Chapter 530: Escape Plan (3)

Translator: RaidenTL

Chapter 530: Escape Plan (3)

Dignity of Soul.

The special feeling an adventurer got when they leveled up was different from person to person. Some people felt full like they'd just had a big meal, while others felt a visceral satisfaction not unlike spending a night with a lover. Others claimed that it felt like sobering up after being drunk.

However, if you talked to enough adventurers, you would find that all of them agreed on one thing.

It was difficult to put into words...

Shaaaa.

But it felt like something rushing into your chest and filling your very soul. That vivid feeling was one I was able to recognize even in the middle of combat.

"Behel—aaaaaah!"

I was now level eight.

This was much sooner than expected, to be honest. Before coming down to Basement Floor One, I figured it would take me at least another year before I got there.

That means I'll be able to consume two essences now.

I'd made this jump unnaturally fast, even by my standards. Going by the stats compiled by the guild, it typically took six years to go from level seven to level eight. And that average probably only included the adventurers who actually managed to push through and reach level eight, and not the ones who retired while still at level seven—

Crunch!

I snapped out of it and swung my hammer.

I'll worry about that later.

Running through the cloud of light that was once an Orc Warrior, I quickly scanned the battlefield to take stock of how we were doing.

It had only been thirty minutes since the start of the rainy season, but though we were all fighting under the protection of an umbrella-like barrier, the adventurers and monster warriors alike were wheezing and visibly exhausted already.

However, despite all that, some things never changed.

"An essence! We got an essence!"

"Ah! What is it from? Did anyone see it? Anyone!"

"...I-I saw it! It's from a Bone Drake!"

"It's a rank four! What are you all standing around for?! Go store it already!"

Whenever an essence dropped, the wizards rushed forward with their magic vials, and while they were busy with collection, the other adventurers and warriors protected them.

"Hey! What are you doing? Now's not the time to be gathering mana stones!"

"Ack—Oh, uh! I just thought someone might trip over them... Fine!"

It was definitely bizarre watching adventurers treat mana stones like regular stones, but it made sense. If people started wandering around picking up mana stones, the amount of work we would need to do would increase severalfold. Also, it wasn't like mana stones disappeared like essences, so we could just collect them after the rainy season was over—

Boom!

At that moment, something huge fell onto the barrier. The impact was so severe that it rattled through the air and right down into the earth, shaking the ground beneath everyone's feet.

Uraaaaaah!

On instinct, I looked up, and through the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠cracking barrier, the eyes of a giant looked back at me.

"It's a Hipramajent!"

All right, so you fell from the sky this time too. I was wondering why I hadn't seen you yet today.

Crack.

"Your Lordship! The barrier's integrity has gone down by over 70 percent!"

Because the giant had fallen right on top of us, the amount of time we'd be able to spend in the rain had been cut down by quite a bit. This barrier was the only reason we were able to fight out here despite the monsters pouring down from the sky.

"Um... L-Lord Baron! At this point, I think we should return to the village and take—"

"Everyone, stand your ground!"

"B-But where are you going, Baron Yandel?"

"I'm going to get that guy off the barrier."

With that, I dashed out from under our umbrella.

Boom! Thud! Bang!

Head, back, shoulder, hips...

As soon as I stepped outside, falling monsters collided with every inch of my Giantized body, battering me with their kinetic energy.

It was quite an interesting experience.

Shaaaaaa!

Even though all I was doing was standing there, the monsters immediately died on contact and disappeared. If I had gone for a damage reflection build, would all of my battles have been like this?

Even while entertaining idle, useless thoughts, I made sure to proceed with caution. It would be a huge problem if I ended up stepping on an essence by accident. Unless you were a priest, getting rid of an essence was only possible at a temple.

Hup.

As I hopped up on top of the barrier, my fellow adventurers looked up at me and started to murmur amongst themselves.

"...The baron is on the barrier!"

"Just... what is he planning to do?"

"We can't help him from down here..."

Hey, just sit back and enjoy the show.

Uraaah...?

I grabbed the head of the Hipramajent splayed out on the barrier with both hands.

"The baron is lifting the giant!"

"Is that...even possible?"

"I've been thinking this for a while now, but... he's really not human."

Taking advantage of the barrier's slope, I used every ounce of strength I had to drag the giant down.

