Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Volume 2 Chapter 2 Part 1

After driving back the group of enemies that they were engaged with, s.h.i.+n and company left the Plains to rest a while. Though Ras.h.i.+a was quite spent emotionally, her physical and magical state was in top condition, thanks to the rapid leveling up.

Uu~, I thought I was going to die. With the two of us here, no way that would happen. Thats definitely true, but Bio Hounds are probably a bit much for normal people. Especially with how they look. Please dont remind me~!

Seemingly having been forced to recall the scene of half-rotten dogs closing in while dragging their spilled out innards over the ground, Ras.h.i.+as shoulders began to quiver. She glared at the two men, but somehow not looking ugly while doing so turned out to be one of her charms.

Speaking of which, is it your first time fighting against monsters? Its not exactly my first time, but anyone would be shocked to have to face something like that all of a sudden! Moreover, Im feeling a bit alarmed at how fast my level is shooting up, too. Well, I suppose its to be expected, given the level gap. I mean, just fighting monsters with single digit levels wouldnt help you clear the requirement. I think that by the time you getPurification, youll be somewhere around level 150.

Ras.h.i.+a was a normal human who had never reincarnated before, so her level was rising extremely rapidly. At the current rate, she was going to end up with a level close to Wilhelms own. The gap between their fighting power would still be like heaven and earth, but their roles were different in the first place, so there shouldnt be much of a problem.

I know that, but my body is feeling really light, and somehow magical power just seems to be overflowing from within. Its a bit frightening how my body almost doesnt feel like my own body anymore. People normally level up slowly over time, I guess, so they dont feel it so strongly. Im afraid you have no choice but to just get used to it. And I dont want this to come across like Im kicking you when youre down, so I apologize beforehand, but I need you to use these.

So saying, s.h.i.+n brought out Books of Secrets forHealandCure. He had learned from the fight just now thatHealas an Arts was severely weaker than its skill counterpart. Tiera had said that Arts were about a third of a skill in effectiveness, but it was now clear that depending on the user, Arts might be even weaker than that. There was the difference in level too, but the damage that Ras.h.i.+a was dealing was way too low. Even though she was now around level 40, it was still taking her several hits to kill a nearly dead Bio Hound. s.h.i.+n felt the need to discuss this problem frankly with the other two. With the situation as it was, s.h.i.+n prudently reminded himself to not forget that it was skills that he was giving away. However, neither of them were attack skills, so he concluded that it wouldnt be much of a problem to teach them to someone else.

What are those? Theyre called Books of Secrets. Anyone who uses one of these will become able to use the skill respective to the contents of the Book. These are forHealandCure. Heh~, become able to use ...... What?! I cant accept something so valuable! How much do you think these are worth?! It would bankrupt the orphanage to pay for these!

Knowing the worth of skills, Ras.h.i.+a could not understand s.h.i.+ns actions. For normal people like Ras.h.i.+a, skills were just something to know about, and definitely not something to actually use. She also knew that it was possible to pay someone who knew a skill to teach it, so she thought that that was what s.h.i.+n was offering.

If you guys keep quiet about me, then I dont need any compensation. Im the one who wants you to learn these. If you learn these, you can help people who are in suffering too, right? So, the cheesy line aside, what is your real aim?

s.h.i.+n had tried to phrase things in a way that he wasnt used to, but apparently it had only come across as being shady. Wilhelms eyes seemed to be saying, Dont you dare lie to me.

We cant get far with Arts alone. Use these and lets speed up! Dont act like youre the only one bothered by it! Nice tsukkomi. Well, I was only half joking. You guys are even more familiar with the effectiveness of Arts than me, right? I know theres the level difference and all, but at our current pace, it will take a long time to be done. We have to defeat 200 of them, remember. Thoria-san might have trouble managing the orphanage by herself for such a long time, and theres no guarantee that the greedy priest wouldnt take advantage of this time when were gone.

Hearing this, the orphanage side found it hard to find a reb.u.t.tal. They did know that their current efficiency was low, and that accepting the Books could only make it go up. To be honest, as long as they hid where the skills came from, s.h.i.+n didnt care if Ras.h.i.+a continued using them in front of other people. Of course, the biggest issue was the possibility of something happening to the orphanage during their absence. Ras.h.i.+a was one of their core staff, and Wilhelm was most likely their greatest source of battle strength. In the eyes of someone looking to undermine the orphanage, the two of them being gone would seem like a heaven-sent opportunity.

