Chapter 105 Vacation Begins ③ 

Part 1

Heavy rain and strong wind were hitting the windows of 《Footprint’s》 Clan House Lounge.

The sky was covered with thick clouds and you can occasionally hear the thunder.

The Lounge in the Clan House was full.
People who had planned to go out after receiving a request but came back because of the storm.
People who had lost their place they use to go and gather because their tavern was temporarily closed due to the bad weather.
Those who decided to prepare themselves for tomorrow’s Shrine exploration but finally decided to stay inside because they wouldn’t go outside tomorrow, each of them sat at a table and looked up at the sky through the large window.

Lyle, who had his stomach ache subsided, yelled while having a glass of beer on his hand.

“Whaaat does he mean by vacation, that damn Cry.
Isn’t it a disaster right from the start.”

“It’s because when the Master decides to make a move spontaneously, something terrible is bound to happen……”

One of his Party Members adds his own grain of salt to it.

Infinite Variety’s Infinite Trials are dangerous.
No matter what happens it won’t get any easier.
That was a well-known fact.
Normally, the more advanced Treasure Hunters were, the easier the job will become.
However, Infinite Trials were different.
It was called trial because the degree of difficulty of the Infinite Trial increases each time you do another one.

《Members of Footprint》 were called elite because they had overcome those trials.
They knew that, but they weren’t going to be happy to be caught up in one as each time they did one, they didn’t ask for it.

“In the first place, we had just done one recently! The interval is too short! Don’t make us bet our life so many times!”

The other Members agree with Lyle’s drunken screams.

’

“Yeah! Yeah!”

“My new equipment isn’t even ready!”

“Don’t conceal informationnn!”

“Don’t approve of Master’s violent actionsss!”

“Like you can go outside with such a big stormmm!”

“Don’t lump us together like we were Level 8!”

“Don’t lump us together like we were Lizzz!”

“Give us informationnn!”

“Give us moneyyy!”

“Informationnn ーーーーー!”

Even if the culprit wasn’t here in person, their tension kept rising, while watching the Clan Members screaming and putting their shoulders together, Isabella and Yu who couldn’t get inside the circle, looked at each other and sighed as if they were astonished.

“Everyone in our Clan are all on good terms, right……”

’

“Leaving aside Liz and Sytry, I wonder if Tino who had been taken along will be alright.”

The Members of 《Strange Grief》 were all accustomed to Cry’s Trials to a surprising degree.
They were more worried about their Kouhai who had been involved.
Once you have been involved, you will be forced into a situation where you can’t escape.

As if to answer her question, the sky flared up in front of Isabella’s anxious look.

 

§　§　§

 

An awful rain and strong wind were blowing through the darkness in the grasslands.
The lightning that intermittently strikes and the shock accompanied by the roaring sound make me feel that it was the end of the world.
Initially, this wasn’t a weather to go outside, at all.
Treasure Hunters are also humans.
There are too few things that can be done against the wrath of mother nature.

“Kuh…… Damn, a heavy storm!? It’s the worst.”

How effective could a simple cloak fight against a storm blowing next to you.
A loud voice vanished without reaching anyone in the middle of the storm.
In the upper part of the carriage ―― Gray, who had been tasked to be on the lookout on the chair above, jumps off the carriage.
White and Black who were seated in the coachman seat, also jumped down with a terrible expression to calm the horses down.

’

At the edge of my sight, I saw the figure of a daring woman preparing the tent without caring for the storm at all.
She took out the tent from the luggage we had and with familiar motion, she assembled it.
Her movement showed no hesitation even within the rain and the storm and in the middle of the darkness and mud.
A thick robe and a huge backpack.
Her refined look and the fact that she didn’t possess any weapons don’t make her look like a Hunter but her technique was definitely one of a Top-Class Hunters.

Above all, her expression was different from Gray and the others.

Her expression didn’t show any hardship at all.
It seemed that she was accustomed to this situation as she was building the tent in the shadow of the carriage so it won’t be blown away by the big storm.

Suddenly, her eyes turned to Gray who had jumped out of the carriage.
A lightning struck and her clear iris looked at Gray and the others one by one.

Their opponent was only a slender woman.
The one who slaughtered the three of them was ―― The infamous 《Absolute Shadow》.

Now that she has jumped out of the carriage, it would be a great time to escape.
In the middle of this storm, it would be difficult to run away, but they weren’t far from the Imperial Capital and if it was difficult for them to run away that would also mean that it would be difficult to chase after them.

“White-san, Black-san and Gray-san.
You finally have an opportunity, do not shame me.”

” ”

“Uh……”

The only problem is ―― The collar attached to their necks.

The dirty collar was some kind of magic tool.
Originally, it was something for limiting slaves’ movement.

’
Since there was no slavery in the Zebrudia Empire, they had rarely seen one but Gray who had been active in the underground world for a long time, knew about its effect.

It was a magic tool that can remotely send a strong current to the wearer just by pressing a switch.
It was made with modern technology so it wasn’t as powerful as Relics, but the lifespan was quite lasting and the power was quite strong so if the current was flowing into you for a long time, you won’t be able to endure it even if you had absorbed Mana Material.
It was sturdy and fairly difficult to destroy so it was a reliable product that was supporting the slavery system in a certain country.

As it was a mechanism that sends a strong current to give you an electroshock, it wasn’t possible to remove it.
In the true meaning of it, there was an invisible chain that connected Gray and the others’ neck.
And the owner was clearly not a person who would hesitate to use it.
White and Black had probably reached the same conclusion.
And the fact that all three of them came after being called so suddenly, showed that they all agreed on it.

 

TL notes:

Thanks for reading!
Hahaha I love the reaction of the Clan Members! So funny! If Cry was there he will say that it was all just a coincidence ;D
Tchao à plus!