[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 240: Contract (4)

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In response to Felice's request for help, Noelle rushes to Felice's apartment room, and sees the situation there.

"What's going on? " noelle asked Felice who was standing next to her.

"That's .. You better see it for yourself. Come here."

Felice led Noelle into a room, and she was immediately startled by the figure of a large rodent hanging from the ceiling.

It looked like a rat, but its size was very abnormal. In addition, there were some slippery tentacles growing on his back.

All those tentacles were hanging helplessly as if they were mere displays.

After examining it a little, Noelle finally realized that the rodent was dead.

Noelle felt familiar with this scene.

Unmistakably, this was a scene similar to when he was still on that strange island.

It's just that, the one hanging from the ceiling is not a rodent, but a human.

Naturally, Noelle attributed this to the one she had seen. As a result, there is a suspicion.

If this was really the same event he had seen in the dungeon, then it was certain that the cause was Voyager, or at least one related to it.

While looking at this while thinking about Voyager, Noelle's mind naturally related it to a single figure.

'He Who Loves Fairy Tales and the Past'. Indeed, Noelle had yet to find any concrete evidence stating that 'She' was the one behind this.

However, Noelle remembered the last message left by someone named Bersio.

The message was written with blood on the wall, and his figure hung on the ceiling with many tentacles and eyeballs growing all over his body.

Noelle did not remember exactly the content of her message, but she was sure that it had the word 'dream' in it.

Just by remembering that, he would instantly think of the figure of 'He Who Loves Fairy Tales and the Past'.

If the figure was really behind this incident, then it could be that this was a 'threat message' addressed to a Noelle.

However, if it was not 'He' the culprit, then there would be many paths leading directly to another conclusion.

"Do you know anything about that? "

He was too focused with his own thoughts, so had subconsciously ignored Felice.

The girl looked at him worriedly up close, for a moment waiting for one reaction to come out from Noelle.

" … I don't know. Do you remember how it was there? "

Felice quickly shook her head. "I don't know. When I woke up, it was already there."

"When did you wake up? "

"Umm .. About five minutes before I call you? I really freaked out to the point of not knowing what to do, so I wasted quite a bit of time here."

Noelle reached into her pocket, and looked at the pocket watch she always put there. Opening the lid, Noelle carefully ensured that the time shown was not wrong.

(It's weird.)

" … Elis, what time do you usually wake up? "

Felice widened her eyes for a moment, not expecting that Noelle would ask that.

However, after pondering for a moment, he replied without hesitation, "I always wake up at half-six. There's a lot I have to do, so .. I don't think I ever wake up late."

"I thought so."

Noelle sighed as she closed her watch back. He then looked towards the still-hanging rodent, then frowned.

" … What's the problem? "

Felice who saw the change in Noelle's expression was unwilling to ask. However, the answer that Noelle would give made Felice unable to believe her ears.

"Now it's half seven."

Felice's eyes instantly widened in shock.

...****************...

About eight and a half in the morning.

Noelle and Felice were at the bar and were preparing for the opening.

A lot of talk has passed since the incident at Felice's apartment. Now, the two of them decided to remain calm while analyzing the situation further.

Noelle had already sent an emergency signal to Dolf, and Dolf would also send Tian to check on the situation. That way, Felice can be a little calmed down and she ends up going to the bar to work.

At first, she was completely shocked by the truth Noelle revealed.

Noelle understood that, as she would also be suspicious when her waking time became slower than usual.

The rodent with the tentacle was already there even before Felice woke up. Likely, it had only been there around the time of half-six, and half-seven in the morning. There was an hour's delay from the usual time Felice woke up from her sleep.

"Noah .. What do you think I should do? "

" ……… "

Noelle who was cleaning the counter table also stopped her activities. He was silent for a moment, looking busy thinking about something, before finally shaking his head.

"I'll think about it. For now, don't panic. Tian will also come, so this should be safe."

Although that was what she said, in fact, Noelle was not as self-assured as she seemed.

It was most likely that this incident was related to Voyager, and there was a high probability that a god had been involved.

Noelle did not want to think about it, but the worst possibility was that she and everyone had to deal with the mysterious figure.

The problem is, there is one point that makes him unable to believe the conclusion.

If the real culprit is really a Voyager, then what is the purpose? At least, for now Noelle has not done anything worthy of their attention.

Felice? It was obviously impossible for the girl to offend them. After all, he knew nothing about Voyager.

Compared to all that, the theory that the culprit is 'He Who Likes Fairy Tales and the Past' makes a lot more sense.

(Do I have to ask him directly'? )

After the thought crossed her mind, Noelle immediately shook her head. As much as possible, he did not want to contact 'He Who Loves Fairy Tales and the Past'. Because after all, last night's events might have offended him a little, and it would be best to wait until 'He' forgot about the matter.

(I can't act as I please here, and my deduction doesn't seem to help. So ... Let's start a little investigation.)

"Elis ... Do you have any enemies? "

Although being a detective is not her dream, Noelle still has some abilities related to it.

"No ... I don't remember ever offending anyone, but .. There might be some people who hate me out there … "

Felice has an excellent social reputation whether it's in the eyes of the bar patrons, or even all the residents around. If they heard that Felice had an enemy, they might be very surprised.

And Noelle too.

In that case, it was not impossible for Felice to have one or two enemies.

