The New Gate Volume 7 - Chapter 1 – Part 2

“So this is Bulk’s residence.”

“Yes. Access was restricted, so I do not know what’s inside.”

After listening to the knight’s reply, s.h.i.+baid turned his eyes to the closed door.

Priests are a.s.signed private rooms, which was an ideal place to act in secrecy, with no risk of being seen by others.

Infiltrating an empty room seemed possible, but this room was inside Palmirack; it was no simple feat.

The rooms were surrounded in Chimeradite, which made slipping past its walls, or unlocking its doors, extremely difficult.

For that reason, even chosen ones could not easily enter the room and discover Bulk’s secrets.

“I’m opening it.”

s.h.i.+baid laid a hand on the door.

He had received s.h.i.+n’s permission to unlock all doors; for a limited time, he could enter almost every room located inside Palmirack.

s.h.i.+baid concentrated on his hand and the door opened with almost no resistance.

“!! Stand back, everybody!”

s.h.i.+baid stepped in front of the knights.

Intense miasma emanated from beyond the door.

“Th-this is…”

“Don’t come near! You may lose your sanity!”

s.h.i.+baid had the sickly-looking knights move away from the door and stepped inside the room.

s.h.i.+baid was now equipping his original weapon, the giant halberd “Placid Moon”. The light s.h.i.+ning from its blade completely purified the miasma coming from the room.

After being upgraded by s.h.i.+n, the weapons wielded by s.h.i.+n’s support character gained the ability to purify miasma.

“The miasma has been purified. You can go inside now.”

After s.h.i.+baid’s words reached them, the knights entered the room with wary steps. They were knights of the church, but that did not mean that they had high resistance to miasma.

The miasma emanating from the room was so dense that simply looking at it caused a visceral sensation of impending danger. Not even upper cla.s.s chosen ones would have been able to withstand such a level of miasma.

It was not something that knights, even if trained, could endure.

“Bulk was continuously immersed in that concentrated miasma? Yet.. it looks like it hadn’t caused any mental deterioration…”

Doubt arose in s.h.i.+baid’s mind.

Such a high concentration of miasma would undoubtedly lead to insanity. Despite that, Bulk had not shown the symptoms typical of those infected by miasma.

What could it possibly mean?

“I see there’s another room in the back.”

s.h.i.+baid left the current room to the knights and headed to the room in the back. There he found scattered magic tomes, items and weapons with ceremonial decorations.

Probably because of long-term exposure to miasma, they were all partially corroded or cursed; nothing was left in proper condition.

In a corner of the room was a metal box equipped with heavy locks.

s.h.i.+baid’s appraisal skill let him see through the trap protecting the box.

“【High-Poison】 and 【High-Confusion】, is it. Quite a nasty little device.”

s.h.i.+baid let out a sigh and touched the box.

The trap activated and powerful status abnormalities reached towards s.h.i.+baid, to invade his body. s.h.i.+baid’s equipment, however, made him immune to status abnormalities; he wasn’t the least bit fazed by the trap’s effects.

s.h.i.+baid then crushed the box’s lock, nothing more than a decoration compared to the trap, and opened it. Inside it he found 4 black collars.

“Not enough.”

Compared to the information s.h.i.+n obtained from Bulk through torture under the name of interrogation, the number of collars were too low. s.h.i.+baid took the collars inside the box, turned them into cards and stored them in his item box.

“There should be another one somewhere…”

Having confessed under the effects of s.h.i.+n’s skill, it was not possible for Bulk to have lied. The only possibility was that the last collar was hidden somewhere near by.

“It has to be inside this room.”

With the knights’ help, s.h.i.+baid searched every nook and cranny.

Much like Lilis.h.i.+la’s, Bulk’s residence too was equipped with a secret room. s.h.i.+baid, thinking that it was the ideal place to hide something, operated the walls.

A door opened with a dull sound, and at the same time a rotten smell was released.

It was a stench strong enough to force the knights behind s.h.i.+baid to hold their noses. Even knights such as them, used to the smell of blood and guts permeating the many battlefields they experienced, grimaced at this stench.

“Sir s.h.i.+baid, this is…”

“I can’t say I have a good feeling about this. We already know that there’s a trap inside. I can go alone, but what will the rest of you do?”

“Please take me and one of my subordinates with you. To cower before a mere stench would be utterly shameful for a knight. I shall have the others check the room again for anything we might have missed.”

