Chapter 298 – The Fifth Member
“What the hell, this guy had a full belly but he's just a beggar?”
At least pigs leave behind meat when they die.
There wasn’t a single thing worth taking from Zarakan’s belongings.
I had some hope since he was a deputy commander of the Cleaners, but it was a complete bust. The only things with any value were the two pairs of axes he used, but I clicked my tongue and shook my head.
After a while, I hoisted his body over my shoulder.
“Damn, he’s heavy.”
Splash—
When I threw Zarakan’s corpse into the canal, Samuel looked at me curiously.
“Young man, are you throwing away his weapons too? Those axe blades had quite the murderous aura.”
“They stand out too much to carry around. Zarakan’s axes are steeped in the aura of death.”
They were the axes of a human butcher.
They held the grudge of hundreds, thousands of people. If anything, they were certainly... unique.
“This is Aintrier. Anything special turns into money. There are always customers willing to pay a high price for rare things, even under the table.”
“The moment we sell them, we’ll become targets of the Cleaners.”
“You mean, they’ll find out? But I thought trade information was prohibited from being shared here?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then why...?”
“There’s exactly one person the rule doesn’t apply to.”
Samuel thought of a certain individual.
A being above the rules.
That was the master of Aintrier—Lord Azonne Vistas.
“Come to think of it…”
When the twisted spatial barrier was deployed, Samuel had faced a serious crisis.
Considering the timing of Zarakan’s appearance, the barrier had definitely been set to target him.
“Are you saying Azonne is working with the Cleaners? I heard they weren’t close enough to share trade intel.”
“During the Dark Sales period, he’ll take the Cleaners’ side.”
“Why’s that???”
“Because of Special Commander Richard.”
“Special Commander Richard...”
At the name Richard, Samuel swallowed hard. Just knowing the man was after him was enough to make his heart pound.
Number One in the Cleaners’ hierarchy.
Richard Hanson, the Predator Killer.
There had never been a prey that escaped his grasp.
Even with Samuel’s space-type abilities specialized for escape, he felt cornered.
Now that Lord Azonne was involved too, how long could he keep running?
It made him uneasy.
“What kind of deal did they make…?”
“Richard is acting as Azonne’s escort during this Dark Sales.”
“Hah, did I walk straight into my own grave?”
“Now you understand?”
He had come to Aintrier to avoid Richard, only to find Richard standing behind Azonne Vistas.
That explained Azonne’s actions. He must have activated the barrier at Richard’s request.
“Azonne isn’t someone who’d show this kind of favor just for an escort. He’s extremely money-minded.”
“Whatever the reason, the facts don’t change.”
After brushing my hands off, I stood in front of Samuel.
With a serious expression, I continued.
“Aintrier is a grave for you.”
“The barrier will remain for a while. You’ll need to find a way to survive.”
Samuel fell silent for a moment, then bit his lip and looked at me.
His eyes showed that he had made up his mind.
If Elton had been working him properly all this time, then this was when the words I wanted to hear should come out of his mouth.
Why do you think I applied all that psychological pressure?
Say it already!
But then—
“Ah?! The mustache!”
“...Ughk!”
“Traitor of the Witch!”
“N-no! It’s a misunderstanding!”
Instead of saying what I hoped, all I got was empty gasping.
When Lily spotted Samuel, she sprinted over. Samuel panicked and covered his mustache, backing away.
Of all times, his natural enemy had to show up, completely ruining the atmosphere I had set up.
“Tch, just a bit later would’ve been perfect.”
Someone responded to my mutter.
“You got here early.”
Behind Lily, Elton and the Ghosts appeared.
All five of them were soaked in blood. The fight had clearly been brutal.
The Cleaners must’ve put up a fierce resistance.
The Ghosts bowed to me respectfully. Elton approached with a frown.
At a glance, his wounds looked pretty serious.
“You’re a mess.”
“Slaughtered is more accurate. The enemy was too strong.”
“Are you alright?”
“The witch patched me up. But… it still hurts a bit.”
To hear “it hurts” from an assassin.
Judging from how the Ghosts nodded heavily behind him, it looked like Lily had applied her special herbal medicine.
It’s incredibly painful—like rubbing salt into wounds.
I knew that feeling well, having experienced it myself.
Elton’s gaze followed Lily.
“She showed up at the perfect time. Gave us room to breathe.”
Because of the mana spiderweb, things had been harder than expected.
If Lily hadn’t come and destroyed it, one of the Ghosts might not have made it out.
“Did any escape?”
“When the leader died and the webs were neutralized, they retreated. There were too many, so we couldn’t catch them all. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Some of our info might leak, but we’ll manage. We’ll make sure they can’t act on it without solid proof. More importantly… what about over there?”
I looked over at Samuel. Elton smiled faintly and nodded.
“He’ll want a hand extended to him.”
“He seemed to be testing the waters.”
“Because he knows the risks better than anyone.”
Samuel’s position was isolated now.
He’d served as an errand runner for the Witch, using Ordor Forest as a refuge. But after the battle there, he became an object of suspicion.
Bringing Lyon Martrein had been the critical mistake.
To repay his life debt to Kamel, Samuel had opened a portal connected to the forest and brought Lyon.
But Lyon became the main culprit behind the Millennium Tree’s destruction, making Samuel an unwitting accomplice.
