Chapter 171: Scent of Suspicion
'It's so strange... how come I am still conscious? Why am I not suffering from mana exhaustion yet?'
Not that he actually wanted to suffer more on purpose though, but still, it felt strangely wrong, somehow.
Leaning his battered body against the wall, Kael drifted his gaze upward, letting it rest upon the rough ceiling above.
'Am I the only one who's feeling this way?'
It certainly seemed that way, since most of the adventurers here were gravely wounded, aside from the ones who had fought alongside Valentina. So they had neither time, nor the condition, to concern themselves with something as subtle and seemingly meaningless as this.
Then could it be the result of him being inside this dungeon? Its ecosystem was broken, after all. Then again, what did its ecosystem have to do with his mana core?
'Those two are completely different things.'
He shook his head slightly, his fake dark hair swaying across his forehead with the motion.
In any case, the healers seemed to have managed to mend the most lethal injuries by now, granting those on the brink of death another fragile chance to live; however, the lesser wounds still remained, crudely bandaged and far from healed, and so did the pain that lingered stubbornly within their bodies. That was such a low price to pay after entering this dungeon without a proper healer, at least when compared to what could have happened.
Kael found himself genuinely surprised that there had been no fatalities among them yet, even though everything pointed toward a much worse outcome.
He let out a quiet sigh, one that carried no particular emotion.
'Guess, they're just a lucky bunch...'
At that moment, though, his jaw dropped, the shift so sudden that even he did not fully register it.
'W-what the... fuck?'
Just beneath the ceiling, countless jolts of lightning suddenly appeared out of nowhere, some of them, if not most, descending straight toward him with an overwhelming intent to burn him alive.
He forced out a faint smile, though it held no real humor in it.
'Why did I even utter that cursed word?'
As the lightning was about to strike him, he braced himself completely, fully aware that there was nothing left in his arsenal that could possibly halt his wife's lightning.
But in the next moment, nothing really happened. For reasons he could not comprehend, the expected lightning never reached him, not even a fragment of it managing to graze his body.
Slowly, he opened his eyes.
What greeted him was a wall of water, suspended mid-air just beneath the ceiling as though it had no weight at all, intercepting the lightning before it could reach him and forming a barrier that stood firm against the violent assault.
But that made no sense, though.
Water could never stop lightning; if anything, it should have made things far worse than they already were.
Or so he thought.
But to his surprise, the water absorbed the lightning itself, allowing it to dance wildly across its surface like restless serpents of light, crackling and twisting in every direction, but never once breaking through the barrier that held them in place. In the next moment, the barrier dissolved into a fine mist, dispersing gently into the air as the lightning vanished along with it.
Kael simply stared at the fading mist, completely dumbfounded for a moment, much like several other adventurers nearby who had also witnessed the scene.
'Why the hell am I even surprised anymore? She literally used tendrils made out of water not so long ago, compared to that, this shouldn't even be surprising. No, but seriously... how can water catch something anyway?'
He had no idea.
He turned his head toward Valentina, who sat a few meters away from him, his gaze lingering on her for a brief moment before something suddenly clicked within his mind.
'Wait a minute... why is she awake?'
He had used his advanced healing magic on her after seeing the pitiful state of her earlier. By all logic, she should have still been lying unconscious, but that didn't seem to be the case, though.
Had his healing element weakened somehow? Or perhaps it was no longer forcing its targets into a deep sleep as it used to? Or could it be that it simply behaved differently when used on individuals of greater strength?
'Well, who cares? As long as I don't get caught being a healer, I think I'll just be fine... maybe.'
He leaned back further against the wall, his body wrapped in bandages, most notably around his abdomen and chest, while his tattered shirt hung loosely over him, barely serving its purpose anymore.
It was only then that he noticed the silence.
There was no sound, no distant shockwaves, nothing echoing from the hall anymore, which suggested that the battle had already come to an end, or at the very least, had reached a pause.
