Chapter 48: Monster Hunt - 1
They were greatly shocked.
But I was not.
‘Ah. Now that I thought about it.’
A line from the Future Diary ca to mind.
Right. She had tried to cut Ian down out of the blue just before the final quest.
It wasn’t because she held a personal grudge against Ian.
She intended to kill all the participants who had survived up to that point.
Ian had rely beco the first target.
Aina, who never missed a chance to react to such provocations, replied cynically.
“You think you can kill us? Do you think we’ve survived this long just because we were clever?”
“I can kill you.”
“You can’t even see.”
“Still, I can kill you.”
Sienne’s tone was unbearably calm.
Berseum muttered under his breath.
“Probably. If Ian was ranked fifth in the Empire, Sienne was the foremost knight of the continent in her day. No — not just that; even in the whole of history she was always counted among the top handful.”
“……”
“But why would she deliberately try to kill us?”
“Because you might betray each other at the last mont. Just like my lover’s close friend did.”
“That’s absurd.”
“I think it’s absurd too. But we can’t leave even a shred of doubt.”
Crunch.
Sienne bit her lip.
Blood stread down.
It was plainly not an ordinary resolve.
“I must survive this quest by any ans. This ti. This ti for sure……”
“……”
“In any case, that is my plan, but still — will you accept into your party? Until the final quest, I will cooperate with you fully.”
In a way it was a ridiculous question.
Sienne didn’t need to declare that she intended to ‘kill us soday.’
No — she shouldn’t have declared it.
How many people would accept that openly?
She must have known that.
‘But I don’t want to lie,’ she had said.
Good grief. Such a straightforward personality.
I was silent for a mont, then spoke.
“Let’s postpone that discussion for later. I want to change the subject for a mont.”
“Go ahead.”
“You ntioned earlier Ian de Trosse. Sienne, you beca famous long after you disappeared, but you must have at least heard the na, right?”
“The Trosse family was a persistent enemy from the Kingdom of Partikal’s point of view. I rember the family’s only son was called a prodigy from his childhood.”
“He is also a participant in this quest.”
Sienne’s expression hardened.
It seed she had not encountered Edgar or Ian in previous quests.
“That man……”
“Yes. And he had his sights set on our lives. Not only during quests, but even during rest periods like this.”
“Why?”
“A madman nad Edgar Tyler was after us. It looked like Ian had beco that man’s lackey.”
I briefly explained Edgar.
Sienne listened with her jaw dropped.
“To destroy an entire territory to kill you… A madness comparable to his lover’s friend.”
“Anyway, we ca to ask Sienne for help. Fight Ian alongside us.”
“……”
“He obtained the first-place prize called the Brooch in the Fourth Quest. It’s an item that dramatically boosts the wearer’s ability. We have no ans to contend with it.”
“……”
“So join us.”
Then Sienne said sothing unbelievable.
“I should ask you the sa.”
“For what?”
“Whether you will accept into your party.”
The atmosphere shifted in an instant.
Aina started it.
She spoke in a voice that sent chills down my spine.
“You keep saying ‘who are you teaming up with?’ — Who are you taking hands with?”
“Ian de Trosse.”
“He is a descendant of the family that destroyed your kingdom!”
“I don’t care what happened to a kingdom that’s already fallen. I don’t intend to take revenge. My goal is simply to survive this quest to the end……”
To have my wish granted, she had added, almost in a whisper.
We were silent for a mont.
Then Sienne spoke with a slightly apologetic tone.
“I’m sorry. That’s probably not the answer you wanted to hear.”
“……”
“You may curse , scold , or damn . If surviving Magireta’s quest and obtaining a wish is at stake, I will ally with anyone.”
“But you intend to kill all the people you’ve been with right before the final quest. If you ally with Ian, that ans you’ll have to fight him soday, doesn’t it?”
“Yes. It may be harder than killing you, but it won’t be impossible.”
No.
She had not seen Ian in person.
By the ti Ian had been active, she would already have been in seclusion.
It was hard to imagine how strong Ian had beco with a Brooch on him.
‘What’s more……’
In the Future Diary, Ian had killed Sernia.
She would never be able to defeat Ian.
“This may be sudden, but I can see the future.”
“……?”
“In the future I saw, Sienne’s throat was cut by Ian.”
“That’s a new kind of provocation.”
“How about joining us and attacking Ian now instead?”
“I refuse. Soone of that caliber would be too precious to kill right now.”
As expected, she would not be convinced imdiately.
I sighed deeply.
Sienne said, “Sleep here tonight.”
“Huh?”
“You said Ian and Edgar would co looking for you. If you stay here, it will be easier for to et them as well.”
“……”
“I apologize for showing you the sight of weighing both parties. You may refuse.”
We looked at one another for a mont.
We exchanged a lot through facial expressions in that brief ti, but ultimately they left the decision to .
I finally spoke.
“All right. Let’s do that.”
Sienne’s hut was fairly spacious, with a large room where several people could sleep comfortably.
I heard it was a room she had prepared for her sister’s use.
Everyone but Sienne gathered in one place.
Arlia Kerr Dneroum spoke.
“Mason. Is Sienne’s death at Ian’s hand a fixed future?”
“Yes. It might be different if Sienne could be given a Brooch as well.”
“So the Brooch is a transferable item.”
“It seems so. Hmm…… maybe the other first-place prizes are the sa.”
