"Co on, everyone, have a drink! It's on , so don't hold back! Hahahaha!"
After the labyrinth closed, Alia and I joined the after-party at the bar owned by the Rainwales sisters' foster father.
"Haha! Iron Mask! Rember what that guy said while his guts were spilling out? S, save ! ...Not funny?"
"Not at all."
"I, I see..."
I glared at Dumbo, who was trying to be friendly, and then got up from my seat.
And I walked over to Pelic Barker.
"Hey, Iron Mask!"
"Barker."
"Haha, just call Pel!"
"I'm good."
"Have a drink?"
"Sure."
I sat down next to him and took a swig of alcohol. He started chatting incessantly.
Mostly praising .
The Fashion Barbarian strategy had worked as expected.
No, it had exceeded my expectations.
The 'warriors' I trained and sent to other teams had a higher success rate than .
Well, it was inevitable.
I always wore a helt, hiding my face. It was only natural that those who showed their faces were less suspicious.
"It's revolutionary! They trusted them even more easily than when we used kids as runners!"
"So we don't need runners anymore?"
"Hmm, it's too early to say. We don't know how long this thod will work."
I subtly suggested getting rid of the runners, but the clan leader had no intention of letting the Rainwales sisters go.
He had a good eye for talent.
"They might not be as strong as you in combat, but the Rainwales sisters are talented. They'll be valuable assets in a few years."
Yeah, he wasn't going to let them go easily.
'Ugh, I can't just kill him here...'
I clicked my tongue in frustration.
Pelic Barker was the biggest obstacle to our plan.
Well, to be precise, it was one of his essences.
4th-grade rare species, Sea rchant.
A rare 'neutral' monster that appeared in the Great Ocean on the 6th floor with an extrely low probability.
It rarely attacked first, and if you threw a certain amount of magic stones into the sea where it was swimming, it would give you 'Blue Stone', a high-grade crafting material, as a reward.
Of course, you could also kill it, and if you were lucky enough to get an essence drop, you would obtain the active skill [Unfair Contract].
'He only used the contract on the older sister, right?'
That [Unfair Contract] was the problem.
He had used it on Laura, and we had to break the contract to save her.
'Ugh, why did this rare essence have to go to this guy...'
I was annoyed, so I asked him,
"How did you get the Sea rchant essence? It's a very rare essence."
"Ah, that? Why are you suddenly asking?"
"I've always been curious. We weren't close enough for to ask before."
"Hahaha! So we're friends now?"
I shrugged, avoiding his question, and he chuckled, interpreting it as he wanted.
"Well, I'll tell you. It was when I was still a young explorer, working with my clan on the surface..."
To summarize his long story:
He stole the essence when it dropped during a clan expedition.
"I was going to sell it at the auction house when things cald down. I thought I could live comfortably for the rest of my life!"
But his cri was soon exposed.
So he fled to Noark.
He couldn't sell the essence, so he ended up absorbing it himself...
"Bjorn."
Alia approached as he was finishing his story.
"Ah, Emily..."
"It's ti to go."
"Okay, I'll be going then."
I got up and excused myself, and Pelic Barker gave a sly smile.
"Hehe, have a good ti!"
That smile made want to crush his head.
____________________
Thud.
Arrua Raven closed the book she had been reading all night.
And she stretched, getting up from her chair.
Her gaze fell on a pile of items in a corner of the lab.
Bjorn Yandel's belongings.
"I should... take care of this..."
Raven sighed deeply.
Ti was cruel.
At first, she had searched through countless books, hoping to find a clue to his disappearance. But she found nothing, and as days turned into weeks, she slowly ca to terms with reality.
Maybe that was her nature.
Emotions were fleeting.
No matter how angry or sad she felt, she would eventually return to her rational self.
Bjorn Yandel was dead.
So she had to sell his belongings and distribute the money according to his will.
That was her duty now, not spending her nights poring over books.
But the thought of it made her feel a strange sense of guilt.
She had been reading until now because of that guilt.
Bjorn Yandel's death had changed Misha and Erwen's worlds. They would never be the sa.
But what about her?
"Ha..."
She had started eating properly again.
She was worried about her health.
She wasn't as passionate about her research anymore.
She didn't think it would change anything.
And she even drank tea, forced herself to smile and chat with her seniors when they approached her.
And Raven knew.
If this continued, she would eventually return to her normal life.
She was like a match, burning brightly but quickly fading.
'I... cared about him...'
She had liked Bjorn.
Not romantically, but she had felt a deep connection with him.
She had learned a lot from him, and he had made her laugh.
He was the first person since 'that woman' to have such a profound impact on her.
But just like then, she was recovering.
And that recovery made her feel guilty.
"...I should at least organize his things. I can sell them later..."