A bolt from the blue for Samuel.
Even though he brought Hunt and reinforcements through the portal afterward and contributed to defending the forest, the damage was immense—two Ortains died.
So of course, the backlash hit him too.
No wonder Lily shouted “traitor.”
“Mustache! Prepare yourself!”
“Woof! Woof!”
“N-no! Listen to me, little witch!”
Looking in the direction of the commotion, I saw Samuel backed into a corner, being hounded by Lily and Keros.
He met my eyes and sent a pleading look.
I chuckled and shook my head.
Just look at Lily’s expression. That should tell him everything.
It wasn’t anger, it was expectation.
During the trip to Aintrier, I’d already briefed Lily about Samuel.
I did it with snacks, too, so there was no bad blood—she was just picking on him for fun. She clearly wanted to yank out that mustache.
“Aaaaagh! N-no!”
If we pushed any further, Samuel might actually flee somewhere else, so I decided to wrap this up.
“Lily, it’s time for a special treat.”
At my words, Lily flinched, still holding his mustache.
She hesitated for a second, weighing her options.
“If you don’t go now, they’ll run out. And it’ll be canceled...”
“Keros, special treat!”
“Woof!”
Yup, the mustache had been the real target.
Samuel clutched his chest, relieved as if he had survived a life-threatening ordeal.
Just as I was heading toward him, Lily opened Keros’s mouth and pulled out a tightly coiled silk thread.
“What’s that?”
“Hm? It’s the spiderweb that blocked the path earlier. It was neat, so I brought some to look at later.”
Looks like she had taken interest in the mana spiderweb.
Can’t blame her—it was pretty fascinating.
But my attention was drawn more to Keros, who was now swallowing Lily’s staff.
Ah, right—I forgot about him.
Lily’s walking storage room.
The plan shifted slightly.
I had Elton and the Ghosts bring over the Cleaners’ corpses.
We’d use Keros’s ability to erase our traces.
“Damn, he got even heavier soaked in water.”
I grunted as I dragged Zarakan’s body out of the canal.
After collecting his axes, I dropped everything in front of Keros.
“Eat.”
“...?”
Keros tilted his head, looking up at me.
His eyes said: Why are you making me eat this pig?
Instead of replying, I infused Sacred Power into Zarakan’s corpse.
As it turned golden, Keros’s mouth opened wide and devoured him.
From then on, whenever the Ghosts brought over corpses, I would bless them with Sacred Power and place them before Keros.
Nom!
Keros eagerly devoured the bodies.
As an otherworldly beast, Keros didn’t need to eat to survive.
He liked meat, but he loved the energy within Sacred Power even more.
“...He eats well.”
“More accurately, he stores them.”
“Trying to erase the evidence?”
“This seemed the best way to buy time. We’ll be found eventually, as long as you’re with us.”
With the Ghosts working, the cleanup ended quickly.
Buurrp—
“Keros, don’t burp. Makes it sound like you actually ate them.”
“He didn’t… right?”
Lily and Keros left the area chatting, followed by the Ghosts.
Elton gave me a brief nod, then vanished.
Left alone with Samuel,
I lightly held out my hand.
“Will you come with us?”
Just a simple question.
But Samuel’s reaction was far from simple.
“...Can I call you Captain?”
“That’s not what I meant.”
“In the worst case, if you abandon me, I won’t resent you. But…”
Samuel clenched his eyes.
“I can’t let the bastards who did this to me go free. Help me.”
Demtor, the Cleaners, and now Aintrier—all after Samuel.
He knew full well that joining us meant putting Hunt in danger.
So he didn’t ask for protection.
“I’ll help you.”
When I nodded, Samuel let out a long sigh and gripped my hand tightly.
Honestly, even if he had asked for protection, I’d have agreed.
Demtor, Cleaners, Aintrier—
It was just a matter of time before we clashed anyway.
“Oh, by the way, there’s something I forgot to mention.”
“Is it important?”
“Not really.”
I looked toward the direction Lily had gone and smiled.
“Lily’s part of Hunt too. Is that okay?”
In that moment, the strength in Samuel’s hand faltered.
As it slipped away, I tightened my grip and held it in place.
Where do you think you’re going.
“...Wait, will I get bitten?”
“Welcome to Hunt.”
Samuel’s face twisted.
Samuel Barber, spatial mage—was now the fifth member of Hunt.
***
In a high-class restaurant in Aintrier,
A chaotic meal full of shouting finally came to an end.
Lily wiped soup from her lips and looked toward Samuel sitting in the corner.
Sensing her gaze, Samuel flinched.
“So, Barber’s the youngest now?”
Lily’s random comment made Samuel snap.
“It’s Samuel! Not Barber! And youngest? I’m over forty!”
“You’re the fifth, right? Then you’re the youngest.”
“That’s just the order we joined in!”
The two were starting to get comfortable with each other, but it was beginning to give me a headache.
Leave those two alone and chaos would erupt.
I sighed and looked at Elton.
He looked better than before, maybe because he’d finally had a proper meal.
“There’s something we need to do with Samuel.”
“Go on.”
“First, get us a house.”
“A house? Like a base?”
“That’s right.”
Now that we had a spatial mage, it was time to tackle the multi-race issue.