Chapter 262 (1/2)

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Chapter 262 – Price for the Abduction

Upon hearing the alarm, Grucel first went to the deck. Normally, he would go to the bridge and verify the situation while giving out orders, but the enemy was only one vessel—that is, if they were on a boat or a s.h.i.+p—so he decided to get a grasp of the situation first.

Grucel could only do this as he was a master in martial arts. He believed he could handle ten enemies on his own.

『Deena!』

His comrades on deck had surrounded two people—one was a boy wearing a black cloak and a silver mask, and the other one was Deena the secretary.

Smoke was rising from the deserted bow. Grucel could tell the loud bang happened there. Even now, the battles.h.i.+p was heading for Dew Roke. No one should've been able to catch up to it. So how? I'll worry about that later, the commander thought.

「My name is Silver Face. You're the commander, Grucel, right?」the masked boy asked, poking Deena's head, who sank down on the floor, face pale and trembling.

『H-He knows about you, Sir.』she said.

『Deena! Are you all right?!』

『I'm fi—』

The masked boy poked her again before she could finish, as though telling her not to speak without permission. Grucel's expression remained unchanged, but he was seething inside. He couldn't stand to see his hardworking secretary treated like that.

『So you're the one who kidnapped Deena. Don't think you're getting away that easily.』

Deena translated the commander's words.

Silver Face scoffed.「That's rich coming from you. Who was it that attacked Dew Roke and sent a spy on us? As if that wasn't enough, you even laid a hand on my Healer. I'm p.i.s.sed right now. Really p.i.s.sed.」

Silver Face reached for the silver magic item hanging on his waist, one with a grip and a trigger. Grucel was taken aback. He recognized the shape.

『A gun?! But you shouldn't be able to use—』

Silver Face pulled the trigger without hesitation. Grucel readied himself for the bullet, but what came out of the muzzle was a huge fireball.

『What?!』

The raging fire burned every corner of the deck. The next thing the commander knew, Silver Face was already gone, and only a trembling Deena was left.

『Deena!』

『Commander! No!!』

Ignoring the cries of the men around him, Grucel charged into the fire, not concerned about the flames licking at his clothes. As soon as he made it to Deena, he quickly carried her and escaped from the sea of flames.

『I-I'm sorry, Commander.』

『Don't worry about it. It's the superior's job to save his subordinates when they're in trouble.』

『That's not it…』

『What's wrong?』

They stopped at a spot away from the flames. The surrounding was in an uproar as the crew moved to put out the fire.

『That boy is dangerous… Bringing him here was my mistake. A huge mistake!』

Hikaru fired his revolver at the bow first, then made everyone gather at the deck to make it easier to move around inside. It was surprisingly effective; Hikaru walked down the corridors without much difficulty.

With his Stealth on, Hikaru snuck behind the guard and struck him, taking his key. The hit carried an “a.s.sa.s.sination” buff, but he didn't care. He knew that it was only Paula inside. He unlocked the door and entered.

「Paula.」

「Hikaru-sama!」

As soon as Hikaru cut the ropes binding Paula, she jumped into his arms, and he caught her.

「I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shown you and Lavia to her.」

「You shouldn't apologize, Hikaru-sama…」

「No, this is my fault. I was too naïve. I thought I could handle a little trouble.」

With the power of his Soul Board, Hikaru was nearly invincible. Almost none could see through his Stealth. He would be lying if he said that didn't make him conceited. He thought there would be no problem since he gave Paula Stealth abilities too.

【Soul Board】Paula Nohra

Age: 18 Rank: 8 → 14

2

【Magical Power】

..【Mana】6

【Agility】→ NEW

..【Stealth】

….【Life Obfuscation】2

….【Mana Obfuscation】2

….【Imperceptibility】2

【Willpower】

..【Faith】

….【Holy】4

……【Healing Magic】8

……【Support Magic】1

Unlike Hikaru, Paula had no experience fighting while using her Stealth. As such, her Stealth was useless against fairly skilled opponents. Hikaru should've let her gain experience. He blamed himself for failing to consider that.

「Let's get out of here for now.」

Hikaru's Mana Detection picked up soldiers rus.h.i.+ng towards the room they were in, but they managed to get back out to the deck by hiding in vacant rooms and going around.

They barely came across any crew, mostly because some were putting out the fire, a lot were scouring the s.h.i.+p for Paula, and some were on guard duty on the deck.

There was one more reason why soldiers gathered on deck.

「What is happening?!」

Luke, his men, and the Healer they were escorting were on deck too. They came out of the guest room after hearing the alarm.