ISEKAI? More like I See Crap!-Chapter 160: Rings, Regrets, and Ridan ( )

"Gotcha!"

"EEEKKK!!! AH!—"

Ridan screeched, flailing in panic.

Two hooded figures stepped out of the shadows — the mysterious pair.

While Hazuki stayed completely unaware, still busy cutting goblin ears behind them...

"How’s your day, Ridan?"

The younger figure smiled.

"Ugh!! It’s you two again!"

Ridan hissed, still trying to pull his tail free.

"Let me go! I’m in the middle of something!"

The older figure calmly grabbed his cloudy tail tighter.

"Oho~ looks like someone wants to be sealed again..."

"NOOOO!!"

Ridan squeaked.

He wriggled but couldn’t get free.

"You’re pulling my tail! That’s harassment! I will report you to the Spirit Union!!"

The grip loosened a little, but not completely.

"Listen, Ridan."

He gulped.

"...What now?"

The man took out a small scroll map and pointed with his finger.

"There’s someone who wants to meet you."

Ridan’s eyes narrowed.

"Who?"

"After this man—"

He pointed toward Hazuki, who was still arguing with a goblin ear.

"—finishes this quest, guide him to this place. Make sure he gets there."

He handed the map to Ridan, who took it reluctantly.

"Well? You’re a thousand-year-old spirit. We trust you can handle this."

Ridan grumbled.

"Ughhh... Fine. You guys always throw missions at me out of nowhere."

The younger figure grinned cheekily.

"Hey, at least you’re having fun with him, right?"

Ridan narrowed his eyes.

"Why the hell did you pick someone like this?"

The older one gave a slow, knowing smile.

"You’ll see soon. But admit it—he’s better than the one from a thousand years ago."

Ridan shivered.

"Ugh... yeah. That guy. All power, no personality. Greedy, serious, selfish."

The man released Ridan’s tail.

"And look what happened because of that."

Ridan floated in silence for a moment.

"...Fine. I’ll guide him."

"Good. Now go before he starts asking where you went."

Ridan zipped away, grumbling.

Back in the clearing—

"Ridan! Where were you?"

Hazuki looked up.

Ridan floated back down, brushing imaginary dust off his cloudy shoulder.

"Huh? I was just checking around. What’s up?"

Hazuki wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Oh, nothing. I thought you might have been captured or something."

Ridan scoffed, puffing up proudly.

"No way! I’m the wise and ancient spirit! A being of a thousand years! NO ONE can catch me!"

Hazuki blinked.

"...You sure? You look kinda twitchy."

"It’s called a majestic aura disturbance. Look it up."

Hazuki raised an eyebrow but shrugged.

"Fine. Anyway, help me count these ears, Ramen-sama. I’m almost done."

"IT’S RIDAN!!"

Ridan howled, sparks puffing from his misty hair.

Hazuki just grinned and dropped another goblin ear into the bag.

"Time to loot every goblin here."

Ridan floated just above the smoking battlefield, arms crossed, smirking.

"Only take anything valuable, you hear me? Don’t you dare touch those fried clubs or rusted daggers."

His tone was sarcastic.

"I won’t!" Hazuki grumbled as he searched through a pile of burnt goblin bodies.

He knelt beside one and brushed off the soot—then stopped.

"Oh! Nice... a ring?"

He picked up a burnt silver ring from a goblin’s mangled hand.

Ridan’s eyes sparkled.

"You know, Hazuki..."

"Hmm?"

"Haven’t you ever wondered—why would a goblin have a ring?"

Hazuki blinked.

"Why?"

Ridan floated lower, his expression suddenly more serious.

"Because they take everything they can from the ones they kill."

His voice lowered a little.

"Jewelry... weapons... clothes... sometimes worse."

Hazuki tensed up.

"Ehh...?"

His hand froze mid-search.

Ridan nodded slowly.

"Goblins may be weak monsters — but they’re cruel. Sly. Tricksters by nature. They kill without mercy."

He looked toward the trees, sounding unnaturally serious.

