Chapter Eighty-Three: Spreading Rumors

Lancer had long since noticed the clumsy attempts at tailing him, no matter who it was. He could understand the efforts of the one person trying to stay hidden, but that conspicuous group of unknown individuals—did they really take him for a blind man? Every player could learn the “Stealth” skill, but any rational person knew it was meant to be used against monsters; for humans, their own eyes were far more reliable than some so-called aura-concealing tricks. Stealth only reduced their presence, made them a bit like background characters, or muffled the sounds of their movements, but if someone didn’t actually hide themselves, they would still be found out.

Sighing helplessly and rubbing his forehead, Lancer’s initial thought was simply to eliminate these nuisances—if they survived, all the better for them, then he’d wrap things up and be done with it. After all, his purpose this time was to help a certain “loli magical girl,” and he couldn’t care less about the rest.

“Are we there yet?” Silica turned her head once more to ask.

“According to the map, it shouldn’t be far.” Lancer, who hadn’t remembered this part of the map at first, had already memorized it after Silica’s endless questioning. But from this, he could see how much Silica cared about Pina.

The journey proved mostly uneventful, and whenever they encountered monsters Silica could handle, Lancer left them to her. Of course, he would never admit that this was because nearly all plant-type monsters had “tentacle” abilities.

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After nearly half a day of searching, they finally found the place where the Hill of Memories existed. However, the garden with the flower that could resurrect Pina still needed to be located. Even now, in his most generous mood, Akihiko Kayaba would never make this a place for infinite farming. Aside from being time-consuming, there seemed to be no real danger—at least, not for high-level players.

Watching Silica burst into tears of joy, Lancer quietly felt happy for her. After all, being able to bring back your best friend was truly something to rejoice over, and he didn’t want to intrude upon her happiness.

“Are you planning to use it now? I’m confident in my abilities, but just to be safe, let’s wait until we’re back in town before you resurrect Pina.” Knowing they would soon encounter that group from the orange-named guild, Lancer planned to have some fun with them. If the newly revived Pina made Silica too anxious to let him show off his heroic side, her opinion of him might not improve as much as he hoped.

Ever since meeting Silica, Lancer had completely let go of his inhibitions. His “loli-con” tendencies had erupted, and he began looking for every opportunity to show off in front of her. But for some reason—perhaps due to Lancer’s own bad luck—while Silica thankfully wasn’t the clingy type, she was a faux innocent, and all the affection Lancer imagined might have seemed to her like nothing more than excessive enthusiasm. Lancer’s rather androgynous looks made it easier for Silica to talk to him, but perhaps that was exactly why she didn’t see him as a “big brother pursuing her,” but rather as a “helpful big sister.”

“Mm! Let’s wait until we’re back before bringing Pina back to life.” Overwhelmed with excitement, Silica’s mind went blank for a moment, and she subconsciously agreed to Lancer’s suggestion.

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On the way to the teleportation gate, with Silica clutching Lancer’s hand in her excitement, Lancer suddenly stopped.

“Remember to protect yourself in a moment.” As soon as he finished speaking, Silica realized they hadn’t seen another player for nearly half an hour. In other words, if a fight broke out, no one would be able to relay the cause of their deaths.

Sure enough, that group didn’t disappoint Lancer.

“Heh heh—boss is being overly cautious. We already checked, there’s no one around. What’s there to be afraid of? It’s just two little girls.” A lecherous-looking man swaggered out of the bushes.

“Can’t hold it in anymore, can you?” Lancer looked at the assorted crew of misfits—tall, short, fat, and thin—and began mocking them on reflex.

“Are you lot hiding so you don’t scare the other players? Or is it…” Lancer’s taunting drew all their attention to himself, and Silica beside him was selectively ignored. After all, compared to a “queen” like Lancer, a small girl like Silica posed no threat.

“By the way, where’s your boss? Or is she too embarrassed to show herself now that her assets are starting to sag?” Lancer, seeing that he had drawn everyone’s “aggro” but one person, immediately redirected his fire.

“What did you just say, little brat?” Even without actively using any skills, those words alone would have been a huge provocation to a woman confident in her figure.

“Little brat?!” An imaginary crossroads appeared above Lancer’s head.

“Heh. Looks like I’d better send you all straight to hell to reflect on your actions.” These past few days, Silica had always called him “Onii-chan,” though sometimes she almost slipped and said “Onee-san.” Lancer could never get angry at an adorable loli, but when it came to this group of orange-named players, he had no such qualms. He swapped out his decorative weapon for the Scythe of Judgment without even bothering to change the rest of his equipment.

“Damn, these guys are asking for it.” Seeing Lancer radiating unrestrained killing intent and already armed, it was clear this wouldn’t end peacefully.

“Wait! Lancer! Is it really worth it to turn red for these guys?” Kirito, unable to keep hiding, rushed out from under another tree.

Under the watchful eyes of the orange-named players, Kirito lunged forward and grabbed both of Lancer’s shoulders, trying to restrain him.

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“Let go, Kirito! These guys are orange-named. Even if I take them out, I won’t get any rewards, but at least I won’t become red-named. So don’t stop me—let me finish them off!” Though Lancer had calmed down by the time he said this, he still had no intention of letting them go.

While Kirito was holding Lancer back, one gossip-loving member of the misfits recognized Kirito.

“Boss, that guy in black is the Black Swordsman—Kirito! Looks like we’ve bitten off more than we can chew.”

“What?!” While their leader was still reeling in shock, Lancer broke free from Kirito’s grip and charged forward, swinging his scythe in a merciless whirlwind. Several of the nearest thugs were sent flying. The lack of any glow on Lancer’s scythe showed that no skills had been used—no matter how flashy his moves, without skill bonuses, at best it was just a combo. Yet even this ordinary attack took the health of several second-tier players down to critical levels.

“Who are you?” The woman managed to ask one last question. Seeing that Lancer wasn’t finishing them off, it seemed they might live, but they were surely headed for “prison.” Still, she wanted to die knowing.

“The Inquisition—Lancer.”

With just a few moves, Lancer had reduced every enemy to a crippled state, leaving them too afraid to even run, staring blankly where they sat. Silica’s eyes sparkled with admiration.

In the end, Silica used a teleport crystal to return to town, promising to resurrect Pina together once Lancer returned. Lancer and Kirito remained behind, waiting for members of the Inquisition to come collect the defeated group.

Under the strange gazes of the crowd, the group was led away. It was only then that Lancer realized he hadn’t put on his cloak, but since he always looked like this, he didn’t mind.

What Lancer didn’t expect was that, after these events, a rumor began circulating within the Inquisition: that the Chief Inquisitor was actually a very cute girl, and that the organization had been founded to search for outstanding men. Of course, this was just idle gossip—no one dared to confirm it with Lancer directly.