Chapter 87: Horned Lizard (1)
“H-How... Did she wake up?! I definitely cast Sleep Magic?”
Sercia was aghast seeing the Horned Lizard awake and well.
Her ochre eyes were clear, devoid of any trace of drowsiness.
“Hmph.”
The Horned Lizard, Candela, smirked.
“Well now~ Thanks to whom?”
Tap, tap. Brushing the dust off her clothes, she stood up, revealing a considerable physique.
She was ruggedly muscular, and her long hair covering her back stood up in sharp spikes. At a glance, she looked as hard as rock.
“...Thanks to whom? What do you mean by that? Speak clearly!”
Sercia, frowning, yelled at Candela.
Simultaneously, she gathered her hands, creating an aura of intense flame. Ready to fire at any moment.
“Hey there, ma'am. Let’s keep this nice and easy.”
Click-
The cold muzzle of a gun pressed tightly against Candela’s head. It was Gale.
“There are three of us, and just one of you, see.”
As soon as Gale heard the unfamiliar voice, he gripped a chain sword and a gun in his hands. And immediately took position behind Candela.
In combat, Gale’s usual loose attitude vanished completely.
“Aha?”
She smiled slightly and raised both hands. It was a sign of surrender, but her leisurely attitude was irritating.
Sercia, twitching an eyebrow, asked.
“You, do you have something to rely on? You seem quite relaxed for someone whose life is threatened?”
“Hmm? That’s... obvious, isn’t it?”
Her reptilian vertical pupils dilated wide, as if excited.
“It’s been a while since I met a moron foolish enough to approach me from ‘behind’!”
“...! Mr. Gale, dodge!”
Sensing danger in the wide grin, Sercia urgently shouted, but it was already too late.
Candela’s spiky hair stretched out long, moving with terrifying speed to send Gale flying.
“...!”
It happened in an instant.
Kwaaang!
Gale, completely unprepared for such an attack, was struck by the rock-hard hair and thrown far away.
No, it was truly no different from rock!
Before Gale, who crashed into the surrounding rocks with a loud bang, could even get up.
“Kahahaha! Let’s have some fun!”
Candela quickly approached and slammed him with her clenched fist. That fist was encased in hard rock like armor.
Whoosh. When she swung, the sound of air splitting could be heard. As if the air itself screamed. That’s how powerful it was.
“Keoheok!”
Gale coughed up blood from the swift follow-up attacks and retreated. His breathing was ragged, but he was still conscious.
“Mr. Gale!”
Gritting her teeth, Sercia prepared to fire a fireball to provide cover.
‘I need to distract the Horned Lizard with Fireball to create distance, then heal Mr. Gale’s external wounds with healing magic!’
But at that moment...!
“Would you please stop right there.”
A sharp knife touched her white neck. The blade was so sharp that a thin line appeared instantly upon contact, drawing a single trickle of blood.
“...You!”
Hake grinned, holding the knife to Sercia. Sercia’s lavender eyes trembled violently.
“A mage should only allow truly trustworthy people close.”
However, Hake paid no heed to her agitation and continued speaking calmly.
“This is my final piece of advice as a fellow Witch's Child, Ms. Sercia.”
Eventually, a dull impact struck the back of her neck, and Sercia’s consciousness faded away.
* * *
“The intruders?”
The Horned Lizard, Candela, gestured to her subordinate with her eyes and asked nonchalantly.
“We’ve locked them all up in the underground prison!”
“No. I’m asking about the other two.”
From the moment the ‘intruders’ first entered the tunnels, Candela had been keeping a close watch on their movements.
The report sent by the gatekeepers had been too suspicious.
-Lady Candela! Something is strange! Lord ‘Frau’ doesn't recognize us...!
This was indeed strange.
Because Frau, the martial artist, one of the 12 new Hunters from the 616th batch, was Candela’s precious sworn brother!
‘Vile intruders! How dare they invade disguised as my brother?’
Grind!
A chilling sound echoed as her fangs ground together. Somewhere along the way, the group had split, and she had lost track of two intruders.
‘...In the meantime, when did they enter my office?’
The room was a mess, the safe split in two. And the things she had secretly hidden were gone!
The papyrus sheets where she had been meticulously writing down Depicio’s weaknesses, little by little, just in case...!
‘That alone must absolutely not be taken. Whether I capture those two or kill them, I must get it back!’
Candela devised a plan to lure and capture the two individuals she deemed the most threatening.
She pretended to be drunk and collapsed in front of the intruders. No hunter in this world would refuse prey that walked right up to them.
They would probably try to take Candela somewhere secluded for interrogation.
-Hello! You know me, right? Could you talk with me for a moment?
-...Depicio?
According to the Depicio assassin who had visited secretly a few days ago, one of the intruders was a mage who could freely use space magic.
She had asked that assassin to help guide them to the outskirts of the tunnels.
She had already placed her subordinates in ambush around that area, and they were able to subdue and arrest them when their guard was down.
Despite things proceeding so smoothly, perhaps because of the two remaining intruders she hadn't found yet, or maybe because of the stolen papyrus.
‘Somehow, this feels ominous.’
Among beastkin, she possessed exceptionally sharp intuition. That instinct told her. Gale and Sercia...
‘...No. The human man felt several times more threatening.’