Oh, very well. Ill take you up on your offer, then. Please do.

Ras.h.i.+a timidly opened the Books of Secrets. At that moment, the effect that s.h.i.+n had seen with Tiera was now wrapped around Ras.h.i.+a. It dissipated after a short while.

So, how is it? Ah, yes. I do know how to use the skills now. So she wasnt supposed to read and remember the contents of the Books? Ive heard that it works by directly inserting the information into your head. Yes, it was like that. Its really hard to explain with words.

Ras.h.i.+a stared at the hands that had held the Books, deeply moved.

Alright, shall we set off again? Sure. U-Understood.

They werent really tired in the first place, so they departed immediately. As soon as they stepped back into the field, they were approached by a p.a.w.n cla.s.s Skull Face and a Bio Hound. With the aid of all the leveling up, Ras.h.i.+asHealwas now extremely effective. The gloomy aura wrapped around the Bio Hound that had to be shaved off in several hits with Arts was blown away in one attack. There was no longer any need to lower the enemys health beforehand, as Ras.h.i.+a could now dispatch them with only a few hits. Seeing this, s.h.i.+n understood why Skill Inheritors were treated so favorably in this world.

Isnt there too much of a difference? Nn? Thats just how Arts are. Well, it was my first time seeing Arts. ...... Im surprised at myself for believing you.

Their hands never stopped as they exchanged light banter. Wilhelm used Venom to break the hands and feet of a Jack cla.s.s Skull Face, and s.h.i.+n used the back of his blade to beat up a level 163 Gray Orc. Gray Orcs were humanoid monsters also called Zombie Orcs. Their appearance was exactly how one would imagine a zombified orc to look.

To grant reprieve to those who suffer, Heal!!

Ras.h.i.+a quickly finished off the weakened monsters. Though the level gap was still large, theHealskill was in a completely different dimension from its Arts counterpart, it was not much trouble to reduce both monsters to particles of light in short order. Ras.h.i.+a herself was probably the most surprised at the synergy between the rapid leveling up and the transformation of Arts into skills.

With this, it looks like weve managed to speed up quite a bit. Thats true, but we still arent making any progress towards the quota. Theres probably no helping it, what with us being outside the Seal and all, but man is it frustrating. ...... Wait a second. What seal? Its my first time hearing anything about a seal. Oi, oi, you came without knowing? Theres an item installed around here to prevent monsters from escaping the Plains, even by mistake. It seems like the monsters that you encounter are progressively stronger the closer you get to the center. The guild is managing everything with a firm hand. I see, so theyre basically attracting the stronger ones to one place, and leaving the weaker ones alone. They apparently have a limited number of those seal items, so they cant use all of them for just one field.

In other words, approaching the center of the Plains was similar to diving into deeper levels of a dungeon. Dungeons were set up so that monsters are stronger the deeper theyre found. The depth of a dungeon equals to the distance from the dungeons core.

What do we have to do to go inside the Sealed area? All you need is a guild card of A rank or higher. Since it is managed by the guild. Then there is no problem. Lets go inside the Seal tonight.

s.h.i.+n made the decision while waiting for the Gray Orc to fade away. Most likely due to Ras.h.i.+a having raised her level, lower level monsters were growing increasingly hesitant in approaching them. Of course, monsters on the level of Jack cla.s.s Skull Faces would still attack them without any qualms, but there probably werent that many of such monsters around, as they rarely again came upon another group like the one that had greeted them at the very start. So far, the number of monsters that they had brought down that counted towards the quota could be counted on two hands. After fighting for another while, Ras.h.i.+a finally hit level 80, and they decided to take another breather.

The party returned to their base and napped until the sun set. Though the surroundings were still bright, s.h.i.+n and Wilhelm took turns standing watch, just in case. Ras.h.i.+a, though, was so mentally exhausted that she nodded off almost right after lying down. s.h.i.+n had nothing to do while standing watch, so he spent the time examining his skills. Back when he had first awakened in his world, he had mainly tested his attack type skills, so he now went over the detection type ones. Back during the game, there was a severe restriction on how many detection type skills could be activated at once, so s.h.i.+n decided to push those boundaries first.

This is ......

