Ch.303303 – The Last Item

<303 – The Last Item>

Leaf’s attacks were remarkably sharp.

Attacks that stole timing.

Attacks skilled in deception.

All of them were technical skills on par with this Oknodie’s prime as a veteran player.

“Please surrender now. Then you can be released safely without experiencing pain or being knocked unconscious.”

“Hmm~ I still refuse!”

Where did the information about Anrage’s Apostle come from?

I could make up an answer easily.

But it would hurt my pride as a veteran player.

Admitting defeat by bowing your head is a self-destructive act that causes greater mental damage the more pride you have in yourself.

Unfortunately for Leaf, however, the fighting conditions were in my favor.

[Night Vision]

A night action correction value trained through adventurer’s nocturnal activities.

With this, the disadvantage of darkness disappears.

[Balance]

Maintaining precarious balance on ground that’s breaking in real-time during intense combat.

Thanks to the experience points I’ve steadily accumulated for this skill, that disadvantage also disappears.

With the skill adjustments giving me leeway, I immediately made an assessment.

‘Leaf’s strength is at chapter boss level!’

Like the crazed Hestia, the queen of pets Camella, or the Silent Death and Forest of Silence.

Leaf possessed strength rivaling the chapter bosses from the first half of the game, from Chapter 1 to Chapter 4.

Even if I overwhelmed her with quantity, she maintained distance while scattering a storm of throwing weapons with enough speed and power to knock down crowds, and now she was even incorporating “magic.”

BOOM!

The ground where the shuriken hit exploded with a thunderous sound, shattering in all directions.

The surface of the dark curtain I had raised to defend against the explosion froze with a crackling sound, and the cold crept up my arm, attempting to penetrate my body.

No sooner had I vigorously shaken it off than a shuriken accompanied by <Wind Cutter> sliced off a few strands of my hair before disappearing into the darkness.

‘Enchant!’

Timing, deception, magic.

The elements to consider keep increasing.

“Are you going to keep taking hits?”

“Hmph. My attacks are already succeeding, you know?”

“But none of your attacks have landed.”

Leaf easily dodged my counterattack and was about to retort mockingly when her body tilted.

“!”

Now she noticed.

The ground around Leaf had completely collapsed and sunk.

My target wasn’t Leaf.

It was the ground of the deserted island where Leaf stood.

“Jona~! Please redefine what constitutes a ‘deserted island’ in this auction!”

“Understood. In the deserted island auction, an area defined as a ‘deserted island’ refers to land that is not small in size and is not sea, where drinking water can be obtained.”

“Did you hear that~? ‘Land that is not sea.’ If Leaf puts even one foot in the seawater that’s now filling the area, it will be considered ‘out of bounds’ from the deserted island!”

Leaf honestly acknowledged it.

“You’ve used your head well.”

“Hehe. Assassins may be strong in one-on-one combat, but they’re weak in other types of battles.”

In combat that involves cutting down terrain rather than people, she would naturally be weaker than a veteran player who’s good at everything.

To make an analogy, I refused the fighting game and changed the genre to a bombardment game.

“But you’ve underestimated an assassin maid, miss. If you believed you could force me ‘out of bounds’ with just this, you’ve made a serious miscalculation.”

Leaf’s aura suddenly became frighteningly powerful.

Shurikens shot in all directions.

When I focused my mana vision to examine them closely, I could see faint lines connected to the shurikens.

Watching Leaf running along these lines, I realized.

Those were paths.

Paths that only Leaf could use, connecting across the terrain—an assassin’s path.

“Hmm~?”

Normally, one would try to cut the lines connected to the shurikens and suffer from the counter-magic traps.

Binding and cutting.

Despite the deadly traps set on those lines, I somehow felt confident.

I think I can do this?

I reached out my hand and devoured the mana protecting the trap formula with dark mana.

“!?”

In an instant, the entire line turned pitch black.

Leaf was strong, but she tried to do too many things at once.

Greed is dangerous!

It would be impossible to control all the lines spread in every direction, but it wasn’t difficult to steal just one of them.

This was the result of Leaf’s control being weakened by spreading her power across too many places.

“Reverse binding, activate!”

The line beneath Leaf’s feet writhed and lunged at her as she leaped into the air.

Splash!

Leaf fell into the water, bubbling up before slowly rising to the surface.

“I confirm Leaf participant’s out of bounds. As of this moment, all types of interference by Leaf within the deserted island are prohibited and nullified.”

“Yahoo! I won!”

As I jumped up and down excitedly, Leaf spoke from the water.

“…I don’t recall teaching you this binding technique, where did you learn it?”

“Oh, um. At the Academy?”

“An academy that teaches turtle shell binding…”

Splash, splash.

Leaf climbed onto the deserted island of her own accord and forcefully untied the ropes that emphasized certain parts of her body.

It was a show of force, indicating she could have escaped even when she was bound.

“Even if you keep it secret, I’ve already figured out the source. It must be the professors at the Academy. Among them, only those skilled enough to know about Anrage’s Apostle would be the former hero Destroyer or the greatest righteous thief of this age, Bronze De Estra.”

“Leaf… are you angry…?”

“I’m not angry at you, miss. I’m angry at the cowardly adults who taught such indecent binding techniques to a child because of their own preferences, and who passed on dangerous knowledge to instill hatred toward the Foundation.”

