Chapter 15

Chapter 15 – The Mysterious Girl (5)

“Is it finally true that they couldn’t come back? It’s a shame. It’s not easy to have a member that’s perfectly hypnotized.”

“I’m sorry. I never imagined we would be caught without even being able to send an emergency signal.”

The subordinate bowed his head in shame. Everything happened as expected, especially the part where the agents failed the operation and were captured by Ethan was somewhat anticipated.

However, one thing was unexpected: it was beyond imagination that they couldn’t even send out the emergency signal they had prepared in advance.

If they had received the signal, those waiting could have been deployed, creating enough variables, but that didn’t happen.

“Chirga, we’ve received information that all the relics Ethan is collecting are items intended for resale. Perhaps the items that came out this time were purchased without proper knowledge and were then attempted to be resold?”

“Then find out who Ethan got those items from. The higher-ups definitely want to know the source of those items.”

That’s when the false information that Ethan had begun to let slip started to circulate.

Logically, it was reasonable to think that Ethan, merely a high-ranking member of an organization, wouldn’t have the ability to restore such relics, so the possibility that it was false information was hardly considered.

“But something seems suspicious. Ethan is definitely hiding something. Even if it’s not related to the relics, it’s worth investigating.”

Nonetheless, Chirga couldn’t shake off his intuitive suspicion. From suddenly starting to buy unrepaired relics to swiftly overpowering the subordinates he sent without leaving any room for error.

He decided to take a step back for now, but the reason why he didn’t withdraw his watchful eyes from Ethan remained.

“Are you saying we should sell these in the black market of the neighboring city?”

“There are already quite a few eyes focused on the black market here. It would be wise to disperse attention before things get more troublesome. I’d prefer to sell them farther away, but I plan to gather the more valuable ones for that later.”

Ethan wasn’t an idiot, so he was being cautious for the time being. The first thing he tried was changing the black market where he would sell his items.

After all, it was a matter of time before he’d get caught if he kept his tail long, and changing his trading location soon was the plan. This would allow him to throw off any pursuers and buy himself more time.

“I might have to end up selling items in another continent through a space jump.”

Ethan let out a sigh, realizing that this matter would likely bother him for quite a while. Still, he couldn’t excuse himself since it was ultimately a situation he had brought upon himself.

*

“It seems you’re busy.”

“I never imagined it would get this complicated. I don’t even know how much effort it’s taking me to fix this.”

“Well, it can’t be helped. It’s a way to gain a lot of money with little effort.”

“Ugh…”

As I bombarded him with facts, Ethan frowned and groaned. As I said, if he wanted to avoid being burdened, he could stop selling the relics.

The only reason he wasn’t doing that was purely because of his greed.

“It seems like you’re enjoying your adventure game, considering you go every day.”

Still, perhaps it was unfair to be alone; he struck back at me, now dressed in a maid outfit meant for outings. I shrugged, not denying it.

“It’s better than just staying at home. I don’t know if you’d believe it, but I’m achieving results every day.”

Even though just breathing at home strengthens me, I didn’t want to do that. It was far more enjoyable to go out and experience the drastically changed world after ten thousand years.

Knowing the fun of that, there was no reason to stay still.

“I’ll soon try to communicate with other spirits as well.”

Moreover, the continuous growth as a reward brings me closer to the heights I aimed for. It hadn’t been long since I started this training, but I was already on the brink of the next stage.

“You’ve arrived. Today, let’s find the nest of the male Lake.”

As I arrived at the meeting place with Rina, Patrick, who had become a new ally since the last incident, was waiting for us.

As I had suspected, he couldn’t stay still. Though I had only asked him to keep an eye on us, he had already started to step up and lead us.

“How convenient.”

It would be foolish to refuse a ride when he offered one. With Rina in the lead, we joined him and again left the city for the dangerous area teeming with enemies.

“I, I had some concerns, you see.”

It was then that Patrick, glancing at me, opened his mouth.

“How about leaving this girl in a safe place? Of course, judging by her constant back talk, she seems unusual, but the road is rough, and taking her to a place teeming with dangerous monsters would put everyone at risk.”

He suggested that Rina stay behind while I remained in the city, a viewpoint that was quite reasonable since he didn’t know I was the main body.

“It won’t do. I can’t be separated from this girl.”

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing more to be done. We’ll just have to keep her safe. You don’t want to regret it later.”

As expected, Rina flatly rejected that suggestion. Patrick only clicked his tongue, nodding in agreement without pressing further.

The statement that he wouldn’t create allies again seemed to hint that something was clearly up with him.

“Looks like it’s a guard unit. Did something happen?”

“They’ve been acting like that often lately.”

Just as we were about to leave the city, we spotted a group of people rushing out in a hurry.

Dressed in unified armor, they passed us, and I could also see them. They were the guard unit protecting this city—the public authority that Ethan was so afraid of.

“They even have mythical weapons with them. It seems like quite a significant issue.”

Meanwhile, Patrick focused on the weapon some of them were holding. The grand term “mythical weapon” made me scoff involuntarily.

“Are you talking about the weapon held by the soldier at the front?”

“Yeah. That oddly shaped weapon is a restored mythical weapon from the Mythical Era. I’ve only seen it in action once.”

Perhaps it was a field of interest for him, as Patrick excitedly began to explain when he noticed my interest.

“It’s a gun. It resembles a shotgun.”

Of course, it wasn’t that I was unaware of it. It had a familiar shape, clearly a weapon I recognized. I had already heard about this from Ethan.

“Mythical weapons possess tremendous power that ignores all mana. Unless one dons exceptionally sturdy armor or wields a shield, there’s no way to defend against it.”

However, there were aspects that differed from what I knew. After the tower collapsed, the strong negative forces that arose deliberately destroyed and erased everything from that era.

And after a long time, when those items had been restored again, some of them were said to have acquired special powers not possessed in the past.

“There’s no way an ordinary gun could have such power.”

I knew about the battles between the monsters crawling out of the tower and the military. If it had escalated even slightly, it might have dragged even me, who was just a reserve force, into a real war.

If the powers of the mythical weapon that Patrick described existed back then, we wouldn’t have suffered so much.

The transformation of a gun from an ordinary explosive weapon to a completely new form of weapon was also one of the changes that occurred in this world, akin to the emergence of different races and the development of new civilizations.

The detailed principles remained unknown. Ten thousand years since the tower’s collapse was a long, intense time.

“Oh dear, I think I know why the guard unit was dispatched.”

As we left the city and made our way along the path into the forest, Patrick sighed as we came across a group of adventurers gathered in a commotion with the preceding guard unit, learning the full story.

It was a murder case. Moreover, it was believed to have been committed by a werewolf.

“Werewolves are cursed wolf humanoids. They’re monsters that lose their rationality and rampage, so they must be caught.”

Patrick muttered while glancing at Rina. Rina flinched, claiming to be a cat with her signature tail twirling.

“I know, I know that you’re an ordinary person—still, if a werewolf is roaming this area, we need to be cautious.”

Depending on the individual, Patrick said werewolves were mostly fairly strong, losing their rationality in exchange. He added that, at our current level, we might find it hard to handle it.

“Isn’t it alright during the day?”

“Actually, it is. So let’s keep going.”

Of course, werewolves only rampaged at night. The likelihood of encountering them during the day was low, as we were active during daylight.

“Just in case, let me look around.”

I continued directing the earth spirit to sense the surroundings. Even if it was said to be safe during the day, there wouldn’t be harm in being cautious.