Chapter 562: Destination (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 562: Destination (2)
Jerome Saintred... There was a high probability that getting rid of him would solve all of my problems.
As the saying went, the flap of a butterfly's wings could cause a storm on the other side of the world. In that sense, if I could dispose of the main antagonist of that prophetic dream, it would make a huge difference in terms of my survival.
Question is, how do I get rid of him?
The issue lay in the logistics. To start, luring him into a dark corner to kill him with the help of my companions would be practically impossible. He wouldn't die such a senseless death. On top of that...
"He is probably not dead. He will likely wake up in the palace."
During my trip into the past, I saw it with my own eyes. After dying by Auril Gavis's hand, Jerome's body turned into fluttering flecks of light and scattered to the wind. And I had a guess as to what ability he was using.
Iblus.
Iblus was a rank-two monster that served as the Guardian of one of the eighth-floor Rifts, and it had in its possession a unique active skill.
Heretic Altar.
It was one of the few respawn skills in Dungeon and Stone. Once activated, an altar would form in a spot chosen by the user. Then, if the user ever died, they would revive on top of it. Of course, you could only create this so-called altar once, and it would crumble after three uses.
In other words... even if we kill him, he'd just end up back in the city and inform the palace that I'm a traitor.
This skill was probably a big reason the palace gave Jerome Saintred the position of commander of this expedition group. Even in the worst-case scenario, he would be able to return to the city alone after dying.
Hah. Why did he have to have a skill like that...?
I couldn't help but feel like some cosmic force was screwing with me.
Despite spending a long while trying to think up alternative ways to eliminate Jerome Saintred, nothing viable readily came to mind. In fact, the only thing I felt confident about was that the prophetic dream sequence was what followed the inevitable failure of each of these attempts.
Wait, does that mean... trying to kill Jerome might be the reason they'd execute me in the first place?
Maybe if I laid low and didn't do anything at all, I'd be totally fine.
Two knocks on the door interrupted my thoughts, followed by a voice from the other side.
"Come out, Yandel. It's time for our rotation."
Right. Before anything else, let's get some work done.
***
One day, two days, three days...
Time flew by like an arrow, and soon enough, the rainy season was over. Like last time, a rainbow appeared in the sky for a short while before fading, and the recording crystal captured the scene to preserve it. Once we'd given the wizards who'd been toiling the entirety of the rainy season a day's worth of rest, we finally got off the ships we'd spent the last few days on and officially began our quest.
"We will now disembark!"
Just as Jeju Island, Korea's largest island, was said to have an abundance of wind, women, and rocks, Chief Island also had an abundance of two distinct things right after the rainy season.
"We spotted a group of monsters ahead!"
"They're variants!"
Those things were the monsters, and the thousands upon thousands of mana stones littering the ground.
"If people in the city hear about this, all hell will break loose."
"With how many mana stones there are down here, won't the palace take control of this place immediately? If they could obtain this many on a monthly basis..."
"Haha, that's only how small fry like us think. Do you think a profit of this size will have any impact on the palace's wealth? The amount of income they rake in from the inspection checkpoints alone is absurd."
Still, even Jerome, who had stated very plainly that he wasn't going to bother with mana stones, gave us all a stern warning. "If anyone secretly tries to pocket one, you will be punished severely for doing so, so the wizards who are in charge of collection should take the utmost care to ensure that no mistakes are made!"
Didn't you say that you weren't here to make money?
Either way, the incredible mana stone haul reignited the expedition group's morale. The palace tended to default to adventurer customs when they sent troops into the labyrinth, so they let their soldiers distribute the mana stones amongst themselves accordingly.
"I'll need to up my contributions to the mission."
"Our earnings are going to be on a whole other level—at least ten times the usual. There's a magic item I've had my eye on buying for a while, so this is great."