U-Uraaaaaah!

The giant seemed perturbed by the novel experience of going down a slide and struggled against my grip, but that just ended up working out in my favor.

Boom!

He tried to brace himself against the barrier in an attempt to stand up but he instead slipped and fell to the ground.

Crack!

In the process, the barrier was damaged even more, but that was an unavoidable side effect.

U-Uraaah!

The fallen giant roared up at me as I looked down at it from atop the barrier, apparently offended by my actions.

Heh, embarrassed, huh?

And just who do you think you are?

I didn't even blink and took the giant's roar head-on. No, actually, I responded with an even louder roar of my own.

Crack.

"Your Lordship! The barrier's integrity has gone down by over 70 percent!"

Because the giant had fallen right on top of us, the amount of time we'd be able to spend in the rain had been cut down by quite a bit. This barrier was the only reason we were able to fight out here despite the monsters pouring down from the sky.

"Um... L-Lord Baron! At this point, I think we should return to the village and take—"

"Everyone, stand your ground!"

"B-But where are you going, Baron Yandel?"

"I'm going to get that guy off the barrier."

With that, I dashed out from under our umbrella.

Boom! Thud! Bang!

Head, back, shoulder, hips...

As soon as I stepped outside, falling monsters collided with every inch of my Giantized body, battering me with their kinetic energy.

It was quite an interesting experience.

Shaaaaaa!

Even though all I was doing was standing there, the monsters immediately died on contact and disappeared. If I had gone for a damage reflection build, would all of my battles have been like this?

Even while entertaining idle, useless thoughts, I made sure to proceed with caution. It would be a huge problem if I ended up stepping on an essence by accident. Unless you were a priest, getting rid of an essence was only possible at a temple.

Hup.

As I hopped up on top of the barrier, my fellow adventurers looked up at me and started to murmur amongst themselves.

"...The baron is on the barrier!"

"Just... what is he planning to do?"

"We can't help him from down here..."

Hey, just sit back and enjoy the show.

Uraaah...?

I grabbed the head of the Hipramajent splayed out on the barrier with both hands.

"The baron is lifting the giant!"

"Is that...even possible?"

"I've been thinking this for a while now, but... he's really not human."

Taking advantage of the barrier's slope, I used every ounce of strength I had to drag the giant down.

U-Uraaaaaah!

The giant seemed perturbed by the novel experience of going down a slide and struggled against my grip, but that just ended up working out in my favor.

Boom!

He tried to brace himself against the barrier in an attempt to stand up but he instead slipped and fell to the ground.

Crack!

In the process, the barrier was damaged even more, but that was an unavoidable side effect.

U-Uraaah!

The fallen giant roared up at me as I looked down at it from atop the barrier, apparently offended by my actions.

Heh, embarrassed, huh?

And just who do you think you are?

I didn't even blink and took the giant's roar head-on. No, actually, I responded with an even louder roar of my own.

"URAAAAAAH!"

With any luck, that would make it crystal clear that he really didn't want to mess with me.

"Th-the giant is retreating!"

"It lost against the baron's fighting spirit!"

The giant slowly began to crawl back, his eyes never leaving mine. However, I could sense that he was still underestimating me, so I quickly jumped down and bashed my hammer into his nose.

Smack!

It didn't feel like I did any major damage, but for a Hipramajent, it was more than enough.

U-Uraaah!

It immediately turned around and started booking it.

"Th-the giant is running away!"

Yeah, get out of here already, you little scaredy—

Flash!

Huh?

I whipped around at a sudden flash of light.

Fwoosh!

A second later, a glowing sword shot across the battlefield like a missile.

Stab.

The sword skewered the giant's massive neck...

Boom!

...and promptly exploded into a million pieces.

[You have killed a Hipramajent.]

The giant's body slumped over, now headless.

"It... died?"

In just one hit...?

All the adventurers, including me, gulped as they turned to look in the direction the sword came from.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? Weren't you trying to kill it?"

There stood the village chief, as expressionless as ever.

***

There was a village of monsters who called themselves human, and the chief of that village was Cornelius Bruingrid, the Dragon Knight.

To be honest, the reason I brought him along on this farming quest was to see how strong he was with my own two eyes.

But what's with this old man...

