Chapter 119 : Slave - 3
Chapter 119: Slave - 3
That was right.
Kaid was a monster, but he was a monster who had ‘won in the Revival Round’.
Just like Louis had done, a monster who won the Revival Round earned the right to participate in quests that unfolded in the world.
He was one of the monsters participating in this class.
“When I was a ‘Celestial’, the quest I participated in was the same, but Lady Magireta always inserted ‘that kind of quest’ into every class. It went through various arrangements, of course.”
“Mm… that’s true.”
“When that quest began, I would finish it with my ability.”
The man answered indifferently.
“During ‘that kind of quest’, there’s no rule saying you’ll end up on the same team as Mason.”
“That… that’s true?”
“Idiot.”
“……”
“Listen carefully. You make a deal with Lady Magireta in advance.”
Kaid’s eyes widened.
“When you get that kind of quest, you make a deal beforehand to have it carried out with Mason. You’re a participant in this class, and participants can negotiate with Lady Magireta.”
“Th-that sounds like it would require quite a price, doesn’t it?”
“Of course. From my experience, you’ll probably have to give up an arm and a leg.”
“Eek.”
“It’s fine. I’ll make them grow back for you. No backtalk—just make the deal in advance.”
My limbs.
Not your limbs—my limbs.
Why was he talking so lightly about someone else’s limbs?
Kaid swallowed down the rising resentment.
And he answered with as little emotion as possible.
“Yes. Understood.”
“If not for that, the rest was a good idea. I’ll praise you.”
“Thank you.”
Sweat got into Kaid’s eyes.
What filled his eyes now had to be sweat. It had to be.
He squeezed his eyes shut.
“I’ll be expecting it. Go now.”
“Yes, but… excuse me.”
“What.”
“Is it really all right if I take care of Mason? Lady Magireta won’t like it.”
The moment he said it, Kaid immediately regretted it.
The man grabbed a glass nearby and hurled it at him.
Clatter.
The glass hit his forehead and shattered, leaving a wound.
Now a liquid mixed with sweat and blood went into his eye.
“Do you want to die.”
“I-I just worried that you might fall out of Lady Magireta’s favor, Master…”
“That’s why our conversation must be kept secret. Isn’t that right?”
“No, you told me to negotiate with Lady Magireta. To make a deal so I could participate in the quest with Mason. Then how could it be a secret?”
The man answered with a mocking tone.
“When did I ever give such an order?”
“Pardon?”
“I gave no instruction. You acted out of excessive loyalty on your own.”
“No, just now you…”
“What?”
Facing the man’s glaring eyes, Kaid couldn’t resist at all.
“Y-yes. Master has nothing to do with this.”
“Right.”
“But… would Lady Magireta really fail to notice the truth?”
“I don’t know. If she ends up hating me over this, I’ll hold you responsible.”
What an outrageous thing to say.
Kaid felt despair.
“Go.”
“…Yes.”
Kaid stepped back several times as he withdrew.
‘Ha. Damn.’
He wanted to quit everything.
Just as Armelia had said, Haigel was a man whose massive frame and simple smile suited him well.
He even welcomed my unexpected visit with open arms.
At that moment, a woman behind Haigel asked,
“Dear, who is it?”
“Oh, just some friends I know.”
“There shouldn’t be anyone among your friends I don’t know.”
“W-well, it happens. Anyway, I’ll step out for a moment.”
“All right. Don’t be too late, and don’t drink too much.”
It must have been right when they were closing the shop.
He led us away and slipped into an alley, avoiding others’ eyes.
“I’m sorry. I should at least buy you dinner.”
“It’s fine. If others hear our story, they’ll die.”
“Haha, yes. I’m not sure if this is something I should laugh at, though.”
Well, if Berseum were here, he would block out sound with magic, so even a restaurant would’ve been fine.
But I didn’t bother explaining.
It wasn’t the time to enjoy a meal anyway.
Then Armelia said,
“Things must have been chaotic in many ways, but you still run the grocery shop.”
“That’s right. I can’t walk around with a gloomy face and give my wife something to worry about.”
“You’re a good husband.”
“Thank you. Haha.”
I became a little sentimental.
This man would be eliminated from the quest one day.
He didn’t seem like someone who could make it to the end.
‘Then his wife left behind…’
I shook my head and moved on to the point.
“Today’s sales were the highest ever, right?”
“Huh? Yes. They were. How did you know?”
“Were there many customers?”
“No, not really. It’s just that some man I’ve never seen before bought nearly half of all our ingredients.”
As expected.
We exchanged looks and nodded.
Haigel widened his eyes at the strange shift in atmosphere.
I asked,
“You said a man you’d never seen before? So he likely isn’t from this territory.”
“Well, I can’t be certain of that.”
“Where did he head afterward? Why did he buy so many ingredients? What did he look like?”
“Um…”
“Anything will do. Please tell us anything that could be a clue. It’s important.”
Haigel scratched his head.
“Sir Mason is my lifesaver, so I’ll tell you everything.”
And he began to explain.
Haigel had indeed sold nearly half of his shop’s stock to just one person today.
Because it was such a rare occurrence, he asked the customer this:
-Is there some kind of party going on?
-No. I’m going to eat it all.
-Huh? All of this? It’ll spoil soon.
-I’ll finish it all tonight, so it’s fine.
Haigel thought it was a joke and laughed.
-Haha. Then you’d need a huge kitchen. Should I introduce you to someone?
-No need. I’ll be eating it in the mountains.
-Oh… right.
-Well then.
At that, my eyes sharpened.
“If it’s the mountains?”
