Volume 3 Chapter 93 The Traces Continue
Edited by: Kanaa-senpai
Sarah crossed her arms and spoke.
She squinted her eyes, peering down the road on the other side of the square.
”There were 3 moving deeper in, right?”
”Yeah. The scent continues. ────This way.”
Serena dashed off again.
Kian and Sarah sent wary glances around them as they followed Serena.
After a while, they emerged near the front entrance of the ruins, where an open area had been cleared.
There stood what appeared to be a stone shelter made with magic.
The roots of trees had encroached upon the stone floor, making it treacherous to walk on.
The shelter was shaped like a square tofu block, and Kian’s vampire senses detected a faint smell of iron.
”I smell blood. Serena, stop.”
”I’ve already stopped.”
The silver wolf girl had halted at the back of the shelter, her sword drawn from her waist, her tail stiff with tension.
Sliding past Kian, Sarah circled to the front of the shelter and peeked inside subtly.
”…There’s no one here.”
”The blood scent is coming from in front of the shelter.”
Kian said, stepping forward.
He knelt on one knee on the stone floor, entwined with roots, in front of the shelter.
Through his ‘glasses’, the remnants of blood were clearly highlighted in red.
(Blood spatter fanned out like a sector. Someone had swung a sword or spear to splatter blood. A meter away, a large pool of blood. Likely, someone was stabbed in the abdomen or chest.)
”It seems there was a fight here.”
Kian stated as he stood up.
”There’s a special agent used to mask the blood’s smell. It wasn’t the Rean who did this. Probably whoever attacked the Rean, trying to cover their tracks.”
”Now that you mention it, there is a weird smell.”
”What do you mean? The shelter was made by ‘Lion’s Companion,’ right? Or rather, the high elf magician, Vestacia?”
”There’s one guy who got stabbed. He stumbled, fell over there, and someone tried to shield him by throwing themselves.”
Kian said, pointing to the shelter’s exterior.
The one who was stabbed seemed to have dragged themselves, bleeding profusely, to lean against the shelter’s wall.
Serena’s tail drooped solemnly.
”Huh, the scent of the perfume’s fading… Did they teleport short-distance, or were they taken away?”
”Given the circumstances, I’d bet they were kidnapped. Rean only has Ms. Vestacia and Ms. Ninini supporting him. Just those 2? Against trained combat units──no chance. The attackers probably defeated Rean’s side, then wiped the evidence using their drugs afterward. That makes the most sense.”
”Let’s look for the bodies.”
Sarah locks eyes with Kian and Serena, voice unwavering.
”In the northern lands, cremation’s only for heroes, right? Whether the attackers have a conscience or not, the bodies get buried or left to the wind. No corpses, then they must have taken them back to the attacker’s camp.”
”Ms. Vestacia and Ms. Ninini at least──what’s the point in bringing Rean back?”
Kian whispers his thought, and Sarah nods firmly, “There’s definitely a reason.”
”Rean, the top Rank 1 Adventurer──if he’s alive, he’s still valuable. Not just for torture, ransom, or some sick game.”
”He could be made a slave, or bound by contract──used as a weapon. Your dad did that sometimes, remember?”
Serena’s expression is clouded, perhaps because she doesn’t have a very good impression.
Serena’s expression clouded, clearly not thrilled with the situation. Sarah shot her a sympathetic glance, but quickly regained her usual composure.
”Come on, let’s all search for the grave! Kian, what are you standing around for? A gentleman shouldn’t make two ladies do all the work.”
”Got it. I’ll search down this path. You two take the square.”
Even in her ‘glasses’ state, Sarah’s confident tone made Kian reflexively fall into old habits. He commandeered the sleeping bats around the ruins, sending them out as scouts, and hurried down the cobblestone path leading away from the shelter.
Behind him, Sarah began constructing a barrier, clearly planning to set up a temporary base.
Then, suddenly—
”――――h!?”
”…h!”
”…?”
Serena’s instincts pricked as she felt a faint killing intent, and she spun around.
Kian and Sarah reacted almost simultaneously, but Serena, with a slight twitch of her dog ears, was a beat too slow as she gazed up at the sky.
A round, grey sphere──
It was unmistakably a blast bomb, arcing lazily towards Serena’s head in her sluggish field of vision.
She started to move into a leap, but it was clear she was too slow, her movements uncharacteristically shaken.
Without a second thought, Kian channeled his considerable magic power honed by ‘Silver Ice’.
”Hyaah!”
…But ‘Silver Ice’ was clearly too late.
Just before the blast bomb could detonate, Sarah leaped in front of Serena, drawing her mithril blade with a smooth motion.
A powerful surge of magic power, reminiscent of the Secret Technique ‘Thunder’, burst from her, and in the next instant, the blast wave of the bomb was defying the laws of physics, tearing through the air on the opposite side of Sarah.
He had no idea what Sarah had done, but the shrapnel from the blast bomb was utterly deflected and neutralized.
Sarah shielded Serena and leaped backwards without a moment to spare.
”Kian!”
The torn blast bomb spewed grey smoke along with its fragments, engulfing the shelter area.
Kian charged forward across the stone paving, drawing his Windsong Blade.
Above.
In the shadows of the dark needles of the coniferous forest.
A slender figure with cat ears perked up fell diagonally from the sky, eyes glowing yellow with frustration from the failed ambush.
She seemed determined to take down at least one with a follow-up strike, emerging from the foggy blur left by the blast bomb, attempting to slip past Sarah’s side.
But Sarah had anticipated the assassin’s move, shattering the stone floor with her magic, perfectly trapping the cat Beastmen’s foot.
”Ngyaah!?”
A dull thud echoed.
Sarah’s ruthless right foot crushes the Beastman’s arm, then twists──smashing it into the stone floor like a ragdoll.
The attacker bounces and ricochets across the cracked tiles, desperation turning his last-ditch knife throw into a flicker of hope.
But Kian deflects with Windsong Blade──no chance for that trick.
”Nyaa… ahh…”
”Ms. Sarah! Thanks──!”
”Don’t sweat it. We’re allies──it’s only natural to back each other up. Kian?”
”……”
He silently steps toward the filthy Beastman, his gaze cold and unyielding.
Without hesitation, he gropes her by the scruff──her face buried in the dirt, refusing to lift her head.
In a flash, the Beastman leaps up, aiming a raised right hand──claws flashing, a knife built for disassembly clenched tight, claws aimed at Kian’s eyes.
The monster’s grit is clear──stupid enough to attack with a knife in hand.
But Kian’s not impressed──no weapon can break through his defenses.
He summons a crystalline shield of air using Silver Ice──its translucent blue glow flickering with sharp angles, deflecting the Beastman’s knife like a masterful parry.
The shield’s surface catches the attack, slipping aside smoothly──no chance for the beast to land a hit.
Kian stomped on the Beastman’s back, then kicked her gut hard enough to make her vomit blood—but not hard enough to kill.
”Gebuuuh!?”
(Limbs are unnecessary. As long as their throat and brain are intact, they’ll serve.)
Flipping his blade, Kian caught his own reflection in the magic sword’s edge—a cruel smile mirroring his own.
He’d planned to use Windsong Blade to sever the Beastman’s limbs, tearing away her freedom. But as the cat-like creature flipped onto her back, their eyes met, and Kian’s hand froze.
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Edited by Kanaa-senpai.
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