Volume 3 Chapter 88 Visiting The ‘Lion’s Companion’ III
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Just like magician John from the Guild said, when the group went past their crashed wagon and deeper into the woods, green ghost-light flickered out from under the oak and pine trees, and a bunch of Wraiths──Noon Wraith, all dressed in dirty white rags──came out.
But Kian, who already unlocked his vampire powers, could just glare and make them all fall for him, and with ‘Parasol of the Night Queen’, Priscilla could force the Wraith to obey too, so these ghosts didn’t stand a chance.
The only Wraith that could fight back was the one that took over a bear’s body in the woods, but before Kian could even move, Natra took it out in one hit.
”────”
The huge brown bear screamed a death cry and crashed to the ground.
The white spirit shape──probably Wraith──got slurped up by Natra’s magic sword and turned into plain energy.
”Whew…”
Natra, who jumped in front of Kian and Priscilla in a flash, took a breath and slid her ‘thorny magic sword’ back into its sheath.
A nice, high ‘ching’ noise rang out in their ears.
Even if they weren’t on their guard, nobody saw when she made her move at all.
(Wait, isn’t Natra way stronger than before?)
’That age is when people grow the fastest. Ever since you two started hooking up, her abilities boosted even more. She’s got a better memory than you too, looks like. Don’t stress about it. You and Natra are built different──she never even had the cells to make magic in the first place. The girl was doomed from the start.’
(Am I supposed to be happy about that?)
His chest burned with jealousy.
At this point, he knew the only way he’d feel better was by making Natra melt with pleasure next time they had sex.
Turns out the real rival with the sword was right at home.
”Azrael, please save this poor beast.”
She gently shoved some dried meat into the dying bear’s mouth and whispered a prayer.
When she finished, she quietly came back to the group.
With sunlight and birdsong creeping back through the trees, everyone’s eyes locked onto the tiny girl.
”…Is something wrong?”
”Nah, you didn’t use any special moves, did you?”
”────? Yeah.”
”I couldn’t see your sword skills at all…”
Serena muttered in astonishment from behind.
John, who had been walking with Sarah at the very back, was wide-eyed too.
”I couldn’t see them either. Never seen a user like that before.”
”Kitsune’s always training, after all.”
”You’re the one slacking on training. Try following the example of me or Sir Kian.”
”But it feels like it’s beyond what you can achieve through training. To hit like that without stirring up a single leaf on this mulchy ground is just too amazing.”
John looked around at Natra, Rufna, and Sarah in turn.
”Not a sound from their footsteps, and barely any tracks left behind… You guys are like Wraith. Frankly, I’m super curious about your backgrounds, but I’m scared I’ll get killed if I ask, so I’ll pretend I don’t know.”
”Mr. John, we don’t kill needlessly. You don’t have to be on guard. However… we would appreciate it if you didn’t pry too deeply into our backgrounds. Everyone has one or 2 secrets, right?”
”Uh, yeah. Sure.”
”Hey, but you’re reliable. I joined the party as a scholar this time, and being with Lord Kian and the others, I really feel safe exploring. I wish I had a couple of pros like Kitsune on my team too. ────Okay? That’s why, if you know anyone looking for work, could you give me a heads up?”
”Thank you. If such a person appears, I will make sure to let you know, Ms. Priscilla.”
Sarah replied with grace, and Priscilla gave a cute wink.
”Just so you know, I’m in charge of protection. Don’t introduce any dead weight, okay? I’ll test them lightly before hiring. If they’re not good enough, they might end up dead, so keep that in mind.”
”In that case, it would be helpful if you could teach us the standards beforehand to avoid any unnecessary deaths.”
”I’m a noob with swords, so I wouldn’t know. You handle that part. It’s only natural to screen properly, right?”
”…I suppose so.”
Sarah stepped back without another word, her face a clear read: “I won’t let any more of my important subordinates go to this woman.”
’As usual, this white-haired witch has a wicked personality,’
(Powerful folks always want agents who can handle their jobs perfectly. Especially someone like Priscilla, few can keep up with her madness──not even in Azrael’s home country.)
Kian stepped forward in Natra’s place and used the ‘Silver Ice’ armor’s power to light the bear’s remains ablaze.
He turned to the others and called out.
”We should find the remains that caused Wraith nearby. Bury them, and if there’s any hair or flesh left, burn it to ash. That might clear the miasma a bit.”
”Wraith from before, that wasn’t Mr. Rean, right?”
Sarah’s words left him speechless, but as a rescue team member, he could only hope otherwise.
Serena sniffed at a broken branch of a pine shrub.
”Somebody got hurt here. Maybe ‘Lion’s Companion’ even fought here. It doesn’t seem like they were taken down easily, like Kian or Ms. Kitsune.”
”The smell of death isn’t near. That means ‘Lion’s Companion’ went deeper in. Serena, can you still track the footsteps?”
