Chapter 77

Ede gnawed on the end of his pencil as he checked the notes he had just organized.

He had gotten more information than he expected, but it only added to his worries.

“So the river trolls moved to the swamp four years ago, and since then, they’ve been taking tribe members, calling it hunting. As a result, no one goes near the swamp anymore.”

“Also, add that the swamp became more infested with bugs than before.”

“Ah, that’s right.”

Ede nodded at Hillia’s point.

The Goral Tribe lingered in the village to watch the humans who had come, but Ede didn’t care at all.

“Humans usually freak out if there’s a Demon next to them, but you’re so brave.”

“They’re not going to eat me, are they? We’ve been through life and death together since we escaped from the port, so it’s nothing new, hehe.”

Hillia scratched her head at Ede’s answer.

In the Northern Federation, she thought he was just an unlucky human and treated him well, but it was hard to know how to act after it was revealed that he was Valheit's subordinate.

She was angry when she thought about what Valheit had done, but Ede was still a bright and cheerful human.

“Is there anything else we need to investigate?”

“Yeah. I asked more questions, but they gave similar answers.”

“Then should we move? We have to move fast if we want to get to the tribe on the mountaintop.”

The moment Ede picked up his notebook and dusted himself off, a small stone hit her head.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh… I think so.”

Hillia glared fiercely at the Goral Tribe, and a few timid-looking people pointed at a boy.

The boy, who had been pointed at, was flustered for a moment but then raised his voice.

“A lot of people were chased out of their homes because of humans! Did I do something wrong?”

“That son of a…”

“No. Let’s just go.”

Hillia, who was about to snap something back, clicked her tongue and turned her head when Ede stopped her.

“Aren’t you mad?”

“Making a scene here could cause problems for our future work.”

Her voice was calm, but there was a coldness in her tone.

As if she could kill them right now, but it was more profitable not to.

“Anyway, we have a long way to go.”

“Y-yeah…”

Ede, who had returned to his usual bright voice, groaned.

Hillia's words trailed off at the sudden change.

Which one was his real self?

While she was thinking, Ede was already far ahead.

“Hurry up!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

For now, they were on the same side, so there was no need to think about it too much.

If they ever became enemies, then…

***

“How long are we going to wander without a destination?”

“Your youthful ambition is great, but I hope you cultivate some patience.”

It had already been several hours since we started searching the swamp with the grumbling Noah.

We tried to investigate for clues while staying as far away from the troll village as possible, but there was nothing.

“You’re not going to suggest we go against those trolls, are you?”

“What do you mean, ‘the two of us’? I’m the one who would have to go against them alone.”

“Ugh…”

He couldn’t refute my words, and the fact that he was gritting his teeth showed that he was aware of his lack of strength.

“Let’s take a short break. It seems we’ll have to check the area around that village, after all.”

“Fine.”

Seeing Noah lean against a rock to rest, I opened the Status Window.

Timer

Valheit Death Probability: 45%

(+) Noah is now a subordinate of the Eight Council!

For now!

Shouldn’t the probability have gone down more since the guy who was supposed to kill me is now under my command?

I removed the cause, so it should have dropped to at least 10%.

‘Are there more possibilities for Valheit’s death?’

It wasn't impossible, considering how many enemies I had.

Perhaps this matter was related to the Death Probability…

“What are you glaring at?”

“What do you mean?”

“I'm asking because you’ve been standing with your head bowed for a while. Is there something in the air?”

Come to think of it, this guy was also a protagonist with a Status Window.

I probably wouldn’t get caught just by bowing my head, but it would be better to be a little more careful.

“Unlike you, I’m in a position where I have to decide things. I have more to think about.”

This excuse was enough, and Noah quickly lost interest.

I closed the Status Window and took a deep breath.

If I just solved the problem in front of me, the reason would gradually reveal itself.

“Let’s move now.”

“Fine.”

After walking for about thirty minutes, a foggy village came into view.

I had no desire to have another desperate battle with the trolls, so I decided to check the outskirts first.

“Last time, we didn’t have time to properly check.”

“That’s because Mr. Benjamin had a seizure right away.”

Aside from the fact that there were a lot of bones, there was nothing particularly noteworthy around the village.

So now I had to be prepared to fight and enter the village…

“Wait.”

Noah knelt down and began to scan the ground.

Is he using Mana Detection?

That scene where he found and destroyed Cesare’s distillery with it was cool.

And that other scene where he tracked his kidnapped companion by the small amounts of mana she left behind was pretty good, too, and…

“Hey, are you listening?”

“Yes, of course.”

Get a grip.

Focus on the task at hand.

“There’s an unusually high amount of mana here compared to other places.”

“Isn’t it the mana used by the trolls?”

“If it were that simple, I wouldn’t have made us stop! The mana is pooled in a large amount.”

This was definitely not a normal situation.

Whether it was a Demon or a human mage, they would move while casting spells.

Then the mana would naturally scatter.

There were only two cases where a large amount of mana traces would remain in one place.

Either they used magic in one spot all day, or it wasn’t a living creature.

“What’s the range of the mana?”

“About this big.”

Noah drew the range on the ground with a stick.

