Chương 13: Trigger-Happy Hunting

"Guilty until purified." Oh? That was fast. Are you certain? There's no take-backs when it comes to skills. At least no quick ones.

"I need to find someone. So, give me guilty until purified." Whatever you say, puppy. Pawn Veronika Pajiri-Li learned [Guilty Until Purified] lvl 1. I suppose I'll need to explain resonance and resistance now, so let's calculate your attributes! Resonance 4, Presence 8, Learning 14, Resolve 28, Mobility 12, Brawn 25 Woof. How specialized. How quaint. Calculating max Resonance Reserve… 7 Calculating max Resistance…

149 You're a total brick, but you'd better work on your resonance attribute if you want to be able to use my skills in the future. Try going with the flow a little more. Neither skill I offered required it this time, but I won't go easy on you again. The blue box finally vanished, along with the obnoxious voice that would be haunting Veronika's dreams. What a vile woman. No one talked to Veronika like that. Not even her mother…

"LOA." The bot perked up, and Veronika put one finger on her head.

"How many witch hunters from my base vanished during a voyage?"

"My records say 37 hunters are MIA." A bright pulse passed on her forehead through Veronika's finger.

"You have met all but three of them."

"Give me every name." LOA went through the names alphabetically. Veronika hardly remembered most of them. For all she knew, they were just normal hunters going through the motions. She needed someone she recognized for the wrong reasons. Rumors, reports, or records of disciplinary action. That was enough evidence of heresy for her, even if the military itself was willing to give the offender a second chance. Only a handful of names fit the bill.

Sarah Kalani: a woman accused of lying about her fellow hunters to advance her own career, Eve Reinhart: the most obnoxious young upstart in the entire hunter force, and Paula Koch: dishonorably discharged for unlawful force against mystics. Hopefully one of them ended up on Ring's shores, otherwise they'd be blindly searching for the hunters they needed to kill.

"Then there's one with a confidential record. I can't even access their name or gender." LOA checked Veronika's fingerprint one last time.

"Hmm. You've definitely met them, but that's all I know." Interesting. Veronika was touted as the witch hunting prodigy of the century, and even she didn't have access to this person's identity. Her captain was all too happy to divulge information on her less savory peers in the past.

"Blue box, how do I activate my new skill?" Please sweetie, call me Rina.

"Demon woman, how do I activate my new skill?" >: ("… Please." Not what I asked for, but good enough. It's not hard to activate a skill, you just have to think about it. Stop being so stiff for a second and try again. Veronika stood there and lowered her shoulders. She took a deep breath and thought about her new skill and heretic coworkers. She cycled through the three sinners' names until her blood latched onto one of them. Veronika Pajiri-Li activated [Guilty Until Purified] on Sarah Kalani for 74 points of resistance. A searing pain pulsed through her head. It soon spread down and crept into every joint in her body. She refused to acknowledge the feeling with anything more than a shoulder roll. She stretched her neck side to side and adjusted as she always did. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. Your target is sitting on top of a mountain 10 kilometers from your current location. Continue walking along the shore until you see smoke coming from a giant mountain with very little greenery. And would you look at that? Your little friend turned out to be quite useful after all. You shouldn't be so quick to choose violence against your friends, young lady. She was correct. Veronika could admit that." You were right LOA. I won't try to kill you unless the other witch hunters here prove to be indispensable."" Thank you…" Have a great time on Ring, ladies! Remember to gain as much XP as you can and level up. They are plenty of inconsequential insects you can plow through on the island to help. Choosing violence towards them is something I can get behind." Madam, surely you're not going to-""If it's in service of my mission, yes, I will. Even if my soul is damned for it." Yeesh. You have some serious mommy issues. If you run into any of my sons, please tell them they could've had it worse. Veronika ignored the voice and started walking. Her black jacket was terrible for the tropical sun she was stuck under. Sweat rolled down her face, but she kept the discomfort inside. It was one of the few times she envied LOA and her metallic body. Maybe Veronika would've been better off as a robot. The excess perfluorohexane within was already whittling away at her humanity. Why not just rip off her skin and gut her, then replace everything with metal and circuits? It'd make living a little easier for her. That was probably why they didn't do it. Adversity bred excellence. After about an hour of nonstop walking, she could see smoke rising around the corner of the island. It was about time to enter the jungle, which meant less sun, but more humidity. As if Veronika wasn't grumpy enough already. Holy Rose help anyone unfortunate enough to cross her path." Excuse me, you there!" She turned her head and saw a young man with silver hair sitting inside of a glass booth. Perfect timing. The man with a death wish beckoned Veronika and LOA over. Veronika kept her hand over her holster as she approached. The man looked her up and down and frowned." Oh, you're both hunters."" Is that a problem?" Veronika asked." Of course not ma'am… please proceed wherever you're going." Veronika looked behind the man's chair and saw a shotgun resting on the glass behind it." Is there a reason you're armed?"" I'm a vulnerable guy and it's a dangerous island. You must be new here. If you're looking for the witch hunters you just need to go towards the smoke."" Why are you so close to their base?" LOA grabbed her arm." Madam, I think it's best if we moved on. We don't know how long it'll take to climb the mountain."" This man could be a threat to our order."" What? No!" The man put her hands up." I'm only here to guide people looking for refuge. The gun is only for protection. None of my people get any closer than this."" Then you serve no purpose to the hunters." Veronika raised the rifle from her back and pointed it at the glass. It likely wasn't there for show. A normal shot wouldn't pierce through it, but none of Veronika's shots were normal. The usual white lines that flowed through her veins glowed as they touched her gun. Concerning, but she'd have to worry about that later; the woman inside was reaching for her shotgun. Pew! A concentrated circle of purple light broke through the glass barrier and cleaved through the man's shoulder. His arm fell to the ground and blood rushed out of the wound. He reached up and grabbed it, giving Veronika a terrified look before the ground beneath him opened up. LOA stifled a gasp and stepped back. The man coughed up a chunk of blood and sunk into the hole he opened. An interesting example of the devil magic the island bestowed to its participants. It would make Veronika's job a lot more annoying, but she should've expected more from someone sent to do such a dangerous job. That was on her. Well, that was no fun, but the game is the game. You get +20 XP for mortally wounding a fellow pawn. Yeah, not an insect. You're just crazy. Can't win everything with raw strength here, though. Skills give everyone a little trick up their sleeves." If I could throw up, I would," LOA groaned." That's why you're just the escort."" Witch hunters aren't supposed to hurt innocents…"" Is anyone here really innocent? We're all touched by the devil's magic now. I already said I'd accept the stains on my soul. You don't need to get your hands dirty." LOA stopped talking, but she kept following Veronika as she brushed past the bushes leading into the jungle. It was too bad she only had guns. There was no clear path to the mountain. The fauna would slow their journey significantly. Ten kilometers was nothing for a specialized witch hunter, even in tropical weather, but the terrain would stretch the journey enough that they'd have to hustle once they reached the top of the mountain." LOA, your arms wouldn't happen to turn into knives, would they?"" Unfortunately not."" Pity. I wanted a bit more time to decide who would be second to die. Kalani is number one." Veronika grabbed a thorned vine of roses and ripped it out of the ground. She wrapped it around one arm and swiped at the bramble in front of her like a living flail. Her armored jacket finally made itself useful." That's better. Now let's go gut the liar."