While the other members daydreamed about full pockets, Jerome somehow became even more laser-focused on the mission after seeing the mana stones on the ground. Though we were picking up all the ones in our path, we stuck as closely to our planned route as we could and marched toward our destination.
"Your Lordship, is this the place?"
"Definitely."
And then, we arrived at the entrance to the chief's village. However, no matter how much we searched the roots where the entrance was hidden, all we saw was dirt.
"What is going on? Did they perhaps notice us coming?"
"Well, I'm not sure of that yet. They usually wait for a while after the rainy season is over—after most of the monsters are dead—to come out to collect the mana stones."
"Hmm, then it seems we'll have to wait a bit longer."
"And even if they did notice our presence, they'll have to come up at some point. They live off mana stones."
Unless they wanted to starve to death, they couldn't stay holed up in their village forever.
"Surround this tree!"
Jerome then had us circle the village entrance and gave the order for an indefinite siege. After that, a special unit was created to go around the island picking up the ownerless mana stones. This special unit was formed of agility-type adventurers, who were known for their speed, and wizards, who could pick up a lot of mana stones at once.
"Mister... you need to stay safe until I come back, okay...?"
"Don't worry. I'll keep Tersia safe."
Amelia and Erwen were the people selected from our Squad Four. I tried to stop them from being sent away, but I couldn't override the commander's orders. His reasoning was sound.
"It is one thing to keep you safe, Your Lordship, but this request has nothing to do with that. Even if it is only temporary, you are a part of this expedition group, so I cannot give you any special treatment during this mission."
My heart thudded when Erwen and Amelia went out with the special unit, but nothing happened during the two days they spent going around the island picking up mana stones.
"If people in the city hear about this, all hell will break loose."
"With how many mana stones there are down here, won't the palace take control of this place immediately? If they could obtain this many on a monthly basis..."
"Haha, that's only how small fry like us think. Do you think a profit of this size will have any impact on the palace's wealth? The amount of income they rake in from the inspection checkpoints alone is absurd."
Still, even Jerome, who had stated very plainly that he wasn't going to bother with mana stones, gave us all a stern warning. "If anyone secretly tries to pocket one, you will be punished severely for doing so, so the wizards who are in charge of collection should take the utmost care to ensure that no mistakes are made!"
Didn't you say that you weren't here to make money?
Either way, the incredible mana stone haul reignited the expedition group's morale. The palace tended to default to adventurer customs when they sent troops into the labyrinth, so they let their soldiers distribute the mana stones amongst themselves accordingly.
"I'll need to up my contributions to the mission."
"Our earnings are going to be on a whole other level—at least ten times the usual. There's a magic item I've had my eye on buying for a while, so this is great."
While the other members daydreamed about full pockets, Jerome somehow became even more laser-focused on the mission after seeing the mana stones on the ground. Though we were picking up all the ones in our path, we stuck as closely to our planned route as we could and marched toward our destination.
"Your Lordship, is this the place?"
"Definitely."
And then, we arrived at the entrance to the chief's village. However, no matter how much we searched the roots where the entrance was hidden, all we saw was dirt.
"What is going on? Did they perhaps notice us coming?"
"Well, I'm not sure of that yet. They usually wait for a while after the rainy season is over—after most of the monsters are dead—to come out to collect the mana stones."
"Hmm, then it seems we'll have to wait a bit longer."
"And even if they did notice our presence, they'll have to come up at some point. They live off mana stones."
Unless they wanted to starve to death, they couldn't stay holed up in their village forever.
"Surround this tree!"
Jerome then had us circle the village entrance and gave the order for an indefinite siege. After that, a special unit was created to go around the island picking up the ownerless mana stones. This special unit was formed of agility-type adventurers, who were known for their speed, and wizards, who could pick up a lot of mana stones at once.
"Mister... you need to stay safe until I come back, okay...?"
"Don't worry. I'll keep Tersia safe."
Amelia and Erwen were the people selected from our Squad Four. I tried to stop them from being sent away, but I couldn't override the commander's orders. His reasoning was sound.
