“I see.”
Allen closed his mouth and swept his tongue along the inside of his cheek. Wearing an expressionless face I had never seen before, he moved his legs. I took a step after him.
At that moment, the world turned upside down.
We had most certainly been inside the barrier, yet the next step landed on a field of snow. Snowflakes settled on my shoulders, and a blade-sharp wind struck my cheek.
Had space folded?
Or had the ground come to us?
Whatever it was, we had been driven outside the barrier.
“As expected, you’re amazing.”
Clap, clap, clap. Allen applauded. Even the creases in his face were different from usual.
“Perhaps thinking I wouldn’t be found out was my own greed.”
I looked at this Allen, so alien from the one I knew. And yet my intuition insisted that even the Allen before me now was still wearing a mask.
What was he, an onion?
I said,
“It was your greed.”
“……”
In that instant, the snow on the road flared up with a foosh.
Right now, the sharp intent he was unconsciously emitting, and the totality of the ghostly aura wavering around him—even by the most conservative estimate, it was beyond that of a master.
Even if I went all out, I wouldn’t be able to gather a single shard of bone afterward.
I could feel it instinctively. This guy was specialized in “slaughter” itself.
“Still. Please don’t concern yourself with me too much.”
Allen spoke. His two eyes darkened.
“After all, this week……”
Just then, a pack of demonic beasts burst up through the ground.
Kerrrrrk— kerrrrrk—
The beasts, glaring with blue eyes, were called Winterdark. They were rather troublesome demonic beasts resembling hyenas.
Allen glanced that way. Just one look.
Crack—!
Immediately, their entire bodies twisted.
Crrrrrrrunch──!
It was a bizarre sound. The bones and flesh of the Winterdark twisted and shattered. As though caught in a black hole, they became a shapeless bloody pulp.
“……I was planning to leave this week as one of the war dead. But it seems I’ll be leaving today. Not that someone like me ever mattered to you……”
Allen wriggled the tip of his foot in the snow. Then, with his lips pressed tightly together, he approached me.
One step, then another. Each step was heavy.
A terrifyingly natural kind of oppression. It was skill that transcended realms.
“Professor. The Jeokgwe are watching you.”
Allen rose onto his tiptoes right in front of my nose. As he looked up at me, his eyes reached the area around my lips.
“I, too, will always be watching you. This is a warning.”
Allen spoke in a businesslike tone, and the stiffness in my body slowly began to loosen. Probably thanks to the resistance of 「Iron Man」.
“When the clan’s patience reaches its limit, I will kill you without hesitation. So……”
Allen stared straight at me. He was no longer the shy, fresh-faced one from before.
“……Take care of yourself.”
His last words did not match what he had said before.
I did not bother looking for the variable of his death. I simply asked what I had been curious about.
“Were you by my side merely to monitor me?”
“……Yes. Of course. I didn’t think I would never be discovered, but when was it? Was it because of a tip-off, after all?”
The way he asked was frustrating. I shook my head.
“From beginning to end, you know nothing about me.”
“……From beginning to end?”
Allen pouted his lips slightly.
“Was that so……? I was going to be satisfied if I knew one or two things. That’s a shame……”
Watching Allen mutter, I retraced my memories.
Since when had I known his identity?
It had been quite some time ago, but the moment I became certain of his “difference” was clear.
“The train to Bercht. It was there.”
“……?”
At that, Allen’s face turned surprised. Even his widened eyes now were different from his usual self.
“From that train……?”
“That’s right.”
“Then why……”
Had it been much earlier than he expected? Allen lowered his face. After remaining silent for a moment, he gave a small smile.
“……Is that so? In any case, it was fun thanks to you, Professor. Should I say it was an honor to be with Count Yukline?”
Just as Allen was smiling brightly.
I caught a very small opening. Into that gap, I moved my finger.
“Should I say it felt like experiencing the professor who will become a part of history……?”
With the momentum gained by bringing my thumb and index finger together…… I flicked his forehead.
Thwack—!
A crisp strike. Allen, who had been grinning so foolishly, staggered backward.