He couldnt help muttering in surprise. As a test, he had tried activating more skills than the limit that he knew. Contrary to expectations, he was successful. Furthermore, skills that previously could not be used together could now be. An example wasSense PresenceandSearch. Combining the two of them brought their strengths together and eliminated each others shortcomings, effectively creating a detection skill with the range ofSearchthat has the precision and level of detail ofSense Presence.

Combining the skills together like this pretty much turns it into a different skill altogether. I wonder what would happen if I used similar skills together at the same time?

s.h.i.+n made a mental note to perform further tests in the future. So far, he had only discovered positive effects due to these combinations, which caused him to grow wary.

There cant only be positive effects. Negative ones are still entirely possible. I need to devote time to testing out similar skills together.

Right off the top of his mind, he couldnt think of a combination that would cause a fatal side effect, but that was no consolation. He was also concerned about whether these combinations were limited to active skills or if they were happening to pa.s.sive skills too. Occupied with inspecting his skills, s.h.i.+ns s.h.i.+ft pa.s.sed in the blink of an eye.

The sun set sometime around 8pm. Determining it to be a suitable time, s.h.i.+n and Wilhelm woke Ras.h.i.+a up, and the three of them proceeded to the heart of the Wraith Plains. s.h.i.+n had expected the walk to take quite some time, but the fog had dissipated with the rise of the moon, allowing them to see the way clearly and make good time.

I wonder what that fog was. I had clearly thought that it would still remain during the night. Beats me. The magicians seem to think that its the magical power spilling out of the dungeon, though. Magical power? They say that the dungeon itself is some kind of undead. Since half of it has been brought aboveground, when it gets. .h.i.t by sunlight, it becomes unable to hold back the magical power that fills the dungeon. The power that flows out takes the form of the purple fog. Or at least, thats what the magicians seem to think is happening. Hmm, I guess that theory kind of makes sense, logically speaking.

Being weakened by sunlight was a weakness shared by all undead. In truth, the undead that they had seen when the sun was out had also been emitting black aurasa visible indicator of the monsters HPinto the air. The daytime fog being simply a larger scale version of this effect was the most likely explanation.

So the dungeon is now recovering the magical power that it had lost? Probably. But none of that has anything to do with us, though. True enough.

After walking for another short while, they laid eyes on a transparent blue wall. They had apparently reached the Seal.

Is this it? Yea, its the Seal that I mentioned in the afternoon. The blue wall is just a visible reminder; the actual wall reaches all the way to the sky. I see.

The wall was only about 4 mels in height, so s.h.i.+n was wondering if it couldnt be jumped over, but his fears turned out to be unfounded.

I can open this anytime. Is everyone ready? Im good anytime. M-Me too. Kuu!

Everyone gave Wilhelm a decisive answer. After confirming that, Wilhelm touched the wall with his guild card, and a hole about 2 mels high and 1 mel wide opened up. They were to enter through here. The first person to go through was Wilhelm, who had experience fighting inside the Seal. Right behind him was Yuzuha and Ras.h.i.+a, and s.h.i.+n brought up the rear. It was insurance, in case a monster rushed their backs as they were pa.s.sing through. There were no visible differences between the two sides of the Seal. From what they could see, it just looked like two adjoining pieces of land. However, s.h.i.+ns newly enhanced detection abilities had immediately picked up on several monsters. There were still more than 10 minutes left before they would make contact, so s.h.i.+n focused on each of them in turn to get more detailed information.

Three Rapt Raptors right in front. Two Jumpkins to the left.

Rapt Raptors were wyverns with their wings rotted off. They had no hands, but their kicks were fierce and powerful. Additionally, their claws grant a paralyzing debuff. Their average level was 170.

Jumpkins were, at a glance, pumpkins flying through the sky. Lets not make the tsukkomi that theyre not actually jumping. These pumpkins were, of course, rotting. The pumpkins had faces displaying joy, anger, pathos, and humor; the joy and anger faces used fire magical skills, and the pathos and humor faces used earth magical skills. Their average level was 200.

Somethings drawing close to us.

Wilhelm muttered the warning while s.h.i.+n was still in the middle of a.n.a.lyzing. The enemies had apparently gotten close enough to be within Wilhelms range of detection.

Rapt Raptors from the front, Jumpkins from the left. You can tell what they are? Yea. Ill leave the Raptors to you. Ill go restrain the Jumpkins. Got it.

