At Yun Seunga’s words, I pulled the trigger ten times. Ten shots rushed out almost simultaneously, each aimed at a different part of her body. But Yun Seunga knocked them all aside without moving a single step. This time, too, she did not use magic power.
“You’re quite agile. I thought ten bullets were flying at me at the same time.”
Yun Seunga murmured leisurely.
But this… if I did it well, there seemed to be a chance. The handicap of using only “one hand” was that fatal. And since I happened to have two knives, wouldn’t it work if I aimed for a diversion?
I took out the two knives tucked at my waist, then attached a portion of Stigma’s magic power to their handles.
“Ah~ that’s right. Before you switched to guns, you were a swordsman, weren’t you? Using a sword and a gun at the same time is a good choice.”
Yun Seunga’s commentary grated on my nerves, so I immediately shot the knives out. One toward her chest, the other toward her face. Then I fired the pistol. Two knives and twenty bullets. How would Yun Seunga respond?
Clang!
Yun Seunga first knocked away the two knives, then took the bullets while mitigating their impact. However, at that very moment, the two knives revived.
The knives that had been bouncing away powerlessly suddenly launched again, each rushing at her ankles.
She had said she would use only her left hand. But her ankles were far too distant for her left hand to reach…
She fired magic power from her left hand and shattered the knives themselves.
“…Wow.”
My clever move failed emptily.
But Yun Seunga’s face became genuinely excited.
“How fascinating. To alter the knives’ paths using magic power. What kind of technique is that?”
Hajin-ssi, you’re somehow like an onion—!
Letting Yun Seunga’s praise go in one ear and out the other, I scratched the back of my neck.
There was no answer.
Unless lightning suddenly struck where Yun Seunga stood, or a meteor came crashing down, this mission was impossible. An absurd gap in ability could not be covered by luck.
I quietly put my pistol back into its holster. But as if she had misunderstood that action, Yun Seunga sharply raised the magic power in her left hand.
“What curious technique are you going to show me this time~?”
She smiled with her hand held like a blade.
Yun Seunga was still hungry. Still unsatisfied. Yun Seunga’s desire to collect talented people was truly something else.
However, I intended to betray that expectation mercilessly.
After retrieving the remnants of the knives, I turned around without lingering. Step, step. I walked back the way I had come.
After I had taken about five steps, Yun Seunga’s blank voice came from behind me.
“…Excuse me?”
Toward me, gradually growing farther away, she moved her feet.
“Where are you going right now…?”
At that very moment!
I turned around.
“…You said you’d only use your left hand.”
“…Eh?”
I pointed at her right foot, which had just stepped onto a new spot, and said,
“But you used your right foot too.”
“…”
In that instant, Yun Seunga’s face froze cold.
“I’m joking. Haha.”
Laughing heartily, I turned around again.
In truth, I had been half-serious about trying to insist on it, but Yun Seunga’s glare was so aggressive that I simply gave up.
…Let’s go back to the tent and eat with Rachel.
* * *
The fourth day.
“Rachel-ssi. Today, come with me.”
At breakfast, I said to Rachel.
“?”
Rachel stopped eating and tilted her head.
“The exam deadline is coming up soon.”
Today was the day “that” would appear.
Originally, it was an incident she should have naturally experienced together with Kim Suho, but Rachel was now on a team with me. Therefore, I had to take her there myself.
It was an extremely important incident. Because there, Rachel would obtain a clue about her awakening.
“The kids are going wild. It’s dangerous alone.”
The exam was practically ending today. The end time for this accursed exam was tomorrow at “9 a.m.”
“Understood? Rachel-ssi, you have to protect me.”
I said again. Rachel was about to nod, then paused and tilted her head again.
“…Pardon?”
“Even if you think you misheard, that’s right.”
I rose to my feet with a faint laugh.
