Jerome Saintred... It was very likely that getting rid of him would solve all my problems.
As the saying went, the flapping of a butterfly's wings could cause a storm on the other side of the world. In that sense, if I could get rid of the main antagonist of that prophetic dream, it would make a huge difference in terms of my survival.
The question is, how do I get rid of it?
The problem lay in logistics. To begin with, luring him to a dark corner to kill him with the help of my companions would be practically impossible. He wouldn't have such an absurd death. Furthermore...
«He's probably not dead. He is likely to wake up in the palace».
During my trip to the past, I saw it with my own eyes. After dying at the hands of Auril Gavis, Jerome's body turned into fluttering specks of light and scattered to the wind. And I guessed what skill he was using.
Iblus.
Iblus was a rank two monster who acted as Guardian of one of the eighth floor Cracks, and had a unique active ability in his possession.
Hereje Altar.
It was one of Dungeon and Stone's few return abilities. Once activated, an altar was formed in a location chosen by the user. So if the user ever died, it would revive on top of them. Of course, this supposed altar could only be created once, and it fell apart after three uses.
In other words... Even if we killed him, he would end up returning to the city and informing the palace that I am a traitor.
This ability was probably a big reason why the palace gave Jerome Saintred the position of commander of this expedition group. Even in the worst case scenario, he would be able to return to the city only after he died.
Hah. Why should he have a skill like that...?
I couldn't help but feel that some cosmic force was kidding me.
Despite having a good time trying to think of alternative ways to eliminate Jerome Saintred, I couldn't think of anything viable. In fact, the only thing I felt sure of was that the prophetic dream sequence was what followed the inevitable failure of each of those attempts.
Wait, does that mean... that trying to kill Jerome could be the reason I would be executed in the first place?
Maybe if he went unnoticed and did nothing at all, he would be totally fine.
Two knocks on the door interrupted my thoughts, followed by a voice from the other side.
«Sal, Yandel. It's time for our rotation».
Good. First of all, let's work a little.
***
One day, two days, three days...
Time flew like an arrow, and soon, the rainy season was over. Like last time, a rainbow appeared in the sky for a few moments before fading away, and the recording glass captured the scene to preserve it. After giving a day of rest to the magicians who had been working all the rainy season, we finally got off the boats we had spent the last few days on and officially began our search.
«Now we will disembark!»
Just as Jeju Island, Korea's largest, was said to have an abundance of wind, women, and rocks, Chief Island also had an abundance of two different things right after the rainy season.
«We saw a group of monsters ahead!»
«They are variants!»
Those things were the monsters, and the thousands and thousands of mana stones scattered on the ground.
«If the people of the city find out about this, all hell will break loose».
«With the amount of mana stones down here, won't the palace take control of this place immediately? If they could get this amount monthly...»
«Haha, that's just what little ones like us think. Do you think a profit of this size will have any impact on the palace's wealth? The amount of revenue they make from inspection checks alone is absurd».
However, even Jerome, who had stated very clearly that he was not going to bother with the mana stones, gave us all a stern warning. «If someone secretly tries to bag one, they will be severely punished for doing so, so the magicians in charge of collecting it must take the utmost care to ensure that no mistake is made!».
Didn't you say you weren't here to make money?
In any case, the incredible haul of mana stones revived the expeditionary group's morale. The palace used to follow the customs of adventurers when they sent troops to the labyrinth, so they let their soldiers distribute the mana stones among them.
«I will have to increase my contributions to the mission».
«Our profits are going to be of another level, at least ten times more than usual. I've been wanting to buy a magic item for a while, so it's great».
While the other members daydreamed with their pockets full, Jerome focused even more on the mission upon seeing the mana stones on the ground. Although we were collecting everything in our path, we stuck as closely as possible to the planned route and marched towards our destination.
«Your Honor, is this the place?»
«Definitely.»
And then, we arrived at the entrance to the chief's village. However, no matter how much we searched the roots where the entrance was hidden, all we saw was dirt.
«What's going on? Have they realized we were coming?»
«Well, I'm still not sure about that. They usually wait a while after the rainy season ends - after most of the monsters are dead - to go out and collect the mana stones.»
«Hmm, so looks like we'll have to wait a little longer».
«And even if they realize our presence, they will have to go up at some point. They live on mana stones».
Unless they wanted to starve, they couldn't stay locked up in their village forever.
«Surround this tree!»
Jerome made us go around the entrance to the village and gave the order for an indefinite siege. After that, a special unit was created to tour the island collecting the ownerless mana stones. This special unit consisted of agility-type adventurers, who were known for their speed, and mages, who could collect many mana stones at once.
«Sir... you have to stay safe until I get back, okay?»
«Don't worry. I will keep Tersia safe».
Amelia and Erwen were the selected people from our Squad Four. I tried to avoid being sent away, but I couldn't override the commander's orders. His reasoning was solid.
«It's one thing to keep him safe, Your Honor, but this request has nothing to do with it. Even if only temporarily, you are part of this expedition group, so I cannot give you any special treatment during this mission».
My heart skipped a beat when Erwen and Amelia left with the special unit, but nothing happened during the two days they spent scouring the island collecting mana stones.
So tomorrow will be the third day since the end of the rainy season...
