Chapter 271 - Defense (1)

Winix Camilla.

Having healed her injured eye with a potion, she glared irritably at her older half-brother. He, too, had restored his severed arm with a potion.

"Ugh, seriously! None of this would've happened if you'd done your job properly, old man!"

"Has it occurred to you that you acted too hastily?"

"... Hastily? You think we'd ever get another chance with just the two of us and that woman alone, like we did back there? I did nothing wrong! It's your fault for not stabbing her properly!"

The man sighed at Camilla's accusations. Right, what good would arguing here do?

"More importantly, you're sure it's genuine?"

"You worry too much, old man. Can't you feel it? All this mana overflowing from the jewel?"

"... If I had that much aptitude for mana, I'd have become a mage."

"Oh, please. You're too stupid to be a mage anyway."

Camilla's lips curled into a smile even as she grumbled at her half-brother as usual.

"How much do you think we could sell this for?"

That was why she could still smile after having a dagger driven into her eye just a short while ago. Wasn't Noark practically gone now, anyway? She had decided it was wiser to take a risk and make a fortune, and that decision had been right.

"Come on, let's go. We just need to stop at some random island, rest until it's time to leave, and we're done. We can live like nobles for the rest of our lives."

Camilla steered the gliding drake away from the island.

That was when it happened.

"Wait."

The man stopped her.

"What now?"

"We need to confirm Reinweils is dead."

"What? Why? We already have what we came for."

Camilla tilted her head, but the man spoke firmly. Fighting her himself had made it all the clearer. Calling Amelia Reinweils a monster hardly did her justice. Had their surprise attack not succeeded, they probably wouldn't even have escaped alive.

"If that woman survives, we'll have to live in fear for the rest of our lives, even after returning to the city."

"Survives? Stop saying things that'll jinx us! How could she survive in that state? You stabbed her in the gut with a poisoned sword!"

Camilla shrieked at him. Yet perhaps she, too, harbored some lingering doubt.

"... If you're that worried, we can just check whether she's dead or alive. Of course, I'm sure she's dead, but we left in such a hurry we didn't even take her equipment..."

Having quickly reached an agreement, the two rode the drake back down to the island. Fortunately, their two companions who had gone in pursuit still hadn't returned.

"... She certainly managed to move well enough in that state."

Amelia was nowhere to be seen. But she couldn't have gone far.

"There's a blood trail. This way."

The two followed the traces left nearby. The trail stretched much farther than they had expected, however, before vanishing completely.

"... She deliberately covered her tracks. I never imagined she'd have the presence of mind in that condition."

"Wh-what do we do, then?"

Only then did Camilla turn pale. Hearing that Amelia had been lucid enough to cover her tracks made her realize the woman might actually survive. But there was nothing else they could do.

"The pursuit ends here."

"Huh? We're stopping here?"

"Yes. Neither of us is a professional scout. Staying any longer is a waste of time. Let's go back."

The man then returned with Camilla to the site of the earlier battle.

And...

CRUNCH!

He smashed the stone resting on the altar at the island's center.

"Wh-why'd you suddenly break that? A-are you mad at me or something...?"

"Mad? No. I have my reasons. I'll explain later. Let's leave first."

"No, what does that—"

Camilla couldn't finish.

RUMBLE!

Thunder roared as dark clouds rolled in. The wind seemed to have picked up, too.

「Parune Island's offering has been destroyed.」

「Wrath of the Sea engulfs the island.」

Today, the man seemed like a stranger to her.

* * *

Aynar and Erwin.

The moment they appeared, I wanted to run over and welcome them, but I restrained myself to preserve my dignity as clan leader.

"Ah, you're here."

Of course. The head of a group needed gravitas.

"You're late."

"I'm sorry. But where are the others...?"

"Not here yet."

"What? Not yet? I was sure we'd be the last ones here. Don't tell me everyone..."

"Enough."

I cut Erwin off.

"They'll all be fine, so don't worry too much. Something must have come up to delay them."

After all, Erwin and Aynar had arrived this late, and they were both fine, weren't they? Ah, on that note, I should ask this first.

"So, why were you two so late?"

"Well, actually..."

I listened to her explanation, thinking it might help me guess what had happened to our other missing companions.

There wasn't much to it. She had barely managed to swim ashore without losing consciousness, but had lost her bow along the way, apparently.

"I kept looking around in case the waves washed it ashore, and that's why I was late. I happened to run into Aynar while I was searching."

Hmm, so that was why she didn't have a bow over her shoulder. Still, since it had let her find Aynar and look after her, maybe it was for the best?

"I see. Don't worry too much about your lost bow. You can use this for now."

As I spoke, I took a longbow out of subspace and handed it to Erwin.

"Huh? This bow is made of Bortal wood! Where did you get something so precious...?"

Wow, this was Bortal wood, a stage-four material? No wonder even its finish looked so fine.

"Got lucky and picked it up."

Erwin tilted her head at my brief explanation of how I'd acquired it. But perhaps she soon put the pieces together.

