wkrrk
patreon
Chapter 118: Advance Party (2)
🕑 Added 2024-09-01 06:11:57 +0000 UTCWorld: MSS - Loading...
***
I sighed even before Delas began.
“The back-ups can be friends and all. But the Advance Party? They have to be strong as shit.” He began.
“Fuck balance, you should choose the strongest adventurers specialized for killing a Field Boss. A single Pathfinder can take on the role of a scout for reconnaissance. But even that single Pathfinder should be a fucking combat specialist. We have no idea what’s waiting for us on that island, if we want to have the chance of surviving, fuck being friends.” Delas finished his long-winded speech, stabbing at the island with apparent anger. “It’s not friendship that keeps you alive, but how good the bloke next to you is with his blade.” Delas pointed at me with his thumb. “Like this guy here. He’s smart and as we all saw before, he’s strong and handy with a blade. He didn’t work with anyone, he just went in there like a fucking tornado and carved a path for the rest of us. That’s what we need. Someone who’s strong and smart that can get shit done. None of that friendship bullshit.”
“What Delas says is true,” Borealis added in his piece now, much to my growing frustration. “To add on to that, we’re not going on a simple reconnaissance mission. The Advance Party has to be fast enough to get to the island before our small fleet and come back in time so that we can turn back towards Jayu, if that is indeed the best course of action.”
Borealis ignored Zenom’s sour expression and continued. “But potentially, if there is a Field Boss, what if the Advance Party can slay the Field Boss? We should keep that in mind, that it could be a Grade-6 Field Boss or weaker. If that is so, to maximize the chances of this reconnaissance trip being a fruitfall one, we should load the Advance Party with the strongest adventurers we could muster.”
I watched, slack-jawed, as Zenom’s gears began to turn.
“You five are the strongest members onboard.” Zenom finally muttered. “They will take care of the Pathfinding and Mage,” Zenom gestured at the two cloaked figures. “Sir Borealis, you are the highest grade Shielder on board as well as the only one who could wield Aura. Mr. Ender and Slaveborn are quite possibly the best bladers I’ve ever seen in Jayu.”
“Aw thanks,” I swear Delas dragged one foot over the ground. It took all of my learned self-control not to roll my eyes.
“Mr. Slaveborn, I will take your advice into consideration and form a second advance squad that will perform as a backup to us.”
I nodded, feeling somewhat slighted by the exchange. Zenom was kind of treating this party like how some people treat Cores, the stronger the better. But like I say all the time, it’s not the Grade of the Core that matters, but the Synergy between them. That’s not to say the three of them didn’t have a point; sometimes the stats and abilities were such a cheat that it was enough to get by. I crossed my fingers, hoping that whatever this island had in store for us, it was something we could crush with strength alone.
“Ok, but Sir Zenom, you have not introduced us to the Mage and the Pathfinder here with us.” Borealis pointed out.
“I can vouch for their skills.” Zenom said stiffly.
“I’ve been wondering about them too.” Delas peered at Arione and Arrosh. “Think it’s only fair that they reveal their faces. With the monsters earlier, I didn’t see them do much.”
“As I said-”
“Sir Zenom.” This time, it was Borealis who took a firm stance. “I must insist.” He stared straight at Zenom. “I am not against putting my life in danger, I knew that the moment this mission was given to me from my House. That is duty. However, that does not mean I will throw my life away meaninglessly. If I am following your command to rush headlong into danger, the least you can offer is the face of those who might be called upon to save me.”
“Exactly how I would have put it,” drawled Delas. “You never know a man until you look at him in the eye, I say.” Then he turned to me.
“What do you say, Slaveborn? Aren’t you curious about what's behind those cowls too?”
I was about to answer ‘No’, then stopped myself.
I had to think carefully here. It was dangerous to talk with Delas without thinking, especially concerning things like this. The more I thought about it, the more it became apparent that I almost shot myself in the foot.
See, I’m still suspecting Delas of being a part of the Player’s Guild. So what should I do when interacting with him? The answer was clear. Until I could be 100% sure he wasn’t part of one, I had to act under the assumption that he was a player himself. Acting under that assumption, everything he did around me and said around me could be an act. All part of some elaborate ploy to hurt me someway. How? I didn’t know yet.
But it never hurts to be careful.
“I’m curious, but if they are as good as the rest of us, I’m ok with it. I agree with Zenom’s assessment, in this room we have the best Shielder and two bladers.” I gave a curt nod to the two silent figures. “If so, he wouldn’t have chosen these two. I’ll go with Zenom’s judgment.”
Good, a neutral answer. Now I just needed to-
“Boooooooring,” said Delas, rolling his eyes. “Vetilius. Do something about this.”
Borealis nodded. “Sir Zenom. It’s your call.”
