Chapter 222
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Knock knock
The fresh morning sunlight and cool air prated the darkness along with the sound of knocking.
Good morning.
The Hero looked at the Mother Ghost standing by the door.
More precisely, at her outfit.
Covered entirely in dust, wrinkled here and there.
Morning dew settled in every crease.
He had given her orders to gather information justst night.
Were you wandering around all night?
Of course, it wasnt just the Hero who nced at her appearance.
His grim and weary eyes met the Mother Ghosts.
A strange look appeared in Mother Ghosts eyes as she saw the Hero exhausted from facing dozens of terrible virtual deaths.
Youre sweating even though you havent removed your armor.
The Mother Ghosts eyes observed everything around her meticulously.
An eagerness to find hidden information.
The Hero deflected the topic without showing any signs of awkwardness.
Looks like youve got some decent information since you came knocking at the crack of dawn.
Yes, may Ie in?
Sure.
As the Mother Ghost entered, she ced several documents on the table from her embrace.
I conducted an investigationst night regarding the areas you instructed.
The Hero hadnt only focused on the herbal trade trends.
That was just one way to track him down.
Simrly, there was a part that couldnt be overlooked.
The hideout.
Fugitives instinctively seek their hideouts.
In situations where the desire for safety and protection is strong, hiding in apletely unfamiliar ce feels much less secure than being in a known location.
He had sought refuge in the depths of the forest when his tribe was annihted.
That was about thirty years ago.
But nobody knew exactly where he had hidden in the forest.
At that time, he had lived inplete seclusion, and it was more than a decadeter when he met Ted and joined the Dawn Knights.
Originally, tracking him down would have been nearly impossible.
Thirty more years had passed.
A very long time for humans.
Finding people who had operated in the forest at that time was difficult, and it was even more unreasonable to expect them to have detailed memories of Ivar.
But to the fairies, its not such a long time.
To fairies, a decade passes in the blink of an eye.
Just as we remember one or two years ago rtively clearly, they would remember Ivar.
Thats why the Hero entrusted the Mother Ghost with a pending inquiry.
He instructed her to ask the fairies living in human territories if they remembered the young savage warrior who fled to the forest.
The result
We found him.
The Mother Ghost pointed to one document.
It contained a profile of a fairy.
A fairy who granted permission to Ivar in the past.
Permission.
The Hero recalled.
A few months ago, when he came to the forest with Noubelmag, Pia, and Kasim.
Noubelmag used a branch of the World Tree he received from his mother to navigate through the forest.
For those who were not fairies, such as the Hero, to freelye and go in the forest, permission was required.
Permission it involves possessing a part of the World Tree.
Possessing a part of the World Tree, or being apanied by someone who does.
If one didnt follow these rules, they would get lost in the jungle of the forest, no matter how skilled they were.
In other words, the Mother Ghost was saying she found a fairy who had given Ivar a part of the World Tree.
The Heros eyes gleamed.
He must have had considerable interaction with Ivar.
Yes, indeed. He remembers him vividly.
Thunk
A map of the forest, about the size of a desk, unfolded over the documents.
The Mother Ghost continued her calm briefing.
Weve determined where Ivar spent his time in the forest. Its near a deserted vige that the residents left a long time ago. Its quite a distance from here.
Where is it?
Its right here
The Mother Ghosts dry hand skimmed over the map like a spider.
The forest is divided into three parts.
First, ces where non-fairies can roam without permission.
The area where the Hero and the Mother Ghost were now was a typical example.
It upies roughly 20% of the forest area.
Second, ces that require permission.
These are inhabited by ordinary fairies and upy most of the forest area.
Third, the heart of the forest, where not even ordinary fairies can enter.
Its near the heart of the World Tree.
Ancient fairies and the prophet Lace reside there, and only those he desires can set foot there.
Its here.
Naturally, where the Mother Ghosts finger stopped was in the second category.
The problem is
It doesnt make sense.
The Hero stared at the map intently.
The Mother Ghost stared at the spot she pointed out with unblinking, pale eyes.
That ce is
It was a ce he had visited once before.
In an instant, a lightning-like realization brushed past the Hero.
.
.
.
So thats how it was.
The Hero recalled his memories from a few months ago.
It was when he came straight to the forest after obtaining clues about Depikio Lugosboratory from the mage.
Theboratory, alreadypletely ransacked.
Seeing that, the Hero had one question at the time.
How could the Demonic Church have known about and excavated the existence of a hiddenboratory on the outskirts of the forest?
There were no relevant clues circting publicly.
If there were, Larze, who was eagerly chasing after Zeros legacy, wouldnt have missed it.
It was questionable that the Demonic Church had found theboratory before her and above all, it was unclear how they had taken those documents out.
So I suspected that someone in the forest had colluded with the demons.
The Hero looked at the forest map again.
