Chapter 245 - Branching Point (5)

Ghost Master.

The administrator with control over the community, and a legendary veteran among Players.

"So it really is you. GM."

For a moment, my breath caught.

'Hans I is GM...?'

I was confused. If that was true, why would a big shot like GM hide his identity to approach me? Just to get a look at me because I was famous these days?

'No, that can't be it.'

GM suspected I was a Player. That was why he had approached me at the banquet to test me, then even followed me afterward. Yes, that was a much more plausible theory, however unwelcome it was.

'Then he must have cast that Gust spell earlier, too.'

With that theory in place, the mystery naturally unraveled. While he was tailing me, the carriage had suddenly exploded, and smoke bombs had obscured his view. He must have wanted to know whether I was alive.

'I'll think more about that later.'

I returned to the most important question. This man had dropped out of the sky, called Hans I GM, and radiated a presence that made even the knights tremble.

Who on earth was—

"Hurry up and unban me. Otherwise, you really are going to die right here."

... Huh?

'Unban him?'

An involuntary chill ran down my spine. The reason was simple. Of everyone I knew, only one person would make that demand of GM.

A proud son of Korea.

'Lee Baekho.'

Of course, it might not be him. Surely GM had banned more than a handful of people. Someone else could have come nursing a grudge and thrown a tantrum like this.

But...

"Hey, old man. Can't you hear me?"

For some reason, I kept seeing Baekho in him.

'... Is it really him?'

As I considered that possibility, I committed his appearance to memory once again.

'Somewhere around 175 centimeters tall.'

He wore a neat suit with nothing that could be called equipment, and unless he was disguised, he was human. Fair skin, no noticeable scars. Platinum-blond hair slicked back in a pompadour.

His features were undeniably handsome, but perhaps because of that peculiar look in his eyes, he seemed more like a troublemaker than a refined young noble—

"Lord Jandel."

As I studied him, a knight approached and whispered to me.

"Whatever you do, don't run."

"... What do you mean?"

"He isn't someone you can escape from."

His voice was plainly tense. Did he actually know who this man was?

"Who is that man?"

I hurriedly voiced my question. And...

"That man is—"

Just as the knight was about to answer...

"Oh, right. You guys were here, too."

His gaze shifted to us. Seriously? We'd practically been whispering, and he'd heard us from all the way over there?

"Bjorn Jandel."

Since he recited my name correctly, he apparently knew who I was, too. Though perhaps he didn't know that much about me?

"I hear you kicked that edgelord bastard's ass recently. And you're only in your first year."

Still gripping Hans I firmly by the throat, he regarded me with curiosity, as though he'd stumbled across something entertaining.

"I'm only asking on the tiniest off chance, but..."

Then he asked me,

"Are you a Player?"

Ha. No wonder I'd felt uneasy the moment he recognized my name. This kind of premonition never missed.

There was only one answer I could give.

"... So you're an evil spirit."

Rather than playing dumb and asking what he meant, I drew a line by calling him an evil spirit. Whether this was Lee Baekho or not didn't matter. With so many people watching, what else could I say?

"Hmm, that's strange. Sure, you've made a name for yourself, but I don't think you're interesting enough to catch GM's attention."

He quietly muttered, "Unless you're a Player..." and narrowed his eyes.

Then...

"Hey."

Though his lips were smiling, his voice held no particular emotion as he continued.

"Answer only yes or no."

"Don't ans—Urgh!"

The knight who had been trying to advise me took an invisible blow to the abdomen and went flying. I didn't need to ask who had done it.

"Oh, worried about all the people here? Don't be. If you're a Player, I'll kill them all for you. Sure, I can throw in that much service to satisfy my curiosity."

He grinned, forcing the choice on me again.

"Are you, or aren't you?"

I barely stopped myself from saying no. The question itself was suspicious. Why repeat the same question while insisting on a yes-or-no answer? It was almost as though he had an ability to discern the truth.

'There are Essences that do exactly that.'

With no information to go on, caution on every front was the sensible choice.

"If you don't like it, just say no. All it takes is one word, okay? I'm genuinely curious."

The more he obsessed over getting an answer, the more my suspicions grew. Which left me only one choice.

"I ask first."

Rather than merely staying silent, I changed the subject, with the air of someone unwilling to let an enemy control the conversation.

"Evil spirit. Are you with the assassins, too?"

I said what a barbarian who didn't even know what GM meant might say. Silence would only leave both him and the knights with questions.

Of course, he wasn't so easily handled.

