"Life is a cage for death... death is the hymn of life."
Amid the chaos of thirteen spices, it seed like soone was whispering in his ear.
...What the heck?
He shivered and instantly beca fully awake.
Perhaps due to the shock, his impression of that phrase beca rather faint. It was like waking from a dream, not very clear in mory.
Upon waking up, his first reaction was...
"Holy shit, this body feels amazing."
Thirteen Spices couldn’t help but exclaim.
He could clearly feel that his body had not only beco strong and powerful... but although his eyes were a bit dry, his vision was exceedingly clear, easily able to see the tiny corners of the room. It was as if a person with severe nearsightedness suddenly wasn’t nearsighted anymore.
Also, his breathing beca more stable, and his mind seed to work a tad faster—he tried doing so ntal arithtic with three-digit multiplication and division in his head. The results ca out about a third faster than he was used to.
Originally, he thought that dragging a Husky might still be sowhat difficult.
But now, he suddenly felt confident—
Of course, Thirteen Spices also knew this was just an illusion.
It’s like when soone’s strength suddenly increases, they might even get the illusion "I could punch through a wall with one fist." But in reality, it’s just because their actual level has surpassed their previous perception, leading to a misjudgnt.
However...
"...Wasn’t it said that upon waking, I would see Husky?"
He propped himself up from the bed, looking around in a daze.
"Where’s my dog?"
In the room plastered with newspaper clippings, there was not a dog in sight.
Even the drinking water ntioned in the strategy, which should have been at the bedside, was nowhere to be found.
No, not found—
Thirteen Spices suddenly spotted the "cup" ntioned in the strategy.
It was emptied of water and had been moved near the doorway.
—He knew right off the bat who had drunk it.
Hey, in the plot "I" am the one who drinks a lot, right? Why did you drink my warm water?
...Did I wake up too early or too late?
Thirteen Spices glanced at the kettle on the simple stove that was still heating and far from boiling.
He got up, cautiously and sowhat puzzled, he paced the room and started to inspect the newspapers.
...As expected.
They were all news reports about Justus.
"Our Guardian—The Unfallen Shield Justus"
""I’d rather be hurt myself than see others suffer""
""You need as your shield"—Hero Justus"
"Cheers! 30-second post-disaster rescue of 48 people! The record for most efficient rescue!"
"The Shieldless Shield, The Bladeless Blade"
"Master of the Greatsword and Hand Axe! He’s also a healer!"
"Goddamn, a healer who uses a greatsword and hand axe..."
At this point, Thirteen Spices could no longer hold back his snark: "That’s even more outrageous than an assassin using a greatsword and hand axe."
"—Are you there? Show your head."
"—Connor: Do you have any objections?"
When two lines of text suddenly floated before his eyes, Thirteen Spices was taken aback.
"..nts?"
He was startled: "There’s even a comnting system?"
"—Fun, right? Know how to play? Haven’t played before, have you?"
"Hold on, buddy. That is too old..."
Thirteen Spices complained: "Could it be... Old Goose?"
"—Wrong, it’s Cat Cat."
"...?"
He vaguely wanted to say sothing, but after thinking twice, he dared not.
What’s called social intelligence, ah (tactically lean back).
I can’t take it anymore.
Thirteen Spices felt the urge to complain was getting stronger and if he kept focusing on the comnts, he wouldn’t have ti to investigate things in the instance.
He still rembered his mission.
He mainly ca in to understand the chanics.
"Let’s start by searching the room,"
Thirteen Spices quickly adjusted his attitude and adeptly addressed "the viewers": "This place should have a recording setup, right? In that case, I won’t make you wait, I’ll just go ahead. Those who can’t see clearly can watch the replay later. Let’s try to save so unnecessary ti."
He said this as he quickly walked around the room, committing to mory the main content of the newspapers on the wall—mainly following a tiline of ti, place, and people. He recorded Justus’s experiences in his mind, while muttering to himself with rapid articulation.
