Future Diary Survival Game-Chapter 46 : Search – 3

Chapter 46: Search – 3
Magireta spoke.
“Then what if you fail to get first place in that quest?”
“In that case, I’ll leave my fate in your hands, Sister. That’s the rule, isn’t it?”
Magireta smiled faintly.
“I haven’t explained this part properly yet, have I? If you fail to win the game where you ‘borrowed’ a first-place reward, it doesn’t just end in simple disqualification. Death won’t be the end for you.”
“……”
“You’ll become my plaything, right beside me in hell, for all eternity. It’s a pity I can’t tell you what that really means.”
“It’s fine. Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Sigh.”
Magireta opened a dark hole.
Then she rummaged inside and pulled something out.
It was a pair of shoes.
Without a word, Edgar immediately changed into them.
The shoes fit his feet perfectly, as though they had been precisely measured.
“Since it’s a rule, I’ll explain it to you first. Picture in your mind the first-place reward of the target you desire, and tap the ground lightly with the toe of the shoe. That person’s reward will lose its function.”
“……”
“If it’s the same type of first-place reward, you can disable as many of them as you want at once. But you can’t disable different types simultaneously.”
Edgar bent and flexed the shoes as he asked,
“How long can the function stay disabled?”
“Indefinitely. But once the wearer dies, it will be released immediately.”
“No additional penalties?”
“Once the function is released, the shoes will become ordinary for a month.”
“Understood. Thank you, Sister.”
Magireta frowned slightly.
Edgar and Mason had one thing in common—
They were both sharp-minded.
But they also had one difference.
‘I like the younger one much more.’
Then Edgar spoke.
“Then, Sister, could you send us again to where Mason moved to?”
“It’s not yet the time to send you back after a quest. What will you offer in return?”
“Hmm. Well, I could offer my life again…”
That was when it happened.
Ian, who had been silent until then, suddenly spoke.
“I’ll pay the price. Whatever it is.”
“You will?”
“What would be suitable? No, I suppose I shouldn’t ask that first. Just like Edgar did before, would one of my kidneys be enough?”
Even as he spoke, Ian couldn’t believe himself.
Why was I making such an offer?
……
No. Perhaps it wasn’t that strange.
I wanted to kill Mason. Preferably not through a quest, but with my own hands.
At the same time, I wanted to repay my debt to Edgar.
That was all that mattered now.
“Mr. Ian, there’s no need for that…”
“No. I’ve already made up my mind.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“I have to do at least this much, or I won’t be able to face myself. Don’t worry about it.”
Magireta found their little drama amusing.
‘How laughable—showing such loyalty when he doesn’t even respect his real master, the Emperor.’
Her lips twitched, but soon she put on an uncharacteristically solemn expression.
“Fine. I’ll take one kidney. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure it won’t affect your condition.”
“Alright.”
“Then off you go. Young men who buy hardship with their own coin.”
Snap.
Magireta flicked her fingers.
And at that very moment, their figures disappeared.
We arrived at the outskirts of the Odmil Territory.
As a test, I murmured, ‘I want to go to Sernia of the Odmil Territory,’ but nothing happened. So we simply chose the entrance as our destination.
‘As I thought, to move toward a person, their real name must be known.’
I stored that information in my head.
Armelia looked around and spoke.
“This place is nothing but mountains.”
“It’s not as dense as Bucklet Forest, but it’s a very sparsely populated territory. Few people live here, and there are almost no specialty goods. Quite a poor region.”
“Sir Berseum, you’re more knowledgeable than I expected.”
“I did once receive a medal as a scholar…”
Anyway, everywhere we looked was mountains, with only a few private homes scattered here and there.
It seemed like a self-sufficient land.
Before we began the full search for Sernia, I gathered everyone together and spoke.
“Everyone, please hold out your hands.”
“Hm? Ah, I see.”
Armelia briskly extended her hand, palm up.
“You wish to repeat what we did after the Second Quest, don’t you? Everyone, place your hands together.”
