‘Hey.’
‘?’
‘What do you think?’
‘?’
‘You regret it. Be honest with me.’
‘!’
‘I have an idea.’
‘?’
----------------------------------------
I drew the map of Loncross.
[Loncross is divided into 3 districts. Living district, Business district, and Noble district.
Living district, this district is designed to improve the relations between every people that is here on Loncross. You can find almost every resident’s home in this district. You can also relax and appreciate the nature park in this district.
Business district, this district is designed to circulate the flow of goods and money inside the city. You can see a lot of artisans and merchants in this district. This district is popular for its grand market which has hundreds of store which sells a whole variety of goods.
Noble district, this district is designed to handle any public relations. This is where the politics comes into play. I will not say much, but a lot of conferences and meetings is being held in this place.]
(Who cares what’s each place is called?)
[The first attempt of this day always happen at business district, if you didn’t notice.]
Based on the location where each corpses were found on this day. This is the most likely scenario.
(Nice, Eula. You haven’t seen the culprit yet?)
[There is a problem.]
(What?)
[I identified a lot of possible culprit, so I need more information about the culprit to be sure.]
(Yeah, that’s why leave the data gathering to me.)
[Okay.]
He goes to the Business district.
…
There he goes, doing his nature again. He knows that I am not letting my guard down, especially whenever he does his nature. I still can’t believe his nature works that way, we are connected so I don’t know how other people are affected by his nature.
“Hi~! What is this? It’s glowing~!”
He approached one of the stalls selling food.
“This is our neon pudding. Do you know that even the smallest bite of this food is so delicious that the taste lingers for a long time?”
“That is impressive~! Ahh… How much is this?”
“500 low rank coins.”
Isn’t that expensive.
“Hey, I want to eat this. Perhaps you can do something about that~?”
[Nathan, don’t embarrass myself.]
(Trust me, you like to eat it don’t you.)
I can’t deny that. It looks very tasty to me.
“Alright, 490 low rank coins.”
“I will let you feed me if you want~~.”
[Aren’t you going overboard?]
(No way. This is beneficial for both of us you know.)
[Don’t get too distracted though.]
(I’m not.)
…
In the end, he managed to get the pudding for 400 low rank coins.
Ahh… The pudding is very sweet. When it entered your mouth, the creaminess suddenly envelops your tongue. It is very soft, light and slightly chewy, but I feel that there will be a very strong desire to eat more of this, if you like very sweet food.
[That is excessively sweet.]
(I thought you like sweet food.)
[Yes, but not this sweet.]
How did he know that in the first place?
(Sorry, my bad.)
A lot of people are gathering at one spot. Something already happened huh.
(Eula, Game!)
[Just be careful.]
(Alright.)
He rushed near the scene.
I see the adventurers going somewhere, looks like they are chasing the culprit.
While running together with the adventurers, he approached one of them.
“Where’s the culprit?”
“One of the adventurers said that he saw the culprit going to the direction of the forest.”
It is pretty easy to get away from there, because it is very dense.
…
The culprit managed escaped. We didn’t even see a glance of him.
(Looks like it is harder than I thought.)
[The culprit managed to hide his identity for years, what do you expect?]
(Anyway, I will catch him next time. So, any ideas where the culprit would pop-up?)
[This time there is no pattern, so it is fully random.]
(This is why I hate anything related to luck.)
Well, someone with extremely good luck is able to counter Nathan’s unpredictability. I don’t believe in luck though.
…
The school is now finished.
[Nathan, you’re going to do something with Richard right?]
(Yeah, go what you have to do first, he’ll probably be late anyways.)
[Let’s just switch.]
We switched.
(A little bit of background, Neo-Terra consists of people from all over the world, so many cultures have been showing up all over the place.)
I know that already.
(So, there is no norm here. You can do whatever you want and no one will find it weird because they understand that it might be normal for them. You can’t force other people to adjust to your norm though.)
[What does it have to do with what you are going to do?]
(That dumb Richard didn’t know that when he got here. So he was scolded by someone. That moment, he fell in love with her. That’s what he said.)
Another love drama huh.
(It is not that simple though.)
Here comes the plot twist.
(She is in love with someone else and considering that you know me well, maybe, then you do know that it doesn’t end there.)
Knowing Nathan’s standard of simple, yes, it doesn’t end there.
[How did you even know all of that?]
(You’ll know, in the meantime just focus on the Death Caravan.)
While Nathan is doing…whatever that is, what should I do?
I bought some snacks from the stalls and sat on the fountain located at the center of Living District.
What am I doing? I am supposed to save someone from getting killed. Eating this might help later on.
…
“Heehee, the dried mangoes weren’t so bad!”
Can I wash my hands using the water from this fountain? No one is doing it, so I don’t think so.
