Chapter 504: Age of Exploration (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 504: Age of Exploration (5)
Did you know the most important factor of any successful lie? It wasn't creating a logical, sensible excuse, nor was it the time and effort you put into fostering a sense of trust with the other party.
It was your expression.
"Th-this... This is all a misunderstanding!"
How was I supposed to believe a word he was saying when he was looking at me like that?
"I j-just didn't realize I got blood splatter on me, and..."
There were some professional liars out there who were able to control even the tiniest of muscles in their faces. Fortunately for me, this guy wasn't one of them.
"I-I'm telling you... This is a misunderstanding—!"
"Then explain. I'll hear out whatever it is you have to say."
There was no need to keep beating around the bush. I called Versyl over to cast a verification spell on him.
"...This man is stronger than he looks."
Sadly, the spell failed. Well, I sort of expected it to, anyway. This type of magic didn't work if someone's Mana Resistance or Spirit stat was above a certain threshold, and this clan had over twenty members. Even if I didn't recognize their name, it would be stranger if their captain wasn't strong enough to resist a spell like this.
"What should we do now?"
What should we do, huh? Well, there was really no point in wasting our time trying to get an honest answer out of this guy—not when there were several other witnesses present.
"Try it on that guy."
I pointed to an archer who was giving off weak vibes. Versyl went over to him and cast the fact-checking spell once more.
"It worked."
Yeah, I figured it would work on him. "All right, you over there."
"Yes, Your Lordship..."
"Tell me. What happened here?"
The archer paled. His eyes darted back and forth between me and his captain, unsure of how to answer. "Uh... well, we were, uh..."
It was time to raise the whip. "Seeing as you don't want to answer me," I drawled, my tone ice-cold, "I'm guessing that I didn't misunderstand?"
The captain looked toward the archer and nodded his head. "Jason, you can tell him."
"Okay... I'll explain, then."
Once he had his captain's permission, the archer finally got to talking. Listening to the story, it seemed that I did somewhat misunderstand what had happened here. To sum it up, these guys hadn't been lying when they said they found this place first. However, shortly after, a party of six adventurers approached them, and a fight broke out.
"Were they trying to steal your accomplishments?"
"It's not like that, but..."
"Stop skirting around the issue and tell me."
"Well..."
It would have been better if those six adventurers hadn't seen them at all, but unfortunately, they were quick to notice that the clan had found something. Well, that was what the clan assumed, anyway. Afraid that the party would run away and leak information about their location to someone else, the clan subdued them.
"At which point there was an incident."
"What kind of incident?"
"While we were subduing them, they violently resisted and ended up killing one of ours first..."
As a result, a full-on battle broke out and the smaller party met their end here in the dark cave.
"What about their bodies?"
"...After taking off their equipment, we melted them with acid."
I see. No wonder there was a strange scent in the air.
"Everything I said is true. Please believe me. They attacked us first, so—"
What is this guy saying? "If you guys had managed to capture them, would you really have let them go without a fight?"
"But we..." Perhaps the archer knew he couldn't answer that question without lying because he quickly clammed up.
Finally, the captain, who had been silent this entire time, spoke up. "What did we do that was so wrong?"
"What?"
"Do you think those six were any better? If we were the ones with fewer numbers, they would have killed us and stolen our discovery too."
So that was what he was so eager to say. Not that he was completely wrong, but...
"That's why no one can blame us for this. Not even you, Baron Yandel!" their captain yelled fearlessly, clearly convinced of his own argument.
"So what you're saying is that it's no problem if I kill you all here, right? After all, according to your logic, no one could blame us."
When I threw his own logic back in his face, his eyes flew open in disbelief. "But if you did that, your reputation—!"
"What? Are you going to run around spreading rumors as a ghost?"
It was then that he finally seemed to realize that Baron Yandel wasn't as noble a man as the rumors claimed.
"Whatever," I said, swiftly ending the conversation now that I'd heard everything they had to say. "That's enough."
With that done, I gathered my team for a meeting, only one item on the agenda. "What do you think we should do with these guys? Don't let your thoughts show on your face, though. Just tell me what you think."
"I'm for killing them."
Erwen was the first to give her two cents, no hesitation. Following her lead, the other members began to voice their opinions as well.
"Missha, what about you?"
"I'm not sure. I guess killing them... would be better...?"
"I agree with Ms. Karlstein."
Missha and Versyl were also on the "kill them" side. Auyen and Ainar, meanwhile, wanted to let them live.
"I'm also for keeping them alive."
Unexpectedly, Amelia voted to let them live as well.
I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Why?"
"If we really want to hold them accountable for their actions, it's only right to leave this matter to the guild."
What's with her...? I never expected to hear such a teacher's pet kind of answer from her, of all people.
