A Possessor’s Strategy Guide in a Trash Game

Chapter 8: Arrows and Magic (3)

“Welcome back.”

When I returned to the lodging after my duel with Bow, it was already dusk.

Gerard glanced at Bow, who stood awkwardly in a corner, and whispered to me.

“What’s with them?”

“A lot happened.”

I chuckled.

Even with their body covered by a robe and fox mask, Bow looked oddly dejected.

“How come you’re still a low-tier mercenary?”

“Is that important?”

“Of course. If rank doesn’t reflect skill, what’s the point of ranks?”

It wasn’t wrong. If a level 1 could beat a level 10, the level system would be meaningless.

But I had an answer ready.

“Well, I don’t know.”

“….”

Don’t forget.

My setting was that I’d lost all my memories.

“But I plan to take a promotion exam soon.”

With quests piling up, I didn’t have time now, but a promotion was inevitable eventually.

“After this mission, assuming no issues.”

In the end, Bow sighed and backed off.

Whatever the reason, they accepted the outcome.

“Then let’s rest for a bit and move out at dawn. Our destination is the ruins to the east.”

I explained the mission details to Gerard.

“What kind of ruins are they exactly?”

“The client doesn’t seem to know either. Isn’t that why they want the tablet rubbings—to find out?”

“I see. Let’s rest for now.”

With Gerard’s words, we each found a spot and closed our eyes.

***

When our party reached the ruins, the sun was already high in the sky.

Seeking shade from the scorching heat, we rested briefly, gazing at the ruins in the distance.

“This is the northern region—why’s it so hot?”

“It’s summer. This isn’t a snow-covered mountain range.”

“What? I know that much!”

Jeina glared at Bow, but they remained unfazed.

“This place is hotter because there are more fire spirits here than elsewhere.”

“Spirits? Are you a spirit summoner?”

“No.”

Bow stood up, saying only that.

“You don’t need to control spirits to see them. Looks like one of you already noticed.”

Jeina turned around at those words.

“Bow’s right. There are indeed a lot of fire spirits around.”

Gerard stroked his chin, observing the surroundings.

“More fire spirits than forest spirits… The ruins might be affecting the local ecosystem.”

Ancient ruins often held powerful magic, and it seemed that magic was still influencing the environment.

I scratched my chin with a subtle expression.

If I’d specialized in magic, I might’ve been able to see otherworldly beings like spirits.

But since I’d focused on close combat, my stats weren’t high enough to perceive them.

“Either way, it’s not our concern.”

Gerard spoke.

Our mission wasn’t to purify a regional anomaly, after all.

“Shall we move out again?”

“….”

“Bow?”

As everyone prepared to move, Bow stayed still, staring intently at something.

“Smoke?”

“What?”

“Looks like we’ve got company who arrived before us.”

Bow pointed at smoke rising in the distance.

“What does that mean?”

Unless it was a group mission, quests couldn’t be undertaken simultaneously. Stealing another’s mission was a serious crime.

That’s why Bow had told me to abandon the mission earlier.

“What kind of lunatics would try to steal this? Do they think the Mercenary Guild is a joke?”

“It’s hard to tell from this distance.”

“Let’s hurry.”

We rushed toward the ruins.

As we got closer, we found a smoldering campfire, leftover food, and scattered liquor bottles.

“Someone camped here?”

“Maybe a party on an external mission stayed overnight before returning to town.”

“No, that’s wrong.”

Bow, examining a pinch of dirt, looked toward the ruins’ entrance.

“About six people entered the ruins.”

How could they tell from just that? There was only one explanation: a skill.

[Bow is using a skill.]

Tracking (Lv.1): Tracks the most recent traces of living beings.

“How long ago?”

Gerard asked, and Bow sighed before answering.

“Roughly six hours ago.”

“Damn it! They deliberately got a head start?”

Jeina spat, her face contorted, but Gerard shook his head.

“They’re probably not mercenaries.”

“What do you mean?”

Bow answered Jeina’s question.

“No mid-tier mercenary would get drunk before starting a mission.”

They kicked a liquor bottle rolling on the ground.

“Unless they want to die.”