Then I had to be even more careful with the Teleportation Bead.
Aina spoke up.
“How are we supposed to convince that stubborn old lady? She’s clearly weighing us against Edgar’s gang.”
“The best way is to show her what we can do. Sienne seems like the type who chooses her party based on ability, not character.”
“Sa here. That’s why I’m still staying.”
“Oh, uh. Thanks.”
“No matter how strong Ian is, you’re a hundred tis better—you can see the future and you’re sharp as hell. The problem is, how do we prove that to her?”
We folded our arms and began to think.
Then, a thought flashed through my mind.
‘Co to think of it, Diary Book.’
[Yes.]
‘I think I saw an Insight pop up on the administrator page earlier. Can you show ?’
I’d ant to check it before, but finding Sienne had taken priority.
The Diary Book’s pages flipped automatically.
Bin Phil—the one who had been tead up with Edgar during the Fourth Quest.
I grasped the Diary Book and spoke to him in my mind.
‘Hello.’
[…….]
‘Hm? Can you not hear ? Hello?’
[Uwaaaah!]
The response was quite intense.
Well, hearing a voice suddenly echo inside your head would make anyone think they’d gone insane.
I calmly said,
‘We were together during the Third Quest…’
[You’re Mason, aren’t you? I recognize your voice! I just don’t understand why it’s echoing in my head!]
‘Please calm down. You already know I have so strange abilities.’
[Ugh… even so.]
‘I wanted to ask you sothing, that’s all.’
I questioned him in detail about what had happened during the Fourth Quest, Hide-and-Seek.
Apparently, Bin Phil held a great deal of goodwill—and even a sense of debt—toward .
Once he’d cald down, he answered my questions sincerely.
‘You said the location for Hide-and-Seek was the Emperor’s Audience Chamber?’
[Yes, definitely.]
‘But we already used the Imperial Audience Chamber before. Well, I suppose Magireta could have made multiple identical places.’
[No, it wasn’t the Empire’s chamber. The clothing of the waxwork-like figures standing around wasn’t Imperial attire.]
‘Then?’
[If my mory’s right… it was the Audience Chamber of the Kingdom of Partikal.]
A grin crept across my lips.
This might really turn into a valuable piece of information.
After that, I kept prying for more details.
Finally, I asked the most important question.
‘As I recall, Edgar muttered sothing strange to himself. You must’ve overheard it.’
[Heh. You even know about that?]
‘What did he say?’
Bin answered honestly.
When I heard his words, the corner of my mouth twitched.
This was it.
With this, I could definitely persuade Sienne.
A truly excellent insight.
‘I see. Thank you.’
[Oh, it’s nothing. Just help again next ti, heh.]
‘I’m not sure if we’ll be in the sa quest next ti.’
[You could at least say “don’t worry,” you know…]
After ending the connection, I gathered my thoughts quietly.
And the more I thought, the more my spine tingled.
Not from fear—
But from excitent, from joy, from faint exhilaration.
‘At this mont…’
I had taken one step closer to uncovering Edgar’s true identity.
We spent our ti at Sienne’s house, waiting for Edgar to arrive.
Though Sienne hadn’t chosen to side with us yet, our relationship wasn’t hostile either.
She was kinder and more courteous than I’d expected.
Even Aina, who’d glared at her skeptically at first, ended up saying:
“But hey, lady.”
“…Could you please just call by my na?”
“Oh, right. Sienne-lady.”
“……”
“Would you mind taking off your bandage for a mont?”
Sienne paused, then asked,
“Why?”
“I don’t know what price Magireta took from you, but I want to take a look.”
“Are you a doctor?”
“No. Quite the opposite, actually. But I do know a fair bit about such things.”
Sienne silently unwrapped her bandage.
All our eyes naturally turned toward her.
Aina, who had confidently stepped forward, soon shook her head.
“She took your whole eyeballs. There’s no fixing this.”
Indeed.
Beneath Sienne’s bandage was nothing but an empty hollow.
The sight was so shocking that everyone fell silent.
I did too.
But not out of horror at her wound.
[Oh. It’s here.]
‘What is?’
[A crisis for all of you. A quest has appeared.]
Then the Diary Book displayed the new quests.
That was what startled .
A sudden quest—to ensure Sienne’s survival as well.
[Good timing. You’d just seen her real face after she removed the bandage.]
‘You an she’s one of the potential candidates too?’
[Seems like it.]
‘That’s a pretty half-hearted answer.’
[Well, yeah.]
In any case, this gave us yet another reason to bring Sienne into our party.
anwhile, Sienne was retying her bandage as she spoke softly.
“Sotis I regret it. I should’ve offered sothing other than my eyes.”
“Co to think of it, why did you put your eyes on the scale? That must’ve been your most precious asset as a knight.”
“Precisely because of that. When dealing with Magireta, if your offering isn’t valuable enough, you’re disqualified imdiately—and failure wasn’t an option for .”
We each offered her our own words of comfort.
A faint smile appeared on Sienne’s face.
After that brief episode, it felt like the wall between her and us had slightly crumbled.
She even cooked for us, and we shared light chatter and jokes.
Sienne slowly began to open up.
But I could tell.
Though she clearly felt so affection for our group, it wouldn’t affect her decision.
‘As expected, I’ll have to go with the plan.’
And then, another day passed—by the ti evening arrived, an uninvited guest ca knocking.
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