"I believe I told you to answer only yes or no."

The moment he spoke, the air grew heavy. My body froze as though I'd encountered a natural predator.

'Is this... Bloodlust?'

I couldn't understand it. Was it really possible to emit Bloodlust this intense outside the community?

I didn't know. Right now, only one thing was certain.

"Wow, you're holding up pretty well."

He was like a tyrant. A capricious tyrant who got everything he wanted, regardless of time or place.

"How about answering now?"

My mind went blank. Was this how the Clown had felt at the Round Table? My breathing stopped, and my vision blurred as though the blood vessels leading to my brain had been blocked.

A thought suddenly occurred to me.

'... What happens if I say yes?'

I knew it was a vain hope taking root in a weakened mind, but I couldn't stop it.

'If he really is Lee Baekho... couldn't I just reveal who I am?'

Maybe that would help me. We were both Korean, after all. If the personality he'd shown in the community was genuine, he might treat me like an actual older brother.

'Right, maybe...'

Depending on my answer, there might be a future where Lee Baekho power-leveled me, I grew stronger, and one day we escaped this world together.

But the instant I imagined that future...

"... Bjorn!"

I snapped back to my senses. There were several reasons. First, I still wasn't certain he was Lee Baekho. And the moment I revealed my identity, the hundreds of civilians here would become corpses, unable to speak.

No, more precisely...

"Misha?"

I looked toward the voice and saw Misha rushing over, out of breath. Well, we were near home. She must have heard the commotion and come just in case.

But this wasn't good.

"Oh, your girlfriend?"

The man grinned at Misha, as though he'd found a useful weakness. For the moment, the pressure constricting my body vanished, allowing me to move freely again.

So...

I darted forward, immediately putting myself between him and Misha to protect her from any sudden attack he might make.

"The Red Cat Tribe really is cute, I'll give you that."

He nodded as though he understood, then asked again.

"Answer yes or no."

For some reason, he was addressing Misha, not me.

"Red Cat. Are you a Player?"

"Huh? A P-Preya, nyah?"

"Are you an evil spirit?"

"N-no, I'm not... nyah?"

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Misha answered in confusion, and he nodded.

"That's true."

"You don't have to answer him. Misha, get behind me."

I quickly hid her behind my back.

Watching me do that, he chuckled.

"Ha, seeing you care about an NPC makes me think you aren't a Player... but something's off. Why the hell won't you answer?"

Cold sweat had been running down my back for a while now. If I answered, he'd catch me lying. If I didn't, that would look suspicious in itself.

"Why should I do what an enemy wants?"

For now, I offered a suitably barbarian reason and avoided answering altogether.

"Oh, fair point."

He nodded as though convinced, then asked playfully,

"But do you really want to be my enemy?"

Ha. What a murderous look in his eyes. Was this what people meant when they said someone's mouth was smiling but their eyes weren't?

"If you don't answer, I'll kill that Red Cat."

He had finally put me in checkmate. The moment I heard it, I knew it wasn't an empty threat.

'Goddamn it.'

What should I do? I racked my brains, but couldn't come up with a decent answer.

That was when it happened.

["... Mr. Baekho."]

"Huh?"

["See you next time."]

Light burst from Hans I's body. All this time, he'd been hanging by the collar, doing nothing but moving his eyes.

* * *

"Ha, fucking hell..."

Lee Baekho cursed as he got up. A vast farm filled with the fresh scent of fruit stretched around him. It didn't take long to realize where he'd landed. There was only one place with farmland like this.

Gnometree, District 6 of Raphdonia.

"God, this is so annoying. That bastard's never going to come out of the Magic Tower on his own now..."

Lee Baekho readily admitted that he'd let him escape. Even if he rushed back right now, no one would be there. It had clearly been his own error in judgment.

Since his opponent was a mage, he'd been on guard against an escape by teleportation. That was why he'd gripped his throat, preventing him from even chanting.

But a chantless teleport? And targeting none other than him?

"Fine, so you've got a few tricks yourself, huh?"

He felt a little regret, wondering what might have happened if he hadn't underestimated his opponent, but quickly shook it off. It had already happened, after all. Dwelling on the past wasn't his style.

Besides, it hadn't been a complete waste. He'd found out that bastard was GM.

'I've got nothing but time. I'll just keep making the rounds.'

Lee Baekho scratched his head vigorously, then turned his attention elsewhere.

"Never did get an answer out of him."

Bjorn Jandel. The barbarian he'd happened to meet while chasing GM.