The two of them nodded to each other, then set off. Leaving Yuzuha to protect Ras.h.i.+a, s.h.i.+n and Wilhelm both ran off towards their respective targets. s.h.i.+n was the faster one, so he made contact first. Strongly kicking the ground while beginning to release a horizontal mowing attack, s.h.i.+n flew in a straight line towards the Jumpkins. Jumpkins do indeed float in midair, but they are actually only about 2 to 3 mels off the ground. It took only a moment for s.h.i.+ns blade to reach across that distance.

s.h.i.+!

Two red arcs were drawn through the air, and the next instant found the Jumpkins stopped in their tracks. Before s.h.i.+n even landed, two sounds like the squish of raw food falling to the floor rang out across the quiet gra.s.sland. Thanks to s.h.i.+n using the back ofAkechidori, the two Jumpkins were now afflicted with both Faint and Paralyze. s.h.i.+n took out a large wrapping cloth from his inventory and wrapped the Jumpkins up, then turned back to have Ras.h.i.+a finish them off. Wilhelm reached the Rapt Raptors about 10 seconds after s.h.i.+n did with the Jumpkins. Those who know the word dinosaur probably imagined that instead. Indeed, they were a kind of dinosaur with only two legs and no forearms. Their bodies were about 2 mels long, and they were also half-rotten like how Bio Hounds were, but their speed and muscle strength was on a completely different level. They made annoying opponents. Though they were bad at it, they knew to coordinate attacks together with the rest of the pack.

Fuun~

Right off the bat, Wilhelm dodged the single Rapt Raptor that lunged for him first. The other two came right afterwards, intending to have the first serve as a decoy, but Wilhelm sent both of them flying with a single sweep ofVenom. Rapt Raptors have very brittle bodies, so the lurid sounds of bones breaking and organs bursting could be heard. Confirming in the corner of his eye that the two of them were not so much on the brink of death as on the brink of disappearing, he turned around to face the one that he had dodged at the start. Deciding that running away was not an option, the Rapt Raptor gazed at Wilhelm with teary eyes.

Having to hold back is such a pain.

The Rapt Raptors vision was dyed black after those words. Wilhelm used ropes to tie up the Raptor with its head half smashed in and the other two Raptors with broken legs and caved in torsos, then also returned to where Ras.h.i.+a was.

Ii~yaa~~~!!

True to convention, a scream was heard from where the two of them had returned to.

While s.h.i.+n and company were working hard hunting undead in the heart of the Wraith Plains, the sound of fighting was ringing around a place inside a forest about several days worth of carriage travel away.

Surround it! Aim for the core!! If you got hurt, use potions to heal yourself! Priests and magicians, dont stop firing holy elemental arts! Aggro the Jack! Dont let it coordinate with the p.a.w.ns!!

Several people wearing dully burnished armor were raising their voices while attacking Skull Faces. Behind the knights with s.h.i.+elds, people wearing priest clothes and people wearing robes were releasing s.h.i.+ning spheres of light towards the Skull Faces. Those lights gradually wiped away the dark auras around the p.a.w.n cla.s.s Skull Faces, eventually reducing them to mere bones. However, n.o.body there let their guard down. The biggest enemy on the battlefield was still standing.

Guh, its too heavy. Those who still have stamina left, come help! We wont be able to hold it back if anymore of us go down!! d.a.m.n it, what the h.e.l.l is that?!

Voices half filled with desperation echoed throughout the forest. They were the best knights from each of their respective countries, but even several tens of them together could not deal any fatal wounds to the single enemy that they faced.

I know a Jack cla.s.s is strong, but to think that its still standing ......

The complaint that unconsciously spilled out was lost beneath the din of swords and s.h.i.+elds clas.h.i.+ng.

If all was normal, this battle was supposed to have been over since a while back. However, this Jack cla.s.s Skull Face was holding a white s.h.i.+eld, which allowed him to shrug off the knights attacks while dealing frequent and heavy counterattacks. The knight in command, Berg, was a veteran, but none of his knowledge nor experience gave him any ideas on how to deal with this Skull Face that was making movements beyond his imagination. Aside from its clever movements and expert swordsmans.h.i.+p, this Skull Faces s.h.i.+eld made it nearly impervious to holy elemental attacks, which were supposed to be its weakness. Even though they completely surrounded the Skull Face, any wrong moves were immediately rewarded with a counterattack. The frustration of the knights grew as time pa.s.sed.

