Chương 336: Open Window

"Don't you find her suspicious?"

"Who? Do you mean that shark girl? I swear she tried to bite my ankles at one point…"

"No, I mean the woman that was with that blind boy""What's so suspicious about her?"

"Are you not paying attention? The raven-black hair, the purple eyes, the dark, long mantle… And the fact that we are in a final trial, where death is real–This is definitely Mara Nebulo!"

"Well… Maybe, but aren't her purple eyes supposed to be weird in some way? I didn't notice it""How… How the fuck could you not notice something wrong with them? You've literally been staring right at her the entire time she was in your line of sight!"

"Ahem… I… I might not have been staring much at her eyes, to be honest…" The swordsman and admirer of Mara had ended up forming a duo, with the former thinking that the latter had noticed something weird, but as it turns out. The man had been distracted and hadn't noticed a single thing. The warrior pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You've been doing it for hours, and you're telling me that you've been doing nothing but staring at her breasts?"

"I never mentioned it was her chest that I was looking at…"

"Do I look stupid?"

"Alright! I admit, I was staring at them, but it's only natural. You don't see such gorgeous, rotund specimens every day, you know? I was thinking about trying to strike up a conversation, but it would have been awkward since she seemed to be with that blind boy, and then she had that little girl on her lap… It is quite hard to make a move in such a scenario… Wait a minute!" The man raised an eyebrow before continuing.

"If you are certain that this is Mara Nebulo, why did you leave that little bird with her? Won't that girl be in danger?"

"Don't worry. I know the enemy. I wouldn't have allowed myself to be infected by the Nightmare Plague otherwise… It took some time before the nightmares began appearing, but I am here now. Anyway, I have done my best to try and track down everyone and anyone who had actually survived a final trial for intel…"

"... Hence, I eventually found the trace of a young mousefolk. It was quite hard to get any straight answer from her, but I believe I got the gist of it anyway. Mara Nebulo seems to have a soft spot for cute, well-behaved little girls, to the point of being willing to let them escape the final trial" The other man didn't seem convinced.

"Huh… So… You've got one example that you can't even be sure of the exact reason she survived, and you decided to trust it blindly as if that one edge case was irrefutable proof, to the point of leaving a defenceless little girl to fend for herself, all alone with a woman that is giving the worst people and creatures of our known history a run for their money? Did I get that right?" The swordsman blinked a few times.

"You've suddenly become quite verbose. I wouldn't have expected it from a man capable of staring at the chest of a mass murderer for hours without noticing the very obvious features that clearly show who she is""Being distracted by a woman happens to the best of us, I'll have you know" There was silence between them for a few minutes as they walked through the hallways of the ship. The distant sound of waves crashing against the hull and the steel groaning punctuated their journey.

So far, they hadn't encountered any monsters, only the remains of one that they assumed had been slain by the orc woman. Eventually, the man with the bad staring habit broke the silence.

"What do you plan on doing anyway? I don't mean to insult you or anything, but you don't seem very strong, and I doubt telling everyone about her identity will help. Apart from the orc lady and you, no one else seems to know how to fight. So, are we just supposed to find a way to escape without her noticing?" The swordsman didn't respond immediately. He had wanted to face the nightmares and come face-to-face with Mara Nebulo on a whim.

His swordsmanship had been stagnating for a long time now, and he had been seeking a challenge that could very well be lethal to hone himself. He hadn't felt the fire within him weaken in any way, but he had nonetheless run into issues–Such as the little chick. He wanted to at least make sure she could get away safely, but he was uncertain whether it was best to take her with him or to actually leave her with the master of the nightmares.

If he was correct, then she would actually be much safer with Mara, but if he were to be wrong… Then it meant that he would be responsible for her death. A lengthy sigh escaped his lips.

"I've come to face the nightmare trials for one reason only, and that is to challenge Mara Nebulo. Either I survive and finally advance my swordsmanship, or I die trying" The man who couldn't keep his eyes to himself shook his head. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

"You warriors really are deranged… What are you doing here, then? You should have just waited for everyone to leave so that you could challenge her in peace""What else? I am trying to help others escape beforehand. I may be a bit deranged, as you say, but I am not completely mindless in my pursuit of power. Follow me. I sense the presence of a stationary monster nearby.

It might be guarding something of importance" They spent an hour going around, having to face the strange children's game to acquire specific parts and tools. They were planning on returning as per the agreed time, but they ended up running into a problem.