There’s another commotion. This time it is coming from the business district again. I think I can move as stealthy as Nathan, if not better, since I was a fugitive, but I didn’t have his nature.
While going to the commotion, I charged 2 ‘bar’ and prepared ‘shot reinforced blast’ and ‘touch pierce’.
Jane is there to ease the situation, so I asked her.
“What happened?”
“There is another attempt. The adventurers found the trace of the culprit and they have been following since then.”
“Where are they?”
Jane pointed outside Loncross. Another chase in the forest maybe?
“Thank you.”
“Be careful.”
I rushed outside the walls. I should take this more seriously.
I casted ‘thermal disposition’, and ‘remote nerves’, this complementary magic provides me a normal map and a heat map which I drew to my vision. This also lets me find the culprit easier as well as a potential camouflage by refracting light using temperature.
I also casted ‘pneumatic disposition’. I studied that producing downwind is able to make me move faster. I want to increase the air density to be able to fly. Sadly, I can’t do that. I can only control the air using this magic.
I charged one ‘reinforced bar’ and prepared ‘bound remote empowered shot blast’.
(What are those magic? Those are all new to me. You are making it hard for the viewers you know. You might get critic for dumping a lot of information.)
That remark about the viewers is unnecessary. He could have just said that I said too much.
[I’ll explain all of this later. Don’t be concerned about it for now. Besides, I am curious on what are you riding right now. Perhaps when you arrive at your destination I’ll see more technologies that I find unfamiliar.]
(Yeah, I guess if this is a story and the readers are similar to the people of my world, then they can easily relate to the technologies, but if the readers are similar to the people of your world, then the readers can easily relate to the magic. Maybe, they won’t relate either way. Maybe they will relate either way.)
[Again, this is our reality. It doesn’t matter whether we are a fiction or not.]
Besides if I think about it.
[Also, I hope you considered that we might be a sequel. So, the viewers are already familiar.]
(Yeah, I didn’t think about that. Nice one.)
(Anyway, that ‘bar’ is strange and that ‘blast’ is very complicated but feels very powerful.)
He must be talking about the ‘reinforced bar’ and the ‘bound remote empowered shot blast’.
I see from the heat map that there are a lot of people far from here. I don’t know who these people are since all I can see is their body temperature. Base on their movement, this specific person might be the one they are chasing.
I might not be able to catch up to them, but if that culprit thinks that he managed to escape, then I might be able to catch that person off guard.
Inside the forest, I also have to be careful with the wild animals roaming around, especially cold-blooded animals. Detecting it using ‘remote nerves’ is very intensive.
(Stop! There is a snake in front of you!)
I used ‘pneumatic disposition’ to produce an upwind which slows me down, removing the downwind in the process. I charged and casted a ‘touch blast’ to jump sideways in order to avoid that snake. I brought back the downwind after avoiding the snake
[Thank you.]
I didn’t notice that. Well, being able to detect a lot of things doesn’t mean that I am aware to all of those.
The person being chased is stopped by two people. Looks like they are about to have a battle. I need to hurry. I am still very far. I hope I will make it in time.
(Eula, don’t you think it is strange that the other people who is chasing that person is not stumbling the area?)
[There might be an ‘illusion barrier’. It totally works because of the forest, but it will not work on me. Looks like I’m the only one who can provide backup.]
(‘Illusion barrier’? Keeps away someone using illusions, I guess.)
[Yes, almost. It is like getting lost in a maze, you didn’t notice that you are going around in circles. The ‘illusion barrier’ makes the unsuspected victim walk away from what the barrier is supposed to protect.]
(Isn’t it dumb? All you have to do is walk forward, you might be able to notice that you are suddenly walking away, doesn’t it?)
[Yes, but you can’t do that if there are obstacles blocking your way, such as trees and bushes. You have to turn in order to get past the obstacles. ‘Illusion barrier’ is most effective on places that you can easily get lost.]
The ‘illusion barrier’ is very large. Those two people are only able to enter the barrier because they are following the person who isn’t affected by the barrier. No wonder it is very hard to catch the culprit.
(By the way, how are you able to get the temperature from this far away?)
[I used ‘remote nerves’. Another magic.]
(You’re being vague, huh.)
[SHUT UP! I’m trying to focus on avoiding danger here!]
Also include the focus of maintaining the magic that I’m passively casting. Telling Nathan that would produce more trouble though.
(You do know that you’ve only just said that to me after we talked a lot already.)
[Yes, but I’m trying to shut you up from being annoying.]
(Take care then. I still want to participate in the fight.)
[Thank you.]
I need to take a shortcut by jumping across this huge ravine. So I prepared two ‘enforced touch blast’ and a ‘piercing blast’.