This took him less than ten minutes.
Thirteen Spices now had a shallow mory ford in his mind.
After leaving the copy, he could also fill in his mory through playback, not needing to rember everything in one go. As long as he had a temporary impression to avoid rembering incorrectly or having a jumbled mory, that was enough.
"And then we start Justice’s thorough search."
After that, Thirteen Spices began to search for Justus’s personal belongings following the tiline indicated by the newspapers, rummaging through boxes and overturning drawers.
Just as he expected.
The items in the drawer matched the ti and content of the newspaper above perfectly—this must be a kind of confidentiality label.
Justus himself would know at a glance roughly which year’s affairs it was, what he had on hand at that ti, or what he was doing.
And in the drawer directly below that newspaper, there were related items.
It wasn’t long before Thirteen Spices found various items including, but not limited to, so yellowed cloth dolls, spare hatchets, flat tal liquor bottles empty of drink, strange potions of unrecognized use, and cheap wooden rings.
...How should I put it.
They all seed like they could be useful, but it was unclear what they were used for.
The only thing that could be imdiately used was probably this hatchet.
Thirteen Spices clipped the hatchet to his waist at once.
And just then.
The door was abruptly pushed open.
Caught in the midst of his thorough search, Thirteen Spices was montarily startled and instinctively crouched down, attempting to hide.
But he quickly ca to his senses.
—I’m not the thief here, what’s there to be afraid of!
Just as he was about to turn around proudly to rebuke the intruder,
He saw a strong man, exuding an intimidating presence, slowly approaching him.
His deep brown skin shone with an oily sheen, muscles like boulders swelling all over his body, carrying a sack in his hand. It was stuffed with things... like a person?
Thirteen Spices suddenly felt a twinge of fear and crouched down again.
However, the muscular man seed taken aback upon seeing him.
He glanced back at the bed, then looked at Thirteen Spices with so hesitation.
"Uh..."
Huh?
That reaction...
At that mont, an idea struck Thirteen Spices.
He tentatively asked, "Husky? Dog? Huo Huo?"
"Ah... you’re finally awake."
Instantly, the strong man let out a sigh of relief, carelessly dropping the sack, and complained, "I’ve been trying to wake you and nothing worked, you scared the hell out of !"
Seeing this, Thirteen Spices also felt a wave of relief wash over him.
It was indeed Husky.
He glanced at the terrifying muscles of Husky, able to carry this sack weighing at least several dozen pounds singlehandedly...
He couldn’t help but ask,
"...What were you afraid of?"
"I thought I was the only one who had co in here!"
"Husky" defended his concern legitimately, "I have no clue what to do since there’s no lead. I was also worried about ssing things up... Then you wouldn’t recognize their original state, and we might hit a snag.
"I’m not sure if there’s a pattern to the arrangent here. But it would definitely be chaotic if I touched it," Husky said, crouching down to rummage through the sack, "so I went to investigate other rooms.
"Since there was nobody outside. I just kicked open all the other doors, and everything that might be useful, I brought it all back."
As he spoke, Husky took out a bunch of fruit from the sack.
He handed Thirteen Spices an apple, "Eat."
"Where’s the strategy guide you were going to get ?"
Thirteen Spices’s voice suddenly grew louder.
Casually taking the apple, he bit into it.
But Husky’s reply was quite self-assured.
He looked at Thirteen Spices in surprise, "It’s been a couple of hours, brother! I’ve definitely forgotten!
"I can still rember that you are the one lying on the bed, which is pretty good. Otherwise, I might have just hamred you to death on impulse."
"Why?!"
Thirteen Spices was imdiately alard, "We are teammates!"
The strong man Husky was portraying scratched his head, a bit puzzled, "But didn’t you say we’re supposed to play roles?
"According to the scenario I got when I entered...
"I seem to be here to kill you, brother."
Husky said, not entirely sure.
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