Chapter 24

# Chapter 24: New Adventurer Bern (Part 22) – Clues

Staring at the man who had passed out with his face planted on the floor, Bern let out a hollow laugh.

Lucidra, sensing his odd demeanor, questioned him.

“Why are you like that? What’s so funny?”

‘To be honest, it doesn’t make sense to me. Even before the situation was fully secure, he tried to flirt with Blancah. It’s kind of absurd, isn’t it?’

“Men are like that. Even in the middle of sword fights, if they catch a glimpse of women’s undergarments, their eyes pop out. What can you expect? Besides, my outfit is all about practicality!”

“Hooh.”

“Wait a minute… what did you mean by that ‘hooh’ just now?”

“No, I just assumed you had some weird personal preferences.”

While listening half-heartedly to the so-called Great Demon’s screams, Bern secured the black gemstone the man had in his hand.

Though it had a hard and cold texture, indistinguishable from regular glass beads, the magic contained within it was dense, murky, and suffocating, much like a clump of oil residue.

“Bern!”

Just in time, Blankah arrived. Seeing the unconscious culprit sprawled on the floor and an entirely unharmed Bern, she sighed with relief.

“I’m sorry. I was trying to catch him immediately, but I lost him.”

“Actually, it’s fine. If Blankah hadn’t served as bait, we wouldn’t have been able to lure him in the first place. In that respect, you could say this was my fault.”

It wasn’t pleasant for him, even though it was part of the plan to let the man relax his guard. Bern didn’t enjoy letting himself be ensnared by the enemy’s spell.

Despite that, Bern recognized the risks Blankah had willingly taken on behalf of the plan.

Hearing Bern’s generous praises, Blankah blushed slightly and shifted the topic.

“Not, not at all. By the way, what is that gemstone?”

“It’s something he had. I have a rough idea of what it is, but let’s discuss the details after we return.”

With that, Bern picked the unconscious man up by the ankle under his stomach and carried him as if he were luggage.

There were many things to take care of before dawn.

***

“Ooh…”

“Regaining consciousness, are we?”

In the mansion’s living room, the man slowly opened his eyes, looked around, and let out a sigh of resignation.

He was tightly tied to a chair. All his tools had been taken, and the surrounding three adventurers were eyeing him with sharp gazes. There was no escape on the horizon.

“Did you spread that fake rumor just to catch me from the start?”

“No, if you hadn’t come, we were still planning to conduct a reverse trace. Either way, it didn’t matter much.”

The man’s eyes twitched.

If the red-haired adventurer’s words were true, then the light-blue-haired magician was equally monstrous.

Perhaps it was mere boasting, but the red-haired one spoke as if stating an undisputed truth.

“In that case, I’ll ask you a few questions now.”

“Do you actually think I’ll just open my mouth and answer?”

“Where are the women you’ve captured? Are they still alive?”

The red-haired adventurer totally ignored his question, making him suddenly frown. However, the man then smirked confidently and responded.

“Well, their safety will definitely vanish the moment something happens to me.”

—Which means: If you care about the hostages’ safety, don’t mess with me.

Although his words were filled with threats, the adventurers’ reactions were unexpected.

“Yes, I see.”

And with that, Bern nonchalantly nodded in agreement.

“Blankah. It seems like the hostages will be hard to save.”

“Understood. We’ll just note this man killed them all.”

Scribble, scribble.

At the sight of Blankah calmly writing the report, the man suddenly felt as if his mind went blank.

“Then, what was the motive behind all this?”

Ignoring his feelings, Bern calmly asked the next question.

However, the man couldn’t take it lightly just like that.

“Hey, it seems you don’t fully understand what I’m saying, so let me explain properly. If I don’t send a signal within a set time, my comrades at the base will kill all the women. Therefore, let go of these ropes immediately—”

“Hmm, it looks like you misunderstand something.”

Bern cut him off and bluntly stated,

“We’re adventurers. The request we received was to ‘catch the suspect responsible for the missing person case,’ not to ‘save kidnapped victims.’”

“…”

“To be honest, whether the women you took were alive or dead is of little importance to us. Of course, if we rescue them successfully, we could negotiate with the client, the lord, for extra compensation. But from what I’ve seen, even if we succeed in their rescue, I doubt the lord would give that big a reward.”

Hearing Bern’s words, the man almost unconsciously nodded.

Even to an outsider, it was clear that Lord Phrencia wasn’t a man who would open his wallet easily for the townsfolk.

“Having useless arguments, debates, or even negotiations with you is also a waste of time and energy. So, just say the women were all killed by you. Then we can avoid the unnecessary and fruitless searches and rescues, and wrap up this task neatly.”

“Not worth the money, and such a hassle. Let’s just call it off and say they’re dead.”

Each of Bern’s words fell with an indifferent tone that betrayed no regard for human life.

The man felt something cold inching up his back.

An emotion he hadn’t felt for a long time after obtaining strength from his master returned.

Its name was fear.

“Anyway, we’ll move on. The women you took have all been killed by you, so let that pass. Now, the motives and conspirators behind this. Is there anything to say? Things like orders from neighboring lords or someone who paid you to ruin this Phrencia, that kind of stuff.”

“Me, I—”

“Hmm, it seems there’s nothing to say. Then I’ll write ‘No clear motive.'”

“Senior, shouldn’t you at least give him a chance to speak?”

“Is that really necessary? Honestly, the time we’re spending having this back-and-forth is already wasted, wouldn’t you say?”

