VIP Chapter 256: Interlude: He’s Not Right x1 (3k)
“He… is a little off.”
Shuna stared at Will being carried in a princess carry in the newspaper photo, wishing she could get a microscope and examine it before speaking.
“Hey, we just sat down and you’re staring at his photo in a newspaper instead of talking about business. Are we going to talk or not?”
In an ordinary little town in the southeast corner of the capital, Peflan and Shuna finally managed to meet. Of course, it wasn’t thanks to Iaar’s guidance. After Shuna received a message from Peflan in Nov, a town that used to be a novice village, she inquired about the famous “White Fortress,” sent a message through the Adventurer’s Guild, and then found a relay point.
A week had passed since Shuna and Will parted ways.
“Ah, I can’t help it. Wouldn’t you be unable to take your eyes off your first love getting engaged?” Shuna spread her hands, leaned back in her chair, and said casually.
“…” Peflan had intended to tease her a bit, but Shuna’s “frank” admission left her speechless. To be fair, even after not seeing each other for years, Shuna was still this straightforward, making it difficult for anyone to best her in an argument. In a sense, she hadn’t grown up at all.
“What? He’s about to be a married man, and he’s with the Empress. Do you still want to get involved?”
“…Not really, I just think he’s really not right.” Shuna’s eyes remained fixed on the newspaper. She squinted, the gray newspaper glaring under the sunlight. To be honest, she couldn’t quite explain it herself.
If Will’s parting words to her were true, then this “engagement” shown in the newspaper might be what Will wanted. He had successfully assisted the princess, completed his plan, and then walked hand-in-hand with her towards marriage. At least the princess seemed to “spoil” him, “like” him very much, and didn’t do anything to him despite his turmoil. She had even announced this happy news to the entire nation. Oh. How congratulatory, how congratulatory. He truly was confident and in control, full of certainty and winning big, truly deserving of congratulations. But…
“What’s not right about it? Elaborate.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted to talk about business? Why are you gossiping about me again? You’re not my captain anymore, you need to change that habit.” Peflan looked at the newspaper, then at Will, but her gaze was more akin to looking at a distant public figure at the center of a scandal. Peflan felt disconnected from him, yet she had heard many legends about him on her journey. Rumors about the young masters of the Hysterm Family were already rampant, and this one seemed to be a heavyweight.
“I heard about him from his maid. How should I say it… he seems like an even stranger guy than you. That’s why I want to hear what you think.”
“Strange, huh.” Shuna didn’t deny the assessment. In a way, perhaps it was precisely because Will was strange that she had liked him for so long. After all, a “normal” person who wasn’t strange wouldn’t have posted a question on the Adventurer’s Guild message board asking “how to defend against 200-degree Celsius steam with a low-level magic like Ice Armor Infusion”—especially when he was only ten years old.
“Alright. He is indeed quite strange.” That trait of his was also… what attracted her.
“So, what’s not right about this photo of the engagement? Isn’t him being carried in a princess carry part of his strangeness?”
“This photo… he’s too normal. That’s what’s not right.” Shuna’s answer was a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
“You call this normal?”
“He’s not smiling widely, but he’s sincere enough, with no hint of acting—that’s too normal, it’s unbelievable.” In Shuna’s eyes, Will’s strangeness likely lay here. When she first met him, he had thick barriers, as if he couldn’t integrate into this world, as if he wasn’t “alive” here. After the witch took him away, his barriers thinned, and he seemed more alive. But…
“The him in this photo looks like he’s changed his ‘life,’ as if he’s always lived a happy life, like he’s surprised to be carried by his fiancée. But I don’t think he’s the type to feel that way.” Shuna said, her fingers tracing Will’s face on the newspaper. As she rubbed, her fingertips were stained with the gray ink of the newspaper. The more she spoke, the more agitated she became. She had thought she would be the one to make Will more open, and she felt a sense of annoyance, as if someone had stolen a dungeon BOSS from her. Although, in her eyes, the current Will was very “awkward.”
“I feel like he’s like a colorful paint forced onto a gray stone, it’s not right.”
