Chapter 89: Not all who wander are lost (2)

Deep Sea Fish Hunting Specialty Broadcast

EP.89 Not all who wander are lost (2)

Alice slowly approached Alexandra.

Parang wasn’t the only one surprised by Alice Melville’s sudden appearance.

Alexandra, the protagonist of the memory, was also expressing her surprise, no less than Parang.

Given the situation, it was closer to shock than mere surprise.

“W-Who are you? A m-monster?”

Strangely, from the moment Alice appeared, Alexandra was speaking without opening her mouth.

Her voice seemed to emerge from the space itself rather than coming from her mouth.

It was like when a character’s inner thoughts are narrated in a movie or drama.

Alexandra herself seemed quite surprised by this fact. Even Parang thought that she didn’t have any telepathic abilities in the original work.

“W-Wait, what’s this… Why is my voice like this?!”

Alexandra’s eyes trembled.

Considering her journey from the point of ascension to her arrival here, along with her current situation, one could easily imagine the confusion Alexandra was experiencing. It’s not unreasonable for her to be frightened.

Fortunately, Alice didn’t seem to have become so cold-hearted as to scare someone in such a situation.

“Calm down. I’m not a monster, and I won’t harm you.”

At Alice’s gentle voice, Alexandra’s tension seemed to ease a bit. After all, once you realize that communication is possible, the fear of the unknown tends to diminish significantly.

Alexandra asked in a trembling voice.

“Who… who are you?”

“I’m Alice Melville. A member of Oceanos… the group you’ve been looking for.”

She hesitated slightly at the ‘member of Oceanos’ part.

“Oceanos…!!”

Alexandra exclaimed in surprise.

“O-Oceanos? What’s that?”

“It’s a group of hunters operating underwater. Those strange fish you’ve been fighting until now are what we usually hunt.”

“W-Wait, are you saying you’ve been watching us?”

To that question, Alice quietly reached her hand towards the darkness, that is, towards the inside of the cave, as if calling for something to answer in her stead.

Woong-

What emerged from the darkness was a small Capulus, much smaller than what Parang had seen before.

“Th-That…!!”

“A C-Capulus?!”

Alexandra and Parang were surprised simultaneously.

Parang was almost knocked over.

She never imagined a Capulus would appear here. Of course not.

“I’ve been watching you with this. From beginning to end, everything.”

“Oh my…”

Despite learning that someone had been stalking her in such a situation, Alexandra didn’t seem to resent Alice or show any anger towards her.

Or more precisely, it seemed like she had decided to focus on something else more important.

“Y-You need to meet someone right now. A hunter named Han Siwoo…”

‘Ah, it’s about the quest.’

Parang had also seen Han Siwoo mention receiving a quest to ‘Find Oceanos’ with her own mouth previously.

However…

“Unfortunately, that’s impossible.”

‘Of course it’s impossible.’

Parang thought.

“W-Why?”

‘Obviously, it’s a matter of distance.’

Alexandra’s current location is the East Sea, while Han Siwoo’s location is Hawaii.

Unless Alice has learned some sort of teleportation technique, it’s impossible to swim a distance that takes eight hours even by plane.

That’s what Parang thought, but something completely different came out of Alice’s mouth.

“It’s part of the plan.”

“W-What plan…?!”

“According to Hunter Han Siwoo’s plan, I shouldn’t meet him right now.”

“S-Siwoo’s plan?”

“Yes. Even you being teleported here is part of his plan.”

“W-What… How can I believe that?!”

“Here.”

Alice approached Alexandra, knelt in front of her as she lay on the ground, and held out her hand.

The object placed on that hand was something both Alexandra and Parang knew well.

“Th-That ring…!”

It was the ring named ‘Happy Ending’ that Han Siwoo had made and distributed to the heroines.

“Is this enough proof?”

“B-But, what if you took it by force, or stole it…!!”

“Do you think it’s possible for me to take or steal something from him? I can’t even leave the water.”

At those words, Alexandra’s mouth closed.

It’s certainly a good method of persuasion. Regardless of the truth, it would sound convincing from Alexandra’s perspective.

In fact, she seemed to be convinced by Alice’s logic, slowly nodding her head.

‘So, it’s Han Siwoo’s plan, huh.’

Parang wasn’t particularly surprised. After all, it was Hunter Han Siwoo who had given that ring as a gift to all the heroines, not to mention his suspicious behavior in previous memories and speaking as if he knew something.

It’s highly likely that he knew they would go to the sea after ascending.

In terms of information, it’s as if she’s just confirming what she already knew through Alice’s words.

That doesn’t mean the questions are gone, though.

‘How on earth did he figure that out?’

Good heavens, the fact that the reward for killing a god was a scroll about the ascension ritual, and that following it and ascending would suddenly transport them to the sea below Hawaii, where they’d face all sorts of battles and finally encounter an eye monster that even pressures the status window.

How on earth did Hunter Han Siwoo know?