His eyes quickly shifted toward the entrance of the hall.
There, just a few meters away, Seraphina stood motionless like a statue carved from silver, her armor marked with faint grooves that were barely noticeable unless one looked closely. Her silver hair flowed behind her like a cascading waterfall.
Her helmet had been removed at some point, now resting in her hand, revealing her beautiful face fully. Her expression, however, was not quite the same as usual.
Her eyes carried a trace of surprise, as though she had just witnessed something she had never expected to see.
'Did she see a ghost or what?'
Her arrival here, though, was enough to quietly confirm to everyone present that the battle had truly come to an end. Most of the adventurers felt a wave of relief wash through them, some offering faint, weary smiles while others simply lowered their heads and whispered quiet prayers of gratitude.
At that moment, Valric came to an abrupt halt just beside Seraphina, as though he had rushed all the way from his previous position without pause. The expression he wore was enough to unsettle even the wounded who barely had the strength to lift their heads.
His lips parted slightly, disbelief plain on his face, "How... how can you still cast spell?"
Valentina, of course, understood that the question had been directed at her, so she made an effort to turn and face him properly, or at least attempted to, though her head remained resting against the cold wall behind her as if weighed down by something unseen. It felt strangely heavy, perhaps it was the result of all the pressure and strain she had forced her mind to endure throughout the battle.
She regarded him with a peculiar look before speaking in a hoarse, worn voice, "Am I not supposed to?"
Upon hearing that, Valric immediately tried to correct himself, "That's not wha—"
Before he could finish, however, Valentina raised her hand in a casual motion, cutting him off without so much as a glance of urgency, and said in a nonchalant tone, "Oh, relax. I am fine. Very much so, in fact, I could flood this entire floor in a matter of seconds."
Valric continued to stare at her a moment longer than necessary before quickly masking whatever had surfaced in his expression. It seemed she had misunderstood him entirely and assumed that he was merely astonished by her ability to use magic despite her severe condition.
He forced out a faint smile, "Good to hear."
Then his eyes drifted toward her wound, or rather, the place where it should have been, but all that met his sight was the pale, unblemished skin of her slender waist.
His eyes widened, if only slightly.
Before he could voice the question forming in his mind, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from ahead, drawing his attention upward where he saw two women sprinting toward them with clear urgency.
The first was a woman with short chestnut hair, dressed in a black and green-colored outfit that covered only what was necessary.
The second, in contrast, carried an almost striking presence, her long dark hair flowing behind her with a faint shimmer under the dim dungeon light, a few strands tinted with a soft green hue. Her eyes resembled polished emeralds, and her long ears extended upward. She wore a simple tunic that reached her knees, modest in design but fitting for swift movement.
Both of them came to a stop in front of the wounded adventurers, their breaths uneven as they tried to recover from their run.
Valentina looked at her with quiet curiosity, "Aerisyl?"
Indeed, she was none other than the sole healer of the Crownbreakers party.
Seraphina stepped forward, her cloak swaying behind her as she spoke with composed authority, "I apologise for the sudden inconvenience. The battle with the boss is over, so you may all rest well."
She allowed a brief pause before shifting her gaze ahead, "Ms. Aerisyl. You have my utmost gratitude for answering the call at such a crucial moment. Now, if you will."
Aerisyl offered a reassuring smile, "It's my pleasure."
Without wasting any time, she moved forward and knelt before one of the wounded men, gently placing her hand on his injury as a soft glow began to form, signaling the start of her healing. With her presence alone, it became evident that it would not take long before the injured were restored, at least to a condition stable enough to stand and fight once more.
With that settled, Seraphina turned on her heel and began walking toward the spacious hall ahead.
Valric followed after her without a word.
The battle with the boss may have ended, yet the teleportation circle remained active, and as long as it existed, the possibility of monsters emerging from the lower floors and disrupting the fragile peace lingered, which made it necessary to deal with it before allowing anyone to truly rest.
