Chapter 271 Defense (1)
Wenix Carmi.
After healing her injured eye with a potion, she red at her half-brother with annoyance.
He had also recovered his severed arm with a potion.
"Seriously, if you had just done your job properly, this wouldn''t have happened!"
"You think you weren''t too hasty?"
"...Hasty? You think that moment, when it was just the two of us and that woman, woulde again? It''s not my fault! It''s your fault for not stabbing properly!"
The man sighed at Carmi''s usations.
There was no point in arguing here.
"More importantly, did we get the right item?""You''re worried about that? Can''t you feel it? The mana overflowing from this jewel?"
"...If I had that much mana aptitude, I would have be a mage."
"What? You''re too stupid to be a mage, you know?"
Carmi grumbled at her half-brother as usual, but she couldn''t hide her smile.
"I wonder how much this will sell for?"
That was the reason why she couldugh, even though her eye had been stabbed just a moment ago.
Noark was practically gone.
She judged that it was wise to grab a share, even if it meant taking risks, and she was right.
"Let''s go. Let''s stop at a random ind and rest before leaving. We can live like nobles for the rest of our lives."
Carmi drove the drake that was gliding, trying to escape the ind.
That''s when...
"Wait."
The man stopped Carmi.
"Suddenly, why?"
"We have to confirm if Rainwales is dead."
"What? We already got the item, why?"
Carmi tilted her head, but the man said firmly.
He knew better after fighting her firsthand.
Amelia Rainwales was a monster, even calling her a monster wasn''t enough. If the ambush hadn''t seeded, they probably wouldn''t have been able to escape alive.
"If that woman survives, we''ll have to live in fear even after returning to the city."
"Survive? Don''t be ridiculous! How can she survive in that state? You stabbed her stomach with a poisoned sword!"
Carmi shouted at the man''s words.
But she also had some doubts, didn''t she?
"...If you''re really worried, let''s go check. If she''s dead or alive. Of course, I''m sure she''s dead, but we were in a hurry to escape, so we didn''t even get her equipment..."
They quickly agreed and rode the drake back down to the ind. Fortunately, the other twopanions who had gone to chase the others hadn''t returned yet.
"...She was able to move in that state?"
Amelia was nowhere to be seen.
But she couldn''t have gone far.
"There''s a trail of blood. This way."
They followed the traces left behind.
However, the trail was much longer than expected, and at some point, itpletely disappeared.
"...She intentionally erased the traces. To think she had the presence of mind to do that in that state."
"Wh, what do we do now?"
Carmi''s face turned pale.
If she had the presence of mind to erase the traces, then she might really have survived.
But there was nothing they could do.
"The chase ends here."
"Ends here?"
"That''s right. We don''t have a professional tracker among us. It''s a waste of time to stay here any longer. Let''s go back."
The man then took Carmi back to where the battle had taken ce.
And...
Crack!
He destroyed the stone that was ced on the altar in the center of the ind.
"Wh, why did you suddenly destroy that? Are, are you mad at me...?"
"Mad at you? There''s a reason for this. I''ll exinter, let''s just leave for now."
"But what—"
Carmi couldn''t finish her sentence.
Rumble!
Thunder roared and dark clouds gathered.
The wind also seemed to have gotten stronger.
「The offering of Parune Ind has been destroyed.」
「The wrath of the sea engulfs the ind.」
She suddenly felt like she didn''t know this man.
__________________
Ainar and Erwen.
The moment they appeared, I wanted to run over and greet them, but I held back to maintain my dignity as the n master.
"Ah, you''re here."
A leader should have some weight, right?
"You''rete."
"Sorry. But where are the others...?"
"They haven''t arrived yet."
"What? They haven''t arrived yet? We thought we were thest ones, could they be..."
"Stop."
I cut Erwen off.
"They''ll be fine, so don''t worry too much. Something must have happened, and they''re justte."
After all, Ainar and Erwen arrived thiste, but they were both fine.
Ah, in that sense, let''s ask this first.
"So why are you two sote?"
"Actually..."
I listened to their reason for beingte, thinking it might help me guess what happened to the others.
It wasn''t a big deal.
They managed to swim to shore without losing consciousness, but Erwen lost her bow along the way.
"We kept looking around, hoping it might have washed ashore. And we ran into Ainar while we were doing that."
Hmm, I thought she didn''t have a bow, so that''s what happened.
But at least they were able to find Ainar thanks to that, right?
"That''s what happened. Don''t worry too much about the bow. You can use this for now."
I said so and took out a bow from my subspace pocket and handed it to Erwen.