He wobbled on one leg, then touched his forehead with his own hand as though flustered. A red bump was slowly rising above his brow.
“Uh……?”
He stared at me blankly.
With a face that seemed to have no idea why I had suddenly hit him, as if demanding the reason. It was the expression of someone betrayed by the world.
I said,
“Punishment for deceiving your superior. Accept it gladly.”
“……”
Allen stood there in a daze.
For a long while. The hem of his robe fluttering in the winter wind.
“Pfft.”
At last, he smiled with only his lips twisting.
“……Yes.”
I nodded. Then I walked toward the barrier. It seemed no further conversation was necessary.
If he had been someone who was going to leave from the very beginning, then he would not be caught.
“Professor.”
But Allen stopped me.
I turned back toward him again. He was wearing a faint smile.
“Goodbyee.”
“……”
At that moment, a snowflake settled on my shoulder. Pure white crystals mingled with the swaying wind.
I called the name that was probably not his real one.
“Allen.”
“……Yes?”
“You may not know this, but on this continent, there are a few people who make me feel that I am myself.”
If it had been Deculein, he would likely have left just now.
Without attachment, satisfied that he had escaped the death variable known as Allen.
“You are one of them.”
But I am not Deculein.
I am still Kim Woojin, and the people who make me feel that I am Kim Woojin certainly exist in this world.
“It was not that you were one. You are one. Even if you leave, that fact will not change.”
Allen said nothing. He simply looked at me with round eyes like a deer’s.
“So, Allen.”
“……”
Allen nodded. I asked,
“Did you learn much during this time?”
Allen nodded. I asked again,
“Was life as an assistant professor enjoyable?”
Allen nodded. I gently placed my hand on the crown of his head—then immediately removed it.
“In that case, good work.”
“……”
Allen’s pupils trembled. I continued with the words I had wanted to say all this time.
“The one who saved me from Veron was you, Allen.”
He quickly lowered his head. I could not see his face.
“It is not fitting for the dignity of Yukline to discard someone who saved my life. Whether you are a spy meant to monitor me. Whether you are an assassin lying in wait for a chance to kill me. Even if you are Jeokgwe, it does not matter in the slightest, Allen. I am only grateful.”
“……No.”
At that, Allen shook his head. Shake, shake—shake, shake—not once, but several times.
I wondered if he was trying to deny his own achievement even in this situation.
“Ellie.”
“……”
In that instant, my expression hardened. My heart cooled coldly.
Fortunately, Allen was looking down at the ground.
“My name is Ellie.”
He murmured softly. A shyly drifting tone beneath a night sky where neither moon nor stars were veiled.
I deliberately repeated her name calmly.
“Ellie.”
“Yes. It’s Ellie.”
“I’ll remember it.”
“……Yes. Please don’t forget.”
As she said that, Ellie pushed my back. There was strength in her palm. Sent springing forward by a couple of steps, I turned back again.
“Then, I’ll be going.”
Ellie took one step, and her figure disappeared. She had probably moved far away in an instant.
“Ellie……”
The field she had left behind was empty.
I was not particularly shaken. I had already known she was someone who would leave someday.
I merely looked up at the sky in silence.
Softly, softly…… dark snow was falling. It drifted slowly down and settled around my shoulders.
I lowered my eyes again and looked at my fingers. The sensation of the forehead flick was vivid in my gloved hand.
“……Ellie.”
Ellie.
The name of a Named one I knew.
A being with a sorrowful past and an overwhelming record, and to be frank, one who would be the strongest on this continent in the category of “assassin.” A monster who could be considered especially powerful even among the Jeokgwe.
At the same time, the possessor of the most overwhelming trait—「Space and Perception」.
Someone like that had been cleaning up after me?
“Just who did I hit?”
I could only find it absurd.
* * *
In a dense forest, beneath a large tree stump standing all by itself. Sitting on it, Ellie was rolling a cold egg over her forehead.
Roll, roll—roll, roll—
“……It hurts.”
It hurt. It felt like her head would split open. But it wasn’t only because of the pain.
Strangely, her heart hurt too. Had the pain spread through her blood vessels and reached her heart?
