EP.188 Say You Want to Live - 4
Hardship does not come with a warning. That remains true even if it takes human form.
The ability to read thoughts—that is a power specialized in not making enemies. Reading the heart, then adjusting to it, delicately stepping in and out to avoid clashing with the opponent's feelings.
Perhaps one could call it a dance.
But telepathy is not even versatile, let alone omnipotent. It reads minds, not the future, so it cannot predict caprice, nor can it respond to sudden accidents or disasters.
Above all, even against a human opponent, it cannot stop clear hostility.
'They said there was a military officer investigating the back alleys. The description matches.'
From beyond, a dark killing intent was felt. Not an emotionally hasty decision, but a conclusion reached through cold reason.
'Kill and silence.'
Cold killing intent billowed up. The astonished captain didn't even have time to assess the situation through her golem. Wulffen already had us in his sights.
Leaping over this pitch-black darkness, he was clearly staring this way.
The moment I sensed it, I threw open the carriage door and shouted.
"Sephi! Captain! Get inside the carriage! Senior, depart right now!"
"Huh? Where to?"
"Anywhere!"
I yanked the captain and Sephi back into the carriage in one motion. Senior, who had been hitching the horse, hastily leapt into the driver's seat and urged the horse on.
"Giddyup!"
Neigh!
With a powerful sound, the carriage began to move. Perhaps because it was born a famous horse, Sajama reached top speed in just a few strides.
Sephi and the captain still didn't know what was going on. The captain asked.
"What is happening?"
"It'll take too long to explain! A shadow is tailing us!"
'A shadow? Hmm, my vision only shows darkness...'
The captain synchronized with the nearest golem using her inherent magic. Her vision flickered, and a carriage running at top speed appeared in one corner. Every time they passed a dimly lit streetlamp, Sajama with its flying mane could be seen pulling the carriage forward.
And behind it, the streetlamps flickered out one by one. As if darkness itself was sprinting down the street...
'Darkness?'
The captain, grasping the situation, urgently shouted.
"Something is catching up! Considering the qi art that shrouds the entire body in darkness, it's the Original Shadow...! Presumed to be Wulffen!"
"Yes! I said it's tailing us!"
Even as the captain and I were screaming, Sephi seemed unalarmed, remaining calm.
"Don't worry. The horse pulling this carriage isn't ordinary; it can't be caught at human speed. Also, this carriage has a Level 4 protection rating. Ordinary attacks will never pierce it."
"Please don't say things like that! Even I'm getting scared hearing it!"
"I was simply telling you to rest assured."
'I poured enough money into making this one carriage to build a building. You think I'd make the carriage I'd ride in haphazardly? From the frame to the cloth covering it, it's all Level 4 alchemically hardened steel. What exactly is there to be worried about.'
Now you're stacking karma with your thoughts! Please stop!
In that instant, my telepathy caught a faint hostility. I hastily grabbed Sephi and the captain and pulled them toward me. The two stumbled into my embrace.
"Master?!"
"Your Excellency?! What is the meaning of—"
There was no time to speak. Wulffen's intent to attack immediately became reality.
The carriage jolted violently. A dagger he threw pierced the joint connecting the carriage and the wheel. At the same time, another dagger pierced diagonally through the window and embedded itself in the front seat's backrest. The dagger, exuding a dark aura, was driven so deep that even the handle was invisible.
The carriage, losing its balance, tilted precariously. It was a good thing I had pulled them beforehand, otherwise they would have fallen the other way.
"Kyaaaah!"
Sephi screamed and clung to me. Yes, I just saved your life. So feel a little more grateful and listen to me...
"How? You said this crystal glass could easily deflect bullets! Who made this thing?! I'll show them hell!"
"This isn't the time to be worrying about that, Sephi!"
I calmed the frantic Sephi and focused my mind. Telepathy—at the far edge, I could feel Wulffen's thoughts.
A hostility as sharp and cold as a frozen lake. At its end was the precariously running carriage. The distance between them was gradually closing.
'Sturdy. I tried to cut off the wheel entirely, but the axle only shifted?'
No matter how sturdy the carriage is, it cannot use the Bullet-Deflecting Qi Art. And a wheeled carriage, by its nature, moves in an overly predictable way.
Meaning, it was impossible to dodge the daggers infused with qi.
'Just a couple more times should do it.'
Damn it. If this continues, the carriage will definitely stop. If we get tied down in that state, we can never escape.
A way to break through this situation...
Tch, this is completely taking the fall alone.
"Sephi. Can you ride a horse?"
"I can't with that knife-throwing maniac chasing behind us!"
