NOVEL WEB Chapter 226.2
Chapter 226.2. The Sieve
But Hisahide possesses a high skill level of 3, having graduated from the military academy. His stats are impressive. Using this power, he joined the Adventurers’ Guild under the Amatsukahara Corporation to climb his way back to the top.
“If I can reach the Silver rank, the rewards will skyrocket. First, I’ll gather funds there to make my comeback.”
“I’ll call back the sniper.”
“Yeah, and make sure to retrieve the gun from the man we killed.”
Hisahide nodded at his subordinate, a woman named Umezawa. Currently, his only subordinates were Umezawa and the sniper. Frustrated by his fallen status, he leaned against the wall of a building, waiting as Umezawa collected the gun and communicated via radio.
After some time passed…
“This is strange… Why hasn’t he returned? He’s only about 500 meters away, isn’t he?”
Growing suspicious as the sniper didn’t return, Hisahide frowned. However, when he glanced over at Umezawa, who was inspecting the gun while sitting against a broken wall, she remained silent.
“Hey, Umezawa?”
She was slumped over in an eerie silence, and as Hisahide approached, thinking she might be asleep, her body swayed and collapsed to the ground with a thud.
“What the…?”
“Ah, it seems the sniper won’t be returning, nya.”
A teasing girl’s voice echoed from somewhere, startling Hisahide. He quickly turned, hiding in the shadows of a building as he scanned the surroundings.
“Who’s there?”
He shouted, gathering mana in his palm. Though he couldn’t sense any presence, someone had approached and killed his comrades.
The only things visible were the dead bodies of Umezawa and the others. Yet, no enemy was in sight.
“Believing there are limited spots for the Silver rank… How naive, nya.”
The voice came from the opposite side of a ruined building, prompting Hisahide to decide to kill the source without hesitation.
“Tch.”
[Flame Bomb]
Clicking his tongue, he swiftly cast a spell with his palm, launching a fireball toward the source of the voice. It hit the building’s shadow, causing a massive explosion. While regular fireball magic spreads flames, this one exploded as if dynamite had been used, shattering concrete and igniting the surroundings.
This was Hisahide’s unique skill, [Explosion], which enhanced fire magic by adding explosive power. He hadn’t used it against the Giant Zombie, keeping it as a trump card. The downside was that he could only learn fire magic, but [Explosion] made up for that with its sheer strength.
“I had high hopes for you with such a powerful skill, but…”
[Flame Arrow]
Another voice came from elsewhere, and Hisahide’s face tightened as he cast the spell. The flame arrow exploded, shattering walls and creating debris, but there was no sense of a hit.
Growing anxious, Hisahide felt a sharp pain in his neck and instinctively jumped back.
“What… is this… a needle?”
Touching the area, he found something thin embedded in his neck, making him scowl.
“Damn it! Who are you? Show yourself!”
He shouted in panic as a ghost-like girl emerged from one of the ruined buildings. She was a cat-girl dressed in black, likely possessing a powerful transformation skill.
“This was supposed to be a preliminary exam for the Silver rank, but… anyone who thinks it’s okay to kill their rivals, regardless of beliefs or ideals, is disqualified, nya.”
“…Did the guild receptionist lie to me? Was the talk about limited slots for Silver rank just a lie? Did they even trick me into thinking killing would make it easier to pass the rank-up exam?!”
Hisahide quickly realized what had happened. The receptionist he had bribed had deceived him.
“Do I need to plot my comeback…”
“No, you’re finished, nya. Didn’t you hear what I said earlier, nya?”
“No, it’s you who’s finished. You shouldn’t have shown yourself.”
Hisahide smirked, touching the ground with his hand in a mocking manner.
[Flame Mine]
Flames erupted from beneath the cat-girl’s feet, causing an explosion. Hisahide’s cold smile returned as he shrugged. He could secretly spread mana within his line of sight to set traps—another feature of his [Explosion] skill.
“Now, who’s really finished… Ah…?”
As he turned to leave, thinking the cat-girl was dead, he staggered, dropping to his knees and collapsing. A silver needle had pierced his chest without him noticing.
“I said you were finished, nya. You were already dead from the first [Hidden Weapon] attack. You didn’t even notice the needle in your chest, nya.”
Those cold words from the girl were the last ones Hisahide heard.
Before the fallen man, Karin Fuuma sighed. The flame magic had surprised her. Hisahide was strong and could have risen to the Silver rank if not for his problematic personality. However, Karin had been ordered by the military to monitor him as a potentially dangerous figure due to his ties with his banished clan.
If it became known that a dangerous person was purposefully sent, it could lead to diplomatic issues between the Amatsukahara Corporation and the inner town. Karin had also been asked by a guard to act as a test proctor, so she took it on as a side job… but the result was a disaster.
As she glanced at the corpses of Kou, Otsu, and Hei, they disappeared into shadows. They were familiars, decoys controlled remotely by a guard, as usual.
“This [Shadow Master] outfit is incredible, nya. It completely nullifies skill attacks…”
Touching the unscathed black clothes given to her by a guard, despite being engulfed in flames, Karin was impressed as she began looting the bodies.
“But I wonder… Silver rank… It seems like the more talented they are, the worse their personalities, nya.”
“Well, I’m sure the guard will come up with something,” Karin muttered to herself as she finished looting and prepared to leave.
She left behind the two corpses of a man and a woman, but no one was there to care.