Chapter 99: Experiment

Unlike the first time, Julian’s return to the Slums this time around brought him a noticeably different reception.

He never expected the local government, meaning Odette, would come out to personally greet him the moment word got out that Julian was headed toward invaded territory.

Fine, Julian had no idea exactly how that news had spread. But it seemed something like a spy network, or whatever equivalent existed in this world, was clearly at play.

They’d probably made an educated guess watching Julian’s travel direction and immediately relayed that information to certain parties, Odette included.

True to the usual difference in status, Odette treated Julian with remarkable warmth. The girl’s behavior genuinely caught Julian off guard.

It was only after she mentioned Adelle’s name that Julian finally understood why she was behaving this way.

Adelle must have said something to her.

Regardless, Julian didn’t linger long enough for extended conversation. He spoke briefly, then quickly moved on, also trying to track down Ariel, though the boy proved genuinely difficult to find.

The rumors surrounding Ariel were also fairly vague and hard to piece together. So, not wanting to waste any more time, Julian decided to simply head straight for the invaded territory instead.

He could always try tracking Ariel down another time. Besides, Julian hadn’t heard anything alarming, so he felt fairly confident Ariel was doing just fine.

Once he finally reached the invaded territory, still within its weakest zone, an area where Rank-F Invaders occasionally wandered.

Julian adjusted the small bag he was carrying. It contained a handful of items he figured might work as trade goods with Aclyris.

Across from him, he glanced at Ilunia, following comfortably behind, looking perfectly fine.

If it were at all possible, Julian genuinely would’ve preferred taking some kind of vehicle. But that wasn’t feasible in invaded territory, since it would likely draw far too much attention.

Especially considering that even a Rank-F Invader’s speed was sometimes enough to catch up with a moving vehicle.

In the end, all Julian could do was hope the blind girl could keep up with him well enough.

"Tell me if you get tired, alright."

Ilunia kept smiling brightly as she nodded. "Don’t worry about me, Master. We can just keep walking."

Since Ilunia had said as much, Julian simply nodded and didn’t take her words too seriously.

He resumed walking with light, somewhat slow steps, making sure Ilunia could keep pace with him.

Right around then, Julian caught the sound of fairly loud chatter in the distance. Julian didn’t need to get any closer, immediately recognizing their awkward, peculiar way of speaking.

"Kakakak! I have four fingers! Kaka!"

"Only four!? I have three!"

Hearing their voices immediately brought Julian back to the moment he’d first arrived in this world, meeting Kina as she was being chased by a group of Grusk-species Invaders.

Thinking back on it, that day had felt like the end of the world for Julian, given how terrified he’d been of anything horror-related.

But now, with Fearless and how far his own strength had come, Julian felt absolutely nothing at all.

"Master?"

Perhaps noticing that Julian had stopped walking, Ilunia stopped as well, her voice carrying a hint of confusion.

"Ilunia, could you wait here for a moment?"

"...? Okay."

Julian said nothing more. He glanced around briefly, and once confirming there was no danger nearby, his body vanished as he used Flash Step.

’I’m a little curious.’

Julian thought to himself as he appeared inside a long-abandoned building, his gaze locking onto a dark alley where four Grusk had gathered.

Their appearance remained just as distinctive and ugly as ever. But Julian paid that no mind, simply giving a small smile.

"Ilunia probably won’t gain much progress if she only lands the killing blow after I’ve already brought them to death’s door."

Because progress shares from a killed Invader depended on who had contributed the most damage toward that Invader’s death.

So, Julian found himself entertaining a thought he’d never have considered without Fearless active.

’Hehe... if this works out, this trip might end up yielding a lot more than expected.’

Watching the Grusk, Julian glanced down at the ground beneath his feet for a moment. He spotted a decently sized rock, so he bent down and picked it up.

Right then, the Grusk noticed his presence and started to panic.

"H-human of a higher level here!"

"Khuaak—! Run! Run!"

They wanted to flee into the alley, but it was a dead end, leaving them absolutely nowhere to run.

Thrown into chaos and gripped with fear, they turned around, trying to push past Julian, who blocked the alley’s exit, hoping to escape.

But right as they turned, Julian was already there, waiting, his gaze empty, his lips curved into a small smile, and finally, his hand raised high, gripping the large rock.

"K-kieek!"

The Grusk broke into cold sweat, and by the time they registered it, their consciousness had already started slipping, and everything went dark for them in an instant.

Julian hummed softly to himself. He then dragged two of the unconscious Grusk in each hand, hauling all four of them along.

After that, Julian didn’t bother using Flash Step, simply walking over to Ilunia, who was crouched on the street, tracing lines into the asphalt with her cane, doing something Julian couldn’t quite tell.

Noticing the approaching sound, Ilunia turned slightly toward the source, looking a bit nervous.

"Uhm... Master?"

"It’s me."

The sound Julian carried with him wasn’t just his footsteps, but also the four Grusk being dragged along. It was only natural Ilunia might sound a little uneasy.

"Master... are you carrying something?"

Ilunia let out a breath of relief upon confirming it was Julian, then immediately smiled brightly again and asked.

Julian dropped the Grusk for a moment and immediately answered.

"I found a few Grusk. I’ve already knocked them out. Ilunia, would you like to try killing them? This might give you more Rank progress."

Hearing that, Ilunia tilted her head. Julian was fairly certain, if the girl had eyes, she’d have blinked a few times right then to process her confusion.

"...Is that even possible?"

Honestly, Julian didn’t know. Besides, no one had ever tried something like this before, as far as he knew.

Julian wasn’t sure why, but it seemed impossible for humanity’s higher-ups to not know something like this already.

So, before Julian could jump to any conclusions, he figured he’d simply need to test it out first.

Would this actually work or not?

Julian handed the Academy sword back over to Ilunia.

"Just give it a try first."

"Alright..."

Though a bit hesitant, Ilunia gently caught the sword. She touched it clumsily, clearly unaccustomed to handling a blade, and Julian immediately stepped in to help adjust her grip.