The Butterfly Sapling. For me, even approaching it was a burden. If I was so much as grazed by its roots… since I had Aether, I probably wouldn’t die instantly. But some internal organ would rupture, and I’d end up crippled or something.
“Please protect me.”
End
The Butterfly Sapling was a kind of spirit-type monster.
It had been slowly gathering strength inside the trunk of the World Tree, and today it would suddenly burst out and run rampant. I had not explained the reason in detail. But if a thousand people suddenly came and caused a commotion in the house where I was living quietly, I think even I would get angry.
In any case, in the original story, Kim Suho, Chae Nayun, and Rachel worked together to deal with the Butterfly Sapling. And the sapling left behind two gifts. For Rachel, a clue to her awakening; for Kim Suho, the sapling’s powder.
“Come this way.”
I walked while frequently glancing behind me. I was worried Rachel might run away.
And that was not an unfounded worry. Since we were only roaming near the World Tree right now, we had actually caught only four monsters. Even split between the two of us, that was only six points. It wouldn’t just be running away; even if she knocked me unconscious and took my points, it would be self-defense.
“…”
Rachel followed me with a face that was definitely more sullen than it had been this morning. I also tried my best to look for monsters, but perhaps they had all been hunted down, because there wasn’t a single monster around here.
I looked at my watch.
[PM 1:13]
What time was it when the sapling appeared again? That, of all things, I did not know for certain. Did we just have to keep circling like this?
“…I think the monsters are probably on the outskirts.”
Unable to endure it any longer, Rachel finally opened her mouth. She was right. The other cadets had all gone toward the outskirts as well.
“I don’t think so.”
But I refused. Rachel pouted. I kept walking. Rachel tried to slip away onto another path midway, but I caught her red-handed.
“Where are you going?”
“…Just checking if there’s anything there.”
She made a brazen excuse, then followed behind me again.
And so, after thirty minutes of circling around the World Tree without any results—
Wooong—
At last, I felt an unusual vibration. A bizarre sensation, as if the ground were writhing.
I looked toward its source.
From the enormous trunk of the World Tree, a sapling shaped like a giant butterfly was separating itself. Chae Nayun and Kim Suho were, as expected, near it.
“Follow me.”
Deliberately setting my face in a grave expression, I led Rachel toward it.
* * *
Kim Suho and Chae Nayun were walking through the forest together. There was no particular reason; Chae Nayun kept getting lost.
“Hey. What do you think of Kim Hajin?”
The forest was still dark, with no sunlight. Even so, not a single hair of a monster could be seen, and just as boredom was setting in, Chae Nayun suddenly asked Kim Suho.
“Kim Hajin?”
Kim Suho looked at Chae Nayun and tilted his head.
“Why so suddenly? Does he bother you?”
“No. Just because. Doesn’t it seem like he’s hiding a lot?”
The sphere of light last time, the archery bet, the matter in Paris—everything about Kim Hajin struck Chae Nayun as suspicious.
“…I suppose so.”
For some reason, Kim Suho’s answer sounded meaningful.
“What’s with that reaction?”
“What do you mean? You said it seemed like he was hiding a lot. So I answered.”
Kim Suho laughed and glossed over it.
In truth, he was half convinced. Kim Hajin liked Chae Nayun. From Kim Suho’s point of view, the conversation they had in Paris was already decisive proof beyond any excuse.
“So what is he hiding?”
—I’ve thought about her far more than you have. I’ve watched her for much longer. So I know her far better than you do.
How much did one have to like someone to say something like that? Kim Suho had no such person yet, so he did not know.
“Hey, tell me.”
“Figure it out yourself. Why are you asking me? Find out on your own.”
Grinning, Kim Suho teased Chae Nayun.
“No…”
At that moment,
Wooong—
An unusual vibration rang out.
Chae Nayun and Kim Suho looked at each other. Then, without either of them taking the lead, they hurriedly ran toward the place where the vibration had sounded.
The source was the center of the island, the meadow of the World Tree.