'Since you're my master's disciple, you can at least ride a horse. However, I'm worried because I've never shaken off a pursuer before.'
Maybe because it's urgent, her true feelings keep spilling out. I gripped Sephi's shoulders tightly and told her firmly, as if reasoning with her.
"Sephi. Take the captain to headquarters. Captain Bi is on a very important classified mission; once she finishes it, she can help me."
Sephi immediately asked back.
"What about you, Master?"
Good intuition. When I slightly delayed my answer, Sephi immediately glared at me and pressed me.
"Don't tell me you're going to fight that thing? If you spout nonsense about stalling for time, I won't care if you're my master or not!"
'Stop with the bullshit already! Doing something like that without a plan! If you die, I won't give you a single penny from now on!'
These days, disciples press their masters. Wow, the world is turning backwards.
Even her thoughts and words are blaming me. Being poked from inside and outside is no different from torture.
I urgently grabbed Sephi's shoulders.
"Sephi. Don't you trust me?"
"Of course not."
'Yes. Obviously.'
Where did the empty words go? Where did all the Sephi-points I carefully saved up go?
Phew, she's hard to appease. With my hands still firmly gripping Sephi's shoulders, I pointed at the captain.
"Look. The captain is right there. If she's a captain of the Military Nation, she can bring reinforcements before I'm taken down. That's the only way we can survive."
"You think a hastily thrown-together plan like that will work?!"
"It's not a hastily thrown-together plan. Actually, I intended to borrow the Military Nation's power to clean up the shadows from the very beginning."
Actually, it's a bit awkward to say this now that the plan has gone awry, but I was trying to pull in the Military Nation one step ahead as well.
My plan was this.
The Market, the Shelter, the Family. I would lead the organization targeting them one day early. At the same time, I would hand over secret information to pull in the Military Nation as well.
Then, the shadow, eager to move, would join the fray and clash with the Military Nation's military police, getting wiped out... is the perfect plan.
Operation: "Are you the only one who gets to use the system? I use it too."
But the Military Nation wasn't moving at all. I scattered such good bait, but for some reason, they were slower to dispatch than usual. As if they had sent all the troops inside Amitengrad somewhere.
I shouldn't have trusted this damn country. If anything was my miscalculation, that was it.
But.
Even rotten, it's still the Military Nation. They would have troops on standby to counter the series of disturbances. As long as I hold out, if the troops dispatch and just encounter Wulffen, it's my victory. So Sephi and Captain Bi need to hurry if I'm going to live.
Crash. The carriage shook violently once more. The wheel's shaking was transmitted entirely to the carriage.
Barely maintaining my balance, I looked at the captain with full trust.
You'd understand, right, Captain? That this method is the most rational?
"You understand, right, Captain?"
"Dangerous! I cannot accept this!"
"Ah, why again."
The captain's expression was no longer stiffly hardened. With worry filling her large eyes, the captain refuted my words point by point.
"The opponent is an escapee from Tantalus. Even if Your Excellency is a sorcerer, your power cannot subdue him! You're...! Weaker than I thought!"
"Telling me to my face that I'm weak hurts my pride. I know that! But at least I can stall for time, okay?"
"You told me to survive! So why must you, the one who said that, be put in danger!"
"Really, I truly don't want to do this either? Sacrifice isn't my style! But this is the best option!"
This is no noble sacrifice. It is the single method meticulously calculated for survival.
I'm at best a petty criminal dragged off to hard labor. But the Original Shadow Wulffen is a genuine menace who has even been to the Abyss.
Well, compared to Tirna Ajina or the Returners, he falls far short, but that ambiguous strength is more fatal to me. Acorns are always more sensitive to this kind of height comparison.
"Rather, I will be the bait!"
"Hahahahaha!"
I laughed heartily. For a moment, all eyes focused on me. I cut the laughter short, turned my expression icy, and retorted.
"Don't make me laugh. Bait is only valuable if you can reel in what you catch. You wouldn't even qualify as snacks scattered in a pond. You'd just add one more tale to Wulffen's exploits in a single stroke."
"Then are you saying you can stop him?"
"If the captain brings reinforcements in time!"
But unfortunately, this is the only way. I just lament that this is truly the best option.
The opponent is the Kingdom's shadow, whose primary weapons are stealth, ambush, and psychological warfare.
I'm a petty criminal with nothing to boast of but telepathy.
Even if there's a glaring difference in our skills, I am the most favorable matchup against him. We've already passed the point where it could be resolved any other way.
"Master. That's nonsense! Those imprisoned in Tantalus are criminals worthy of being recorded in history. Even if it's you, against them—!"
There was no more time to persuade. I lowered my voice and spoke to Sephi.
