Chapter 36
ranslator: Kell Editor: Weasalopes
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The Path of Stealth
As soon as Hikaru left the Adventurers Guild, he made his way to a certain place, pondering things along the way .
So the Four Stars of the East are going to search for Lavia . Definitely not what I expected .
Hikaru was eavesdropping right outside Unken’s office . He checked Selyse’s Soul Board as well .
【Soul Board】Selyse Lande
Age: 19 Rank: 41
2
【Vitality】
. . 【Natural Recovery】6
. . 【Stamina】5
. . 【Immunity】
… . 【Magic Resistance】1
… . 【Toxic Immunity】2
【Physical Strength】
. . 【Strength】3
. . 【Weapon Mastery】
… . 【Sword】5
… . 【Shield】4
… . 【Armor】3
【Agility】
. . 【Power Burst】4
. . 【Balance】3
【Willpower】
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. . 【Mental Strength】4
. . 【Faith】
… . 【Holy】5
. . 【Charisma】3
. . 【Appeal】3
She was strong . Not as strong as the captain of the knights Lawrence, who was also known as a Master Swordsman . Her fighting style was most likely different from him as well . Unlike the captain, who relied on instinct and brute strength to mow down his enemy in one blow, Selyse looked to be the type to rely on her speed .
She doesn’t stand a chance against me, though .
Hikaru might lose in a simple one-on-one, but a one-on-one where anything goes, he was confident he’d win . Lawrence had his Instinct, but Selyse didn’t . Her scouting skill was the same as the average person .
A party, huh…
The Four Stars of the East was a party of four women . It was safe to assume that one of them excelled at scouting . Selica, who looked to be someone from a different world, had those monstrous stats, so its either of the other two members . Lawrence alone was absurdly powerful . It seemed necessary to assess the strength of the Four Stars as a group .
Soon enough Hikaru arrived at the sewers . He wanted to see Kelbeck of the Thieves Guild . As always the air was damp . Amidst the smell of mold, he caught a whiff of something sweet, coming perhaps from fruits picked by bats . In one area of the sewer system were residential quarters, and Kelbeck was in one of the rooms there .
「Sup, Kelbeck . 」
「…Son of a!」
Hikaru called out to Kelbeck out of nowhere, causing the man, who was glued to his desk, to be taken aback . He had red flame-like tattoos that ran from his forehead to his right cheek, to the back of his neck and down to his body .
「Y-You ass! I told you the next time you come to go through the front . 」
「I didn’t see anyone . 」
「Not that again . Well, whatever . So what do you want? First there was that fellow, and now you… Do kids these days not have any manners?」
「That fellow? Who?」
「She’s a little older than you and had fluffy hair . You didn’t pass by each other?」
「………」
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I didn’t pass by her… I think . The way Kelbeck said it, it seemed she was just here a few moments ago . A woman a little older than Hikaru .
A member of the Four Stars of the East .
He didn’t expect them to come here before him . They most likely passed by each other in the sewers, and that sweet smell must’ve come from her .
Did she notice me? Nah, I doubt it . It was too dark .
Hikaru glanced at every corner of the room, thinking perhaps she was lurking close by . It was his first time having a close encounter with someone who could use Stealth and it made him feel uncomfortable . He was both lucky and unlucky .
Had he arrived a little bit earlier, he would’ve heard what the two of them were talking about . If, however, he arrived way earlier, the woman could’ve eavesdropped on them instead .
Should I add more points to both Life and Mana Detection? I don’t have a lot of points left, though .
Hikaru thought he could beat Selyse in a one-on-one . But against someone who could use Stealth, he realized he couldn’t . It would be a draw . The enemy wouldn’t be able to see him, but he wouldn’t be able to see the enemy either .
「What are you looking around for?」Kelbeck asked, puzzled .
「Did she mention her name?」
「She did . Sarah of the Four Stars of the East . 」
「Did you tell her about me?」
「I would never sell a paying client out . Even if they’re a cocky brat . 」
Hikaru hired Kelbeck for Lavia’s escape, in which he asked for a man to distract Nogusa and his party . It was a safety measure he had to take since he had no points in Group Obfuscation back then . Even if he did, he had no idea how effective the Skill was .