---
Soon enough, the three leaders found themselves standing near the mending circle, facing one another.
The fragments of debris scattered across the floor trembling before slowly being drawn toward the crater in an almost rhythmic motion, as though guided by an unseen force. Around them, the bloodied bodies of monsters lay still and lifeless.
Seraphina brought a hand to her chin, her expression thoughtful.
According to Valric, Valentina should have been incapable of using magic after what had happened. But despite that, she had not only used it, she had done so effectively enough to block lightning magic, something that should not have been possible under normal circumstances unless their initial understanding of the creature's needle ability had been wrong.
Or could it be because of something else?
Either way, was there any way to find out?
'Come to think of it...'
She turned her head slightly and looked sideways before speaking directly, "Sir Valric, I have a question for you."
Valric appeared mildly taken aback by the sudden address, though he quickly composed himself and nodded, "Yes?"
Seraphina's expression remained as cold and composed as ever as she spoke, "Are you still capable of using magic?"
Valric fell silent, his brows drawing together as he considered the question, then after a brief pause, he shook his head, withdrawing clear certainty, "No, Captain, I can't. Not after that needle pierced my skin. That is exactly why I find this situation far more perplexing than anyone else."
'So his assumption was correct all along,' Seraphina thought inwardly.
She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly before speaking, "I see. So, what about Valentina then? Back then, how were you so certain that she had lost her flowlines permanently, that she could no longer wield her magic? Judging by how ignorant she was to your surprised demeanour, it does not seem she was the one who informed you of such a thing. So, how did you come to that conclusion?"
If what he claimed was merely an assumption, then there remained the possibility that he had been wrong about it. If that was the case, then perhaps Valentina had never truly lost her ability to cast magic at all. Instead, it could have simply been the result of severe mental exhaustion that had temporarily suppressed her control.
Although she found it difficult to believe such a simple explanation, considering that Valric, of all people, should have been aware of such a possibility as well.
It was, after all, nothing more than fundamental knowledge.
After hearing her, Valric lowered his head slowly, his fists tightened at his sides as though he was grasping onto something unseen but painfully real.
Eventually, he spoke in a calm voice that carried a quiet weight behind it, "I was certain because I felt it myself. Well, it may be hard for you to believe, since no one can see or feel another person's flowlines, but I can, at least to a certain extent. That is because of my element..."
He paused for a moment, his gaze drifting slightly as if recalling something unpleasant, before continuing in a quieter, almost wistful tone, "Unlike others, I don't have a natural affinity; instead, mine is a bizarre and rather strange kind of element, perhaps even the most useless one out there. It resembles a type of healing magic of sorts. And yet at the same time, it is nothing like healing at all. It grants me the ability to relieve anyone's pain in an instant, but it cannot mend any wound nor can it stop the bleeding either. However, whenever I touch someone's wound to use it, I can feel the gentle flow of mana within their body... but in Tina's case, I felt nothing."
'He seems confident enough…'
Seraphina raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I understand."
'...then how were her flowlines restored?'
Restored...?
Then what about her wound?
It had been something gruesome, something undeniably lethal, far beyond the capabilities of the secondary healers present. Considering the number of wounded that demanded their attention at the same time though, it was also nearly impossible for them to expend such an amount of mana on a single individual.
And yet, despite all that...
It had been healed.
Completely so, even.
Valentina was not a healer, which left only one conclusion that refused to be ignored... that someone among them possessed the capability to perform such a feat, someone whose skill had to reach at least the rank of an A-Ranked healer, and yet that person had chosen to remain hidden, concealing their element behind silence.
Who could it be?
And more importantly... why would they choose to hide it?
Were they an enemy disguised as an ally within this subjugation quest perhaps?
If that was the case, then their actions made even less sense.
Why save Valentina?
What purpose could it possibly serve?
'How suspicious...'