"It is one thing to keep you safe, Your Lordship, but this request has nothing to do with that. Even if it is only temporary, you are a part of this expedition group, so I cannot give you any special treatment during this mission."
My heart thudded when Erwen and Amelia went out with the special unit, but nothing happened during the two days they spent going around the island picking up mana stones.
Then tomorrow will already be the third day since the end of the rainy season...
The people left at the tree had nothing to do but wait for the village's monsters to appear since most of the regular monsters had already culled themselves. However, while the other members of the expedition group were enjoying our rare moment of peace, this break only felt like the calm before the storm to me.
"Mr. Yandel, what are you staring at so intensely?"
"Can't you tell? I'm staying vigilant," I replied, keeping my eyes trained on the tree. In my peripheral, I could see Raven smirk a bit.
What was with that reaction?
"So why are you here?" I asked. "The wizards are all over there."
"Even if I joined them, there's nothing to do. We've already finished studying the things we got from the library."
"Already? Did you find anything?"
"No, the opposite. We finally accepted that there was nothing to be gained from the items and stopped running experiments."
"...I see."
Raven seemed to be telling the truth about being bored as she continued to prattle on while taking a seat next to me. "Our best finds from the library might be the summoning books themselves. The origin of names and the traits of monsters that even years of research couldn't identify were written in them, down to the very last detail."
Yeah, I guess that would be your favorite thing.
"Huh? What's with that look? Can't you see what an incredible discovery this is? Even if you can't, I guarantee when we bring this news back to the city, it'll turn the academic world upside down!"
"...Why should I care if academia gets flipped upside down or sideways?" I deadpanned.
Raven seemed to finally pick up on my disinterest as she quickly changed the subject. "By the way... you said the locals of this village are monsters who call themselves humans, right?"
"You're only asking that now?"
"It's not like it's a weird question. I've been curious ever since I first heard your story. Just what kind of creatures are they? Ah, I'm also curious about the village chief who calls himself the Dragon Knight. Is he really who he says he is? If that's the case, there are a lot of things I want to ask him. It's hard to find records from back then these days..."
She tried to bring up a topic that was relevant to both of us, but for some reason, I couldn't get into or enjoy the conversation. Now that I thought about it, that was always how things went with her. It felt like she got more and more long-winded every time we spoke.
"Raven! B-Behind you...!"
She whipped around at my shout, startled.
"Oh, I guess nothing's there?" I said pleasantly.
It took a moment for her to realize what had happened, and then she whirled back around in outrage, her fists clenched.
"Heh, what could you even do with those tiny fists anyway?"
"...So annoying. You're a baron now. What are you, a little kid?"
"And you're the deputy commander of the Third Magic Corps. Aren't you way too gullible?"
"...I guess I'm the fool here for worrying about such a ridiculous human being."
"Hey, I'm a barbarian, not a human. That's something I'm sensitive about, so please be—"
"Agh! So annoying! Whatever, I'm leaving."
With that, Raven stomped back over to her spot, fuming, and I let out a loud laugh as I watched her go. Now that I could call a productive conversation. It soothed my nerves, and more importantly, it was fun. She had honestly always been entertaining to poke—
"C-Captain!"
...Huh?
I turned my head in the direction of the call and laid eyes on Auyen, who was sweating profusely as he ran toward me.
My calm mind was immediately flooded with all sorts of worst-case scenarios.
"Trouble! We're in trouble!"
What happened? Was there some sort of skirmish? Wait, but wasn't the entrance to the village right here? Was there a different entrance somewhere else?
Many different thoughts whirred through me, but the next words that came flying out of Auyen Rockrobe's mouth stopped them all in their tracks.
"Ms. Tersia! Ms. Tersia is trying to kill one of the wizards from the expedition group! Please stop her!"
"...What?"
I quickly ran to the location Auyen gave me, and lo and behold...