'Shocking' wasn't a strong enough word to describe what just happened. He'd one-shotted a monster that even Erwen couldn't?

I expected him to have something up his sleeve... but I didn't expect him to be this much of a monster.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

"What are you doing? Didn't you say you need to get stronger to escape this place? Do you intend to go back to the village now?"

"...No way."

However, since this wasn't the best time to be worrying about the chief's power level, I went back to focusing on the monsters in front of me.

"Lord Baron! We can't take much more!"

"...Let's go back to the village."

Right when the barrier was about to shatter, we returned to the village.

"Everyone, rest!"

The first thing we did was take a break at the entrance and do inventory. The wizards slumped over and recovered their MP through meditation, the priests and healers went around healing the injured, and Versyl checked on our numbers.

"URAAAAAAH!"

With any luck, that would make it crystal clear that he really didn't want to mess with me.

"Th-the giant is retreating!"

"It lost against the baron's fighting spirit!"

The giant slowly began to crawl back, his eyes never leaving mine. However, I could sense that he was still underestimating me, so I quickly jumped down and bashed my hammer into his nose.

Smack!

It didn't feel like I did any major damage, but for a Hipramajent, it was more than enough.

U-Uraaah!

It immediately turned around and started booking it.

"Th-the giant is running away!"

Yeah, get out of here already, you little scaredy—

Flash!

Huh?

I whipped around at a sudden flash of light.

Fwoosh!

A second later, a glowing sword shot across the battlefield like a missile.

Stab.

The sword skewered the giant's massive neck...

Boom!

...and promptly exploded into a million pieces.

[You have killed a Hipramajent.]

The giant's body slumped over, now headless.

"It... died?"

In just one hit...?

All the adventurers, including me, gulped as they turned to look in the direction the sword came from.

"Why are you all looking at me like that? Weren't you trying to kill it?"

There stood the village chief, as expressionless as ever.

***

There was a village of monsters who called themselves human, and the chief of that village was Cornelius Bruingrid, the Dragon Knight.

To be honest, the reason I brought him along on this farming quest was to see how strong he was with my own two eyes.

But what's with this old man...

'Shocking' wasn't a strong enough word to describe what just happened. He'd one-shotted a monster that even Erwen couldn't?

I expected him to have something up his sleeve... but I didn't expect him to be this much of a monster.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

"What are you doing? Didn't you say you need to get stronger to escape this place? Do you intend to go back to the village now?"

"...No way."

However, since this wasn't the best time to be worrying about the chief's power level, I went back to focusing on the monsters in front of me.

"Lord Baron! We can't take much more!"

"...Let's go back to the village."

Right when the barrier was about to shatter, we returned to the village.

"Everyone, rest!"

The first thing we did was take a break at the entrance and do inventory. The wizards slumped over and recovered their MP through meditation, the priests and healers went around healing the injured, and Versyl checked on our numbers.

"Did anyone die?"

"We have a total of twelve injured—three with light injuries and nine severely injured."

"But no one died?"

"It seems a few of the warriors from the village died... but none of us did."

"That's a relief."

The chief suddenly appeared behind me without me even noticing him. "It's done."

Holy—that scared me.

"It's... done?" I asked.

"I mean the entrance to the village has been sealed. Now no one can go out until the rainy season is over."

Ah, so that was what he meant. "Is it impossible to open and close the door, then?"

"Yes, it's impossible."

Disappointment immediately washed over me. If we could open the doors at will, we could've periodically sent out small teams to collect the essences still dropping and return with them.

He mentioned we can't just keep the entrance open and kill the monsters in the village, either. Something about how the door could sustain major damage, making it impossible to seal the village at all...

It was a shame that our farming event had to end there, but I quickly let go of any regret. There was something I was much more interested in right now.

"Chief, what was that earlier?"

"That?"

"The shining sword. I never heard that you had something like that."

"I see."

"What do you mean, I see—"

The chief cut me off mid-sentence. "Is there a reason I should have mentioned it earlier?"

"Uh..."

Well... There wasn't much I could say to something like that.

As I stuttered a little, caught off guard, the chief's eyes bored into mine. "As you've said, we have a deal. We will help you, and you will find a way out of this place."

"...And?"

"And you should focus on your end of the deal, rather than getting distracted by idle curiosities."

Focus on my end of the deal...

