Chapter 187: Overgeared (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 187: Overgeared (2)
In the Shadow Altar stage, the doppelganger pursued two objectives: to make the expedition waste the Stone of Truth, and if that didn't work, to create disorder in order to reduce the size of the expedition. In that sense, there was one prime suspect.
"What city are you from?"
Kyleman Parteian, the wizard from Hans G's team, had successfully cut the expedition in half. At first, I thought he'd stepped on the landmine by accident. It seemed to me that the wizard's team, including Hans G, was unaware that Team Dwarf was from Noark.
"Dwarf, are you a doppelganger?"
I had attacked Team Dwarf relentlessly about where they had obtained the equipment in their backpacks, what exactly the civil servant said to them as they handed them their identification tags, et cetera. I asked countless questions that the dwarf couldn't answer to make him seem suspicious. However, at the time, there was one thing I had overlooked. How did the dwarf, stumped by such an easy question, look to the doppelganger?
It must have seemed strange. And after that, the doppelganger would have questioned why.
The doppelganger was inside the body of an intelligent wizard. It would have pieced together the Noark thing through the questions the dwarf couldn't answer. Maybe it got greedy too. Not only did its host happen to have a perfect item for the situation, but if used properly, it would become even easier for it to hide its identity.
"H-He passed away."
Doppelganger bastards knew how to play dead. That was how they had beaten me many times in the game. If you didn't make sure their deaths were clean and instant, these sons of bitches went into hibernation and stayed alive to trick players, just like this.
"Keeeeeek!"
As soon as the potion was poured on it, the doppelganger flailed violently. If I hadn't been right about this, our only option would have been to use the Stone of Truth on Raven even after already beating the other candidates to death.
"It's a doppelganger!" With her name finally cleared, Raven let out a more joyful shout than ever.
The doppelganger denied it even as it screeched. "N-no! Hey! I! am! Kiyeek!"
How much could you possibly look down on someone? It was absurd, but arguing with a monster was just as ridiculous. I just grabbed him by the hair and walked to the altar.
As the altar got closer and closer, the doppelganger's struggle intensified. "How—?!" Finally, he gave in, making excuses and blurting out apologies.
I chuckled. Actually, the real reason I figured it out was something else.
Why don't you practice your acting?
A wizard's greatest weakness was close combat, but this bastard had managed to avoid the dwarf's ax as it swung straight for his head and took the blow with his shoulder instead. Unless he had anticipated a surprise attack, that wouldn't have been possible. The idea that he would have died instantly from something like that was just as ridiculous. Maybe I could have bought him bleeding out, but how could he have stopped breathing before Scout Lady could even feed him a potion?
[You have successfully discovered the doppelganger dwelling in the body of an expedition member.]
As soon as I shoved the doppelganger's head onto the altar, it began to glow with a pure white light. At the same time, the forest vibrated like an earthquake.
"Keeeeeek!"
A shadow-like creature was pushed out of the wizard's head and shot through the trees, releasing a terrifying scream.
"Oh! It's getting away!"
It disappeared in a certain direction. There was no need to worry, though. That meant that the third stage was over.
[Only one Stone of Truth has been used. Seal Unlock Percentage: 10%]
[Please track down and kill the Doppelganger before they regain their power.]
Now, it was time to fight the final boss.
"Bjorn, let's follow him!"
"Stop. We have to do something before that." I calmed Ainar, then checked how Parteian was doing. Well, Raven did. Not me. "How is he?"
"His injury is almost healed, so he should wake up soon."
"I see."
As soon as I called for her, Raven inspected Parteian. After that, she finally slumped. It looked like her sanity had returned, and her legs grew weak. "Whew..."
The melee sisters and Mr. Bear approached with bashful looks on their faces and offered a few words.
"Wow, so that guy was the doppelgangerrr..."
"I told you. It wasn't me!"
"Ahem, still, you're not a wizard for nothing. Who would have thought someone might still be alive in a state like that?"
"Ha... what were you going to do if it really was me?"
"Aruru! You know me, right? I believed in you!"
"Yeah right... and what the heck is an Aruru?"
"What?! Could it be that you don't like Aruru?" Ainar seemed really hurt by that.
Of course, that wasn't going to work on Raven. "Then would you like me to do the same to you? Arua Raven! Please call me properly either by my first or last name. I hate this kind of—"
"I-I wanted to call you by your first name, but it is difficult to pronounce..."
When Ainar dropped her head, Raven finally clammed up. "You want to call me by name?" she asked hesitantly. "What do you mean?"
"You're a human wizard, but you're also a precious teammate of mine." Ainar uttered those sickly sweet words without so much as flinching.
