Chapter 45
The Arrow That Left the Quiver (4)
“This mask… doesn’t it look too suspicious?”
Clara, who had no choice but to follow me, muttered as she fidgeted with the mask she was wearing.
“Not at all.”
The mask I put on this innocent-looking swan beastman was actually a disguise—
a traditional nobleman mask with a very charming smiling face.
“It’s a mask I’ve never seen before… I feel like people might look at us strangely…”
“It’s fine. I can feel the spirit of the people in it.”
“Spirit? What’s that?”
“It’s… a good thing.”
I could feel Clara’s gaze on me, but I couldn’t read her expression.
All I could see was the smiling nobleman mask with its corners of the mouth turned up.
I, too, had pulled out the Plague Doctor mask and robe from my inventory and put them on.
Two masked humans, both entirely covered in robes.
‘If we don’t get stopped for inspection, that would actually be weirder.’
We looked suspicious on purpose—two people fully committed to suspicion.
“So… what should we do now? Even if we go to my house, we’ll get caught eventually…”
“I guess we could try heading to the beastman village…”
I had been responding casually, but then I stopped speaking.
The only way to stay in the beastman village was to activate the Merchant’s Mark.
But since I was forced into the scenario, I couldn’t activate it, meaning I couldn’t enter the village freely.
“First, let’s get out of Casablanca. We can’t just keep standing here.”
“That’s true, but we can’t move without deciding where to go first.”
“So what do you propose?”
Clara sighed, tapping her chest as if exasperated.
A small, pure white wing peeked out from her sleeve.
I peeked beyond the alley and sorted out the situation in my head.
‘Since I joined the scenario, I can’t just do nothing.’
Unlike previous scenarios, from the 51st floor onward, you couldn’t leave without clearing the scenario.
Of course, one option was just to wait for the攻略 team to solve it, but
‘Who knows how long that would take.’
Blindly praying wasn’t my style.
Moreover, since the enemy quest began with “clear the scenario,” it clearly encouraged participation.
It was the opposite of previous quests that told me not to meddle in the scenarios—but at least it wasn’t the worst-case scenario.
Anyway, I could do something without restrictions.
The problem was avoiding running into the united攻略 team of the Seven Great Guilds.
The goal of arranging a meeting between the two races and preventing Agemor’s invasion would have been conveyed not only to me but also to the other nine scenario participants.
‘Well, their destinations are set anyway.’
After reading the scenario, the first place to go was obviously the Sanctuary.
After all, the Sanctuary and Probel had been the sites humans and beastmen fought over.
So I set my primary objective to avoid the Sanctuary and explore other hints.
Of course, first I had to leave Casablanca.
“Clara, are there any other villages nearby?”
“Anton told me there’s a village called Togena nearby.”
“Is Togena far from the front lines?”
“I think so… since it’s deeper into the human territory. I’ve never been there.”
“Perfect. We’ll go there today.”
“I’m… a swan, you know?”
“Exactly.”
My reply seemed ridiculous, and Clara froze in place, hands waving helplessly.
After five seconds of silence, she collected herself, bowed her head, and pointed out reality.
“Face hidden, fine. But how are we going to get there? You’d need some kind of ID to borrow a carriage or a horse.”
“Oh, I happen to have a way to get around.”
“What is it?”
Ah, this is the perfect moment to reveal the secret weapon I had been carefully saving.
“It’s called Nokgacheon.”
I pulled out the magic bicycle that had been peacefully resting in my inventory.
Just like when I used it to bring Echo to Kona, my Nokgacheon was as pristine and agile as ever, parked squarely in the middle of the alley.
Clara, startled, examined it from every angle.
“Where did this come from all of a sudden?”
“From my pocket.”
After hearing that absurd answer twice, Clara had no reaction.
Apparently, she finally realized it was a waste of time to react to all my nonsense.
I lightly climbed onto the saddle and gestured to the back seat.
“Get on.”
Clara had no other choice anyway.
After a brief sigh, she sat down, still bewildered by the strange contraption she was seeing for the first time.
Even if humans rode horses, they wouldn’t be faster than Nokgacheon, so we just had to keep going.
‘More importantly, I need to gather information.’
Maybe because of her wings instead of arms, I felt a strange sensation wrapping around my waist, and I thought to myself:
‘If it’s ancient, it’s from a long, long time ago. The safest bet is to look through libraries or historical texts.’
It wouldn’t be bad if I could skim through some local records before moving on.
All I had to do was keep Clara hidden somewhere safe.
I had the Anonymous skill and the Shadow Knight robe, after all.
“Is there anywhere we could check for history or legends? A library, or someone who knows old tales?”
Even though she had lived in hiding, she had spent a decent amount of time around here, so she might know something.
But Clara didn’t know much.
“I’m sorry… I’m not familiar with the local geography.”
“Tsk.”
Ah… this swan is really a swan.