He wasn't technically wrong, but why was it pissing me off so much?

"It seems several of the warriors died or were injured," he added, either not noticing or not caring about my irritation. "I will be going to treat them now."

"Ah, sure."

"I'll come to you again later when we have time. We can continue our conversation then."

The chief took the warriors and headed down to the village before us, and we followed them a short while later, heading to our lodgings. Soon enough, it was time to split the loot.

"This is the list of essences we got this time."

Let's see...

"Two rank-threes, seven rank-fours, and one rank-five..."

To describe this harvest as absurdly profitable would be to sell it ridiculously short. It hadn't even been two hours since the beginning of the rainy season, and those weren't even ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the only things we gained from this battle.

"Ah, also, Ms. Tersia's and Mr. Rockrobe's Dignity of Soul went up while we were out there."

It made sense that Auyen finally reached level seven, but Erwen reaching level eight was a huge deal. It meant that her essence slots, which had all been full after absorbing the Essence of Chaos, now had room for one more.

"Did anyone die?"

"We have a total of twelve injured—three with light injuries and nine severely injured."

"But no one died?"

"It seems a few of the warriors from the village died... but none of us did."

"That's a relief."

The chief suddenly appeared behind me without me even noticing him. "It's done."

Holy—that scared me.

"It's... done?" I asked.

"I mean the entrance to the village has been sealed. Now no one can go out until the rainy season is over."

Ah, so that was what he meant. "Is it impossible to open and close the door, then?"

"Yes, it's impossible."

Disappointment immediately washed over me. If we could open the doors at will, we could've periodically sent out small teams to collect the essences still dropping and return with them.

He mentioned we can't just keep the entrance open and kill the monsters in the village, either. Something about how the door could sustain major damage, making it impossible to seal the village at all...

It was a shame that our farming event had to end there, but I quickly let go of any regret. There was something I was much more interested in right now.

"Chief, what was that earlier?"

"That?"

"The shining sword. I never heard that you had something like that."

"I see."

"What do you mean, I see—"

The chief cut me off mid-sentence. "Is there a reason I should have mentioned it earlier?"

"Uh..."

Well... There wasn't much I could say to something like that.

As I stuttered a little, caught off guard, the chief's eyes bored into mine. "As you've said, we have a deal. We will help you, and you will find a way out of this place."

"...And?"

"And you should focus on your end of the deal, rather than getting distracted by idle curiosities."

Focus on my end of the deal...

He wasn't technically wrong, but why was it pissing me off so much?

"It seems several of the warriors died or were injured," he added, either not noticing or not caring about my irritation. "I will be going to treat them now."

"Ah, sure."

"I'll come to you again later when we have time. We can continue our conversation then."

The chief took the warriors and headed down to the village before us, and we followed them a short while later, heading to our lodgings. Soon enough, it was time to split the loot.

"This is the list of essences we got this time."

Let's see...

"Two rank-threes, seven rank-fours, and one rank-five..."

To describe this harvest as absurdly profitable would be to sell it ridiculously short. It hadn't even been two hours since the beginning of the rainy season, and those weren't even the only things we gained from this battle.

"Ah, also, Ms. Tersia's and Mr. Rockrobe's Dignity of Soul went up while we were out there."

It made sense that Auyen finally reached level seven, but Erwen reaching level eight was a huge deal. It meant that her essence slots, which had all been full after absorbing the Essence of Chaos, now had room for one more.

"My Dignity of Soul has also gone up."

When I revealed that I'd leveled up as well, everyone got rowdy.

"What? Bjorn, is that true?"

"Then we have three things to celebrate today. How about it, should we have a party tonight?"

"A party...?"

Usually, saying "gg" was more than enough celebration when your teammate leveled up.

Ainar clenched her fists. "Ugh... I thought I finally caught up! Why am I being left behind?" she demanded, openly frustrated at still being level seven.

Fair enough, but from where I was standing, I doubted she needed much more EXP to get to level eight. She would probably be the next one of us to level up.

"Congratulations, Bjorn..." Missha said happily as she approached. Unlike Ainar, she didn't seem frustrated.

I mean, I guess that's because she's already level eight. It's only natural, considering Baekho Lee was grinding her for two years.

Amelia was pretty close to level nine herself, now that I thought about it. She told me once that she'd just become level eight ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠when we met on the second floor, so she'd probably reach level nine soon enough.