"Ha, that weird pronunciation..." Raven sighed incredulously but whipped her head away from Ainar. "It's fine. Call me whatever."
"Really!?"
"Yes. They call me by something similar at the school anyway, so I shouldn't really be getting mad at you."
"Thanks, Aruru!" We were treated to the heart-warming sight of friendship between teammates strengthening after overcoming adversity. As I watched, I had the following thought:
This kid, although she doesn't look like it, is weak to these things. I should use this next time I make a mistake.
After making that mental note, I ended the conversation and started organizing our equipment. There was a mountain of things to do before the boss fight.
"Both of you, stop doing that and come here." First, I called over the scout woman and the recovered blunt-weapon warrior. "I assume you heard about the situation?"
"...We did." It seemed the fact that Hans G and the elven archer had been evil spirits was quite a shock to them, as their eyes were still blank.
"Snap out of it. You can deal with all that after you get out of here."
"What can we do?"
"Tell me what you can do."
I checked the blunt-weapon fighter's combat power—what essences he had, what forms of combat he was capable of, etcetera. Normally, this was information you would never tell an outsider, but as things had reached this point, he cooperated with me very submissively.
"Oh! It's getting away!"
It disappeared in a certain direction. There was no need to worry, though. That meant that the third stage was over.
[Only one Stone of Truth has been used. Seal Unlock Percentage: 10%]
[Please track down and kill the Doppelganger before they regain their power.]
Now, it was time to fight the final boss.
"Bjorn, let's follow him!"
"Stop. We have to do something before that." I calmed Ainar, then checked how Parteian was doing. Well, Raven did. Not me. "How is he?"
"His injury is almost healed, so he should wake up soon."
"I see."
As soon as I called for her, Raven inspected Parteian. After that, she finally slumped. It looked like her sanity had returned, and her legs grew weak. "Whew..."
The melee sisters and Mr. Bear approached with bashful looks on their faces and offered a few words.
"Wow, so that guy was the doppelgangerrr..."
"I told you. It wasn't me!"
"Ahem, still, you're not a wizard for nothing. Who would have thought someone might still be alive in a state like that?"
"Ha... what were you going to do if it really was me?"
"Aruru! You know me, right? I believed in you!"
"Yeah right... and what the heck is an Aruru?"
"What?! Could it be that you don't like Aruru?" Ainar seemed really hurt by that.
Of course, that wasn't going to work on Raven. "Then would you like me to do the same to you? Arua Raven! Please call me properly either by my first or last name. I hate this kind of—"
"I-I wanted to call you by your first name, but it is difficult to pronounce..."
When Ainar dropped her head, Raven finally clammed up. "You want to call me by name?" she asked hesitantly. "What do you mean?"
"You're a human wizard, but you're also a precious teammate of mine." Ainar uttered those sickly sweet words without so much as flinching.
"Ha, that weird pronunciation..." Raven sighed incredulously but whipped her head away from Ainar. "It's fine. Call me whatever."
"Really!?"
"Yes. They call me by something similar at the school anyway, so I shouldn't really be getting mad at you."
"Thanks, Aruru!" We were treated to the heart-warming sight of friendship between teammates strengthening after overcoming adversity. As I watched, I had the following thought:
This kid, although she doesn't look like it, is weak to these things. I should use this next time I make a mistake.
After making that mental note, I ended the conversation and started organizing our equipment. There was a mountain of things to do before the boss fight.
"Both of you, stop doing that and come here." First, I called over the scout woman and the recovered blunt-weapon warrior. "I assume you heard about the situation?"
"...We did." It seemed the fact that Hans G and the elven archer had been evil spirits was quite a shock to them, as their eyes were still blank.
"Snap out of it. You can deal with all that after you get out of here."
"What can we do?"
"Tell me what you can do."
I checked the blunt-weapon fighter's combat power—what essences he had, what forms of combat he was capable of, etcetera. Normally, this was information you would never tell an outsider, but as things had reached this point, he cooperated with me very submissively.
"Okay, then what about you?"
"E-Except for finding the way, I won't be any help in battle. I'm sorry."
We had one rank-six fighter and one unranked guide.
"Still, Parteian will be of great help to you. He's a rank-five wizard."
"What? Rank five?"
"That's right. Although he specializes in fields other than attack magic. He was the one who played the most roles on our team. You should hear the details for yourself when he wakes up."
I was genuinely surprised because Raven was still a rank-six wizard. How the hell did Hans convince such a prime talent to work with him?
Then that means we have to beat the guardian with a total of seven people, including a rank-five wizard...
I still couldn't get a proper idea of how the battle would go. I didn't have enough paint to draw the picture I wanted. So, while Parteian recovered, I dug through Team Dwarf's spoils.
