Chapter 31 : The Deal - 1
Chapter 31: The Deal - 1
Aina clapped her hands.
“Ah-ha! That’ll work then.”
Her clap was so cheerful that I couldn’t help but smile.
I continued explaining.
“At first, I was going to make him spill everything he knew, but I’ve changed my mind. Let’s just cut him down the moment we find him and take the first-place reward.”
Armelia asked,
“Will it be fine without extracting information?”
“Yes. Honestly, I don’t think someone as insane as that guy would confess even under torture. Besides, I don’t want to go easy on him and leave any gaps.”
“Hmm. If that’s what you believe.”
“One of the first-place rewards, Kanesella, must have already been used. Of course, it could be a reusable item instead of a one-time use, but… if so, that’s even better.”
“I see. Even if Kanesella was single-use, there should be another reward left. That would be more than enough as loot.”
I nodded.
“He’ll think a huge explosion is going to happen tomorrow. That’s why it’s best to strike before that. If the explosion doesn’t happen when he expects it, he’ll grow suspicious and become alert.”
“Then we should move now, shouldn’t we?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying. Let’s move.”
I sprang to my feet.
Aina, Armelia, and Berseum also stood up right after me.
Huh?
I turned to Berseum and asked,
“Teacher, why are you…?”
“Drop that title. Call me comfortably.”
“Then, why are you coming?”
“Seems a bit too comfortable now.”
Berseum’s eyes deepened.
“I’ll come along and take my share.”
“You’re saying you’ll help us?”
“Yes. To be precise, I must witness that man Edgar die with my own eyes.”
“……”
“Is that not acceptable?”
I looked to Armelia.
She smiled softly before speaking.
“There’s no need to ask for my judgment. Mason, you’re the main contributor to this plan.”
“Your Highness.”
“However, if I may give my opinion, Berseum’s company should be welcomed. We don’t know what other first-place reward the man holds, so it’s best for us to be fully prepared.”
“Yes. I agree. Then…”
I turned toward Berseum.
Then quietly reached out my hand.
“I’ll be counting on you, brother.”
“Brother? I’m not that shameless.”
“Judging by the way you sprinted up the Bell Tower, I figured calling you ‘grandpa’ wouldn’t fit. Is that alright?”
“Haha. I appreciate that. Then call me that.”
Aina snickered and joined in.
“I’ll call you gramps.”
“Heh. You’re my daughter’s savior, so you may call me however you like. And Your Highness, please feel free as well.”
“Then I shall call you Sir Berseum.”
“Oh dear, that’s a bit heavy.”
Berseum laughed lightly.
It was the first time I’d seen him laugh.
But even then, his eyes still burned with the fire of revenge toward Edgar.
Edgar Tyler didn’t have much time left.
To be targeted by the only magician on the continent—what talent indeed.
It would be difficult to simply request teleportation “near Edgar Tyler.”
If he happened to be in a crowded area, we wouldn’t even know who he was. We didn’t know his face.
So—
“I’ll ask to be teleported thirty centimeters to Edgar Tyler’s left.”
“Then I’ll take thirty centimeters to his right.”
“I’ll go behind him. Gramps, you’re coming with me.”
“Alright.”
That way, we’d have him surrounded on three sides.
Aina pulled out a needle.
“I’ll stab the back of his neck the moment we arrive. He’ll die instantly.”
“That’s enough. Let’s do it, then.”
Each of us took out our teleportation beads.
Then, we recited the activation words we had prepared.
In the next moment—
As always, a wave of dizziness washed over us.
And when I regained my senses…
“Who are you?”
Edgar Tyler was standing right in front of me.
He barely managed to say, Who are you?, before collapsing with a thud.
A needle was buried deep in the back of his neck.
“Phew. That was nothing.”
Aina wiped the sweat from her forehead—perhaps she had been a little tense.
I nudged his body with my foot and turned him over.
Common golden hair, the kind seen all over the continent.
About twenty-five years old.
Neither handsome nor ugly—just an utterly ordinary face.
Truly the sort of man you could pass by on the street without a second glance.
“That kind of man came up with such a horrific plan?”
“A person’s face and true nature don’t always align, Your Highness. If they did, you wouldn’t be who you are either.”
“Wise words. I’ll remember them.”
“She was teasing you.”
Berseum clicked his tongue.
“I didn’t even get the chance to act.”
“I’m sorry. The revenge ended so anticlimactically.”
“Whether revenge is hollow or passionate doesn’t matter. The man who tormented Eris is gone. That’s enough.”
“True. Then let’s check the long-awaited spoils.”
I searched through his clothes.
Aina, unable to contain herself, joined in to help.
But nothing of note turned up.
Eventually, Aina lost patience and began stripping him completely.
When she went to remove his last piece of underwear, Armelia interjected.
“Leave that on.”
“Why? What if the underwear’s the first-place reward?”
“I doubt that very much.”
“We can’t be sure of Magireta’s tastes. I’m taking it off.”
Armelia eventually turned her back.
The man was stripped bare, back to how he was born.
After gathering his belongings neatly, I fell into thought.
“There doesn’t seem to be any item related to Kanesella, does there, brother?”
“Not ‘doesn’t seem to be’—there definitely isn’t. I confirmed it with Contens magic.”
“So it really was single-use. Do you sense any trace of mana in the other belongings?”
“No… unfortunately, none. Of course, if Magireta created one of these items through means other than magic, that would be different. For instance, I don’t sense any mana from your teleportation beads either.”
“Then one of these could be the reward. Let’s take them all.”
We stuffed his belongings into our bags one by one.
A few minutes later, the job was done.
For a moment, I wondered if we should at least bury the body.
But Aina’s sudden voice made that thought vanish like a lie.
“Wow. Holy shit. This bastard really was insane.”