“……”
“This tradition began with knights placing their swords together to swear an oath—”
“No, that’s not what I meant to do.”
Armelia flinched slightly.
Then she slowly pulled back her hand and said,
“I knew that.”
“Yes. I’m sure you did.”
“Then what did you ask for our hands for?”
“To be precise, our fingers. One moment.”
I took out the bookmark string I had drawn from the Diary Book yesterday and tied it around my finger.
Then I tied the other end around Armelia’s finger.
Of course, this string couldn’t be seen or felt by the others.
Aina pressed her index finger to her temple and twirled it around.
“You mean this thing?”
“My apologies.”
“Honestly, it’s creepy sometimes. It feels like there’s something there when there isn’t.”
“It’s nothing. Don’t mind it.”
Meanwhile, I tied the strings to everyone’s fingers.
Armelia, for some reason, brought her hand to her chest and exhaled.
“Phew.”
“Nervous, Your Highness?”
“What are you saying?”
“Just saying, don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s not like you’re the only one I’m doing this for.”
“What are you implying?”
Anyway, I tied the strings around Aina’s and Berseum’s fingers as well.
Now that I think about it, it’s strange—why was the ability called Thread of Connection if it looked like a bookmark string?
“All done.”
“Would you explain it to us?”
“It’s nothing much. From now on, we won’t get separated during a quest. That’s all.”
For some reason, none of them asked further.
Instead, they skipped right over it and smiled faintly.
“That’s really good. Now we can relax.”
“Yeah. Last time’s link was a one-time thing, after all.”
“Thank you, Mason.”
They didn’t question or doubt—just accepted it right away.
Was my trust level with them that high?
I could feel my face warming up.
Then, a sudden thought came to me.
‘Diary Book, what’s my current trust level with these people?’
[Just a moment.]
<Administrator Page>
<1st Place. Armelia Kerr Dneroum>
-Trust level: 60 points / 100 points
-One-line evaluation interview about Mason
: ‘A guide, a leader. Well… not just during quests, but in every sense.’
-Insights that could help Mason
: None in particular.
2nd place. Aina Noel
-Trust level: 55 points / 100 points
-One-line evaluation interview about Mason
: ‘His mannerisms and actions are exactly like my brother’s. Especially in that he’s someone you can trust.’
-Insights that could help Mason
: None in particular.
3rd place. Berseum Ferux
-Trust level: 51 points / 100 points
-One-line evaluation interview about Mason
: ‘If Might were still alive, would he have looked like Mason? I miss him.’
-Insights that could help Mason
: None in particular.>
Those were scores and evaluations that filled me with emotion.
I smiled contentedly before I realized I had looked down.
It was then.
‘Huh?
<22nd place. Bin Phil
-Trust level: 40 points / 100 points
-One-line evaluation interview about Mason
: ‘He really helped me during the Note Test quest. He saved me even though he didn’t have to.’
-Insights that could help Mason
: During the Hide-and-Seek quest, I heard Edgar muttering something strange to himself.>
…….
Huh?
My expression changed.
The others noticed and tilted their heads.
Armelia asked.
“Why is that, Mason?”
“Your Highness. Do you happen to know someone called Bin Phil?”
“Of course. He’s the fellow we met in the Third Quest, the Note Tst. Blonde hair. Blue eyes. He was thirty-seven years old….”
Armelia recited his appearance as if she had met him a few minutes ago.
Only then did I vaguely recall his face.
So the Princess had indeed introduced herself to everyone back then.
“Why him?”
“Um. It’s nothing. I’ll tell you later.”
Bin Phil must have met Edgar in the Fourth Quest.
But fortunately, it seemed he had survived as part of the same team.
What could he have been muttering to himself?
I wanted to ask immediately via private chat, but I decided to postpone it for a moment.
The sun was already setting.
Edgar had probably lost our trail in the Deut Territory.
He would ask Magireta for help again.
That persistent fellow would likely offer some price to be sent to where I had moved.
