SCT-Novel Chapter 182 : The First Territory
Chapter 182 : The First Territory
Tap. Tap.At that moment, Berseum patted his leg and spoke.
“By the way, I wonder what Edgar is doing right now.”
“What else? Probably rolling around on the ground with a stomachache.”
“I think otherwise. He must have realized that we've established ties with the Second Territory. He can see the Mini Bulletin Board showing the voting status.”
“…….”
“At the same time, he'll also know that not a single monster from the First Territory has voted.”
Berseum continued in a serious tone.
“He might even be thinking about entering the First Territory himself.”
A chill suddenly ran down my spine.
I quickly took out the Compass.
I had it set to Edgar Tyler, so I checked the map.
Then—
“……Looks like you're right, Brother.”
He was at the boundary of the Teper River.
Roughly one kilometer away from us.
Judging by the fact that the red dot wasn't moving at all, he seemed to be camping just like us.
“It's really irritating that he and I came up with the same idea.”
“You two are more alike than you'd think.”
“I'll pretend I didn't hear that, Louis.”
“As you wish.”
Anyway, I put the Compass away and sighed.
“This just became troublesome.”
“Indeed. You'll have to compete for the First MVP's favor.”
“And in that Land of Death, no less. If the First MVP doesn't come to us, then sooner or later we'll have no choice but to step into the First Territory.”
“…….”
“When that situation comes, Edgar will have a huge advantage.”
Sienne asked,
“But Edgar's immortality is gone now. Of course, Odline can revive him... but isn't Odline inside Edgar's stomach?”
“…….”
“If both Edgar and Odline die in the Land of Death, wouldn't that be the best possible outcome?”
“Now that you mention it, you're right.”
But what if the 'death' of the First Territory didn't affect Odline?
What if the creature safely tucked away inside Edgar's stomach could revive him endlessly?
Wouldn't that allow Edgar to keep operating inside the First Territory somehow?
“……Huh? Wait.”
A bolt of inspiration struck me.
What if...
If I played this right...
I suddenly sprang to my feet.
“Eek! Wh-What?”
“I just came up with a great idea.”
“Then say it with words. Not with your body.”
“I'll be back after paying Edgar a visit.”
Everyone's jaws dropped.
I rummaged through my bag and took out the Invisibility Cloak.
Then I looked at Aina.
“Aina. You still have the Listening Device we got as the previous first-place reward, right?”
“O-Of course. But why...? Don't tell me...”
“Yep.”
Grinning, I accepted the Listening Device she handed me.
“There's no reason for us to personally enter that dangerous place.”
Edgar waited patiently along the Teper River.
Waiting for the First MVP to make contact.
However, even after an entire night passed, the MVP never appeared.
He quietly organized his thoughts.
'A revote won't work. It'll only produce the same result.'
Edgar didn't know how Mason had won over the monsters of the Second Territory.
If he had known Mason had deceived them, and that the monsters of the Second Territory would soon be consumed by rage because of it, he would've thought differently.
But unaware of that fact, Edgar actually came to this conclusion.
'If anything, holding a revote could work in Mason's favor. He might stir up the high-ranking monsters of the Third and Fourth Territories.'
It was clearly a misjudgment.
But with the limited information available to him, it was a perfectly reasonable conclusion.
As a result, he grew impatient.
Finally, Edgar spoke.
“Mr. Odline.”
-What is it?
“Let's go inside the First Territory.”
Odline nearly jumped inside Edgar's stomach.
-You really never listen to anyone. Beyond that river is...
“You mean the Land of Death? But think about it. You revived Kaid after he scouted the First Territory.”
-…….
“When you recovered Kaid... was his body reduced to dust? Had it melted away?”
Odline grumbled as he answered.
-No. It was just an ordinary corpse.
“Exactly. Which means you'll be safe inside my stomach.”
-…….
“Of course, I can't guarantee you'll remain safe forever. But at the very least, we won't die simultaneously.”
