Volume 3 Chapter 96 The Swamp Adventure I
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Previously on…
[Volume One]
Born the son of a high-ranking official from the Theocracy’s Azrael House, Kian had everything──except a single drop of magic.
They banished him for it.
So he set out to the backwater East End of Franz Kingdom, scraping by as a “garbage scavenger,” living dirt poor and invisible.
But right before turning 30, fate flipped the script.
Kian bought a pair of strange “glasses” at a street stall, learned how to drain magic power from women through sex, and pulled off the ultimate comeback.
[Volume Two]
An odd twist of fate led Kian to Princess Maribel of Izerland Fortress──and to her companion, the Head Magician.
Christy, black-haired, serious, big up top, nice scent, a bit on the petite side.
Kian seduced Christy, drained her magic, and got powerful enough to strut around in front of Azrael’s apostles like some big shot.
Not only that,──he managed to turn 2 more apostles, Natra and Rufna, into his familiars.
Magic thralls, body and soul.
Then came rebellion: the Knights of the Sun──Oswald──turned on Princess Maribel.
The fortress was done for.
Kian partnered with the enigmatic Knight Owl, and together, after a desperate struggle, managed to bring Oswald down.
[Volume Three (current arc)]
Now, in the port city of Châtillon, Lord Guy handed him 2 quests.
After a rough road, Kian cleared them both.
In the Night Crier quest, he even brought childhood friend Sarah back from the grave──and added her to the crew.
He ran into Jibril, his estranged little brother, but, well… put all that old drama behind him.
The adventurer’s life kept rolling on.
With the fall of Oswald, the Knights of the Sun found themselves facing a united front of Beastmen tribes attacking the northern granary region of Ramsey, leading Knight Owl to head towards the interception.
However, reports from the locals spoke of a hellish situation where the Bloodsucking Kind ran amok, and the dead were rising once more.
Determined to rescue the missing Rank 1 Adventurer party──Rean, Lyritisse, Ninini, and Vestacia──from Ramsey, and to uncover the truth behind the vampire disturbances possibly involving Owl, Kian set out from Izerland fortress towards the north.
After retrieving Lyritisse, Kian engaged in combat with a mysterious magician who had transformed into an advanced-rank undead known as a Lich.
Having narrowly escaped the magician, Kian pursued Rean’s trail, accompanied by his childhood friend Sarah and the Wolfmen girl, Serena, teleporting to an ancient temple in the Nordende river domain at the northernmost tip.
There, they regrouped with Ninini, who revealed that Rean and Vestacia had been abducted by Wolfmen warriors.
Thus, Kian and his companions launched their separate operations──to reclaim Rean and the others, and to delve into the truth behind the Bloodsucking Kind incidents.
Disguised as an Adventurer, Sarah infiltrated the Wolfmen’s ranks, while the rest of Kian’s group scrambled to resolve the Bloodsucking Kind crisis.
And so, the tale unfolds──what could possibly happen next…!?
Emerging from the lush reed-swamps with Serena and Ninini in tow.
After a grueling hour of struggling through the heavy, muddy black earth, they finally reached a grassy plain.
A few kilometers separated them from the nearest village, which would serve as their temporary base.
Without encountering any wolves or wild dogs along the way, the trio managed to make their way back to the village via a rural path.
Gazing at the distant shadow of a farmer tilling the dark soil, Kian called out to the two following behind him.
”Once we reach the village, please take a moment to rest at the tavern or somewhere convenient.”
”And what about you, huh? What’re you planning to do, nya?”
Ninini, who’d been lagging behind at the rear, popped her head out from behind Serena’s shoulder.
She hadn’t eaten or slept properly for days, and Kian and Sarah’s handiwork sure hadn’t helped──her face wasn’t just pale, it’d gone ghostly white.
Her black cat ears drooped pitifully, and nervous sweat clung to her brow.
She hadn’t complained once──true to her rank-one party reputation──but her body had clearly hit its breaking point a long time ago.
Kian answered smoothly, barely sparing a glance for the cat-eared woman, even as her breathing turned ragged from just those few words.
”After we check the communal graveyard, I’ll head out to the northern marshes.”
”Wait, you──you seriously going after those monsters alone-nya?!”
”Yeah. I’ll also search for that Nerea girl the client mentioned, while I’m at it. Though, judging by how long she’s been missing and the situation… she’s almost definitely dead by now.”
”Hey! Are you trying to get yourself killed-nya?!”