But when push came to shove, the woman turned out to be far more dangerous than the man. Because she was the mage the assassin had mentioned.
Candela tilted her head in momentary confusion but quickly dismissed it as unimportant.
Anyway, now was not the time to dwell on why her intuition had been wrong.
‘Right. I can't just let them go quietly like this. No way!’
They must be prevented from reaching the surface with that papyrus... No, it would be better to destroy it so Depicio wouldn't find it.
Her gaze flickered towards Hake, who sat opposite her, smiling faintly.
‘Of all times for Depicio to show up. ...No, perhaps they came because it’s this time?’
Candela had also received reports about the incident that occurred in the Batevil Kingdom on the surface.
‘Clover Trade Company...’
To prevent widespread panic, she was controlling the information so it wouldn't circulate within the tunnels yet.
But Candela, knowing Depicio's objective, couldn't help but find it amusing when she heard they had failed!
‘Serves them right! Maybe I should use this chance to break free from Depicio’s grasp...’
However, this was nothing more than an uncertain gamble. Depicio hadn't fallen just because they failed once, the tunnels' location was fixed, and there was no alternative place to go.
‘...No. It’s not time yet.’
She was a gambler who usually loved betting, but she couldn't throw herself into a gamble involving not only her own life but the lives of the tunnel dwellers as well.
‘Ugh! This is hard. Being a ruler too. This kind of position really doesn't suit me.’
...Anyway, as the ruler of the tunnels, Candela had to do what she must.
“They are lawless intruders who dared to invade our tunnels! We cannot let them see the sunlight with their limbs intact!”
Candela smiled savagely and slammed her fist on the desk. Then, she shouted in a resonant voice.
Because no one who had recklessly invaded her tunnels had ever left alive.
“The exit to the surface has been sealed, so they must still be inside the tunnels. Search every corner. Find them without fail-!”
“Yes! Lady Candela!”
Her subordinates answered vigorously and quickly exited. Hake, sitting opposite Candela and casually swinging his legs, chuckled.
“Thank you for waiting. I’m pleased to meet such a competent assassin like you. You're considered a candidate for Depicio’s next ‘Moon’, aren’t you?”
Candela gave a slight nod and spoke politely. A complete contrast to her usual wild personality.
“Not at all. Giving me such gilded praise. The honor is all mine. To think I’d meet the youngest ruler of the Batevil tunnels and one of the 10 Strongest of the Northern Continent.”
Hake waved his hand dismissively and grinned.
It was an artificial smile, like a painting. As expected, just being in the same place as a Depicio assassin gave her the creeps.
“Do you know the identity of those fellows?”
“Of course. But before that, isn't there something you owe me?”
“Ah, right.”
Candela flicked her spiky hair and walked over to her desk to retrieve something.
With a rustling sound, she took out a paper whose surface had turned ochre with age.
“According to my findings, it’s like this.”
The Horned Lizard, Candela, was the possessor of the Unique Magic: ‘Voice of the Earth’. By touching the ground, she could glimpse into its past memories.
It was an ability that only allowed her to hear voices and involved much trial and error to obtain desired information, but it was very useful for gathering intelligence secretly like this.
That's why Depicio, recognizing this, had proposed an alliance with her.
In exchange for protecting the Batevil tunnels and its people and providing desired supplies, Depicio occasionally requested Candela’s assistance.
But Candela instinctively realized. If things continued like this, they would eliminate her for knowing too ‘much’.
And they would likely get rid of the people of the Batevil tunnels along with her.
“Here, read it.”
“Thanks.”
Hake’s eyes were calm as he read the document.
But was he truly calm inside? Candela, who knew the information written on the paper, wondered.
“What are you going to do now? Now that you know that information, will you still remain loyal to Depicio?”
Hake then crumpled the document he finished reading and said. Once again, with that artificial, painting-like smile.
“Is that personal curiosity? Excessive. Do you need to know any more than this?”
“...My apologies.”
Hake continued.
“You asked about the identities of those intruders earlier, right? Their true identities are ‘Hunters’.”
“...What?”
Candela felt as if someone had struck her from behind.
Like being assaulted in the dead of night. As if a famous person she only knew by face suddenly showed up and slapped her across the cheek.
“H-Hunters? Why? Why come here?”
Candela stammered, uncharacteristically.
“They are Hunters from the 616th batch. My (contemporaries).”
“The 616th batch means... same as Frau?”
“Yes. How did you think I could have come into the tunnels with them?”
“Isn't that thanks to your unique magic?”
—Hake's Unique Magic: ‘Daydream’.
A unique magic that deceived the five senses of others according to the owner's will, showing enchanting or terrifying ‘illusions’.
However, this was one of Depicio’s secrets. Unique magic operated on a different system from regular magic and was thus useful as a secret weapon.
Candela, having inadvertently revealed knowledge of it, winced.
“So you knew after all?”
Hake smiled. But this time, unlike the previous two occasions, it wasn't that inhuman, artificial smile.
“Then this should be easy. Right?”
A very mischievous, sinister smile.
“...!”
Candela sensed danger! And at that moment, an anomaly occurred!
“Welcome back to reality!”
With a bright shout, the place she opened her eyes to again was.
“Aaaargh! I can't see!”
“My eyes! My eeeeyyyyes...!”
“Baby! Baby? Where are you, baby!”
A scene of utter chaos.