So if I die, you revive me.
If I die again, revive me again.
That was the implication behind Edgar's words.
Odline replied,
-I have no desire to gamble with my own life.
“The truth is, I don't need your opinion.”
-What?
“You can't control my legs. I'm crossing the river now.”
-Damn it all. This is impossible.
Ignoring him, Edgar stood up.
Then he called out,
“Miss Magireta.”
“What is it, Edgar? You don't call me Noona anymore.”
Magireta appeared as though she had been standing there from the beginning.
Edgar smiled pleasantly.
“Please send me next to the First MVP. No... that might still be too dangerous. About 300 meters away should do.”
“Why don't you ask the maggot in your stomach?”
“Odline turned out to be more of a coward than I expected. He seems afraid he'll die along with me.”
“Hm. Odline, is that true?”
From inside Edgar's stomach, Odline answered,
-It's not death that I fear. I simply fear dying and never being able to see you again.
“…….”
-But if you leave me with an unforgettable memory before I die, then that's a different story. For example... a k-k-kiss...
“If I kiss you, will you come out of Edgar's stomach?”
Odline completely lost his senses.
He actually began crawling up Edgar's stomach wall and esophagus.
But Edgar desperately shoved the maggot back down into his stomach.
“It's a trap, Miss Magireta set for you. The moment you leave my body, you'll die.”
-Ghk.
“Anyway, when you're in front of the one you love, you should act boldly. That's how you'll show your best side.”
-I see. Lady Magireta certainly wouldn't like a coward.
At this point, Magireta couldn't even laugh anymore.
Keeping a perfectly expressionless face, she said,
“Fine. You wanted to be sent 300 meters from the First MVP, right? What are you offering in return?”
-No payment is necessary, Lady Magireta. I'll open the hole myself.
“…….”
-I may die in the Land of Death, the First Territory. But please remember this. That one pure soul named Odline truly loved you!
After shouting those words, Odline opened a hole.
Shaking his head, Edgar stepped through it.
Soon, the hole disappeared.
Magireta silently stared at the empty space before speaking.
“You can come out now, can't you, little brother?”
Rustle.
Mason, who hadn't been there just moments earlier, revealed himself.
Removing the Invisibility Cloak, he asked,
“He didn't notice me, did he?”
“If he had, then it wouldn't be the first-place reward I created. The Invisibility Cloak is absolute.”
“That's nice.”
“The Listening Device is absolute too.”
Mason smiled again.
“Very nice.”
After attaching the Transmitter to Edgar, I returned to my companions.
By the time I got back, it was already morning.
“I'm back.”
“Mason!”
“You're all still awake?”
“How could we sleep after sending you off alone?”
“…….”
“I-I wasn't the only one awake. Everyone else stayed up too.”
I merely smiled.
After carefully looking me over, Armelia asked,
“You're not hurt anywhere, are you?”
“I couldn't get hurt even if I wanted to while wearing the Invisibility Cloak.”
“I was just worried...”
“Hehe. Thank you.”
By then, everyone else had gotten up and gathered around me.
Aina asked,
“Did everything go well? You took longer than I expected.”
“Yeah. Originally, I was just going to attach the Transmitter and come right back, but the conversation between Edgar and Odline was too funny.”
“You don't have to tell me. I can already imagine it.”
“Anyway, I successfully attached the Transmitter to Edgar. He's entered the First Territory.”
And by now, he'd probably died.
I fiddled with the Receiver.
Immediately, the familiar Mini Bulletin Board appeared.
“I've been listening the whole way back, but nothing major has happened yet.”
“…….”
“The only sounds I've heard are things like, 'Gah,' 'Cough,' and 'Urgh.'”
“So he dies every time.”
“Yeah. But he seems to revive afterward. Just as Edgar predicted, the Land of Death doesn't affect Odline inside his stomach.”
Karin yawned widely.
“Yaaawn. The Land of Death wasn't such a big deal after all.”
“…….”
