Chapter 322 - Role (2)

“Laura, we have to go back, now...!”

“Didn't you see? That woman uses Aura. And that man Luhenpraha is an even worse monster.”

“But...!”

“Going back won't change anything. This is the rational choice.”

Amelia gritted her teeth at Laura's words as her sister ran, all but dragging her along by the arm. For some reason, she felt close to tears.

“The rational choice...? Are you crazy? How is you dying and me surviving a rational choice?!”

Amelia wrenched her arm free with all her strength, and Laura stopped running ahead of her. Laura sighed.

“Amelia, listen to your sister today. We don't have time for—”

“What's that supposed to mean?! Stop talking like this is the last time...!”

“... That's not what I mean.”

“Then what do you mean? Why are you just running away without even thinking about going back and trying something?!”

“Because this gives us a better chance of surviving!”

Laura shouted as though angry at her disobedient little sister, then continued in a rush.

“Emily didn't kill Felik Barker. She used a paralyzing needle. And she slung him over her shoulder like she needed him for something. That means she wasn't planning to kill him right away. Besides, I'm still alive and well.”

“Oh...”

The sound escaped Amelia before she knew it. Even in that desperate situation, her sister had considered all of that before making her decision.

“It's worrying, but this is still our best option. We have better odds this way than if we threw our lives away attacking her.”

“...”

“Now, if you understand, hurry along.”

Laura started moving again as though even this was wasting precious time, and Amelia hurried after her.

How long had they been running when the Reinweils sisters encountered some familiar faces?

“Huh? Laura, Amelia? You're still alive?”

“... Mr. Derbon.”

It was the clan members who had abandoned Felik Barker and fled. Whether something had happened or they had split up, only half of them remained.

“Hey, good timing. You're in luck. We were just about to escape this city.”

“What...? Escape?”

“Isn't it obvious? What do you think it means that Luhenpraha's come out of the eastern district? He's finished up there, and he's going after the lord. This city is done for.”

When Derbon finished explaining, two men beside him chimed in as though chilled by the thought.

“The Traitor isn't human. Did you see how his expression never changed as he slaughtered dozens of people? Thinking about what I saw still gives me goosebumps.”

“They say the Traitor flicks his tongue when he's really angry.”

“If this city falls into his hands, we'll be the first to lose our heads for siding with the lord.”

Though the offer had come out of nowhere, Laura calmly asked for the information she needed first.

“But how do you intend to escape? At the main gate—”

“Right, that gatekeeper's standing guard. But apparently there's a hidden passage. The Melta Trading Company uses it to travel to and from the surface, and this guy knows where it is.”

“... I see.”

“Want to come with us?”

Laura accepted without further deliberation.

“We'll come.”

“L-Laura?”

Her original plan had been to hide in the relatively safe western district until the situation settled down. But this changed things.

If she died, her little sister would be left alone in this world. She wanted at least Amelia to have a decent life.

Perhaps this was her last chance.

“Oh, and just so we're clear, in exchange for taking you along—”

“I understand. If we run into danger, I'll handle it.”

“Ahem, right... You really do catch on fast.”

The man nodded awkwardly, then began leading the group onward.

* * *

Swaying silver hair. Pale skin. A knight's armor bearing the royal family's crest, and a longsword roughly one and a half times the standard size.

We had never met, but I knew him well.

'Jerome Saintred.'

Commander of the First Royal Knight Order, the strongest warrior to come from the royal family, with the epithet “Knight of Light.”

The question was, why was this bastard here now? Amelia had never mentioned him in her story...

“Hand over the Stone Fragment of Records.”

Still, that single remark gave me a rough picture of the situation. Why was the Knight of Light here when he should have been clearing out the eastern district?

The answer was perfectly straightforward. Wiping out Orculus wasn't the royal family's objective.

'I'd have a hard time... beating him in a fight.'

He was in a different league from Rick Omanus, whom I'd fought on the stairs earlier. He would certainly have surpassed Level 5, the highest Level attainable through the “elixirs” knights took.