「She wanted information so I gave her some, took some money, and shooed her away . 」
It seemed the Four Stars of the East came here to search for information . The daughter of a Count had disappeared . They most likely assumed that someone from the underworld pulled some strings . They were right in coming here . Hikaru was struck with fear . The good thing was they didn’t know that Kelbeck himself was involved in stopping the carriage .
「Just to be sure, is the fellow I hired safe?」
「Yeah . He’s a peddler . Right now, he should be in a port city about two mountains away from here buying stocks . He won’t be back in Pond until spring next year . There’s no way he’ll get tracked . 」
「I see . 」
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「What? You had doubts about the way I do things?」
「…Kinda . 」
「Man, you’re infuriating . Get outta here!」
「I’m here today as a client . 」
「What?」
Hikaru took out some coins from his leather bag .
「Tell me everything you know about the Four Stars of the East . 」
That evening, Hikaru went straight back to the hotel . In the end, he wasn’t able to see Jill, but there was nothing he could do about that . The Four Stars of the East could be in the Adventurers Guild . He had seen the faces of Selica Tanoue and Selyse Lande – the latter he saw from afar as she left the guild . The other two were named Sarah and Sophie Bloomfield . Kelbeck described both their appearances in detail – for a hefty price of 10,000 gilans – but he could still mistake them for someone else . He couldn’t rely on verbal description alone . It was also possible that Sarah used Stealth .
After careful consideration, Hikaru decided to put points on his Mana Detection . Why didn’t he choose Life Detection? It was because he recalled the cloak Princess Kudyastoria wore . He could only sense her with Mana Detection back then .
Hikaru paid a visit to Dodorono’s shop to ask the dwarf if it was possible to make equipment that had cloaking capabilities . He said that with expensive materials, it could be done – a gear that could conceal the wearer’s scent, heat, and overall presence . In other words, things that were related to Life Obfuscation and Imperceptibility .
Mana Obfuscation was still a fairly unknown Skill apparently . So Hikaru thought that Sarah most likely excelled in either Life Obfuscation or Imperceptibility . It was nothing more than speculation, of course . But he didn’t have unlimited points, so he thought it’d be best to put what he had on Mana Detection .
His soul rank had gone up three levels; two from Lavia destroying the Goblin settlement and one from killing a few monsters afterwards . He put two points on Mana Detection and a new Skill branched out from it called Detection Expansion .
【Instinct】
. . 【Detection】
… . 【Life Detection】1
… . 【Mana Detection】3
……【Detection Expansion】0
【Detection Expansion】Extends detection range . Max: 3 .
After mulling it over, he put one point on Detection Expansion . Even Unken only had two points on Mana Obfuscation . Hikaru doubted Sarah had three points or more on hers .
Right now, there was no way of knowing if he made the right choice, but one thing was certain: Expansion was one hell of a Skill . Three points on Mana Detection gave him a search range of thirty meters . With one point on Detection Expansion, it went up to almost a hundred meters .
He could see soft, blue flames outside the walls – signs of people . It was like one of those cheats in first-person shooter games where one could see enemies behind walls .
Though in order to find out who’s using Stealth, he had to use his actual sight as well . If he saw blue flames with his Skill, but his eyes couldn’t perceive anyone, then that person was using Stealth . It was quite annoying . Plus he had to get as close to five meters to even check their Soul Board .
I wanted to improve my fighting Skills or Stamina, but I suppose I’ll just have to take it one step at a time .
Hikaru’s Vitality and Magical Power were still unlocked . If possible, he wanted to use magic as well . But he also wanted to master both Stealth and anti-Stealth . Right now, he needed to eliminate the danger .
「Welcome back . 」
Lavia was reading the botanical picture book when she noticed Hikaru’s return .
「I have some bad news . 」
「Aren’t you supposed to say “I’ve got good news and bad news . What do you want to hear first?”」
「What is this, some American TV series?」
「America…?」
「Ah, no . It’s nothing . The bad news is…」
Hikaru told Lavia about how the Four Stars of the East were most likely looking for her . He left the part about Kelbeck and the women’s Skills, however .
「I see… Are we leaving town, then?」
「No . We’d only draw suspicion if we left . We came back to Pond knowing they would be here . We’ll just have to carry out what we need to do . 」
「What’s that?」
Hikaru grinned .
「I’ll get to rank E tomorrow then we’re going out of town . 」