Ch.284Approach and you’ll be arrested! Roll call at the model!

The midnight raid ended with the capture of the Gentleman.

The beasts under the Gentleman’s control scattered like sand in an instant, leaving behind a small magic stone engraved with strange magical patterns.

It seems to be a type of summoning magic that uses magic stones as a medium, similar to Jessica’s Repellation Field.

When we returned to the carriage, the Gentleman was sitting on the ground next to it with his limbs restrained.

No wonder. By the time we chased after the beasts, the interior of the carriage had already been transformed into a trap.

Fragments of battle paper spread throughout the passenger compartment interfered with firearm discharge, vines extending from the lower body covered the interior like snares, and Calliope had taken refuge inside the Stone House as a precaution.

Of course, there was a possibility that the Gentleman, realizing things had gone wrong, might try to overpower Jessica by force.

That’s why the moment I noticed the ambush, I drew a strength enhancement potion with Glory Toast and made Jessica drink it. After confirming that the effect also applied to the vines substituting for her legs, I went outside the carriage.

The potion’s effect should still be ongoing, so for about 30 more minutes, no one except an Ancestor could overpower Jessica by force.

“So here we are, Mr. Gentleman. It’s been a while.”

“…?”

“What, don’t you recognize me? It’s me. The gunslinger Will you met at Corcas Gorge.”

When I showed him the single-action revolver, I could see his eyes visible through the mask experiencing pupillary tremors.

“You’re not his son? Don’t tell me you drank some rejuvenation potion!? Where? Where did you get such a thing…”

“Ah~ Unfortunately, you’re wrong. This appearance is due to Orc tribe magic. Same goes for the other women.”

“T-That’s…”

The Gentleman’s disappointment was evident even through his mask after hearing my answer.

I suppose the Third Eye tribe is truly serious about life extension if he’s asking his captors about the secret to youth.

But that’s his concern, and for us, it’s a convenient situation regardless.

“Now, Gentleman. I don’t know if Jessica told you, but we need to save a Dark Elf woman you’ve cursed. And I heard there are basically two ways to do that: either you remove it yourself, or we kill you.”

“Yes, I heard. I asked why you would go so far for an enemy, but she didn’t answer.”

“It’s not for such a grand reason. That woman can supply materials we need for our research, but unfortunately, she’s on the verge of death because of your curse. It’s a kind of deal—we save her life in exchange for her help.”

“Then why not just kill me now and be done with it? As you said, even if I agree to remove the curse, would you really believe me?”

“Well… that’s true.”

As the Gentleman says, if we only cared about lifting Calliope’s curse, killing him here would be the cleanest solution.

Even if the Gentleman agreed to remove the curse, we’d still need to return to Moon Lake to confirm the results, meaning we’d have to bear the risk of traveling with this dangerous man until then.

The reason we’re considering this troublesome option is because of the second sentence that appeared in the Book of Adventure:

[Show mercy, lift the veil, to the coastal city of the forgotten isolated island]

Setting aside the issues of “veil” and “coastal city,” who exactly is the subject of “show mercy” at the beginning?

I’ve thought about it several times on our way here, and still can’t think of anyone but the Gentleman.

If the changes in the Book of Adventure truly resulted from our party’s contact with the Third Eye tribe, then it would be natural to assume that the act of showing mercy should occur between us and the Third Eye tribe.

The question is whether we can convince the Gentleman without revealing this fact…

I have something in mind for this.

“To be frank, the reason we’re choosing the dangerous and complicated path instead of the simple one is curiosity.”

“Curiosity?”

“When we first met at Corcas Gorge, you spouted a bunch of incomprehensible things before running away. Something about powers and Armedia’s taboos… I couldn’t understand any of it then, but since then, I’ve learned various things while traveling around.”

And the Gentleman clearly said back then:

If I came to understand who he was and what significance our meeting had, there would be a chance to meet again.

Several months have passed, and now we’ve truly met again, so I honestly want to extract as much information as possible.

“One of our party’s goals is to investigate the ancient history of Gratis. For us, there’s no bigger lead than you, or rather, the Third Eye race. If we can exchange information, it’s worth the adventure of sparing the life of someone who cast a curse.”