The two knights with the highest level followed s.h.i.+baid. Advancing through the corridor caused the foul stench to gradually increase in intensity.

At the end of the corridor they found a door. Opening it revealed a young girl, collapsed on the floor.

As s.h.i.+baid drew closer, he noticed long, slender ears poking out from her hair. Her HP had not decreased very much, but she was affected by several status abnormalities.

The girl appeared to be unconscious as she did not move an inch.

“She’s still breathing. Let’s bring this girl outside first.”

“Roger that”

Following s.h.i.+baid’s decision, the knights ran out first, to call a healing specialist.

Meanwhile, s.h.i.+baid materialized an elixir from his item box and poured it into the girl’s mouth.

After making sure that the girl had swallowed the golden liquid, s.h.i.+baid stood up.

He contacted s.h.i.+n via Mind Chat, then left the room while carrying the girl in his arms.

The two met up and moved to a room with a bed.

“First of all, let’s remove it.”

s.h.i.+n touched the neck of the girl, now lying on the bed. As it happened with Millie and Hermie, the black collar shattered away.

The girl, however, did not open her eyes.

“How horrible.”

“I can’t fully diagnose her situation. Could you explain?”

s.h.i.+n nodded to s.h.i.+baid’s request. The weakening of the spirit due to miasma was highly likely to be the same as during the game era.

“I suppose this is a good occasion. Listen up, everyone. This girl was exposed to dense miasma and is now in a comatose state. I think she’ll continue sleeping for at least 1 or 2 weeks…maybe even months.”

“What in the world happened to her?”

“When exposed to dense miasma, unless one has high resistance or regularly drinks potions to raise resistance, the spirit is weakened before the body. If nothing is done in time, there’s a risk of never waking up.”

s.h.i.+n answered Lilis.h.i.+la’s question, recalling his knowledge from the game era.

Miasma possesses negative effects other than the status abnormality and MP consumption. NPC’s other than those belonging to the players become unable to act.

In case of players or support characters, they are affected by negative status and stats reduction.

In a game event s.h.i.+n had experienced, where a miasma infection broke out in a city setting, the city’s NPC shops, adventurers’ guild, etcetera all stopped functioning.

The scenario had them fall in a coma because of the miasma’s mind infection.

Thanks to that, all miasma-related events were always instantly cleared by players who were already too powerful for guilds, before the situation became too dire. If that setting was still active, this girl too was probably in that situation.

s.h.i.+n had heard from s.h.i.+baid about the dense miasma concentrated in Bulk’s room.

Based on his knowledge of the game and the state of the room, that was the only likely explanation.

“Will this girl be alright?”

“Yes. Luckily, it seems she wasn’t exposed to miasma for a long time. The body changes color when it’s too late, so you just need a glance to know.”

During the game era, the NPCs beyond salvation turned black and were replaced by another NPC the day after. That likely meant that they would never wake up again.

“Does anyone know this girl?”

Everyone surrounding s.h.i.+n shook their heads at his question.

Schnee and s.h.i.+baid obviously didn’t know her, nor did Lilis.h.i.+la or the man who guided Wilhelm inside Palmirack.

“She was probably kidnapped, just like Millie. I will take care of her until she wakes up. Please leave it to me.”

Lilis.h.i.+la volunteered to help the girl, as she couldn’t just leave an elf that was just like her.

Freed from the shackles represented by Bulk, for the cardinal Lilis.h.i.+la, taking care of one young girl was an easy task.

No one could predict when the girl would wake from her slumber, so s.h.i.+n’s party heartily welcomed her proposal.

“I apologize for the inconvenience, but please take care of her.”

After deciding to entrust the girl to Lilis.h.i.+la, the group returned to her room. There was no reason for a large group of people to stay in a sick person’s room.

“Here are the collars I’ve collected”

After leaving the room, s.h.i.+baid hands the collected collars to s.h.i.+n in item card form.

Since they could not proceed or even begin to examine the collars here, s.h.i.+n casually gazed at the collar’s design before putting it away in the item box.

“Was there anything else?”

“Nothing stood out to me. But this kind of research is best done by s.h.i.+n or Yuki.”

“That’s right. I’ll go search the room once Tiera joins us.”