”Weak. But I can still barely make out the gear of the heavily equipped man.”
”Figures.”
(Glasses, Could Rean still be alive?)
Kian scanned the area for the distinctive magic power waves of the blonde, handsome adventurer.
The air was thick with an unpleasant stench (probably only noticeable to Kian.
Instinct told him it was one of his own kind, deliberately luring deeper into the forest…).
He couldn’t sense any magic power like Rean or Vestacia’s at all.
They might just be in stealth mode, but they were definitely far away still.
Or maybe──they’re already in the belly of the stench’s owner.
’I didn’t know for sure, but if they had fought Wraith, they likely had the same thought as we did—to give their remains a proper burial. Yet they couldn’t. That’s why Wraith became what they are now. In other words…’
(Most likely, they were killed partway through… and ended up becoming Wraiths themselves.)
If the remains are hidden underground like in ‘Labyrinth of Roses’ or they’re distracted by something else, they wouldn’t have time to worry about disposing of the remains.
They’re not even sure if they’re dead yet.
(Guess all I can do is hope)
Kian nodded once and spoke to everyone.
”For now, we’ve confirmed 12 ghost bones. They’re located 2 hundred meters southwest from here and in a cave 3 hundred meters to the west. I’ll lead the way, so follow me.”
* * *
Only 12 sets of bones belonging to Wraith’s victims could be confirmed.
The 3 bodies to the southwest were lying crumpled in the shade of a tree, all turned to skeletons with their ribs shattered and broken.
It looked like they had been crushed by some powerful force or thrown against a tree trunk to be killed – the remnants of clothing suggested they were a group of woodcutters who worked in the area.
The southern cave was quite spacious, and the bodies there wore armor that should belong to soldiers under Margrave’s command, now led by Owl.
These bodies hadn’t been dead for more than a few days, and a terrible stench filled the cave.
They kept an eye out for the monster that might have killed them, lurking inside, but the cave turned out to be surprisingly shallow, with just one round room like an oven.
In the dark, John, with his mouth covered by a cloth, was shining a torch next to Kian.
”This is rough, really…”
”Yeah, it was the right call to have the women wait outside.”
Kian nodded and glanced back at Natra’s back near the cave entrance.
”There are bugs’ eggs laid in the wounds. Even if it’s a cold cave, considering it’s summer, would they hatch just after a week of death?”
”Let’s collect their identity plates to return to their families. After that, I’ll burn the bodies along with their armor.”
”Alright, leave it to me.”
”Shall we use necromancy to call back the souls of these people?”
Kian asked, but John shook his head.
”Their throats and limbs are too rotted to give us any info. I don’t wanna do this, it’ll just make the dead suffer. I’m not gonna do it. Should we call Priscilla?”
”She doesn’t like gross dead bodies, I think.”
”Ugh, city girl. Guess I’ll have to collect the ID plates. Ugh…”
He shoves his torch into a crack in the rocks and starts going through the rotting corpses one by one, checking their necks.
The smell of rot is strong, and there’s a gross squelching sound.
It’s a messed up job that could drive you crazy, but he’s done it before.
Kian silently takes the plates off the soldiers.
(…These corpses also have crushed ribs. And their faces are smashed in. They died from being slammed really hard into the Wall or the floor.)
’Just like those 3 commoners, huh?’
(Yeah. But this one’s chest was cut open with a sharp blade after they were killed. Look──it’s a perfect cut, like it was done with a magic sword. And)
Kian narrowed his eyes behind his ‘glasses’.
”Mr. John. These soldiers, their insides are missing.”
”What?”
John, who was off doing something else, gets up and walks over.
Kian cuts open the body’s belly and shows him the inside.
The magician guy covers his mouth and turns away, “Ugh.”
”The hearts, livers, and kidneys are gone. They left the gall bladders, stomachs, and large intestines… Someone ate these.”
”A guts-eater, huh. A werewolf or an undead did this. An undead would have to be a high-level Ghoul to break the bones of fully armed soldiers, or make such a clean cut, so it’s probably a powerful one. A werewolf or a high-level undead──either way, it’s a bad enemy.”
”They left the lungs. Wild animals often have parasites in their lungs, so they probably avoided them. Clever and smart. The skinny, unhealthy lumberjack’s insides probably didn’t look very tasty. So they left them alone.”
”What a gourmet.”
Kian stands up and quickly checks the chest of the soldier next to him.
The soldier, too, had his heart, liver, and kidneys removed.
(It seemed the creature had a preference for the innards of its prey. As for any other suspicious points… it was the way the soldiers died.)
All 9 Margrave soldiers were found propped up against the cave’s rocky wall, as if posing for a final rest.
Their swords were scattered around, but too far from the bodies.
If the monster hadn’t arranged the corpses against the wall later, it seemed likely they were disarmed right before death, or even killed in an instant without a fight.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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