Chapter 59.

The area that Fitoria had indicated was massive. Motoyasu had been here a couple of hours ago. He should still be nearby, but he might have gained the Portal skill. Adrian paused. Of course, the simpler possibility was that he was using a filolial or a dragon. Unfortunately, that meant that his search radius was larger than he'd prefer.

The good part was that the population density of Melromarc was low. Despite the immense space that he had to investigate there were only two large settlements and twenty smaller ones. Monsters ruled this world. They were the dominant species in many ways. It made tracking the mana of a human using Mana Sight easy. Especially a human with a Weapon attached to their soul. Add in his hunting skills, high-speed movement techniques, aerial movement tricks and the lack of other humans in most monster-infested areas and it went from easy to effortless.

But first, he needed to get to the capital and secure the Vassal Cane. The only other option was to depend on Fitoria for rescuing Isis. Fury spiked at the sheer apathy of Fitoria. Adrian found himself irritated by the tedium. Fatigue wasn't helping matters. Neither was carrying Itsuki. It was wise. Adrian didn't want to leave him back at the base and have the Book Hero pick him up. The man had travelled between dimensions without using a Wave. Who was to say that he wouldn't do it again?

He knew that finding Motoyasu first was a higher priority. That was what logic dictated. Not only was the death or capture of a Legendary Hero a disastrous event for the world as a whole it was also a countdown towards Fitoria killing him. If Adrian secured Motoyasu and Itsuki than even if Naofumi did end up dead it would not matter. She was unlikely to kill him but if one of them died then all bets were off. Another factor was that Motoyasu and Itsuki could act as bait for the Book Hero.

Undeniable benefits both from a pragmatic and selfless point of view.

It still felt wretched.

Adrian knew that he was not betraying Isis by delaying the capture of Aultcray. He wasn't leaving her to die because he was taking a few hours to search for the Spear Hero. He knew that he had to free the slaves, capturing the trader and obtain monster eggs to raise an army with. But it didn't feel that way.

Adrian shook it off, moved high up into the sky and used his telescopic vision combined with Mana Sight to study the plains below him. He ignored the glare from the sun high above him and moved on after confirming that the only human below was a shepherd...well, sort off, she had some sheep-like things which were much bigger and whose wool trailed behind them like a cape.

He dashed, noting the next town on his Map, and how much the map had been updated. Surprise surged as he realized that he was nearing the capital. He had looked through more than half of his search area. The thought was encouraging and worrying. He hoped that Motoyasu was still alive.

Adrian tried not to think of how low the chance of a diplomatic agreement with Motoyasu was. The colder, more frightened part of him was clear. Motoyasu was a tool of Melromarc. Adrian knew how stubborn the man was. He had never believed Naofumi. Not even after the princess admitted to her guilt. Worse the man had rejected the power-up methods that Naofumi had spoken to him about. It was likely that in this timeline Motoyasu would treat Adrian with the same contempt. The man would not listen to anything and thus would be at risk of dying and would be a threat to Adrian.

Neither possibility was acceptable.

Soon the untamed wilds began to diminish. Roads and travellers became a more common sight which had Adrian moving higher into the sky. He moved Itsuki, whom he was holding in a fireman's carry, a little.

He spied on thousands. None of them was his targets. All were pitiful. Many were suffering, but they were not a concern. Not yet.

He promised himself that he'd help the poor and the broken later.

It felt as hollow as it had before. Adrian was starting to remember why he had chosen to flee the capital. He had almost convinced himself that it was because of the politics, the fear or even because of his party but it wasn't that. Or at least it wasn't mostly that.

Adrian moved on and braced himself as the Capital came into full view. He shifted a kilometre into the sky. Using Dash in short bursts so that Itsuki wouldn't be torn apart by the pressure changes. Confident that his stats would keep him alive. Once he was certain that no one could see him he pulled out a disc, projected some swords to keep it floating and bound Itsuki to it. Once the Bow Hero was comfortable he focused on the city below.