A commander would have completed not only the Level 6 breakthrough event, but his Level 7 Awakening too. And that wasn't even the end of it.

'Considering the royal family's wealth, I should assume all seven of his Essences are at least rank-three.'

I was outclassed in both the number and average rank of my Essences. Never mind the resulting stat gap; even our roles were an unfavorable matchup for me, a tank against a knight.

But if there was one area where I stood a chance...

WHOOSH!

It would be equipment. After all, double-digit Numbered items and above came with Lesser Indestructibility as a standard option.

CLANG!

I caught his sword on my hammer as he swung without so much as an introduction.

Whew, this was a first. Normally, my basic approach was to block with my shield, then strike with my weapon.

“...?”

He frowned at me after I blocked his strike. Like a knight accustomed to cutting through anything, he hadn't expected his sword to be stopped...

“Wait.”

I tried talking during the brief opening after his strike. I doubted it would work, but what did I have to lose?

“Isn't there some misunderstanding? The Stone Fragment of Records? I don't know anything about that.”

“More lies. I have testimony that you came up from underground and headed here.”

Hmm, so that was how it was...

The mistaken-identity strategy hadn't worked, as expected. But I did get some useful information from an unexpected source.

“But... perhaps you took it without knowing what it was. The Stone Fragment of Records... Hand over the necklace the lord was wearing.”

His wording seemed to leave me an opening.

“If the lord was wearing it, do you mean this necklace?”

I pointed at the necklace I was wearing on the off chance, and he nodded.

“Yes. Give me that, and I promise there will be no unnecessary bloodshed.”

I'd hit the jackpot. I had already stashed the Stone Fragment of Records in subspace.

'He doesn't know what the Stone Fragment of Records looks like.'

The necklace I was wearing now was an ordinary one. It had a large refined stone set in it, and its only effect was to reduce casting time when worn by a mage.

For the record, I'd secretly pocketed it during some earlier plundering and had been wearing it as an accessory ever since...

'Who knew I'd use it like this?'

What was that saying about humans being animals capable of conversation? Trying to talk to him had been the right call.

SNAP.

First, I yanked the necklace hard enough to break the chain.

“Well, if you want it, I don't see why not. I only took it as a souvenir anyway.”

“A souvenir?”

“He was supposed to be the lord, wasn't he? He told us to go out and fight, then hid underground himself. I followed him, but there wasn't anything worth taking besides this necklace.”

“Hmm, so you were simply after money.”

He muttered as though my explanation made sense. Apparently, he'd seen Rick Omanus stripped clean of his equipment on his way to find the lord.

“Isn't it obvious what people like us want? Of course, if someone like you wants this necklace, it must be worth a fair bit... But it doesn't look worth risking my life over.”

People who talked too much were usually up to something. But this young knight, who seemed to have done nothing his whole life except eat and practice with his sword, didn't suspect me.

He merely looked at me with contempt.

“Enough explanations. Hand it over.”

“Ah, but I need a guarantee first.”

“A guarantee?”

“A guarantee you'll let me go if I give you this.”

“I do not break my pro—”

What was this crap? Was he claiming to be an honorable knight?

If he really didn't know how to lie, he wouldn't have been here in the first place. The lord had died without ever realizing the royal family had deceived him.

So...

'Leap.'

I smashed through a window and leaped high into the air. Launching upward from the fourth floor gave me a clear view of the city, with the lord's castle at its center.

The eastern district, where the fighting had broken out, was ablaze, while the west was relatively peaceful. But I had no time to admire the view.

FLASH!

Light flashed behind me, and he appeared. I recognized the skill from its visual effect alone.

[Gateway of Light]

It came from a rank-three Essence and was practically top-tier among movement skills. Not some half-baked teleport that sent you to a random location, but an overpowered skill that let you choose your destination.

Whew, it had been a while. I used to take that Essence pretty often before I started playing a barbarian.