"Huh? This is a bow made of Bortal wood? Where did you get such a precious item...?"
Wow, this is 4th-tier Bortal wood?
It looked expensive.
"I found it."
I briefly exined how I obtained it, and Erwen tilted her head.
But she soon understood.
"Um, but... who is this person?"
Erwen looked at the man in in clothes and asked about his identity.
"He''s from Noark."
"Wow, I see! I''ll use this gratefully..."
Erwen expressed her gratitude with a bright face.
She really is a kind girl.
"It''s good to see you reunited with yourpanions. My faith wasn''t in vain."
The priestess then joined the conversation.
I introduced her as well.
"She''s a priest from Partn''s team. Her name is Ersina. We met along the way and joined forces."
"Lyrine Ersina is my name."
"Ah, hello..."
Erwen awkwardly responded to the priestess''s greeting and then looked at me.
"Did anything happen, mister?"
"What do you mean?"
"...Why didn''t you kill him? You just broke his wrist?"
Erwen looked at Nebarche and asked me why I had spared him.
"He might be useful."
"Hmm, I see? Well, if you say so..."
I awkwardlyughed and ended the conversation.
Actually, there was another reason why I spared him.
Amelia Rainwales.
I didn''t want to make an irreversible enemy out of her by killing him.
''It seems like their target was just Drowus.''
And ording to Nebarche, something had happened to Amelia.
Maybe we could even form a temporary alliance.
The waves were about to start, and we needed as many people as possible for the final wave.
"Let''s move."
We packed up and left.
Our destination was the eastern shore where the first boss would appear.
Damn, I didn''t expect to be separated from everyone until the waves started.
What are they all doing?
This is making me anxious.
"Ainar, you watch this guy and make sure he doesn''t do anything stupid. I''ll clear the path."
Just in case, I had Ainar watch Nebarche and prevent him from doing anything stupid.
And we increased our speed.
However...
「Killed Lanemut Warrior. EXP +3」
「Killed Conch Shell Horn. EXP +3」
「Killed Garvel...」
「...」
The monsters that came up from the sea were all over the ind, slowing us down.
Well, they were still 7th-grade monsters, so we could handle them while moving...
''I hope we can meet up before the next wave.''
I felt a sense of urgency.
The next wave would be much stronger.
Even I would have a hard time handling it alone.
"...Will everyone be okay?"
Erwen muttered worriedly, seeing the sheer number of monsters.
I quickly reassured her, not wanting to jinx it.
"Don''t worry, they''ll be fine."
"But there are so many monsters..."
You think we can''t handle it alone?
"I was able to make it here after meeting Ersina, right?"
Maybe Misha or Raven had also met someone and joined forces.
Well, even that wasn''t without its worries.
''Damn it.''
I recalled my conversation with Nebarche.
Even if mypanions ran into Partn''s team, it wasn''t necessarily a good thing.
After all...
[How did they know we wereing to this ind and ambush us?]
When I asked Nebarche that question, he answered.
[There was a traitor among them who told us about their exploration n. Only Lady Rainwales knows who it is, though.]
There was a traitor among them.
_____________________
Arrua Raven looked at the bushes and widened her eyes.
"It''s not who we were looking for..."
"..."
"...but this isn''t bad either."
Fortunately, it was someone she knew.
"Raven, it''s good to see you again."
"Partn!"
Raven let out a sigh of relief and ran towards him.
"What happened? Why are you so injured? And who is that person on your back? Are they dead?"
Partn smiled bitterly at her questions and gentlyid the mage on his back down on the ground.
And he exined the situation.
"He''s just unconscious, don''t worry."
"Tha, that''s a relief. So what happened?"
"...We were ambushed."
They were ambushed, barely escaped, and were separated from theirpanions.
So they were looking for theirpanions.
He then carefully asked for help.
"It''s good to see you, even though it''s not mypanions. Can you help us?"
"Help you?"
"One of ourpanions is in the center of the ind. He stayed behind to buy us time to escape. We have to go rescue him... but where''s that barbarian?"
Partn noticed that Raven''s team wasn''t in a normal state and tilted his head.
"What happened to your team? And why is that beastman archer soaking wet?"
"We were leaving the ind, but a storm suddenly hit... and our boat capsized, so we were separated."
Raven then told him about their promise to meet in the center of the ind, and Partn''s eyes sparkled.
"The center of the ind? That''s good. How about we go together? Those crazy bastards are roaming around the ind, so it''s much safer to go together."
He was suggesting they team up.
Raven thought for a moment and then answered.
"Okay, let''s do that."
There was no reason to refuse.