'This guy… is trying to hide something from me.'
Eren thought to himself as he rode his colt and followed Rog's lead. It wasn't long before they reached their destination.
Eren could understand why Rog had asked for a company while searching for Jacob in the area. The Ironskin bears were a huge pain in the ass, to begin with, because of their relentless endurance.
Sometimes, the hordes of Iron Trunk Honey Mammoth would run wild in the area. So going on solo missions here was not the ideal choice for most rankers.
Eren was taken to a patch of land inside the prairie that looked to be a battleground that might have involved many rankers. This place was quite a distance away from the underground space. Not too far away for the bear not to consider hauling a body to his base.
"Hm? You told me you were on your way to the city of Gasha. What were you doing here? And what happened here?"
Eren asked while spreading his mana sense into the area. The guy sighed before responding with a valid reason.
"Well, we were checking up on a few ranking resources that could be found in the region before heading to the city of Gasha. That's when we were attacked by a group of bandits.
Jacob and I ran in different directions after seeing that the bandits had a number advantage. That's how we got separated. I just want to find out if my friend is okay. Or give him last rites if he is found to be dead."
When he made his last statement, Rog sounded dejected and lonely. He sounded pretty convincing but Eren knew better.
Eren glanced around and saw that there was nobody around. He chuckled before deciding to "help" the man.
Rog and Eren started looking for clues. The latter had various inspection scrolls at his disposal. Eren just needed to make sure that the duo was not getting targeted by the wild beasts usually found in the surroundings.
The inspection scrolls were disposable ranked items made by rune inscription masters using an array of different methods. Upon activation, they would pick up various mana residues found in the surroundings and give out clues.
The clues could take the form of vague spectral scenes, text, or signs showing the rankers which way to go. The clarity of the clues depended upon what type of inspection scroll was being used. It also depended on how many days had passed since the mana residue had been present in the area.
Inspection scrolls were a common item for rankers in tracking their prey and targets. However, one couldn't completely rely on them. Often, inspection scrolls picked up something wrong and led rankers to their deaths.
Still, there were tell-tale signs that the inspection scroll was leading the rankers where it was not supposed to. Therefore, it wasn't that unreliable when used by a veteran ranker.
Rog's inspection scroll wasn't anything special. It would only draw an arrow over the scroll's rune-inscribed paper, giving him the general direction of where he should head out.
Sometimes it wouldn't give him clear clues– painting two or three arrows pointing in different directions. That's where Eren decided to help Rog. Rog was slowly and surely being guided towards the location of the underground space using the inspection scroll from their current location.
Eren didn't have to do much. Soon, Rog started picking up strong clues regarding Jacob. It wasn't long before Eren got to see a familiar sight.
"The clues end here. But…"
Rog extended his mana sense and searched everywhere in the surrounding area, but found nothing of significance. He then started to comb the area in a systematic search for his "friend".
Eren miraculously found the underground space by climbing over the stone platform. The latter was surprised when he realized that the underground space might be where he would find Jacob.
"Listen, Eren. I'm not sure what I would find down there."
'I do,' Eren said in his head but maintained a stoic expression to listen to what Rog had to say.
"I'm guessing it's Ironskin bear's lair where he hibernates from time to time. I know the mission was only about helping me find Jacob. But why don't you stay a bit longer?
If one of the Ironskin boars is down there, I can minimize my risk of being overwhelmed by their attacks this way. And you'd get extra money for this extra work. What do you say?"
Rog asked with expectant eyes. Eren pondered a bit before nodding his head in affirmation.
"Sure. I'll not say no to more money. Count me in."
Rog smiled and shook Eren's hands once again before jumping into the air duct that led to the underground space. Eren followed in his footsteps shortly after.
Soon, both rankers were in the underground area. Eren hadn't left anything of value when he was done looting the place. So there were just some scraps he had no use for.
Still, Rog was mesmerized by looking at the runic walls and pillars of the space. He started looking around the place frantically with a bit of madness in his eyes. Although it wasn't visible outright, Eren could also see a smile form on his seemingly expressionless face.
Eren had not destroyed Jacob's corpse thinking that the place was pretty secure. And that nobody would find it. Plus, he might have another use for the corpse after learning more about Hexers.
Jacob's corpse was still lying there. However, it had lost its armor. Jacob's stripe underpants were out for everyone to see. The dead didn't need more clothes anyway. So Eren didn't venture out of his way to cover the corpse with some clothes.
Rog soon reached where Jacob's corpse was and his eyes lit up. He didn't care that he was almost naked. He quickly squatted beside the corpse and opened his right hand's palm to check up on Jacob's Identity Rune.
Eren watched with a subtle smile on his face as Rog hurriedly sent his mana signature into the storage space of the dead ranker. He found it to be inaccessible. The space had already collapsed after being used by a different ranker a few days ago.
Rog's expression turned into a frown as he started to study Jacob's corpse. He started connecting the dots in his head as he did that.
Underground space that served as the Ironskin bear's lair. An armor-less corpse with no access to his storage space. No activity in the region for a few days. No sign of the bear. It could only mean that there was someone else who had stolen things from the corpse.
"Someone got to it first. Damn it."
Rog said loudly. Unaware of the fact that the one who had received the lot was standing behind him.
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