I strapped the Hoseung rifle imbued with 「Midas’s Hand」 to my lower back. I also put the revolver into its holster.
I loaded the bullets I had made into each chamber.
Click─!
Two rifle rounds and three revolver rounds engraved with mana inscriptions. One grenade crafted with the latest techniques.
I needed nothing else. Once battle began, even the time to reload would be a luxury.
I looked at the clock.
Dawn, not yet four in the morning. Beyond the window, where a blizzard raged, it was still dark……?
Suddenly, my brow furrowed. It was because of the unnatural shadow near the curtain.
I drew the curtain aside with 「Psychokinesis」.
Rattle─!
I stared quietly beyond the window frame.
For a moment, a laugh escaped me. It was absurd.
─Zzz…… zzz.
There was a little General Winter.
A child leaning against the window, buried completely in snow as he slept.
I slowly approached him.
“…….”
I looked over the face that had become a snowman.
A small face, frozen hair, and eyes, nose, and mouth. A child whose name I did not even remember, from who knew where in the archipelago.
“……You look alike.”
However, I could roughly guess the background behind this child’s creation. It must have been that friend’s own little Easter egg.
Adding an NPC that resembles oneself is rather common in this field.
─…….
Just then, the child stirred. As if sensing my gaze, his frozen eyelids opened. My face was reflected in his half-lidded pupils.
He pressed his lips tightly together. His chin trembled. Sniffling as if resentful, he said,
─……My gun.
I closed the curtain.
Bang bang bang─ bang bang bang─
The one outside began knocking on the window again.
Bang bang bang— bang bang bang—
Give me back my gun— bad person—
* * *
Outside the Reccordak Wall, the Forest of Demonic Energy.
“……Waaah.”
Lia held a small piece of paper up to her mana.
Here and there were proofs that it was a genuine article impossible to counterfeit. The seemingly endless string of “numbers” was truly no lie either.
How many chocolates was that? How many macarons was that?
She was so happy that she spun round and round like a ballerina.
[Yukline Family Check]
[10,000,000∃]
“Hahahaang…….”
Of course, the Hoseung rifle had been taken from her—or rather, forcefully sold—but it was absolutely not a loss. On the contrary, she was glad Deculein had taken it from her.
No matter how much of a treasure it was, if there was no demand, its price would plummet. A minor treasure like the Hoseung rifle would never normally fetch such a price……
“Hehehe.”
Lia sealed the check with mana and put it in her pocket. Then she ran after Deculein, who had already grown distant.
On his back as he strode forward was the Hoseung rifle.
In truth, as a player, this Great Tiger hunt was something she absolutely had to clear. An enormous reward would be waiting.
That was also why she had deliberately come looking for Deculein.
“…….”
As Lia trotted along, she glanced sideways at Deculein.
Even at a glance, he looked difficult to deal with. Cold as ice, sharp as a blade. A cold-blooded man who could cut someone down with just a single word.
He resembled Kim Woojin, but was an entirely different person…… no, a named character.
Perhaps she had wanted to check his face from closer up.
“Shh.”
Just then, Deculein extended a hand. Lia flinched and stopped.
Grrrrrrrrrr────!
Somewhere, the Great Tiger’s roar resounded. Almost at the same time, Wood Steel surged in that direction.
Lia asked cautiously,
“Um, is it really okay not to say anything to headquarters……?”
Right now, Deculein had gone tracking alone. Without telling anyone, without calling for support.
That made Lia uneasy. It was true Deculein had grown stronger compared to the original scenario, but he was not the kind of great man who would leap into a tiger’s den all by himself.
“…….”
Suddenly, Deculein looked down at her. His gaze was sharp enough to stab her to death with a knife.
“……O-okay.”
Lia quickly answered and pressed her lips shut.
Then Deculein said,
“The effective range of the shot exceeds 10 km.”
“……Eh?”
“A certain aspect of 「Psychokinesis」 is specialized for shooting. It maintains the trajectory and amplifies the power.”
At the moment of firing, 「Psychokinesis」 would be applied to the bullet. The explosion of the powder and the force of psychokinesis would mutually increase each other’s power.
The expected velocity from that synergy would easily surpass the speed of sound. Therefore, the bullet would “certainly” strike the tiger.
“So long as its location is identified, I can launch a preemptive strike it cannot evade.”
“…….”
Lia nodded. It was a decent method in its own way.
If he could kill the Great Tiger in a single blow.
“……Will the Great Tiger die from one bullet?”
“I will fire five shots in succession.”
“Aha…….”
Lia understood.