* * *

Though the Foundation was trash, Leaf as a member had maintained certain principles.

Don’t give sexual teachings to children.

Don’t lead them into dangers they can’t handle.

The Academy professors had violated all the taboos that even she, a member of the Foundation, observed.

‘And they call themselves teachers and mentors at an educational institution.’

Just as the Academy couldn’t understand the Foundation, she as an assassin maid of the Foundation couldn’t understand the Academy’s professors.

“Leaf’s fighting style was fun! Can I use it when school starts in the second semester?”

“…Do as you please.”

Though she had intended to demonstrate the mana cultivation method, Oknodie had completely absorbed the fighting style.

The way she swung her dagger in the air—shwish, shwish, shwish—and threw things here and there, pulling strings to retrieve them, showed considerable skill.

The way she loaded mana into projectiles seemed quite practiced, as if she had been throwing various things all along.

“If I learn the maid’s mana cultivation method, could Titosoga become as good as Leaf?”

“It requires aptitude and effort.”

“But there’s a possibility, right?”

“If they’re your friend, I believe it’s possible.”

“Heheh. I’m excited! With this, Tito can stay with me until third year!”

Third year, not fourth year…?

Even after showing the power of the maid’s mana cultivation method?

Leaf felt her pride wounded.

“Why can’t you guarantee until fourth year?”

“To graduate with me, they can’t fail or take a leave of absence even once!”

So she wasn’t underestimating the cultivation method.

Leaf’s expression, which had been grim, softened a little.

“Since I’m remaining on the island as a supervisor’s assistant rather than a participant, I can no longer help with your meals.”

“That’s okay. I’ve been saving food for times like this!”

Oknodie’s small hands rummaged through her pocket and pulled out a crumpled envelope.

Inside was a brick-like, hard biscuit chunk typically given to prisoners in underground dungeons.

Oknodie’s eyes were saying, “To complete my food collection, I need to get through the unpleasant ones at times like this!”

‘When did she visit the underground prison…?’

Had she anticipated this moment since being on the cruise ship?

Her thorough preparation was no longer surprising.

“Oh right. Thanks to Leaf, I’m glad my time on the deserted island has been shortened!”

“I apologize. If it weren’t for me, you could have stayed about two more days.”

“Ah. I’m not blaming you at all. It’s actually a good thing. The condition for the appearance of the <Final Item>, the most valuable item on the deserted island, is that all individual items must be auctioned, and you must spend more than 10 days on the island, on the day the island disappears.”

Where did she get that information, and what was this item she was so determined to purchase?

While the former remained unknown, the latter became clear the next day at noon.

Finally, the item appeared at Jona’s last auction.

“The final item of the deserted island auction is the <Indulgence>.”

Leaf’s eyes widened.

An indulgence—equivalent to a spare life that could forgive any crime committed in the Foundation.

The only way to survive without carrying out orders that were tantamount to suicide.

“The starting auction price is 10 million points.”

“Me! Me!”

“As Oknodie participant is the only bidder, the <Indulgence> has been sold to her for 10 million points upon bidding. With this, the final day of the deserted island auction has concluded. The auction is now closed.”

On the way back to the cruise ship after the auction ended, Leaf thought.

The indulgence was a right to refuse orders and a spare life.

It’s not easily obtained, but it’s worth it.

But would the young miss ever need such an ominous item?

Certainly, her actions up until today had been quite dangerous.

She might have considerably upset the mood of the ‘Chairman’ whom she called Papa.

But personally, Leaf thought it wasn’t enough.

With the young miss’s skills, she would likely only face orders she could handle.

Oknodie, satisfied with obtaining the item she wanted, fell asleep with a happy smile.

While gently combing her hair, Leaf asked.

“Would you ever need to use the indulgence, miss?”

“There’s plenty of reason. She’s already carrying out an order.”

“Pardon?”

Unlike the confused Leaf, Jona clearly remembered what order the young miss had received.

“The Chairman clearly gave the order: Bring your friends home to play during this vacation. This order is valid throughout the summer vacation, until you arrive at the Chairman’s mansion.”

“…So boarding the cruise ship wasn’t everything.”

“And there is no mansion at any of the cruise’s stops or destinations. There is only this deserted island.”

That’s right.

The young miss has not yet completed the Chairman’s order.

And it’s not just an ordinary order.

This order is feedback for the actions harmful to the Foundation that she committed at the Academy.

An order she must carry out as payment.

If she fails to perform it, the next order will be even more severe.

If she fails to carry that out as well, the Foundation will unilaterally ‘collect’ the payment.

The [Indulgence] exists to avoid such a harsh future.

This indulgence could be used not in the distant future, but right during this summer vacation.

“But didn’t the young miss already plan a ship rebellion before boarding?”

That aroused Jona’s curiosity as well.

Did she do it knowingly, or unknowingly?

Either way, the young miss had found her answer.

Take over the ship and head to the mansion.

Unlike the dark merchant who reached the same conclusion but lacked the strength to even reach the deserted island, being stopped by Anrage’s Apostle, could the young miss completely take over the ship?

“We’ll find out soon.”

In Jona’s hand was the vision doll that Giselle had infiltrated, held up for all to see.