Turning around, she drew in a quiet breath before speaking once more, "Sir Valric... would you mind asking Valentina about the healer who mended her wound?"
Valric, who had already been gazing toward the wounded adventurers as though anticipating such a request, nodded without hesitation, "Of course, Captain."
Without another word, he turned and made his way out of the hall.
Mistwalker, meanwhile, remained exactly where she stood, motionless and silent like a statue carved from stone, as though the entire exchange had never once concerned her, not even a little.
Ignoring her presence, Seraphina shifted her attention elsewhere and walked toward the corpse of the creature before coming to a halt right in front of it. Raising her free hand, she examined it in silence.
'I feel no different than before… so, what did she mean when she said I had dulled?'
Her fingers curled slightly before she shook her head, dismissing the thought.
'This is not the time to dwell on such things.'
There were far more pressing matters at hand. The first battle against the monsters may have come to an end, and the adventurers may have succeeded in clearing the first floor, but it was nothing more than the beginning of their descent. In truth, only a few hours of the day had passed since the quest began.
And already… the cost had been severe.
A great number of the adventurers had suffered injuries, some of them grave, and although healing would mend their bodies in time, the toll it had taken could not simply be ignored, nor dismissed as insignificant.
After all...
If this floor alone had been capable of harboring something so dreadful, then what awaited them in the depths below?
Perhaps today… they had managed to survive the initial assault, through strength, through fortune, but could they be able to endure this for an entire week?
Even if they did… would all of them truly make it back alive?
Whether she wished to accept it or not, the answer was already clear, impossible to deny, and far too grave to overlook.
Then again, there was no choice left to her to begin with. The town's defense was simply too weak to hold back the countless number of monsters that would pour out of this dungeon. So, no matter the consequences... the quest mustn't be abandoned at any cost.
And she had no intention of doing so either.
Her gaze drifted to where the creature's head lay, its lifeless form sprawled across the ground as though it was still staring at her. The tentacles covering its face glowed faintly, its eyes remained widened... or at least, that was how it seemed.
The cloak behind her swayed softly, brushing against the still air.
'Protecting this town and its people is my duty, and I never back down from it.'
Her expression turned cold.
'Whoever dares to harm any of them, whether they are monsters or demons... it does not matter. The result will always remain the same.'
Blue flames danced in the depth of her eyes as her fingers curled into a tight fist.
'I will make sure of it.'
Letting her fingers loosen once more, she turned and began to walk away, leaving the corpse behind without a second glance... though just as she took a few steps forward, her movement slowed slightly as she noticed someone approaching from ahead.
It was a tall young man with messy dark hair and cold gray eyes. He wore a simple shirt, worn and tattered at the edges, his body wrapped in layers of bandages that hinted at recent injuries, while his trousers appeared oddly intact in contrast.
'It seems the healing is proceeding well, considering he is already here. Speaking of which, why has Saintness not arrived yet? Has something happened to her along the way? Or could it be possible that the Queen has something to do with it as well?'
Their distance closed gradually, step by step, until soon enough, they passed by each other without so much as a glance, neither of them acknowledging the other.
Kael quietly exhaled in relief as he continued forward, his shoulders relaxing just slightly.
'I'm glad... she ignored me. I thought she might question me about why I came here.'
Just then, Seraphina's eyes widened slightly as she noticed something she couldn't possibly ignore, not even if she wished to.
'This scent... could it be?'
Halting, she looked over her shoulder and said, "Excuse me?"
Kael halted mid-step and turned on his heel, "Yes, Captain. Do you need something?"
'Come on... why did you stop, just go your own way... keep walking!'
Turning around, Seraphina took a few slow steps toward him and tilted her head ever so slightly, "May I inspect you?"
'For what reason exactly?'
Naturally, he could not refuse her, not without drawing even more suspicion toward himself, and that was the last thing he needed at the moment.
So, he gave a small nod, "Yes, of course."
