By Zephyria 
Having sorted out my thoughts to some extent, I sighed and said to Ralph, “We’re considering that too. It’s probably best to withdraw, especially since someone died.”
“Yes, someone died, no matter who did it. It’s unsettling to stay here.”
Ralph agreed with me and sighed along. He kept emphasizing the fact that someone had died, constantly pressuring me.
“May I ask you one more thing?”
“Of course.”
I turned my gaze back to the corpse and said, “I’ve heard that people who are good with swords can tell how and where someone was stabbed just by looking at the wound. Is there any way to know how this poor person died?”
“Why are you asking me about someone who was a soldier…”
Ralph glanced at Abyss, who waved his hands and shook his head. “I’m not skilled enough for that.”
“Neither am I, just a mere hunter. And let me add that the vital points of beasts and humans are different in the first place.”
At Ralph’s words, my eyes widened as if I had realized something.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“I only agreed with the term ‘vital point’ because people usually die when stabbed in the stomach. I don’t see corpses as often as the physician does. I’m also completely ignorant of human anatomy.”
“I don’t see corpses often either.”
“Oh, I see. I thought you were an expert who could deduce a lot just by looking at wounds.”
I didn’t know what kind of expert he was talking about, but there was a barb in his words. We laughed heartily like fools and looked at each other.
Ralph was the first to stop laughing. “Anyway, please consider withdrawing as soon as possible. If even a Magical creature appears, there will be many casualties. Frankly, I’m too scared to stay here any longer.”
“Why are you telling that to a mere physician? The decision to withdraw is beyond my authority.”
Ralph smiled as I tilted my head. “I have a good eye.”
That’s how the ambiguous and uncomfortable conversation ended. One of the hunters had a particularly insolent look in his eyes, as if he was hostile to me.
I couldn’t say it was conclusive evidence, as they might react that way if they felt suspected.
“Any reports?”
I stared at the tent they had entered and asked.
“There were no particularly strange movements. They never left the tent for a single moment. If this was their doing, they must have an accomplice.”
“Then we need to find out how they instructed the accomplice to kill the person without being seen. The guy is suspicious and cautious, so the same thing won’t happen twice. Maybe they won’t do anything until we withdraw.”
If their goal was to drive us out of the mountains in the first place, they were already half successful. They must have realized they were under suspicion, so they wouldn’t move any further…
If my prediction was correct, rumors of damage caused by Magical creatures would spread within the investigation team within a few hours. There was a high probability that trying to hide it would be useless. The investigation team, thrown into disarray by the chaos, would inevitably split into a group wanting to withdraw and a group wanting to stay.
If there was an accomplice within the investigation team, he would naturally side with the group wanting to withdraw and play a role in exacerbating the conflict.
Assuming there was an accomplice, I was trying to predict the path they would take in the future when I suddenly realized that my back felt empty. Aska, who had been standing behind me like a statue, was nowhere to be seen.
“Where did he go?”
“Oh.”
Abyss was startled and made a strange noise. He looked around as if possessed by a ghost and muttered, “He was definitely there just a moment ago…”
“Haa…”
I knew he was bored because the story was dull, but he should have at least said something before leaving. I was worried about how to fix this bad habit.
Having suddenly lost all motivation, I sighed and said to Abyss, “Don’t neglect your surveillance in case there are any other casualties, and take good care of the corpse. We have to send it back to the family. And prepare to withdraw.”
“Are we withdrawing?”
“Of course we are. Most of the investigators are no different from ordinary people, so we can’t keep exposing them to danger. All work is suspended, and we’re going back as soon as possible.”
“Understood.”
I would have to reorganize with a small elite team and come back later. I decided to focus on leaving only the minimum number of people capable of fighting and returned to the tent. But Aska was not there either.
In the end, I put on my hood and went outside again, wandering around the places Aska might have gone. I looked at the trees, the places where snow was thickly piled up, and places with good scenery, but Aska was nowhere to be seen.
“Aska.”
“Why?”
I called his name into the air out of frustration, and I heard a voice answering from behind. I frowned and turned around.
“Where have you been?”
