Vol 6 Chapter 2.3 (2/2)

In contrast to the calm s.h.i.+baid, Tiera felt as if she was being tricked, and was growing livid.

Only the head of the High Elves, or their sires, knew how to grow the tree of life. It was not common knowledge.

Hearing s.h.i.+baid spread lies like growing the tree of life to build a building, was really upsetting. For elves in general, the tree of life was a symbol of their faith. The tree of life was also a part of the ritual for elves when their magic was mature. They were highly valued by elves, and even the leaves of the tree of life were treated with respect.

There were also moments when the tree of life would serve useful purposes when equipped, such as for medicine. Other races outside of elves also regarded the tree of life with a moderate amount of interest although never as much as the elves.

Its difficult to do these days.

Well of course. To even consider growing it is obscene.

s.h.i.+baid grinned. s.h.i.+baid must have found it hilarious, because it was part of his story. But for an outsider like Tiera, it was impossibly foolish.

I think that thats something that would improve if s.h.i.+n stayed around.

I cant deny that.

As one of the Rokuten, it wouldnt be surprising if he knew the tricks.

Even that has to wait until the current matter is settled. s.h.i.+n and Schnee are here. Wilhelm-dono hasnt responded yet, which is disconcerting, but for now we should exchange information.

s.h.i.+baid went towards the entrance of the room, feeling s.h.i.+n and Schnee.

Eventually, s.h.i.+n and Schnee arrived, with Yuzuha on s.h.i.+ns shoulder.

wheres Wilhelm?

s.h.i.+n looked around the room and asked.

No. He hasnt responded either.

s.h.i.+baid was quick to send a message to Wilhelm after contacting s.h.i.+n. It had been a few hours, and still no response.

could he be talking right now?

Perhaps. Messages arent immediate like telepathy.

If he were in the middle of a conversation, he might not be able to open his messages.

It was impossible to find out or wait, so they decided to go ahead and share information.

Lilis.h.i.+la says that the a.s.sailants may be involved in some way with the present situation.

s.h.i.+n added that bit after repeating everything Lilis.h.i.+la had told him.

He had also shared s.h.i.+baids message with Lilis.h.i.+la upon receiving. Lilis.h.i.+la had been the one who had made the connection.

Its still alarming how they were only after Tiera. Its another thing if theyre after s.h.i.+n, but they came straight for us.

s.h.i.+n nodded.

It hasnt been long since s.h.i.+baid joined the party.

Perhaps they cant tell that it is s.h.i.+baid, but regardless, if a new member joined the party, you would be more cautious before launching aggressive combat against them.

Even if they had known that it was him, who would just attack without a better plan?

I dont know what their motives are. Its possible that Wilhelm was also attacked.

Thats possible. I doubt that he would lose easily, but I dont know what would happen if say, there were a hostage situation of some sort.

Schnee agrees with s.h.i.+n.

The elf that s.h.i.+n met also knew that s.h.i.+n was in Sigurd. Therefore, its fair to a.s.sume that they know Wilhelm-dono is here too. Were losing time we need to head immediately to the church, and you need to get more information out of those attackers.

Yes. We should head out now.

s.h.i.+baid carried the box and followed as the rest of the party headed for Palmirack.

They were concerned about Wilhelm as well, but if they are not responding then theres nothing more you can do.

Normally, even if they are at a place that hasnt been fully mapped, they should be able to snipe out and feel the presence of certain individuals. Even that was difficult here because of Palmirack.

Perhaps it was because they had already attacked and failed. The route to Palmirack was quiet and peaceful. Once they arrived, a knight that was waiting invited them inside. Theyre brought into the living quarters. This knight was one of the three that had accompanied Lilis.h.i.+la. He must be a member of her guard.

They continued to walk by other priests who would give frightened looks at the wooden box. They said nothing because of the church guard that walked alongside them. Perhaps they a.s.sumed that there was some official business.

The other 2 guards waited outside of the room.

Lady Lilis.h.i.+la is waiting.

And with that, one of the guards opened the door.

The 3 had already been briefed by Lilis.h.i.+la.

Perhaps they trusted s.h.i.+n because of Lilis.h.i.+las faith in him. They did not look ill by the slightest, with s.h.i.+baid and Tiera also in the party.