The moment the words left his lips, Seraphina stepped closer, closing the distance between them until she stood directly in front of him... and then, without hesitation, she leaned in slightly and sniffed near his chest.
Kael's eyes widened in disbelief, 'What kind of inspection is this supposed to be? Well, whatever kind it is... it wouldn't work anyway.'
Of course, he had taken precautions.
He had not forgotten about his unique scent, the very thing that had caught Seraphina's attention before. Even from a distance back then, she had somehow noticed the faintest change in him without hesitation. So, before coming here, he made sure to conceal it as best as he could. He avoided bathing for two days, layered himself with the lingering scent of various potions, even adding extra fragrance in an attempt to mask anything unusual.
Kael thought inwardly, 'How genius of me!'
Seraphina, however, found herself caught in an unexpected dilemma. The scent she encountered now was entirely different, a strange and rather unpleasant mix that made her pause ever so slightly.
She almost regretted checking it out.
'Was that merely my imagination? If so, should I just ignore him? Besides, why would Kael be here on this quest anyway?'
She was unsure of anything, but in the next moment, a faint trace of something else brushed against her senses... a delicate, almost floral scent.
It was the same as before.
There was no doubt about it.
Then, it vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Could it be that her senses were playing tricks on her, perhaps?
'I need to confirm it.'
Kael, however, grew increasingly tense with each passing moment she lingered.
Scent was not something he could completely suppress, it could be buried, it could be distorted, but it would always remain somewhere beneath the surface. Therefore, it was only a matter of time before she found out.
Or perhaps she already had.
'Damn it! I can't let her smell me anymore. Otherwise, my disguise would be completely ruined. Then if I get caught, what am I even supposed to tell her? Is everything really going to end just like this, all because of a tattoo's scent?'
As Seraphina leaned forward once more, closing the distance between them with that same quiet insistence, he felt his composure begin to crack at the edges.
'No, no, no... I can't let this happen. I have to stop her, I need to stop her somehow. But how? Should I try to change the subject? Or maybe provoke her instead? No, that wouldn't work... it's Seraphina. Something like that would only make things worse. So then... what could possibly stop her?'
In that fleeting moment of desperation, he chose the most obvious solution available to him and extended his hands forward, though the faint tremor running through them made his hesitation painfully clear.
His fingers moved with uncertain intent, about to wrap around her waist, or at the very least attempt to, but before he could even complete the motion, Seraphina's hand had already found the hilt of her sword resting at her side.
And then, as his gaze met hers, everything seemed to freeze in place, as a chilling sensation crawled down his spine with an intensity that forced him to stagger back involuntarily. It felt as if he had locked eyes with a venomous serpent, something cold, something merciless, something that would strike without hesitation.
Her expression darkened, her voice carrying a sharp, cutting edge, "How insolent!"
In the next moment, a sharp sting spread across his wrists, and the skin there split open just enough for thin lines of blood to begin trailing downward in slow drops.
He swallowed hard.
'S-she was just about to cut my hands clean off, wasn't she? Is that how she deals with anyone who dares to cross the line?'
For a brief moment, an odd sense of relief washed over him as he realised that her sword had not actually been drawn all those times before, back when he had dared to touch her so casually as well as carelessly.
Seraphina let out a soft sigh, though there was no warmth in it, only a restrained patience that felt far more dangerous than outright anger, "Usually, I do not tolerate such insolent behaviour from the likes of you. However, since I was at fault for not being cautious enough, I will allow this to pass. But be aware though, if you attempt something like that again, whether it is toward me or any other woman makes no difference... I will sever those hands of yours clean off."
He forced a strained smile onto his face, "I-I won't dare to do that ever again, I swear."
Ignoring his response entirely, as though his words held no value worth acknowledging, she turned on her heel and began to walk away.
'Phew... it's finally over. I really thought I was going to die just now. No, seriously... how can a woman be that terrifying?'
But just as he began to let his guard down, she suddenly stopped after taking a few steps, and then looked over her shoulder, "But I hope... you will continue to respect the relationship of a companion throughout the remainder of this quest."
