Side Story 4: The Isolated Island 13

The mysterious entity appeared from around the corner. Well, maybe “appeared” wasn’t the right word since none of us could actually see it.

After all, it was completely transparent. Rather than some optical illusion or camouflaging into the background, it was literally invisible.

It even used stealth and sound-dampening skills to evade detection. However, it failed to count for the movement of air around its body and the dust stirring beneath its feet.

Fran, Urushi, and I could easily tell that it was there. Genba probably sensed something as well, though Ouri-kun didn’t seem to have noticed.

『Oh, my Appraisal works.』

（What is it?）

『A person.』

The invisible entity was a man named Mesures with a scout-type job.

『Genba, I have a question. Hear me out without reacting openly.』

（O-Okay.）

As expected of a veteran. Genba managed to keep a poker face when I suddenly spoke to him via telepathy.

I told Genba the man’s name and job, but there were apparently no martial artists with that name.

Of course, Genba didn’t remember the name of everyone on the island, but only the top rankers could go this deep into the dungeon. If Genba didn’t recognize his name, then he was definitely not ranked.

So this guy was an intruder who came from the outside?

Meanwhile, Mesures continued walking at the edge of the passage, trying to slip right past us. He had no clue that we already saw through his stealth, since Fran and Urushi were pretending not to notice.

Then, the moment Mesures came into reach, I restrained him with a combination of telekinesis and Earth Magic.

「…!」

Mesures tried to struggle, but his lower body had already been swallowed into the ground, and all of his limbs were chained by my telekinesis.

It’s pretty impressive that he didn’t make a single sound though. Oh wait, maybe he was simply unable to make any noise? I guess he was using a magic tool to suppress sound rather than the Silent Action skill.

『In that case… There!』

「Dammit! What the hell is this?!」

After I ripped the brooch off his chest, both the invisibility and sound suppression were dispelled. This thing must be a powerful magic tool.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t check the details as the brooch was already broken. It must have been equipped with a safety mechanism to destroy itself if forcibly removed.

The man who appeared in front of us was of average build and height, and his face lacked any notable characteristics. Even his leather armor and other equipment was enchanted with presence concealment effects. Both his skills and gear seemed completely focused on stealth and espionage.

「You can’t escape now.」

「Y-You saw through my stealth?!」

「Of course.」

「Woof woof!」

Mesures cried out in astonishment. He must have had tremendous confidence in his magic tools and skills. Well, to be honest, he probably would have been able to sneak past all the islanders…

「Who are you? Where are you from?」

「…」

「What were you doing here?」

「…」

『Staying quiet, huh?』

（Master, what now?）

Not much of a choice with someone this suspicious. We’ll have to make him talk, even if it means resorting to forceful methods.

「Speak up now and you won’t have to get hurt.」

「…」

Fran threatened him with the tip of my blade, but Mesures refused to open his mouth.

And so, we had him join us for a “little chat”. There was some blood, some burning flesh, and the sound of bones breaking over and over again. We didn’t forget to use Life Magic to amplify his pain and Urushi’s poison to dull his consciousness.

「Damn, adventurers are ruthless…」

「Gulp…」

Genba seemed taken aback, while Ouri-kun trembled with a pale face. Perhaps martial artists never had to deal with these sorts of interrogation techniques. I’m sure they’re accustomed to blood and pain, but this was a bit different.

We continued the interrogation for another ten minutes while using Principle of Falsehood to detect his lies. This gave us most of the information we needed.

It turned out that Mesures was an operative from the Holy Kingdom of Silard.

『Never thought I’d hear that name here.』

「Nn.」

「Grr!」

Silard and the Hagane Shogunate were the two superpowers vying for control of the northern content. The Holy Kingdom possessed one of the strongest armies in the world, backed by the divine sword Alpha. But from our experience, they’re also one of the most tyrannical nations in the world.

Adol, the previous wielder of Alpha, supposedly disappeared on the continent of Gordicia, but perhaps a new wielder had been chosen by now?

Silard was bitter enemies with Hagane, the country who owns this island, so I guess that’s their motive for meddling. What a pain in the ass.

Mesures secretly visited this island by ship in order to activate a special magic tool deep inside this dungeon. He was not targeting any floor in particular, so he ended up activating it when he used up half his food supplies, on the staircase between Floor 46 and Floor 47.

Apparently, this magic tool could make a dungeon go out of control.

By interfering with the dungeon’s mana, it could make changes in the dungeon ignoring the will of the dungeon master. However, the tool was extremely expensive and no one could predict the effects. It eventually became famous as a useless and defective item.

Sometimes it would upgrade the treasure in the dungeon’s chests. At others, it just caused a monster stampede. I can see why no one used it before.

『Well, if you just want to cause trouble, then I guess it’s good for that.』

Silard seriously employed this magic tool just to harass Hagane. Apparently, they had yet to find another wielder of Alpha, so this was part of an operation to divert Hagane’s attention away from the front lines.

This time, they were merely testing the waters. Their objective was to observe how much chaos was caused, and if the island could respond properly.

『The top rankers must be late because they got caught up in the effects of the tool. The annoying part is that no one knows what will happen, not even the user.』

「I wonder if everyone is all right?」

「I’d love to regroup with them, but we can’t just leave this guy here. Ouri isn’t suited for escorting a prisoner, especially through the Orichalcum Golem floors. Looks like I’ll have to go.」

「I’ll leave him to you.」

As Genba said, someone needed to take Mesures into proper custody. If not for us, Mesures seemed like a capable spy, so he might be able to escape those temporary confinements.

However, we also needed to check on the top rankers. In the end, sending Genba back with Mesures was the best solution.

「Ouri, you better not hold her back, okay?」

「I-I know!」

「Miss, I’m counting on you to look after this guy.」

「Nn. Leave it to me.」

I was a bit hesitant to bring Ouri-kun with us, but he definitely had enough firepower to be useful. In any case, it was better to have someone who could explain the situation to the top rankers.

『Don’t worry about it, Genba. I’ll keep an eye on him too.』

「Thanks, Sword-dono.」

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