In the World Tree’s meadow, a strangely shaped butterfly was buzzing around in flight.
“What’s that?”
Its appearance was that of a butterfly. It had wings, those wings flapped, and above all, it was flying in the air.
However, the texture and nature of its skin were far removed from that of a butterfly.
Its wings were made of intertwined tree trunks. Likewise, leaves and flowers sprouted sparsely from its wooden face and body. It looked more like a craftwork than a living being.
“…It’s a spirit-type monster.”
Kim Suho quickly realized. A being in which a spirit had taken form by parasitizing the vitality and magic power of a great tree. Kim Suho gripped his sword. Chae Nayun hesitated for a moment. Should she take up her bow, or use her sword?
“Is that thing strong?”
“I think so.”
Even so, Chae Nayun took up not her bow, but her sword. Soon, the Butterfly Sapling moved. The sapling’s chilly pupils stared at them. Kim Suho and Chae Nayun flinched.
“That thing looks fucking strong.”
“…”
It was at that moment.
Kugugugung—!
A massive root burst up through the ground. It was not just one or two. Over a dozen roots appeared in all directions around the World Tree. They writhed threateningly, then descended upon Chae Nayun and Kim Suho.
The two scattered and dodged.
Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—
The roots battered down without rest.
“Hey! I think we just have to cut these!”
Chae Nayun shouted while dodging. Kim Suho nodded as well. The two swung their swords at the roots charging toward them.
Kim Suho’s blade easily cut through a root.
But the problem was Chae Nayun. The enormous root was not only harder than alloy, but also contained magic power of its own. For Chae Nayun as she was now, it was still difficult to deal with.
Just as Chae Nayun was struggling, a red line was drawn through the darkness. It struck the root Chae Nayun was wrestling with.
It was a bullet.
There was clearly no physical damage. However, flames rose from the point of impact. The bullet ignited and burned the outer surface of the root, and Chae Nayun swung her sword at the weakened root. The root split apart powerlessly.
Immediately after, a crescent-shaped sword aura surged toward the Butterfly Sapling’s main body this time. The Butterfly Sapling easily avoided it by lowering its altitude.
Chae Nayun looked toward the direction from which the two attacks had come.
“Huh?”
An ordinary-looking man and a woman who looked exactly like a princess. The combination that would never suit each other even if beaten to death was Rachel and Kim Hajin.
Thud!
Soon, a new root rose up toward them. Kim Hajin hurriedly ran out of its range, and the root descended upon Rachel. Rachel dodged it elegantly.
“When did you guys get here?”
“Attack the main body!”
It was Kim Hajin’s shout from behind the bushes.
“What?”
“The main body! Not the roots, the main body! For now, use your bow today!”
“No, what are you doing hiding back there…”
A root surged in again. Chae Nayun hurriedly raised her sword to block it and shouted loudly.
“Hey! Cover me like you did just now!”
But it was not Kim Hajin; Rachel sent out a sword wind. The root struck by the sword wind staggered. Chae Nayun drew magic power fully into her blade. With the blazing magic power she had pulled up, she struck the root upward. An honest diagonal slash. The root split in two.
“Oho.”
It was a good feeling on impact. Different from the feeling of cutting through life. With this, it seemed she could do a little better…
Chae Nayun gripped her sword tightly.
All the magic power in her body concentrated into the sword. The magic power clung to the blade and extended to a length of about four meters. Chae Nayun swung that longsword of magic power. Again and again, with all her strength.
* * *
“Ugh.”
Chae Nayun had gotten overconfident and was rampaging. Right now, what was needed was a bow rather than a sword.
With no other choice, I gripped the cadet-issue pistol. Thinking I should at least slow its movements, I pulled the trigger.
Twenty shots, an entire magazine, were fired. Each time a bullet hit, a part of its wing was shaved away little by little. My attack was not fatal enough to tear off its wing, but the sapling seemed unwilling to tolerate even that.