"Is this why everyone was so obsessed with the idea of a new area of the labyrinth? Our clan's developing at an unbelievable rate..."

When Ainar reached level eight, our seven-member clan would have five people at level eight. If we filled all our empty essence slots, we'd be exponentially stronger than we were now.

"In any case, we need to start distributing these..."

After we finished checking the loot, we officially began splitting it under Versyl's discerning eye. Since there wasn't anything we wanted to call dibs on, we let the Armin Adventuring Group take their 30 percent share.

"We wish to take the essence of Lakrell, Malaka, and the Demonic Tracer."

They were fair and took one rank-three essence and two rank-four essences.

The Hektz clan was next. Well, they were technically slaves without any sort of contract to speak of, but...

"You take your pick too," I offered. "Do you want anything?"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Huh? I don't know if we—"

"We've fought side by side, so I'd call us proper comrades at this point. And we need you to get stronger to make things easier on us as well. So don't worry about the money and choose whatever essences you need."

If we wanted to avoid conflict and in-fighting later on, we needed to be willing to offer at least this much.

"Then... we'll take these three essences."

After talking it over amongst themselves, the Hektz Clan eventually selected two rank-four essences and one rank-five essence.

Did they not choose the remaining rank-three essence because they didn't want to look greedy?

Well, I guess I'll keep it for now.

Once the loot was dealt with, everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. The people who were still exhausted from the battle all headed off to rest, and those who obtained new essences went to test them out with twinkles in their eyes.

"It feels like it's been so long since it's been just us."

"That's true."

"Yandel, when are you going to go visit the chief?"

"I'm going to rest today and visit him tomorrow."

"I see..."

"Also, it looks like the Silver Lion Clan was a no-show in the end."

"It's highly likely that they're dead. They were far too unskilled to be as greedy as they were."

After that, we all ate a meal and chatted, and then we split up to take advantage of our free time.

"I'm going to go look around for a bit."

"Should I come along?"

"That would be nice."

Amelia went off with Erwen to patrol the area.

"Um... could I go out too? I'm not that tired..."

Ainar left to visit her monster friend at the forge.

"Bjorn... I'm going to rest. See you later..."

"Me too... After everything we went through today, I'm exhausted."

Missha and Auyen went up to their respective rooms to sleep, and with that, Versyl and I were left alone in the living room.

"What are you going to do?" I asked to be polite.

"I'm going to meditate for a bit. My head hurts a little since I was a bit reckless with my mana usage today."

"I see."

"What about you, Mr. Yandel?"

"I'm going to read before going to sleep."

As promised, I went to my room, turned on the magic lamp at the desk, and cracked open my book. Yet for some reason, I couldn't focus on its contents at all.

Cornelius Bruingrid.

Just how strong was that guy?

I got the strange sense that he might still have all the essences he obtained while he was human.

If we both went all out, would I be able to beat him?

No, if I take that to its logical extreme... If that guy tries to kill us...

Would I be able to protect my comrades?

With those thoughts bouncing around my mind seemingly without end, I closed my book and drifted off into an uneasy slumber right there at the desk.

"Yandel. Wake up."

"...Huh?"

When I next awoke, Amelia was shaking my shoulder. At first, I thought she was just there to grumble at me that I should go sleep on the bed like she always did.

...But her eyes only ever look like that when something's wrong.

I immediately sat up, wide awake. "Did something happen?"

In response, Amelia set a steel shortsword on the desk.

"What is this?"

"It's a weapon we found in the village forge," she explained.

"Uh... and?"

When I tilted my head at her, Amelia gestured with her chin, telling me to take a closer look.

A single second glance had a chill racing up my spine.

"You found this... in the forge?"

Inscribed into the shortsword's blade was the insignia of the Silver Lion Clan.

"My Dignity of Soul has also gone up."

When I revealed that I'd leveled up as well, everyone got rowdy.

"What? Bjorn, is that true?"

"Then we have three things to celebrate today. How about it, should we have a party tonight?"

"A party...?"

Usually, saying "gg" was more than enough celebration when your teammate leveled up.

Ainar clenched her fists. "Ugh... I thought I finally caught up! Why am I being left behind?" she demanded, openly frustrated at still being level seven.

