Chapter 35. Anomaly
At Raviata’s appearance, Delilah felt as though every hair on her body stood on end.
Delilah herself was merely an expedition member who had become involved almost by accident, but Raviata was the one personally leading the Exploration Party.
She undoubtedly had plenty of pent-up resentment toward the Dark Elves after everything they had put the expedition through.
Her expression was indeed exceedingly fierce.
Yet Shane, the masked man, greeted Raviata without the slightest concern.
“The star of the show has arrived.”
“What? You make it sound like you knew I was coming.”
“Not quite. I did not know you would come here. I invited you.”
“Invited me……? Strange. I don’t remember receiving an invitation.”
“Did I not kill the most troublesome ones first? That was the invitation.”
“Ha!”
Only then did Raviata’s expression relax.
“So there really was a reason you only killed those Imperial bastards?”
“Huh?”
Delilah tilted her head upon hearing that.
The Imperial side?
“Ah.”
Come to think of it, during the previous battle, everyone killed by the Dark Elves had been a member of the Imperial Guard Knight Order.
“That is also why you deliberately created that smokescreen, was it not?”
“Well, you’re right. Their eyes were obviously fixed on that Elf. I didn’t know exactly what they were planning, but it looked like they were up to something, so I wanted to watch.”
Just as Raviata said, during the previous battle she had seemingly unleashed an enormous explosion spell in anger, but its actual destructive power had not been particularly great.
If anything, the smoke produced by the explosion had been thick enough to obscure everyone’s vision.
“So, why did you invite me? For the record, I was born with a condition that makes me distrust anyone who hides their face. You’d better choose your words carefully.”
“Why are you so hostile already? You can decide whether to bare your fangs after hearing what I have to say.”
“Hmph.”
Shane then addressed the Dark Elves standing behind him.
[I would like you to leave us for a moment.]
[Will you be all right? The Mana I sense from that person is anything but ordinary.]
One of the Dark Elves asked Shane worriedly.
‘Then again, when it comes to sensitivity toward Mana, few races can compare to Elves.’
The Dark Elf’s concern after sensing the nature of Raviata’s Mana was hardly unfounded.
Of course, the Dark Elf had not spoken out of genuine concern for Shane himself.
After all, Shane was currently their hope for eliminating the true culprit who had reduced them to this state.
[She, too, is someone who will help bring freedom to your race. This is necessary.]
[……Understood.]
The Dark Elves withdrew.
Delilah followed them and left as well.
“Well, if nothing else, I’ll give you credit for courage. You’re actually willing to stay alone with me? Looks like I’ll have to treat you to quite an intense date.”
“There is no need for that, Raviata.”
The voice that emerged was entirely different from the low, muffled voice that had been buried beneath the darkness until now.
It was a voice Raviata knew.
Her eyes widened.
“Uh…… I’ll admit, even I didn’t expect this.”
Raviata spoke while staring at Shane after he removed his plain white mask.
—
Raviata was someone who could not be controlled.
Shane had recognized that fact long ago.
In terms of raw strength, she was not inferior even to Klein from his previous life.
If one considered sheer firepower alone, she might even have surpassed him.
And that was hardly all.
Compared with the knowledge possessed by modern humanity, the difference between Raviata and everyone else was like that between a lake and an ocean.
Her strategic ability was likewise exceptional.
The name Raviata carried that much weight.
That was why even the Organization had considered her one of its most dangerous enemies.
Had she not fallen victim to the Organization’s schemes, perhaps the person who killed Shane in his previous life would have been Raviata rather than Klein.
Yet Shane had not hesitated in the slightest to reveal his identity to someone like her.
Raviata was certainly not someone he could control through force.
Conversely, however, that made her more than qualified to become an ally when their interests aligned.
“Uh, hold on. Who exactly are you?”
“Clayton R. Shane, eldest son of House Clayton and the one who uncovered the secrets of the Mezaia Great Forest. That is who I am.”
“Don’t you need a few more descriptions after that? Noble killer, for example?”
Proving that her reputation for intelligence was well deserved, Raviata inferred several of the things Shane had done almost immediately after seeing his face.
“How did you know?”