At this point, Shuna’s fingers paused slightly. The newspaper was black and white, and while she couldn’t see color, she could roughly discern colors from the grayscale. For example, if Will’s eyes were deep blue, Treya, as a princess, was often praised by the public for her “beautiful light blue eyes.” Looking at it this way… why did Treya’s left eye seem slightly deeper? Darker than Will’s deep blue, but not as black as her own eyes. Could it be… purple? Shuna thought of the eye color of an empress from a secluded dungeon, who was also a “demon” like the source of the Entak Royal Family’s power.
Peflan listened quietly to Shuna’s explanation and watched her pause her finger at the eye area. After a moment of silence, she asked, “That’s it?”
“That’s it. What else do you want?”
“Alright, what can I say? He really is a strange person. The women around him seem to have different opinions of him, and I bet even His Majesty’s evaluation would be completely different from yours.”
“Never mind. Let’s talk about your matters then.” Shuna scratched her head, seemingly unwilling to continue the conversation. “As I mentioned earlier, you’re not an ‘exception.’ In Nov, we found an individual whose birth was similar to yours. And… her corpse also had black hair and black eyes—just like you.”
“Not surprising. Was the Nov dungeon found in the Green Wilderness Trace dungeon?”
“Yes. After all, it’s the only dungeon there these past few months.”
“Hmm…” Shuna began to ponder. Although there was no obvious connection, the “Green Ghost Stone” was also found in the Green Wilderness Trace, and it was a processed stone—proving that the Green Wilderness Trace was well-informed about the Green Ghost Stone trade.
“Did that person also kill the dungeon’s Emperor—or, when you arrived, did you see her holding a knife with the Emperor lying on the ground?”
Peflan’s expression suddenly became serious. “…How did you know? Could it be…”
“Yes, that’s how it was for me too. But I can’t provide any more clues besides that…” Shuna still withheld some information. Although Peflan hadn’t mentioned the person’s “cause of death,” she guessed it was likely suicide. Of course, because… she had considered it before.
“Do you have anything else to tell me?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that recently, there have been more inexplicable power-ups in the dungeons managed by the Adventurer’s Guild. Our rescue team alone has reported many anomalies, but the higher-ups haven’t been able to figure anything out. I was hoping, encountering such strange occurrences, you might be able to provide some relevant clues.”
“!?” Shuna felt she had heard some strange information. Inexplicable power-ups and reported anomalies… When she and Will set out, they could no longer obtain complete Green Ghost Stones. With only fragments, the rescue team shouldn’t have known this information. Therefore, these dungeons likely… no, they definitely possessed “Green Ghost Stones.” The clue that she and Will thought was “broken” had found an extension on the Adventurer’s Guild’s end.
“Where can I find information about these anomalies?” If there was a clue about the Green Ghost Stone… A clue about the thing he cared about most… He’d definitely take the bait, right? He’d definitely find an opportunity to go out with her, right? Just like before, his eyes would light up at the mention of it, and he’d be full of interest to investigate with her. Then… then there would be a chance! The card she held, the one that could most attract Will, was with the Adventurer’s Guild.
…When Shuna realized it, her fists were clenched. Was she someone who got excited over things like this? It felt like… this was more like the pathetic display of a “failed lover” after the story had ended.
“Why are you suddenly interested? You seemed clueless just now.”
“The Adventurer’s Guild… things that so many people couldn’t accomplish, of course, I’m curious. What? The Adventurer’s Guild doesn’t handle this matter either?”
“…” Peflan knew Shuna quite well and could see through her lie that she had other motives. However… she did feel that if Shuna investigated, she would be much stronger than herself. Most importantly, Shuna was more flexible, unlike herself who had to drag the entire adventuring team along.
“There’s a way. Go register at the Adventurer’s Guild. As an S Rank, you can directly join this incident investigation and obtain inquiry privileges. The dungeons with anomalies have all been reported, but there’s a certain level of confidentiality.”
“Since they’ve been reported, why haven’t you cleared them out?”
“They’re just ‘slightly more difficult.’ It’s not worth an adventuring team’s effort, is it? If a real entrapment incident occurs, we might step in.”
“Since there’s confidentiality, it’s that easy to find out?”
“The Guild probably hopes someone can figure it out quickly.”
“Alright.” Shuna nodded. Then she looked at the “wedding” date on the newspaper—in a month. Hmm… If he wasn’t with the Royal Family at this point, would things become more interesting?
