【Adventurer Mitran】The Reunion of Archaeologist Leseida and the “Ruins Plunderer” Ibrabarleg

Yesss!!

Posted!!

The long holidays end here!!

“Accident or crime, either way...... someone in there may be hurt, isn't that so!? We must help them!”

After getting my report that ‘there's a smell of blood,’ Leseida-san thought for a moment and came to that conclusion.

Leseida-san is a strange person who becomes blind to everything else when it comes to ruins, but his heart is straightforward and kind.

That's something I really like about him.

But, like, speaking as his bodyguard!

I really wish he'd stop running ahead and leaving me behind!

“Wait! Leseida-san, waaaaait!”

And so I, adventurer Mitran, the bodyguard who let Leseida-san get out ahead of him, am now frantically chasing after Leseida-san's back......

Seriously, this is the kind of thing that costs an adventurer points......

My cheats have a flaw.

Whether it's 【Super Intuition】, 【Super Senses】, or even 【Super Combat Instinct】, which allows me to intuitively perform the appropriate combat response against any opponent......

There is a “fluctuation” in their activation.

Sometimes, they don't trigger exactly when I want them to, and I mess up.

So I end up like this time, unable to react fast enough when Leseida-san dashes off.

My cheats alone don't make me a perfect superhuman.

In a way, you could say that's very protagonist-like.

Apparently the old guy, the Adventure God, set up this “fluctuation” because “in the end, I want you to stop relying on cheats, build up experience and handle things with your own strength,” but......

At times like this, I really can't help thinking, ‘Gimme a break!’

In the end, it's my own fault for being slow to decide, and I do know that complaining to the old guy, the Adventure God, is barking up the wrong tree!

“Hey, wait, you people! This...... what on earth have you done!?”

Now, where I finally caught up with Leseida-san was a fairly roomy little room a few flights of stairs below the room where we'd been investigating.

Worst of all, things are already in motion, and I couldn't stop them in time!

Leseida-san is already in the room, squaring off against four men with obviously nasty faces!

“Ugh!”

And I clapped a hand over my mouth in spite of myself.

Because there, severely beaten and staining the floor with blood from a large slash...... was the corpse of a man.

It's been years since I was reincarnated from relatively safe Japan into this conflict-ridden other world called Ardyst, but I still can't get used to the sight of human corpses.

This is another one of my flaws as an adventurer that cheats cannot solve......

“Ah!”

“Those guys......!”

But I wasn't the only one going pale here.

Among the four, the two men wearing eyepatches were trembling as they pointed at us, saying something to a large, bearded man.

Ah!

Those two are the thugs who were picking a fight with Leseida-san in the town of Nebo!

“My, my, look at this. It's been a long time, Leseida-kun.”

With confusion ruling the room, the next to speak was...... a dapper old guy with his hat pulled low and a goatee on his chin.

The old guy stepped forward from the back, named Leseida-san, and greeted him like that.

“!! You are...... ‘Ruins Plunderer’ Ibrabarleg!!”

At being addressed, Leseida-san's eyes went wide in surprise for a moment, and then he glared at the old guy, grinding his teeth.

“L, Leseida-san, you know him......?”

“......His name is ‘Ruins Plunderer’ Ibrabarleg...... a vicious tomb robber who plunders ruins illegally and won't hesitate at crimes like murder to get the relics he's after.”

Leseida-san spat those words out hatefully while glaring at Ibrabarleg.

“Kukuku...... such a harsh way to speak to your former teacher, Leseida-kun. Your teacher is saddened.”

“Shut up! You may have hidden your true nature...... but those three years I spent studying under you at Kiralimake are a stain on my life! I no longer acknowledge you as any teacher of mine!”

“How cold...... when every time you publish a paper, I read every word, delighting in my disciple's growth.”

Ibrabarleg shrugged and let out a sorrowful sigh.

But that...... that sorrow isn't genuine.

This guy's a villain to the core who doesn't care one bit about other people.

【Super Intuition】 is screaming that at me intensely, and even without it, I can tell.

There's no way a man who can chat and laugh beside a corpse, the soles of his shoes squelching in its blood, is a decent person......!

This guy is...... one to watch out for, one to bring down...... an enemy!!

“But, Ibrabarleg, if you have shown up in these ruins, then as I thought, the relic sleeping here is......”

