Chapter 194: [194] Three Body Problem

A few minutes later, they finally got to the suspicious woman. Rodolph stopped the carriage a good distance away from her. He was likely hoping it would give him enough time to flee if things were to go south.

Ark got down from the carriage and offered Olivia a hand as she came down beside him.

From the very moment he stepped out of the carriage, his orbs had been moving from place to place, searching for any potential clues to what had happened.

Just like Olivia had said, there were clear signs that a fight had happened.

Ark could sense the residual mana that drifted through the air, a clear sign that magic had been used extensively.

But even without the traces of mana, any mundane human would be able to easily piece out what had happened.

Some trees had been blown apart, leaving splinters and fresh tree sap all over the floor, parts of the ground were upturned, and there were shattered remains of a carriage all around them.

Spikes, wood, metal... some half buried in the soil, while others were discarded in the forest.

"You were right. She was definitely attacked," Ark said, watching her from a distance. It would have been very difficult to stage something of this scale.

Olivia nodded, then turned to face him. "But you think something is wrong?"

"Yes, but I guess we will find out one way or the other..." Ark replied as he began walking towards her. "Don’t let your guard down."

The woman had ashy blonde hair that was stained with dirt and blood. She had a lithe figure, not one that was thin from starvation. She was just at the border before skinny.

There was nothing particularly odd about her clothing. She wore a black cloak with dark brown leather armour underneath it, her bronze dog tag still wrapped around her neck. The typical adventurer getup.

Ark stared at the bronze tag for a few seconds before tearing his eyes away from it and focusing on the woman.

He could see her chest rising and falling. He could also hear the sound of her heart, but he had no idea what state she was in.

Ark squatted down and placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to rouse her from her sleep.

"Hey."

The woman grumbled, shifting slightly. Ark increased the intensity, still no response...

"Wake up!"

The woman suddenly jolted at the sound of his voice, and the moment she saw him, her eyes went wide in shock and petrifying fear.

"M-M-MONSTER!!"

A spell burst to life in her hands, and she was about to hurl it at his face when Olivia suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Hey!" She frowned. "I know he is ugly, but is calling him a monster not going a little too far?"

Ark felt like a dagger had been driven into his chest. ’Ugly?’

When the woman saw Olivia, she visibly relaxed, heaving a breath as she shifted closer to her. "Ar-are you guys players?"

Ark could tell that although she was asking Olivia, she was still watching him from the corner of her vision. She clearly did not trust him.

"That is a stupid question," Ark hissed, then raised the dog tag hanging on his neck. "What do you think these are for?"

The woman looked confused, but she smiled a second later. "Ah, forgive me... my head is a little unsettled." She held her head and closed her eyes, wincing slightly.

"What happened?" Olivia asked, sounding a little more concerned. "What are you even doing in this forest?"

"I..." She paused. "We were on our way to another city. We were going to take a shortcut through this forest, but on our way, we were suddenly attacked by monsters."

Her face fell as she recalled all that had happened. "When I woke up, I saw you. That is all I remember..."

Olivia let out a breath, while Ark stood up and began strolling through the camp.

He squatted down next to one of the broken parts of the carriage and picked up a piece of wood.

There were claw marks on it, as well as indentations that seemed to be made by a hoof.

"What monster attacked you?" Ark asked from where he was.

"They were... I think manticores?"

’Manticores?’ Ark mused. Manticores would explain the claw marks, but that would not explain the hoof.

As if that was not strange enough, as Ark continued to explore the wreck, he found countless other markings that were seemingly made by different monsters.

"Strange."

Olivia hurried to the carriage to get the woman a blanket for the cold, as well as a waterskin to quench her thirst.

She did not lead her to the carriage. Good. It showed she had taken Ark’s warning to heart and hadn’t let down her guard.

"Was that the only monster?" he asked, interrupting her conversation with Olivia.

The woman shook her head, her eyebrows drawing closer. "Yes. Manticores, nothing else...I think?"

Ark nodded and stood up. "Take your time, I am sure it will all come back to you soon. What about your teammates?"

"...?"

Tears welled up in her eyes, her lips quivered, and then she doubled over, unable to control herself as a choking cry emerged from her lips.

"T-they..." Her voice broke.

"They all... died."

Olivia patted her back, completely at a loss for words.

She understood how helpless the woman must have felt. She knew how it felt to lose allies. It was an experience she prayed to never go through again.

Ark got up, his eyes doing one final sweep of the environment before walking closer to her. Once he got to where she was, Ark gave Olivia a look.

She got up and allowed him to squat right next to her. Ark patted the woman’s head. Although he was incapable of showing emotions, he hoped his empathy somehow reached her.

"Don’t worry, we will make sure whatever did this is completely exterminated," he swore, feeling anger bubble up inside him. "What is your name?"

"S-sinai..." She managed to mutter.

Ark smiled internally. "Sinai. That is a good name. Sinai, can you help me out? This is very important if we need to find the monsters."

"Anything! Just tell me what you need!" A look of fierce determination appeared in her eyes.

Olivia watched the scene with a confused expression on her face, unsure of what exactly was going on.

She had seen Ark act compassionate before, but never to this extent. Was it because the woman was beautiful and an elf?

She had heard that elves always won the popularity poll among male players...

Without realizing it, a small frown appeared on her face.

"Alright..." Ark began his question. "Assume you are stranded on an island with your husband and child. You have a single boat that can carry you across, but that boat can only carry two people at a time..."

"If you save your husband, your child will die," Ark said calmly, his fingers stroking her blonde hair.

"If you save your child..."

"Your husband will die."

There was a brief moment of silence. The woman’s cheeks were flushed red from crying so much, and her silver eyes glistened with tears.

"...Who will you save?"

"..."

The elf stared at him for a moment, her body completely still as though she had been frozen in time.

Her body twitched, something flashed in her eyes, and she opened her mouth when—

Pop!

Blood and entrails spewed into the air as Ark crushed her head between his fingers, leaving her body to fall flat, a headless, repulsive mess.

His hands felt slick with blood. Ark had touched blood in the past, but this felt a little strange. He stroked it between his fingers and let out an amused breath.

"Hmmm."

[Race Synchronization has gone up to 40%!]

[Player will experience a greater connection with his race, dampened emotions, less emotional sensitivity, greater pain tolerance, as well as a host of other race-related effects.]

"W-what the fuck?!" Adolph screamed from a distance. "M-murderer! You are a murderer!!"

Even Olivia’s face went pale as the woman’s blood slid down her armour. Her mind was blank. No matter how much she tried to think, nothing was coming to her.

"A-Ark?" Her voice came out as a strangled whimper.

Ark got up and wiped the blood on his cloak. "Get ready, this is just the beginning..."

And just as he finished speaking, the air shifted, and something morbid in form, deceptive in nature, and harrowing in shape rose from her body—