“No, I kept getting a strange feeling from the person you were talking to earlier…”
“Strange feeling?”
Aska took out a bracelet that looked like it was made by twisting a leather cord from his pocket.
“What is that?”
“Don’t you feel anything strange?”
I stared at it for a long time, but I didn’t feel anything particularly strange.
“More importantly, where did you go?”
“To get this.”
“Where was it?”
“The man you were talking to earlier. Was it Ralph?”
“What?”
I couldn’t help but be greatly surprised by the unexpected words. Aska continued to stare intently at the bracelet he had brought and said nonchalantly, “Something… it feels like when I see a Magical creature, and it’s similar to the glasses Zero used last time…”
“How did you get that? Did you kill him?”
In fact, I was thinking of just killing him if things went wrong, but I wasn’t sure yet, so I didn’t move easily. At my question, Aska took off his hood and frowned.
“Why would I kill him? Do you think I’m a murderer? I just secretly stole it.”
“If it’s a bracelet, he was wearing it on his wrist, right? How did you secretly steal it? Did you cut off his wrist?”
“Why do you always think like that? I just secretly untied it, as the words say. I’m usually good at moving quietly. When I was a kid, I followed you around and secretly put leaves in your hair a lot.”
That’s not what I meant… But I suddenly felt touched by the words that followed, and I didn’t care about the bracelet anymore. I felt a tickling in my chest for some reason and cleared my throat.
“Why did you put leaves in my hair?”
“Just because I was bored.”
“Didn’t you do anything else? Like secretly kissing me on the cheek when I was sleeping.”
“I never kissed you.”
“Never? Think about it. Wouldn’t there be at least once?”
“No.”
I smacked my lips with a sullen expression at the firm words that seemed like they would never change even if the sky split in two. Aska stared at one side of the bracelet and asked, “Look over here.”
I casually looked at the side Aska was pointing at and frowned. When I looked closely, I saw a very small green pattern.
“What is this?”
“I don’t know either.”
Even though we kept looking at it, we didn’t know what it was, so we took the bracelet to Zero. Zero, still half-asleep with a drowsy face, hurriedly put on his glasses and examined the bracelet.
And Zero’s expression became serious when he saw the green pattern.
“This is a letter. It’s a method commonly used in ancient times to create Magical tools, but I believe the manufacturing method has been lost.”
“Magical tool?”
“Yes, it’s a Relic. There’s no way to engrave a language imbued with power so precisely now.”
The word “Relic” struck my head like lightning.
“If it’s a Relic, didn’t you find it in the Ruins?”
“I guess so?”
Could it be that the person who knew that there was a Ruins in these mountains planned all of this? Anyway, it was true that Pipi attacked humans when Aska was recovering his injured body.
I remembered the scene I saw in my dream, where a giant bird was holding many corpses in its claws. Considering the number, quite a few people must have died.
Someone who found that strange must have entered the mountains under the pretext of extermination or investigation, and by that time, Pipi and Aska might have already left.
But who could be an organization that could investigate the entire mountain range while disguised as hunters? It was unlikely that ordinary villagers would have carried out such a large-scale search operation.
“…”
At that time, I met Zero’s eyes as he looked at me with a puzzled expression. When I looked at his face, I suddenly remembered what he had told me before.
“The alliance you mentioned last time.”
“Yes?”
“Mahir said he would create an alliance to share information about Magical creatures soon.”
“Ah, yes. Why are you suddenly bringing that up?”
The Rollai Mountains are the territory of Calderia. And Calderia was practically a colony of Actan, where even the princess had to be sent as a hostage if the Emperor requested it.
Even if we didn’t want to, if Mahir created an alliance, we would naturally have no choice but to participate. It was obvious that it would be more difficult to hide things we wanted to hide.
“Crazy.”
As soon as my thoughts were somewhat organized, I cursed without realizing it. I had never imagined that those hunters could be affiliated with the royal family.
I glanced at Aska, who was wearing a hood. As I stared silently at his face, which I couldn’t even see, I couldn’t hide my complicated feelings.
It was only natural since it was a matter involving my in-laws…