“But, if the opponent cooperates, we could find ways to easily increase our reward.”

“Hmm? What do you think, Blankah?”

“Well, unless it’s something exceptionally big, it won’t affect the reward much. Plus, there’s no guarantee what they’re saying is true. If we act on false information, it’d be a waste of time, costing us potential rewards from other tasks.”

“So it seems, Renya. Let’s just go with our original plan.”

“Al, alright then. I understand, Senior.”

Money, profit, benefit.

Each word spoken by the adventurers in front of him spoke solely of these elements.

Humanity, morality, honor, dignity.

They seemed to have cast them aside long ago.

The man’s eyes were drawn towards the report that Blankah was steadily writing.

If that report were to be completed, what would happen next?

The red-haired adventurer, Bern, didn’t seem particularly interested in his response.

If he asked a question and received some interesting answer, great; otherwise, he’d just note whatever they felt like.

So there was no need for him to make any futile threats or use torture.

But was that truly a good thing?

Could these people, who showed no concern for the lives of the kidnapped victims, possibly care about his life either?

Moreover, if he said something wrong, wouldn’t the contents of the “report” become completely fabricated?

Upon realizing this, the man’s complexion turned pale.

This wasn’t the time to negotiate or make empty promises.

The instant Bern’s questioning ended, whenever that might be, he was sure he’d die.

In that moment, his mouth opened hurriedly.

“Wait a moment! I’ll tell you everything! All of it! Your Guild and your perspective might find the information I have fascinating! I can even testify in front of others if required. Yes, it’s true! There IS something!”

***

“Hmm, I didn’t expect such a performance to have such a significant effect. This guy was weaker in spirit than I anticipated.”

“Not really, even a tough guy would have caved pretty quickly if exposed to that.”

It didn’t take long for the once arrogant man to suddenly crumble.

The man who had tried to seize control despite being captured instantly transformed, completely reversing his stance. Instead of trying to assert dominance, he now responded enthusiastically, even volunteering information not asked for.

According to the man’s explanation, he was originally just an average, unaffiliated magician with no particular skills.

However, at some point, a “Master” appeared and, after bestowing him with power, began demanding continuous ritual sacrifices.

At this point, Blankah furrowed her brow and asked,

“Sacrifices? Does that mean the women who were abducted have already been killed?”

“Uh, no, that won’t happen just yet. My Master is preparing a ritual that requires multiple lives to be sacrificed all at once.”

This meant that until the ritual, the victims would remain alive.

Bern asked,

“Are you the only one gathering sacrifices?”

“No, as far as I know, disciples of my Master are spread throughout the Virka Kingdom. Each one is using different methods, but all of them are offering sacrifices to the Master.”

In just this small region of Phrencia, more than fifty young women had disappeared.

If such an operation were happening across the entire kingdom, the total number of victims might be unimaginable.

This revelation made it even more baffling.

What kind of person was this “Master,” and what sort of ritual required so many sacrifices?

“About that—”

Just as the man was about to reveal more,

Uuuuuuuw!

The black gem Bern had retrieved suddenly began to tremble violently and burst out of the leather sack that contained it, flying into the air.

As if releasing all the energy within, it emitted a terrifying magical power and transformed into a black sword, piercing toward the man’s neck.

Or, rather, attempting to pierce it.

“If you try to look down on people too much, it gets this predictable.”

Had Bern not drawn his sword and blocked the attack at the last moment, that would certainly have happened.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The black sword darted through the air in erratic patterns, attempting to pierce the man. But Bern didn’t flinch, perfectly parrying every attack without so much as a blink.

Uuuuuu!

Realizing that it wouldn’t be able to overcome Bern this way, the trembling sword suddenly transformed into a massive beast and charged toward the man.

Even if Bern managed to cut the beast with his blade, its sheer size and overwhelming presence would surely crush both itself and Bern.

Pwaaaaaak!

However, Bern disrupted that prediction with ease.

As soon as he realized the beast would try to force its way through with sheer mass, Bern took his sword sideways, swung it like a baseball bat, and sent the creature flying.

Attempting to morph into a new form mid-flight and continue its attack, the beast found no such opportunity with Bern.

Bern’s sword created dozens of arcs.

As overwhelming as a storm of swords that formed a net and then a curtain, the density of his sword qi was so immense that it crushed the beast, pulverizing it into nothingness.

While everyone else watched in awe at the transcendent display of martial prowess, Bern alone licked his lips.

“My arm’s numb.”

Regardless of his one-sided functional development, even emulating techniques the Crown Prince had used through his cloned body came with limitations.

Even though he had replaced energy beams with sword mana and reduced the overall attack output, the recoil was substantial.

However, the shadow beast he had just faced was far from trivial compared to any foe he had previously encountered.

While there was absolutely no chance of defeat, it was crucial not to lose a life, especially that of an important information source.

‘Having key bad guys killed by the shadowy puppet master before revealing secrets is such a cliché plot, but I don’t want to experience that.’

Having thoroughly dispatched the shadow beast, Bern turned back to the man.

“Continue what you were saying.”

The man’s lips quivered.

He might have felt his legs go weak under the indifferent gaze of Bern, yet his fear of angering Bern by hesitating drove him to continue.

“The name of my Master… is Mortius. Mortius Barmore. A mage aspiring to reach a new realm through the ritual of offering ten thousand sacrifices.”

Blankah’s eyes widened dramatically.