“I told you, didn’t I? There was no need to get too close.”
A voice flowed from behind the tree.
Ellie looked that way. As expected, it was Primienne.
“In any case, this worked out well. If you kept dragging it out like this, Elesol would have dragged you away. Take it.”
Primienne tossed a bundle. Ellie lightly caught it and examined its contents. An identification card and clothing.
She modified her appearance to match the face on the ID. She maintained the framework of herself, but the color of her hair, the bridge of her nose, the size of her eyes, and so on changed subtly.
Primienne asked,
“What did Professor Deculein say?”
“……It’s a secret.”
“Fine. I can ask Elesol later anyway.”
Ellie snapped her eyes up and glared at Primienne. Primienne studied her carefully.
“You. Are you crying?”
“……Yes? No. What are you talking about? Paha!”
Ellie quickly shook her head. She even let out a hollow laugh.
“I don’t think I’m capable of crying……”
Primienne nodded. Her eyes were already moist, but there was no need to shock her by pointing it out.
After all, she had never once truly cried in her life. Pretending to cry was one thing.
“Then go first and meet Elesol. I have something to do here.”
“……”
Ellie looked at Primienne with dissatisfied eyes. For no reason, she felt envious; for no reason, she felt irritated.
She fidgeted with her lips, then spat the words out.
“He knew from quite a long time ago, the professor did. From far too long ago……”
“I know.”
“……?”
Seeing Ellie come out so safely, seeing that neither of the two had been hurt, Primienne now felt she could roughly understand.
Back then, at that table where she had been eating with Betan, why Deculein had said such a strange thing.
“That damned mushroom soup.”
Primienne shook her head.
Unable to understand the reason, Ellie tilted her head, then let out a shallow breath.
“Huuuu…… I think I used this skin for too long.”
She lifted a mirror and looked at herself.
This time, too, it was a man.
“The old one feels like my own skin…… Uwaah. Give it back.”
“……That’s because the one before was your real face to begin with. Stop saying strange things and go.”
Primienne pushed Ellie’s shoulder as she pretended to cry. Pushed with a tap, her next stride was far in the distance.
Ellie, who looked like a dot, waved her hand.
—Yes…… I’ll go first……
“……Unbelievable.”
The more one saw it, the more staggering that talent was. Teleportation, disguise, and an all-purpose ability optimized for killing.
The concept of “space” that Ellie handled so freely was quite lethal; simply swapping the positions of a human’s eyes and nose would be enough to kill. Even more so in the case of ordinary people who lacked resistance to mana.
If that girl set her mind to it, she could eradicate ninety-eight percent of this continent all by herself……
“Mm.”
Primienne looked up at the sky. The moon, which had been hidden by clouds, now peeked out before she knew it.
“……How strange.”
She murmured expressionlessly.
Deculein—the one the Jeokgwe feared most in this Empire, the one who hunted the Jeokgwe with the greatest coldness and cruelty, and thus was called a “devil” by the clan.
And yet, one day, the only mage in Bercht who had defended the Jeokgwe.
Moreover, at the critical moment when their identities were about to be exposed—no, even though he knew they were Jeokgwe, he had protected that truth.
“I don’t understand.”
Primienne did not understand Deculein. What on earth he was thinking, or what kind of vessel he truly was.
Whether it was truly the bearing of a noble, or merely some sort of whim.
“……Not at all.”
So muttered Premien, turning around and pulling out a letter.
A paper that had been barely delivered from that distant internment camp, nearly torn to shreds. Sentences sent by the leader of Rohallak, ‘Kariksel’. A code that only the elders of the clan could read.
[ Rohallak isn't as terrible a place as you think. Professor Dekyulrein is keeping the promise he made to me. They probably won't install a gas chamber in Rohallak, and we're preparing for winter alongside Hadekain's troops. I have quite a few friends I can joke around with. Of course, we're still observing propriety and rank, but I think I can get close to them like this.
My eyes tear up a little even as I write, but it's not a lie. I'm happy here.
So, Yurine—no, Lilia Premien. Stop Elesol. If the Professor disappears from this world, we truly will become irredeemable.
