[Silver Ash] - Become The Strongest In Another World
CHAPTER 276: Hanging Gardens (1)

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In a village located on the outskirts of the city of Fencen.

It was a quiet night, with the occasional cool breeze hitting his huge body.

The robe he was wearing was inevitably fluttering as a rushing wind accompanied by flashes in the sky appeared.

Klowd took off the hood of his robe, staring at the dark clouds that were slowly struggling.

There will be a storm soon.

Klowd raised his hand, touching his own temple as a voice appeared on his head.

{What? }

Just one word, but that's how it should be.

The agents of the Hermit Cult were required to minimize interactions between the field agents. This is to prevent outsiders from intervening in their telepathic channels.

Klowd coldly watched the large village there, then replied, "All the preparations are done."

His hand then pulled back the hood of his robe, making it cover his head again. Then, his figure suddenly disappeared as if swept away by the blowing wind.

At that very instant, a 'click' sound appeared, and the large village was instantly immersed in a terrifying explosion.

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Zeltis, Celle, the capital of Nothing.

Celle was the part of the city where the grandest palace was built in the entire kingdom.

In the castle, there is a floating garden with a square shape, which is only connected to the mainland using chains on each corner.

In the hanging garden, the reincarnator group conducts their regular meetings.

Today, almost everyone present, excluded the three people who had their own affairs outside.

They already know about the condition of the other reincarnators. It was a pity, they were not as lucky as the reincarnators who were born as nobles in this country.

Today, the number of reincarnators is half of their original number.

Not present here are Lilith who is the reincarnation of Inaka Kagarin, Wandell and Axian—reincarnation of Tomori Akira, as well as Imina who they know as 'Pak Driver' in the previous world. The driver's real name is Inui Saino.

"Ohh, this tea is delicious as always." Rico thoughtlessly immediately praised the tea he had just drank, and the praise was heard directly by everyone present.

"I'll take that compliment" Iris said with a smile, making Rico instantly frown.

"So you made this? It just feels so bland."

Kaira who was sitting next to him was about to squirt tea from her mouth when she heard that from Rico, but she held back as she felt a sharp glare piercing her from Iris' narrowed eyes.

It is unfortunate that Kaira's mind-reading ability cannot be used on fellow reincarnators. If he could, it would all be easier for him.

Today they all got a day off after finishing the final exam to graduate from the academy. Now, they have officially graduated.

Lilith was not present today because she was getting a call from her family, so she had to return to the Valgoff family territory for an unknown task.

As for Wandell and Imina, they quit the academy after three years of study, and decided to go on to become simple adventurers.

Unlike in other countries, nobles in the Kingdom would not discriminate against their family members who chose to become adventurers. Those who don't want their child involved with the job are usually fairly protective parents, such as Stella's parents.

Normally, noble families in the Kingdom, especially knight families like the Light family, considered combat power a plus for the charm of their surnames. Therefore, they would not be opposed if there was a boy from their family wanting to come out to be an adventurer.

Currently, the names of Wandell and Imina have often been heard from the news circulating at the time of the ball was held.

"Can we get to the point? I still have to visit another place after this." Anzu exasperatedly sunk her face into the table, and wished for all of these conversations to be over quickly.

"Right, lately you seem to be busy with something. Is something going on? " Norman asked because he was a bit worried about Anzu's condition.

Not only Norman, but almost everyone there felt a little anxious towards Anzu.

Recently, Anzu very rarely went out to meet and talk to others. He kept himself locked up in the room, and would occasionally go towards the fourth tower in the western corner of the castle.

"That's because I had to finish something I was making. I need help from some Royal Alchemists, so I occasionally visit them."

From his pocket, Anzu took out a thin silver ring with a very minimalist design. It was almost no different from an ordinary ring, but if it was noticed in more detail, the material was not of metal, and the ring also emitted a powerful aura from the magic energy contained within.

Anzu's ring shone for a moment, then a dagger appeared on the table.

"This …."

They had seen it many times already, and they were not surprised anymore when they saw it.