I had brought her to avoid collective punishment after breaking out of the prison, but Clara couldn’t offer me any reward.
The market administrator’s pride was at stake.
Then, suddenly, Clara straightened up and spoke.
“Ah, there’s someone who lived in the place I grew up for a very long time. A turtle beastman. I heard their family has been recording everything since the giant tree was just a seed.”
“Wow, amazing. Where did you grow up?”
Probably, Clara’s hometown was also engulfed by Agemor and covered in black fog, but I pretended not to notice and pedaled on.
I wanted to prevent Clara from getting motion sickness on her first ride on Nokgacheon.
Given that, our only option was to head to Togena, moving stealthily all the way.
“It’s called Kona.”
Wait—no!
Just as I was about to leave the alley, I slammed on the brakes.
“You said Kona? That’s where you lived before joining Anton?”
“Yes… now that I think about it, it’s been a long time since I went to Kona. He treated me very kindly…”
Hearing Clara’s wistful voice, I internally cheered.
Clara had met Anton while drinking water in the forest.
She had settled on the outskirts of Casablanca with him, meaning Kona couldn’t be far.
I quickly changed our destination.
‘Let’s go to Kona.’
Even without the Merchant’s Mark, being the human who had saved a young child and rescued a beastman from human territory, I could assert myself.
Thank you, Oerisa.
You helped me by cleverly disguising it as coincidence.
I asked Clara quickly:
“Which way is Kona?”
“If you go straight right from Casablanca… uh!”
I yanked the handlebars.
Once the decision was made, speed was maximum!
Nokgacheon weaved through alleys like the wind.
The knights who had noticed us quickly disappeared behind us.
The wind slipping through her sleeves brushed against Clara’s cheeks and ears, chillingly cold.
‘This is it.’
The pent-up frustration in my chest seemed to explode.
So this is why people love driving.
‘If there were a car item, I’d buy it.’
As I daydreamed happily, Clara gripped my waist tightly and shouted,
“Where are you going?!”
I looked down and whispered seductively,
“Clara, I’ll take you home.”
“Eeek!”
…?
Clara suddenly gagged, probably motion sick.
But I couldn’t stop now, so I kept going.
From behind, Clara squirmed again.
“Ugh.”
…Motion sickness, right?
Kona was closer than expected.
By Nokgacheon’s unrelenting speed, we arrived after exactly 2 hours and 37 minutes of non-stop travel.
Standing before Kona’s wooden barrier, Clara covered her beak in awe.
“How did we even get here…”
Having entered beastman territory, we had long since removed the nobleman masks and robes.
Clara stood as she had when I first met her in the prison: swan upper body, human legs, staring up at the barrier endlessly.
Tears seemed to well up in her eyes.
After a long pause, she looked at me and flapped her wings vigorously.
The wind from Nokgacheon seemed to wash away dust and grime; her wings gleamed pure white.
Above all, she wasn’t in the dark prison but under sunlight, spreading her white wings beautifully.
‘Ah, pure beauty.’
I wasn’t Anton—I couldn’t feel love.
Then Clara grabbed my hand and bowed her head.
I was caught off guard by the sudden display of courtesy and stepped back with an awkward smile.
Regardless, Clara, overwhelmed by emotion, spoke helplessly:
“Thank you so much, Understanding-sama. You saved me and my child… I don’t know how to repay you…”
“Well, then you should repay me.”
My words broke the warm atmosphere instantly, and Clara lifted her head in surprise.
This innocent swan beastman had no idea…
“Of course, it’s not free.”
I, a proper merchant, had run for two and a half hours nonstop; there was no way I wouldn’t charge a fare.
Clara pretended to rummage through a pocket full of holes, flustered.
But money wasn’t what I wanted.
“I’m not asking for money.”
Clara could fulfill my request.
“Please let me meet the turtle beastman who remembers everything.”
Clara gaped in surprise at my straightforward request.
“Really, that’s all you want?”
“Yes! Please let me talk to them.”
Clara blinked rapidly, unable to believe it.
“Oh, one more thing. It feels a little incomplete. I want to ask something important.”
“Go ahead.”
Her serious expression nearly made me laugh.
Matching her tone, I said seriously:
“Please make sure the beastmen don’t put me in prison, thinking I’m a human.”
Without the Merchant’s Mark, this was an essential condition.
Clara, listening intently, laughed.
“Of course. Don’t worry about that.”
“Really. I don’t want to go to prison.”
“How could anyone send their benefactor to prison? Trust me. I’ll guide you from here.”
Clara flapped her wings and began walking along the wall slowly.
I followed the pure white swan beastman, smiling lightly.
Things were going smoothly.
For something that started by chance, this was a very satisfying development.
Of course…
“Your barnacle still hasn’t fallen off yet…”
“Ah, I know…”
A few hours before the absurd scene of Hanromi, leader of the Seventh Great Guild, scrubbing a turtle’s shell…