It was much bigger than I thought.

It didn't seem to be an ordinary tool or artifact.

“Do you have a guess?”

“It's definitely a Magical Tool or Magic Gear. Do you know what it is?”

“Something that lets you use magic without mana?”

“Usually. But judging by the size, it seems to have run some kind of machine.”

A machine that runs on mana.

That would be something that only Professor Zain would have in his laboratory.

“Ah!”

“What?”

“A very plausible hypothesis just came to mind.”

Professor Zain readily hands over his inventions if they are used for something useful.

Of course, he doesn't care if the intentions are good or bad.

If the machine that was here was Professor Zain’s work, it would explain the large mana traces.

However, no matter how much Professor Zain gives his inventions to anyone to test, there are limits.

He’s a man who has no human contact, as most of his outside activities are done by his human assistants.

Why would he send a machine to a swamp that is hostile to humans?

The possibility is slim.

So someone acted as a bridge.

It was all just a hypothesis for now, but it felt like the pieces were fitting together.

“So what do you plan to do now?”

“Do the traces continue?”

“There are some very faint traces, but I can’t tell if it’s a machine or magic.”

“We don’t have any other clues, so let’s follow them. We can just stay up all night if we have to.”

“Give me a break.”

While Noah was slowly following the traces, I looked around but didn’t see any trolls.

Did they all leave?

Or did they hide somewhere?

***

“I’m stuck as a house dog again.”

Yenoki grumbled and put the lizard he had just caught on a skewer.

Karl’s face twisted at the sight.

“Don’t act so pretentious, Dark Elf. Have you never eaten anything like this from living in a cave all your life?”

“Not all Dark Elves live in caves.”

“What percentage of them don’t?”

Yenoki grumbled and handed over a lizard that was already cooked, and Wilhelm readily accepted it and ate.

“See? The human is eating it just fine.”

“It’s just not my cup of tea.”

“Right. Let’s go with that.”

Someone had to stay at the base, so they stayed, but since they didn’t want to be left behind, all they could do was annoy each other.

“In a way, it’s good to have nothing to do and just rest but it's so boring.”

“Would you rather have a bunch of trolls come at us like yesterday?”

“No.”

“Um, what’s that?”

Wilhelm, who was quietly eating, suddenly pointed somewhere.

The two who were bickering also looked in that direction.

“It’s humans. What’s so surprising about that?”

Two Raven agents, who were now a somewhat familiar sight, were quietly walking away.

“Not the humans, but what they’re carrying on their backs. It’s unnecessarily big. And something like smoke is coming out of it.”

“It’s pretty far. How did you even notice that?”

Yenoki snorted and took out a telescope from a bag attached to his belt.

After looking at the two humans for a moment, Yenoki clicked his tongue.

“It’s true. They’re carrying something ridiculously big. And smoke is leaking out.”

“Let me see.”

Karl took the telescope and observed the two people who were now quite far away.

They were definitely carrying something.

The smoke coming out was more like fog than smoke.

The same kind of fog that was thick in the swamp.

“Suspicious.”

“Right?”

Karl, who had put down the telescope, put on his hood.

Seeing him, Wilhelm also quickly packed his things.

“Are you going to follow them?”

“Just in case.”

“Sigh I can’t just let the guests go alone.”

In the end, Yenoki also got up.

But all three soon faced the same problem.

Shouldn’t someone stay behind at the base?

“I don’t want that human to have anything on me.”

“I agree.”

“Shouldn’t Mr. Yenoki, who is the least suited for a stakeout, be the one to stay behind?”

Karl nodded at Wilhelm’s words.

Yenoki couldn’t think of a good rebuttal, so he eventually sat back down.

“I can’t let the guests go alone, though.”

Yenoki rummaged through his bag and handed them two pieces of a mirror.

Wilhelm took the pieces and showed his disappointment.

“They’re just pieces of a mirror.”

“I’ve heard that sailors use mirrors to communicate with other ships.”

“You know a lot, Dark Elf. We also have a signal method we use among ourselves, but you don’t need to know that. If you run into trouble, just reflect sunlight in the direction of the base.”

“Will you be able to see it?”

“It's nothing compared to the ocean.”

He didn’t trust it much, but he decided to keep it anyway.

The Raven agents were no longer visible, but their traces remained.

“Just follow at a reasonable distance.”

“I can manage on my own.”

The two, who had crouched down, quickly followed the traces.

They weren't moving fast.

It was natural since they were carrying heavy baggage.

The two, who had been following for a long time, stopped for a moment.

“They’ve disappeared.”

“They’re gone.”

The traces suddenly stopped.

They wondered if the agents knew they were being followed and erased the traces, but they soon found out the reason.

“They used an Acceleration spell.”

The traces didn't disappear; the distance between them just widened.

The question was why they only used an Acceleration spell now.

“Did they notice us following them?”

“I don’t think so. Both of us perfectly erased our presence.”

The presence of the human following them was definitely not felt.

Naturally, Karl himself did his job perfectly.

“Then they had something planned in advance.”

“Are we going to follow them?”

“Of course.”

If it came to this, they definitely had something to hide.

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