"Stop holding me back! I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you—!"
Erwen was shouting at someone like she had lost her mind.
Amelia was physically restraining her with everything she had.
One of the wizards was cowering behind a nearby knight, hyperventilating in terror, and said knight had even drawn his sword to protect the wizard from her wrath.
And I, upon laying eyes on the scene, was frozen, my mind blank. I still had no idea what was going on, but somehow...
"Your hair..."
Erwen had short hair.
***
The incident in question could be summed up in a few neat lines.
Half of Squad Four, including Erwen, had been stationed on the perimeter of our siege formation for guard duty. During their shift, a random monster approached from a spot where the boundary between squads was a little unclear, so they ended up fighting it alongside members of Squad One, whose assigned territory shared a border with theirs.
"I-It was a mistake! An accident, I swear! And no one got hurt in the end either...!"
The problem was that one of the wizards from Squad One miscalculated his trajectory and ended up firing a spell at Erwen.
The friendly fire came without warning. Luckily, Erwen crouched quickly enough to dodge the attack, but her hair ended up getting caught in the crossfire, severing the flowing strands.
Damn it.
"No one... got hurt...?" she echoed, a murderous gleam in her eyes.
"B-Blood Spirit, calm down! Don't you know that what you're doing right now will come back to hurt the baron too?"
"Yandel!" Amelia shouted when she caught my eye. "What are you doing? If you're here, then stop her, quick...!"
The words snapped me out of it. Erwen had gotten a haircut, sure, but that didn't mean I was going to randomly get executed here.
Armed with that thought, I stepped forward to defuse the situation.
"Mister... is here...?" Erwen swiveled her head around, and when she finally caught sight of me, she let out a shriek and covered her face before collapsing to the ground. "No! D-Don't look at me!"
Huh... I guess I managed to stop her?
Obliging her request, I turned around.
Rustle.
And when I did, I noticed something blue slip through the dense trees.
"Huh...?"
What was that? Wasn't the entrance to the village behind me?
My mind went momentarily blank, but my mouth was one step ahead of it, already forming the words I needed to say.
"It's an ambush!"
The monsters had escaped their village.
Then tomorrow will already be the third day since the end of the rainy season...
The people left at the tree had nothing to do but wait for the village's monsters to appear since most of the regular monsters had already culled themselves. However, while the other members of the expedition group were enjoying our rare moment of peace, this break only felt like the calm before the storm to me.
"Mr. Yandel, what are you staring at so intensely?"
"Can't you tell? I'm staying vigilant," I replied, keeping my eyes trained on the tree. In my peripheral, I could see Raven smirk a bit.
What was with that reaction?
"So why are you here?" I asked. "The wizards are all over there."
"Even if I joined them, there's nothing to do. We've already finished studying the things we got from the library."
"Already? Did you find anything?"
"No, the opposite. We finally accepted that there was nothing to be gained from the items and stopped running experiments."
"...I see."
Raven seemed to be telling the truth about being bored as she continued to prattle on while taking a seat next to me. "Our best finds from the library might be the summoning books themselves. The origin of names and the traits of monsters that even years of research couldn't identify were written in them, down to the very last detail."
Yeah, I guess that would be your favorite thing.
"Huh? What's with that look? Can't you see what an incredible discovery this is? Even if you can't, I guarantee when we bring this news back to the city, it'll turn the academic world upside down!"
"...Why should I care if academia gets flipped upside down or sideways?" I deadpanned.
Raven seemed to finally pick up on my disinterest as she quickly changed the subject. "By the way... you said the locals of this village are monsters who call themselves humans, right?"
"You're only asking that now?"
"It's not like it's a weird question. I've been curious ever since I first heard your story. Just what kind of creatures are they? Ah, I'm also curious about the village chief who calls himself the Dragon Knight. Is he really who he says he is? If that's the case, there are a lot of things I want to ask him. It's hard to find records from back then these days..."