He would come looking for us soon.
Before that happened, I needed to find Sernia and ask her to confront Ian.
By the way, what on earth does that brat keep offering as payment?
I gathered my thoughts and said.
“Let’s go. Let’s find Sernia.”
“But it’s so hopeless. Odmil is just unnecessarily wide.”
“If Sernia were truly hiding that well, she wouldn’t have left an encrypted message like that. Whoever came this far would find her easily.”
“Hmm. That might be true.”
“Let’s ask people we meet, first.”
We soon moved on.
And I found that my intuition had been right.
When I asked the first local, “Do you know where someone named Sernia might be?” I got this answer.
“Our Sernia? Whatever business do you have with her?”
“Us… with her?”
“Yes. Sernia is like the guardian knight of our territory. No, she’s a god. She’s a god!”
Aina twirled her index finger beside her temple again.
“This must be the latest fad. This thing.”
“That’s rude to ask a stranger.”
“You can keep doing it to someone you already know, though, right?”
I ignored her and pressed the villager for specifics.
He raved about Sernia with spit flying—nine parts praise, so I filtered it and took only the ten percent that was actual information.
Sernia lived somewhere hidden within this territory.
No one knew her exact residence.
But if someone posted a request on the village bulletin board, that request would be resolved within a few days.
Payment left beneath the board would quietly disappear during the night.
“Isn’t some thief taking it? It’s kind of like picking up money from the floor, so calling them a thief is harsh.”
“Not at all. There’s no madman here who’d steal the fees meant for that person.”
“Seems she’s quite popular.”
“Popular? No. She’s a god!”
We ignored the excited man and headed to the bulletin board.
Usually used by the lord to announce matters to the whole territory, it was currently plastered with all sorts of requests.
Berseum said.
“Most of these are bounties to exterminate wild beasts. Understandable for a mountainous territory.”
“Should we post a request ourselves?”
“Rather than that, why not camp here and wait? If the fee disappears at night, she’ll be the one to collect it personally. See, there’s payment on the ground right now.”
Berseum was right.
We ate nearby and staked out a spot by the bulletin board late.
Past two in the morning.
When all human activity had ceased and an owl hooted somewhere.
Swoosh.
Someone was walking from afar.
Aina immediately wrinkled her brow.
“That person isn’t Sernia.”
“Why do you think so?”
“If someone could stand against Ian, they’d be an incredible fighter. But that is the sound of a normal person’s footsteps.”
“Not sure I’d agree with ‘obviously,’ but…”
To my ear it sounded much the same.
Despite Aina’s dismissal, the figure bent down and began to collect the reward on the ground.
We stepped forward and surrounded her.
“Eek. Wh—what is this?”
“Hello. You are Sernia, right?”
“No.”
“Of course. We read the story… huh? You say you’re not?”
Aina raised her nose.
“I told you I’m not.”
Armelia asked.
“Then why are you collecting the fees?”
“You lot. You’re not from this territory. This board is a matter of etiquette for Sernia; there’s an unspoken rule against surveilling it.”
“We’re from elsewhere, as you said. More importantly, could you answer our question?”
“I am… um.”
At that moment I interjected.
“Unattainable love.”
“……”
“We came because of that book. Do you have any leads?”
A brief silence followed.
Then the woman sighed softly.
“You really are like your sister said. There are people who ask that.”
“Sister?”
“Yes. I’m Sernia’s younger sister. Of course, ‘Sernia’ is an alias.”
The moon, which had been hidden by clouds, peeked out again.
Thanks to that, I could faintly see the woman’s face.
“……!”
Sernia’s younger sister was a middle-aged woman of about fifty.
…….
Huh? Wait a moment.
I was a little confused.
Ouch.
Armelia poked my side without my realizing and asked.
“Didn’t you say there would be someone who could stand against Ian, Mason?”
“……”
“I mean, I’m not saying I don’t know about venerable veterans…but there are limits.”
I honestly didn’t know.