๐๐ถ๐บ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ล
My stomach hurts so much as I spat out my breakfast and the river water but I could feel my head starting to get clearer as I smell the peaceful smell of the surface.
"You good?" Akira asked.
"Do I look like I'm good?" I responded sarcastically as I spit out my saliva, my throat still hurts as if acid was burning my esophagus so I grabbed my water skin and drank it as I started to think of my next plan.
There was a traitor inside the town but who would it be? I pull out my sketchbook of the path maze that I have explored and completely draw the map before tearing it out and hiding it deep within my pack.
I started drawing it again but this time, it was only partially completed with only the partial part of the first layer and the first space of the second layer.
I needed to pretend that I had made good progress inside the maze but soon stopped after seeing the second layer, if I was to be asked to go again with someone, I need to lead them in the wrong way on a path, I have never explored.
Their base was going in the direction of the town and if there is a traitor there, the chances of having a way to the town from their base are very likely meaning I would need to find that way first and then eliminate everyone who doesn't go there.
But what if it never went in there unless it absolutely has to or they go invisible which would make this plan very flawed and up to chance which was something I can't take since it could lead to the town getting killed since they could notice that one of us knows of their existence already.
"Hey, could you put your thinking in the deep end of your mind? I'm already confused about your plan..." Akira said tiredly.
"Don't you want to hear it?" I asked.
"Why should I? Aren't you the one that even though you have good social skills, you despised socializing?" He speaks.
"It's because we'll probably be together for god knows how many years so I might as well just talk to you."
I responded, remembering my future of killing literally anything that moves and has mana though it is somewhat good for me since I would at least be able to keep myself busy for quite a lot of time.
Such a terrible future but it's the cost of immortality though I didn't ask for it. This also means I should hurry up and get stronger because now that my perception of time is skewed, I'll improve very slowly since I know I have all the time in the world.
Every major battle that I had always had put me at death's door so I know well that I would die if I don't improve but this problem will become bigger as time passes and I have reached the point where most things can't kill me but it would only take one individual that is stronger than me to kill me so in the end, I would still die meaning in conclusion, I would need to be the greatest in the world and don't being so if I want to live.
"I'll appreciate it if you don't get an existential crisis because the sun is starting to go down and we still need a concrete plan for finding the traitor."
Akira commented, sick of my ramblings.
"The best way I know should just be eliminating them based on their groups since we all have our own roles, then we need to find what roles would be most beneficial for the traitor then eliminate the most unlikely role since you can't be too sure."
I spoke as I walked past the corpse of Folon's Demise also known as AlTriya Verneder. My plan however would need time to do effectively and I don't know how I could get that time.
I would also need an alibi for exploring the town other than wanting to do so to avoid suspicion by the demonic beast not to mention, I would need to also to improve myself since I do want to live.
But do I even have that time?
Will I actually be able to fight on par with them?
Will I die fighting for them, for my party?
Or will I win but have my suffer so much that it leaves long-lasting effects on my body so I could be easily picked off by something else?
My memory goes back to my fight with the abyss back in Kliyer, to survive I needed to cut off my arm so that the abyss would not be able to consume my entire body. There's a good chance that I would die so I'll probably need another wielder for Akira.
Doubts overtake my mind but Akira sets me straight. "Oi, you're not gonna die, you dimwit, all you have to do is adjust to your enemy's moves and counter-attack so no need to waste time finding me another wielder!"
"It's called insurance or is it my last will?"
I retorted but halfway, I turned it into a question.
"How am I supposed to know?! I don't even know what that is!"
He comments both tired and angry at me though I have a good idea of why I still couldn't understand him getting mad at me.
I spoke, not really caring about it anymore. "Whatever."
Looking at the map, I made my way back to my horse and saw him eating grass peacefully.
I greeted him. "Yo, we're going back."
The horse looked at me before waiting for me to untie the rope around the hard tall grass.