The vige where Ivar had stayed in the past but was now abandoned.
Coincidentally, its location was near theboratory.
What if Ivar, who had been hiding, coincidentally stumbled upon theboratory?
All the umted mysteries unraveled.
Its not an absurd story.
Ivar is not an ordinary martial artist.
He is the heir of a tribe that has been flourishing in the Great Mountain Range for centuries.
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His power, Furious Wind, originates from the power of primitive spirits served by the tribe, not from magic.
Spirits and magic have strong mutual repulsion.
And Depikio Lugosboratory was meticulously hidden with illusion magic.
While others might not notice, its highly likely that Ivar would feel something amiss.
Come to think of it, the various security devices in theboratory
The Hero remembered the passage leading to theboratorys underground.
Noubelmag, who saw the artifacts there, mentioned this.
These are security measures even formidable knights would have trouble bypassing Yet the Demonic Churchsckeys managed to get through.
At the time, the Hero also spected that there must have been strong intervention from someone.
He thought those traces were from the Demonic Church Leader, but
It makes sense for Ivar.
The Hero chuckled with disappointment and shook his head.
Thanks to the documents left in theboratory by Depikio Lugo, the Demonic Church had made significant strides in fields like monster taming and brainwashing.
How many people had died or been injured as a result?
And behind it all was Ivar.
Truly the root of all evil.
The Hero was engulfed in an impulse to find Ivar and tear him apart, even if he couldnt confront him directly.
Even if the Mother Ghost wasnt scrutinizing him with her characteristic investigative gaze, he would have dashed out just the same.
She continued her calm exnation.
We will instruct agents to conduct cross-verification today.
Cross-verification?
Well use individuals suspected to be coborators of Ivar, identified through trends in herbal trading.
They would track his whereabouts.
She added that if they were lucky, they might be able to locate Ivars hiding ce soon.
The Hero nodded.
For now, Ill go around this area. If agents are sent nearby, keep me informed.
The Mother Ghost looked puzzled.
Its just a suspected location of Ivar; its not confirmed as his hideout yet. If its a preliminary investigation, our agents could
No, Ill investigate it myself.
Doubts quickly turned into dissatisfaction.
In the Mother Ghosts position, who didnt know about the existence of theboratory, she couldnt understand the Heros strong conviction.
But the Hero felt a strong premonition bordering on foresight.
Ivar must have visited the vicinity of theboratory at least once.
It was the outskirts of the forest near his hometown.
Moreover, there werent even powerful illusion spells in the area.
There was no reason for a fugitive to avoid it.
Even if I dont meet him directly, I might at least find some traces.
The Hero stood up abruptly.
Hero?
The Mother Ghost only remained still, watching his back as he dashed into the forest.
She muttered softly to herself.
Things are getting out of hand.
Then, she too slowly got up from her seat.
* * *
Cough, damn, its blindingly bright.
Ivar shielded his eyes with his hand, continuing to cough lightly.
Although noon was still far off, the sunlight today was unusually piercing and bright.
He staggered along, struggling to take each step.
I need to hurry.
Today was the day to relocate his hideout.
It was always necessary to change hideouts periodically.
As soon as his condition improved, he headed to the next predetermined hideout.
It would probably be thest hideout.
Starting next week, he would have to act as a decoy ording to the orders.
Sigh.
Deep wrinkles appeared on Ivars face.
A month, huh.
The demons had ordered him to keep the Heros gaze fixed on the south for a month.
What kind of scheme were they nning during that time?
No.
Ivar frowned and shook his head.
There was no use in thinking about that.
He had to do his best to carry out the orders anyway.
And the demons would surely engage in some nasty business during the time they bought him.
That was a fact that hadnt changed once in decades.
Darn it.
Thinking about the consequences of his actions would only increase his guilt.
What he needed to focus on right now was not that, but whether the orders were feasible.
Ivar thought of a man in his mind.
The man with sunken gray eyes and a fearsome swordsmanship.
Its an impossible order.
To withstand the Heros pursuit for a month in the limited space of the south.
That was a difficult task even for Ivar, who was considered the next best martial artist after the Hero in the world.
Even if I manage to avoid him, itll be over if we meet once.
No matter what measures he took, he couldnt defeat the enraged Hero.
A precarious tightrope walk.
But there was oneforting fact.
Hes gotten much weaker.
The demons emphasized that the Hero had weakened.
It was a situation that Ivar couldnt imagine.
He was a Hero who had survived even the trap of the Great Battle where he was sure to die.
Even if he was weaker, then he would be stronger than before.
Moreover, wasnt he in a situation where he was injured as well?
Ivar shook his head and stopped walking.
He had arrived at his destination.
His final hideout.
And the beginning of sin.
Ivars dark eyes contained the scenery of the oldboratory, covered with thick vines.
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