As soon as Hikaru and the gang—including the Four Stars—entered Ponsonia, they split up. Hikaru went straight to Leather Elka.
To prevent Pond from suffering collateral damage in the war, all they had to do was make Einbeast’s army retreat. For that, Hikaru needed to know the situation inside, and his abilities were perfect for the task.
Lucky for Hikaru, a meeting was being held the day he arrived in the fort city. That’s when he found out about Austrin, Polar Tiger, and Rising Falls.
Even with Stealth, sneaking into the conference room in broad daylight would be risky—or so his Instinct warned him—so he stayed in the balcony to eavesdrop.
「Sounds like the key to this war is Rising Falls.」Hikaru concluded.
He needed information on them. Hikaru noticed Ryver acting strange while Igloo was dead drunk, so he snuck into his room to watch him. With the room poorly lit, Hikaru wouldn’t get busted.
「All righty, then.」
After stretching a little, Hikaru strode towards the desk to check what Ryver wrote earlier. Ink usually bled through paper, so most people would put something underneath, but he couldn’t find any trace of the writing at all, perhaps because Ryver used a magic item.
「I think he addressed it to “His Holiness, the Pope” or something…」
Hikaru could see that much from a distance. Based on his knowledge alone, in this continent, the Pope referred to the ruler of the suzerain state of Bios, a religious nation. And since there was only one kind of religion in this world, Bios was like the headquarters.
「Why is someone from Bios in an Einbeast adventurer’s party? He mentioned something about loyal servant…」
It looks like there might be more to this. When Igloo said one member was lent to them, he probably meant Ryver.
Hikaru checked Ryver’s bag. It contained clothes and money, nothing out of the ordinary. He activated his Mana Detection, but the only response came from Ryver’s ring. Removing it meant touching the guy, which could wake him up.
「Oh… It’s his guild card.」
【Adventurers Guild Card】 【Name】Ryver 【Registration】Bios Adventurers Guild 【Job Class】 【Party】Rising Falls (A)
He found no notable information. Unfortunately, the job class field was empty.
Ryver’s weapon—a metal bow—sat on his desk. Quite a masterpiece, it required considerable effort to pull. But Hikaru’s Mana Detection didn’t catch anything. He checked for Ryver’s Soul Board instead.
【Soul Board】Ryver Age:28 Rank: 49 16
【Vitality】 ..【Natural Recovery】2 ..【Stamina】5 ..【Immunity】 ….【Magic Resistance】1 ….【Disease Immunity】1 ….【Toxic Immunity】1 ..【Perception】 ….【Sight】1 ….【Hearing】2
【Physical Strength】 ..【Strength】8 ..【Weapon Mastery】 ….【Bow】5
【Agility】 ..【Power Burst】1 ..【Flexibility】1 ..【Balance】2
【Dexterity】 ..【Dexterity】3
【Willpower】 ..【Faith】 ….【Holy】4
【Intuition】 ..【Instinct】6 ..【Intelligence】 ….【Language Comprehension】1 ..【Memory】1 ..【Detection】 ….【Life Detection】3 ……【Detection Expansion】1
As Hikaru expected, Ryver was the type to fire arrows from a distance. His Instinct, Life Detection, and Detection Expansion was troublesome. He could sense enemies from a hundred-meter radius.
「An offensive battle style and can detect enemies. With 5 points on Bow, no wonder he’s rank A.」
Hikaru recalled the meeting.
「But it’s not enough to “destroy the walls”.」
In other words, Igloo referred to a different member when he said that. Hikaru quietly stepped out of the room and into the guest room where Igloo had been drinking earlier today. It reeked of alcohol.
Hikaru entered the adjoining room and was greeted by Batros’ loud snoring. The man’s bed was big, but it seemed small with him lying in it.
Batros’s personal effects were in two huge bags that gave off a rancid smell. His unwashed clothes seemed to be in there.
「Nothing from my Mana Detection…」
Only Batros’s battle axe gave off a little mana. Hikaru inched closer to check the man’s Soul Board.
【Soul Board】Batros Age: 25 Rank: 37 21
【Vitality】 ..【Natural Recovery】3 ..【Stamina】15 ..【Immunity】 ….【Magic Resistance】3 ….【Toxic Immunity】1
【Physical Strength】 ..【Strength】16
Hikaru groaned.
「This guy looks like a complete amateur. He doesn’t even have any point in Weapon Mastery. He just relies on pure strength and his shield to fight.」
A battle axe, of course, was a kind of axe, a weapon that didn’t belong in the War God’s Nine Paths. It could be found under Tool Mastery, but even Batros hadn’t unlocked that. His battle style was block and attack with pure power only.
And of course, Batros wouldn’t be able to destroy the walls. He seemed more to be the tank type.
「So all that’s left are the Fullblood siblings.」
Hikaru left Batros’ room and entered Igloo’s.
「What the…」
The guest room reeked of alcohol, but Igloo’s room was worse. Empty bottles lay scattered about on the table and the floor. They weren’t even empty; it looked like he just drank randomly from different bottles.
It had only been a few days since Einbeast’s army, including Igloo’s party, arrived in Leather Elka. Getting the room this cluttered was, in a way, impressive.
Not only alcohol, but fancy-looking clothes also lay scattered about. Igloo slept buried in what looked to be either a bed or just a bunch of clothes.
「So this is his equipment…」
A silver armor with gold carvings and a blue gem in the middle of the chest. It must’ve cost millions. The design on the sword lying around was also superb. But Hikaru’s Mana Detection didn’t pick up anything.
「………」
Hikaru watched Igloo as he slept like a log. He was drooling, his face red. What’s more, his nether regions bulged, which Hikaru found infuriating. What’s he dreaming about?
「I don’t really resent the guy. I just don’t like how he says he wants to have sex with people I know. Let’s he how strong you are.」
【Soul Board】Igloo Fullblood Age: 21 Rank: 27 33
【Magical Power】 ..【Mana】1 ..【Spirit Affinity】 ….【Air】1
【Physical Strength】 ..【Weapons Mastery】 ….【Sword】1
【Willpower】 ..【Charisma】1 ..【Appeal】1
【Intuition】 ..【Instinct】2 ..【Insight】 ….【Invention】1
「He’s weak as hell!」Hikaru blurted out.
He quickly covered his mouth. Fortunately, Igloo didn’t wake up. He continued on mumbling in his sleep.
「Phew… That was close. But damn, this guy’s weak.」
He had 33 unused points. Hikaru felt irritated that the guy had a point on both Charisma and Appeal.
「Even a guy like him is rank 27 and an A-rank adventurer.」
Hikaru left Igloo’s room. Only one left. As a matter of fact, the moment he first activated his Mana Detection, he already knew the key to the Rising Falls power. Caddie Fullblood.
Hikaru stood in front of her room. He couldn’t see anything with his naked eye, but when he turned on his skill, he could see a massive amount of mana overflowing.
There was no doubt she possessed the power to “destroy the walls”. He checked the other members first to know if they were hiding something. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case.
「All right. Let’s see what you got.」
Hikaru opened the door to Caddie’s room.
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