Chapter 127
RMSBS - Episode 126 . Travelers of the Blue Sky (2)
After saluting them, the officer that escorted Desir and Romantica left the room . Kei then encouraged Desir’s party to sit . By the looks of it, all of his members were mercenaries .
“The reason I called all of you here is because there have been some changes made that aren’t written in the contract . ”
He pointed at a city on the map that was spread out on his desk .
“Currently, Hebrion Empire has requested that in order to fly via the Empire, the interrogation should happen at this place . As there is an unnecessary stopover added to our route, arriving may take longer than we expected . Of course, we will be paying you extra according to the increase in time . ”
He was saying that the contents of the contract could change .
‘It seems like he’s a polite, well-mannered fellow . ’
Desir nodded .
“If you could do that for us, then we don’t mind too much . ”
He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but in a situation like this, it was important to continue the conversation without making it too awkward .
“Then I’ll give you the new contract . ”
Kei pulled out the contract and handed it to Desir and his party members .
Written carefully on the contract were the details of the assignment, the precautions, the rewards, and more .
It was lengthy, but to put it simply, the assignment was to protect an individual so they could arrive at their destination safely . In other words, it was an escort mission .
‘It must be someone important . ’
Reading through the contents of the contract, Desir could tell that whoever he was escorting was an important person .
The man standing in front of him was registered as a unique hero according to the system . Considering that he held the title of Grand Master, his skills were guaranteed .
The fact that they had to hire separate mercenaries despite him being here meant that the individual they were escorting wasn’t anyone ordinary .
Desir turned his attention to the part of the contract where the precautions were listed out .
The precautions stated that due to the individual’s inability to communicate or move easily, they had to be escorted with more caution .
Having read all of the information up to that point, Desir suspected that their escort target was the old man sitting on the hammock .
The old man could hardly be considered sane . He stared off into space as he muttered unintelligible words .
He seemed extremely out of place, but if he was truly who they were supposed to escort, it wouldn’t be strange to keep him here . Desir decided to calmly gather what he could about him .
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Desir and the other party members finished signing the papers . This was apparently the condition to enter the main scenario . An alarm rang .
[You have entered the main scenario]
[Kei Hazumaryun has a very desperate goal . He will stop at nothing to achieve it . ]
[- As mercenaries hired by Kei Hazumaryun, you must escort Aldin Sepius]
[Aldin Sepius holds a big clue in achieving Kei Hazymaryun’s goal . Aldin’s life will have a grave impact on your progress in the quest . ]
Due to some unexpected turbulence, the airship started to shake considerably . As the situation became serious, Kei headed towards the steering wheel himself . After Kei dashed out of the room, only the Starling Party and the old man were left in the room .
Having never been on an airship before, Romantica and Pram seemed to be enjoying the novel experience of being caught in unexpected turbulence . They showed no signs of being nervous . In fact, they couldn’t even hold in their excitement as they bounded over to peer out the window in the room .
The sun, halfway across the horizon painted the desert a scarlet red .
“Oh my gosh, it’s endless . ”
“The southern desert really is massive . They say not even the Empire can manage all of it . ”
The Hebrion Empire’s Padun Desert in the Ethena Region was probably the single largest region of land found anywhere on the continent .
“But it’s not a suitable environment to live in, so there aren’t any cities connected to the capital, excluding the Desert Flower City . There are probably more wandering nomads than citizens . ”
As they were engaged in conversation, Adjest amused herself by skimming through several books from the bookshelf in the room .
The use of airships had decreased significantly in modern times, so it was hard to find books related to it . However, there appeared to be many of those here .
Watching the other members of the party enjoy their respective activities amidst the turbulence, Desir smiled bitterly before shifting his gaze to the map laid across the table .
‘Things are going according to expectations . ’
That was the conclusion Desir had come to about the Shadow World . He was already well versed in details relating to such Shadow Worlds .
There were many potential threats while in air, but they could easily be solved by everyone they had present aboard the airship . If they could only reach Alteia, their destination, the Shadow World would be cleared .
‘We just need to assist Kei appropriately . ’
The threats were likely to fall short of a Level 3 Shadow World . However, the Starling Party had a great helper . A person whose caliber was truly incomparable to anyone else they could find in the Hebrion Academy .
Kei Hazymaryun, Grand Master .
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The title of Grand Master during this period was only given to the best swordsmen .
Desir fully understood what the skill level of someone holding the title of a Grand Master would be like . After all, one of the final six people from the Shadow Labyrinth, Raphaello Cheriger, had also held that title .