“Oh? ‘As I thought’? Did you say ‘as I thought,’ Leseida-kun? Excellent as ever, I see. Where did you catch on?”

Leseida-san and Ibrabarleg keep up their exchange in the tense air.

But the big bearded man cut in.

“Mister. Meetin' your disciple again after all this time, that's a happy thing and all, but things've gotten a bit messy.”

“Hmm?”

The large, bearded man drew his big machete and took a stance, pointing it at me as he spoke.

“Those two idiots of mine got beaten black and blue by that brat yesterday. That's a dangerous brat, that is. Might be more than we can handle.”

“Oh? A child that small......? Is that so, Mr. Megzam?”

“I'm swallowin' my pride sayin' this, but we've had our butts handed to us by ‘dangerous brats’ more'n once. Don't let looks or age fool ya.”

“Oh, my, my! What a turn of events! Just before achieving my long-cherished wish, we've run into a problem!”

Even as he says that, Ibrabarleg is cool as can be.

With a smirk, he picked up a metal cylinder-like object attached to his waist...... and pressed a round protrusion...... something like a switch.

Then, with a piin sound, a yellow glowing whip of light appeared from the cylinder!

“This is the magic whip ‘Torture.’ Not dungeon-made, but a genuine crystallization of human wisdom that I obtained with my own hands from the ruins of the Super-Ancient Magic Civilization.”

While continuing his explanation, Ibrabarleg swings the whip of light around.

It strikes the floor of the ruins with a high-pitched pishi, pishi.

“Now then, Mr. Megzam. I shall handle this.”

“......Mister. I know you're strong, but even so, no tellin' whether you can reach that brat.”

Pishi!

Pishi!

Pishi!

Swinging the whip of light without a pause, Ibrabarleg keeps striking the floor of the ruins!

The whip moves just like a snake!

I can't read its path, so I can't just rush in......!

“Kukuku...... I have no need to reach. Not if I use my special ability.”

“What!?”

The one who let out a cry of surprise upon hearing the words “special ability” was Leseida-san.

A special ability...... if I recall, it's something like a unique power held by individuals, different from magic......

From the way they've been talking, Leseida-san and Ibrabarleg know each other from way back.

And yet Leseida-san doesn't know about it.

......Does that mean he was hiding it?

“Since it's a bit unfair, I kept quiet about it to look cool in front of Leseida-kun, but I possess a special ability. And the name of that special ability is...... 【Scan】.”

“【Scan】...... you say!?”

Pishi!

Pishi!

Pishi!

The whip of light strikes the floor, strikes it, strikes it!

“Yes. It is a handy supporting ability that lets me grasp and understand the structure of all manner of things, as if by magic. Put to use, it can do a great many things. I can grasp the layout of ruins in one go and explore them with ease, and by scanning the human body...... kukuku, I can even perform highly efficient torture.”

“You......!”

Pishi!

Pishi!

Pishi!

“And besides that, let me see.”

Ibrabarleg smiled coldly as he spoke.

Something's not right, this is bad!

My instincts, the ones that aren't cheats, are screaming it!

But I don't know what to do or what's about to happen.

My body won't move!

“Such as which stone I should strike to collapse the floor of ruins grown brittle with age! Even things like that become clear to me!”

“Crap......!”

Hearing those words, I tried to scoop up Leseida-san and leap away from the spot...... but I was a step too late.

GARAGARAGARA......!

With a loud noise, the floor of the ruins collapses, and a huge hole opens up.

Leseida-san and I are helpless, caught up in the collapsing floor......!

“Farewell, my disciple Leseida!! I will let no one get in the way of my exploration!! Sleeping in these ruins...... the demon sword ‘Soul Devourer’ is mine!!”

With Ibrabarleg's triumphant voice in our ears...... we fell into the gaping hole...... down into the deep, deep darkness.

【Kiralimake】

Appears in Arc 5.

A school in the Teenidys Kingdom, officially named the “Royal Kiralimake Academy.”

Currently, some little bird named Fate Goddess Allofa or whatever is using this academy as the stage for filming an otome-game style Isekai Reincarnation Broadcast.

【Demon Sword ‘Soul Devourer’】

A demon sword whose fake appeared in Arc 13.

Apparently it's famous enough to show up even in fairy tales.