Ninini’s eyebrows shot up as she shoved Serena aside and stormed toward him.
But before she could grab Kian’s shoulder, she doubled over, clutching her ribs.
”Hey, Ms. Ninini──are you okay?”
Serena, who’d been silent and withdrawn up until now, dropped down beside Ninini, eyes wide with worry.
”Ugh…”
”This is bad. You look awful──I’m so sorry, I didn’t even notice…”
”We’re almost at the village. Serena, give her some strong liquor.”
”I don’t think drowning it in booze will help. Ms. Ninini, can you stand?”
”Ugh, nn… I-I’m fine, really… Ngh, it’s not just the pain──my head’s spinning-nya.”
”You’ve been pushing yourself way too hard──with barely any food in you, no less.”
Kian pulled out a vial of Christy’s special pain stop from his pocket.
He grasps Ninini’s cheek and forces her to move her up and pours the medicine in.
Kian calmly says, “Stop the pain. Please don’t vomit.”
”Lucky-nya. It tastes like apple honey.”
”Wow, that’s how it tastes, huh? I’ve never had I’m so I didn’t know.”
”You’ve never taken this before? Are you sure this medicine’s actually safe? Is it really a pain stopper?”
”It’s fine. One of Her Excellency Maribel’s personal Witches brewed it.”
Christy had graduated at the very top of the Royal Capital Academia’s faculty of pharmacy.
Her grasp of medicine blew your average herbalist out of the water.
”There’s plenty more where that came from, so I’ll give you a few more bottles. Oh, there’s a salve for bruises, too. I’ll toss that in as well. Serena, stick this on Ms. Ninini as a poultice later, would you?”
”Mm, got it.”
Serena took the jar of ointment from Kian, then gave it a few testing sniffs.
”Smells like mint,” she said, tucking it away in her rucksack.
”Forget all that-nya! Kian, you── you better not go-nya! I mean it! This isn’t me being coy, okay? I’m serious-nya!”
”Even if I wanted to, I can’t drag an injured Ms. Ninini along with me. And if Sarah comes back to the village, I need Serena here to greet her. That leaves just me──there’s no other way.”
”At least wait until Sarah’s back-nya!”
”Once Sarah returns, we’ll be tied up searching for Rean and the others. If the client’s friends are still alive, and we hold back now, we’ll be leaving them to die.”
”What if you’re surrounded by monsters in the swamp-nya? We still have no clue what the enemy even is, you know!”
”If it gets dicey, I’ll bail. Fifteen years as an Adventurer──trust me, I know when to walk away.”
”Then──then I’ll go-nya!”
Ninini yanked free of Serena’s arm and pushed herself upright.
”Not with your body in that state.”
”But-nya!”
”Ms. Ninini, your job is to save Rean and Vestacia. You’ll need your strength for that. Let yourself recover first.”
”Ugh──”
”Besides, this is my job. It’s got nothing to do with you.”
”If you die, that’s one less person who can save Rean and Vest-nya!”
”Kian’s got this. He’s crazy strong. Plus, he’s got Sword Cain’s familiar with him.”
”Wait, what?!”
”Serena, don’t give out any extra information. You’re my tool for the job.”
”Oops, wasn’t I supposed to say that?”
To let a monster slip through is an act of heresy among heresies.
It’s better for fewer people to know, to avoid inviting unnecessary scrutiny.
Kian nodded silently, and Serena gave an embarrassed twitch of her silver tail. “My apologies, I slipped up.”
”Be more careful next time.”
”Got it.”
”While I’m gone, I’m counting on you to look after Ms. Ninini, and keep an eye on the activity at the communal graveyard.”
”Make sure no corpses are getting up in the middle of the night. Leave it to me; my senses are sharper than anyone’s.”
”If Sarah comes back, just tell her where I’ve gone. I’ll be back before dawn.”
”What!? Are you out of your mind, planning to charge into the swamp at midnight!? That’s bordering on suicidal-nya”
”The night is”
Kian cut Ninini off, shaking his ‘Silver Ice’ armor.
The temperature around them plummeted, and from Kian’s shadow, Knight wraith’s red eyes flickered.
Ninini held her breath.
”The night is to my advantage.”
He glowed with a crimson luminescence in his black eyes, baring his canines in a grin.
Ninini looked up at Kian’s smile, her fur standing on end as she nodded frantically.
She reminded Kian of a broken doll.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
Thanks for reading.
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