The city was full. Alive. Adrian realized that he had never activated Blindsight or mana sight or telescopic vision when the city was active. It had been late in the evening after their arrival from the Black Forest and he had left that night without looking back.

Adrian immediately focused on the four targets he was truly concerned about. The Walls, the Castle, the Church and the Guild. The Slave Traders were important in the sense that they were his target but they were not a threat. Merely a place to rob and conduct a rescue operation at.

The Walls were full of lazy soldiers, patrolling with the apathy of people who had done no real work for days or weeks. It was unlike the Border Wall. Shorter, with a lesser number of enchantments. He dismissed it after a moment. Paranoia had him wield a second glance using his appraisal skills. They confirmed his suspicions. This was nothing more than a simple defensive fortification.

The Church looked amazing but only because of the architecture and the Hourglass. The defences were non-existent and the Pope was absent. There were some interesting books and a fair amount of wealth. There were some warriors and mages with their robes, habits and rosaries but they were weak and he ignored them.

The Guild was nothing special at all and Adrian made it a point to try and find Andrea. After five minutes of scanning the city, he found numerous trails of her mana and her presence in parts of the city, but that was it. She was absent and the place that was likely to be her home was empty.

He considered that for a long moment and then checked on Agatha. Absent. Her shop had two boys in it. His suspicions flared and he moved his position glancing towards his main target. The Castle.

Unlike the rest of the city, the Castle was ornate and well defended. Not as amazing as the Border but far more concentrated. The good news was that Adrian could see several nobles and Andre, the Headmaster of their Mage Academy in the Castle. The bad news was that Motoyasu, Malty and Aultcray seemed to be missing.

To be more precise, there was a person who looked like Aultcray to his Blindsight, but Mana sight showed him the truth. The man did not look like a Hero. Heroes had unique dual-toned mana. Fitoria, Kyo, Naofumi and even Adrian himself was proof of that. An imposter or a stealth ability.

He shook off the bad feeling that manifested and scouted out the Slave Trader. The sight of the slaves tempted him to drop in and slaughter the bastard and his servants. Bound with a cruel seal and in a cage. It was a struggle to study their non-existent defences.

Adrian etched the sight in his mind.

He would remember this.

Still, there was one thing he hadn't given much thought to. In many ways, the slaves had more than some of the street rats. It was a bitter thought and one that made him consider trying to help some of them as well. The thought faded. He had other priorities.

Adrian took a deep breath and moved back up into the sky where Itsuki was lying down on his disc. The cold air gave him a measure of peace and removed some fatigue. He darted away from the capital and considered his discoveries. For a long minute or two, he did nothing. Uncertain and furious he paced on the wooden platform before realizing that he had been underestimating his enemies and this world. Aultcray was the King of Wisdom and he had realized a simple truth.

The best way to survive a battle against a stronger enemy was to never start the fight.

Adrian took a deep breath and pushed out his frustration. He relaxed his grip on his sword and marked the point in the sky he was in as a Portal Spot. The Sword Hero picked up Itsuki, stored the disc inside his sword and continued his search for Motoyasu. At this point, the only thing he was even a little certain of was that Motoyasu was somewhere in the area. He had to use that...and hope that Malty and Aultcray were with him.

For a moment he stared back down at the Castle and considered a third possibility. There was a chance that Aultcray Melromarc had never been the Cane Hero. Instead for one reason or another, they had created a lie. Perhaps it was spread to make him a suitable husband for Mirellia or to keep the Cane Hero's death hidden from the public or some other reason. Nonetheless, the actual Cane Hero was likely to be elsewhere.

It was odd to wish that Aultcray was the Cane Hero even if it was only because he was on a time limit.

Adrian removed his doubts. He needed a Vassal Weapon and he would get one no matter the situation. He wasn't quite ready to give up on the Cane, but even if he failed Melromarc was hardly the only nation with a Vassal Weapon.

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Alchemy was fascinating.

Unlike enchantments which added or removed magical properties from a system. Alchemy enhanced, reduced or refocused properties on a conceptual level.

It was as complex as it sounded. The results would likely have been scattershot for most.

Without his sword to do the heavy lifting, it would have taken him months for basic alchemical effects.