Thank you for your wait. These two are s.h.i.+baid and Tiera.

s.h.i.+n introduces them.

s.h.i.+baid had actually said his real name, but he looked too different from the real s.h.i.+baid. They a.s.sumed that he was one of s.h.i.+baids fans, or someone with the same exact name nonetheless he was a.s.sumed to be a different person.

And whats that?

All in all there are 6 of them. There are 4 that are above average, and 2 that are Chosen Ones.

Sure. I have a room secured. Follow me.

She nodded, and led the party towards the back of the room. Then, she made a secret maneuver which opened up the floor to a secret pa.s.sageway.

(Cain loved stuff like this.)

s.h.i.+n reminisced fondly, looking down at the stairs that emerged.

The rest of you, please wait.

No, I should go too. I dont plan on getting your hands dirty, if Im involved.

This wont be pleasant.

I am used to it.

Lilis.h.i.+la looked closely into s.h.i.+ns eyes, after hearing him say that he was used to it.

Alright. The rest of you, please wait. Rick, please.

Yes my lady.

She hesitated, but agreed to letting s.h.i.+n accompany her. Lilis.h.i.+la called on one of her guards, and they went down the stairs.

I wont be gone long. They might have something up their sleeves be on guard.

There was no point in all of them going down. Schnee was told to wait.

s.h.i.+n

Its fine. Dont worry.

Schnee looked deeply concerned, and s.h.i.+n calmed her down.

Perhaps she recalls the moment that s.h.i.+n had become unrecognizable, and she didnt want to experience that again.

Yuki. He says its fine. Then its fine.

Yes.

s.h.i.+baid chimed in, and Schnee (Yuki) took a step back. With that, s.h.i.+n turned towards Lilis.h.i.+la.

s.h.i.+n and s.h.i.+baid continued after Lilis.h.i.+la down the stairs. In a few minutes, there were no more stairs to climb down, and a door about 3 mels wide was visible.

Lilis.h.i.+la opened the door easily.

There was nothing in the room.

However, s.h.i.+n could sense the presence of several, unforgivable traps that were placed all over the room. These traps, courtesy of Cain, were meant to kill.

It seemed that Lilis.h.i.+la and the church had been using this room as a torture chamber. It was also meant to be a room that would deter thieves from stealing. It was a trap room at its finest.

During the game era, no one ever made it this far. s.h.i.+n had never seen the traps go off.

If the functions of this room were not disabled, they would have met a terrible fate.

Here is?

It didnt hurt to play coy. s.h.i.+n asks Lilis.h.i.+la.

We found this by accident one day when we were cleaning the room directly above it. I dont know why it exists.

Didnt the person who occupied the room before you explain?

Nothing. Its useful, because this room doesnt allow any noise to leak. We generally hold our secret meetings here.

s.h.i.+n responded to Lilis.h.i.+la, saying I see.

He looked around at the room the traps in the room only went off once. It didnt seem though as if the person who had come into the room before had been the unfortunate sacrifice.

Please let them out.

Sure.

They made sure that the doors were closed, and opened the wooden box. s.h.i.+baid turned the box over, as 6 grown men fell out one by one.

It didnt seem that they were able to wake up, because of the spell cast on them.

Restrain them.

One by one, Rick carried the men over and a.s.sembled them into a line. He put a cloth over their eyes, and made it hard for them to resist.

Everything was ready.

Shall we begin.

She nodded at what s.h.i.+n said, and they used their skills to wake the men up.

A few seconds pa.s.sed, and one of the men woke with a groan.

Whatwhats happening!?

He realized what kind of a situation hed woken up in, and started to show dismay.

Be quiet.

Lilis.h.i.+la orders the man to be silent. He stopped immediately.

What do you plan to do with us?

The man asked.

Answer my questions honestly. If you are able to answer truthfully, we will not take your lives away.

Lilis.h.i.+la spoke and with every word, the room was filled with more weight.

The man wailed back,

Do you know who our masters are?

No. So, will you answer our questions?

..No. Wed be killed anyways if we do.

The man thought about it, but chose to refuse. He was more frightened of the people he knew than Lilis.h.i.+la.

Thats unfortunate. You would have saved us a lot of time.

Lilis.h.i.+las expression had not changed much. She raised her arm, and Rick came forward.

What?! What are you doing!