(It will be bad if things continue like this. If only that s.h.i.+eld was gone, then we could somehow handle it, but ......)

It was a thought that had come into his mind numerous times during the battle. The presence of that s.h.i.+eld was what was making the Skull Face so formidable. High defense and magical resistance. Considering how the Skull Face was not tiring despite using it, the s.h.i.+eld was probably not that heavy. He couldnt help thinking how much of a cheat weapon it was.

(However, its not like it hasnt taken any damage whatsoever.)

Each and every one of the knights present had the pride and experience of numerous battlefields under their belts. All of them had skill. If they used everything they had, they could slowly wear the Skull Face down. While keeping an eye on the condition of his allies and the condition of the enemy, Berg desperately looked for the road to victory. Depending on how things unfold, though, they might have to retreat. Right when he was about to yell out further instructions, a silver streak flashed before the knights eyes. The streak headed straight for the Skull Face and, without stopping, flew straight through the Skull Face before quietly stopping right next to Berg.

Time stopped.

The battlefield that was supposed to be filled with the sounds of battle was returned to its original silent self in that split second. The silver streak turned out to be silver hair that was s.h.i.+ning with reflected light. The owner of that hair had simply been moving so fast that the eyes of the knights could only see it as such. The dumbstruck knights left themselves wide open, but not a single one of them felt a sense of danger. They all knew that this silver-haired person had never once failed in delivering the final blow. The waist-long silver hair was glossy and shone with a gentle l.u.s.ter. Together with blue eyes that seemed almost transparent and a faint smile that was both motherly and intimate at the same time, this person could almost be called a piece of art. When the wind ruffled the silver hair, the pointy ears that were revealed indicated that she was an elf, or perhaps even a high elf. What she was wearing was similar to, but distinctly different from, the clothes that a waitress would wear. Someone with modern knowledge would have been able to identify it as something like Victorian-era maid clothes. The outfit, which also had a large ap.r.o.n and a long skirt, was the uniform for employees of Tsuki no Hokora. It was not clear whether the clothes fit her so well because they had been tailored for her or whether she herself has really great style. Needless to say, several knights could not help sliding their eyes towards the mounds that were pushed up in the chest area of the costume. She was exuding a calming atmosphere, despite still holding a short sword in one hand. This person who had gathered the attention of everyone present was identified as the Acting Owner of Tsuki no Hokora. She was none other than Schnee Raizar.

Wide Heal. Her voice rang out across the silent place. At the same time, the surrounding knights were wrapped in a soft, strong light. What Schnee had activated was the G.o.d-type SkillWide Heal. It was the wide area version ofHeal. When the light faded away, even the knights that had collapsed onto the ground with exhaustion were left without a single scratch on their bodies. As the soldiers raised voices of admiration, their commander, Berg, was the first to regain his senses. Realizing that he was just standing without doing anything, he shook himself, then resumed barking out instructions in a loud voice. Being actual veterans, those instructions did not go unanswered. Coming back to themselves, the knights began rus.h.i.+ng around in a fl.u.s.ter. A different clamor from before reverberated throughout the forest.

You really saved us. I was seriously considering withdrawing out of necessity before you arrived.

While standing up, Berg thanked Schnee at the same time. His voice was already raspy, but strangely enough, it did not cause listeners to feel uncomfortable.

Not at all. The only reason why I was able to defeat the monster was because of everyones efforts in fighting it.

The words that reached Bergs ears were so kind and sympathetic that the illusion that his heart was being cleansed just from hearing them might not be an illusion after all.

Thank you very much for saying so. However, no one can deny that the extermination of the Skull Faces was finished due to Schnee-donos help, so please accept my expression of grat.i.tude. Even if its only to save me face. If you would insist so, then I would be honored to accept. However, it is still too early to let down your guard.

