Chapter 585: Investigating the Anomalies

「What… did you say…?」

Hearing Rhyn’s name come out of our mouths, Weena Rhyn’s expression changed dramatically.

The look on her face was of suspicion and astonishment. She stared at Fran with eyes that were opened to their limit.

「You must be joking, right…?」

Weena Rhyn’s expression looked as if she hoped it was just a joke. But Fran shook her head.

「I’m not」

「Really…?」

「Nn」

Then she stood up with enough force to knock over the chair she was sitting on and shouted in disbelief.

「That’s ridiculous! That shouldn’t be possible!」

「Why?」

「Rhyn is…! That child is…!」

With a weak gesture, she placed her hand on the desk and panted as she spoke.

「As long as I’m here! As long as Weena Rhyn exists, Rhyn shouldn’t be able to show up…!」

『What do you mean?』

「Weena Rhyn?」

「Yes, I’m still Weena Rhyn… What does this mean? Is this why the lake is so strange lately?」

It was no good. She’s completely ignoring what we were saying. She was scratching her hair with a look of confusion and dismay on her face.

Of course, if Rhyn was the spirit from Weena Rhyn’s story, and she was inside the great magic beast, then I can understand why it would be strange for her to show up.

However, it seemed that Weena Rhyn didn’t mean it that way.

「…Fran」

「Nn?」

「Can you investigate the lake as soon as possible?」

We didn’t dare to ask Weena Rhyn any more questions than we already had. Weena Rhyn’s face was so intense that even Fran could sense its pressure.

「…Okay」

The words that came out of her had an indescribable power that could not be denied. To be honest, even I was not an exception.

「I’m sure there are a lot of people in the local guild who are working on this, so you can talk to them」

「Nn」

「You may use my name as well. I’ll even allow a little recklessness」

『Oi, oil, that isn’t quite peaceful』

「That’s just how bad the situation has gotten」

A situation that would even alarm a High Elf? Wasn’t this a seriously dangerous situation then…? It seemed like we had to do whatever it took to find out what was going on.

「I’m counting on you」

「Nn」

We were about to leave the tent, but Weena Rhyn’s next words stopped us.

「Hey, did Rhyn say anything about me?」

「Nn? Not really」

「I see…」

Was there something wrong with my sight? As there seemed to be a hint of loneliness on Weena Rhyn’s face.

…

One hour later. We arrived at the Adventurer’s Guild in Sheftent.

When we arrived here, we realized that we forgot to tell her about Rhyn’s stall. It seemed that we were a little overwhelmed by the sheer intensity of Weena Rhyn before. Well, we’ll tell her the next time we meet her.

「Please come this way」

「Nn」

The receptionist seemed to remember Fran, and it had become a face pass already. She told her that she wanted to see Grandma Jill, and she let her through right away.

「Hmm? Isn’t it the Black Lightning Princess, what can I do for you?」

「Nn. I was asked to investigate the lake」

「…Why is that again?」

「Weena Rhyn asked me」

Fran said in a halting voice that Weena Rhyn had asked her to investigate the lake. This probably made her realize that the situation was more serious than she had imagined.

Grandma Jill then straightened up her figure.

「I see. So, she’s worried about the situation too」

「Nn. Do you have any information?」

「Of course, we’re investigating into it as well, but it’s not going anywhere」

To begin with, the central part of Vivian Lake, where the Modoki appeared, was still guarded by the Vivian Guardians. Because of this, they couldn’t investigate the source of the problem.

「Are there any adventurers investigating the anomaly?」

「There are some. The adventurers you know would be Lovren and Sierra」

I remember Lovren. He was the rank B adventurer of the Commercial Fleet. She had a small talk with him when she acted as an examiner for the promotion test there. He was a very composed man with a gentle nature.

But I had never heard the name Sierra before.

「Sierra? Who is he?」

「Oya? You don’t know him?」

「Maybe?」

「Aaah, come to think of it, he didn’t give you his name that time. He’s the kid who had taken the promotion exam and got promoted. His hair is brown and I think he’s got a peculiar interest in you, don’t you remember?」

Could it be that boy with the killing intent?

For some unknown reason, he was an F-ranked adventurer who had turned his killing intent on Fran, whom we had never met before. Well, I guess he was an E-ranker now.

Fran asked her about his features, and it seemed that it was him. Could we ask her to tell us about him? Well, let’s see.

「Lovren is the only one we’ve sent a request to. But Sierra seems to be investigating on his own. Well, it’s not just Sierra though」

The Adventurer’s Guild was still looking for more information about the anomaly, and they had even asked Lovren, a senior adventurer, to help.

It seemed that many adventurers wanted to make a name for themselves by solving the mystery of this anomaly or to make their presence known to the guild by competing with the senior adventurers.

「For now, let me tell you what information we have」

「Please」

「First of all, the Modoki often aim at boats. We still don’t know the reason yet. And unlike the usual, they also eat people now」

「It ate people? Like musha musha?」 (munching SFX)

「Yeah. Well, it looks like it’s doing it to absorb magic power. It’s also been confirmed that it also attacks the other magic beasts」

The only time a Vivian Guardian attacked a living being is when it was attacked. And even then, they did not eat them, they would only attack them.

When I thought about it, I found out just how abnormal the Modoki were.

「Why would they attack a boat?」

「We don’t know much about that either. I thought about narrowing it down based on the cargo, but almost no ship carries only a single item」

Wasn’t this almost as if they didn’t know anything? When I thought about it, they actually had some good information.

「It’s just that the commercial fleet has the highest probability of being targeted by far. It may be that a large number of ships makes it worthwhile to attack them, but it is also possible that there are other reasons」

I see. We would have to look into that too. But let’s talk to Lovren first.