These footprints were created approximately five hours ago. There was no need to try to guess who made them. Since the chances of someone else coming to this island were low...
This trail must be from the people who sent that ransom demand.
«There are two different sets of footprints. Judging by how big they are, it seems like they're both masculine. Furthermore, it seems that they were moving as stealthily as they could.»
«Stealthily»? Does that mean it will be difficult for us to track them?»
«Not at all. They didn't even try to hide their tracks. What I mean is that they moved slowly, crouching on the ground, and probably keeping a careful eye on their surroundings. They were probably on the lookout for monsters».
Mihail Strait.
He was an adventurer who had apparently been a member of the palace's research branch. It seemed that this veteran occupied a position in the Armin Adventurer Group similar to that of Amelia in our clan.
«It would be better to leave the tracking to him. If he really was a royal family investigator, then he'd be a better tracker than me», Amelia said, sounding almost dejected.
From his reaction alone, I deduced that perhaps being part of the research unit was even more impressive than I originally thought.
«Did you say your name was Lectus?».
«That's right, Lord Baron».
«I'll leave the tracking to you».
«Of course. I will not disappoint you».
From then on, I took the lead as he guided me in the right direction. We followed the trail for a while, but were soon forced to put our search on hold when we encountered something unexpected. Or, well, it would be more accurate to say that we discovered something unexpected.
«That is...»
There was a corpse lying in the middle of the forest, not that of a person, but that of a giant.
«It's the same kind of giant we saw in the ocean...»
It must have died a long time ago, since it was clearly decomposing and the stench of rot filled the air around us. But then the question was: how?
«Judging by his injuries... it seems that another monster killed him, not the people».
So was it the work of another monster that fell here during the rainy season? Even as the hypothesis formed in my mind, I couldn't help but let out an involuntary sigh.
«Yandel, you seem upset about something. Is there any problem?»
«Well... the body is still here».
The fact that the corpse was still here meant that it probably couldn't acquire an essence of these things; after all, essences only appeared when monsters disappeared.
«Ah...»
His stats and skills... I had been excited about finding out, but it turned out I wasn't expecting anything. I felt the wind leave my sails as soon as I saw the body, but there were a few people in our company who were practically jumping for joy.
«A giant! The corpse of a giant!»
«And not just any giant! What did you say before, Your Honor? The name of this giant is Hipramajent».
«Why are they all standing? We have to save what we can before it rots completely!»
The wizards of the Adventurer Group descended on the giant's corpse as if they had just stumbled upon a priceless treasure, immediately and enthusiastically beginning the dismemberment process.
«Wait! Be careful with that! Every time you remove a part of the corpse, be sure to at least record what the giant's original anatomy was».
«Your intestines! What's in your intestines? Wait, do you have intestines to begin with?»
I had a feeling we could send these people straight to hell, and they'd be happy as long as we sent them a notebook.
«The wizards of your clan are... quite enthusiastic», I said with slight disbelief as I watched them leave.
Myul, their captain, gave me a tense smile. «The magicians who join our group are usually those who are interested in dangerous jobs that don't even pay well. Haha...»
Well, I guess it makes sense.
Although I wasn't as interested as the wizards, I was still somewhat curious about what they would find, so I watched as they began to dismantle the giant's corpse.
«How is your skin?» i asked.
«...It is very flexible. Early evidence indicates that he also does not appear to have resistance to mana».
«So it wouldn't be useful for team building?»
«No... We would need to do a lot of research before their fur could be used to make crafts».
In other words, his skin was of no use to us.
«And his bones?» I asked, causing one of the wizards' expression to light up immediately.
«The bones are very resistant and, at the same time, very light. Also, the bones are quite large, so we think an expert blacksmith could use them to make weapons...»
«Really? To what degree do you think they would be classified?».
«Um... Well... As they are lightweight, they could be considered a little more quality than ordinary steel...»
¿Eh?
I was about to get a little excited, but it turned out the bones weren't that special either. If they were only slightly better than steel, it was easier for blacksmiths to use only steel, since it was much cheaper to produce and work with it.
«Still, making equipment from these bones has its advantages. First of all, they do not rust and...».