"... Well, whatever."

Lee Baekho stopped wondering whether the barbarian was a Player. For one thing, the odds were higher that he wasn't... and he'd already lost all interest in him. Even if he learned now that he really was a Player, he doubted he'd care.

Bastards who were satisfied with this world and fawned over NPCs were no help to his plans.

Lee Baekho flopped carelessly onto the ground. Then he used [Spatial Interference] to pluck grapes hanging from a tree and popped them into his mouth.

"Ah, nothing beats naturally grown grapes."

Fresh air, plenty of tasty food. And that GM bastard would be holed up in the Magic Tower for a while anyway.

'Can't be bothered to go all the way to Bifron, either.'

Staying here for a while seemed like a decent idea.

* * *

Two days had passed since the incident.

A title conferment, assassins, GM, and even Lee Baekho. A truly ridiculous number of things had happened in one day, and I'd spent the last two cleaning up afterward.

First, to cover the assassins...

["We'll take them into custody and interrogate them."]

The captured assassins had been escorted to Mozlan. According to the news a knight brought me today, they'd been hired by someone whose identity they didn't know. Apparently, that same someone had also supplied the explosive that killed three knights instantly...

["Their orders were to kill you, Lord Jandel, and take the Essence you had been granted."]

There were quite a few suspicious details. The Essence part I could accept. The box holding the test tube had been incredibly sturdy. Ambushing me, killing me, and taking it was certainly possible.

But...

["What if I'd absorbed it before then?"]

["We couldn't make sense of that, either."]

Apparently, the client had even offered a substantial bounty on my head. That meant the Essence was merely a pretext. Otherwise, there was no reason to put money on killing me.

So Mozlan suspected that the client was Noark.

At least, until yesterday.

["... So you're saying it was probably one of the major clans?"]

Mozlan had concluded that one of the major clans was behind the incident. Apparently, Noark would have sent more reliable people. They said a contract like this wasn't Noark's style.

Above all, the clans had ample motive, too.

["Yes. They most likely intended to harm you and pin the blame on the royal family. In fact, we detected several attempts to do just that in a few taverns that night."]

It was a reasonable theory, but it left a question. What about what the Clown had said? Had he obtained this information in advance?

'Come to think of it, he said an assassin was coming. He never said Noark was sending one...'

Maybe he'd decided he had nothing to lose by telling me in advance, since they weren't the ones sending the assassins anyway.

'... Or maybe the real one hasn't even come yet?'

For some reason, a wave of self-loathing washed over me. Ugh. Why did I have to live in fear even in the city?

Anyway, enough about the assassins. Next.

'GM.'

To cut to the chase, GM wasn't Hans I.

["The Hans Aifreia you saw that day must have been someone in disguise."]

When they raided his home, they found the real Hans Aifreia unconscious. They'd tested his mana just in case, but the real Hans I didn't have a shred of magical talent.

Simply put, someone had borrowed his identity.

'Tsk.'

That was a real disappointment. I'd thought this might finally reveal GM's identity.

'Still, it wasn't a complete loss.'

That was one of the few consolations.

For one thing, I'd learned that GM suspected I was a Player. At least I now had time to prepare.

'Seeing me refuse to answer must have deepened his suspicions. He'll probably make his move when the community opens next.'

Fortunately, I had an idea what to expect there. So I'd already prepared one countermeasure.

Anyway, on to the next item.

'Lee Baekho.'

First off, that man really was Lee Baekho. GM had called him that at the end, after all.

["... Mr. Baekho. See you next time."]

With his throat in Baekho's grip, he'd spoken through magic rather than his own voice. Well, that probably wasn't particularly significant.

["That man is... My apologies. I'm not authorized to tell you."]

Later, I'd asked that knight who Lee Baekho was, but that was the only answer I got. Was this why people said timing was everything? If Lee Baekho hadn't interrupted him back then, I thought he would've told me.

'He really is dangerous...'

Even if I met Lee Baekho again, I doubted we could be as friendly as we'd been before. I suppose I'd learned that our dispositions were completely different. I hadn't believed the innocent manner he'd shown in the community was his true self, but this was far too much.

'He was a complete fucking maniac...'

Anyway, enough about Lee Baekho. Next.

'Misha.'

Honestly, this was the biggest headache, the part that made my breath catch.

"Bjorn, please, please don't take this the wrong way, nyah?"

"..."

"Y-you won't suddenly disappear somewhere, will you? Y-you won't... nyah?"

Misha had started looking at me with anxiety.