Chapter 40
Someone approached from across the valley.
They waved enthusiastically.
A young male student with a smile brighter than the moonlight.
Kagobin, no surname, a commoner.
He crossed the trickling valley stream and approached Sigrin.
She hadn’t expected to run into the kid she found suspicious in such an unexpected place.
A million thoughts raced through her mind.
“Who are you?”
Not wanting to be recognized, she played dumb.
“Need help? You’ve been struggling for a while.”
Sigrin rolled her eyes and spoke cautiously.
“…Are you an assassin sent from outside?”
“Hehe, you’re the one in assassin’s clothes, Mask.”
Giggling, Kagobin approached the boulder Sigrin was holding.
“Where do I put this?”
“By the entrance.”
Kagobin lifted the boulder effortlessly and placed it by the cave entrance.
Though similar in height to Sigrin, his strength was immense.
…Given his core’s density, it wasn’t surprising.
“Thank you.”
“No problem! Anything else I can help with?”
“….”
“I said I’d repay the favor.”
Sparkle.
His narrow eyes gleamed prettily.
Why was he treating unnecessary help as a favor owed?
“With that much strength, why did you let yourself get bullied last time?”
“Huh, bullied? Nah, they were just playing to get friendly~”
“….”
I can’t read him!
She wanted to probe further, but feared accidentally revealing information from the Eye of Ether, which could expose her own secrets.
Staring at Kagobin, he scratched his head and gave an awkward, goofy smile.
“…Heh. I get the feeling you know everything,. Even though that’s impossible.”
His intuition was too sharp. The Eye of Ether did have that effect.
“Are we acquainted? Your tone suggests you know me.”
“Eek.”
Kagobin looked surprised, then burst out laughing, holding his stomach.
“Haha! Sorry. I’m from Nipi Island too. No one from Nipi Island doesn’t know Sigrin!”
“….”
She’d suspected he knew her name, but hadn’t expected it to be confirmed like this.
“Anything else you’re curious about? I’ll answer anything to clear that suspicious look!”
“Which family are you with?”
“I was with the Tarantulis Family but washed my hands of them. Now I’m a freelancer.”
“…??”
What? Tarantulis is a rival faction!
“It must’ve been hard to leave that family…”
“Yep! Especially for me. The boss really didn’t want to let me go. Said I was marked as his right-hand man.”
“What was the condition for leaving?”
“Hm, I joined a regional war and successfully seized territory. And…”
Kagobin stuck out his tongue, showing a severed section. The reattached part was bluish compared to a normal tongue.
Grinning, he met Sigrin’s eyes while sticking out his tongue.
“By the way, I have scars from cuts on my limbs too!”
“….”
“Good thing I’m young~ My recovery’s great, so they reattached easily!”
Insane…
She knew the Tarantulis Family was ruthless, but she hadn’t expected them to mutilate a former member, especially a kid this young.
Even after he’d achieved merits.
How did he survive having his limbs and tongue cut?
“I know a bit about Tarantulis Family members, but I’ve never heard of you.”
“Come on,. You believe leaked info as is?”
…Of course not.
But as someone who recorded even hired mercenaries during regional wars, it was odd never to have seen his face.
“Which regional wars did you join to escape?”
“Shadow Alley and Haven Port!”
Shadow Alley was a small skirmish, fine, but Haven Port?
A recent major internal conflict within Tarantulis and its sub-families.
She’d sent informants to record every participant and their abilities, reporting everything to her father. Kagobin wasn’t there.
Is his absence in records tied to his personal ability? …Well, his words are likely lies anyway.
“Why was a formal Tarantulis member scared of a mere Pebble Golem mob?”
“No one wins against a mob! And…”
Kagobin paused, then grinned at Sigrin.
“Hehe.”
Hehe what?
What’s with the hehe?
Sigrin decided not to overthink.
“Then what’s your personal ability?”
“What’s yours,?”
Kagobin’s purple eyes sparkled as he countered.
Oh, that means don’t ask.
Though deflated, she realized he might have been answering more honestly than she thought.
“You don’t know I’m the only Ebenkera sibling who’s a failure? I was once called the Ebenkera’s burden.”
“…Hm.”
Kagobin rubbed his chin, pondering, then smiled brightly, cheeks flushed.
“I don’t think that!”
Sigrin surrendered to his unreadable cheerfulness.
Time to end this. One wrong move, and she might leak Ebenkera info.
Keeping her Eye Core secret was…
Truly a relief.
“Since you offered to help, want to finish helping?”
“Sure!”
✦ ✦ ✦
She hesitated about accepting help from the shady Kagobin, but in a situation where he could kill her anytime, it didn’t matter.
Running was pointless with her slow speed.
Cornered anyway, she decided to drop the overthinking and accept the help.
Sigrin explained the rough plan to Kagobin.
“So, you’ll put the beast lure in the cave, trap the beasts, and close the entrance?”
“Yes. But since there are two of us now, I’ll adjust the plan.”
With doubled manpower, they might reuse the beast lure.
“I’ll attach the lure and go in. When enough beasts gather, close the entrance.”
“Oh~ Then use a teleport artifact to get out?”
“Being from my hometown, you’re quite sharp.”
Sigrin turned on the beast lure and attached it to herself.
Checking with the Eye of Ether, she saw vibrant, multicolored Ether flowing strongly from it.
Thud, thud, thud!
Beasts swarmed from all directions. Since the Spirit Rift overlapped three beast territories, every beast in the Cardia Beginner Hunting Grounds rushed in.
Sigrin kept a safe distance from the beasts and entered the cave in the Spirit Rift.
Many beasts flooded in, with Pebble Golems and Wisps reaching to kill her. Sigrin timed it perfectly and activated her barrier artifact.
Rumble!
Many beasts were pushed outside the barrier.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Spirit Sprouts, Wisps, Pebble Golems… All sorts of beasts swung their arms to break the barrier.
Sigrin swallowed hard, watching the beasts surround her.
Don’t forget: One minute, then the barrier drops, and I teleport.
One minute, then the barrier drops, and I teleport.
One minute, then the barrier drops, and I TELEPORT!!!
Taking a deep breath, she looked at the cave entrance and saw Kagobin leaning against a boulder.
Watching Sigrin, voluntarily surrounded by beasts and visibly tense, he stifled a laugh.
“Noona, why did you say you were causing this chaos at dawn?”
“…My grades.”
Pfft!
Kagobin burst out laughing, holding his stomach.