My fingers rest on the tall grass to feel that it was still hard as a pole and even after killing the last boss meaning that the maze still stands.
Akira, upon hearing me talk to the horse, insults me. "Really? Even I'm not that lonely"
I immediately retort. "Shut up alright, this horse at least responds to me so he had to somewhat understand what I'm saying."
"Whatever you say, man."
I start to feel dread. "Wait does that mean, I'm the final boss now? Oh god..."
Upon realizing that, I started to panic but tried to calm myself. 'Calm yourself, Himura, there's no chance that the god of entertainment would force me to become the new final boss, that would just be counter-productive for him.'
I breathed a sigh and brought the horse to the river.
I filled up my waterskin and grabbed a bowl out of my adventurer pack and filled it with water before going away to the river to wash.
It was very much a hassle going back and forth to the river but I wanted to avoid corrupting the water with the blood on my body. I tried washing off the blood on my white long-sleeved shirt but as expected, it won't go away.
All I could hope for is that my leather armor could stop them from seeing the blood but I was still doubtful.
Thankfully, I still had my old clothes and my spare ones so avoiding much attention from people would be desired since they may find out that I have fought the final boss already.
I left my clothes to dry on a nearby tree branch and went to the river. The stream was peaceful as it move along to whatever destination it goes, it was clean enough that my face could reflect on the water.
Looking at my battered body, my hands turned into fists. 'I need to improve or sooner or later, I will die. I can't just depend on the occasional fights to help myself improve and learn but proper training just like in Bellken.'
I said to myself, hiding the thought deep within my mind and I look at my reflection again. My face bears no emotion yet my fist says otherwise, before even a moment, I wore my white long-sleeved shirt and tried to hide the bloodstain under the armor.
I checked both of my packs again, on my adventurer pack, there were a couple of bandages, a bowl, a long knife, a dagger, a berserker potion, the snake rod, and a few unimportant stuff.
For my more secure pack, there were my standard art supplies so there wasn't any problem here.
I realize something. "Wait couldn't I just look at inventory?"
I immediately opened my inventory and looked at three sections on the side, one was my body where all of the items that I am wearing are listed while the other two were for both of my packs which were also displayed on the first section.
After confirming everything, I jump on the horse and spoke. "Just go slowly, we're not in a hurry."
A complete lie, I was very much pressed on time but I wanted to enjoy it, the sweet feeling of going home after a good day of work while the sun slowly set.
The horse was slowly galloping and I looked in the direction of the town and expected hell in there.
There was a traitor that I needed to find and I needed to do it within a week, as each second passed, the stronger the demonic beast of emotion and the faster the inhabitants of the town died.
As I head home I found a monster walking about with its scorpion-like lower body. It seems to be starving, probably because many avoided fighting it, and now that it played its eyes on me it was very aggressive and rushed at me.
It was weak so killing it was manageable which was a good time to experiment, I pulled out my snake rod and let it bite my silver sword to create a spear-like weapon.
"Don't stop running, if you can then dodge to the side if it attacks vertically or jumps as high as you can if it horizontally."
I was returned by silence from the horse but the moment I kicked him lightly to run, it immediately ran towards it with no fear so I spoke again. "Don't be afraid, I will save you as long as you can run fearlessly."
The scorpion with a body of a dwarf raises its hammer. Honestly, the proportion of its body was so imbalanced as an artist but was ideal for me since my spear would its neck easily.
I tighten my grasp on my weapon as I approach.
It raises its crudely made hammer but the horse immediately dodged before it could even hit us and the head of the dwarf looked into my eyes.
It sees me in a posture, ready to stab its neck since I already anticipated this move as I already urged the horse to dodge by leaning.
Before it could even react, I stabbed it right through its eyes and into its brain before pulling it out. The monster doesn't move and just falls there.
In practice, it's very possible for me to fight on horseback but it's still hard to maneuver with only one arm.
I put the silver sword back in its sheath and my snake rod in my pack before continuing.