The Professor is like a torch. Illuminating the darkness of the future to come…….
I'm running out of space, so I'll stop here.
P.S. Please burn this letter as soon as you read it. Never reveal its contents. Not even to the clan. You know there are many spies of the Altar within our ranks, right? ]
"……Hmm."
Reading of the reality of Rohallak—a place entirely different from outside expectations—Premien felt her heart grow lighter.
* * *
……To hunt a tiger, special metal and ammunition are required.
The metal is「Black Death Iron」, and the ammunition materials include「Unicorn Horn Powder」, the「Stinger of a Bloa Queen Bee」, and various others.
They are materials that are obviously difficult to obtain, so mass production is impossible even if the recipe is publicized, and even if you prepare all the ingredients, the probability of failure is high if the mixture is not exact.
The same was true in the actual game.
And so, I intend to make proper use of synthesis-type magic,「Comprehension」, and「Aesthetic Sense」.
First, I melt the「Black Death Iron」with「Ultra-High Temperature Heating」. There is no need to obtain a separate casting mold; I simply substitute it with「Telekinesis」. I craft bullets suited for the revolver's cylinder from the completely molten metal—
"……Wouldn't that tiny thing be insufficient?"
Then, an adorable little voice. I raised my head calmly. Because I'd been through situations like this many times before.
There was an unexpected visitor at the mansion's window.
"……"
The moment I saw that face, I gritted my teeth. It was a reflex.
"Professor. You know, rather than that revolver……"
A face resembling a past connection from Earth. A child named 'Lia,' the spitting image of Yuara.
I manipulated my Mokgang Steel and approached the kid.
"Ah, wait. Wait. Just hear me out firsh—"
Swhiiiiick—!
"Kyah!"
Several shafts of Mokgang Steel halted at the edges of the child's face. She was surrounded without a single gap.
"Uuu……?"
The child trembled all over like a penguin. When nothing happened, she opened her eyes, but upon seeing the Mokgang Steel stopped right in front of her nose, she was startled once more.
"Uwaaah!"
I asked the cowering kid:
"You. Are you desperate to die?"
"……Nwo. Nwo, sir. I just……"
Lia hesitated, tapping at something on her back. When I glanced over, a musket was tied to a long cord.
I looked at its item information.
——「 Hoseungchong 」——
◆ Information
: A musket of the Dado Sea crafted solely for the purpose of hunting tigers.
◆ Category
: Treasure ⊃ Special Affinity
◆ Special Effect
: Bullets fired from this gun gradually destroy a tiger's hide and muscle tissue.
────────
Hoseungchong. A weapon especially suited for tiger hunting.
A treasure that couldn't be acquired no matter which adventurer you commissioned or how much you scoured the auction house, as it was never in stock.
"If you use this, tiger hunting will be much easier. So come with us…… Ah, not Callos. Come with Ganesha and us."
"……"
"……What do you think?"
I glared at the kid. I retrieved the Hoseungchong with「Telekinesis」. With a whoosh— it was caught in my grasp.
"This is a dangerous object for a child like you to handle."
"……Eh? A child……?"
"I'll put the item to good use."
Click— I opened the chamber and checked inside. I calculated the available space for ammunition.
"Nwo way. I came here to fight with you. We wanna help hunt the tiger too, ahk—"
The child suddenly developed a lisp, but Bang—! I simply shut the window.
"A Hoseungchong……"
I ran my hand along the brilliant barrel of the Hoseungchong, then bestowed it with the fourth stage of「Hand of Midas」.
The moment I checked the special effect added by the trait, I nodded in satisfaction.
"……This should be enough."
As long as the ammunition is crafted properly, even if the opponent is a great tiger, victory is assured.
Knock knock— Knock knock—
Excuse me— Excuse me— That's a treasure we barely managed to acquire—
Knock knock— Knock knock—
If you won't hunt with us, give it back— I'm telling the police on you—
Outside the window, the child was knocking with the expression of someone who'd been scammed, but I ignored her and drew the curtains.
It was a face that grew burdensome and uncomfortable to look at for long.