The magician made a plea as a researcher to ask for more time and funding for his project, but I wasn't very interested in hearing it.
«Understood. Tell me if you find anything special».
«Yes sir...!»
After that, I lost interest in the corpse and dedicated myself to guarding the perimeter of our camp.
I had killed about ten Gigantized monsters that came towards me when...
Run.
Sensing a presence from beyond the undergrowth, I instinctively went to brandish my hammer.
«¡A-Ack!»
However, a scream stopped me in my tracks.
«Hah, agh...» tosieron.
It was a person. One whose face I recognized.
My hammer had frozen a hair's breadth from the crown of his head. The man backed away, swallowing as if he had something stuck in his throat.
Versyl was the one who named the face. «Mr. Myrtane?»
Oh, right. That was his name. He was a member of that group of five people who realized that their warrior had not gone down with them to Basement One Plant: the same group that initially went to Human Island before leaving with the Hektz clan when there were problems.
He was still too busy wheezing to say anything, and Versyl came forward to pat him on the back. «Please calm down. Nobody will hurt you here».
«Miss... G-Gowland...!» The man seemed to come to his senses at Versyl's contact, and immediately bowed to her. «Q-Please help us. Veryon was g-seriously injured in a fight against some monsters...»
At a second glance, I noticed that there was another young man tied behind his back. We quickly untied the restraints and laid the man on the ground, where Amelia leaned over to check his breathing by placing her ear next to his mouth and nose. I was about to signal to the priest to come closer when she spoke.
«...It's too late».
Myrtane's knees gave way. «No...! S-We were just... talking...!». He pushed Amelia aside and picked up his partner in his arms, refusing to accept reality while he himself checked her breathing. Although it was rude of her, Amelia didn't say anything to the man, and neither did I. This was something that all adventurers would experience at least once in their career: the loss of a comrade. I would need some time to assimilate it, a lot or a little.
«...Have you calmed down yet?»
«Yes... First of all, I wasn't able to say it before thanks to shock, so let me say this: thank you. For saving... my life».
«It's a shame what happened to your partner. Do you plan to take it with you?».
«Yeah. It's something... I need to do. Could you ask for some distortion magic...?»
«Of course.»
After casting the spell, the man took his companion's corpse and everything in his possession and put it all in his subspace bag. Although it wasn't my place to say this, this guy's luck could have been much worse. We once lost our wizard and had no choice but to leave his body in the maze.
Well, that was then and this was now.
«...Now then, I hope we can talk.» Since I gave him some time to pull himself together, I'd say I did everything I could for him. «Are the others alive?»
«...Those who are still alive are hiding in a safe place right now». He went on to add that they were not far from here.
«What is hiding like? Is safe?»
«...It's safe for now.»
«Really? So why were you two out there?».
«We all thought that to escape this island, we needed to know more about it. That's why... that's why Veryon and I, as the fastest of the group, were sent to explore».
So they had been some kind of exploration team. If they had stayed hidden with the rest for a while longer, this would never have happened.
...Although I shouldn't tell him that.
I decided I could listen to the rest of the story once we got to the hideout, so I left the conversation at that. It turned out that he was not lying when he said that the hiding place was nearby, since after following him for a while, we soon came across a large rock covered in grass.
«So you used magic to disguise the entrance».
«I will send the signal now».
As the man struck the rock to alert the people within our presence, the barrier soon disappeared and someone came out.
«Myrtane! Why are you so late? B-baron Yandel?» Just as he was about to start berating his partner for worrying him, the Hektz Clan captain's eyes widened at the sight of me.
«It's been a while, Wyatt Hektz».
« Oh dioses...!»
«Can we enter?»
«Of course! Please come in!»
When I entered the cave with my companions, we discovered that it was more spacious inside than one would expect seeing it from the outside.
«I... am really surprised. I never expected him to come, Baron Yandel...»
«Really? I'm surprised too».
«Surprised...?»
«I thought you would have more questions about the extra people accompanying me.»
«Oh...! C-True!», he said as if he had just realized it. «We were only sixty when we came down here...»
