Chapter 125 – Nesos (11)

Min Ha-rin couldn’t get up until the sun was high in the sky.

She did overexert herself a lot last night.

She had depleted her mana to the point of near exhaustion while taking care of the Animus warriors.

“Johan, but will it be okay?”

That fellow, Lloyd.

Unlike Min Ha-rin, he seemed to have not slept a wink all night.

Having caused a major incident, he was now getting worried.

“What’s there not to be okay about?”

“I was just thinking that we might have gotten a room too close to Animus. By now, the guys trying to catch us must be all over the place.”

“Don’t you know the saying that it’s darkest under the lamp?”

“Was there such a saying?”

“There is.”

In a place called Earth.

“I don’t know. It’s the first time I’ve heard it, but now that I think about it, it seems plausible.”

“And as long as Hans keeps his mouth shut, no one will know who did it.”

“True, since everyone who saw is dead.”

Also, we had eliminated all our tracks when leaving Animus.

Just in case there was a skilled tracker in Nesos, there was a risk of being tailed.

In my Johan Raven days, I had learned the art of escape but never had a chance to use it. I tried it for the first time last night.

“Come to think of it, Johan, you are a very strange fellow. Your fighting skills are one thing, but you know so many strange things.”

“I’ve experienced many things in life.”

“That’s what’s so strange. We’re about the same age.”

I had nothing to say about that.

“By the way, Johan. Are you that mysterious person Hans was talking about?”

“So what if I am, and so what if I’m not.”

“He said mysterious people disappear like the wind at some point. If that happens to you, I will have no way to repay my debt to you.”

“Then isn’t that a good thing?”

“What do you take me for! I will definitely repay it. So don’t leave suddenly.”

I nodded at Lloyd’s words.

Of course, it was a promise I couldn’t keep.

Once Nepaya was eliminated, Min Ha-rin and I would disappear from Nesos like the wind.

Leaving all our assets to this guy.

“By the way, isn’t Min Ha-rin getting up?”

It still seemed a long way off.

The sound of her snoring could still be heard loudly from her room.

***

“You guys are truly insane.”

That was the first thing Hans said when he met us again.

“Why? Has the rumor already spread?”

“You’ve caused such a scene that it’s impossible for rumors not to spread. They say you’ve completely turned Animus into ashes.”

It was Lloyd’s idea.

Since we were cleaning it up anyway, we should burn it all so it couldn’t be recycled.

“That aside, it seems you left no trace at all? There’s a story that not a single clue was left as to who did it.”

“That information, you can sell it later. I don’t know if it will be valuable, though.”

“As expected, Johan, are you a mysterious person?”

“Let’s stop talking about that.”

“I’ll take that as an affirmation.”

“Anyway, have I proven that I’m not one of Nepaya’s subordinates?”

Hans nodded his head.

“I thought the possibility was very low. I was just a little worried because of the one-in-a-million chance.”

“To think that eliminating just one Animus was that big of a deal.”

“Just Animus? As I said, you really are a crazy bastard. Who would do such a thing to gain my trust?”

“It means I need your information that much.”

Because my goal was to finish the quest as quickly as possible and return to Earth.

“You said you needed information on Nepaya?”

“Yes. If possible, I need all information related to him. I’m willing to pay any amount of money.”

“May I ask why you need it?”

“Because I plan to kill Nepaya.”

At those words, a moment of silence fell.

Hans looked at me as if I were even more of a madman than before.

Lloyd’s jaw dropped and wouldn’t close.

“This guy is really crazy. Then why are you trying to kill Nepaya?”

It was because of the quest, but since I couldn’t say that, I embellished it a bit more grandly.

“It is the mission bestowed upon me.”

“……Mission?”

“Yes.”

“Mission……. Ah. Suddenly, something is about to come to mind!”

At the word ‘mission’, Hans suddenly showed a confused expression.

What on earth was he trying to remember?

That wasn’t my intention when I said it, so I was the one who was more flustered.

“Wait a moment. I have something to check.”

Hans, who had left his seat, returned a moment later with a book in his hand.

The title on the cover was the Book of Revelations.

“What is that?”

“It’s a bit absurd, but I had a strange feeling.”

Then Hans hurriedly began to flip through the pages of the book.

And the place where his hand stopped was a certain page.

“This is the part!”

“So, I’m asking what that is.”

“……When one hundred and twenty-four seasons have changed, and the day comes when the white light covers the red light, a superman on a white horse shall appear and vanquish the darkness to complete his mission.”

“You’re speaking incomprehensibly.”

“The day the white light covers the red light. It refers to a total solar eclipse. And this year is the year of a total solar eclipse for the first time in 26 years.”

“Then the darkness here is?”

“It could be interpreted as the lord of the night market, Nepaya. Though this is just fitting things together.”

Then the superman on a white horse completing the mission is me?

The idea that I was a character from the Book of Revelations was a bit absurd.

“Of course, this Book of Revelations is close to being apocryphal. I don’t believe in it either.”

“For someone who says that, you made quite a fuss just a moment ago.”