I stared at her, completely dumbfounded, as Amelia averted her gaze. "And... I think that would be better for you."
"...What?"
"That's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt."
"No, that's not it. What I'm wondering is what you mean by that being the better option for me?" I asked genuinely.
As a result, a full-on battle broke out and the smaller party met their end here in the dark cave.
"What about their bodies?"
"...After taking off their equipment, we melted them with acid."
I see. No wonder there was a strange scent in the air.
"Everything I said is true. Please believe me. They attacked us first, so—"
What is this guy saying? "If you guys had managed to capture them, would you really have let them go without a fight?"
"But we..." Perhaps the archer knew he couldn't answer that question without lying because he quickly clammed up.
Finally, the captain, who had been silent this entire time, spoke up. "What did we do that was so wrong?"
"What?"
"Do you think those six were any better? If we were the ones with fewer numbers, they would have killed us and stolen our discovery too."
So that was what he was so eager to say. Not that he was completely wrong, but...
"That's why no one can blame us for this. Not even you, Baron Yandel!" their captain yelled fearlessly, clearly convinced of his own argument.
"So what you're saying is that it's no problem if I kill you all here, right? After all, according to your logic, no one could blame us."
When I threw his own logic back in his face, his eyes flew open in disbelief. "But if you did that, your reputation—!"
"What? Are you going to run around spreading rumors as a ghost?"
It was then that he finally seemed to realize that Baron Yandel wasn't as noble a man as the rumors claimed.
"Whatever," I said, swiftly ending the conversation now that I'd heard everything they had to say. "That's enough."
With that done, I gathered my team for a meeting, only one item on the agenda. "What do you think we should do with these guys? Don't let your thoughts show on your face, though. Just tell me what you think."
"I'm for killing them."
Erwen was the first to give her two cents, no hesitation. Following her lead, the other members began to voice their opinions as well.
"Missha, what about you?"
"I'm not sure. I guess killing them... would be better...?"
"I agree with Ms. Karlstein."
Missha and Versyl were also on the "kill them" side. Auyen and Ainar, meanwhile, wanted to let them live.
"I'm also for keeping them alive."
Unexpectedly, Amelia voted to let them live as well.
I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Why?"
"If we really want to hold them accountable for their actions, it's only right to leave this matter to the guild."
What's with her...? I never expected to hear such a teacher's pet kind of answer from her, of all people.
I stared at her, completely dumbfounded, as Amelia averted her gaze. "And... I think that would be better for you."
"...What?"
"That's just my opinion, so take it with a grain of salt."
"No, that's not it. What I'm wondering is what you mean by that being the better option for me?" I asked genuinely.
Amelia mulled over my question for a moment before finally opening her mouth. "Yandel, don't get offended and just hear me out. You are very unstable right now."
"...Unstable?"
"Have they hurt you? Did they try to kill you? No, they haven't. And it's not like they will pose any threat to you in the future if we let them live. Yet, as we speak, you're still looking for a justification to kill them."
So that was how she felt. Still, it wasn't like I was some sort of savage out for blood or something. "Emily, I think we're on different pages here. I'm not—"
"Am I wrong?"
But I'm really not trying to kill them for the hell of it.
However, when I met Amelia's eyes to tell her that, I found I couldn't get a single word out. The look in them wasn't one of discussion or criticism. The only thing I found there was sincere worry.
"...I guess, in the end, there are three of us in favor of killing them and three of us in favor of keeping them alive," she summarized. "So, Yandel. The choice is yours."
What was I supposed to do?
To kill them or keep them alive... I never thought I'd have to agonize over a problem like this for so long.
But in the end...
It was probably because of what Amelia said. After hearing her out, I also began to feel a prickle of worry for Hansu Lee, the regular guy who had been trapped in the body of a warrior and forced to fight, to kill, for years to survive.
"You, the archer."
"...Yes?"
I asked him one last thing. "Does anyone in your clan, including you, have any experience plundering?"
"...No, we don't. We're not that kind of clan. This time it's just... Everyone was blinded by greed. We weren't in our right minds for a moment."
"He's telling the truth."
So that was that.
"Versyl, get their testimonies one more time and make sure to use a recording crystal when you do it. Emily, search through their belongings for the victims' ID cards. And make sure to grab anything that should be submitted to the guild as evidence."
"That means..."
"We will leave it to the guild to judge whether or not you are considered plunderers."
This was an annoying and troublesome way to handle things. Even though that was my immediate thought, after making my decision and getting to work, everything went smoothly.
"Don't get into any other trouble until the labyrinth closes. The guild will take over and investigate your actions during this expedition."
"Of—Of course!"
All right, then that was the end of that. "So, what did you find inside?"
"Th-there's a stone inside."
"A stone?"