Ruins were notorious for traps and magical beasts. Even staying sharp could lead to death—drinking was suicidal.

“Even low-tier mercenaries wouldn’t be this careless.”

“Yeah… Then who are they?”

“If not mercenaries, the only ones interested in ancient ruins are those guys.”

Bow seemed deeply irritated.

“Archaeologists, adventurers, or tomb raiders. But archaeologists and adventurers don’t usually travel in groups, right?”

“So, tomb raiders.”

At Gerard’s words, I stared at the entrance with a grim expression.

Why now?

Tomb raiders.

They were a rare event that could occur while exploring dungeons.

These were essentially bandit gangs looting ruins for profit.

It might sound like a typical game event, but…

“We need to catch up fast. If we’re not careful, the entire ruins could collapse!”

I sprinted toward the underground ruins’ entrance.

“They’re tomb raiders. They’d care about treasure, not the stone tablets we’re after for rubbings, right?”

“Do you know how tomb raiders clear ruins?”

“Uh, no?”

Gerard flinched, avoiding the question. Even an upper-tier mercenary wouldn’t need to know about tomb raiders.

“Bombs. Tomb raiders blow up every obstacle in their path. They’ll keep going until the whole ruins collapse!”

“What?”

Tomb raiders lacked the physical prowess to bypass traps or defeat magical beasts.

But they had bombs—where they got them was anyone’s guess—and they solved everything with explosions.

[Quest Generated.]

Tomb raiders have targeted these ruins. Even unintentionally, their actions will cause damage. Eliminate them to protect the legacy of the past.

Ruins Damage Rate: 15% (Collapse begins at 50%)

Reward for eliminating tomb raiders: Karma Points +1, Ruins Preservation

Penalty for ignoring tomb raiders: Karma Points -1, Ruins Destruction

The moment the quest appeared, I knew something had gone terribly wrong.

“Calm down. Even if we rush, catching up to the tomb raiders is impossible.”

“That’s…”

At Gerard’s words, we decided to discuss our next steps.

“As Artier said, if they’re using bombs to clear traps and beasts, going deep is dangerous. The underground ruins could collapse and bury us.”

“If it gets risky, we can use a return scroll.”

“Bow, return scrolls cost over 10 silver. If we don’t find treasure, it’s a huge loss.”

“There’s treasure—those guys who went in first probably have it. Tomb raiding in ancient ruins is grounds for summary execution. Let’s go in and deal with them.”

Gerard suggested abandoning the mission, while Bow wanted to enter the ruins.

“Jeina, what do you think?”

“Couldn’t we just smash this place with an axe?”

“…Let’s not.”

Gerard sighed and looked at me.

“Artier?”

“….”

“Artier?”

I was lost in thought.

I feel like I’ve been in this situation before.

I’d done this mission countless times.

In the early to mid-game, few quests were as efficient as this one.

It’s true tomb raiders rarely appear early on.

But “rarely” meant there was still a chance.

And after hundreds of playthroughs, I’d encountered that slim chance at least once.

What did I do back then?

As I tried to dig deeper into my memories—

“Artier!”

Gerard’s shout snapped me out of it.

“What?”

“Get it together. Jeina’s enough of a liability.”

“That’s harsh! I said I could break it!”

Gerard ignored Jeina, who was playfully poking him with an axe handle, and continued.

“Bow found something up ahead.”

“What is it?”

“No idea. Something about a stone tablet.”

Puzzled, I followed Gerard.

As we moved through the dim path, I saw Bow staring at a tablet about the size of a person’s upper body, just as Gerard had said.

“Bow, do you know what this is?”

“A tablet? No clue. But I found something else.”

“Something else?”

“The path splits from this tablet. The tomb raiders went left first.”

Bow stared at the ground intently, then pointed at something.

As everyone’s eyes followed, I spoke without thinking.

“Bloodstains?”

“Six went left, but only three came back and went right. No trace of them coming out again.”

“Oh…!”

“What’s with you?”

Jeina stopped me as I smacked my head.

How did I forget this?

Looking between the tablet, the bloodstains, and the left path, I turned to the group.

“I have a plan.”