I had the feeling that I was just pretending to be surprised. So was this guy the evil spirit that made that ransom demand? Well, since that wasn't really relevant to me, I didn't dig deeper into it.
«What happened?» Wyatt asked.
I gave it a general synopsis, starting with how time in the city passed at the same pace as here. I also told him that the maze had reopened not long ago and that new adventurers had entered Basement One Floor.
«One of its members took advantage of the monthly meeting of evil spirits to send a request for help, and the news spread throughout the city. Thanks to that, we were able to find out the location of this island and come look for you».
«E-eso es...»
«Is there anyone in your group who you suspect is an evil spirit?»
«Not particularly. Q-But... they could have been one of the people who are already dead».
«Like the one who died today?»
Wyatt Hektz did not respond, remaining silent in an apparent effort to protect his companions, and I decided to stop prying. In retrospect, it was a bad habit of mine. Even when it wasn't necessary, I tended to mess with people just to see how they reacted.
«Alright, let's put that aside. Tell me your story. What happened to you after we separated?»
I put aside the topic of the evil spirit and changed the subject. However, their account of the adventure they had lived until then did not provide me with much information. According to him, after we left the island, they entered the library to check if there was anything else there, and when they found nothing, they headed back to the sea.
«We were sailing in a random direction, trying to find a new area to explore. But then, the monsters began to fall from the sky like rain».
Unlike my clan, which spent the rainy season in the safety of a village, these boys had had to face it in the open sea. Apparently, they found this island just before their ship completely broke down and, once on land, they fled, found this cave and took refuge inside.
I was wondering why they had less than half their original number. It appears that most died during the rainy season.
Those who survived were lucky to find a place to hide in a few hours. If they had stayed outside longer, they would have been completely wiped out.
«It must have been hard. Good job getting over it».
«So... what about you, Your Honor? If time passes in the outside world too, then we have to find a way out of here. Have you found it yet?»
«No, we're still searching».
When I gave him my honest answer, Wyatt's lips pursed and he was silent for a moment. «...There is a way out, right?».
«Yeah. There definitely is. And I will find it».
He was looking for anything to put his faith in, so I offered him a confident answer.
«...Then we will do everything in our power to help, Your Honor. Even if it doesn't help him much», Wyatt said in a tone that suggested I was the only thing in the world he felt he could trust.
«Thank you for that. Let's do the best we can together», I replied, mentally adjusting the count of people I now had following me.
Twelve more free slaves.
***
We still had a few hours left before setting up the usual camp, but we decided to end the day there.
«Let's rest the rest of the day. Our plans for tomorrow are still up in the air, but we will stay here tonight».
Since we had gotten more members, I decided we needed to do some inventory management before we got going again. I also needed to gather more information.
«Wyatt, have you found out anything else about this island?»
Although they spent most of their time in a cave, they were still adventurers and had arrived on this island before us. Even better, Wyatt, their captain, had been incredibly willing to offer me useful information so far. Right now, the only thing our group knew was that the monsters here could use gigantization.
«The rainy season you mentioned... After it ended, Veryon reported seeing a giant monster in the distance while he was exploring».
A monster giant ...
However, as I described it, I realized that it was not referring to Hipramajent.
«According to him, he could tell with the naked eye that he was over forty meters tall...»
Hipramajent was only half that size...
«And he was destroying a Valksus with his bare hands.»
And he wasn't strong enough to destroy a rank two monster like that.
«To be honest, we all assumed that he only saw a monster capable of using an illusion-type ability... but I still thought I should let you know».
«I see. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind».
Since the person who had seen the monster was dead, I couldn't verify any of this information, so I didn't press any further and let him continue his story. As I progressed, I received some data that might be useful when we resumed our expedition tomorrow, such as a map of the surroundings drawn by his team of explorers and descriptions of new monsters we hadn't found yet.
And there was one more thing.
«And finally... there is something I need to show you, Lord Baron.»
«Something you need to show me?»
«Could you... follow me for a moment?»
I entered the cave with Wyatt and soon found myself in a small room with a man-made carving inside. I was speechless as soon as I saw her.
«This is…»
It was a portal stone.