"Couldn't you at least give us a damn warning before you start blowing stuff up?" Hawk said, covering his mouth and nose and coughing as the dust covered them.

"Humph!" Mike scoffed, resting the hammer on his shoulder and looking at Hawk. "If you're afraid of getting dirty, you should just quit being a hunter and join the human department instead."

"The human department?" Hawk replied, his voice hoarse from coughing through the dust. "Are you kidding me? Nah, man, those guys are gonna work me like a slave. All that paperwork's gonna kill me before the monsters do," he grumbled.

"Huh, aren't you a slave already?" Mike snorted, his words laced with sarcasm.

"Hey, that's uncalled for," Hawk said, but he didn't sound too bothered by what Mike said.

"Can't you two chatboxes shut up for a moment?" Marco snapped at the noisy duo, his frustration evident in his tone. "At least don't embarrass yourselves in front of the guests," he added, looking forward.

Hawk and Mike exchanged an embarrassed look, stopped talking, and followed his line of sight to see a man standing in the distance ahead of them. He had a dagger in his hand and looked at them warily.

"Hmm, is he the one who killed the Viper Wolves?" Hawk wondered, his brow furrowed as he eyed the man.

"So this bastard and his team are the ones who stole our mission," Mike growled through clenched teeth, his eyes narrowing as he glared at the man before them.

"But where's his team?" Marco interjected, his eyes sweeping the hall as he took in their surroundings. "I don't see them here," he said, scanning the area before returning his attention to the man.

"Could they have died in the trap?" Mike speculated, a subtle smile crept on his face.

"But we didn't find any bodies when we came through the corridor," Hawk pointed out. "Not even the two hunters the report said were killed in the trap."

"Couldn't he have just moved them out?" Mike suggested.

"While dodging arrows? Yeah, right, I don't think so." Hawk dismissed the idea.

"So what are you saying, they just disappeared on their own?"

"I don't know, but something doesn't seem right," Hawk replied, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed their surroundings.

"Well, let's just ask him," Marco said, taking the lead as he walked towards the man, followed by Falco and Mike. They stopped at a considerable distance between them and the unknown man.

***

Eric studied the trio as they made their way toward him, but he didn't move and stayed on his ground. He lowered his dagger to show that he wasn't hostile, but he didn't put it away. He had to wait and see what their intentions were, but he hoped they weren't hostile because he wasn't sure he could face all of them.

"Hi, I'm Marco, the captain of Assault Team B." The short man in the middle introduced himself before pointing to the two men behind him. "These two are Hawk and Mike."

Marco paused and looked at him as if waiting for him to introduce himself, but even after a while, Eric didn't say anything.

He was absent-minded, and his mind was wandering. He knew he was in another world, so he wasn't surprised when Marco spoke to him in another language, but what surprised him was that he understood what Marco was saying, even though he had no idea what language he was speaking.

It must be the effect of the [Language Adaptation] skill. He thought back to the description of the first skill he received when he arrived in this world. The skill was able to change the text into a language he was familiar with, and even when he absorbed the knowledge books, they automatically changed into a language he knew. It was already a valuable skill that saved him the time of having to learn the language of this world from scratch, but he hadn't expected it to have such an effect of directly translating the words as they were spoken.

Seeing that Eric said nothing, Mike snapped. "Hey, you bastard, didn't you hear what Captain Marco said?"

Eric broke from his thoughts and looked at the burly man who was staring daggers at him. He didn't know the reason for the open hostility, but it only made him more cautious.

"It looks like you didn't hear me, so I'll ask you again," Marco said. "Who are you, and what team are you with? The armor you're wearing belongs to the Patrol Division, so which team do you belong to?"

"Huh, can you understand me?" Eric spoke hesitantly. Before he could have a conversation with them, he had to make sure that they understood him. He didn't know if they were like him, with a system that could translate his language for them, but he doubted that they had one, as the system's users were extremely rare, according to Thomas' journal.

"Huh, are you an idiot? Of course, we could understand you, you fool," the archer said, giving him a strange look. All three of them did.

Eric smiled after seeing that they understood him, and he quickly tried to cover his mistake so that they wouldn't suspect him. "Cough, yeah, sorry, it's been a long time since I had water and my throat is dry, so I thought you wouldn't understand what I was saying."

He wasn't a good liar, and most of his friends laughed at his lousy excuses, but he hoped they would buy it.

Fortunately, they didn't push the matter, and before they could ask any questions, one of them snapped.

"Just answer the questions you have already been asked. Identify yourself and what unit you belong to." The burly man grunted.

Huh, what should I say now?

Eric was in a difficult position. From the looks of it, they seemed to be sure that he was one of them because he was wearing the same armor as them, just not sure which team.

Should I confess and tell them the truth, or should I play along and pretend I'm one of them?

He wasn't sure how they would react if he told them that he wasn't one of them and that he had just taken the armor from a corpse he found. Would they take it easy and not blame him, or would they suspect him of killing one of their colleagues and taking his armor?

I don't want to be suspected of murdering anyone, especially a member of the Temple of Iron and Fire.

From the books he absorbed, there was some information about some powers that ruled the continent. The Temple of Iron and Fire was one of the top four forces on the continent, and they had a huge amount of land belonging to them and a huge number of people working for them.

If I make an enemy of them, my days won't be good.

Eric shuddered at the thought of being chased and hunted by a bunch of mad dogs. He had just arrived in this magical world, and he didn't want to spend the rest of his life running and hiding.

Besides, it's not a bad idea to infiltrate the temple. It would be beneficial for me to get those things.