They asked Lilis.h.i.+la to not allow anyone near Bulk’s room, just in case. It was possible to physically separate it from the others, but as it would invite needless suspicion, they decided to leave things to her.

Only Rokuten members and their subordinates can use Palmirack’s functions. The support characters’ faces and names were known, so spreading information about their usage privileges would end up revealing s.h.i.+n’s true ident.i.ty.

“Oh, so it’s really over?”

As s.h.i.+n was talking with s.h.i.+baid, Tiera made her entrance, escorted by the knights. In her shadow, dwelt Kagerou, while Yuzuha was attached to her arm.

“Yes, the rescue somehow ended in success. However, we don’t know the location of the ritual site. Anything happened on your end?”

“Nothing happened to me directly, but there is something that concerns me.

“Yes? What’s that?”

“I saw a shadow fly away from the Church. Just to confirm, was there anyone with wings among the people you fought?”

Tiera’s words made s.h.i.+n c.o.c.k his head and think. Having wings meant that the species had to be Beast, Dragnil, Lord or Pixie.

“No, I haven’t seen anyone like that. Have you, s.h.i.+baid?”

“I haven’t seen anyone like that either. To begin with, everyone we fought has been captured. I do not think anyone escaped us.”

s.h.i.+baid, who had moved separately from s.h.i.+n, gave the same answer.

“Well, what I saw was a human-like shape with 4 wings. 2 bird-like and 2 insect-like. It was night so I couldn’t see their face very well, but I had Yuzuha attach a mark to track where it was headed. Yuzuha?”

“Kuu!”

Yuzuha answered Tiera’s question energetically. s.h.i.+n received a “I know!” message via telepathy. A truly unexpected hint had been found.

“Well done!! The more clues we have, the better!”

“I’m relieved to know I could be of help. I haven’t been of much use at all this time.”

Tiera spoke with a slightly somber tone.

She was uneasy about the fact that since she had been targeted at the beginning, she hadn’t contributed to Millie’s rescue.

s.h.i.+n and Schnee’s infiltration operation, s.h.i.+baid’s defense operation…not her ability, but her stats made her somewhat lacking for both categories.

Kagerou could have been useful in defense, but Tiera was still inexperienced as a tamer and could not use its abilities to the fullest yet. She could not have dealt with the situation as swiftly as s.h.i.+baid.

“Asking you to keep watch was the right choice.”

Elves are quite apt at scouting jobs such as hunter or s.h.i.+n.o.bi. Furthermore, the tamer job covered several roles, production, battle, scouting, etcetera; this depended on the tamed monster.

Tiera’s monster, Kagerou, was of considerable high level and also proficient in detection and infiltration abilities.

As tamers are affected by the monsters they command, Tiera’s detection ability was now boosted for a limited time.

It was a preparation done as a mere precaution, but it yielded an unexpectedly great result.

Kagerou and Yuzuha’s detection abilities were also fairly high, of course, and could be expected to be very useful.

“They said a messenger would come, what shall we do about that?”

“Let’s think about how to deal with the messenger first. In the end, we can chase down the target marked by Yuzuha whenever we want. We know that it flew away from the Church, but we don’t know if it’s going to the ritual site. If it’s Bulk’s messenger, it’s certain to lead us there.”

s.h.i.+n answered Schnee’s question basing himself on the information obtained from Bulk.

“The messenger was supposed to come “pick up” Bulk, so they would surely head to the ritual site later. If we can catch it we can learn the location of the ritual.”

Alongside with a lot of other information.

“(The messenger is supposed to come 2 days from now. As long as there is a possibility that they captured Filma exists, we cannot take this lightly. We’ll use mind-type skills.)”

“(Understood. What shall we do with Lilis.h.i.+la?)”

“(If I say that I’ll morph into Bulk with an illusion-type skill, she won’t come with us.)”

s.h.i.+n communicated the plan to Schnee and s.h.i.+baid via Mind Chat.

The great sword supposed to be in Filma’s possession, Exvaine, was here.

Consequently, it was more likely that Filma was not captured, but instead being manipulated. Even now at an unknown place, she could be doing others’ bidding.

This event had been caused by Bulk’s and a few others’ l.u.s.t for power. That is why s.h.i.+n decided not to dispose of the other people of the Church. However, the “Summit Faction” was different.

Those who hurt innocent people and treat life as a tool do not deserve any pity.

(The world might have changed, but these kinds of people don’t learn new tricks, do they?)