Schnee responded with a slightly troubled smile. The warning to not let down their guard was not merely said to make them focus. It was the truth. To trace back to the start of the whole incident, one would have to return to one month earlier. An adventurer who had just recently made B rank at the time had decided to visit the Wraith Plains to test his own strength. Right when he was about to cross the boundary line between the forest and the Plains, he witnessed several Skull Faces emerging from the fog at a spot several mels from where he was. Monsters from the Plains cease to exist when they cross the boundary line. This piece of common sense was overturned by what he was seeing. The adventurer was shocked at the impossible scene that was unfolding before his eyes, but he had crossed many battlefields to reach where he was. Realizing the abnormality of the situation, he immediately retreated, heading for the nearest towns Adventurers Guild while evading the Skull Faces the whole way. Upon receiving the adventurers report, the guild promptly sent out an investigation team. Though they never did determine the conditions for the occurrence, their investigation confirmed that several Skull Faces much stronger than their normal counterparts had indeed escaped the fog and entered the forest. Due to the size of the Plains and the large number of monsters that had escaped, as well as the uncertainty of exactly when and where monsters might break through again in the near future, several more weeks were needed to ascertain the exact details of the first waves breakthrough. Before the investigation was over, they had no way of knowing even the exact number of monsters loose in the forest. Without enough information, nearby countries were unable to set up the necessary countermeasures, and damages began mounting. When s.h.i.+n had visited the guild and was told that the upper ranked adventurers were all dispatched, this was what they were dispatched for. Of course, the countries that were being ravaged by the runaway monsters did not just twiddle their thumbs. In order to protect their own citizens, all of them stepped up security and sent out more patrols. The problem, though, was that the monsters that had escaped from the fog were a lot stronger than what normal people knew them to be. Due to that strength, most soldiers that actually did encounter one of those monsters ended up being routed or wiped out. Concerned over the situation, the kings of the respective countries invoked an alliance agreement that they had signed long ago to pool some of their best knights together into an international monster subjugation squad. The squads mission was to work towards diffusing the situation. At the same time, the kings also sent out a request to a certain person. The place where they sent the request to wasYorozuya Tsuki no Hokora. The certain person was the Acting Owner of Tsuki no Hokora, Schnee Raizar. It was a gamble whether she would accept the request or not, but knowing that the request was because of their genuine desire to protect their citizens, she decided to comply. She hastened to join up with the subjugation squad.

We understand. And now, according to the contract, the weapons and raw materials from the monsters ...... Indeed, Ill take care of them.

After nodding in response to Bergs words, Schnee began gathering into her inventory the equipment scattered all over the ground that had been dropped by the Skull Faces. As this squad was made up of knights from several different countries, this measure was in place to prevent them from fighting each other for the valuable equipment and materials. The agreement was that the loot, with the exception of a small portion, would be fairly distributed after the subjugation was over. To discourage anyone who might be tempted to try stealing the loot, the role was entrusted to Schnee, who had an inventory and had battle strength without compare. While watching Schnee put items away, Berg thought about how much worse off they would have been if Schnee had not shown up when she did. The previous battle had ill.u.s.trated all too vividly that there were enemies that could not be defeated even when the best knights from each country fought together. To be fair, their teamwork was most definitely not perfect, as they had never worked together before, but that was far from enough to explain away the monsters exceptional strength. The biggest problem of all, however, was that the Skull Face that they had just fought was not the only one who wielded an exceptional weapon. According to the information gathered so far, it was only Skull Faces who wielded these weapons, but the reliability of that information was not high. All Berg could do was merely pray for those special weapons to run out, wherever their source. So far, Schnee had personally brought down several of these weapon bearers, while the knights had relied on sheer numbers to bring down a few more. As soon as the knights encountered a weapon bearer, they would immediately send a runner for Schnee. This time, she had somehow managed to arrive in time. As long as she got there, however arduous the battle, she would finish it with a single instant. And it would be with a melee attack too, something that elves were supposedly bad at.

As expected of a personage who was worthy of accompanying a high human.

The continental conquerors from history. Just the fact that she was someone who was allowed to stand at that place was enough to earn her unwavering reverence from everyone in this world. The high humans supremacy over the entire continent still burned vividly in peoples memories today. These feelings were also very strong in the knights, despite all of them being of different affiliations. They all tried their best to show only their best side, which resulted in very few quarrels and very smooth subjugations. According to the reported number of escaped monsters, the Skull Face that they had just defeated was the last one. The number was confirmed with the help of adventurers dispatched from Adventurer Guilds after numerous days of work. If there was nothing else, then the subjugation squad was slated to disband, with the knights either returning to their respective countries or joining the Guilds efforts at setting up a surveillance network over the Wraith Plains.

It would be great if there was nothing else, but ......

Bergs numerous years of experience made it hard for Berg to believe that the entire incident was over. When his gaze inadvertently swept towards Schnee, he saw her standing among the raw materials from the Skull Faces and being absorbed in reading something.