“There’s only one mountain near here. That one there—Mount Darin.”
“Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Heh heh. I don’t know what’s what, but I’m glad it helped.”
We parted with Haigel right away.
I said to Karin,
“Use Aether to search the mountain a bit.”
“It’s a spirit, not Aether.”
“Whatever works. If what that guy said wasn’t a joke, he’s going to cook something huge tonight. Just search for where smoke is rising.”
“I don’t really mind… but can’t we just fly there at once with the teleportation bead? You had no trouble doing that when you kidnapped me.”
Aina cut in as if she had been waiting.
“For that, you have to know the target’s name. More precisely, it has to be what the target recognizes as their own name.”
“……”
“It’s fine. I’ll teach you everything you don’t know, one by one, kindly.”
“Your tone is kind of rude.”
Even while grumbling, Karin called the spirits.
Of course, we couldn’t see them.
She waved her hand as though telling them to have a safe trip.
I murmured without thinking.
“Ugh, it feels like watching ghosts or something. Creepy.”
“……”
“Why are you all looking at me like that.”
“……”
“What. Say something.”
No answer came back.
The search ended ridiculously quickly.
Not even twenty minutes passed before the spirits pinpointed the guy’s location.
Karin shot us into the sky, making it incredibly easy to arrive at the destination.
“There.”
An old shack.
At first glance, it looked like an abandoned haunted hut.
It seemed the guy was squatting there and living in it without permission.
Maybe he couldn’t cook inside the narrow shack, because he was outside tending a campfire.
The smell of roasting meat drifted all the way to us.
“Gulp.”
“……”
“That wasn’t me. It was Mason.”
“No, it really was you.”
“S-sorry. Now that I think about it, we skipped lunch.”
Come to think of it, we had.
I was starting to feel hungry too.
Then Aina took out her needles and said,
“Then let’s steal that food.”
“Just incapacitate him for now.”
“Got it.”
She whirled a needle and threw it.
I wondered if he’d put up some grand resistance, but he couldn’t resist even for a moment and ended up stabbed all over by the needles.
“Argh!”
The man rolled on the ground pathetically.
We slowly revealed ourselves to him.
“Wh-what are you? Bandits?”
“Not that vicious. We’re only here to threaten you a bit.”
“That much is quite vicious enough, isn’t it?”
“What’s your name?”
“…I’m called Garein Soman.”
I immediately summoned the encyclopedia and searched for Garein Soman.
No results.
A vein popped on my forehead.
“That’s not it.”
“Pardon?”
“That’s not your real name.”
The guy flinched.
He seemed to try turning his head to flee somehow, but it wouldn’t turn.
Aina’s needles had paralyzed him.
I crouched near him and said,
“What are you.”
“In this situation, aren’t I the one who should be asking that?”
“I’m not in the mood for jokes. You’re a quest participant, right?”
At some point, we had him surrounded.
He glanced around and answered,
“Yes. That’s true…”
“And you were planning to interfere with us in the next quest, weren’t you?”
“Wh-what?”
“Since we already know everything, speak honestly. If you don’t want to die.”
At that moment.
Even in a situation filled with killing intent, the guy let out a hollow laugh.
I felt quite displeased seeing that.
“You think I can’t do it?”
“No. Judging by the atmosphere, I think you definitely can.”
“Then……”
“Kill me.”
“What?”
“Kill me. If you can.”
……
What?
It didn’t look like bluffing.
I looked closely into his eyes.
But I couldn’t read any meaningful information.
Then Aina stepped forward and said,
“Should I torture him? I’m actually pretty good at it.”
Before I could even say, I’ll ask you later, Benjamin stepped up instead.
“No need to dirty my little sister’s hands.”
“Brother, you’re not good at torture either, are you?”
“True. But there’s a better method. Though honestly, calling it a good method might be questionable.”
“…Ah, that one?”
“Yes, that one.”
What is that?
Is this the second time?
Benjamin took out the Beramut Glove.
“This thing basically turns the opponent into a doll, but it can also be used for interrogation.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“It means that if I embed this and ask questions, most will answer honestly.”
Amazing.
I nodded.
Benjamin then unraveled the thread.
The needle at the end of the thread pierced into Garein’s head.
His eyes turned empty.
Benjamin closed his eyes and moved his fingertips with delicate control.
Soon he let out a low breath and said,
“I don’t think this guy is human.”
“What?”
“The brains I’ve touched so far… well, this is a strange way to put it.”
“It’s fine. Please continue.”
“Mm. It feels slightly different at my fingertips compared to a normal human brain. It’s definitely similar to a human brain, but it feels about one percent… off.”
He was the expert, so he had to be right.
A being who looked human but whose brain differed slightly.
Could it be?
Louis came to mind.
It seemed the others thought so as well.
Sienne murmured,
“A monster…”
“Most likely. Just like Louis, he must be a monster who won the Revival Round and joined this quest.”
“Then why did that monster target us? Was he acting under Edgar’s orders?”
Well…
In the Future Diary, Magireta said the one interfering wasn’t Edgar.
But she only said it wasn’t Edgar himself, not that he hadn’t ordered someone.
“Well, we’ll find out now. Mr. Benjamin, is it possible?”
“Yes. But I’m not used to this, so it may unravel quickly.”
“Let’s ask fast. Hey, what’s your real name?”
The guy’s mouth opened.
“Kaid… Bel.”
Good.
As long as we know his real name, I could later examine his identity slowly through the encyclopedia.
We didn’t have much time, so I went for the next information.
“You were planning to interfere with us in the next quest, weren’t you?”