh?"
But Captain Hans frowned and tilted his head.
What's wrong?
Something bad?
"Who is that woman...?"
"Pardon?"
Captain Hans pointed at me, and only then did I realize I was hugging her tight.
"Ah, ugh?! S-Sorry!"
I hurriedly let go and bowed, but no response.
"...?"
Is she too angry to speak? I peeked up.
"......"
For some reason, she was just staring blankly into space, like before the troll.
What? Is something wrong with her?
First things first, figure out who she is. Check her name.
She won't respond in that state, right?
Aptitude Appraisal even shows the target's name.
It's been a while since I last used it. Aptitude Appraisal.
⚔ STATUS ⚔ 📛 Name: Lin Pacific ⚔ Aptitude Stats ✨ Physical Skills Integration (3 types): B 💫 Magic Skills Integration (17 types): A 🍳 Culinary Arts: C ⭐ Hero's Quality: A "...?"
H-Hold on.
Who did you say?
#
After her exile was decided, Lin just wandered aimlessly.
South, south.
From the capital Carmen toward Hasler, south.
She encountered monsters along the way, but dispatched them with her once-glorious cherished sword... no, her long sword Ice Break, now starting to lose its luster.
Just going wherever her feet took her, she got lost here and there, failing to find proper paths.
When thirsty, she drank from nearby puddles or streams; when hungry, she roasted random tree fruits or beast meat over a fire and pressed on.
Thanks to keeping moving, she eventually reached the Ode Swamp.
A place thick with sticky, unpleasant humidity.
By the time she arrived, her body was a wreck.
Malnourished from improper eating, her body gaunt and haggard.
Her blue ceramic armor torn and ragged everywhere.
Her sword Ice Break, neglected, rusted and chipped beyond use.
A true master sword wouldn't degrade like this from a few days' neglect.
But her father... King Pacific of the Pacific Kingdom had merely adorned a plain sword with gaudy decorations.
Anyway, when she entered the Ode Swamp, the trolls were already gone, cleared out.
So she wandered blankly for three days without incident.
But on the third day.
She encountered a rare lone troll.
The troll attacked her, and with a dazed face, she instinctively raised her sword to block.
At that moment.
Clang!
The already rusted, damaged Ice Break couldn't withstand and shattered.
"...Ah."
She stared blankly at the now-useless hilt.
And the pointlessly ornate sword hilt overlapped with her own image.
'You've become useless too, just like me.'
Gaudy on the outside.
But a sword has a blade to cut foes.
A sword with a rotten, broken blade isn't a sword, no matter the hilt.
'Yeah, the useless get discarded. That's natural. Me too... it's natural for me to be discarded.'
She didn't dodge as the troll's fist fell.
She intended to fully discard her useless self right there.
But then.
💥 BOOM!! 💥 A massive explosion rang out.