Chapter 270 - Parune Island (4)

A sea battered by fierce waves.

Allua Raven was flying above it, shouting at the top of her lungs for the first time in ages.

"Mr. Urigfried! Hang in there! Just a little farther to land!"

Looking down from above, she could see Avman being swept about on the sea, clinging to a single plank. Every towering wave that crashed over him made her heart clench, but there was nothing more she could do.

'I have to keep at least Mr. Avman safe...'

When the boat ran aground, all her other companions had scattered out of sight. Avman was the only one she had managed to find while searching the area. She had been following him ever since so she wouldn't lose track of him, but...

"Huh?"

Avman's body disappeared beneath the surface, perhaps having lost his grip on the plank. Raven hurriedly descended, but he was still nowhere to be seen.

"Mr. Urigfried! Mr. Urigfried!!"

She circled the area for a long time, shouting, but no answer came. Her body shook as though with chills.

"... No, he'll be all right."

Forcing her trembling to subside, Raven changed her approach and headed toward the shore.

And...

"Found him!"

After scouring the shoreline, she finally found the man she was looking for. Washed ashore by the waves, Avman lay unconscious on the sand.

"Phew."

He was breathing properly, and his body temperature didn't seem to have dropped much. She first used a fire-based utility spell to dry his wet clothes and body, then stayed beside him, waiting for him to wake.

That was when it happened.

"Not the one I was looking for, but..."

"..."

"This will do nicely, too."

A man emerged from the forest.

* * *

Blood rushes to my head.

Why does this bastard have Raven's ring? Try as I might to think positively, I can't imagine a good explanation.

But...

"Hey. Why do you have Raven's subspace ring?"

I ask, clinging to the last thread of hope.

"Explain."

I exercise superhuman patience, praying there's some misunderstanding I don't know about. But his answer isn't what I hoped for.

"My questions first."

Does he have no intention of letting me take control of this conversation?

Then he's picked the wrong time.

"Is that so?"

"I'll ask again. What did you do to Reinwei—"

"Then die."

I kick off the ground and charge forward. I decide the questions can wait until after we've established the pecking order.

"...!"

As I [Leap] high into the air and my body swells in an instant with [Gigantification], he backsteps to put distance between us.

Unfortunately for him...

「The character's total weight is at least 500 kg.」

「The special terrain effect [Rebound] is additionally applied within the damage radius.」

Backing off that little won't let him dodge this.

BOOOOM!

The ground ripples outward from my landing point.

"Ugh...!"

His body, as scrawny as you'd expect of an archer, bounces into the air like a spring.

I immediately dash in, seizing the opening, and swiftly thrust my brutish barbarian hand forward.

At that instant...

「Nevarche Greenhop has cast [Emergency Escape].」

He vanishes right in front of me like a mirage.

There's no reason to panic. I quickly scan my surroundings in every direction, as though swiveling the camera in a 3D game, and spot him twenty meters away.

Right, a blink-type skill, just as I thought.

He didn't get far.

I kick off and adjust my posture in midair. As befits a high-tier archer, he's already sent an arrow flying toward me.

WHOOOOSH!

Judging by the white light around its tip, it looks like he's used a skill on the arrow, too...

But that's no problem.

「The character has cast [Transcendence].」

Bayon's Ability, obtained as a reward from the royal family.

「The next skill used will be enhanced.」

I didn't get this Essence just to pair it with [Gigantification], after all.

「The character has cast [Leap].」

「The power of the transcendent unlocks the skill's inherent ability.」

Transcendent Leap, for short.

Its effects are quite simple.

「Can now be used in midair...」

First, being able to cast it even while airborne greatly increases its utility.

And...

「Travel time is greatly reduced.」

It gets faster.

Much faster.

In a flash, the instant I kick against empty air, I'm already in front of him.

With every effect of [Leap] still on my body.

BOOOOOM!

Unable to withstand the rebound, his body flies upward again. I quickly reach out and seize his throat.

"Ghk!"

He groans in pain.

There's no room for sympathy. Isn't managing distance a matter of life and death for ranged fighters?

He failed, so he can fucking die.

"Die."

I tighten my hand around his throat.

I'm not particularly worried about him escaping. For one thing, most blink-type skills have fairly long cooldowns...

And even if he escapes with another skill, I can just catch him again.

"Ghh...!"

His struggles grow more violent. A little more pressure would probably snap his neck.

That's when I come to my senses.

"Hey."

Snapping his neck now wouldn't be a good choice. I need to at least hear what he has to say.

And if it isn't what I want to hear, just snapping his neck won't be enough.

THUD.

I release his throat, and he collapses to the ground. Planting my foot firmly on his abdomen to keep him from trying anything, I bend down.

Then I grab his wrist...

CRACK!

And snap that instead of his neck.

The wrist of the hand wearing Raven's ring.