This perfectly reasonable question was the first to pop into Parang’s mind.

But Alexandra didn’t seem to care about any of that.

From the moment she accepted that ‘Han Siwoo has a plan’, she didn’t seem to worry at all about her own fate or Hunter Han Siwoo’s well-being.

“Well, that’s a relief. If it’s Siwoo’s plan, I can trust it.”

Parang, who had been lost in thought for a moment, was startled by Alexandra’s expression.

Alexandra’s face had brightened up so much that it was hard to believe she was the same person who had been trembling in fear in the unknown deep sea just moments ago.

‘No way, this level of trust?’

Of course, it’s true that the Slayers trust Han Siwoo tremendously… but it didn’t seem to be this blindly before.

‘I guess it’s understandable, seeing hope in a difficult situation.’

Even so, that unblemished bright expression. That appearance that seems to have not a single trace of anxiety or worry.

Doesn’t it seem like she thinks of Han Siwoo as a ‘perfect person who succeeds at everything’?

As far as Parang knows, Han Siwoo isn’t that kind of person.

In the original work, he loses battles, fails in plans, and sometimes suffers great losses.

Nevertheless, he’s the type who fights to the end, eventually breaking everything and achieving his goals.

‘That’s why there was a lot of talk about tag baiting and title baiting.’

Even Parang thought that part was worth criticizing.

A munchkin who loses in battle, what nonsense is that?

The point is, Hunter Han Siwoo is by no means a ‘perfect human who never fails’.

Considering this, Alexandra’s level of trust in Han Siwoo seems unusually high.

But then again, for Alexandra who particularly followed Han Siwoo well, it might be possible…

Parang, who had been wavering between ‘it’s understandable’ and ‘something’s suspicious’, finally concludes with ‘it’s understandable’.

There’s too much information to process to delve into this aspect any further.

Whether Parang’s head was about to explode or not, Alexandra’s attitude had completely, 180 degrees changed.

It’s as if this is just another light incident that will pass by.

It’s so disconnected from her current situation.

Whether she’s trying to forcefully push it to the back of her mind, or if she really thinks that way.

Parang’s head throbbed, and she rubbed her forehead again.

“Can you tell me what plan Siwoo is brewing?”

“…No. That’s not possible.”

“…Why not?”

“Because my friend who’s watching this memory right now shouldn’t know about it.”

“What? What do you mean… Oh.”

Alexandra chewed over the sentence Alice had just uttered, then looked at her necklace, the ‘evidence’, as if she had realized something.

“Is that why… you came to find me?”

“That’s right. According to Han Siwoo’s plan, there’s someone who absolutely needs to see our conversation right now.”

Alice turned her head and looked into the empty space in Parang’s direction.

From her perspective, it was clearly just an empty space, but strangely, Parang felt as if she had made eye contact with her.

“Plus, not just this conversation, but my memories need to be stored there too.”

“Your memories too… I see.”

“Then, I’ll ask you to do it.”

“Ah, lastly, there are a few things I’d like to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Am I… going to die soon?”

Alice was silent for a moment, then answered with a slightly trembling voice.

“…Yes.”

“I see. Alright. It’s my first time dying, so it feels strange.”

“…Is that all?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Your thoughts on death. I mean…”

“Ah.”

Alexandra smiled brightly.

“It’s okay. It’s not like I’m really dying anyway, right?”

“…What?”

“You said it’s Siwoo’s plan, right? There’s no way Siwoo would have made a plan that sacrifices me, or any of the Slayers. Even if I die here, I’ll probably be resurrected somewhere, or even if not, I’ll live a happy life with Siwoo in another world.”

“…”

Parang was dumbfounded.

‘No matter how you look at it, bringing someone back to life…’

Isn’t that impossible? Even if this is a modern ‘fantasy’ world, how…

Regardless, Alexandra was still smiling brightly.

“Why are you silent? Am I wrong?”

“…”

“Even if I’m wrong, don’t tell me. If I’m going to die anyway, I want to die holding onto hope.”

“…Alright.”

“Do you have any last words you’d like to leave?”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

“To your friend who’s watching this memory. Wouldn’t it be good to give them a hint or something?”

“Ah…”

At those words, Alice was silent for a moment, then uttered a single sentence.

“…Ascend, Parang. That’s the only way.”

“Good. Now, store the memories you want in this necklace.”

“…Okay.”

And so, Alexandra and Alice each stored their memories in turn.

Crack- Crackle…

“This is…”

Alexandra seemed quite surprised to see the ‘evidence’ cracking and about to break.

“I’ve sealed it temporarily with my power. My friend shouldn’t see this too soon.”

The scene at the East Sea Hive ended with Alexandra’s memories being stored in the ‘evidence’.

And immediately after.

Whoosh-!!

“Wh-What?!”

With a feeling of being sucked down, Parang’s consciousness began to flow to another place.

Given the circumstances, it must be going into Alice’s memories.

‘Alice…’

Parang clenched her fist.