"Let's remember, have you ever offended anyone in the past? "

With a worried face, Felice immediately shook her head.

"It's a shame to say it myself, but I'm a person who feels guilty easily. I will remember every little mistake I made. I even remember when I accidentally dropped my friend's candy … "

" ……… "

(It's hard.)

In any case, Noelle could not imagine Felice would have an enemy due to her own actions.

(No, there's another possibility.)

Another possibility that Noelle managed to think about, was the thing that caused a lot of trouble to the social life of any creature.

It was 'envy' and 'jealousy'.

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(Although I don't want to think about it, there is a possibility that people with sinful skills will get involved in this. Damn, of all possibilities, why should that be .. )

Actually, Noelle was not too surprised by this. After all, what the Lunatic Order was currently targeting was a secret organization called the Swallow Life Order. In addition, there is also a Voyager who may have stood from the audience bench, and played on stage.

Such a large organization, of course, would have some hidden weapons.

Noelle slightly underestimated him, because he had never met any sin skill holder other than the holder of《Lust》 and《Wrath》. The worst part, he had absolutely no preparations to face the holder of《Envy》.

While working, Noelle bit her own nails in annoyance. If he could, he really wanted to hope that his estimation was wrong. However, unfortunately his luck and balanced misfortune often resulted in something fatal.

As Noelle bit her nails, she suddenly regained her senses. His eyes widened, and all his movements stopped.

"Noah? "

Felice who was nearby would not want to ask, but Noelle did not even pay attention to him.

(Why do I assume it was directed at Elis? )

Noelle's mind was strung in an uncertain direction. He began to think of all possibilities, and found many possibilities that matched his situation.

True, when compared to Felice, Noelle had far more possibilities to get involved in this. He had been involved be it with the Swallow Life Order, or even with the Voyager.

'He Who Likes Fairy Tales and the Past' also said it last night; the contract partner 'He Who Swallows Wisdom' is in the capital.

The distance between the city of Fencen and the capital of the Republic; Alten is actually not too far away. That distance can be reached with only five days of travel by steam train.

(If 'He' did have something to do with this, then this would be even more troublesome .. )

Noelle could only sigh in resignation while thinking about the corpse of the rodent that was still hanging in Felice's apartment.

Because the situation requires special attention from the superiors, Noelle and Felice cannot arbitrarily destroy the CTF. The place should be left as it is.

That means, until the investigation is complete, the strange creature will remain there. Felice had no other choice but to move in for a while.

After finishing the preparations, Noelle was finally ready to flip the signboard shut in front of the bar door.

However, the moment Noelle opened the door, the one charging her there was Tian who had a serious face.

...****************...

"I've heard the situation from Dolf. Have you done any research? "

For a while, the opening would be postponed, and in the staff room, three figures could be seen sitting opposite each other and discussing something.

Tian seriously stared back and forth between Noelle and Felice, while Felice who was unable to answer could only glance at Noelle.

"We haven't done anything to the creature. Tian, do you know anything about that? "

Judging from his reaction, it was clear that Tian knew something. Indeed, that was the truth, and Tian had no intention of covering it up either.

"Read this," Tian said as he handed Noelle and Felice a piece of paper.

On that paper, listed a few beautiful handwritten paragraphs. The paper is old, and the ink has also dried long enough.

Noelle and Felice simultaneously read the writing on the paper, then were surprised by the content contained in it.

"This ... Archive of old missions? "

What they are reading is a report. More precisely, the report of the Lunatic Order mission that was executed about 26 years ago.

The descriptions on the archive clearly state the same thing Noelle and Felice saw.

In the report, there was a statement about a rodent with tentacles that suddenly appeared dead.

It was the exact same incident, and another similarity was the fact behind the incident was never revealed.

"What does that mean ... Old events will repeat themselves? " Felice's face was suddenly gloomy. He looked to another paragraph on the paper.

Noelle also focused on that paragraph, and she ended up muttering with great annoyance.

"It's really bad, isn't it? "

In the details of the mission report, there is a section that states a terrible incident; a joint team of several branches of the Lunatic Order were found dead with their bodies growing some slippery tentacles.

The cause of their deaths is unknown, and there are no strangers interacting with them during the mission. Which means, their death happened suddenly.

(Wait, time and place of occurrence .. )

The mission and the incident took place 26 years ago, which is 715. If that was all, Noelle wouldn't be surprised. To his surprise, it was at the next point.

All of these events took place in the same place, namely one of the cities in the Neutral Region of Elfrieden.

"Tian .. Do you have any details of this mission? "

In response to Noelle's question, Tian quickly shook his head.

"I've checked all the related archives, but I just found this. There may have been, but the superiors must have exterminated it for some reason."

Looking at her time and place, Noelle's mind naturally linked her to one person.

It was the pesky old man carrier he had met in Nif city.

There is no specific reason for this connection. Noelle was only determining based on her intuition. Despite that, this made him even more vigilant.

"I'll find out more information about this later. For now, Noah I want to talk to you."

Tian glanced at Felice for a moment, then looked back at Noelle, waiting for her to make a decision.

" … Let Elis be here."

Because of reading the terrible report, Felice so did not have the energy to move. He did not even dare to move his legs.

Tian nodded.

"Just go. I heard you wanted to make a contract with the gods. Is that true? "

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