I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 94

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[094] The Target
The morning after we destroyed the Kairon Trading Company.
I awoke to sunlight streaming diagonally through the window, my face buried in a plush pillow.
Belmont’s Villa was excessively antiquated and lacked charm, but the bed alone was so luxuriously soft I wanted to steal it.
I savored the lightness of spirit, burrowing deeper into the quilts.
“A conspiracy to assassinate the King, then….”
It was undoubtedly a monumental affair.
With multiple nobles entangled in it, the day the full picture emerged would see this Kingdom’s power structure undergo seismic shifts.
‘…But that’s none of my concern.’
I gazed at the ceiling, using my arms as a pillow.
My transaction with Diogenes was complete.
The task Belmont entrusted me with was largely finished.
I’d handed over the evidence ledger and obliterated the Armory.
The mastermind’s identity remained unclear, but if the opponent was the Count’s Family, there was nothing more I could pursue from this end.
Neither justification nor means remained.
At this point, I’d wash my hands of it and leave the rest to the Royal Knights.
Unless they were completely incompetent, they’d handle it adequately enough.
‘The Main Quest has gone quiet too….’
「Currently reassessing future direction.」
As morning sunlight began filling the room, I heard footsteps from the corridor.
A knock followed, and the door opened.
“Finally awake.”
It was Karen.
She must have collapsed immediately after bathing upon our return yesterday, yet she’d already finished preparing and wore neat travel clothes.
“Ever since arriving in the Royal Capital, we’ve been rushing around nonstop. Now that we have some breathing room, I was thinking of having lunch and properly exploring the city. Want to come along?”
“….”
I blinked for a moment. Had Karen ever been the one to suggest accompanying me before?
But there didn’t seem to be any hidden agenda.
“If you don’t want to, never mind. I’ll be going then….”
“Ah, wait… What about Malton and Radi?”
“Those two left ages ago to sightsee at the Marketplace. I was planning for all of us to go together, but you took forever to wake up, so I waited alone.”
I deliberated briefly before rising from bed.
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Karen and I stepped onto a tree-lined street ablaze with blossoms and visited a nearby brunch restaurant.
In the game, I’d prioritized efficiency and eaten hastily to satiate hunger, but seeing the prices on the menu left me aghast.
‘More than a gold coin for just some vegetables and a few scraps of meat?!’
The Royal Capital residents’ financial sensibilities were clearly broken. This alone would cover my monthly food expenses.
“What, doesn’t it suit your taste?”
“No… It’s not that. This is my first time in the Royal Capital, so there are many intriguing dishes on the menu….”
“….”
For some reason, Karen regarded me with an enigmatic gaze.
She muttered something about “what do you mean by first time,” then elegantly sliced her omelet with a knife before asking.
“So, since you’ve decided to stop pursuing the rebel instigators, what are you planning to do now?”
“Ah, I have a letter I need to deliver to someone, so I thought I’d start with that.”
“A letter?”
“Yes, it’s a bit complicated to explain….”
I had an unfinished letter delivery request from the Death Knight Orgillian aboard the Ghost Ship.
The task was to deliver a letter he’d written to his former master living in the Royal Capital.
It was a rank A difficulty quest, which made me hesitant at first, but now that I’d come to the Royal Capital and grown considerably stronger, it seemed well worth attempting.
Karen spoke matter-of-factly.
“Who do you need to deliver it to? Tell me.”
“Uh… would you help me?”
“Isn’t that obvious?”
Karen looked at me with an expression questioning why I would even ask such a thing.
“I helped you find your missing Uncle. Preventing the assassination plot against the King is something I should be grateful for as a noblewoman of this kingdom. Above all, it’s a comrade’s task—of course I’d help willingly.”
“Well, that’s true, but….”
I hadn’t expected her to be the first to use the word “comrade,” so I stared blankly at Karen before smiling and taking a bite of meat.
Now that I thought about it, when I’d infiltrated disguised as a Goblin, she’d told me to buy her a meal sometime if I was grateful.
