Ch.2424. User

This world is a medieval era where power dominates everything.

The power of civil servants is immense.

The day after falling from that cliff.

“As you testified, we found two bodies, but we haven’t caught the murderer yet.”

…Civil servants were incompetent.

“I apologize. In the name of the Ragnar Guild, we’ll do our best to investigate.”

“No, thank you for your efforts.”

I couldn’t curse them to their faces, so I remained polite.

They might be called civil servants, but they’re just ordinary working people.

Moreover, this person was a member of Ragnar, the number one explorer guild.

Meaning I’d die if I messed with them.

“Sigh.”

I sat alone, feeling the warmth of the campfire.

My legs were still a bit numb.

“Adel.”

A calm voice came from behind.

“Ah, Ms. Shiro.”

Shiro suddenly appeared and sat beside me.

She took jerky from her food pouch and held it close to the campfire.

“Do you like it warm?”

“Yes.”

I quietly watched as she heated the jerky.

After a few seconds, just before the jerky was about to burn, she pulled her hand back.

“…Want some?”

Shiro offered me the jerky she was about to eat.

“Pardon?”

“You were staring at it. Don’t you want some?”

I was just curious about what she was doing, but did it look that way to others?

“No, please eat it yourself, Ms. Shiro.”

“Hmm…”

She seemed to contemplate for a moment after hearing my response.

Then, as if something occurred to her, she tore the jerky in half with both hands and offered me one piece.

“…Ms. Shiro.”

“Yes.”

She answered with a strangely excited voice.

A proud attitude, as if asking if she’d done well.

“Thank you for your consideration.”

It felt awkward to refuse, so I accepted it.

It’s not like I’d die from eating a piece of jerky, and…

“It’s nothing.”

Above all, Shiro seemed pleased.

That was good enough.

“Then I’ll enjoy it.”

I bit into the jerky.

I hadn’t eaten jerky for a while, so I didn’t realize it was much softer than I remembered.

“Even though it’s dried meat, it feels like steak. Does heating it over the campfire make it this soft?”

“…?”

Shiro, who was chewing her jerky, looked at me strangely.

“This is… soft to you?”

“Yes. It’s very easy to chew.”

I wondered what was strange about what I said, but then I realized.

“Ah, I’m sorry. It must be because of the Source I obtained earlier.”

I hadn’t thought about it because it seemed useless, but the baby Basilisk’s Source had an additional ability besides physical enhancement.

Enhanced jaw strength and tooth durability.

If I concentrated momentarily, I could bite through iron.

If I tried to use it in actual combat, my head would fly off first, but it seemed quite useful in daily life.

“Basilisk?”

“Yes. When absorbed, it not only strengthens the body but also enhances jaw strength.”

“That’s interesting.”

Later, when I synthesize Sources, it will change into a different ability, but until then, I could use it conveniently in everyday life.

“By the way, do you know how strong it is?”

Shiro asked with her hand covering her mouth.

Perhaps she was curious about the exact ability of the Source, as it might be related to combat.

“If my memory serves me right, I could probably destroy iron equipment. I could easily pierce human skin.”

I could crush bones of people who hadn’t raised their physical resistance above a certain level.

“That would definitely be convenient. My jaw is weak.”

By the way, Shiro had been chewing the jerky in the corner of her mouth throughout our conversation.

She still hadn’t swallowed it, it seemed.

“They say chewing food thoroughly is good for health. That’s your own advantage, Ms. Shiro.”

“Thanks for the compliment.”

Shiro continued chewing for quite a while after that.

I glanced at my watch; she swallowed the jerky after about two minutes.

“Delicious.”

She took out another piece of jerky from her food pouch, but this time put it in her mouth without heating it.

“You’re not heating it this time?”

“No, it’s a different taste. Do you want some?”

As Shiro said this, her hand was already taking out more jerky.

She seems to want to share.

“I’ll gratefully accept. I was hungry after using a lot of energy at dawn.”

There’s no way I’d be hungry from just that, but I mixed in a fabrication to go along with her.

“Hmm. Adel, are your injuries okay?”

As I was spending time with Shiro, Reneva, who had been sound asleep in the tent, woke up.

She looked quite sleepy, having woken up once at dawn because of me.

“Thanks to the excellent abilities of the priests, I’m fine now.”

“That’s good, but do you know how shocked I was seeing you yesterday?”

Reneva shuddered, crossing her arms as if she didn’t even want to imagine the situation.

“Even if something happens, think about your body first next time.”

“I understand.”

To that, Reneva muttered a response and sat next to Shiro.

“…You’ll keep doing it anyway. Just watching from the side makes me worried.”

Considering what happened at dawn, it wasn’t that dangerous.

Not catching the culprit was a bit of a crack, but falling from the cliff was a calculated move.

“Well, I anticipated falling from the cliff when I went. Fortunately, my prediction was correct.”

So, I told the truth.

If it were a real life-or-death tightrope walk, it would be more like fighting the Shade Predator or the baby Basilisk.

“You’re definitely a strange person.”