It would be quicker to just see it myself. While Amelia and Versyl took care of gathering testimonies and evidence, I approached the wall. The crack in it was so small, I had no hope of crawling through it.
Why does it feel like they're discriminating against barbarians?
With that thought in mind, I slammed my hammer into the wall.
Boom! Crash!
Chunks of rock fell to the floor in a heap as I punched another hole through it. After a few more strikes, it eventually collapsed entirely, revealing a hidden path.
Amelia mulled over my question for a moment before finally opening her mouth. "Yandel, don't get offended and just hear me out. You are very unstable right now."
"...Unstable?"
"Have they hurt you? Did they try to kill you? No, they haven't. And it's not like they will pose any threat to you in the future if we let them live. Yet, as we speak, you're still looking for a justification to kill them."
So that was how she felt. Still, it wasn't like I was some sort of savage out for blood or something. "Emily, I think we're on different pages here. I'm not—"
"Am I wrong?"
But I'm really not trying to kill them for the hell of it.
However, when I met Amelia's eyes to tell her that, I found I couldn't get a single word out. The look in them wasn't one of discussion or criticism. The only thing I found there was sincere worry.
"...I guess, in the end, there are three of us in favor of killing them and three of us in favor of keeping them alive," she summarized. "So, Yandel. The choice is yours."
What was I supposed to do?
To kill them or keep them alive... I never thought I'd have to agonize over a problem like this for so long.
But in the end...
It was probably because of what Amelia said. After hearing her out, I also began to feel a prickle of worry for Hansu Lee, the regular guy who had been trapped in the body of a warrior and forced to fight, to kill, for years to survive.
"You, the archer."
"...Yes?"
I asked him one last thing. "Does anyone in your clan, including you, have any experience plundering?"
"...No, we don't. We're not that kind of clan. This time it's just... Everyone was blinded by greed. We weren't in our right minds for a moment."
"He's telling the truth."
So that was that.
"Versyl, get their testimonies one more time and make sure to use a recording crystal when you do it. Emily, search through their belongings for the victims' ID cards. And make sure to grab anything that should be submitted to the guild as evidence."
"That means..."
"We will leave it to the guild to judge whether or not you are considered plunderers."
This was an annoying and troublesome way to handle things. Even though that was my immediate thought, after making my decision and getting to work, everything went smoothly.
"Don't get into any other trouble until the labyrinth closes. The guild will take over and investigate your actions during this expedition."
"Of—Of course!"
All right, then that was the end of that. "So, what did you find inside?"
"Th-there's a stone inside."
"A stone?"
It would be quicker to just see it myself. While Amelia and Versyl took care of gathering testimonies and evidence, I approached the wall. The crack in it was so small, I had no hope of crawling through it.
Why does it feel like they're discriminating against barbarians?
With that thought in mind, I slammed my hammer into the wall.
Boom! Crash!
Chunks of rock fell to the floor in a heap as I punched another hole through it. After a few more strikes, it eventually collapsed entirely, revealing a hidden path.
"Oh! It looks just like the portal stone!"
"How interesting."
"Then will it also open a portal if we touch it?"
At the end of the path was a large stone about ten yards away. I immediately approached it and reached my hand out to touch it, but no portal opened.
Yeah, I had a feeling we found it too easy. Then does that mean there are special activation conditions?
Still, this at least seemed like the right place. After all, there wasn't originally a secret area like this in the Crystal Cave. Not only that, but the broken walls were also not reforming.
That was precisely why the most fundamental strategy for searching for a hidden feature was destroying everything. If you broke something and it didn't restore itself, then there was a high chance that you found an Easter egg.
"Have you found anything?"
"Not yet..."
"I see."
Once Amelia and Versyl finished gathering evidence and testimonies, they joined the rest of us inside to search around. The clan had apparently scampered off the minute they were done.
"I-Is it really okay to just let them go?"
"Yeah. I told them to not cause any more trouble."
"But are you really okay with that?" Versyl asked cautiously. "They might spread information."
That was true. Actually, I'd also thought it would be cleaner to just kill them at the time, but... "It doesn't matter even if they do."
"It doesn't matter?"
"A random clan was able to find this place before the third day. That means it wasn't all that impressive a discovery in the first place. They were wrong to think it was such a valuable piece of information. It's only a matter of time before everyone else finds this place too."
"That... makes sense."
"So stop worrying about it. And Versyl, come over here. I want to see if you can detect any magic around here. Something might be hidden."
"Of course."
We quickly finished a cursory magical search but unfortunately wound up empty-handed.
"Mr. Yandel, I think it would be better to get going. I don't think there is anything to be found—"
"Bjorn!" Ainar shouted, interrupting Versyl. "Something is written over here!"
Suddenly, a clue was discovered in a completely unexpected place. Ainar, who was digging at the ground around the stone, had revealed some words hidden at its base.