While he couldn’t be exactly sure of the limit of Kei Hazumaryun’s strength, he made a rough estimate using another Grand Master as reference .
‘If Kei’s skills are at that level, then a Level 3 Shadow World won’t be a problem . ’
Confident in their likelihood of success in clearing the Shadow World, Desir started to consider what would happen afterwards .
Right then, he heard a low, gloomy voice from behind his back .
“Sagan . ”
Desir took his eyes off the map and looked at the old man sitting on the hammock .
Unlike the dazed look he had before, he was now smirking unpleasantly at Desir .
“Ah, so it was Sagan . ”
“Sagan?”
Desir questioned, but the old man disregarded him as he continued speaking .
“I met him . I only watched . I did nothing . It smells very familiar . Sagan . Ah, was that why… Was that it?”
As the old man continued rambling on, all eyes turned to him .
Suddenly, he burst out into a fit of giggles .
“Tee hee hee . It’s no use . It’s pointless . Nothing matters . ”
His hysterical laughter sent chills down the spine of everyone in the room .
As nobody said a word, seemingly having lost interest in them, the old man went back to muttering to himself .
“Lottier, Anas, Kiriebren . ”
Just then, footsteps could be heard as the door burst open .
It was Kei . In an urgent voice, he spoke to the Starling party .
“There’s something that you must take care of . ”
“What happened?”
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Kei responded in a very serious tone .
“A Wyvern flock has appeared . ”
[Sub quest, the Wyverns have launched an attack]
[The Wyverns have attacked the airship . ]
[ - You must stop the Wyverns in order to protect Aldin Sepius . ]
A moment later, another alarm sounded in their heads .
[Kei Hazumaryun is still unaware of your ability . He wants to use this opportunity to confirm your power . ]
[ - Prove that you are skilled . The results of this quest will affect Kei Hazumaryun’s affinity for you . ]
The airship shook violently at irregular intervals . Through the screen shining from the steering room, a Gargoyle flapping its big wings could be seen approaching .
“The Wyvern flock is still approaching from the rear!”
A monster that glides through the blue sky, the Wyvern .
Once a Wyvern chose its prey, it was known to chase it to its bitter end, and due to its tendency to travel in flocks, it was a difficult monster to hunt .
A number of Wyverns filled the screen . There seemed to be at least thirty of them .
“Load the mana cannon!”
With Kei’s command, the soldiers moved in perfect unison . Even at a glance, it was obvious that they were well-trained .
The cannon emitted a tremendous amount of noise as it concentrated all of the power put in by dozens of wizards .
“Ready to fire!”
“Fire!”
The mana cannon that finally launched created a ripple in air as the mana projectile struck the Wyverns .
*Bang*
*Bang*
The launch was accompanied by the sound of several deafening explosions .
Not a single trace of the Wyverns that were hit remained . But there were still at least twenty remaining .
“Get into a defensive formation to stop them from reaching the ship!”
The mana cannon was powerful, but it required too much time to reload . Now there was no choice but to fight them head-on .
“Let’s head to the deck too . ”
At Desir’s words, the Starling Party members nodded and hurried out .
The wind that emanated from the desert at night time was ice-cold .
When they reached the deck, the Gargoyles’ crying was noticeably louder .
“Romantica, reduce the number of approaching Wyverns as much as possible . ”
It was time for Romantica to make a move . Aiming her rifle, she invoked a spell .
[Abarossa’s Storm]
A violent storm hit the Wyverns . Magic that had almost reached the strength of a Fourth-Circle ripped numerous Wyverns into shreds .
Romantica’s shot was extremely powerful, but what was scary about her magic was not the power, but the fact that there was no delay between her shots .
*Bang*
The second shot, third shot . All of her shots were fired instantaneously .
Unable to even react to the ranged attacks, the number of remaining Wyverns continued to decrease as their brethren continued to be torn to pieces .
But even that had its limits .
As the Wyverns continued to approach, it soon became impossible to invoke powerful magic . If the airship was to get damaged and crash as a result, nobody would be able to avoid death .
As the Wyverns continued to close the gap, the tables had turned and they now had the upper hand . A Wyvern’s claws were extremely sharp, and their movements were nimble . Even well-trained soldiers would struggle to deal with them .
“AAAGHH!”
One Wyvern snatched up a soldier that was slightly out of formation . Dragged into the sky, the soldier was ripped into shreds and rain of giblets and gore poured down on the deck .
A single moment of vulnerability could result in brutal annihilation .