“In that case, you probably could've entered using the Invisibility Cloak too. Why not put it on and go now?”
Armelia immediately objected.
“Karin. That's going too far.”
“Huh? Was that too much?”
“We mustn't take death as lightly as Edgar does. Especially not when it's Mason. I'd rather send Kaid in instead.”
“Excuse me?”
I waved my hand.
“It doesn't matter who it is. Like I said before, only one person can use the Invisibility Cloak. We should avoid splitting up our companions whenever possible.”
“That's true.”
“For now, let's listen. If Edgar is lucky enough to encounter the First MVP, and if we learn what the MVP wants...”
We might be able to fulfill that wish faster than Edgar could.
If that happened, the MVP would choose our side.
I sat down.
After that, I had to listen to Edgar die countless times.
-Aaaagh!
-Huff... Huff... What in the world keeps killing me?
-Mr. Odline. Please revive me faster next time.
-I can't make any progress at all. Faster!
-Cough.
You're certainly working hard dying over and over, Edgar.
After listening for a while, I started getting bored.
My body suddenly felt stiff, so I stretched.
“How long has it been since I came back?”
“Three hours.”
“I think Edgar has died about fifty times in just three hours.”
“…….”
“He asked to be sent 300 meters in front of the First MVP. Yet he still hasn't encountered them.”
In other words, he was dying before he even had a chance to take a single step.
On top of that, the delay between death and revival was quite long.
“As expected, Odline can't revive Edgar as smoothly as Magireta's Omnipotence.”
“That's because Edgar is only half-monster.”
“Yeah. I can't be certain just from listening, but he probably hasn't even moved several dozen meters yet. This is going to take a while.”
“So should we assume each death only lets him advance about one meter?”
“Yes. That sounds about right.”
I took the Receiver away from my ear.
“I stayed up all night, so I should get some rest. Could someone listen in for me...? Ah, right. You all said you didn't sleep either.”
At that moment, Louis spoke.
“I'll do it.”
I asked cautiously,
“Are you sure?”
“Not only am I sure, I actually want to listen in. Besides, I'm a monster. Sleep isn't really essential for me.”
“…….”
“Your whole group stayed awake all night. Leave it to me.”
After thinking for a moment, I nodded and handed over the Receiver.
Louis accepted it and put it to his ear.
Then he sat down with his arms folded, wearing a serious expression.
Kaid spoke.
“Volunteering for such a difficult task... Your spirit of sacrifice is truly admirable.”
“…….”
“I'll go get some rest. Let me know if anything happens.”
“You're not sleeping.”
“……Why?”
“You're just not.”
Kaid looked at all of us as though wondering how such tyranny could exist.
His expression clearly begged someone to say something.
But the rest of my companions had already lain down to sleep.
So I was the one who spoke.
“Volunteering for such a difficult task... Your spirit of sacrifice is truly admirable, Kaid.”
Kaid muttered,
“I didn't volunteer...”
Edgar had no choice but to admit it.
Giving up the immortality Magireta had offered during the Ninth Quest “Intermediary Trade” might have been a mistake.
No.
Not "might have."
It had definitely been a mistake.
After all, Mason had cleared that quest.
Unlike him.
'But more than that right now...'
He felt even greater dissatisfaction with Odline's pitiful ability to reconstruct his body.
“You're truly useless. Cough.”
The moment he finished speaking, blood poured from Edgar's mouth.
For what felt like the hundredth time, he collapsed face-first.
Odline grumbled,
-You're the one who should be saying that. I never thought the day would come when I'd actually miss Kaid.
No matter how dissatisfied he was with Edgar, he couldn't simply leave him dead in the First Territory.
Once again, Odline made Edgar's heart beat and filled his muscles with strength.
Just as light slowly returned to Edgar's eyes—
“Why do you keep coming back to life?”
It wasn't Edgar's voice.
Nor was it Odline's.
Edgar looked around with eyes that had only just regained their light.
'The First MVP!'