What s.h.i.+n had remembered was the battle against players called PK’s.

There were no benefits. It was a war. A ma.s.sacre, where lives were expendable as if they were disposable items.

It was a battlefield filled with grief, hatred and insanity.

The sensation s.h.i.+n felt now was familiar.

“(What should we do if the enemies equip items that make them immune to status effects?)”

“(Nothing to worry. I can bypa.s.s the “Age of G.o.ds Earring”’s defense now.)”

s.h.i.+n answered s.h.i.+baid’s question with confidence.

The effectiveness of mind-type skills depends on the user’s INT.

The mind-type skills used by s.h.i.+n, who had surpa.s.sed the limit, were now capable of penetrating the defenses of even items which granted immunity to status effects.

The only situation where they could fail was if the target equipped multiple accessories of the highest rank, such as the ones s.h.i.+n and Schnee had.

“Ehm, s.h.i.+n…”

“Hm? What’s wrong?”

As he was speaking through Mind Chat, a faint voice reached s.h.i.+n’s ears. He turned in Schnee’s direction.

His eyes found her holding the right sleeve of his clothes, a worried look on her face.

“Is everything alright?”

“Er, what….?”

“s.h.i.+n, your face just now…was kind of scary.”

“Ah…was it showing on my face that much?”

“Yes.”

s.h.i.+n touched his own face and felt that it was indeed pretty stiff.

s.h.i.+n knew from experience that if he wasn’t careful, thinking about the PK’s would cause his emotions to become visible on his expression.

He was not thinking about things that Schnee should worry about, but s.h.i.+n regretted having saddened her. s.h.i.+n knew what worried Schnee the most.

“I wasn’t thinking of things you need to worry about, Yuki. It’s alright.”

“If so, I’m glad.”

s.h.i.+n replied with a cheerful tone, to dispel Schnee’s worries. s.h.i.+n’s smile wasn’t forced, so Schnee, relieved, let go of his sleeve.

On the other hand, s.h.i.+baid and Tiera motionlessly watched the scene that had just transpired.

“It’s pretty hard to join the conversation when you two fly in your own world all of a sudden, you know.”

“Hmm. I understand Yuki’s worries, but I would prefer you would save such gestures for when you’re alone together.”

Tiera was almost rolling her eyes at the couple, while it was not clear if s.h.i.+baid was reproaching them or giving advice.

s.h.i.+n and Schnee had come back to the real world because of their words, only to be struck by another unexpected ambush.

“(Kuu! Scent of peaches! Kiss her? Kiss her?)”

“Peach-colored atmosphere” was a truly fitting description. Yuzuha had talked all of a sudden, fortunately not via words but Mind Chat.

“Hahaha, no, I’m sorry. And no Yuzuha, no kissing!”

“……..”

s.h.i.+n, however, replied through his normal voice.

Hearing these words, Schnee could guess what Yuzuha had said, and her whole face was stained red.

“(s.h.i.+n, what in the world is wrong with you?)”

“(Yuzuha asked me if I was going to “kiss her” via telepathy! Ah, darn, I spoke out loud…)”

s.h.i.+n explained what happened to s.h.i.+baid via Mind Chat. The latter then understood the situation, but behind him stood Lilis.h.i.+la’s group, who was unable to use Mind Chat.

s.h.i.+n’s sudden “no kisses” declaration attracted their glares towards him.

“Excuse me, s.h.i.+n-sama? You said something about kissing…?”

“Hahaha, of course not. I did say “missing” though, maybe you heard wrong?” (T/N: 治癒 Chiyu: Healing, but the words are omitted thus changed to missing. And ちゅーChiyu: Kissing, they are said the same way in j.a.panese.)

“But just now, I’m sure that…”

“Surely just your imagination, milady.”

s.h.i.+n tried desperately to change the subject.

Kissing and missing, it would be pretty hard to mistake words like these, but not impossible. They did come out of the blue, though.

s.h.i.+baid whispered a word of advice to Yuzuha.

“Yuzuha. Please save such words for when there is no one else around. Timing is an important factor as well.”

“Kuu?”

Yuzuha c.o.c.ked her head to one side, apparently finding it a concept difficult to grasp.

“s.h.i.+baid! Hey! What kind of advice is that!?”

“You see, such things should be allowed to proceed while they can.”