The man could hear a footstep approaching him. He stepped back farther and farther, but Rick grabbed the mans face and activated his magic.

!

The man raised a yelp, but fell back silent.

s.h.i.+n a.n.a.lyzed the situation and saw aSleep Idisplay. It seemed that Rick had deployed some version ofSleep. Normally it should have put one to sleep, but minor adjustments had been made, seeing how the mans eyes were open beneath the eye mask.

Rick made sure that the man was asleep, and switched places with Lilis.h.i.+la.

Lilis.h.i.+la raised her hand in front of the mans face.

Ughgah

She was giving him a hallucination.

Who am I?

G-Gilth, Barrot.

Did I order you?

Yes

What was the purpose?

Grab theelf.killthecompany.

The man continued to answer faithfully, albeit a bit stuttered.

SleepandHallucinationas a combo had made the man believe that Lilis.h.i.+la was his boss.

(I learned something new.)

s.h.i.+n and s.h.i.+baid watched silently, as Lilis.h.i.+la continued her questioning.

She was able to extract plenty more information.

The 4 men who attacked Tiera were part of the guild Corrupt Gift, an underworld society that had managed to gain middle-cla.s.s status. He had not known about the other two Chosen Ones they were a separate thing.

They were told to bring back the black haired elf.

It was Tiera alright. There are not that many black- haired elves.

They knew that Tiera might be accompanied. They were told to kill whoever was in the way, but did not know that it would be a strong warrior.

They did not know who had requested the hit.

They didnt know about Wilhelm either.

I dont think its possible to gain anymore.

Lilis.h.i.+la broke the skill and stopped her intense lines of questioning. She stood. For questions that the man did not know the answer, he remained silent. This meant that the latter half of the interrogation had a lot of awkward silences.

They put the man back to sleep.

Im sure its a similar deal with the other two.

Did the name of the guild ring a bell for you?

No, but it did confirm some of my speculations.

Lilis.h.i.+la had known that the Corrupt Gift were a.s.sociated with the s.h.i.+ten. It was a guild that thrived on human trafficking, and rumor had it that a lot of the sacrifices that the s.h.i.+ten made were people procured by the guild.

Lets try another then.

They wake up another man.

He did not seem confused, and things went rather smoothly.

Please answer our questions. If you answer faithfully, then we will promise you your safety.

How kind of you, the man snickered.

Ricks brows furrowed at the sight, but Lilis.h.i.+la ignored it.

Will you comply?

.

The man had said nothing. Perhaps that was enough of an answer.

Rick approached the man, just as he had done earlier.

Hehe.

The man let out a jeering cackle.

s.h.i.+n could feel his blood draining.

The number 5 appeared above the mans head.

!? s.h.i.+baid!!

Yes sir!

Even before s.h.i.+n had raised his voice, s.h.i.+baid had carried Lilis.h.i.+la and Rick away.

s.h.i.+baid had also felt the instinctual threat of the deranged man.

They had deployed their skills as to be able to switch places immediately. They took the lid made of the tree of life and hid behind it like a s.h.i.+eld.

Immediately, an explosion could be heard beyond their little hideout.

!?

The explosion was quite large scale, and the wind caused by it blew s.h.i.+ns hair back.

There were large hunks of flesh and blood all over the room.

What in the world.

He set himself off.

s.h.i.+baid removed the lid, and saw that all 6 of their a.s.sailants had been blown into smithereens.

There were legs and feet, parts of torsos, organs, large remainders of what used to be a head You could barely make out the two Chosen Ones. Some of the pieces that more or less carelessly remained intact were the other 4 men.

d.a.m.n it.

While releasing his hold on Lilis.h.i.+la and Rick, s.h.i.+n swore at himself.

The self explosion skill was not used often in the game. Few players would even bother trying to acquire it. s.h.i.+n of course was one of the few, but he had never used it to this day.

Ever since it became a death game, the skills very existence was erased from memory. The 5 that showed before the man, was the final countdown after he had initiated self destruction. The maximum amount of time that a person has after theyve decided to self destruct is 60 seconds. The shortest time otherwise should be 10 seconds. At 5 seconds, the remaining time appears over a characters head.

They had just made it, but if it had just been Lilis.h.i.+la handling the matter, they would have all been taken down.

This is terrible.