“Isn’t it obvious just from looking at that Elf? I won’t say I never suspected you. It just seemed so absurd that even I thought I was reaching.”
Shane nodded when Raviata gestured toward Orca.
“And that Demi-Human brat Delilah is always hanging around you too. Isn’t that enough?”
“Yes. You are correct. I suppose I cannot complain if I acquire the epithet ‘Noble Killer.’”
“Haah…… Fine. This has become complicated. Mind explaining?”
“You have already guessed most of it, have you not? Who is responsible for the vile things happening inside this Great Forest.”
“Nameless. That was the name, wasn’t it?”
The name of the Organization Shane had belonged to in his previous life.
Nameless.
It came from Raviata’s mouth.
“Yes. And the fools in the Imperial Family have joined hands with them.”
“I knew that old man was plotting something…… but where did they find the nerve?”
Raviata’s reaction was hardly unreasonable.
Shane’s paper had already drawn the attention of the entire continent back toward the Mezaia Great Forest.
Then Raviata herself, practically a living legend, had personally joined the expedition to investigate it.
Countless eyes and ears were already focused on this place.
If the Imperial Family attempted anything under such circumstances, they could potentially destabilize even the Allied Nations established for humanity’s sake.
“The Imperial Family probably does not care very much about that.”
“Tsk. Because of that lunatic bastard.”
Shane nodded.
“Then this whole thing is that madman’s doing too.”
“……Yes. But Raviata.”
“Hmm?”
“Let us stop probing each other unnecessarily. You already knew that much, did you not? You have connections to the Imperial Family yourself.”
“Wow…… It’s been a while since someone did this to me.”
Flames began rising from both of Raviata’s fists.
“I have quite a lot of pride, you see. I absolutely despise having someone stand over my head like this.”
Shane had already anticipated her reaction.
“What a coincidence. I happen to feel the same way.”
At the same moment, the Dark Spirit within Shane let out a mournful wail.
The situation stood on the verge of exploding.
Raviata was the one who finally broke the standoff.
She extinguished the flames surrounding her fists and let out a deep sigh.
“Haah. I don’t dislike being famous, but it certainly comes with plenty of annoying problems.”
Raviata shrugged as though she had merely threatened him for the sake of it.
But Shane knew exactly why she had done so.
‘She wanted to determine whether someone was standing above me.’
Shane was only eighteen according to the information available to the outside world.
Given how much he knew about Raviata, she had naturally suspected that someone else was backing him.
But Shane’s reaction just now had allowed her to reach a conclusion.
“You really are strange. It genuinely looks like you’re acting alone. How did you know I had connections to the Imperial Family?”
“The Crown Prince has the Imperial Guard Knight Order. The Second Imperial Princess has the Lampert Adventurer Party. And there are not many people who could serve as the First Imperial Princess’s Daybird, are there?”
“Daybird, huh? Haha. I suppose that isn’t wrong.”
At first glance, the factions participating in the expedition appeared to have nothing to do with one another.
In reality, it was anything but that.
With the Crown Prince, the First Imperial Princess, and the Second Imperial Princess all involved, the expedition was practically a miniature version of the Imperial Family’s own den of intrigue.
Shane had realized that long ago.
The Imperial Family was a force that could never be ignored in the political landscape to come.
“Well, whatever. I only accepted a commission anyway. And I’ve already received more than enough compensation for it.”
Raviata shrugged as though it were nothing important.
From her perspective, that was indeed all it was.
She had simply accepted a commission.
Of course, if that fact became public, it would pose a considerable threat to the First Imperial Princess.
The Raviata Adventurer Party accepting a commission from someone was never something that could be taken lightly.
The First Imperial Princess was still being extremely cautious around the Crown Prince, so she would likely hate having attention drawn to herself for something like this.
“Anyway, let’s get to the point. You went as far as inviting me here. Surely you didn’t do all this just to tell me something boring?”
Shane gave a faint smile and nodded.
There was another reason he had gone so far as to reveal his identity to Raviata.
She took great pride in her reputation as the greatest Adventurer in the world.
And she was someone who always repaid what she received in equal measure.
