NOVEL WEB Book 2 Chapter 14
Season 2 Chapter 14
Ian then told him some truths about what he was. Hercules would know some things about Ian’s identity through the Council. However, he hid about being able to turn back Chronos. Ian needed to seem unable to turn back time. He needed to gain as much information as possible as there would be a limit to how many times he could do so due to the side effects.
He felt in his bones that this fight would be a long-term one and may have to turn time tens of times. It would take an insurmountable amount of knowledge, power, and patience to free his world from all the dangers.
It was the same about this Hercules. Things would be easier if he knew how powerful he was, his tendencies, and whether he kept a promise. Therefore, he would try to talk with Hercules for now, who now sat across him.
[…So, you’re a special one in your world. Since the Council acted, I can see that.]
“Are you any different?”
[What do you mean?]
“You seem to distance yourself from then.”
[I do not treat anyone as bugs until I fight.]
Hercules then looked at the arm where Ian had wounded him.
[It was too deep a wound to say I was bitten by a bug.]
Ian saw that he had been already healed but did not say anything.
[You’re quite something to have killed the analyst to come here.]
“I got caught by you on the first day, though.”
[No, you’re lucky. I always keep a promise and will do so in the future.]
Hercules wore his helmet and armor as he stood up.
[You said you wanted Sunweed.]
“Can I?”
[Of course, I did not see you here today.]
Ian noted that Hercules seemed sincere about keeping promises.
[However, listen to a few words as you pick them.]
Hercules looked exactly the same as he had been before meeting Ian after getting his equipment on.
[You need to think about how Superiors walk, what they wear, and how they smell if you’re going to central.]
Hercules seemed to know the reason why Ian had wanted Sunweed, and Ian was curious why he was suddenly giving him tips.
[Also, work on your accent. You’re pronouncing things wrong.]
“I will keep that in mind.”
Ian nodded, as he would not have noticed this soon without Hercules’s tip. He would need to fix his accent using the hunter and the analyst’s memories. Ian took five Sunwood roots into a pouch and asked Hercules a question, as the latter was still staring at him.
“Why are you giving me these tips? I am you and your people’s enemy at the moment.”
[You’re quite overestimating yourself.]
Hercules shrugged his shoulders as he spoke on.
[How long do you think you can last? I would have bet on your death, as such a simple trick will not full the clock tower’s observer.]
Ian placed that keyword in his mind.
[I am speaking with pity. I will make another promise – if you somehow manage to survive longer than I expected and we meet again, I will grant you a request.]
Ian nodded and thought this tendency to promise many things may be useful.
[Our conversation is over. Our supplies from the clock tower will arrive soon, so leave.]
Hercules did not even glance at Ian, and the sound of Centaurs carrying goods sounded from afar. Ian hurriedly left using his Invisibility spell.
**
[Have you come?]
Argol had completed Ian’s request when Ian got back to the village.
[These are traces of Michelle Greenriver. There had been quite many, as she had interacted freely with all of us.]
The village leader was right, as there were knickknacks from shoes to staffs, but what stood out was a rusted key.
“What is this key?”
[She used an underground room during her stay, which is the key to that room. I left things there as you may want to see them yourself.]
“You decided well. Let’s go to the basement first.”
[Right, this way.]
Michelle’s underground room was right behind Argol’s backyard. The door on the ground led to the stairway, and another locked door appeared. Ian used the key.
Ian stepped in as the door opened and saw a simple room using his lighting spell. There was a small cot, a desk, a chair, some ink, and paper. The only thing useful was a diary smeared with dust. He opened the first page and saw that a spell had preserved the diary’s pages.
[We left it there, as we could not read it.]
As Argol had suggested, the diary was written in Ian’s language.
“I will try to read it.”
[I will wait outside.]
Ian was now alone as he read the first pages.
[I am Michelle Greenriver, a mage and a royal. However, I hope people will remember me as an adventurer and an anthropologist….]
The diary started off quite on a large scale.
[I wanted to go into space, to see another world. Magic was only a tool for that. I practiced magic and searched and made artifacts around the world. As a result, I am leaving this record as the first one of the Empire to have come to this world.]
Michelle had not written how she had come here, and Ian wondered whether she had really walked in space.
[This world is special, as there is mana in the air. I seem to have become stronger.]
[I met Hercules, the strongest one I had met here so far.]
[I went to the south with the people here to get some fish, which looked weird but were good when roasted.]
[There is no sun or moon here, and therefore no night and day. That is why I got this basement room to get some sleep.]
[The village leader told me that there is no sun or moon as this plane existed at the highest level in space. If I got to the highest point here then, maybe that would be the world’s end.]
[I want to go there, at the highest point at the clock tower one day. To see the world from below.]
The records went on like that, and Ian did not pick up on important information so far. However, the last ones were interesting because Ian knew Michelle had gone missing. Ian went out of the room to speak to Argol.
“Please, prepare the camouflage now.”
Ian did not forget Hercules’s tips at the moment.