"Um, then who is this man...?"

She asked about the man in ordinary clothes, whose equipment I had stripped clean.

"He's from Noark."

"Oh, I see! Thank you. I'll put this to good use...!"

Erwin thanked me cheerfully at my answer. She really was a good girl.

"I'm glad you've reunited with your companions. It brings me joy to see that your faith was not in vain."

Anyway, as we spent a moment catching up, the priestess joined the conversation. I took the opportunity to introduce her, too.

"She's the priestess from Patzran's team. Her name is Ersina. We happened to meet on the way here and joined up."

"I'm Lairin Ersina."

"Ah, yes..."

After responding awkwardly to the priestess's greeting, Erwin turned to me.

"Mister, nothing unusual happened, did it?"

"Unusual?"

"... Never mind. More importantly, why did you only break this man's wrist instead of killing him?"

Erwin shook her head, then looked at Nevarche as she questioned me. Apparently she found it strange that I'd left someone from Noark alive.

"He might be useful."

"Hmm, really? He doesn't look it... Well, if you say so, Mister!"

I smiled awkwardly and left the subject there. In truth, there was another reason I hadn't killed him yet.

Amelia Reinweils.

I had decided it would be troublesome if killing this guy put me irreversibly at odds with that woman.

'Looks like Draus was their only target, too.'

Besides, hadn't Nevarche's account suggested something had happened to Amelia as well? Perhaps we could even go a step further and form a temporary alliance. The waves would be starting soon, after all. Considering the final wave, more people would definitely be better.

"Let's move, then."

Anyway, we couldn't stay here forever, so we made our preparations and left. Our destination was the eastern shore, where the first boss would appear.

Whew. I'd never imagined we still wouldn't all be together by the time the waves started. Where on earth was everyone, and what were they doing? They were making me worry.

"I'll clear the way. Aynar, watch this guy and make sure he doesn't try anything."

As a precaution, I had Aynar sit out the fighting and keep an eye on Nevarche. Then I picked up the pace as much as I could.

But...

「You have defeated a Ranemut Warrior. EXP +3」

「You have defeated a Conchhorn. EXP +3」

「You have defeated a Garbel...」

「...」

Monsters that had emerged from the sea occupied the entire island, preventing us from making much headway. Well, they were still only around rank seven, which was why roaming the island like this was possible...

'We need to find everyone before the next wave.'

Impatience kept welling up inside me. Starting with the next wave, the monsters would become drastically stronger. Enough that even I would struggle to hold out alone.

"... Everyone will be all right, won't they?"

Erwin murmured worriedly at the greater-than-expected number of monsters. I answered quickly, afraid she might jinx it.

"Don't think like that. They'll be fine."

"But with so many monsters..."

Was she saying it'd be hard to hold out alone?

"I met Ersina and made it this far with her, didn't I?"

Maybe Misha or Raven had met some of them somewhere on the island and joined forces, too. Not that there weren't concerns there as well.

'Fuck.'

I recalled my earlier conversation with Nevarche. Even if my companions were lucky enough to run into members of Patzran's team, it wouldn't necessarily be a good thing.

Because...

["How did you know they'd come to this island so you could ambush them?"]

Nevarche had answered my question like this.

["There was an informant among them who passed their expedition plans to us. Only Lady Reinweils knows who it is, though."]

There was a traitor among them, too.

* * *

Allua Raven's eyes widened as she looked toward the undergrowth.

"Not the ones I was looking for..."

"..."

"But these will do nicely."

Fortunately, it was someone she knew.

"Miss Raven, we meet again."

"Mr. Patzran!"

Having been sick with worry, she breathed a sigh of relief and hurried over.

"What on earth happened? Why are you so badly hurt? And the person on your back? Are they dead?"

Patzran gave a wry smile at her questions and lowered the mage from his back. Then he explained their situation.

"Merely unconscious. Don't worry too much."

"Th-that's a relief. So what happened?"

"... We were attacked by plunderers."

They had been attacked and barely escaped, only for their pursuers to scatter the group. He explained that he had been roaming around in search of his companions, then cautiously made a request.

"You aren't the companions I was looking for, but I'm very glad to have found you, Miss Raven. If you don't mind, could you help us?"

"Help you?"

"One of our companions is at the island's center. He stayed behind alone to buy us time to escape. We need to hurry and rescue him... Oh, but now that I look, I don't see that barbarian?"

Only then did Patzran realize something was amiss with Raven's group as well, and he tilted his head.

"Did something happen to your group, too, Miss Raven? And what happened to that therianthrope archer over there? He looks as though he nearly drowned."

"Well, we were trying to leave the island when a storm suddenly hit... Our boat wrecked, and we all got separated."

When Raven went on to explain their agreement to meet at the island's center, Patzran's eyes lit up.

"At the island's center? That's good news, then. How about we travel there together? With those lunatics roaming the island, it would be much safer."

In short, he was suggesting they team up, at least temporarily. Raven considered it for a moment before answering.

"All right. Let's do that."

There was no reason to refuse.