"They don’t just steal. They torment. Destroy. They’ve done terrible things to women and entire villages. Things you’re lucky not to have seen."

Hazuki clenched his jaw, eyes narrowing.

"...For real?"

"Yes." Ridan’s voice softened now.

"That’s why, when you hear them scream—"

He turned and looked directly at Hazuki.

"—to some, it’s music. Music to the families of those they hurt."

Hazuki stared at the ring in his hand, then slowly closed his fingers around it.

"...I see."

"So... is it better to kill more goblins then?"

Hazuki asked, looking at the still-smoking battlefield.

"Heh," Ridan floated above him with a sharp grin,

"If you could wipe them all off the map completely, that’d be even better."

"Oh. Okay."

Hazuki nodded like it was just another normal task.

"Loot everything you can."

"Alright."

But after a few minutes of searching through the burned remains, Hazuki paused—holding up a burned necklace and a broken ring.

He squinted.

"Wait... then why the hell are we grabbing these rings and accessories if they’re from victims? Isn’t that kinda... wrong?"

Ridan hovered behind him, smirking.

"Heh, that’s why you’re an idiot."

"What?!"

"Listen."

Ridan floated in a slow circle.

"The reason adventurer guilds and merchants collect those accessories isn’t just to sell them for money."

"When those items are turned in to the officials, they’re logged. Tracked. Identified." freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Hazuki blinked.

"For... accessories?"

"NO, dumbass!" Ridan sighed.

"So the guild and the government can tell families of the dead. If someone recognizes an item, they can buy it back — or at least keep a piece of their loved ones as a memory."

Hazuki froze, his eyes darkening.

"...RIDAN."

"Oi! What’s with the angry aura?! You don’t even have magic!"

Hazuki clenched his fists, fire in his eyes.

"We need to kill. MORE. GOBLINS."

Ridan grinned wickedly.

"Heh... that’s what I wanted to hear."

Hazuki nodded fiercely, then immediately bent down and held up a bracelet.

"...But for now... hehehe... LOOT!"

"That’s my idiot."

While Hazuki was still bent over goblin corpses, happily looting everything — from coin pouches to half-melted ID tags — he hummed to himself.

"Hehe... more rings... ohh, even a goblin stole an adventurer ID! Naughty little gremlins..."

He tossed a bloodstained guild tag into his bag, muttering,

"This one’s silver rank. Yeesh... poor guy."

Above him, Ridan floated silently.

But for once, he wasn’t laughing.

Inside his mind—

a different storm was raging.

The one I guided before...

He didn’t care about goblins. Said they were a waste of time. Weak. Not worth the effort.

He only hunted monsters that gave more experience. Stronger enemies. Bigger stats.

Ridan’s mist flickered faintly. His eyes dulled.

All he had wanted was power. To level up. To conquer.

"I’ll become king of the world," he used to say.

"No one will look down on me again."

His form flickered again, and suddenly, a long-forgotten memory hit him like a lightning bolt.

His pupils dilated.

A name he’d forgotten.

A face he once knew.

A memory—like a locked door suddenly blown open.

And with it, the truth.

That man... the one summoned by the Human Kingdom a thousand years ago —

the one who was supposed to save the world,

the one who killed the Demon King.

He didn’t stop after that.

He wrecked the world for a hundred years.

Ridan’s breath caught — even though he didn’t have lungs anymore.

I... I was there.

I was his party member.

Not just a spirit or a guide. A living being.

The Sage. The Chosen Sage. One of the Five.

And when I tried to stop him...

His vision flashed—chains, pain, a glowing red spell circle, and his own screams.

He sealed me away.

Because I refused to help him destroy what was left.

Ridan floated silently above Hazuki, who was still laughing below, clueless and carefree.

But this time, Ridan didn’t smile.

He just stared down with cold eyes.

"...And now... I’m guiding another one."

He watched Hazuki stumble over a goblin skull and mutter something about selling it for bone powder.

"...Let’s hope this idiot doesn’t fall like the last one."

( End Of Chapter )