Rico quickly came to the conclusion of what Anzu had just done.

"Did the ring contain spatial magic? "

What Anzu had just done reminded him of the workings of the spatial warehouse. He saw it many times, but still did not understand how it worked.

Anzu nodded. "Iza .. Noelle gave me some Estadyte chunks of stone, and I turned them into a few things, but ... This ring is the best I can make with my abilities now."

It had been countless times that he had mispronounced Noelle's name to be Iza. Too often until everyone starts not to mind if he calls him Iza.

"Is there another problem? Is the stone very difficult? "

"Clear." Anzu immediately nodded. "I can't just indiscriminately inject another magic into it, and changing its shape is also not an easy thing, considering the principle of alchemy is 'equal exchange'. Being able to add this spatial magic alone was already incredible."

Anzu had initially underestimated the matter. But it was probably because he had never processed a high-purity magic crystal—Estadyte before. So when he processed it directly, then he would have a true difficulty in dealing with it.

"The Alchemists kept asking me where I got this super rare material from, and I had no idea how to answer that. Damn it, if I could process it myself, I wouldn't have to face the rush of their questions every day."

It was clearly exhausted from the look on his face, and black lines were also faintly formed under his eyes. That was enough to tell everyone about how tired he was at the moment.

Norman felt bad, so he immediately started a discussion.

"All right, then just go straight. I want everyone to give you their opinion on Noelle's current condition."

Noelle's condition had been their talk for the past few weeks, and the topic had not faded at all even until now.

Actually, Norman, Rico, and Kaira have been investigating Noelle's whereabouts, but they have found nothing.

In fact, their identity and origins are also unknown.

From the results of the investigation, they found out when and where Noelle first appeared.

It was in a village on the outskirts. Local residents said Noelle and Olivia had helped them in trouble, and were waiting for their two rescuers to return.

That was the first time Noelle and Olivia were known to exist.

Another investigation continued, and it was found that he had no identity documents at all. He even intended to bribe the gatekeeper when he was about to enter Suiren city.

Even Rico who has the best analytical skills is still overwhelmed when trying to find Noelle's motive in doing the action.

Today, the reincarnator group is divided into two parties.

The first party to believe Noelle is dead, and the other party is the group that believes Noelle is still alive.

Naturally, most people would get into the first group.

The only people who believe Noelle is alive right now are two people. The first was Norman, and the other was Anzu.

"Ahh, this again .. how many times have we discussed this? Like I said, that guy must be alive. I'm sure he's drinking coffee somewhere right now."

In the distance, one of the cafes in the city of Vulip, Republic, the figure of Grei Noctis who had just sipped his coffee immediately sneezed.

He looked around, wondering if there was anything, but nothing seemed to be happening. He finally resumed his activities without any problems.

" … How can you make such a conclusion? "

Norman asked. Although he himself believed that Noelle was still alive, he had absolutely no opinion or evidence that could substantiate his conjecture. In short, it was only a conjecture he made based on his expectations alone.

He didn't want to believe that Noelle would just die. Therefore, he had little hope that Anzu would at least give him a reason to believe that.

Getting a critical question from Norman, Anzu's first reaction was disinterest. He lifted his head, leaned against the chair, and stared at the clouds that continued to move invisibly.

"The person .. is not one who will take his death for granted. He must be alive, hiding somewhere, and I'm sure he did something before he disappeared, too."

That is not an objective perspective reason that many people can believe. To be honest, Norman was also a little disappointed by that. He hoped that at least Anzu could give him a more reasonable excuse.

"Then ... Why did he have to hide? " ask Rico.

If it was really as Anzu said, then Rico felt himself to be very angry.

He could not forgive the person who easily abandoned the person who depended so heavily on them. She also knew how deep the feelings Olivia had towards Noelle were, so she could not forgive Noelle who could easily throw all those things away.

As if hearing his heart, Anzu immediately narrowed her eyes and looked at Rico with a sharp gaze. The kind of gaze that no one had ever expected would come out from Anzu's figure.