“Of course, that’s assuming you’ll definitely remove the curse you placed on Calliope.”

After Jessica added that, the Gentleman closed his mouth, thought for a moment, and then carefully answered.

“…I need some time to think.”

“Just in case you’re thinking of waiting for Calliope to die, you should give up that idea now. My magic has stopped the curse’s progression.”

“No, I have no such intention. The woman wasn’t even my target to begin with, so I don’t care if the curse is lifted right now. I just left it alone because it didn’t matter either way.”

“That’s good. Remove it now. Then I’ll let you think as much as you want in a luxury hotel suite.”

“Luxury hotel?”

At the Gentleman’s question, Mina brought out the Stone House and released Iris who had been hiding inside. The Gentleman’s mouth, visible below his mask, fell open.

I positioned myself between the two to prevent the Gentleman from trying anything foolish, moved Iris to the back of the carriage, and continued the conversation.

“This is an S-class artifact we recovered from the dungeon you left behind. We’ve been putting it to good use for hunting criminals and as a shelter. Except for the lack of freedom to go out, it guarantees a comfortable rest.”

“…If I say I want to postpone removing the curse, where would I stay…?”

“On top of the carriage in the storage compartment. Tightly bound, of course.”

That answer seemed to be the deciding factor, as the Gentleman chose to quietly remove the curse and be confined in the Stone House.

Of course, we can only confirm whether Calliope’s curse has truly been lifted when we return to Moon Lake, but Jessica verified the magical scroll that was the medium for the curse with battle paper fragments and then burned it herself.

She said it contained over 90% identical formulas to the curse inside Calliope, so it should be fine.

The gun the Gentleman had was handed over to Mina along with the curse needles inside and was completely disassembled.

She said its firing mechanism and attack method were completely different from the settlers’ magic bullet guns, but it’s still unknown what results the analysis of that gun will yield.

It was worth disassembling just to eliminate the possibility of curse needles being fired at Iris.

Though the incident has been settled for now, we decided to take turns standing watch at night.

We can’t guarantee that the Gentleman, who has enough power to create dungeons, absolutely cannot escape from the Stone House, and even while trapped inside, he might still be able to summon those beasts outside.

Additionally, we’ve moved the Stone House to the carriage roof’s storage compartment, so even if he does escape, we won’t be caught completely off guard.

“So, what do we do now…”

“Either return to Moon Lake to confirm if Calliope’s curse has been lifted, or complete our wide-area investigation before returning.”

“Eh? Wasn’t that request just to lure in the Gentleman?”

“That’s true, but since we’ve accepted the request, I’d like to produce results. Besides, if the reason we kept the Gentleman alive was because of the Book of Adventure, we might discover another unknown dungeon or transfer gate.”

“That’s actually what I’m most looking forward to. But still…”

Just as the Book of Adventure led us to the dungeon with Anastasia’s tower, I think there’s a significant possibility we’ll discover the Third Eye tribe’s hideout in this adventure.

Especially considering that the newly appeared sentence clearly mentions a “coastal city.”

However, what concerns me slightly is that the process of meeting Anastasia was far from smooth.

Perhaps my inner thoughts showed on my face, as Seti gently embraced my head and spoke to me.

“Are you worried because you’re reminded of the Minotaur incident?”

“Ah, we really almost died back then. Though not from our party, there were even two casualties.”

“My goodness… it’s hard to believe that skilled adventurers like you faced such a crisis.”

“That crisis situation was more than 90% Hector’s fault. Of course, as adventurers, we can’t be free from life-threatening situations, but I think if we face a similar situation now, we could handle it much better.”

“…That’s right. That’s how it will be.”

Jessica is right.

We’ve done well enough so far, and our combat strength has significantly improved compared to the Minotaur incident.

There’s no reason to be held back by bad memories that don’t even qualify as trauma.

…So Seti, please stop releasing pheromones while pressing against me.

As my body has shrunk, my tolerance threshold has also decreased.

*pant* *pant*