Ch.86(-5) – Wanted Criminal

# This is a side episode.

When the world goes mad, those who don’t join the madness cannot fully live their lives.

This saying held true everywhere—in the Empire, the Papal State, and even in the magical realms.

People stopped caring when innocent citizens were stabbed by robbers and left to die in the streets.

Bribing superiors or nobles became the norm for getting promotions.

When families had nothing to eat, it became acceptable to sell the youngest child to slave traders first.

Though everyone knew these situations weren’t normal, individuals lacked the power to condemn societal decay.

They simply conformed and accepted.

The man who called himself Raven, surviving day by day hunting rabbits in the Ciela Mountains, was just one of many such people.

But in these chaotic times, though there were plenty of madmen around, he was certain no one was crazier than the woman playing with pebbles before his eyes.

“Hunt a dragon? Are you serious?”

“I need a Dragon Heart to quell this Corrosion.”

“Huh, talk is cheap. There are many ways to commit suicide.”

The man snorted.

Hunting a dragon was tantamount to challenging a divine slaying feat.

And alone, at that.

Watching the woman tear into rabbit meat without hesitation, Raven decided to lose interest.

‘She’s out of her mind.’

Was she born this way, or did she have circumstances that made it impossible to live without going mad?

As far as Raven knew, there were countless examples of both.

Most survivors of the horrific wars and the disaster called “Corrosion” acted as if they had a screw loose.

Meanwhile, the woman’s appearance was so beautiful—more than any woman Raven had seen in his life—that even when he tried to look away, his gaze kept returning to her.

“Any trouble getting here? Anyone bothering you…?”

Raven’s concern was genuine.

Exceptional beauty was like deadly poison in these chaotic times.

The eastern region of Kaizen was a lawless zone beyond the Emperor’s reach.

How many women had been raped and buried alive by the brutish eastern barbarians?

The harsh reality was that without the strength to protect oneself, suffering was inevitable.

“Do I look weak to you?”

“Are you confident in your fighting skills?”

“I don’t go around getting beaten up. I eat well. This rabbit meat is quite delicious.”

The woman spat a bone fragment into the bonfire.

Raven poked more firewood in, reviving the dying flames.

Belatedly, the man picked up a rabbit’s hind leg to take a bite, but immediately frowned deeply.

“She really is crazy.”

Meat contaminated with mana corruption.

A moderate amount would be fine to eat, but meat this saturated with corruption wouldn’t lose its bitterness even when cooked.

As Raven contemplated going hungry for dinner, his gaze shifted to the woman’s hands, which were fiddling with pebbles.

“What are those stones you’ve been playing with?”

“These? They’re called gonggi stones.”

“Gong-what? Never heard of it.”

“It’s a fun game from my homeland. Want to see?”

With a soft clatter, she sat on the rough ground and tossed five pebbles.

Her slender white arms showed from beneath her robe.

Then the woman demonstrated her skill, tossing and catching the pebbles with elegant hand movements.

“Looks fun, doesn’t it?”

“You seem to find amusement in the strangest things. Certainly a game street urchins would enjoy.”

“It has the advantage of being playable with any stones you find lying around.”

The woman took Raven’s sarcastic assessment in stride.

As she played, tossing stones as high as the trees, Raven asked:

“What are those pebbles made of?”

“‘Pebbles’ is rather rude. These are quite expensive items, you know.”

“They look like simple stone or glass fragments to me.”

“They’re artifacts. Storage artifacts, specifically. Each stone contains quite rare treasures. Curious what’s inside?”

“Hmm… I’d be lying if I said no. Will you show me?”

Upon closer inspection in the darkness, Raven realized they did indeed appear to be artifacts as she claimed.

“I’ll show you one for each question you answer. How about it?”

“I’ll answer as best I can within my knowledge.”

The hunter, his instinctive curiosity piqued by her sweet proposition, agreed without hesitation.

The woman, as if she expected this, thought of her first question.

“How long has the Corrosion been progressing in the Ciela Mountains?”

“Corrosion? Which one do you mean? The one that turns all animals to stone, or the one that transforms them into magical beasts?”

“I’d prefer to know about both, if possible.”

“The former, I’m not entirely sure, but it’s been over three years, I think. The latter has been exactly 20 months.”

“20 months… I see. That’s helpful information.”

“Glad to be of service.”

The woman infused mana into a slightly reddish gonggi stone and tapped it gently.

Eventually, the stone clicked open into halves, activating 12 simple magic circles that formed a regular dodecahedron.

She reached into the center and pulled out an unidentified object, holding it up to the bonfire light.

“What’s this?”

“A pink diamond ring.”

“That’s all diamond? Something this big?”

Raven marveled.

There was surely no one who wouldn’t feel greed upon seeing such an item.

After all, the jewel set in the ring wasn’t just fingernail-sized—it appeared larger than a big toe.

It was hard to dismiss the woman’s words as false, given the incredibly intricate craftsmanship of the ring’s shoulder and mount.