“Did you think you could escape?”

Barely had I twisted around in midair before he swung his sword, and I blocked it with my hammer again.

Someone was impatient. It wasn't as though I'd said I wouldn't keep my promise.

'Anyway, aerial combat is another first.'

The force of blocking his sword sent me backward through the air again, widening the distance between us.

FLASH!

The instant he closed that gap with [Gateway of Light] again, I hurled the necklace in my hand with all my strength.

“...!”

He hastily reached out, but it was too far away to catch. For a fleeting moment, I saw indecision in his eyes.

He was debating whether to kill me here. That made one thing clear.

'Doesn't break his promises, my ass.'

He had intended to kill me the instant I gave him the necklace all along. Probably wanted to eliminate witnesses or something.

Well, he didn't seem inclined to insist on it even under these circumstances.

THUD!

While the necklace distracted him, I planted my foot in his stomach and kicked him away. He didn't so much as grunt.

But that was no disappointment. That hadn't been my aim in the first place.

WHOOSH!

The laws of physics widened the gap between us again. Even as he fell, he looked at me and asked,

“... What's your name?”

His voice held genuine curiosity, as though he'd met someone who intrigued him.

Listening to him, I thought: Why the hell would I tell you?

“Are you an idiot?”

Oh, I'd said that out loud.

“... What?”

For a moment, I thought I'd screwed up, but he didn't use [Gateway of Light] to come after me again.

There was a limit to how many times it could be used in succession. After three uses, you had to wait for the cooldown.

FLASH!

Soon, light enveloped him and he vanished from sight. I didn't have to look far to see him reappear in the direction I'd thrown the necklace.

'Okay, I've shaken that bastard off for now...'

Next, I used Transcendent Leap. It felt as though an invisible foothold had appeared beneath my feet, and when I pushed off it with all my strength, my body shot straight ahead like an arrow.

My destination rapidly drew closer.

'Doing this makes me feel like Superman.'

I chuckled as I went over that brief aerial battle. The more I examined each moment, the stranger it felt.

'What is this, Dragon Ball?'

I'd better hurry up and get stronger.

* * *

The cemetery on the outskirts of Noark.

CRASH!

I landed in its center and immediately broke my fall. In simpler terms...

“Aaaaaaagh!”

I rolled for quite a while, smashing through gravestones along the way.

“... Shit, I almost died.”

I'd traveled straight from the lord's castle in the city center to the outskirts in one shot, but it had certainly come at a price.

Was it because I'd accelerated into the ground from so high up? My legs were beyond tingling; it felt like electricity was shooting up through my bones. Given my Pain Tolerance, they were practically wrecked.

'... Still, I won't need a potion.'

The Ogre Essence came with a penalty of -40 Natural Regeneration. It used to leave my wounds barely able to heal without potions...

But the total Natural Regeneration I'd gained from my new Stormgush's Essence and the Immortal's engravings far outweighed that penalty. Now, minor injuries healed quickly with little more than a dab of spit.

After a short rest, I eased myself to my feet.

A quick look around soon revealed what I was looking for. I'd visited the place beforehand, after all.

Beneath a huge gravestone lay a hidden passage, tall and wide enough for a carriage to pass through.

The first thing I noticed was a corpse.

'It's the cemetery caretaker.'

The man who lived here under the guise of a caretaker, guarding the secret passage, lay dead with sword wounds all over his body.

'I slept for six whole hours, so Laura's group must have passed through ages ago... And Amelia should have caught up with them by now.'

I'd have to hurry to get there before everything was over, so I quickened my pace and entered the passage.

Or rather, I was just about to.

'... Huh?'

I stopped.

STEP, STEP.

An elderly man in neat clothing was walking toward me from inside the passage.

THUMP.

The instant our eyes met, my heart began to pound. At the same time, I felt as though I were dreaming.

The old man looked at me and offered a greeting.

“Hoho, a pleasure to see you.”

It was Auriel Gabis.