“Is that a compliment?”

“No.”

Reneva said with a faint smile.

“Just… don’t get hurt.”

“…?”

Is she subtly criticizing me?

It felt strangely unpleasant, but I had no right to resist.

Without her help, I could have been implicated as an accomplice in the murder case.

To survive as a Barbarian, I needed strong backing.

***

As time passed, it became a quiet afternoon.

Most explorers had gone hunting, so the base camp was less crowded than in the evening.

The weather was quite nice, perhaps because we were at the boundary between spring and summer.

‘This is definitely suspicious.’

Meanwhile, I was lying down, playing detective.

The gray-haired baron was suspicious.

Was his name Hail Hitter?

Anyway, I was thinking about the baron with a somewhat fascist-sounding name. Doesn’t the name itself perfectly suit a murderer?

‘Hmm.’

Actually, I was joking.

No matter how much of a profiler I am, I don’t believe in physiognomy to the extent of labeling someone a criminal based solely on their name or face.

I continued my thoughts seriously.

‘People died.’

From what I gathered walking around the base camp, five people were killed by that guy last night.

The weapon the culprit was holding wasn’t clearly visible, but considering the sound, it was likely a blunt weapon murder.

‘…A blunt weapon?’

Suddenly, one fact came to mind.

The archer’s body found in the Crystal Cave also had marks of being hit by something like a blunt weapon.

Even the ice golem was destroyed by a blunt weapon.

Did the culprit come up to the upper floor through the Crystal Cave?

‘Is it really that bastard?’

This was reasonable suspicion.

He’s carrying a hammer too.

Moreover, other explorers said he arrived on the 5th floor yesterday.

Since it takes 24 hours for the Crystal Cave boss to respawn, the timing of his arrival also roughly matches.

“Ms. Shiro. I have somewhere to go, so I’ll be away for a while.”

“Okay.”

Reneva and her escort mage were cooperating with the guild investigation in various ways.

With a powerful figure present, the guild seemed to be cautious around her.

‘Meanwhile, I’ll play detective for a bit.’

I headed towards where the fascist baron was, partly to kill time.

***

The baron was resting alone in a corner with a blank stare.

Not hunting and just lounging around like an unemployed person—already suspicious.

“Baron Hail, how are you?”

“Ah. You’re…”

He looked at me as if I were an unwelcome visitor.

Why did you come? I came because I was bored.

Are you okay after getting hurt? No, my bones pierced through my flesh, do you think I’m okay?

And so on.

We exchanged a few words, briefly finishing our WWE, and quickly got to the point.

“What were you doing last night, Baron?”

“…That sounds like you’re interrogating me.”

“It’s nothing serious, I was just wondering if you were safe. It would be a big deal if someone with a baron title got hurt.”

I provoked him to a moderate degree, and he showed a somewhat defensive stance.

With Reneva backing me up, I could be this bold. I even got away with it yesterday.

“By the way, how many Sources have you absorbed so far?”

“I’ve absorbed three, and I find it difficult to tell you what kinds they are.”

“I see.”

I casually asked, and he cautiously answered.

This wasn’t enough yet.

“There’s one more thing I’m curious about, Baron.”

“…Yes, what question do you—”

“—What Source are you planning to absorb next?”

I interrupted him mid-sentence.

It was a blatant provocation, but…

“The preparations will be complete soon, but exactly what Source it is…”

For a moment, he showed signs of confusion and awkwardly cut off his words.

“Why did you suddenly stop… Could it be that you’re trying to absorb a hidden Source?”

I pressed persistently.

“No, I was momentarily confused. I’ve already filled all three slots, so I won’t be absorbing any Sources until I go higher. It was a strange question to begin with.”

He tried to dismiss the situation that way.

In fact, I had approached him from the beginning with the conviction that he was the culprit.

The blunt weapon, the timing, and the incident that occurred.

‘Including the one in the Crystal Cave, he killed six people.’

Considering the Source tree he would take in the future, the next Source he would absorb would be from the hidden boss of the 5th floor, the “Guardian of the Wilderness.”

With that, he could complete one final Source even with a maximum of three Sources.

Anyway, the method to summon the Guardian of the Wilderness was extremely simple.

You take a glass bottle that drops with a certain probability when you defeat the 5th floor field boss, fill it with seven human souls, and offer that bottle to the altar in the “Land of the Dead” area.

Then, the souls trapped in the bottle become undead and repeat dying and resurrecting forever.

“Baron Hail—”

I was about to ask one last question.

“—Are you perhaps.”

But he beat me to it.

“A game user?”

“…!”

Suddenly?

That thought crossed my mind, but thinking about it, I wasn’t the only one trying to see through the other.

Since I kept probing information that only he should know, of course he would think I was a gamer.

“So it’s true. Damn, besides me…”

Seeing my reaction, he now seemed completely convinced, showing an expression filled with ecstasy.

He even tried to embrace me, but…

“Get away from me, you bastard!”

I kicked him hard in the abdomen and entered a combat stance.

Culprit found.