The weight of her words lingered in the air long after she finished speaking.
Kael collapsed onto the ground with a soft thud, his strength leaving him all at once.
'What does that even mean?'
For a moment, he remained there, staring blankly ahead, but then something struck him, something so obvious and yet completely overlooked in the midst of protecting his disguise.
His expression gradually stiffened.
'She just... inhaled another man, didn't she? At least, that's what it would look like from her perspective.'
His fists clenched tightly at his sides until his knuckles whitened. For a brief moment, an overwhelming urge surged through him, one that made him want to slam his fist against the ground again and again, though he forced himself to hold back, suppressing it before it could surface.
'Damn it!'
Shaking his head, he ran a hand through his smooth hair, ruffling it just enough to leave it disordered.
'She can do whatever she wants. It's none of my concern.'
There had been a reason for him to come into the hall in the first place, and it was to find the glasses he had lost during the fight with the monsters, along with the dagger that had been given to him by that beastkin.
'Now then... where did they end up? Let's see.'
As he lifted his gaze and began to look around, preparing to search properly this time, he noticed that Seraphina had not moved as far as he had expected.
She was still standing there.
...
Touching her chin lightly, Seraphina stood in silence, her gaze fixed on the wall ahead.
Among all of them, that man had been the first to be struck by those needles.
By now, she was almost certain that the release of the furs was not a requirement to destroy one's flowlines, considering how Valentina had been pierced directly from its body in the same way.
By that logic, that man should have lost the ability to use magic entirely, but during the battle against the creature's minions, he had continued to cast spells without any visible difficulty, as though the needles had never affected him at all.
And Valentina had regained her ability to use magic after being healed by someone, which was more or less apparent.
So then, who exactly was that healer?
Would it not make perfect sense if it was the same individual who had been unaffected by the needles' ability, or perhaps someone who possessed a method to nullify its effects, perhaps through some form of advanced healing? After all, who else could wield such an extraordinary power, the ability to restore something as fundamental as one's flowlines?
Surely, within this quest, he would have to be the only one capable of such a feat.
Which meant, that man was the one who had healed Valentina.
She was certain of it.
But why would he choose to hide the fact that he was a healer?
Her expression softened a little.
Kael had once mentioned that his healing magic was rather unique, something that worked effectively against curses, and curses themselves were nothing more than a distorted form of mana according to established theory, which meant there was a real possibility that his healing could influence something like damaged flowlines as well.
If that was the case, then it would make sense if he had chosen to conceal his true affinity, avoiding unnecessary attention that could easily turn dangerous.
Perhaps she was overthinking it once again.
But there were still details she could not ignore, such as the moment when that man had been about to kill the last minion he faced, where its claw had slowed down unnaturally as though restrained by something unseen, a phenomenon disturbingly similar to what had happened when Kael was struck by that arrow while trying to save her, since the arrow too had slowed before making contact.
However, there was a flaw in that line of reasoning, one that she could not dismiss so easily.
Unlike that man, Kael did not possess the wind element. Which meant, the possibility of him being that man was almost nonexistent.
'Has everything simply been a coincidence?'
Whether it was or not no longer held much importance to her, at least not in the way it once might have, since she already had her own methods of confirming the truth.
Turning her gaze slightly, she looked back toward him, watching as he knelt near the creature and pulled his glasses from where they had been barely lodged within the floor, his attention lingering on them briefly before he discarded them without hesitation.
Despite everything she had pieced together though, she had no intention of confronting him anytime soon.
He had chosen to save a companion's life, and more than that he had restored her magic, which was not something she could overlook lightly, and beyond the matter of hiding his affinity he had done nothing that warranted accusation or punishment.
More or less, he remained innocent. At least until the moment he proved otherwise.
'I will need to keep a close eye on him, it seems.'
---
(Chapter Ended)
To be continued...