Zenom glared at the two of them, brooding. Without looking at me, he added, “Thank you for your trust, Mr. Slaveborn. But it seems Sir Borealis and Mr. Ender is right, it would be unfair to call them to duty without revealing the faces of those who they would be working with.”
The Holy Knight referred to Arione and Arrosh. “If you two would not mind.”
“Naturally.”
God, it had been so long since I heard Arione’s smooth, mellow, young-politician-like voice. It just reminded me of how I thought he was everything I hated, a scheming manipulator.
Arione’s slender fingers reached and pushed his cowl back and at the same time, the air in front of his face blurred. Of course, he must have put some kind of Disguise spell to keep his face hidden. The blonde’s light blue hair fell perfectly down to his shoulder in waves and ringlets, his high nose and large eyes making him look like a main character of an anime character. During the Isekai, he hit the jackpot in the looks department.
And here I was, covered in scars from my time as a slave, on my face as well as my body. Not to mention the manacle scars that branded me as a former slave. Some people have all the luck.
Arrosh was next, revealing calloused green fingers that swept his hood back. His milky eyes looked at nothing but also seemed to watch everything. He had no particular expression on his face.
I was better looking at Arrosh atleast.
…Right?
Oh God, I certainly hoped so.
Regardless, Arrosh’s own nonchalant demeanor gave me a lot of confidence in my own actions. For now, we wouldn’t acknowledge each other.
Arione bowed slightly while Arrosh remained slightly behind him. “Arione Popwindale, Grade-2 mage at your service.”
“Well, that raises our chances of surviving somewhat.” Delas commented at last.
It took me a moment to realize that Borealis had gone deathly white.
“...You’re Arione Popwindale?” He said at last.
“The one and only.” Arione said without particular inflection.
And Borealis exploded in rage.
He threw away the calm demeanor of a nobleman, immediately turning to Zenom, his face reddening in outrage. “This man is a criminal and is a known Player. What are you thinking, Zenom?!”
“Uh, that was a misunderstanding.” Arione said like a dumbass, as if those four words could deny the gravity of the situation.
“He had a bounty, for the Light’s sake. He fled the country, he has slain countless of our own-”
“He said,” Zenom said in clipped words, “it was a misunderstanding.”
Borealis looked stupified in exchange.
“Jason Carid Akka Xalud has cleared Arione Popwindale of all charges, and the Turina Empire has officially reinstated his citizenship. The Church has made a public announcement that Arione Popwindale was investigating the Samak Desert on the Church’s behalf, and that allegations of the Grade-2 Mage being a Player was an elaborate plot made by rival nations to weaken our Adventurer’s Guild.” Zenom explained.
Wow. Even I didn’t believe that.
Delas giggled. “Well, this is a pleasant surprise. Revealing his face had the opposite effect, now you trust him even less than before.” He elbowed me on the side. “Perhaps we should have listened to good’ol Slaveborn and Sir Zenom there, yeah?”
I turned away from Delas.
God, What the hell was wrong with Players? Was it that hard for normal people to survive in MSS? What the hell did that say about me then?
Borealis continued staring at Zenom.
“Maybe, you two should talk in private.” I said, eager to get out of the room. I had the feeling that the talk between the two was about to turn into something less political, and more personal. There was nothing to be gained by staying around for that.
Arione sniffed and put his hood back on. Arrosh did the same. “Then we’ll take our leave as well.” The disguising spell immediately activated when he put the hood on. It must have been an enchanted item.
“Sir Zenom. Delas.” Arione said his farewells. “...Sir Borealis.” He saved me for last. “Slaveborn.” Then the Mage and Orc Swordsman left the room.
Excusing myself, I left the room shortly after.
The Captain’s Quarters led into a short hallway which led directly to the deck. When I came out, the sun was setting in the horizon. It cast a neon orange glow on the ocean, its reflected image wavering like a hazy mirage in rhythm with the swaying of the open water. Looking around, I saw that most of the adventurers had chosen to remain on deck. Of course, their leaders had just been in a meeting with the Expedition Leader. They’d be curious about what happened.
I saw Arione walk over to a group of cloaked figures, exchanging a few words. Then as one, the entire party headed below deck towards their quarters.
Someone bumped into me from behind, pushing past me. “Gosh, move out of the way will you?”
Of course, it was Delas. He smirked at me. “Just joshing your bones, mate. Argghhh, that rough and tough sailor life. Am I right?” Then winking, he went towards his own party.
Staring at his retreating back, I doubted once more whether Delas was a Player or not. Would a Player behave like that? That kind of swashbuckling attitude which didn’t fit in with the gloom and doom atmosphere of MSS? I felt like acting the way Delas did was asking for the Inquisition to find out more about him.