Deculein belatedly trudged up the mountain. Naturally, he must have been searching for high ground suitable for sniping.
Just then.
“Professor~”
A voice came from atop a massive tree suffused with demonic energy. Lia and Deculein looked up that way.
As expected, it was Ganesha.
“How nice to see you~ How long has it been?”
She fluttered her hair as she looked at Deculein. Deculein answered in a single sentence.
“Where did you put the half-human, half-demon?”
“I hid them away. Hup~”
Ganesha jumped down to the ground. Lia quietly sidled up beside her.
“The Great Tiger hunt. We’ll help too.”
“No need.”
“……Even if I go at it with everything I have, I can’t guarantee victory against that one, you know? You won’t be able to do it alone, Professor~”
Deculein said nothing. He simply stared fixedly at Ganesha.
“You provide cover, Professor. I handle combat. Wouldn’t that be perfect~?”
Ganesha asked back like that. Deculein remained silent.
Wind blew between the two of them.
Lia swallowed.
“…….”
Just then, Deculein suddenly looked at her. Lia met his eyes and smiled.
“She is joining too?”
“Of course. Lia is an extremely talented child, you know~ In the not-so-distant future, she’ll become stronger than me~”
* * *
……Meanwhile, Julie of Reccordak received a shocking report the moment her morning exercise ended.
It was news that Deculein’s assistant professor, Allen, had been attacked by the Great Tiger.
“Is that true!”
“Yes! I’m telling you, it is!”
Riley said urgently. Her face was full of surprise and bewilderment.
“Assistant Professor Allen was dragged off by the tiger! They even found a piece of his robe stained with blood!”
As soon as Julie heard it, she took up her sword. She tied up her hair. She fastened her leather armor.
The moment she came out to the wall like that, she spotted Sirio and Ihelm. The two were talking with a scout, wearing somewhat ambiguous expressions.
More than anything else, Julie looked at what was in Ihelm’s hand.
A robe torn to shreds, thickly stained with fresh blood.
“……It seems to be that friend’s belongings.”
Ihelm said as he swept back his hair. Julie quickly ran over to them.
“Sir Ihelm. Sir Sirio. What happened?”
“Oh, you’re here.”
Ihelm clicked his tongue and shook his head.
“It looks like that bastard Deculein’s assistant got done in by the tiger.”
Ihelm stored the robe inside a mana envelope.
If it was truly the case that he had been bitten by the Great Tiger, it would be difficult to expect his survival. Therefore, it would be right to preserve intact and honor at least the keepsake that Deculein would seek when he returned.
“Then where did Professor Deculein go?”
“…….”
“……Ah, well.”
Ihelm shut his mouth with a reluctant face, and Sirio scratched the back of his neck before speaking.
“Looks like he got really, really angry. They say he rushed out at dawn without even saying a word.”
Ihelm added a word as well.
“I never thought that guy had it in him. Seems he went out without much preparation either. The horse he rode here is still there.”
Julie immediately said to the guard,
“Open the wall!”
“……Pardon? Ah—”
“Hurry!”
The guard nodded in confusion. Then he opened the gate of the wall.
Rrrrrumble—
As the gears turned, Sirio said to Ihelm,
“Helmet. You take care of that assistant professor’s friends. Mages would only become targets if they went out anyway……”
“Don’t call me Helmet. Don’t worry about those guys and just go.”
Ihelm wrinkled the tip of his nose, and Sirio laughed quietly.
“Yeah. I’ll be back.”
Sirio tied his long hair tightly. He fastened the straps of his armor and shoes. Julie stamped her feet as she waited for the gate to open.
—Hey! What’s going on!
—Professor Deculein went out?!
Behind them, other knights began to appear one by one. As soon as a gap opened in the wall, Julie and Sirio shot out like bullets.
Naturally, all the knights crowded around Ihelm.
“Sir Ihelm. What happened?”
“What do you mean, Professor Deculein flew into a rage? Over what?”
“……Why are you knight bastards so interested in rumors?”
Ihelm furrowed his brow as he hid Allen’s robe fragment.
“You lot will only get in the way even if you go out, so sit your asses down here.”
“What did you say?”
“Hey, Ihelm. You don’t remember our days at the Imperial Palace?”
The knights of the Imperial Palace glared and rushed at him, but Ihelm simply ignored them.
He merely thought of Deculein’s assistant professor, whom he had seen even last night, and let out a deep sigh.
He had always been a bright, smiling fellow.
“……Sigh.”
Ihelm thought of Deculein, who must have rushed out the moment he discovered traces of his assistant professor. He understood the feelings that man must have felt.