He remembered Thomas' journals and the things he mentioned in them. They were things he desperately needed to solve his problem, but they were in the temple headquarters, and he couldn't get them if he asked or no matter how much he worked under them, so he had to steal this item. Even if he risked being hunted down afterward, he was okay with that. That was how valuable that item was. With the system, it wouldn't be long before he became strong enough for the temple to think twice before coming after him.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

So I'll just play along.

After finishing his thoughts and making his decision, Eric looked at Marco.

"Oh yeah, sorry. My name is John, and I belong to the Patrol Division, Team E," Eric said, nodding politely.

"Nice to meet you, John," Marco replied. "Can you tell me exactly what you are doing here? And where are your teammates? I thought the mission to investigate this place was transferred to the assault team, and your division has nothing to do with it anymore. It's no longer your responsibility," he inquired.

So I shouldn't be here, is what he wants to say. Eric understood the hidden meaning behind Marco's words. According to his words, the patrol division should have discovered this place recently and handed the responsibility of the investigation over to the assault team, but here he was, a member of the patrol team in this place that had nothing to do with his division anymore.

His thoughts raced as he tried to come up with a believable excuse.

"Well, to tell you the truth, we were ambushed by monsters while investigating another area," Eric said, his voice trembling. He raised his hand to cover his face, so they couldn't tell his exact emotions from his face. "We fought them, but the monsters were too strong."

"So you ran away," Mike said.

"No, we all split up and ran in different directions. Fortunately, just as I was about to be killed by that monster, I stumbled upon a waterfall. Thanks to it, I was able to escape. Luckily, the monster didn't jump after me," Eric explained, shuddering as he remembered his encounter with the Venomous bear; it was the closest he had ever come to death.

"Strong monsters, you say. What was it like?" Hawk asked.

Eric looked at him and shook his head. "I have no idea. I've never seen anything like it."

"It's okay; just tell me what it was like. Maybe we'll recognize it, and who knows, perhaps your team had a chance to survive against them too," Hawk pressed, trying to get some useful information out of him.

"The monster looked like a bear, but it was at least three times bigger and had four red eyes and some kind of sharp spikes coming out of its back," Eric described, his voice trembling as he recounted the terrifying encounter. He flinched and continued to shake, hoping to make his act believable.

After Eric finished describing the monster, he saw Hawk's eyes widen, and he hissed, causing Marco to look at him.

"What do you think? Did you recognize the monster?" Marco asked.

"Yes," Hawk nodded before continuing, "from the description, it matches the Venomous Bear we encountered before. It's a rank 2 monster."

"What?" Mike, who was listening, looked startled before he looked deeply at Eric.

So that monster was a rank 2, huh? Eric thought as he watched their reactions. Looking at their faces, it didn't seem like it was considered weak.

"Yeah." Hawk nodded. "But it's just..." he murmured, his eyes fixed on Eric, seeming to have some doubts.

"I see. It must have been hard for you," Marco said, giving Eric a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Surviving against a rank 2 monster alone is a miracle, and you should be happy that you're still alive."

"Thank you," Eric replied quietly, keeping his head down. As for the talk about his teammates, they didn't mention it again. He figured they must have guessed that his teammates wouldn't be as lucky as he was.

"So what happened after you fell off the waterfall?" Hawk asked.

"Well, I took a short rest to tend to my wounds before moving on. I was lost and didn't know where to go, so I took a random path. But after a while, I was chased by Viperwolves. Luckily, I stumbled upon this ruin, which saved me from being killed because the monsters couldn't get through the trap," Eric explained.

"I see, it was really hard for you," Marco acknowledged, squeezing Eric's shoulder before stepping back. "Hey, not that I suspect anything, but do you think you could give me your tag?"

"My tag?" Eric asked, confused by the request.

"Yes, your identification tag. Like this..." Marco said, pulling out his own ID tag to show it to Eric.

Eric's eyes widened as he read the information on the tag.

"R-Rank 2?"

He is rank 2, the same as that monster, the Venomous bear. Does that mean he's just as strong?

"Yes, I reached it a while ago," Marco said, not noticing his distress. "Now, can you show me yours?"

"Captain, what's wrong? Why are you asking him for his tag all of a sudden?" asked Mike.

"Shh, be quiet." Hawk shushed Mike.

"What are you..."

Mike was about to lash out at Hawk but stopped himself when he saw the hardened look he gave him.

Does he suspect me? But how? Did I say something wrong?

Eric's thoughts raced through his head, but in the end, he answered. "Sure." He pulled out the first tag he had found in the forest and handed it over. Fortunately, he had taken it out of his inventory before and kept it in his pocket. He didn't know how they would react if they saw him pulling things out of thin air.

Marco took the pendant from his hand and brought it to his eye level. He turned it over and examined it carefully.

"I can't help but take your actions as a sign of mistrust. Do you think I'm some kind of impostor?" Eric asked.

"Oh, yes. Sorry about that. It's the force of old habits." Marco said and handed him the pendant back. "I always check the tags of other hunters I meet."

"Are you that paranoid? Who would dare to fake and infiltrate the temple?" Eric said, taking the tag back while looking unconcerned.

"Hmm, I guess you're right," Marco said. "I apologize if I make you uncomfortable." He extended his hand, offering a handshake.

"You don't have to apologize, it's not a big deal." Eric said, shaking his hand.

Just as Eric inwardly relaxed, he felt Marco tightening his grip and heard him say something that startled him.

"Oh, by the way, one last thing. Could you show me your stigma?" Marco asked.

"My stigma?"

Shit, what does he mean by that?

Before Eric could think any further, Marco's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"You don't have one, do you?" He smiled.

They locked eyes, and before Eric knew it, he was suddenly launched to the wall.