Super Righteous Player

He didn't need to run around the ship looking for clues.

The clues had come knocking on his door.

As soon as Annan stepped out, he noticed three young men dressed much like himself, leaning at the corner and pretending to chat while their eyes were fixed on Tan Juan's door.

They were startled when they saw Annan actually opening the door and stepping out.

They quickly exchanged a few words, and then one of them ran off swiftly.

Noticing Annan's gaze following the one who ran away, the remaining two clearly became flustered.

"John, over here!"

One of them had a quick wit and called out to Annan loudly, "Where did you run off to just now!"

"I was a bit sleepy just now, so I snuck off to take a nap in the young master's room."

Upon hearing this, Annan walked over, showing a simple and honest smile, "Why are you guys here? Are you also here to take a lazy rest?"

"...Uh, yeah."

Seeing their usually clumsy and out-of-place companion react like this made the two feel something was off, but they could only respond in kind.

"I see."

A look of concern on his face, Annan said, "You three must be pretty tired standing and chatting here, right? Why not come inside and sit down? That guy probably hasn't gone far. How about I go call him and you warm up inside? There are some sugar cookies on the table, they're pretty good..."

"No, no, no. He went to... he went over there on the deck to help cook."

One of the young guards saw Annan was about to chase after, hastily stopped him, and managed a strained but amiable smile, "We're going ashore tomorrow, right? It's our last night on the ship. We get to have a feast!"

"Is that so."

Annan sighed with feigned regret, "I thought he had gone to find Instructor Claus."

The two: "..."

They both felt a jolt of alarm, worried this simpleton had noticed something amiss. However, they too were novices and didn't know what to say at this point to stall John.

Just when the atmosphere started to turn awkward, Annan suddenly spoke up, "I'm feeling a bit cold. Let's find a quiet place to practice the Frost Sword Technique. It'll warm up the body."

"Sure, that sounds good."

One of the guards hurriedly agreed, "I know a place..."

"Uh-huh, I'll come too."

The other person quickly added.

Seeing Annan suggest such an activity, the two of them showed clear signs of delight. They exchanged glances and silently chuckled to each other.

...Hey, could you make it any more obvious that you're trying to trick me?

There's no attempt to hide it at all. What level of an absolute blockhead does John seem to you... Well, it is the easy difficulty, after all.

Annan couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed.

He just showed a simple and harmless professional smile, saying very politely, "Then please lead the way."

Soon, the three of them zigzagged and turned into a rather empty small room. They began to slowly clear the surrounding barrels, trying to make space.

By then, Annan had roughly confirmed that Tan Juan's room must be on the first deck below, in the middle of the ship. Both doors to the room led to separate corridors.

The ship was roughly seventy meters long and not particularly spacious. Rooms were almost right next to each other—except for Tan Juan's own larger room. All the other rooms, including that of the head guard, were equally close to each other.

In other words, anyone wanting to enter Tan Juan's room had to make a special trip over. Even if spotted at the door, they had no excuse to give... as only Tan Juan's room was not adjacent to any other.

So their reason for bringing him here was likely just to detain him, to keep him away from Tan Juan's room.

If he had continued to stay in his room, perhaps in a little while, they would have knocked and found an excuse to trick him out.

"Where is Lord Benjamin?"

Annan suddenly asked.

"He's still in the captain's cabin reading a book."

One of the guards casually replied, "Apart from Young Master Tan Juan, that big lord refuses an audience with anyone."

"What about the instructor?"

Annan pressed, "I would be considered deserting...Won't the instructor catch me?"

"Don't worry, John. The instructor's definitely always on the deck,"

Another guard said with certainty: "Only he has the 'Eagle Eye' ability; he must always watch the sea and has no time to patrol below deck."

"I see..."

Annan murmured softly.

Eyeing the two guards who were slowly stacking barrels with their backs toward him, Annan's eyes narrowed slightly.

He slowly drew the shortsword belonging to John, its blade flashing with a cold and threatening light.

He had no intention of waiting for enemies to step on his face before retaliating with a frown.

No player could resist the temptation of a backstab!

Without hesitation, he thrust the sword straight into the back of the young guard closest to him, piercing his heart!

The sharp blade plunged straight in, and the bloody tip emerged from the chest.

Then Annan drew the sword sideways, bringing out a streak of crimson blood, spattering onto the face of the other man. Annan had sliced his right lung in half, and blood gurgled into it.

"Take this, Justice's backstab!"

After the successful stealth attack, Annan suddenly shouted aloud.

His voice boomed like thunder, startling the other man so much that he nearly lost his grip on the sword.

At that moment, Annan had already raised his sword, aiming it straight at the other's neck.

The startled young guard jerked.

He curled up, instinctively trying to dodge to the side. Still, he was too late and only managed to raise his left arm defensively.

But Annan didn't strike vertically onto his forearm. Instead, he slashed diagonally, cleaving a chunk of flesh from the upper arm.

"Argh—!"

The young guard screamed in agony as he stumbled backward.

But to his surprise, he didn't lose the ability to counterattack due to the pain—

Annan clearly saw a faint red glow burst from the young guard's heart. His sword arm erupted with numerous thin muscle fibers, the blood teeming with numerous crimson parasites swimming around. His grip on the sword steadied considerably.

He tried to draw his sword in retaliation. But Annan stepped forward and slapped the blade with the flat of his sword.

He easily deflected the incoming longsword, the blade lightly grazing the shoulder of the sword-bearing arm, bringing forth another spray of blood.

Despite being an ordinary stroke, the guard's blood vessels burst as if exploding, with blood spurting out and wriggling on the ground like living things.

The pained guard couldn't help but release his sword, and as it clattered to the ground, he howled miserably. The muscles in his face twitched at a near-maddened frequency, as if something was about to burst forth.

"...What the hell is this?"

Watching the scene unfold, a strong unease surged in Annan's heart.

Is this the supernatural power of this world?

Annan's instinct told him if he let the other continue to transform, the guy might unleash a second phase to attack him...

As his mind raced, a chill light silently ignited in Annan's eyes, and in an instant, a thin layer of frost covered the blade.

— Why not, let's try the Frost Sword Technique!