POV: Finn
I kept running at full speed, but I couldn't find them. Did they go that far? I pushed myself as hard as I could, but I couldn't sense their presence.
"Finn, what's going on?" one of the party members asked.
"The third group is in danger. I did something stupid!" I shouted as I kept running.
Then, a few minutes passed. Important minutes.
My anxiety kept growing with every second. And so did the despair. I feel like it's already too late. I feel like something happened to them.
Then, I finally found them.
But it was already too late.
The first thing my eyes saw was bodies all over the floor and blood everywhere. Among them were members of the Loki Familia. Many of them. And besides them, a few men I didn't recognize.
But because of the masks, I already understood what had happened here.
A few meters ahead, I saw him.
An old man with an extremely friendly appearance. He was standing over the body of a man who had a sword pierced through him. The old man turned to look at me.
When our eyes met, I saw his lips curl into a smile.
Right after that, I saw the creature that had "invaded" our group disappear.
"Who are you?" I asked, even though I already knew the answer.
"You know who I am. I just came to take care of this. These guys were killing people, so I handled it. I didn't want to be blamed for it."
Is he an idiot? Does he think that just killing everyone is enough? What if these guys were hired by someone? He needs to investigate and find out where the problem started.
Did he not think of that?
"Why did you kill them?" I asked. Then quickly followed up with, "And why was one of you among us?"
If he's not the killer, why did he place one of them in our group?
"Are you kidding me? Of course, I killed them. And about that… I just wanted to be around in case you guys found the killers. But I ended up finding them first~~"
He's an idiot. There are several of them, he didn't need to do something so reckless and risky just to find the killers. In the end, he found them and took care of it himself.
He did something stupid and showed off his skills to me. He's not very careful.
But more importantly, I need to know what Familia these men belonged to.
"What Familia are they from?" I asked, looking at the body of the man he had just killed.
"Sekhmet Familia."
"Sekhmet Familia?" Members of Sekhmet Familia hunted and killed Loki Familia members? But why? Why would they do something like that? Were they hired?
After a few more words about the Sekhmet Familia, I asked:
"Tell me what you are first. A monster? A human?"
I could feel a powerful energy coming from him, very different from the copy that was with my group. This guy is strong—probably level 5 or 6. The level of a very experienced adventurer.
And to my surprise, I could sense the same energy that all adventurers have—something he shouldn't possess if he didn't have a falna.
He's not a monster, I'm sure of that.
"What would you do with that info? Try to find me?"
"..."
"I'm confident you won't find me, but I'm not giving you anything. Just tell Goddess Loki that I'm not here to hurt anyone. I'm just here to have fun."
"Have fun?"
"Exactly. I just want to enjoy myself and evolve—get stronger and stronger. Who knows how far I can go?"
"What's your name?"
"Probably better if I don't say."
After that, the old man simply vanished, and a random man took his place. My eyes widened in surprise, just like the rest of the Loki Familia.
Teleportation?
Does he really have an ability like that?
Afterward, I took care of the bodies and went to speak with Loki, to tell her everything I'd discovered.
I told her that I believe he's human, not a monster, because I could feel the energy of a human adventurer in him. And his pursuit of power—that's such a human trait. I've seen it many times within our own Familia.
And sometimes, that pursuit ends very badly.
I just can't imagine that person being a monster.
To me, he's a human who was given abilities—or an artifact—that he shouldn't have.
In the end, a few days passed, and that "old man" and his "friends" didn't cause any more problems.
The biggest issue was revealing which Familia the assassins came from, which stirred up quite a commotion in the city.
####
POV: Zane
I bought the skill [Artificial Soul], and it was added to my status. Since it doesn't have a level, it came fully mastered. "How am I supposed to use this? Is there a manual or something?"
I asked the system, but of course, got nothing in return.
"Alright, Frieren first. She's the one who stays in the city the most."
Frieren, where are you?
[Master? I'm at work right now.]
'Work? Are you kidding me?'
[I got a job yesterday. I'm working at a potion shop. It seemed interesting, so I decided to try it.]
'I don't know how you managed to get a job, but fine. I need to meet you to test a new skill. Can you come to the tower?'
[I'm in the middle of my shift, Master. That's impossible.]
'Send me the address of the shop. I'll go to you. I might as well buy some potions—I've never tried them before.'
[Sure. It's not far from the tower.]
After getting the address, I brought Clone 16, took control of his body, and left home to head to the potion shop where Frieren was working. I really can't understand how she got a job.
When did this even happen?
After walking for a few minutes, I got close to the shop, when suddenly, someone approached me.
I looked back and saw him. Finn.
'Shit.'
I forgot that Finn saw this appearance when I met them in the dungeon.
"Can we talk?" he asked with a smile.
"Sorry, but I'm busy." I can't go into the shop and contact Frieren with him here.
"You'd better cooperate." Finn looked at me, and I felt my body tremble. Despite his childish appearance, it was unsettling.
What the hell.
"Just shut up, Finn. You're probably here to try to convince me of something or dig for information. I've already shown you too much—I'm not interested in talking."
"..."
"Damn it, I forgot you saw this appearance. I should've been more careful. You treated me like a suspect from the start, didn't you?"
"No doubt about it."
"I see. But you know, I don't want any contact with the Loki Familia. It's a bit too risky."
"Why?"
"I'm not stupid. You'll do whatever it takes to find my main body and take me down. Though, it's going to get harder and harder to find it."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm not saying too much this time. I already talked too much last time. But just know—finding it will be impossible." I walked up to him and placed my hand on Finn's head.
"Don't look at me like that. I know you're angry with me, even though I didn't do anything. But even if you kill me here, it won't matter."
"..."
I said that, then walked into an alley. As I turned around, I saw Finn still staring at me.
I waved at him with a smile, then dispelled Clone 16.
Once I got back home, I received a message from one of my clones.
[Master, unfortunately, I couldn't find any place where you could sell your stuff. But I have an idea.]
'Perfect timing, Fang Yuan. I have a job for you.'
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Next chapters: Chapter 42 - Another city. Potions store. / Chapter 43 - You've reached the limit. / Chapter 44 - Outside Orario.