"Good find."
"Haha! A trained warrior's intuition is no different than magic. That's one of the many reasons why barbarians are the superior race!"
I squatted down to read the text, ignoring Ainar's nonsense.
"It's in the ancient language..."
"That's fine," I said, distracted. "I can read it."
"Y-You can read that...?"
Oh, didn't I tell them? I guess it would be faster to just show them.
I quickly read the ancient language that was written on the ground around the stone aloud. "One star, one sun, one moon. Every creature that exists here on this land is the same when you look at them from above. And I will look up at you."
As soon as I finished reading it, twin expressions of disquiet appeared on Erwen and Versyl's faces.
"Mr. Yandel, this..."
"It's the same inscription from back then, right?"
"Yeah."
It was the same text we'd seen written on the Witch's Altar.
Sadly, Ainar didn't seem to remember. "...What? Where did you hear that before? What are you talking about?"
"Forget it."
We continued to dig around the stone to see if there was anything else, but there was nothing. Deciding that we'd found everything there was to find in there, we quickly covered the text with dirt again and exited through the broken wall.
"This isn't good. I can't believe after all of that, we didn't find a single clue."
Amelia seemed disheartened, but I didn't feel that way at all. What did she mean we hadn't found a single clue?
"One star, one sun, one moon."
It was practically feeding us the answer.
"We need to head to the second floor."
If we hurried, we might even be able to enter the hidden area before the labyrinth closed.
"Oh! It looks just like the portal stone!"
"How interesting."
"Then will it also open a portal if we touch it?"
At the end of the path was a large stone about ten yards away. I immediately approached it and reached my hand out to touch it, but no portal opened.
Yeah, I had a feeling we found it too easy. Then does that mean there are special activation conditions?
Still, this at least seemed like the right place. After all, there wasn't originally a secret area like this in the Crystal Cave. Not only that, but the broken walls were also not reforming.
That was precisely why the most fundamental strategy for searching for a hidden feature was destroying everything. If you broke something and it didn't restore itself, then there was a high chance that you found an Easter egg.
"Have you found anything?"
"Not yet..."
"I see."
Once Amelia and Versyl finished gathering evidence and testimonies, they joined the rest of us inside to search around. The clan had apparently scampered off the minute they were done.
"I-Is it really okay to just let them go?"
"Yeah. I told them to not cause any more trouble."
"But are you really okay with that?" Versyl asked cautiously. "They might spread information."
That was true. Actually, I'd also thought it would be cleaner to just kill them at the time, but... "It doesn't matter even if they do."
"It doesn't matter?"
"A random clan was able to find this place before the third day. That means it wasn't all that impressive a discovery in the first place. They were wrong to think it was such a valuable piece of information. It's only a matter of time before everyone else finds this place too."
"That... makes sense."
"So stop worrying about it. And Versyl, come over here. I want to see if you can detect any magic around here. Something might be hidden."
"Of course."
We quickly finished a cursory magical search but unfortunately wound up empty-handed.
"Mr. Yandel, I think it would be better to get going. I don't think there is anything to be found—"
"Bjorn!" Ainar shouted, interrupting Versyl. "Something is written over here!"
Suddenly, a clue was discovered in a completely unexpected place. Ainar, who was digging at the ground around the stone, had revealed some words hidden at its base.
"Good find."
"Haha! A trained warrior's intuition is no different than magic. That's one of the many reasons why barbarians are the superior race!"
I squatted down to read the text, ignoring Ainar's nonsense.
"It's in the ancient language..."
"That's fine," I said, distracted. "I can read it."
"Y-You can read that...?"
Oh, didn't I tell them? I guess it would be faster to just show them.
I quickly read the ancient language that was written on the ground around the stone aloud. "One star, one sun, one moon. Every creature that exists here on this land is the same when you look at them from above. And I will look up at you."
As soon as I finished reading it, twin expressions of disquiet appeared on Erwen and Versyl's faces.
"Mr. Yandel, this..."
"It's the same inscription from back then, right?"
"Yeah."
It was the same text we'd seen written on the Witch's Altar.
Sadly, Ainar didn't seem to remember. "...What? Where did you hear that before? What are you talking about?"
"Forget it."
We continued to dig around the stone to see if there was anything else, but there was nothing. Deciding that we'd found everything there was to find in there, we quickly covered the text with dirt again and exited through the broken wall.
"This isn't good. I can't believe after all of that, we didn't find a single clue."
Amelia seemed disheartened, but I didn't feel that way at all. What did she mean we hadn't found a single clue?
"One star, one sun, one moon."
It was practically feeding us the answer.
"We need to head to the second floor."
If we hurried, we might even be able to enter the hidden area before the labyrinth closed.