With his sword? He could do some truly absurd things. Plant manipulation and modification of properties of the crafting items were the starts. He could sense what he was doing with the aid of his sword and replicate that without it to study the results. That gave him some skill in Alchemy without his sword, though he still couldn't read the Grimoires he had.

It was another reason that he respected the power of his Legendary Weapon. And why he feared the power of the other Weapons. It was why he was going to imprison Motoyasu in a very cruel manner.

Adrian was in a location a hundred kilometres from the Dragon Hourglass that Fitoria had first helped him register with. They were far from any fragment of civilization. The other people he had imprisoned, the members of the Church who had attacked Van Reichnott's territory and the Royal Guard defending Malty, were far from here, though they too were located in the area around the Hourglass.

The forest that had grown in the area and the beings that called it their home had been annihilated. In their place, his modified and newly created Crystal Plant had taken root. The Crystal plant was his necessary masterpiece when it came to imprisoning Heroes.

Most people he captured could be deleveled, knocked out, poisoned, crippled and then contained indefinitely.

It was easy. Eerily so.

Food and water were supplied intravenously. Their chances of escape were nil. Especially, once the pod containing them was ten meters below ground and surrounded by plant matter that was harder than steel.

He was not foolish enough to believe that something like this could contain a Legendary Hero. Not when he could not delevel them. Especially not when it was likely that absorbing some of the plants around them could unlock the plant manipulation ability.

Motoyasu received rather special treatment.

The crystal plant was based on the crystalline substance that the Book Hero had used to contain Itsuki. The vast majority of the crystal had been removed due to that bastard's final attack. But some pieces had lingered on Itsuki. Adrian had absorbed that. The sword he received had been nothing special, a decent SP absorbing sword, but the Alchemical recipe to make that Crystal was priceless.

Why?

Because it absorbed SP and MP.

The vines of the plant looked fragile as they coiled up around Motoyasu's body. A deceptive, beautiful structure. They were a dense crystal strong enough to resist his attacks for a second. Something that almost no other material could boast. Motoyasu was already halfway underground with his hands bound to prevent any motion at all. His legs were saturated in mana absorbing nodes which looked like exotic crystal apples. The area around Motoyasu was also filled with these mana drainers. Each of them programmed to bind him should he try to escape. The pollen emission that would attempt to knock him out and paralyze him was almost overkill.

Of course, he was not imprisoning the man here alone.

Adrian turned to see the three unconscious girls who were bound using a more mundane plant with only a couple of crystal nodes to drain them. They were located slightly off to the side of Motoyasu. Close, but outside of his natural line of sight. Adrian's status menu told him their names.

Elena Haven Level 1

Lesty Melybournes Level 1

Malty Melromarc Level 1

He suspected that they were all nobles but that hardly mattered at this point. All three of them had been deleveled and bound by the Curse Seal. There was no chance of them escaping given that they were in the wilds with no power of their own...but the reason why he was going to leave them here was simple.

He could track them using the seal. If Motoyasu did somehow manage to wake up, overcome the mana and SP drain, defeat the paralysis and the fatigue and then manage to escape his prison he would try to free these girls and take them with him. They would slow him down and allow Adrian to track them.

For a brief instant, some guilt flared. At least two of them were little more than children. Naive, spoiled brats. Who knew how kind or cruel they would be without the need to follow Malty?

Then, he remembered his power and Motoyasu's potential. His guilt faded.

He had a use for them.

Adrian focused on the plants surrounding Motoyasu and closed his eyes. He felt his mana and SP flow together, forming an altered hybrid as it entered the plant. He called on his status menu to alter the properties of the Crystal. A thought reduced the drain on the man before summoning a projected sword.

The sword did nothing more than provide a small boost to energy. Like a burst of caffeine injected into the brain. He focused the effect on Motoyasu and saw the man stir. A second shot had him wide awake.

The Spear Hero shook his head. Unfocused eyes moving this way and that, trying to understand what had occurred. For a minute he looked around. Then, he tried to move. Tried to stand up and realized what had happened.