As a breeze from the window tickled my hair, I spoke to Karen.
“By the way, that pointed hat… you always wear it even indoors.”
“Oh, this? It’s nothing special, but… just don’t mention it to anyone else.”
Karen lifted the pointed hat slightly, revealing an unexpected form.
A pair of long ears covered in short fur.
“You were a Rabbit Humanoid…?”
“What, you really didn’t notice? I thought I was being pretty obvious about it.”
“Well, I did suspect it somewhat from your excellent hearing, but… why have you been hiding it all this time?”
“Because some among the nobility place great value on pure bloodlines. There’s no need for me to openly reveal that I’m a half-breed between human and Rabbit Humanoid. …Though those who should know already do.”
“I see.”
It was the same with Radi, but the prejudices of Belheim’s people weren’t my concern.
She herself simply found it bothersome to hide, and didn’t seem particularly troubled by it.
‘When I think about it, our party is nothing but eccentrics.’
From a powerful elf, to a Sugar Glider Humanoid obsessed with poison, to a rabbit mage who can’t control her magical power.
And finally, as the crowning touch, there was me, wielding the power of the Evil God and monsters.
The fact that Karen had revealed her secret to me—could I accept that as a sign we’d grown closer?
‘Comrades….’
Truth be told, until now I had acted solely for myself.
When I was reborn into this harsh world, I resolved to abandon altruism, and my motivations were oriented purely toward my own survival.
I’d kept my comrades by my side initially only because they had utility.
But now a strong bond had formed, and I’d come to realize that forming a party with them wasn’t something happening for the first time.
To be honest, I’m still getting to know Karen, but knowing that she’s one of my comrades from countless past lives we’ve fought through together, I can’t help but feel affection for her.
‘What kind of fate binds us that we meet again in this life?’
At first, I thought she was a prickly and disagreeable Mage, but I’ve come to understand that beneath that exterior lies a poignant truth—she fears hurting others.
“…Let’s do well together from now on, shall we?”
“Huh? What did you say?”
“Let’s do our best together.”
We’ll be seeing each other for a long time, so we might as well get along.
I smiled as I raised the glass of fruit wine to my lips.
But just as Karen and I were about to clink our glasses in a toast—
Thwack!
An arrow lodged itself in her throat.
* * *
A sharp, piercing whistle through the air.
A single arrow shot from beyond the window pierced through Karen’s neck and embedded itself deep.
“Gack—!”
Blood gushed violently from her throat.
Splatter! Crimson blood stained the white tablecloth, and the glass that fell to the floor shattered, leaving a mark.
For a moment my mind froze, but the instincts of my Ranker days moved my body.
That split-second judgment saved my life.
｢You have temporarily manifested the Stone Beetle’s carapace ability!｣
｢Your hardened skin deflects the arrowhead!｣
Scrape! The arrowhead grazed my neck as it passed.
I immediately pulled Karen below the window and searched for the direction the arrow had come from.
A figure in a black cloak was disappearing beyond the rooftop of the building across from us.
If I transformed into a Night Stalker now and used shadow leap, I could pursue them—
“Damn it!!”
I abandoned the chase and checked Karen’s condition.
If I transport her to a Healing Center immediately, she can be saved.
Thanks to the Mage’s tenacious mana, she avoided instant death, but time is running out.
“Karen! Stay with me!! Karen!!”
｢Your comrade Karen has fallen into shock!｣
｢The fire spirit dwelling in the blood of the Ignas Family manifests to protect her!｣
｢Mana is fluctuating unstably! Beware of a rampage!｣
“Ugh…!”
The moment I hoisted her onto my back, crimson flames erupted and clawed at my spine.
My arms and shoulders burned, forcing me to drop her.
At this rate, we’re both in danger.
I gritted my teeth and grabbed Karen’s shoulders, shouting.
“Karen! Snap out of it!!”
“….”
“We’re going to the Healing Center right now, so suppress your mana!! Remember what you’ve been doing all this time!!”
She was unconscious.
My desperate cry echoed hollowly through the air….
“Ran….”