"Check every single thing. If anything stands out, get Raven to inspect it. Anything that can be used must be used."
I looked at the things belonging to Hans G, the elven archer, the beast swordsman, the dwarf, the sorcerer, and the priest of Karui. The archer we had offered to the altar had been transformed into a spirit, and we'd only be able to look through his belongings after the rift was cleared, so pass.
"Arururng! How about this?"
"I sense mana here. But I don't see any magic formulas, so it can't be a regular magic item... It's likely a Numbered Item."
"Oooh! These shoes! They fit me perfectly!"
"These boots are made from half-troll leather. They also have Acceleration magic on them. These are expensive, so wear them with care. We'll have to add it to the settlement later."
As they had all been seasoned adventurers, each person's bag revealed useful items. It was like opening a treasure chest.
"Raven, can you check this too? I know it's made of lithinum, but why is it made into a necklace?"
"It's for mana conductivity. You could cast the same spell twice and the efficiency will be different. So, let's see, this necklace..." Apparently hitting her stride, Raven determined the values of all sorts of items with lightning speed.
Even still, this process took more time than expected and soon, Parteian woke up. "Uh... Umm..."
Taking in the sight of the forest littered with the bodies of his teammates and various pieces of equipment, the middle-aged wizard fell into a state of confusion. I sent the blunt-weapon warrior to explain to me.
"Y-You mean the doppelganger was in my body...? Noark... Yes, no wonder their bags were full of unused equipment. It makes sense if they are from there... Chrisen and Meirin were evil spirits...?" As the explanation continued, the wizard's complexion paled. But even in this situation, he came up to me and offered words of thanks. Maybe that was just a wizard's nature. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, something truly terrible would have happened."
"If you're grateful, go and help Raven. This is not the time to relax."
"I will." After Parteian joined in, the pace of the sorting accelerated. Surprisingly, he was also an expert in this kind of thing.
"...Appraisal magic? Are you from the Narman School?"
"Come to think of it, we haven't even introduced ourselves. That's right."
"I'm Arua Raven from the Altemion School."
"Haha, I'm aware. There's only one school with such an impressive symbol on their robes."
"Our Master can go a bit overboard..."
When Parteian, a wizard from the School of Narman who was capable of special appraisal, joined in, it was possible to classify numbered items, of course, and also items that we couldn't clearly identify earlier. We passed a long while like that.
"It looks like we got all the useful stuff. Let's stop and gather around."
After finishing the sorting work, we got together and established a temporary pact.
"I'll tell you this in advance, but everything you take now will be written down and paid for properly later. If you want to keep using it, you'll have to pay for it. Understood?"
"Okay!"
"Then Ainar, come here." I looked at the list we'd created and transferred the items we'd obtained to each person. My criteria was but one thing: who the item would be best suited for. "Give your shoes to Missha."
"N-No way! They won't fit her feet anyway!"
"Don't worry. I made sure that it came with an adjustment spell." My dogmatic ruling didn't pass without complaints, but things like these were what I should use my authority as a leader for. "Ainar."
"Okay. I'll give them to her..."
Starting with Ainar, the rest of my teammates took usable equipment, as few as one piece and as many as five per person. Jeez, how much money could we get for all of this? Once you fought another adventurer, you understood from the bottom of your heart why everyone plundered so much.
"That's it, then." The remaining loot was divided and stored in Raven's and my sub-spaces. It wasn't just for safety reasons—there was just too much.
Grin.
Looking at my new equipment, I couldn't help the smile that kept creeping up on my face. Indeed, this was the flipside of Hans's Law.
[You have equipped No. 2988: Guard Corps Token. Your total General Level has increased by +1485.]
[You have equipped No. 8667: Outlaw of the Wilderness. Your General Item Level has increased by +315.]
[You have equipped Idium Gaiters. Your General Item Level has increased by +400.]
Doppelganger bastard, you're dead.
***
[Bjorn Yandel]
[Level: 5
Physique: 555 (New +5)
Spirit: 198 (New +15)
Special Ability: 191
Item Level: 3068 (New +2200)
General Combat Power: 1731 (New +570)
Acquired Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7 / Orc Hero - Rank 5 / Ogre - Rank 3 / Manticore - Rank 5 (New)]
"Okay, then what about you?"
"E-Except for finding the way, I won't be any help in battle. I'm sorry."
We had one rank-six fighter and one unranked guide.
"Still, Parteian will be of great help to you. He's a rank-five wizard."
"What? Rank five?"
"That's right. Although he specializes in fields other than attack magic. He was the one who played the most roles on our team. You should hear the details for yourself when he wakes up."