"Malty! Elen-" he shouted before his eyes fell on Adrian and he silenced himself.

"Motoyasu," he said, keeping his breathing even, promising himself that he would stay calm this time. "We have a lot to talk about," even if the subject matter will be different.

"You bastard," said Motoyasu, a vicious snarl written on his face, "let me go-"

Adrian didn't answer. He activated the Curse Seal on Malty at half the maximum power.

The scream from the princess silenced Motoyasu in a way that words and reason would never be able to. The spear hero strained to turn towards his beloved party member. When he finally caught a glimpse of her and the others his rage turned into terror.

The man's determination washed away.

Adrian almost sneered. This spoiled fool was infuriating. A false determination that shattered at the slightest touch. An empty strength that was worthless.

This was the best the Spear could do?

"You will answer my questions Motoyasu," he said, drawing Motoyasu's attention back to him. "or they will pay the price."

The man gritted his teeth. Rage returning but it was fear that ruled him. It made Adrian felt content. Fear had been driving Adrian from the start. Leaving the capital, tolerating Malty before that, dealing with Fitoria, fighting the Book Hero and even capturing Motoyasu. All rooted in fear. This guy was treating it like a vacation even as Aultcray and Malty used him as a tool.

"Are you willing to answer my questions now?" he asked, ignoring Malty's whimper as she tried to speak and activated the seal. He would not allow for her interference now. They were going to speak later.

"This...this is wrong!" he said, nascent tears in his eyes, "Let them go I'll tell you what you want to know."

Adrian sighed, drew out a chair from his sword, and sat down a couple of meters from Motoyasu. He stared at the Spear Hero and activated the seal on Malty again. It was tempting to try to reach an agreement with Motoyasu. To avoid making an enemy of the Legendary Hero but that was not practical.

Motoyasu was naive.

Adrian remembered how ridiculous the Spear Hero had been in the light novels. And how stubborn he had proven to be in the previous conversation they had held. In the Spear Hero's mind, there had been no question of Adrian's guilt. Even now the Hero looked upon Adrian as nothing more than an evil guy. Justified, given that Adrian had kidnapped him, but annoying.

No, there were no practical options here other than containing Motoyasu. He could not afford to have someone of Motoyasu's potential power running around. Nor could he risk the Book Hero or another extradimensional invader killing the man with Naofumi gone.

He needed the other heroes alive and contained.

"Stop!" said Motoyasu, wincing as Malty's screams echoed throughout the clearing. "I'll tell you everything. Just stop!"

Adrian nodded and cut off the curse a moment after his first word. Motoyasu glared at him but there was no desire to defy Adrian anymore. He had been defeated for now.

A 'victory' that tasted like guilt and shame. He reminded himself that this was for Isis, for his survival and to deny his enemies like the Book Hero or Aultcray. Motoyasu would live and would be given a chance to return home rather than dying in this extra-dimensional prison. That was enough.

It would have to be.

"Tell me everything you know about other dimensions that can be accessed through the Waves," he said, keeping his tone even, ignoring the tears streaking down Malty's face and the frustration, fear and fury running through Motoyasu.

"What?" he blinked, having not expected that he stopped for a second and then continued. "I don't know anything about that. I mean I guess that the monsters come from a storage dimension or something but…"

Adrian nodded, not surprised. Motoyasu could be lying but it was far more likely that he had incomplete knowledge. After all, he had been surprised by Glass in the light novel. This was something that Adrian had anticipated...and just in case he was lying.

Malty's scream rang out, the sound ragged after the previous times. Motoyasu turned with great difficulty considering his bindings and tried to look at her before giving up and turning to him.

"Stop!" he said, "I did what you wanted-"

Adrian stopped, and asked, "Were you honest?"

"Yes! You bastard." he snapped, "why are you-"

Adrian didn't let the man answer any questions. He took a silent breath, let go of his guilt as he exhaled, and asked his next question.

"Tell me about how you power up your Spear," he said. Testing the fool. It was what he should have done before. A sign of his inexperience. He would need to plan out the conversation better next time.

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