"...!"

His eyes roll back from pain so intense he can't even groan.

That's not my concern. Haven't I shown plenty of restraint?

"Where did you get this ring?"

I ask him the same question again. Earlier, we'd suffered the tragedy of each asking only what we wanted to know, but this time is different.

"W-what is all this nonsense you keep spouting?!"

He answers me.

Though it's not a proper answer.

"Just answer the question."

"Gah...!"

"Where did you get this ring?"

As I ask, I look over his paper-thin body. I've already crushed his wrist, but there are plenty of other parts left to break.

Perhaps he realizes that, too?

"K-Kerman's Magic Workshop in District 7!"

He shouts urgently.

"Kerman's Magic Workshop! I bought it there!"

It's an answer I hadn't expected at all.

"... What?"

I'd been prepared to move on to the next stage of interrogation the moment he gave some vague answer, like he'd happened to find it, or he'd taken it but hadn't killed her. Instead, I freeze.

"You bought it...? You didn't take it from Raven?"

"I don't even know who Raven is!"

His voice sounds genuinely aggrieved. He doesn't seem to be lying...

Still, you never know. If he's really crafty, couldn't he have thought up a lie like this even in the middle of all that?

"Agh! Aaagh!"

I grab his dangling hand and pull the ring off. Then I open its subspace and search inside.

It's full of equipment, consumables, and what look like personal belongings. After checking a few things, I let out a deep breath.

'What? It really isn't Raven's?'

This isn't Raven's ring. The proof is the absence of the magical reagents that should be here. Surely he wouldn't have stolen her ring, then dumped all those expensive reagents on the ground.

'Oh, come to think of it, Raven said she bought hers at a magic workshop, too...'

Right. I believed in her all along.

Of course I did. Knowing what kind of woman she is, there's no way she'd go down that easily.

"H-have we cleared up the misunderstanding?"

Ah, uh...

"Yes. This really is a ring you bought."

Like a barbarian whose greatest virtue is honesty, I readily admit my mistake. Then I take my foot off him as he writhes with his broken wrist.

"B-but why are you putting it in your pocket instead of returning..."

Well, that was that, and this is this?

This ring is mine now.

People from Noark are treasure goblins, after all.

"Got a problem with that?"

"..."

Through his silence, he expresses that he has no objection to my actions. In short, the transfer of ownership is complete.

Now that I have his permission, I strip him of all his weapons and equipment and stash them in the subspace, completing the preparations for a nonviolent conversation.

"Who are you?"

Starting with his name, I question him about his personal details and what happened on this island. Apparently not wanting to die yet, he spills everything freely.

His name is Nevarche Greenhop.

"Your face looks familiar..."

"It should. We've met once before."

"What? You and me? When?"

"When the imperial capital, Carnon, was on fire."

That jogs my memory. When I ran into the Scholar of Destruction there, a lackey-looking guy had been trailing after him.

'So that was him.'

Anyway, it isn't important. He doesn't seem to know what the Scholar of Destruction and Lee Baekho talked about after they left together back then, either.

"All right, then tell me. Everything that happened today."

After that, I get to hear the rest of the story, the part the priestess hadn't been able to tell me.

First, the blond really was their target.

"That man was originally from Noark. But he betrayed the lord, stole a treasure, and fled."

"W-wait a moment. Sir Draus was from Noark...?"

"Even that name was false. He changed his face and went into hiding, so finding him was extremely difficult."

Apparently unable to believe his past, the priestess stares blankly into space, utterly shell-shocked.

Well, I'd probably react the same way if someone suddenly told me Misha was an evil spirit or something.

"So what happened to him?"

"He's dead."

"Are you certain?"

"It happened right over there. You can still see the traces of Lady Reinweils disposing of his body."

Sure enough, where he points, there are traces of something dissolved into liquid.

Damn, that's brutal.

"Then what the hell were you doing until now? Where are your companions?"

"Another member and I left the group to pursue those who fled. We became separated during the pursuit."

Hmm, right. So he chased them without success, and only just returned.

'Wait, then who triggered the event?'

At the sudden question, I ask indirectly who broke the island's offering, but I don't get the answer I'd hoped for.

"Why the sea is like this...? I don't know, either. During the pursuit, the ground suddenly shook, and everything went dark."

Huh, he doesn't know either?

That leaves me feeling uneasy again.

As I stand there sorting out my thoughts for a moment, he cautiously asks me a question.

"So, what happened to Lady Reinweils? Was no one here when you arrived?"

The same question he asked when we first met.

Hmm, is this why he answered all my questions so diligently?

I can't be sure, but just as I'm about to answer...

Footsteps patter, and two figures emerge from the undergrowth.

"Erwin! Over there! It's Bjorn!!"

"M-Mister! You're here!"

It's Aynar and Erwin.