Raven muttered to herself and started sorting through Bjorn's belongings.
She appraised his equipnt and labeled them with their market value, and then she started organizing the items in his subspace ring.
That's when she noticed sothing strange.
"Huh? This is..."
Golden Mask.
An item obtainable from the 'Crimson Fortress', a 1st-floor rift. But the entry in her copy of the Compendium of Rifts was faded due to wear and tear, and the exact thod of obtaining it was unknown.
"How did Yandel get this...?"
She had once suspected that Yandel might have a copy of the Compendium of Rifts after seeing him use 'Tears of the Goddess' to defeat the Vampire.
But he had sworn on his honor that it was just a coincidence, and she had dismissed her suspicion.
But what was this?
"...Could he have been lying?"
Maybe he did have a copy of the Compendium of Rifts, or at least had read it.
She rembered her master's suspicion that he might be an evil spirit.
'No, that's ridiculous...'
Raven chuckled and continued organizing his backpack.
That's when...
"What's this?"
She found a strange magic tool.
It seed to be a combination of 'Whisper' and 'Record', judging by the inscription...
Click.
Raven pressed the button on the bottom.
And a voice ca out.
[Why are you so worried? They're just NPCs.]
[But they're still my companions—]
[That's funny. Do you think they would still think that way if they knew your true identity?]
It wasn't Bjorn Yandel's voice.
Then who were these two?
The answer ca soon after.
[Your companions thought they were friends with the real Hans. But as you know, the real Hans is no longer in this world.]
[But... I consider them to be my real companions.]
It was the conversation between Hans Krisen, whom she had t in the Doppelganger Forest, and the Dwarf from Noark.
So that was his weakness.
He still had this recording.
She would have to erase it before selling the magic tool.
Swoosh.
Raven channeled mana into the magic tool, analyzing its structure. It was child's play for her, a master of magic engineering.
'Press the button twice, and then hold it down.'
She found the reset thod, but she continued analyzing the magic tool.
Its structure was unique, and she wanted to study it further.
She delved deeper, reading the residual mana.
'There's a limit to how many tis you can play the recording? Did they use a cheap core?'
Raven's hand twitched.
"Huh?"
The magic tool could only play a recording 100 tis before it was automatically reset.
But...
'There are only two plays left?'
The number of plays was strangely low.
It didn't seem like a simple error. Sothing felt off. She channeled more mana into the magic tool, examining it thoroughly.
And she checked the playback history.
"What the..."
Only two of the plays were from after they left the Doppelganger Forest. In other words, the remaining 98 plays were all from Bjorn Yandel.
"Why did Yandel listen to this conversation so many tis...?"
She couldn't understand.
But Raven instinctively knew sothing was wrong.
At that mont...
Knock, knock.
Soone knocked on the lab door.
Raven stopped what she was doing and opened the door.
An unexpected visitor stood before her.
"Misha...?"
"Can I... co in...?"
"Yes! Of course! But wait, let clean up a bit..."
"Don't worry about it."
"Okay... But what brings you here...?"
Raven was flustered by the sudden visit.
"I have sothing to tell you..."
She had a bad feeling about this.
________________________
"Drinking again?"
"Ah, I have nothing else to do..."
Alia returned to the inn, hanging her coat on the rack and glancing at .
Geez, stop judging .
It's boring to be alone here.
"Did you get the paynt?"
Alia chuckled at my question.
"Do you think I can't even handle that?"
"I didn't an that, but you never know. They could have cheated us behind our backs..."
"Don't worry, I got our share. Well, it doesn't really matter anyway."
"That's true..."
Money wasn't our goal.
It wasn't completely aningless, but it wouldn't matter until we saved Laura and found a way to return to our original ti.
"So what are we going to do now? We talked about it, but it seems impossible to break the contract and get her out before the incident."
"Nothing changes. We'll keep trying. Until we co up with a better plan."
"I see..."
Two weeks had passed since we returned to Noark.
And we had spent those two weeks discussing our plans.
How to save Laura.
But we couldn't find a solution, despite our efforts.
'Ugh, I feel like I'm getting close...'
The more frustrated I felt, the more I looked forward to midnight on the 15th.
Maybe I could get so ideas from Auril Gabis or the other mbers.
"It's today, right?"
"Two hours."
Alia nodded and then went to take a shower. When she ca out, we chatted to kill ti.
And soon, it was ti.
[23:59]
Ten seconds left until midnight.
I closed my eyes and focused on the ticking of the clock.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
The tenth tick echoed in the silent room.
And...
"...What?"
I opened my eyes.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
The clock continued ticking.
"...Did it already happen?"
Alia looked at , confused, but I just stared at the clock.
Tick, tock, tick, tock...
What the hell, why isn't it taking ?
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