The rewards of the quest only fueled Lain's resolve to survive.
They also brought a wave of memories from the novel's plot.
Before his transmigration, Lain had read every available chapter of the story.
Unfortunately, it had been left incomplete when the releases stopped abruptly.
Still, it had covered enough for him to know one crucial thing: the original Lain's story… and the eventual destruction of the clan.
The backstory of Lain Solmere was briefly mentioned, revealed through the words of a survivor of the clan's fall.
According to the novel, Lain did survive this mission. But that survival came at a steep price.
He was scapegoated, entangled in the schemes of a hidden traitor, and eventually cast aside—his fate pitiful as he watched everything crumble from the sidelines.
He was a tool for the downfall of his clan.
This particular mission was vaguely explained in the novel.
All Lain knew now was that the original had survived it and obtained an artifact—only to fall into a living hell afterward.
This whole situation was maddening, but Lain had decided to go through the simplest way.
'I only need to survive and I'll obtain the locations, right?'
Without hesitation, Lain left his room, walked through the brightly lit corridor and approached his mother.
"M-Mother…" Lain said, suppressing his trauma, "I need your help. Help me contact Captain Kaida."
Lain's mother, Cira, evidently surprised about this, replied, "W-what? What's wrong?"
"I have a foreboding. Please, we don't have time," Lain tried to keep a convincing act.
Seeing his determined eyes, Cira refrained from asking questions as she got up.
"Alright, darling… I'll do that immediately."
In the guest room where Lain decided to wait, a woman, looking younger than her age, walked in.
She barely has any wrinkles. Her short white hair complemented her dark blue eyes beautifully.
Within twenty minutes of being contacted, Kaida left her post at the frontlines and arrived at the Solmere Family house.
She looked towards the center of the room, where two couches were facing each other, a table between them.
Lain sat on one, his gaze fixed in place as his thoughts drifted.
Kaida sat in front of him, saying, "Lain, what's wrong? I heard you wanted to talk to me urgently."
'This woman…the woman who killed Lain in the novell. Oh well, here goes nothing…' Lain thought before he replied, "Captain, you might not believe what I say, but hear me out.
"The mission I'll be going on… I will be targeted during it. They want to kill me."
Kaida furrowed her brows as the room's temperature began to drop.
"Explain."
"My mother must have told you that I said I had a foreboding. During the past two missions, I have felt constantly watched and all of a sudden, I felt like I'd die today."
"Lain," Kaida said, her voice dripping with annoyance. "I left the Edge for this. Are you being serious right now? Is this what you've come up with because of fear?"
The pressure was becoming suffocating, but Lain forced himself to stay calm as he spoke.
"Why will I joke with my life? I'm telling the truth!" In desperation, Lain added, "I think there's going to be a betrayal within the clan!"
Kaida seemed to lose control of her anger at that moment.
The mana-charge light sources flickered as Lain fell from his chair.
He looked up to see Kaida staring absentmindedly, then yelled in a muffled tone.
"C-captain!"
Kaida snapped out of it and with a hint of realization, she retracted the pressure and exhaled deeply, rubbing her temple.
"Damn it... Sorry, some things tend to get on my nerves easily," she stated in a solemn tone.
'Oh, yes. How did I forget this woman is a family woman to the end! That's the main reason why I'm trusting her. She's protective of us!'
Rising back up to the chair, Lain heaved a sigh and shrugged.
"I understand."
Putting that aside, Kaida seemed to hesitate for a moment, before she spoke.
"For years now, I have suspected something like that…"
Her face seemed to darken as she added:
"Since your father's death."
After possessing this body and knowing what caused the original's trauma ten years ago, Lain had pieced up some stuff and guessed the clan's betrayal was related to his father's death.
He could only reciprocate her expression, "I see."
"You are reacting to this better than I expected," Kaida stated, "In fact you are acting differently from usual. You must really be scared for you to leave your comfort zone."
Lain's eyes twitched as he realized he was acting like the original poorly.
'My mental state is to blame. I'm a very good actor, not only because of talent, but because I did it a lot to face that bastard. Oh, the bad times.'
Ignoring her observation, Lain said, "We need a plan to save me first. I'll join hands with you to drag out the betrayer later."
Putting aside how Lain wanted to handle the betrayer, Kaida nodded, knowing the severity of the situation.
"You seem to have something in mind. Tell me."
'Ah… thank goodness. This went smoothly. The captain is the only person in this world that I can comfortably interact with right now.'
This was because of how he perceived her from the novel's description and her personality.
As Lain and Kaida discussed, they realized that the betrayer's plans weren't simple.
The day they chose to attack Lain was the same day Kaida was assume to have more work at the Edge!
Things were becoming meticulous.
- - -
By the time Lain and Kaida formed a plan to play a part in his survival, it was an hour till Lain departed for his mission.
He immediately got dressed and practiced spell casting for a short while.
The team assembled and set out for their mission to scout the Northeast border for infiltrators.
However, Lain felt the real danger lay in the betrayal he expected from one of his teammates.
It was easier to have a backstabber than get attacked by outsiders, especially in a secure place like the Northeast which is closer to where the squads were.
He remained calm, keeping his suspicions hidden, knowing the plan with Kaida was his only hope right now.
He watched his four teammates and took mental note of them.
Elias, the ever-cheerful teammate, seemed loyal, but Lain couldn't shake the feeling that his true intentions were hidden.
The others, Mark and Joel, were more distant, and Lain held them as prime suspects.
The Captain, Cid, stoic and unreadable, had been placed on this team by Kaida herself, but he was only aware of Kaida's prior suspicions and not the actual plans.
In fact, no one was aware of it because of Lain and Kaida's agreement.
After hours of trekking through hostile terrain, the group reached a clearing where they had just fought a beast.
Lain kept his distance, watching, waiting, and carefully analyzing every movement.
Suddenly, Lain heard a voice like it was right by his ear.
"Young master, listen to me carefully. Don't be startled."
Of course Lain was still startled, but after recognizing it as Elias, he composed himself and acted like an insect startled him.
Joel, the joker, mocked Lain slightly, and Lain pretended to laugh dryly while he listened to Elias.
"I found out that this mission was actually made to target you."
Then an idea popped up in Lain's head.
'Was it Elias that was responsible for saving the original Lain?'