A root rose up behind me.
It whipped across the ground and came lunging at me. I couldn’t even close my eyes. I saw the movement of the root with perfect clarity.
The viciously flying root stopped right in front of me.
A single sword had halted its advance.
It was Rachel, appearing like a hero.
“……”
Rachel looked back at me without a word. I took a large step back, out of the root’s reach.
At the same time, the tree roots surged like a whirlpool. Rachel dodged them with fluid grace. But the number of roots began to increase rapidly. One, two, three, four… before long, roots filled every side around Rachel.
After dodging again and again, Rachel was eventually swept across the abdomen by one of the roots. Sent flying as though some toy had been thrown aside, she crashed into the base of a tree and collapsed.
Blood spilled from her mouth. I watched the scene objectively. Thanks to her protective aura, it wasn’t a fatal wound. But she wasn’t in good condition, either.
Thump!
Just as I was wondering whether I should take out the Desert Eagle, the seed sprang out from inside my clothes. It bounced along and stuck itself firmly to Rachel’s abdomen. It was the area where she had been injured. But Rachel, groaning in pain, didn’t notice the seed clinging to her.
I had no choice but to leave it be. Now wasn’t the time to scold it.
“That butterfly bastard.”
I glared at the Butterfly Sapling flying in the distance.
If only those wings. If only I could do something about those damn wings, Kim Suho would be able to take care of the rest. But I couldn’t exactly take out the Desert Eagle…
“Hoo.”
No choice.
After a single deep breath, I infused Stigma’s magic power into a pistol bullet. I processed the bullet with fire-attribute magic power. The limit of this bullet processing was about three shots. And this wasn’t even the Desert Eagle, just a basic pistol.
Could I end it with only three shots?
But I could worry about that after firing.
I aimed carefully and pulled the trigger.
The moment the bullet struck the Butterfly Sapling’s wing directly, it exploded.
“…Huh?”
A dumb sound escaped my mouth. Thinking I might have seen wrong, I rubbed my eyes and opened them again.
“…What?”
I hadn’t seen wrong. The Butterfly Sapling had lost both wings and crashed to the ground. With just one shot, a pair of wings hadn’t been torn apart, but had completely disintegrated.
That couldn’t be right. No matter what, there was no way my magic power had that much force.
I carefully scanned the surroundings. There had to be some reason other than me…
Sure enough.
A woman was hiding in the bushes. With an expressionless face, she held a small powder bomb and watched the Butterfly Sapling with greedy eyes.
It was Seo Ijin.
“Ah.”
The Butterfly Sapling hadn’t been shot down by my attack, but by that woman’s. It wasn’t a coincidence. She had deliberately matched the timing. The reason was probably so she could take the “Sapling’s Powder” for herself.
Just then, Kim Suho charged toward the Butterfly Sapling that had fallen to the ground. By Kim Suho’s sword, the Butterfly Sapling was cut down in vain.
Then, from somewhere, golden powder began to arise and float in every direction. It shimmered, illuminating the darkness brilliantly.
But this wasn’t the Butterfly Sapling’s powder.
It was sleeping powder detonated by Seo Ijin, the leader of the Chameleon Troupe. I covered my nose and mouth and watched the surroundings. Kim Suho had a fair amount of resistance, but he was caught up in this needlessly beautiful sight, and Chae Nayun was getting woozy.
In the meantime, Seo Ijin moved.
I tried to stop her… but the even greater light that erupted soon after seized my gaze.
My mouth fell open.
* * *
Amid the golden powder drifting softly down, Rachel felt her consciousness grow hazy.
It was a languid feeling. She was sleepier than she had ever been. It seemed to be the power of a spirit.
And so, she simply closed her eyes. The situation was already over, after all.
It was hard to believe, but the Butterfly Sapling had burst apart and vanished from a single bullet fired by Kim Hajin. So she could rest now. Since they had defeated a monster that powerful, the points would be enormous, too.