"You think he'll do that as easily as turning the palm of the hand? I don't know the truth, but if he really left Ayano, then I'm sure he must be very hurt right now. I'm pretty sure he left Ayano to protect her from harm."

Those words he took very seriously. For a person like himself, a serious remark was something that would probably only be issued once a year.

"That ... still doesn't make sense. He should have chosen another way."

For people with super analytical skills like Rico, finding a solution to a problem is something that can be done easily. Therefore, he tends to believe that every problem must have more than one solution.

Indeed, he did not know what problem Noelle was facing, but it did not take away his belief that there was more than one solution to a problem.

People with intelligence like Noelle must have thought about it. That's how Rico thinks.

Anzu smiled cynically. "That's how it is. Too analyst, and also cowardly when dealing with problems involving his loved ones. Knowing him, he would definitely choose a 'self-sacrificing' solution without worrying about others' feelings towards it."

Izaya Anzu knows is a person who is able to think fast, someone with accurate analytical skills, but becomes a loser when dealing with problems with solutions that lead to dead ends. That trait seems completely unchanged to this day.

The one who had only noticed the two, Werli, finally spoke up.

"Anzu, I've been thinking about this since we were in the dungeon, but ... what kind of relationship do you have with her? Do you like her? "

The question was too blunt, even for insensitive people like Alan and Rico.

However, Anzu responded calmly.

"Like in what context? "

"Romantism" answered Werli spontaneously.

Hearing him, Anzu immediately displayed a cynical smile like that. "There's no way I can like it in romanticism. I love it, but it's just about the character. If it's related to romance, I don't know, and don't even care."

It was an honest expression from him. If allowed to be honest, then Anzu will say that she likes Izaya, but that is only limited to her character. He never thought once that it would be a romantic development.

One of the reincarnators snorted upon hearing that, and Anzu's gaze was instantly fixed on him.

It was Liscia.

"Liking is just a character ... Even though you're casually staying over and sleeping in her room? "

Everyone already knows about it. After all, Anzu's memories of it were clearly exposed while they were still inside the dungeon.

It was only then that Liscia realized that she had made a mistake. He shouldn't have said that.

(I had to learn how to lock my mouth.)

Glancing at Anzu, he found Anzu squeezing tightly into his own head, and trying to hold back from slamming him against the table.

He really wanted to kill himself while remembering all that.

"I told you, I can't possibly like it in a romantic way. Even though his somewhat capitalist nature suited me, I still couldn't like him more than I do right now."

Shame mixed with doubt appeared on Anzu's face, but she quickly controlled her facial muscles and removed the strange expression instantly.

"Moreover, I think there's only one person she can really see with a romantic outlook. If I really liked it, then I wouldn't have a chance."

Even without being told, everyone already knew who the person in question was.

Anzu then stood still and stared blankly at the surface of the tea liquid in her cup.

"In addition .. Our relationship is nothing more than a cooperative relationship. This is what was passed down by my father as well as Hakui. We just do what we have to do."

The name Wakana Hakui appeared. This was a little unexpected even though they had guessed that Anzu was trying to divert the conversation.

"You all know about the situation behind it, but I'm sure you didn't expect this one."

Anzu then propped up her chin with her left palm, and smiled cynically at everyone.

"Assuming the time flow of this world is the same as the earth, then Asahina Tanaka must have been out of prison a long time ago. And right now, he must have joined our old group."

No one knew why Anzu suddenly changed the conversation in that direction, but they were convinced that this was not a good thing.

"Silk."

Norman tried to stop Anzu from offending the topic. After all, the talk about Asahina Tanaka was not a good thing.

Tanaka was the perpetrator of the massacre of hundreds of people at a school, and they all knew that Noelle was behind the scenes, controlling the incident by inciting Tanaka.

However, Norman's attempts to close the conversation were unsuccessful. Anzu squinted her eyes and looked at him directly, giving Norman a fear that was somehow unfounded.

"There's another reason why I really can't like it in romanticism, and I'll tell you about it right now."

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