“….where’s the serious atmosphere from a few moments ago…?”

Their serious discussion had been blown away by Yuzuha’s one line.

“How can I say it, s.h.i.+n’s comrades are all pretty peculiar.”

Tiera spoke with a small wry laugh, while looking at s.h.i.+n and his party.

Having lived together with Schnee, Tiera knew more than the average person about Rokuten and its members. She felt that the other members she hadn’t met yet would surely be out of the ordinary.

“Not exactly, Ms. Tiera. Remember that you too are one of those comrades.”

“Eh?”

s.h.i.+n pointed out that Tiera seemed to consider herself as not included in the “peculiar” group.

A remark that painted a shocked expression on Tiera’s face.

When s.h.i.+n asked Tiera to act on her own, they explained to Lilis.h.i.+la that Kagerou was a monster that possessed abilities on the same level as an upper cla.s.s chosen one. There was no way for Tiera, the mistress of such a monster, to be a normal person.

From Lilis.h.i.+la’s party’s standpoint, s.h.i.+n and Tiera were in the same category.

“That…can’t be…”

“Why are you that shocked?”

“I can’t be expected to be on the same level as you. A normal person might think I’m incredible, but s.h.i.+n, you guys are on a whole different level.”

From someone at level 1, both level 150 and 255 appear equally high-level.

Yet from Tiera’s standpoint, who had barely reached level 150 without reincarnation, a level 255 with reincarnation bonuses possessed power far beyond hers.

In addition, Tiera was a high-level user thanks to Kagerou. To be considered on the same level as s.h.i.+n, who could take down Kagerou by himself, isn’t something she could simply agree with.

From s.h.i.+n’s standpoint, however, Tiera was incredible enough; she had tamed the divine beast Gruef.a.go without fighting, after all.

“You would make us lose face, if you were able to match us so easily. But you are still growing, in more ways than one. You’ll become much stronger.”

“I do think that I grew a little stronger, but I honestly can’t imagine matching you all in strength. All this time I’ve been admiring master and s.h.i.+n, but I can’t even jest and say ‘I’ll be as strong as you one day’”

Tiera replied with a sigh to s.h.i.+n’s comment concerning her future growth.

“Well, let’s continue this conversation another time. First, let’s do everything we can till the messenger arrives. Yuki and I will go search Bulk’s residence. s.h.i.+baid, go help Lilis.h.i.+la. Tiera, please keep an eye on Millie. ”

s.h.i.+n stopped the conversation for the time being and gave orders to s.h.i.+baid and the others.

Lilis.h.i.+la was now going to arrest the people who had colluded with Bulk, so s.h.i.+baid would act as her escort. He asked Tiera to look after Millie because he felt it would not be good to have Hermie, the one venerated as Holy Woman, continue to act as caretaker.

The two nodded to s.h.i.+n’s proposal.

““Understood.””

Lilis.h.i.+la, who had been listening too, nodded in agreement.

With s.h.i.+baid on her side, even if the opponent was an upper cla.s.s chosen one there would be no trouble. Her confidence was reinforced by having witnessed his fighting prowess not long ago.

“I’ll have Millie sent to Vizzy later. Can you relay this to Wilhelm too?”

s.h.i.+n whispered to Tiera as to avoid being heard by Lilis.h.i.+la.

He wanted to send Millie back as soon as possible, also to soothe Ras.h.i.+a’s worries, who was waiting in Bayreuth. However, if it was at all possible, he wanted to keep the fact that they rode Elder Dragons to Sigurd a secret.

Vizzy, support character of Rokuten member Cashmere, had tamed the Elder Dragons, and s.h.i.+n could use it freely. If this information spread, trouble was very likely to arise.

That is why he whispered to Tiera the message to be relayed.

“Understood. Don’t worry about it… Anyways, you be careful too, s.h.i.+n.”

“We’ll go perform our search now. If we find anything, we’ll report later.”

“Thank you very much. We shall go remove all the infection festering within the Church.”

Lilis.h.i.+la had already investigated before hand, in order to stand against Bulk; her eyes now burned with red-hot flames.

This was expected. Not too long ago they were not able to deliver a crus.h.i.+ng blow to the other party. Now, they are able to pa.s.s judgement on those people.

There was no reason not to be fired up!

s.h.i.+n caught himself thinking that Lilis.h.i.+la’s smile was almost scary.