“I know. But I suddenly felt an inexplicable jolt. Still, you don’t have to take it seriously. Even I think this is a bit of nonsense.”

It was a bit absurd, but it was still interesting.

“By the way, are there any more descriptions of that superman on a white horse?”

“There are a few more words, but it’s a really random story, and it’s too much nonsense.”

“Tell me. What is it?”

Hans shook his head as he scanned the Book of Revelations.

An expression that said this was just not right, no matter how he thought about it.

“It says, ‘He shall obtain a treasure of luck.’ It’s written so randomly.”

“A treasure of luck? Is there anything else?”

“It says he obtains Fortuna’s Egg to complete this treasure. This Book of Revelations, looking at it again, it’s just a text written without any context.”

Hans looked as if the wind had been completely taken out of his sails.

***

I purchased all the information about Nepaya from Hans.

The conclusion I drew from compiling this information was.

‘The quest is indeed difficult.’

Nepaya’s forces were much larger in scale than I had thought.

Also, it wasn’t just that the scale was large.

He was always surrounded by elites serving as his guards.

I could roughly gauge their combat strength.

The number of guards was usually set at twenty-four, and their level was at least one notch stronger than Berun, who was Ramda’s guard yesterday.

It was virtually impossible for me to squeeze through that gap alone and take Nepaya’s head.

In the end, the only method I could aim for was to find a moment of vulnerability and attempt an assassination.

The D-day was set.

The day the total solar eclipse that Hans mentioned would occur.

I might not be the superman on a white horse, but it was also the most appropriate day in terms of Nepaya’s schedule.

The moment it temporarily darkened due to the total solar eclipse would also be a fleeting opening I could exploit.

The money left over after purchasing information from Hans was temporarily entrusted to him.

And when I disappear from Nesos like the wind, that money will be passed on to Lloyd.

Of course, he doesn’t know yet.

How great a fortune is about to come his way.

There was still some time left until the D-day for Nepaya’s assassination, and these days, I would climb Mount Rutangka near my lodgings every day.

Today, Lloyd and I went hiking alone.

Min Ha-rin had some things to prepare for the assassination.

“Johan. I don’t think this is right.”

“What is?”

“I know you’re an amazing guy. But, you being the superman on a white horse. Isn’t that a bit much?”

“I agree with you on that. The part about riding a white horse is also a bit absurd.”

“I know you don’t think so. The reason you climb Mount Rutangka every day is also for the purpose of obtaining the Fortuna’s Egg that Hans mentioned. In other words, you think of yourself as the superman on a white horse.”

That wasn’t necessarily the case.

It was just that several circumstances were too exquisite.

First, if one interpreted the treasure of luck that Hans mentioned as the coin Lloyd had given me, it fit perfectly.

The origin of the coin was a bit absurd, but it was also true that it was mysteriously bringing me luck.

Also, the expression of the treasure’s ‘completion’ also seemed plausible.

All the items obtained here could not be taken to Earth, so they could not become my true possessions, which could also be interpreted as being incomplete.

It would mean that things might be different if I obtained Fortuna’s Egg.

And above all, the fact that the place where the egg, alluded to in the Book of Revelations, was discovered could be interpreted as Mount Rutangka.

It was conveniently close to my lodgings, so it was good for exercise too.

Climbing to the mountain peak, breathing in the fresh air, and operating the Mana Breathing Technique would also help in healing my body.

“And Johan. You can’t be the superman from that Book of Revelations. You’re too clumsy.”

“I’m telling you, I’m not a superman.”

But Lloyd paid no heed to my reaction and continued with what he had to say.

“And also, for a superman, you don’t know too many things. First of all, you don’t even know what Fortuna’s Egg is, and you even asked Hans for the location where you should find the egg. Shouldn’t a superman know all this in advance?”

“I’m telling you, I’m not a superman.”

“Right. You’re not a superman.”

“Let’s just climb the mountain.”

I wondered if I had brought Lloyd along for nothing.

I no longer needed a guide to climb Mount Rutangka.

“As you know, Mount Rutangka is just a little higher than a neighborhood hill. It’s not a place where a legendary bird like Fortuna would appear, and it’s even less of a mountain that would appear in the Book of Revelations. In conclusion, that Book of Revelations is not to be trusted at all.”

“Right.”

Only after reaching this conclusion did Lloyd finally shut his mouth.

By the time we reached the mountain summit, it was a dusky evening with the sun setting.

Everyone except us had descended.

No matter how monster-free Mount Rutangka was, the wild animals at night were a sufficiently threatening presence.

I found a suitable spot, sat down, and began the Mana Breathing Technique.

Training while looking at the exotic moon in a strange land also had its own charm.

What I liked most about Mount Rutangka was that the mana concentration at the summit was high.

This was the reason why the mana of the people of Nesos was noticeably high.

Although they had a constitution with high mana affinity, mana accumulated quickly in places with clear air like Mount Rutangka.

Regardless of the Book of Revelations, it was a place worth visiting.

I also liked the incessant chirping of the insects and the gentle, cool breeze.

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