<h4>Chapter 66</h4>


    Santa Maria was the weakest of the Rank A expedition teams, and they were famous for being vile. Each member was either among the strongest Rank B explorers or had surpassed that level of skill, so the team had just barely been able to be Rank A. Once a team obtained that status, they weren’t demoted unless there were grounds for disqualification, so they went around exploring smaller Rifts to gain more power.


    That day, Ninian’s bad luck had turned even worse.


    After arriving at Antis City as fast as she could, she made her way to the captain of Santa Maria, Christopher Conrad.


    “Where is my younger sister, Vivian?”


    “Huh? Your younger sister?”


    His eyes widened at her words, as if he were startled. However, he was more delighted than surprised. He snickered at the bloodlust in her eyes.


    “Wow, you came to me to rescue her? How brave!”


    He had to have drunk a lot of alcohol, as the stench was so powerful that it made her nose sting, yet he had almost no openings. Ninian had be significantly stronger over the years, but not many people had the talent to lead a Rank A team in Antis.


    Conrad was a Tenth Degree External Force Tier swordsman and a ss 5 mage. He was a magic swordsman, which became harder to find as the Tiers increased. It was a testament to his power.


    “What did you do to her?”


    “Nothing much! It was a little annoying how silly and cheerful she was because she knew so little about the world. You know? I made her sign a contract as a little prank. I’ll just shove her around for a hundred years or so and let her go after that.”


    “... What?”


    “Don’t you think it’s nice? She’ll get some valuable life experience, and how often does the opportunity to work for a Rank A expedition teame around? Hahahaha!”


    Even though Ninian knew the difference in their power, she attacked him.


    “Ahh!”


    And gained a scar and lost an eye.


    “Oh no! You’re already a half-breed, but now you’ve lost half your sight. Or maybe it’s bnced now? And since you’re the one who attacked me first, I didn’t do anything wrong. Even if you run to Bermuda, they’ll just take you away.”


    “You’re worse than scum!”


    “Still, there’s one legal way you can free your younger sister. Want me to tell you?”


    Even though Ninian was skeptical, she chose to listen.


    This ce, the Antis Maritime Alliance, wouldn’t help her. The only person in the city who could save her sister was Ninian herself. Vivian was the one who brought her to life after she was reduced to a living corpse. Ninian would save her even if she had toy down her life.


    Conrad sneered when he saw the determination in her eyes.


    “Three million gold.”


    “What?”


    “That’s the penalty fee for breaking her contract.”


    Conrad took a swig from his bottle, which had never left his left hand even when they had fought. He suppressed augh as he taunted her.


    “If you bring me 3 million gold, I’ll let your sister go. You can ept my generous offer, or you can keep kicking and screaming meaninglessly. I don’t care either way. Do whatever you want, half-breed. If youe at me again, I’ll kill you.”


    With that, he shut the door, and that was the end of their conversation.


    The now one-eyed half-elf crumpled in front of Santa Maria’s base. Then she went right back to the city, not even bothering to hide the blood on her face. There was only one way in this ce to make money fast.


    Thus, the Rank B explorer “One-Eye” Ninian was born.


    “... It’s already been five years since then, but I’ve only saved up 3,000 gold. If I continue at this pace, Vivian’s suffering will only extend. Even if I sell myself into very, I still won’t be able to make more than 10,000 gold, and there’s an obvious limit to what jobs I can do as a Rank B explorer. So”—she looked at Leonard—“I want to learn your archery techniques. You already know this, but I’m not a proper archer. I shoot arrows with my External Force Tier strength and control them with a primitive wind spiritual art.”


    “I see. So you’re not using archery. You’re using the wind,” he simplified.


    Everything from her shooting stance to the way she gripped the bowstring was peculiar. Even the way her arrow moved was unusual. But this all made sense if she could aim her arrow however she wanted using the wind.


    No matter how powerfully one shot an arrow, it didn’t matter if it had to work against air resistance or was majorly thrown off course by the wind. But Ninian’s technique was so bizarre that the arrow would elerate even though the indoor archery range had no wind. It would also still hit the target urately after flying in a zigzag. Leonard had only scoffed because he was seasoned in archery. To the average person, she looked like a godlike archer.


    <i>I don’t think she even knows how to imbue energy into her bow and arrow... but even if she only masters the fundamentals, she could be a monster.</i>


    Long-distance attackers were essential when out at sea, and it would be hard to find someone who could match up to Ninian. He confirmed to himself that his hunch was correct before thinking over her predicament again.


    <i>The Rank A expedition team, Santa Maria.</i>


    They acted worse than third-rate explorers, but their fighting power was quite formidable, so it was hard to touch them. If a Rank B team acted like they did, Bermuda would never let them get away with it and would punish them. It was also very likely that they would punish them harshly to make an example out of them.


    As soon as Santa Maria had be Rank A, Bermuda could no longer touch them. Otherwise, people would start gossiping about other Rank A expedition teams. No matter how repulsive Santa Maria’s members were, they had found their way to the same status as other Rank A teams. If there was a scandal involving a Rank A team, people would start to question the unspoken, invible authority that came with the position.


    <i>Something like the fraudulent contract that’s keeping Ninian’s younger sister in chains should go against Bermuda’s codes. But not only was it approved, but Bermuda had made it so that it couldn’t be voided. That just shows how biased they are toward Rank A expedition teams.</i>


    Once he got a sense of her circumstances, Leonard’s solution was very simple.


    “I can teach you as much archery as you’d like,” he dered.