“I will hand you an intact Dragon Heart before this expedition ends.”
“An intact one……? Now what exactly is that supposed to mean?”
Raviata’s fierce smile turned intrigued.
At the same time, Shane became certain that he had accomplished half of his objectives for this expedition.
—
“What? The Dark Elves are disappearing?”
The voice of a shabby, hunched old man echoed ominously through the wooden cavern.
Judging by his appearance alone, he looked so decrepit that one might have mistaken him for nothing more than an ill-tempered old man.
Yet the subordinate standing before him could barely suppress the fear that made his entire body tremble.
“Yes, Lord Gordon. The Dark Elves sent into the field have continued disappearing.”
“How in the world are you managing them?! Did I not tell you that they are valuable test subjects?!”
“They definitely did not encounter the enemy. However, while returning, they vanished without leaving any trace.”
“You cannot even handle the one task I gave you. With that level of incompetence, you would hardly make worthwhile material for a Chimera. Tsk!”
The Mezaia Great Forest had suddenly attracted widespread attention, and the famous Raviata Exploration Party had entered the region at the same time.
Because of that, the Organization had attempted to send Gordon various forms of assistance.
Gordon, however, had stopped them.
If he received too much support, there was a chance the Elf Queen would notice.
That would undoubtedly interfere with his experiments.
As a result, the Organization had adjusted its methods accordingly.
Through various schemes, they had even secretly manipulated the Imperial Guard Knight Order from behind the scenes and successfully delayed the expedition.
And then this problem emerged.
“If circumstances were different, I would have removed your head and used the rest of you as experimental material…… You’re fortunate. Right now, I even need the hands of useless fools like you.”
The subordinate breathed a sigh of relief.
“Still, the Dark Elves are disappearing? Who dares tamper with my creations……? Hmph. It cannot be helped. Make sure you properly secure whatever remains. What in the world is the Organization doing if it cannot even manage its information properly?”
Gordon clicked his tongue again before adding,
“And determine where my precious test subjects have gone. If you fail to carry out my orders again…… Yes. I will make you considerably more useful.”
“……I will obey.”
The subordinate trembled once before bowing his head and leaving.
“You must prove your value. If you have no value serving beneath me, I may as well use you as material. Hehehe.”
Gordon spoke while looking at the corpses of expedition members his subordinates had brought him, a shabby smile spreading across his face.
“Though I already have such excellent materials that I am not sure how useful that fool would be.”
As though his anger had never existed, the old man even began humming.
He dismissed the entire incident as nothing more than an insignificant anomaly.
Meanwhile, Gordon was not the only person confused by an unexpected development.
“Damn it!”
Separated from the rest of the expedition, the Imperial Guard Knight Order showed deep exhaustion from the relentless battles that could scarcely even be called battles.
One of the knights swung his sword.
But his opponent slipped away from the blade’s path like a shadow and vanished into the darkness.
A dagger immediately swept in from beside him and cut into his arm.
“AAAAARGH!”
The instant the knight felt all the Mana in his body begin concentrating toward that arm, he severed it himself with his sword.
He knew perfectly well what losing an arm meant for a knight.
But had they not already seen what happened to anyone cut by those blades?
Sure enough, a violet flower bloomed from the wound on the severed arm lying on the ground.
Then it withered and crumbled into powder.
“You damned pointy-eared bastards! What in the world do you want from us?!”
More injuries followed in yet another clash.
Dominic shouted furiously, but received no answer.
The Dark Elves disappeared once again.
Dominic’s Knight Order had no choice but to remain trapped there.
For some inexplicable reason, even their Instinctive Perception, reinforced with Mana, could not detect the enemies’ presence.
For four days now, every time the Imperial Knights attempted to advance, the Dark Elves launched brief ambushes before disappearing once again.
They could not even sleep peacefully.
And the constant fear that their throats might be targeted at any moment was more than even the courageous Imperial Knights could endure indefinitely.
This was clearly less a battle—
And more like being hunted.
“Damn Demi-Humans!”
Dominic roared in fury after once again missing a Dark Elf by the narrowest of margins.
But hidden within the darkness, the Dark Elves merely watched them—
And smiled coldly.
