F-ranker Sword Saint: My Soulbound Sword is Secretly SSS-tier!-Chapter 228: Another Visitor?

Inside a spacious wooden shack with a huge wooden table at the center, the atmosphere was rather grim.

The Relic-Hunting Cohort of Egress was back, and they were sharing the results of their hunts.

Of course, they had no choice but to be transparent about Gris’ death, too, even though they didn’t want to dampen everyone’s morale.

This was why Caleb decided to tell his temporary subordinates about the obvious bad news first, then the good news that they’ve defeated three of the five, leaving only The Eye and The Crown, so that the party leaders would end up in a slightly better mood.

The death of one of their S-rankers still loomed like a ghost at the back of their heads, though.

Still, they were at least in condition to discuss what needed to be done next.

Daru, meanwhile, was quite content to watch the fellow, older human’s leadership, still a bit over the moon about his S-tier Legacy Sword Skill Scroll as it brushed his mind from time to time.

He could be a guild master of a very respectable guild if he wanted to.

But Daru only chuckled inwardly at the thought. How could he, a young man who struggled in communicating with others, be an effective leader?

Furthermore, he was way too young and weak to be thinking of such matters for the future.

It was better to focus on the meeting that would increase his chances of escaping the god-forsaken realm of Limbo first.

Caleb informed everyone that The Eye was missing, giving them a concise summary of what happened, then he quickly attempted to shift the focus of the conversation to The Crown, hoping that no one would ask about the rather alarming problem.

At least not before they laid siege to the Stone Castle.

Unfortunately, the issue was just too glaring, and before he could shift the topic, Thrad raised a hand.

Caleb sighed.

"Yes, Thrad?"

"Well, knowing you, you must be trying to defer this conversation to a later date, but I honestly think we should discuss it now before we move on to discuss the siege on the castle. This might cause some issues if suddenly thought of in the middle of our invasion."

The less intelligent among the party leaders turned to the stocky dwarf with furrowed brows.

It felt like they were missing something important, but couldn’t really grasp what, so perhaps Thrad could throw some light?

And the dwarf indeed did.

"The Eye...what do we do about the jester? What if that thing began hiding from us? Worse, what if it killed itself in the river? How would we retrieve its relic, then?"

Everyone paled at the realization.

Indeed.

Their return to the Surface seemed to be currently dependent on the suicidal whims of a depressed demonic jester!

It was then that Lesha chimed in to help.

"Stop panicking, you idiots. If such a thing was bound to happen, it would most likely be mentioned in the page of The Eye. I think that the bastard would strike at an opportune time instead. We’ve seen Harlowe’s hitpoints. The demonic jester probably isn’t as strong as Rocante. That thing will show itself sooner or later, so don’t overthink it. We just have to be ready to keep our lives once Harlowe reveals himself."

Although everyone knew that Lesha had a few screws loose herself, her suggestions were always sound and logical.

There was a high chance that what she said was what would happen.

So, the concern shifted from uncertainty and hopelessness to danger...which was strangely more comforting.

Everyone found the jester hiding instead of ambushing them at a dangerous time more horrifying.

Caleb smartly chose to stay silent, scanning his eyes over the meeting participants instead, then nodding.

"If Lesha’s explanation suffices, then let’s move on to the discussion of the attack on the Stone Castle. So, here’s how it will go..."

He then proceeded to explain that they would have an hour, at most, to conquer the Stone Castle, that during that time, they would go on an all-out offensive to look for The Crown inside, and that after around an hour, their path of escape would probably be sealed by the returning wraith army of the first floor.

They would have to finish their objective within that time frame.

Thanks to the daunting task ahead, the party leaders finally got their heads off Harlowe’s matter.

After all, they wouldn’t even need to worry about it if they failed in this operation.

The meeting finished around three hours later.

The party leaders had been very active, asking even dumb questions that Caleb appreciated, as these little things might suddenly matter a lot, and there would be no time to talk once in battle.

Then, when there were no more questions, the topic proceeded to the operation after, skipping Harlowe’s matter as Lesha believed that the demonic jester would show himself and give them problems during the castle siege, or after, once they were battered.

The next and final operation was the attack on the Lord of the Cemetery and the five graves he was guarding.

Caleb only mentioned it briefly in an attempt to make it seem as though he was already looking ahead...that there was no doubt in his heart that they would succeed in the Stone Castle Invasion.

It was rather unfortunate that before he could conclude the meeting, one of the party leaders brought up another problem he was trying to defer.

"S-Sir Ascalon!" called out a male, B-ranker Hawkin, the long feathers around his head tied up into what looked like a man bun.

Frisker was quite a new addition, and so he was still a bit too reserved with his words.

"Yes, Frisker?"

"I just remembered that Lord Nando said we needed at least three top rankers apart from Sir Onimaru to take on the Lord of the Cemetery. With Sir Gris gone, d-do you perhaps have a contingency plan on how we can challenge the Gravewarden and his enforcers?"

Caleb fell silent, cursing inside.

He shouldn’t have been too greedy in trying to raise the morale of his forces.

Now, there was a high chance of the opposite happening if he couldn’t give them a satisfactory answer.

’Damn it...what to do...’

Even Lesha was out of cunning words this time.

But then, just when the mood was starting to stir for the worse, the wooden door of the meeting shack banged open, and one of the Damnedlings under Hark’s command, who should’ve been out patrolling the periphery outside the Hidden Reprieve, entered, panicking.

"Caleb! T-There’s a problem! A Visitor! There’s another human Visitor, but she’s attacking our comrades. Quick! Maybe Daru can help."