I was genuinely surprised because Raven was still a rank-six wizard. How the hell did Hans convince such a prime talent to work with him?
Then that means we have to beat the guardian with a total of seven people, including a rank-five wizard...
I still couldn't get a proper idea of how the battle would go. I didn't have enough paint to draw the picture I wanted. So, while Parteian recovered, I dug through Team Dwarf's spoils.
"Check every single thing. If anything stands out, get Raven to inspect it. Anything that can be used must be used."
I looked at the things belonging to Hans G, the elven archer, the beast swordsman, the dwarf, the sorcerer, and the priest of Karui. The archer we had offered to the altar had been transformed into a spirit, and we'd only be able to look through his belongings after the rift was cleared, so pass.
"Arururng! How about this?"
"I sense mana here. But I don't see any magic formulas, so it can't be a regular magic item... It's likely a Numbered Item."
"Oooh! These shoes! They fit me perfectly!"
"These boots are made from half-troll leather. They also have Acceleration magic on them. These are expensive, so wear them with care. We'll have to add it to the settlement later."
As they had all been seasoned adventurers, each person's bag revealed useful items. It was like opening a treasure chest.
"Raven, can you check this too? I know it's made of lithinum, but why is it made into a necklace?"
"It's for mana conductivity. You could cast the same spell twice and the efficiency will be different. So, let's see, this necklace..." Apparently hitting her stride, Raven determined the values of all sorts of items with lightning speed.
Even still, this process took more time than expected and soon, Parteian woke up. "Uh... Umm..."
Taking in the sight of the forest littered with the bodies of his teammates and various pieces of equipment, the middle-aged wizard fell into a state of confusion. I sent the blunt-weapon warrior to explain to me.
"Y-You mean the doppelganger was in my body...? Noark... Yes, no wonder their bags were full of unused equipment. It makes sense if they are from there... Chrisen and Meirin were evil spirits...?" As the explanation continued, the wizard's complexion paled. But even in this situation, he came up to me and offered words of thanks. Maybe that was just a wizard's nature. "Thank you. If it weren't for you, something truly terrible would have happened."
"If you're grateful, go and help Raven. This is not the time to relax."
"I will." After Parteian joined in, the pace of the sorting accelerated. Surprisingly, he was also an expert in this kind of thing.
"...Appraisal magic? Are you from the Narman School?"
"Come to think of it, we haven't even introduced ourselves. That's right."
"I'm Arua Raven from the Altemion School."
"Haha, I'm aware. There's only one school with such an impressive symbol on their robes."
"Our Master can go a bit overboard..."
When Parteian, a wizard from the School of Narman who was capable of special appraisal, joined in, it was possible to classify numbered items, of course, and also items that we couldn't clearly identify earlier. We passed a long while like that.
"It looks like we got all the useful stuff. Let's stop and gather around."
After finishing the sorting work, we got together and established a temporary pact.
"I'll tell you this in advance, but everything you take now will be written down and paid for properly later. If you want to keep using it, you'll have to pay for it. Understood?"
"Okay!"
"Then Ainar, come here." I looked at the list we'd created and transferred the items we'd obtained to each person. My criteria was but one thing: who the item would be best suited for. "Give your shoes to Missha."
"N-No way! They won't fit her feet anyway!"
"Don't worry. I made sure that it came with an adjustment spell." My dogmatic ruling didn't pass without complaints, but things like these were what I should use my authority as a leader for. "Ainar."
"Okay. I'll give them to her..."
Starting with Ainar, the rest of my teammates took usable equipment, as few as one piece and as many as five per person. Jeez, how much money could we get for all of this? Once you fought another adventurer, you understood from the bottom of your heart why everyone plundered so much.
"That's it, then." The remaining loot was divided and stored in Raven's and my sub-spaces. It wasn't just for safety reasons—there was just too much.
Grin.
Looking at my new equipment, I couldn't help the smile that kept creeping up on my face. Indeed, this was the flipside of Hans's Law.
[You have equipped No. 2988: Guard Corps Token. Your total General Level has increased by +1485.]
[You have equipped No. 8667: Outlaw of the Wilderness. Your General Item Level has increased by +315.]
[You have equipped Idium Gaiters. Your General Item Level has increased by +400.]
Doppelganger bastard, you're dead.
***
[Bjorn Yandel]
[Level: 5
Physique: 555 (New +5)
Spirit: 198 (New +15)
Special Ability: 191
Item Level: 3068 (New +2200)
General Combat Power: 1731 (New +570)
Acquired Essences: Corpse Golem - Rank 7 / Orc Hero - Rank 5 / Ogre - Rank 3 / Manticore - Rank 5 (New)]