Im sure its to keep themselves safe. I cant believe that they even had an insurance plan like this ready.

s.h.i.+n scowled at the smell.

s.h.i.+baid was right. They must have had some sort of order in place, in case any of the members got caught and were to slip. In a way it was very standard practice for those from the underworld to not care for human life, and especially not for their own.

But this is excessive.

We now know that the s.h.i.+ten are involved.

Lilis.h.i.+la showed resentment. Rick bit down bitterly at his lower lip.

We cant really do anything. Shall we go back up?

Is it alright to leave it like this?

Yes. The dead bodies tend to disappear over time.

While playing the game, characters are usually sent back to where the player started. In this work, that function still seemed to be in place. It went without saying that n.o.body wondered how Lilis.h.i.+la knew such things.

s.h.i.+n opened the doors and the party went up the stairs.

Once they returned to the room, Lilis.h.i.+la was the first one to enter. Schnees eyes stopped short.

Youre very early. What is the matter.

We got duped.

They explained the self destruction of the attacker, and everyones facial expression was much more grave.

What do you mean, self destruct?

It stops information from leaking, and they probably wanted to take us down with them.

Players typically use this skill for when they are trying to make a last stand as they have very little HP left. Its also useful as a distraction against a large crowd. The death penalty on a player is a far greater toll however, and characters that self destruct will gain nothing, even after a boss or a guild battle ends.

No one dreams of some day self destructing, to put it bluntly.

When you do it, you die right?

Yes. It places others surrounding you at great risk as well.

What use is that?

Tiera was stunned. She couldnt relate to her attackers one bit.

It was absurd that anyone would even consider acquiring a skill, knowing that using it would kill you.

Even back when it was just a game, very rarely did players learn this skill.

Thats how these guilds operate. And I think thats all the reason that I have to share.

There were several other, sickening events that were caused by these underground guilds, like a.s.sa.s.sinations and keeping a secret society thriving. But those were ill suited answers for Tiera.

s.h.i.+n didnt have a good response.

Self destruction. I dont believe that its a difficult skill to acquire. Im sure its within their means, the society that we are up against, to teach each of their followers that skill.

I see it happen in fiction often enough. Those that are affected have nothing to protect them.

s.h.i.+n tries to change the subject to lighten the mood.

This is pointless. Yuki and I are going to look through the church. Lady Lilis.h.i.+la, please act as naturally as you possibly can.

Shouldnt I help you with anything though?

No. If you or your guards do anything out of the ordinary Lady Lilis.h.i.+la, it will be obvious and cause the church to be suspicious. Itd be best for you to do as you always would. Im painfully aware that we may be too late.

s.h.i.+n and Schnee are already recognizable. s.h.i.+baid carrying in the box was also a sight. It was obvious they were making a move.

Since they lost their source of more information, s.h.i.+n had to do something to get better traction.

The guards were concerned if they were really able to get in without their help, but s.h.i.+n was able to persuade them with his superior hiding skills, once he disappeared out of their sights and reappeared behind them.

He had merely moved very quickly, but they a.s.sumed that it was a skill. Had s.h.i.+n really wanted to, he could have truly disappeared. Showing off however was not necessary.

Other than s.h.i.+n and Schnee, Tiera would go back to the inn and s.h.i.+baid would protect Lilis.h.i.+la.

It seemed a bit risky to let Tiera go off on her own. However, Yuzuha and Kagerou would also be with her.

Had s.h.i.+baid not been there, Kagerou would have also been able to help Tiera earlier.

From now on, an attacker would always be knocked out, then stuffed into the wooden box, and carried discreetly by Kagerou.

In case the enemies were to make any sudden movements, s.h.i.+baid had to stay inside Palmirack. That was a given.

Hes also a holy knight by profession this meant that he was a much better defender.

Even with no equipment, he was able to draw out rare cla.s.s swords. By merely equipping the backup armor and weapons that s.h.i.+n provided, s.h.i.+baid could take over all of Palmirack with relative ease.

They seemed prepared enough.

The sun will set soon. We will act on our plan once its dark. s.h.i.+baid is here too, but please try not to leave your abode.

Im sorry that we cannot be of more use.

Its precisely the fact that they are involved in the church, that prevents them from further action. They told Lilis.h.i.+la not to worry, as s.h.i.+n and Schnee ventured into the church.