When my eyes met hers—unfocused and wandering—a voice thin as thread escaped her lips.
From that moment onward, the flames miraculously subsided.
“That’s it! Just hold on a little longer!!”
I urgently pulled Karen into my arms and bolted outside.
I rushed toward a carriage on the street, hurled gold coins at the Carriage Driver to drive him off, then hastily took the reins.
But in that instant, explosions erupted from all directions in rapid succession.
BOOM─!!!
“Bomb attacks are occurring throughout the Royal Capital!”
“Citizens are scattering in panic, screaming and fleeing!”
Massive explosions detonated nearly simultaneously across the entire city.
Pedestrians shrieked and fled, stumbling and crying out as they fell.
Carriages tangled together, overturned carts blocked the streets.
In an instant, the Main Street transformed into absolute chaos.
‘Damn it…!’
If I delayed any longer, Karen would die.
How much longer could she hold on? Five minutes? Three?
Time was running out.
As I wavered over what to do, I suddenly recalled the journal I’d found in that Distorted Space.
Within its pages lay my past—how I’d watched my comrades depart one by one, drowning in regret.
If I hesitated now, I would inevitably torment myself over this moment in the future, just as I had in that journal.
I steeled my resolve, leaped from the driver’s seat, and unfurled my wings.
“Temporarily manifested Imp abilities! Wings sprouted from your back!”
“Just wait… I’ll get you to the Healing Center in no time…!”
Cradling Karen, I pulled my hood low and raced swiftly through the sky.
Tracing the Royal Capital’s geography from memory as I flew northward, I spotted a white, towering structure in the distance.
The Temple of Agatha, the Goddess who presides over healing.
The moment I descended from the air, priests shrieked, but I had no time to care.
“She needs treatment! Her life is in danger!”
“We have many other critical patients right now…! Please wait your turn!”
“She’s from the Ignas Family!”
“Ugh…! Even so, it’s difficult! Most of our priests are away on expeditions… the ones here don’t have enough holy power!”
“Curse it!!!”
My fists struck the wall so hard my knuckles bled, when I suddenly remembered an item.
Something I’d received in my previous life and had never once used.
Though I couldn’t find any practical use for it, I’d carried it like a talisman, always on my person.
“Retrieved the Pendant of Goddess Agatha!”
“This is a gift bestowed directly by Goddess Agatha! Please use it to treat her immediately!!”
Divine power—even the smallest amount of sacred energy—is an immense force to mortals.
The priests recognized the sacred energy contained within the pendant and widened their eyes, immediately shifting their demeanor.
“We’ll treat her at once! This room can accommodate her!”
I exhaled only after watching the priests accept Karen and the pendant, beginning the treatment.
I collapsed and caught my breath when a priest approached me.
“Your burns are severe. We should treat you as well.”
Only then did I look down at my body—I was in terrible condition.
Covered entirely in burns, the front of my upper body and back where I’d held Karen had burned through completely, leaving my skin exposed and raw.
I waved my hand and staggered to my feet.
“I’m fine. Please use all the pendant’s magical power if needed—focus entirely on healing that woman.”
I entrusted Karen to the priests and left the Temple of Agatha.
‘The assassin clearly targeted both me and Karen.’
Whether our cover was blown at the Kairon Company or the information leaked earlier—
Either way, there was a high probability that Malton and Radi had also become targets.
I wrapped my face as much as possible with cloth, then spread the Imp’s wings again and took flight.
‘They said they were going to browse the Marketplace.’
But in this vast Royal Capital, there was no reliable way to pinpoint Radi and Malton’s exact location.
Just as I was about to search every marketplace in the region indiscriminately, the log window updated.
「Your ally Radi has manifested Leviathan’s Blessing ability!」
‘Leviathan’s Blessing? Could they be in combat right now?!’
Leviathan’s protection only activates near water’s edge.
If there was anywhere near the Marketplace that could be called water’s edge….
“The South Plaza Fountain!!”
I immediately changed direction and rushed southward at full speed.
Praying I wasn’t too late.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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