She tried to bring up a topic that was relevant to both of us, but for some reason, I couldn't get into or enjoy the conversation. Now that I thought about it, that was always how things went with her. It felt like she got more and more long-winded every time we spoke.
"Raven! B-Behind you...!"
She whipped around at my shout, startled.
"Oh, I guess nothing's there?" I said pleasantly.
It took a moment for her to realize what had happened, and then she whirled back around in outrage, her fists clenched.
"Heh, what could you even do with those tiny fists anyway?"
"...So annoying. You're a baron now. What are you, a little kid?"
"And you're the deputy commander of the Third Magic Corps. Aren't you way too gullible?"
"...I guess I'm the fool here for worrying about such a ridiculous human being."
"Hey, I'm a barbarian, not a human. That's something I'm sensitive about, so please be—"
"Agh! So annoying! Whatever, I'm leaving."
With that, Raven stomped back over to her spot, fuming, and I let out a loud laugh as I watched her go. Now that I could call a productive conversation. It soothed my nerves, and more importantly, it was fun. She had honestly always been entertaining to poke—
"C-Captain!"
...Huh?
I turned my head in the direction of the call and laid eyes on Auyen, who was sweating profusely as he ran toward me.
My calm mind was immediately flooded with all sorts of worst-case scenarios.
"Trouble! We're in trouble!"
What happened? Was there some sort of skirmish? Wait, but wasn't the entrance to the village right here? Was there a different entrance somewhere else?
Many different thoughts whirred through me, but the next words that came flying out of Auyen Rockrobe's mouth stopped them all in their tracks.
"Ms. Tersia! Ms. Tersia is trying to kill one of the wizards from the expedition group! Please stop her!"
"...What?"
I quickly ran to the location Auyen gave me, and lo and behold...
"Stop holding me back! I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you! I'll kill you—!"
Erwen was shouting at someone like she had lost her mind.
Amelia was physically restraining her with everything she had.
One of the wizards was cowering behind a nearby knight, hyperventilating in terror, and said knight had even drawn his sword to protect the wizard from her wrath.
And I, upon laying eyes on the scene, was frozen, my mind blank. I still had no idea what was going on, but somehow...
"Your hair..."
Erwen had short hair.
***
The incident in question could be summed up in a few neat lines.
Half of Squad Four, including Erwen, had been stationed on the perimeter of our siege formation for guard duty. During their shift, a random monster approached from a spot where the boundary between squads was a little unclear, so they ended up fighting it alongside members of Squad One, whose assigned territory shared a border with theirs.
"I-It was a mistake! An accident, I swear! And no one got hurt in the end either...!"
The problem was that one of the wizards from Squad One miscalculated his trajectory and ended up firing a spell at Erwen.
The friendly fire came without warning. Luckily, Erwen crouched quickly enough to dodge the attack, but her hair ended up getting caught in the crossfire, severing the flowing strands.
Damn it.
"No one... got hurt...?" she echoed, a murderous gleam in her eyes.
"B-Blood Spirit, calm down! Don't you know that what you're doing right now will come back to hurt the baron too?"
"Yandel!" Amelia shouted when she caught my eye. "What are you doing? If you're here, then stop her, quick...!"
The words snapped me out of it. Erwen had gotten a haircut, sure, but that didn't mean I was going to randomly get executed here.
Armed with that thought, I stepped forward to defuse the situation.
"Mister... is here...?" Erwen swiveled her head around, and when she finally caught sight of me, she let out a shriek and covered her face before collapsing to the ground. "No! D-Don't look at me!"
Huh... I guess I managed to stop her?
Obliging her request, I turned around.
Rustle.
And when I did, I noticed something blue slip through the dense trees.
"Huh...?"
What was that? Wasn't the entrance to the village behind me?
My mind went momentarily blank, but my mouth was one step ahead of it, already forming the words I needed to say.
"It's an ambush!"
The monsters had escaped their village.