Flashy Adventurer System : Show Off to Get Stronger! - Chapter 656

Chapter 656: Reports and Conclusions
“Boss! Nothing happened on my end. We simply killed our target and returned. No one left.” Seira enthusiastically said, none the wiser that a rat was in their midst.

However, being the curious midget that she was, Seira never forgot Shye’s promise to explain everything once it was all over.

“I see… great work, Seira,” Shye replied, appearing to fall into deep thought immediately afterward.

‘As expected, it wasn’t Ian…’

He was about ninety percent certain that the rat wasn’t Ian. However, ninety percent wasn’t enough; he needed to be absolutely sure that Ian was innocent.

Otherwise, it could jeopardize the old man’s operations and potentially lead to failure in the final battle.

Everything, including the fate of Adthiopia, was on the line. He had to be meticulous.

Moments later, he shifted his attention to Shirley, who had a serious look on her face.

“Shirley, what happened on your end? I assume someone left?” Shye asked, a mix of seriousness and anger in his voice.

“Yes. Two, in fact.”

“Who?”

“Kiin and Siegfried.”

Upon hearing who left, Shye’s eyes narrowed.

“What were their excuses?”

Shirley recounted how a pair of lightning wyverns suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked them, perfectly thwarting their plans to eliminate the Berserk Barbary Bull as swiftly as possible.

Shye knew it would be unwise to fight three monstrous creatures in the same area.

It would be better if two of them separated from the others to deal with or distract the lightning wyverns individually, creating the perfect cover-up for the rat’s actions.

It would have been easier for Shye if only one of them had left.

Unfortunately, it seemed that this damned Fifteenth Hawkling was far more intelligent and cautious than he had anticipated.

He couldn’t even wrap his head around why the bastard had to be so careful.

It was as though…

‘Does that bastard already suspect that I’m with Hadean Varsa?’

If that were the case, things would become infinitely more difficult. He would need to work smarter and conceal his movements.

Otherwise, he risked being forced out of his temporary hero role much earlier than expected, or worse, being killed by Dweezel before he had a chance to surpass the veteran heroes from other regions and the retired heroes, most of whom were likely allied with the so-called greatest hero of all time.

He was one of the old man’s aces against Dweezel—probably the one tasked to fight all heroes who would try to stop their organization.

He needed to gather as many system points as possible before getting kicked out of society.

Reminding himself to move carefully when joining a Hadean Varsa operation, Shye snapped himself out of his musings, shifting his attention back to Shirley.

“I believe one of them returned later than the other?” he asked, prompting Shirley to nod in agreement.

“As expected…”

“W-W-Wait, Boss! I don’t understand what’s happening! Why do both of you look so serious? Aren’t all the members of our adventurer parties your friends?” Seira interjected, her curiosity heightened.

“I’ll explain everything after this; I just need to confirm who returned late.” Shye momentarily dismissed Seira’s question, waiting for Shirley to tell him the late returnee.

“It was Siegfried.”

Upon hearing Shirley’s words, Shye’s eyes widened in surprise, leaving him confused and prompting him to ask a follow-up question.

“What? Siegfried? It wasn’t Kiin?”

“No, they explained that Kiin, being an archer, had an easier time dealing with the flying creature, whereas Siegfried, who returned slightly battered and bruised, had a tougher time.”

“I see…” Shye replied, falling deep in thought once more.

Such an explanation was rather logical, and he couldn’t find any fault with it.

“Did you guys harvest the lightning wyverns they killed?”

“Yes. They both killed their target wyverns as they claimed.”

“I see…Did you check which corpse died first?”

Shirley flinched slightly at Shye’s question, realizing she hadn’t thought to do that.

Besides, Shye hadn’t given her any specific instructions about it, so the idea of checking the corpses hadn’t even crossed her mind.

Judging from her reaction, Shye already knew she hadn’t checked.

“So you hadn’t, huh? That’s fine, don’t worry. It was impossible to predict someone’s every move.” He consoled his lover.

“I-I’m sorry…”

It was a bit of a stretch to expect her to do that, especially since even he—someone who had high intelligence and wisdom attributes—hadn’t considered the possibility beforehand.

If he had, he would’ve given her instructions to check for it.

It was his fault, to begin with.

After all, it was impossible for Shirley to handle the situation as smartly as he would, considering she didn’t have the system to increase her intelligence with the press of a button.

Shye was already eighty-percent certain that it was Kiin, anyway.

He just needed to gather a bit more proof before killing him, as it would be an utter tragedy if he killed the wrong guy.

Although Kiin’s sudden surge in attributes during Shye’s battle with him as Fifteenth Hawkling was surprising, it made sense to Shye.

It appeared that Fifteenth Hawkling held a special position within Dweezel’s forces, given that he remained the vice commander of an entire stronghold despite being away on a mission.

A person of that caliber would naturally conceal his true strength when dealing with his target.

“Don’t worry, I already have a good idea who the rat is. Good work, both of you,” Shye said, turning his attention to the curious Seira.

“You…”

“M-Me… W-what is it, boss? A-Are you finally going to tell me what’s going on?” the petite adventurer asked bravely, despite Shye’s narrowed gaze fixed on her.

Naturally, Shye was just teasing her, amused by her reactions.

“Tch, your curiosity always wins in the end, doesn’t it? Fine, I’ll tell you everything now. You’ve got fifteen seconds to prepare yourself for what I’m about to say.”

Shye wasn’t nervous about revealing such important information to Seira.

After all, she was deeply indebted to him and had sworn to follow him to the ends of the earth.