“It’s called Agnes’s Tear. The current Empress of the Prahain Empire treasures it most.”

“E-E-Empress?”

“I used to wear it because it was pretty, but honestly, it’s unbearably heavy and uncomfortable.”

“Stop joking. Why would you have such an item?”

The woman stared intently at Raven.

“May I ask my next question?”

“…Let’s hear it.”

Feeling an inexplicable pressure, Raven swallowed hard and assessed the atmosphere.

“Animals aside, how are you able to resist the Corrosion?”

“That’s because all residents in our area underwent mana organ excision surgery.”

“You mean the Aura Heart?”

“It’s a smaller organ attached below the Aura Heart, though I don’t know the exact name. The doctor did it at his discretion. Thanks to that, we can travel through areas with light mana corruption without much issue.”

“Must have been an excellent doctor.”

“An incomparable gentleman.”

The woman now took out her second artifact.

This time it was a golden seal. A precisely carved phoenix on it was particularly striking.

“A seal, I see. The gold coating makes it look expensive at a glance.”

“I’m not sure about its value. I don’t think it would sell well.”

“What do you mean? If nothing else, you could sell it to a gold merchant.”

“Would he buy this? It’s an imperial seal.”

“Imperial seal? The one I’m thinking of?”

The woman took out a burnt piece of charcoal and rubbed it on the bottom of the seal. The rough surface became covered in soot.

Raven belatedly tried to stop her, protesting this treatment of such a valuable item, but the woman was unfazed.

Instead, she pulled out a piece of paper from her bosom, spread it on the ground, and stamped it firmly.

The name of the Kaizen Empire’s sole monarch was engraved in runic script.

The imperial seal glowed, beginning the process of verifying the document’s effectiveness.

However, the woman returned the seal to the artifact before Raven could see the completion of the process.

“Third question. May I?”

“…”

“May I?”

“Go ahead… no, please proceed…”

Cold sweat ran down Raven’s back.

This woman was clearly mad. The problem was that she was mad in a particularly dangerous way.

After seeing the neighboring empress’s ring followed by Emperor Irogen’s imperial seal, he finally understood his situation.

She was no ordinary person. In fact, he realized he might be the one in mortal danger.

“How long has the Blue Dragon been back in its lair?”

“How would I… how would I know that?!”

“You’re a hunter and you don’t know?”

“Roughly… a year and a half? No, definitely less than 2 years… just my guess.”

“Based on?”

“The sudden change in habitats of orcs and other monsters.”

“Excellent reasoning. That helps.”

Despite Raven no longer wanting to see what was in the artifacts, the woman resolutely showed him the third item.

“You probably won’t recognize this, so I’ll explain. It’s called the ‘Key to Heaven’—the only means to enter the treasury of the Alpenheim Papal State.”

“Why do you have… I mean, who exactly are you?”

“That’s the fourth question. Now, where can I find the Blue Dragon’s lair? I’m running out of time, so a quick answer would be best.”

“I don’t know either! Dragon lairs aren’t fixed locations, are they?”

“I know that. That’s why I’m asking you. Haven’t you seen even an empty lair?”

“Hmm… Ten years ago, a baron’s son gathered troops to find a dragon lair and they were all annihilated. I believe it was northeast from here.”

“A somewhat disappointing answer, but it can’t be helped. Now, this is truly an interesting item. Unlike the others, I had quite a struggle stealing it.”

So the previous items were just picked up along the way?

Fortunately, Raven’s observation caught in his throat and didn’t reach the woman.

A pendant glowing ominously with a dark red light appeared.

“It belongs to Demon Lord Al-Zahab. I don’t know its purpose yet, but it must be precious for him to chase after it so desperately.”

“May I leave now?”

“No, since you’ve come this far, you should see the last item, don’t you think?”

“I’m not curious about anything more, so I’ll just…”

“Sit.”

The woman commanded in a low voice.

When Raven ignored this and tried to flee, she kicked him squarely in the back without the slightest hesitation.

After rolling through the mud, Raven expressed his indignation.

“I’m busy too…! When I saw a lady without camping equipment crossing the Ciela Mountains alone, I grilled meat for you and provided shelter! And this is how you repay kindness!”

Princess Estasha’s black hair changed to its original golden color.

Her irises shone brightly with a golden light.

“Last question. I came here after hearing that a notorious wanted criminal who committed over 20 murders and violent sexual assaults is hiding in these Ciela Mountains. Where can I find Craven Gordon, the Blue-Blooded Half-Dragon?”

To hunt the parents, first find the offspring.

This was one of the Empire’s cruel tactics against the princess.

“You don’t seem willing to tell me.”

“……”

No sane person would live in the Ciela Mountains.

The gazes of the princess and the hunter crossed and intertwined.

It didn’t take long for Craven Gordon’s entire body to become covered in scales.

The two wanted fugitives clashed against each other.