Without caring about affection or points, I put my cold resolve into it.
"Sephier Vakia. This is a request and a lesson from your master. Don't turn away from what you must do."
"But—"
"If you keep being stubborn, this will be my last request as your master. Whether I survive or die."
When I scolded her with a cold voice, Sephi swallowed her breath. From the mouth of the severely reprimanded disciple, a stifled voice, seemingly resentful, leaked out.
It was only for a moment; Sephier unfurled her dress and wrapped the captain in it. She draped a jacket with bulletproof, stab-proof, and anti-magic effects over the captain's shoulders.
The captain, covered by the dress, asked with trembling eyes.
'Are you truly going to face him alone? But Your Excellency...!'
"If you want to save me, then survive. Go to headquarters and call for reinforcements! That's the only way I can live!"
After snapping that strongly, I immediately shouted toward the driver's seat.
"Senior! Prepare to escape! We're abandoning the carriage!"
"Got it!"
And right after, another impact struck. Staggering and somehow flying along, the carriage breathed its last.
Screech. The tilting carriage screamed as it scraped against the ground. Through the half-severed window, I could see the carriage's wheel outpacing the carriage itself.
"Well. See you later!"
I opened the opposite door and stood atop the precariously tilted carriage.
Beyond, I could see pitch-black darkness. I could clearly feel Wulffen's thoughts, glaring this way while hiding his form with the Black Shadow Qi Art.
'A man? A bodyguard? Doesn't matter. I'll kill them all.'
Who says you can kill us? Who said anyone would die easily for you?
Let's give a greeting. Showing a relaxed smile, I pulled out the Diamond 3 card from my pocket. Folding it with one hand, I aimed at Wulffen.
Alchemical Transmutation. The card instantly transformed into a large bow. Since it had already been fired once, there was no arrow nocked, but arrows are meant to be drawn and fired. I carefully glared into the darkness, precisely aiming at Wulffen beyond it.
"Fahrenheit!"
Whoosh. Fire bloomed at the tip of the arrowhead. Then came the sound of a string being drawn. Down the straight path, a single arrow cleaved the darkness.
The arrow flew accurately toward Wulffen. The corner of Wulffen's eye twitched.
'The arrow is nothing special. But to see through the Black Shadow Qi Art?'
What do you mean the arrow is nothing special. I shot it with all my heart, so I wish you'd feel a sense of crisis.
'Bullet-Deflecting Qi Art.'
Tch. As expected.
The qi art swelled up. The flames were swallowed by the darkness, and the arrow I had fired with all my might was deflected in vain.
Anyway, I achieved my intended purpose.
Having finished my greeting, I leapt down from the carriage. I almost fell and lost my balance, but since the speed had slowed due to the wheel falling off, I managed to barely stand.
Behind me, the carriage slowed more and more. Somehow moving past the driver's seat, Sephi and the captain climbed onto the horse.
With my back to them, I stood firm and faced Wulffen.
"...Buying time, I see."
The voice came from near my right ear. But his thoughts were coming from the left.
How dare you play mind games in front of me.
I chuckled and put away the bow, drawing the next card.
Diamond 4, Short Spear. When I thrust the harpoon-like blade toward where he was, Wulffen stopped walking.
A brief silence fell. Beyond, the captain, Sephi, and Senior mounted the horses and rode off side by side. Sajama, freed from the carriage, was fast, and with the distance already widened, even Wulffen couldn't catch them.
In the bleak street, we were now perfectly alone.
He didn't care. Wulffen stared at me intently, without even a hint of lingering attachment to those who escaped.
"It's not a coincidence. To see me accurately in the darkness..."
"Perhaps, even the fact that we met like this isn't a coincidence."
I took off my hat and bowed deeply.
Even though it was a chance for a surprise attack, Wulffen didn't attack me. Was he wary of me, or is he generous with this kind of formality?
'Skill, unknown. Identity, unknown. Is his sense exceptionally outstanding? Or, some other unknown power?'
Probably both.
Wulffen, like me, is the type who fully utilizes psychological warfare in combat.
Alright. It's a battle of time now.
If I stall for time, I win; if I die before that, it's over. A very simple fight.
"Hello, Wulffen Penstein. I've heard the rumors well. A shadow that has existed since the Kingdom era, symbolizing the darkness of this country."
"Who are you?"
Pulling the sorcerer's hat deeply over my eyes again, I lifted the brim slightly and smiled.
"Pleased to meet you. I am the top of the middle school, the supernova of the host world, a custom tutor and broker of encounters, the legend of pickpocketing and a gambler who never loses. The idol of children, a kind caretaker, a sorcerer shining with one criminal record—Hughes."