It could be a facade, decided to throw us off track. A double-trick of sorts, because Players wouldn’t act like that, he acted precisely like that. Or he really wasn’t a player at all.
Sighing, I headed towards my party.
“Sssslaveborn.” Skaris greeted me.
“What’s going on here?” I walked into a strange scene.
Stole was sitting on the ground, one leg exposed up to the knee. There was a small scrape and crouching in front of Stole was the large priest from earlier. He was hunched over her knee and judging by the glow of mana, he was attempting to heal her. From the side, he looked younger than before –almost as young as Stole actually. His brows were scrunched up in concentration.
“A priest dropped by and healed us all.” Kyrian explained. “But Stole seems to have taken a liking to this priest-in-training, which you were right about by the way. About him being someone in training I mean.”
“Why?” I said simply.
Kyrian shrugged. “Maybe because they’re similar in age?”
“I can heal you!” Stole said loud enough to catch out attention.
“Stole, what are you doing?” I asked.
“I’m helping Darwin learn how to heal.”
“Yesshh!” Darwin cried out, facing me.
And I got a real good look at his face.
First, let me say this. My parents were millionaires and it wasn’t until highschool that I got to experience what it meant to struggle for money. Even then, my parents sent me to a private school and a good private college. Combined with the fact that I was practically a shut-in in my twenties and thirties, it’s safe to say I don’t have a lot of experiences with the world. Not MSS, I mean back on Earth. So there are things that make me uncomfortable. Things that startle me, and that’s not saying I hate something or am feeling aversion. Like all people, when I encounter something new, I do feel comfortable.
The priest looked different. Well, he was human. But he looked different. And I’m sure if I explained it to you, you would get it right away. But I won’t go into the specifics because to be honest, I feel uncomfortable. I’ll just say this: I didn’t know MSS had people with Downs Syndrome.
And maybe people will judge me harshly for saying this, but the fact of the matter was that this was MSS.
Frankly, I didn’t care that he had Down's Syndrome.
In my head, all that was going through my head was how we were going to succeed in this mission and how I was going to keep my party alive. So naturally, I mentally listed him as Priest A. Not someone who’s handicapped, or any different from other people, just another of the priests.
“Stole, we need to have a party meeting.” I said, ignoring Darwin.
“He almost has it!”
“Stole, he’s a Priest-in-Training. The other priests should be teaching him. And you should get your knee looked at by one of the full-fledged priests. Not someone in training.”
I had been talking to Stole. But it was the Priest who reacted.
He slowly got up, all quiet. He wasn’t smiling anymore. He slowly picked up the piece of cloth he had been using and just walked away. “Bye, Schtole.” He said.
“Alright, we’ll get it next time Darwin!” She waved energetically, still happy.
In that moment, I think I learned more about Stole than any other time. Stole wasn’t just this edgy assassin-wayfinder dressed in black leather. She had a kind heart, and the girl hadn’t taken my words as something meant to get the incapable priest away from her. She saw it as my words and saw the intention behind them, that we were busy. Because Stole herself didn’t discriminate, she didn’t think I was being discriminatory either.
Ok, now I felt like a jerk.
One of the priests that had been hovering around us, fidgeting with his fingers rushed in and healed Stole’s knee scrape in the blink of an eye. He looked at me apologetically. “I apologize, Mr. Slaveborn. But Ms. Stole insisted that we give Darwin a chance.”
“It’s fine.” I had done nothing wrong. So why’d I feel like I did?
But for me, this interaction was so small that I shoved it into the corner of my mind. Most likely, we wouldn’t see Darwin again anyways.
I had to keep myself focused on the mission.
“Kyrian?” I said, once we were downstairs in the girls’ room again.
Kyrian closed his eyes, mumbling under his breath and magic came to life around us. It pressed in around my ears like a plane-ride.
“No one can hear us now.”
“Thank you.” I said and began to explain what happened in the meeting with Zenom. I left nothing out, finishing it up with Borealis outburst at Arione’s identity.
“That seems to be in line with what Borealis would do.” Aurora said once I finished.
I raised an eyebrow at her. “You know her?”
“He was in the cohort right above mine. Borealis was the top of his Cohort.” She explained. “I even sparred with him in an exhibition match.”
Kyrian frowned. “In an exhibition match? But that should only happen between…” He opened his mouth in surprise.
“What is it?” I asked.
Aurora shrugged. “It is not important.”
Kyrian explained on her behalf, “That she was the top of her Cohort, recognized enough to hold an exhibition match with a Scion who was also the top of his own Cohort.”
Kyrian looked like he ate a bug. “It means you had a chance to be a Scion.”
***
Comments
Joseph Phoenix
W Darwin
Kai
Thank you!
Predyca
Thanks a lot for the chapter dear author ♡♡