Fair enough, but from where I was standing, I doubted she needed much more EXP to get to level eight. She would probably be the next one of us to level up.

"Congratulations, Bjorn..." Missha said happily as she approached. Unlike Ainar, she didn't seem frustrated.

I mean, I guess that's because she's already level eight. It's only natural, considering Baekho Lee was grinding her for two years.

Amelia was pretty close to level nine herself, now that I thought about it. She told me once that she'd just become level eight when we met on the second floor, so she'd probably reach level nine soon enough.

"Is this why everyone was so obsessed with the idea of a new area of the labyrinth? Our clan's developing at an unbelievable rate..."

When Ainar reached level eight, our seven-member clan would have five people at level eight. If we filled all our empty essence slots, we'd be exponentially stronger than we were now.

"In any case, we need to start distributing these..."

After we finished checking the loot, we officially began splitting it under Versyl's discerning eye. Since there wasn't anything we wanted to call dibs on, we let the Armin Adventuring Group take their 30 percent share.

"We wish to take the essence of Lakrell, Malaka, and the Demonic Tracer."

They were fair and took one rank-three essence and two rank-four essences.

The Hektz clan was next. Well, they were technically slaves without any sort of contract to speak of, but...

"You take your pick too," I offered. "Do you want anything?"

"Huh? I don't know if we—"

"We've fought side by side, so I'd call us proper comrades at this point. And we need you to get stronger to make things easier on us as well. So don't worry about the money and choose whatever essences you need."

If we wanted to avoid conflict and in-fighting later on, we needed to be willing to offer at least this much.

"Then... we'll take these three essences."

After talking it over amongst themselves, the Hektz Clan eventually selected two rank-four essences and one rank-five essence.

Did they not choose the remaining rank-three essence because they didn't want to look greedy?

Well, I guess I'll keep it for now.

Once the loot was dealt with, everyone was free to do whatever they wanted. The people who were still exhausted from the battle all headed off to rest, and those who obtained new essences went to test them out with twinkles in their eyes.

"It feels like it's been so long since it's been just us."

"That's true."

"Yandel, when are you going to go visit the chief?"

"I'm going to rest today and visit him tomorrow."

"I see..."

"Also, it looks like the Silver Lion Clan was a no-show in the end."

"It's highly likely that they're dead. They were far too unskilled to be as greedy as they were."

After that, we all ate a meal and chatted, and then we split up to take advantage of our free time.

"I'm going to go look around for a bit."

"Should I come along?"

"That would be nice."

Amelia went off with Erwen to patrol the area.

"Um... could I go out too? I'm not that tired..."

Ainar left to visit her monster friend at the forge.

"Bjorn... I'm going to rest. See you later..."

"Me too... After everything we went through today, I'm exhausted."

Missha and Auyen went up to their respective rooms to sleep, and with that, Versyl and I were left alone in the living room.

"What are you going to do?" I asked to be polite.

"I'm going to meditate for a bit. My head hurts a little since I was a bit reckless with my mana usage today."

"I see."

"What about you, Mr. Yandel?"

"I'm going to read before going to sleep."

As promised, I went to my room, turned on the magic lamp at the desk, and cracked open my book. Yet for some reason, I couldn't focus on its contents at all.

Cornelius Bruingrid.

Just how strong was that guy?

I got the strange sense that he might still have all the essences he obtained while he was human.

If we both went all out, would I be able to beat him?

No, if I take that to its logical extreme... If that guy tries to kill us...

Would I be able to protect my comrades?

With those thoughts bouncing around my mind seemingly without end, I closed my book and drifted off into an uneasy slumber right there at the desk.

"Yandel. Wake up."

"...Huh?"

When I next awoke, Amelia was shaking my shoulder. At first, I thought she was just there to grumble at me that I should go sleep on the bed like she always did.

...But her eyes only ever look like that when something's wrong.

I immediately sat up, wide awake. "Did something happen?"

In response, Amelia set a steel shortsword on the desk.

"What is this?"

"It's a weapon we found in the village forge," she explained.

"Uh... and?"

When I tilted my head at her, Amelia gestured with her chin, telling me to take a closer look.

A single second glance had a chill racing up my spine.

"You found this... in the forge?"

Inscribed into the shortsword's blade was the insignia of the Silver Lion Clan.