    “R-Really?!” Ninian’s face lit up. She hadn’t been expecting much.


    “After we save your sister. There’s no use in simply going through the motions if your mind is elsewhere.”


    She was taken aback. “We can... save Vivian?”


    “You’ve mistaken yourself. Even if you procure 3 million gold, that bastard won’t let your sister go. The power and status of a Rank A expedition team outweigh the well-being of just one elf. The contract was fraudulent in the first ce. Do you really think they’ll honor the exchange?”


    They couldn’t trust the words of someone who made promises only to break them, but Leonard knew very well how swindlers should be dealt with. If this was murim, he would have killed them first and sorted it outter, but here, they had to take the long way around.


    “If the rules aren’t on our side, we’ll have to force them into a situation where they <i>have </i>to be,” he concluded.


    A smile crept onto his face, making Ninian shiver for a moment. When she sensed that it wasn’t aimed at her, she felt a strange sense of relief.


    Leonard stood from his seat. “Let’s go. I need to go see someone at the Magic Tower.”


    “The Magic Tower?”


    Their discussion at Bermuda came to an end.


    *


    The Magic Tower’s Chief Elder, Jack Russell, didn’t scowl when he was told that a visitor had shown up unannounced. This was because his guest was Leonard, the boy who had allowed him to make groundbreaking progress in his magical practice.


    Being on the brink of bing ss 8 made him ill-tempered, which he was notorious for, but he was all pleasant.


    “Hm.” After Leonard and Ninian came to him in the middle of the day and told him the story, the Archmage wore a contemtive look on his face. “A fraudulent contract, you say. As you said, this would never happen with an expedition team that isn’t Rank A. I advise you to give up the hope that they will simply void the contract for 3 million gold.”


    “B-But...!”


    “Ninian, was it? I would assume that your sister is a high-rank spiritualist. If they have the ability to exploit someone with that much power for decades, keeping her is worth far more than 3 million gold. They would never let her go,” Russell said.


    The reality of his words hit her even harder than Leonard’s. She could only hang her head and stare at the ground. He’d basically told her that the past five years meant nothing.


    Leonard looked as if he’d expected this. “Is there any chance that Bermuda will take action if you raise the issue of the contract?”


    “It’s hard to say.” Russell pushed up his sses. “What I can tell you is that the Antis Magic Tower is on equal standing with the Council and Bermuda. However, each group is in charge of certain areas outsiders can’t intrude upon. Employment contracts between explorers and expedition teams are one such example,” he exined.


    “It must be even more sensitive with a Rank A team. And there is a considerable number of expedition teams who are involved with the Council, so if they fall back on their connections, we will have to face both organizations at once,” Leonard added.


    “I like that you’re quick. If only Esther had half—no, I would be happy if she had just a quarter of your wit,” the Archmage said.


    As Ninian watched the boy interact with the Magic Tower’s Chief Elder with a sense of closeness, she began to wonder just who in the world he was.


    <i>He can’t really be someone from a dying expedition team, can he?</i>


    In the end, though, Leonard had improved her chances of rescuing Vivian, so their meeting wasn’t a bad thing.


    “If that’s what you truly want, it’s not impossible. I can handle the consequences,” Russell said, looking at Leonard. His voice and demeanor weren’t light like they usually were. This was the face of a mage who expected equal payment. “I can even handle shing with Bermuda and souring rtionships with the Council. You are far more valuable than that. If you swear to assist me in my research at the Magic Tower for a few years, I will dly intervene.”


    Ninian’s head whipped up, but Leonard already knew his answer. If he ended up being confined to the Magic Tower, he couldn’t be a member of the Aquamarine expedition team. That would be putting the cart before the horse.


    “I’m sorry.”


    “Well, I expected as much.”


    The tension immediately melted. Russell looked out the window and gave a heartyugh. The clouds were floating peacefully through the blue sky, as always.


    “What about this, then?” Leonard spoke in his usualposed voice and told them his n.


    Russell and even Ninian were surprised. They couldn’t help themselves. If it were anyone else, they would have brushed it off as absurd. But since this was Leonard’s n, Russell didn’t dismiss it and thought about it seriously.


    “It could work. If all I need to do is act as an official witness so that they can’t be biased, neither the Council nor Bermuda will have any grounds to interfere. I will go as soon as you call upon me,” Russell offered.


    “Thank you for helping us,” Leonard said.


    “But I do have a condition about what you said earlier. Can you guarantee that you will win against that man? If you lose, it will be hard to handle the aftermath by yourself.”


    Ninian turned to Leonard as if agreeing with him. The boy was her only hope, but she hadn’t known that he would propose something so rash.


    But Leonard didn’t back down.


    “It won’t be a problem,” he said simply. “Russell, will the mana chamber be avable today?”


    “Hm? All of a sudden? Well, neither I nor the Towermaster will be using it today. You may use it however much you’d like.”


    “All right.”


    Though Leonard could easily kill anyone below the Transcendence Tier with his current power, when he had fought the Fifth Shadow, he had realized just how insufficient his abilities at the Third Degree External Force Tier were when dealing with unforeseen factors. If his mana capacity were fifty percent higher than it currently was, he could use sword energy however he liked and instantly create augmented energy shields. Then he wouldn’t have to be afraid of wide-area attacks or cower away from unexpected variables in battle.


    <i>At the very least, I must reach the Sixth Degree.</i>


    The speed of his progress was already unprecedented, even for the Cardenas family. It was time to start sprinting again.