"Stop" The swordsman raised his fist to signal the man to stop advancing. Inside a room a distance away from them on the left, they could hear the sound of something scratching against the steel of the ship, followed by the sound of something metallic snapping and then glass shattering. Oddly soft, wet footsteps rang out. Stopping for ten whole seconds in front of the door before it was slowly pushed open. The swordsman kept his hand on the grip of his blade.

If his deductive reasoning wasn't inferior to what he remembered, then it seemed like the monster that was about to step out into the hallway had come from the waters instead of having been roaming the ship from the very beginning. His danger senses also flared up in a way categorically different from when he had encountered those monsters guarding the items. Those things had been dangerous, but only in the sense that they were linked to the rules of the game they played.

It had been clear that failing the game would have dire consequences, but otherwise, if one of these monsters had come at him without the game being a thing, then he would have cut them down with ease. This was different. He felt proper danger this time. This monster was a direct threat to him, and he needed to take it seriously.

"Back away" He spoke to the man accompanying him right as the creature revealed itself, casually walking into the hallway and stopping to stare at them.

"Oh my…"

"Shut the hell up, man" The monster didn't look very much like one. It had the appearance of a very skinny, yet not skeletal, woman. She was completely drenched. Her wet hair, which was longer than she was tall, was all that covered her uncovered features–So of course, the fool accompanying the swordsman had to make a comment about it. The woman-looking monster would definitely pass off as a real woman if not for the fact that it had very clearly climbed its way here from the tumultuous waters this ship was upon.

The swordsman didn't wait around and made the first move, swiftly rushing at the monster, unsheathing his weapon and swiftly slashing at the sea creature, only to find his blade stopped by the monster's forearm. Try as he might to push harder, all he managed to draw was a single pitiful drop of translucent blood. He swiftly backed off, but the monster had yet to attack. It merely inspected the spot where the blade had struck, running one finger across the minute wound. It vanished entirely.

"How… Mean… You didn't… Even say hello""Holy crap, it talks, too" The warrior muttered under his breath, only to soon hear the voice of his companion ring out behind him.

"If she can talk, maybe we can negotiate for her to let us go?" To the swordsman, this sounded like utter nonsense. This wasn't just a talking monster. This was a monster born inside of the nightmare trials. He heavily doubted this thing would genuinely be willing to let them go on their merry way. He didn't even know what kind of monster it was supposed to be.

By appearance alone, he was fearful that she was some sort of mermaid, and that one look or word could be the trigger for the charm ability that had led many to walk off the coast and into the waters, only to drown and be devoured. Ship travel was rare, but even then, the creatures of the sea still found ways to kill people.

Mermaids alone were the reason why many coasts didn't have cities near them, and although they were known to have the bottom half of a fish at the very least, the swordsman wasn't willing to let his guard down, especially when his companion at the moment seemed like the kind to be very susceptible to a mermaid's abilities. The fool accompanying him didn't even seem to need to be charmed by any spell or ability, however.

He stepped past the swordsman and got dangerously close to the monster, who was actually quite a fair bit taller than him, giving it quite the freaky proportions when taking into account how thin it was. He cleared his throat.

"Excuse his aggressive behaviour. We weren't aware that a nightmare such as this one could house anything but mindless monsters and us poor participants""There's no way this fucker is trying to flirt with the monster…" The warrior wanted to intervene, but at this point, it felt like saving this man would be interfering with the rules of nature. Clearly, it was his fate to be killed due to following the orders of his secondary thinking center. Weirdly enough, though.

The monster seemed to relax, even leaning forward a bit to meet him eye-to-eye. Her smile made the foolish man blush.

"To be… Frank with you, I am actually… One of the escape methods""A-Are you?"

"Yeeees… With me, you will be able to breathe underwater and be safe from the other monsters. You will be able to escape the nightmare safely… Though I will be honest… You have to do some… Work for me beforehand…" Her speech was getting clearer and faster, but the swordsman didn't believe for a single second that she was actually an escape method–Even if it was weird that she would partake in such deceptive tactics when she was clearly very strong.

"Aah… Mmh… Can I tell others about this first?"

"No need… This escape method is only available for one person…" As she said this, she ran one of her strangely warm fingers across his face.

"... For one man" The fool swallowed his saliva. He wasn't stupid enough to have genuinely believed she had good intentions at first, but the longer he spoke with her, the less certain he became. Taking into account the fact that the safe area was already seemingly compromised by Mara Nebulo's presence there… He felt like he might as well try his luck.

"Mister Swordsman… I think I'll be going with the lady""... Just do whatever you want" The monster picked up the man as if he were a plush, and proceeded to jump out of the ship through the same way she had struggled dearly to enter from.

"Hopefully, it somehow wasn't a lie…"