The people left in the tree had nothing to do but wait for the village monsters to appear, since most of the normal monsters had already sacrificed themselves. However, while the other members of the expedition group enjoyed our rare moment of peace, to me this pause seemed only the calm that precedes the storm.
«Mr. Yandel, what are you looking at so intensely?»
«Doesn't he realize? I stay alert», I responded, with my eyes fixed on the tree. On my periphery, I could see Raven smiling a little.
What was that reaction about?
«And why are you here?» i asked. «Wizards are everywhere».
«Even if I joined them, there is nothing to do. We have already finished studying the things we take out of the library».
«Now? Have you found anything?»
«No, quite the opposite. Finally we accepted that nothing could be removed from the objects and stopped doing experiments.»
«...Ya veo.»
Raven seemed to tell the truth about her boredom as she continued chattering as she sat next to me. «Our best library finds might be the summoning books themselves. The origin of the names and traits of monsters that not even years of research could identify were written on them, down to the last detail».
Yeah, I guess that would be what you like the most.
«Hey? What's that look about? Can't you see it's an incredible discovery? Even if you can't, I guarantee that when we get this news to town, it will turn academia upside down!»
«...Why should I care if academia is turned upside down or upside down?». I exclaimed.
Raven seemed to notice my disinterest and quickly changed the subject. «By the way... you said that the inhabitants of this town are monsters who call themselves humans, right?».
«Are you just asking now?».
«Not that it's a strange question. I've been curious since the first time I heard your story. What kind of creatures are they? Oh, I'm also curious about the village chief who calls himself Dragon Knight. Is he really who he says he is? If so, there are many things I want to ask you. Nowadays it is difficult to find records from then...».
He tried to bring up a topic that was relevant to both of us, but for some reason, I couldn't get into the conversation or enjoy it. Now that I thought about it, the same thing always happened to me with her. It seemed like every time we talked it got neater and neater.
«Raven! Behind you...!»
She turned around when she heard my scream, startled.
«Oh, I guess there's nothing?» I said pleasantly.
It took her a moment to realize what had happened and she turned around again indignantly, her fists clenched.
«Anyway, what could you do with those small fists?».
«...So annoying. You are now a baron. What are you, a little boy?»
«And you are the deputy commander of the Third Magic Corps. Aren't you too gullible?»
«...I guess I'm the fool here for worrying about such a ridiculous human being.»
«Hey, I'm a barbarian, not a human. That's something I'm sensitive to, so please be-»
«Agh! How annoying! Anyway, I'm leaving.»
With that, Raven returned to her seat, fuming, and I laughed loudly as I saw her leave. I could call that a productive conversation. It calmed my nerves and, more importantly, I had fun. Honestly, it had always been fun to bother her...
«¡C-Capitan!»
…¿Eh?
I turned my head in the direction of the call and laid eyes on Auyen, who was sweating profusely as he ran towards me.
My calm mind was immediately flooded with all kinds of worst-case scenarios.
«Problems! We have problems».
What had happened? Was there some kind of skirmish? Wait, but the entrance to the village wasn't right here? Was there another entrance somewhere else?
Many different thoughts crossed my mind, but the next words that flew out of Auyen Rockrobe's mouth stopped them in their tracks.
«Miss Tersia! Miss Tersia is trying to kill one of the wizards in the expedition group. Please stop her!»
"...¿Which?"
I quickly ran to the location Auyen gave me, and lo and behold...
«Stop holding me back! I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you, I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you!»
Erwen was yelling at someone as if she had lost her mind.
Amelia physically held her with everything she had.
One of the wizards was cowering behind a nearby knight, hyperventilating in terror, and said knight had even drawn his sword to protect the wizard from his wrath.
And when I looked at the scene, I froze, my mind blank. I still had no idea what was going on, but somehow...
«You for…»
Erwen had short hair.
***
The incident in question could be summed up in a few lines.
Half of Squad Four, including Erwen, had been stationed on the perimeter of our siege formation to stand guard. During their turn, a random monster approached from a point where the border between squads was a bit confusing, so they ended up fighting it alongside members of Squad One, whose assigned territory shared a border with theirs.
«It was a mistake! An accident, I swear! And in the end no one was hurt either...!»
The problem was that one of the wizards from Squad One miscalculated his trajectory and ended up casting a spell on Erwen.
Friendly fire came without warning. Luckily, Erwen ducked fast enough to dodge the attack, but her hair ended up caught in the crossfire, cutting through the flowing strands.
Damn sea.
«No one... has been hurt...?», he repeated, a murderous gleam in his eyes.
«Spirit of blood, calm down! Don't you know that what you are doing now will come back to hurt the baron too?».
«Yandel!» amelia screamed when she caught my attention. «What are you doing? If you're here, stop her, quick...!».
The words drove me crazy. Erwen had cut her hair, sure, but that didn't mean I was going to be executed here at random.
Armed with that thought, I stepped forward to calm the situation.
«Sir... is here...?» Erwen turned her head and when she finally saw me, she screamed and covered her face before falling to the ground. «No! Don't look at me!»
Huh... I guess I managed to stop her?
Acceding to his request, I turned around.
Crunch.
And when I did, I noticed something blue sliding between the dense trees.
«¿Eh…?»
What was that? Wasn't the town entrance behind me?
My mind momentarily went blank, but my mouth was one step ahead of her, already forming the words I needed to say.
«It's an ambush!»
The monsters had escaped from the village.