“What is it?”
“Look over there.”
Aina pointed to something.
Only then did I realize—
We had arrived on a sheer cliff, so high that the ground below was barely visible.
And below the cliff...
“Deut Territory?”
The Deut Territory, where we had been just moments ago, spread out beneath us at a glance.
What did this mean?
“...Don’t tell me he came up here to watch. To see Kanesella explode.”
Everyone fell silent at my words.
He must have set Kanesella to detonate in the Deut Territory, then escaped here right away.
Naturally so—he couldn’t afford to be caught in the explosion himself.
But sitting atop a cliff to watch it unfold was something else entirely.
“Look over there.”
“Huh? Ah, a campfire.”
“And food supplies and drinks, too. He even prepared coffee over there.”
“……”
“This bastard never planned on leaving. He set up camp here to stay until the explosion happened. There’s no doubt he intended to watch it.”
I scratched my head.
He really was out of his mind.
“Good thing we killed him right away.”
“I agree. Never have I met such a kind of man in my life.”
“Well, he’s dead anyway, so I suppose we can just forget about him now. Let’s head back.”
“Were you going to bury him? You looked like you were considering it earlier.”
“You’re quite observant. But that thought’s gone now.”
“Same here.”
Aina spat on Edgar’s corpse.
Then she pulled out her teleportation bead and said,
“Let’s just go. This place gives me the creeps.”
“Yeah.”
Whoosh.
And with that, we teleported back to the Deut Territory.
After Mason’s group disappeared—
Edgar’s supposedly dead body twitched.
He first reached his arm behind his neck.
Then pulled out the needle Aina had driven deep into him.
Still lying there, Edgar gazed up at the night sky.
“Aigo. Dead. I actually died.”
So the third first-place reward had been a teleportation bead?
What an absurdly good item they’d taken.
His stomach twisted in irritation.
“Kanesella was single-use… and they took all my clothes, shoes, and belongings.”
A complete failure.
Yet he smiled.
A bright, carefree smile.
“Still, they were pretty interesting folks. Hmm. Are they gathering people?”
Probably that young man was the leader.
The rest, his underlings.
Each one of those subordinates looked like a force to be reckoned with.
No doubt among the best on the continent.
Having such people under him would certainly make quests easier.
“Keuh.”
He pushed himself up to his feet.
As he stretched and cracked his joints, he muttered,
“I should learn from that. I never even imagined doing something like that—acting together as a group.”
From now on, I’ll make subordinates too.
There were still countless quest participants left, like grains of sand. I should start gathering useful ones, one by one.
Just then—
“Looks like you failed?”
Magireta’s voice rang out, as if she had been there all along.
Edgar turned to her without surprise.
“Noona. Lend me some clothes.”
“No way. Go pluck some leaves and cover yourself.”
“You’re cold as ever.”
“Even though you both call me ‘Noona,’ the tone’s different. His sounds way nicer.”
“Hmm. Really? What’s the difference?”
Tilting his head, he actually began plucking leaves.
After covering his private parts with them, he asked,
“So the third first-place reward was a teleportation bead, huh? Ah, I really wanted that one.”
“It was close. You only lost by three points.”
“That’s fine. The first-place reward from the Second Quest is far greater than any teleportation bead anyway.”
“You didn’t use it recklessly, did you?”
“I almost died.”
The second first-place reward.
It had been a pill, small enough to fit on a palm.
It was bitter going down, and for a whole week afterward, my stomach churned nonstop.
“So that means I have four lives left now, right?”
“Yeah.”
That pill was called Extra Life.
A miraculous elixir that revived the user up to five times after death.
I never thought I’d have to use one here.
“What was that man’s name, by the way? I didn’t get to hear it.”
“I can’t tell you.”
“He seemed to know who I was. Did you tell him?”
“If that’s what you think, I’m disappointed. You still don’t know me? I’m fair to everyone.”
“Then what on earth happened?”
“Who knows?”
Magireta smiled faintly.
“I’m quite curious myself. That’s why I’m watching closely.”
“So he’s caught your attention, huh? Poor guy.”
“You’re caught too.”
“Ugh. Poor me.”
“Well then, I’ll be going. You look too pathetic to stick around.”
“Wait. Just one favor.”
“I said no clothes.”
“It’s not that. Please send me somewhere else.”
Magireta looked down at him and said,
“That’s only done when the quest ends. I can’t give you special treatment.”
“Come on, you know what I mean.”
“……”
“I’m not asking for a favor, I’m proposing a deal.”
“And what do you have to offer me?”
“I’ll give you one of my remaining lives.”
At that, Magireta chuckled.
“You’ve only got four lives left, and you’re offering one?”
“I mean it. It’s not like I need to cling to life.”
“I really hate that smug look on your face when you talk like that.”
“Hehe.”
“So where do you even want to go, making such a fuss?”
“It’s not where I want to go—it’s how. That guy might show up again with his crew and kill me. So I want to be sent to the top of a rock surrounded by lava on all sides. Somewhere only one person can stand.”
So that if those people appeared nearby, they’d fall straight into the lava... was that his logic?
Magireta found it terribly intriguing.
“And why do you think he’d come after you again? I just saw you die.”
“He found me even without you telling him, didn’t he? So who’s to say he won’t notice I’ve revived?”
“Hm. Fair point.”
“You’ll take the deal, right?”
“It’s not a favor—it’s a transaction. If it’s a transaction, then sure.”
Magireta never explains.
Never speaks first.
Until someone asks, ‘Is this possible?’, she always remains silent.
Just like how she only sends someone where they wish to go after a quest ends—
Just like how she only hands out rewards when someone asks if there’s something besides gold.
This was no different.
—A participant may make one request to Magireta in exchange for offering her something of value.