“And here I thought he was only coldhearted.”
That Deculein had lost his composure. He had become enraged enough to throw caution to the wind.
Well, it was only natural, considering it was an assistant who had been with him for years.
“……So you are human after all.”
Ihelm murmured quietly as he looked beyond the wall. The loss of a disciple was a grief he, too, knew all too well.
“Tsk.”
Ihelm turned away with the keepsake he had carefully tucked inside his robe—though it was still too soon to call it a keepsake, it would soon become one—the fragment of the robe.
“Hey! Is it true Professor Deculein went out alone!”
As he entered the main building, several knights asked him for the truth, but he did not bother answering.
It was the most basic courtesy as a mage.
* * *
An undeveloped region thick with darkness. Deculein stood atop a rock in an open field, his suit coat fluttering.
He was manipulating Wood Steel to determine the Great Tiger’s location.
He was maintaining a safe distance in his own way. Even for the Great Tiger, it would need at least three seconds to get here from 10 km away, but the bullets’ speed was far faster than that.
Click—
Lia opened the lid of her packed meal. Ganesha and Leo were the Great Tiger tracking team; she was on Deculein’s guard team.
“Professor. Would you like some food?”
Deculein silently turned to look at Lia.
Every time she received that gaze, Lia flinched.
Because it was so cold, and also because he resembled Kim Woojin too much.
“Sorry. I’m the type who can’t use my strength if I don’t eat……”
It was a trait called 「Healthy Eating Habits」. When hungry, all physical specs—strength, stamina, and so on, excluding mana—were reduced, but when full, they rose by up to 1.5 times.
As long as she ate three meals a day on time, it was practically a trait with no penalty, so she had learned it the moment she got the trait catalog.
Click—!
Just then, the sound of a hammer being cocked. Lia, who had been busy eating her lunch, sprang to her feet.
“…….”
She watched Deculein in silence.
The dark horizon was veiled by storm clouds spewing a blizzard. The muzzle was aimed somewhere far beyond it.
Deculein placed his finger on the trigger. A gentle wind blew, and Lia swallowed.
“Tell Ganesha. I will launch the first strike.”
“Can you see the Great Tiger?”
“I can see it. It is crouched in the brush, wary of Ganesha.”
“Yes. I’ll relay it.”
Lia took out a crystal orb. Ganesha’s answer returned at once.
—I heard. We’re watching it now too. I see the Great Tiger over there. It sees us too.
“Yes. Professor. You heard that, right?”
Deculein nodded. Immediately after, his finger settled on the trigger.
The very moment he was about to begin the first strike with that shot.
“……!”
Deculein’s eyes flew open. Tension and killing intent sharp enough to tear filled the air.
He pulled the trigger at once.
Bang——! Bang——!
Bullets fired without proper preparation. Two shockwaves shook heaven and earth. The cracks of displaced air rang out with bewildering suddenness.
“Ah!”
At the same time, as if chasing after the bullets’ trajectory, the Great Tiger’s massive body took flight.
The beast, which had burst upward in a surprise attack from far below, surged forward as if it would overtake the distance of 10 km in an instant.
A fleeting moment.
Deculein discarded the rifle and drew his revolver. Gripping the handle, he fired three rounds.
Bang───!
The rifle bullets struck the tiger’s shoulder, and the revolver bullets grazed the tiger’s eye and brow.
However, the tiger was already right in front of them. Its speed, driven by mana, was like lightning.
The beast opened its maw wide, and Lia sprang to her feet and ran toward Deculein.
Faithful to her mission, just as she was about to shove Deculein away and take the attack herself—
“…….”
A smile appeared on Deculein’s lips.
Lia stared blankly. It was as if time had slowed, and with his expression, he said to the tiger:
Did you think I would not know?
Sensing danger, the Great Tiger’s face twisted. The beast that had been lunging at Deculein instantly changed direction and aimed for Lia.
For Lia, who had been approaching Deculein, it was a trajectory she could not evade.
However, this time, Deculein moved.
“Mm.”
Even in such a moment, he was composed.
Letting out a low murmur, he put his own arm into the tiger’s jaws in Lia’s place.
Crunch——!
The Great Tiger bit down on Deculein’s arm. From inside the beast’s mouth came the sound of some pin falling with a clink.
“…….”
——Up to this point had taken perhaps only one second.
Lia looked at Deculein, who stood as if protecting her. No, to be precise, he was not trying to protect her.
Rather……
“I put a grenade in your maw. Prepare yourself.”
He had intended to do this from the very beginning.