I activated both ‘enforced touch blast’ using my feet to jump across. I launched the ‘piercing blast’ on the landing spot in order to make that solid ground into sand which makes my landing safer.
Two more minutes. The temperature of one of the two people is dropping. I hope that is not a bad sign.
Upon getting closer, there really was an ‘illusion barrier’ in this area. I’ve got to be much more careful now.
I am about to enter the ‘illusion barrier’. I need to maintain the 10% mana usage to conceal myself. I converted the ‘touch pierce’ back into my mana, converted ‘shot reinforced blast’ into ‘shot piercing blast’, and stopped casting ‘pneumatic disposition’.
Right now, I have 2 ‘bar’, ’reinforced bar’, ‘shot piercing blast’, and ‘bound remote empowered shot blast’. I am also passively casting ‘thermal disposition’ and ‘remote nerves’.
I entered the ‘illusion barrier’ seemingly undetected.
I am about to reach the forest clearing that the three people are located. The temperature of one of the two people is going back to normal… No, slightly higher than normal as if the person is about to get sick.
I see them now. It looks like Sofia and Gondarr is fighting desperately against the culprit. They are in the middle of talking, I guess.
The culprit seems to be a man, who I think is around early thirties or late twenties. Upon closer inspection, the physique of that person matches the data that I’ve gathered. I’m fairly positive that this person is the one we are looking for.
I can only see that the man is wearing a cloak that has few cuts on it. It’s probably caused by their battle. He is also wearing a mask with few scratches on it. I see that they are having a hard time landing a decisive blow
(WAIT!)
[What?]
(Take a hint, will you.)
[What do you mean?]
(They are the protagonists on their own story, it would be rude if we interrupted on the middle of their battle.)
[There is a reason that I am called a backup, you idiot. Also, they are having a conversation not in the middle of the battle.]
(I know. But when the battle started again, interrupt if I said so. This could be a very interesting development)
[Fine. Let me just correct you that I’ll interrupt if we agreed on it, not if you said so.]
(Yeah, that’s a better way to put it.)
Well, I can analyse the opponent’s actions which is advantageous for me.
(We’re reduced to supporting characters. We’re supposed to be the protagonists you know. Because of that, I have bad news.)
[I don’t really care, but what is the bad news?]
(Since we are not the protagonists this time, then we are not immortal. Strangely enough, my instincts are telling me that we will die soon.)
[Setting your jokes around stories aside, I kind of agree on your instincts this time. I felt it too.]
As if we know that we are about to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
(Eula, can you somehow listen to their conversation?)
[I will be compromised if I do that.]
(Yeah, let’s just watch from here.)
I peeked from Nathan’s. He is inside a car, talking to Richard about something that involves Nathan’s sister. Well, I should just observe the battle.
…
After they finished talking, I guess. The battle resumes.
“HAAAAAAAAAA!”
(It looks like we are watching those dramatic battles where even though the odds are against the protagonists, they will still win.)
[That outcome is stupid though. Is shouting even necessary?]
(I agree about the outcome being stupid but I think it’s satisfying. Regarding to shouting, according to some research, shouting will make someone slightly stronger. That is why I shouted when defending against the land shark you know.)
[Your shout actually slightly slowed the attack of the land shark. Which is why I didn’t found it unnecessary. If you say it makes someone stronger, then I’ll take your word.]
To be sure, I want to research that topic.
Gondarr threw several daggers and casted three ‘remote blast’. So he intends to rebound the attack if it misses.
Using Sofia’s hidden weapon, she tried to stab the enemy, but she was blocked by her enemy’s sickles.
The enemy casted ‘blast’ and used a ‘touch blast’ to launch himself at her.
Gondarr’s daggers missed but one of the three ‘remote blast’ exploded. Because of its explosion, the two ‘remote blast’ is now heading straight to the enemy.
The enemy used ‘bound reinforced piercing blast’ to destroy those ‘remote blast’.
(That ‘piercing blast’ is very strange.)
[Yes, not only it is ‘reinforced’ it is also ‘bound’.]
Probably the best time to explain ‘bound’.
[‘Bound’ is a very risky magic variant. It only means that you can reuse the same magic. In that person’s case. He can reuse the ‘reinforced piercing blast’ over and over again.]
(What’s the weakness then?)
[It needs more mana to activate. While it is not weaker, you can’t use its full power otherwise it will disintegrate. Disintegrating means you can’t use the magic anymore. Basically, treat it like any other magic but destroy it as soon as possible.]
She augmented her cloth with ‘pierce’ and uses ‘pneumatic disposition’ to control that cloth.
As expected from a female descendant of the Lycan. They are trained to fight by using long strands of cloth. They can harden, or sharpen their cloth as their desire but it’s most dangerous characteristic is the flexibility of the cloth. It requires a lot of focus just to control one but she is able to control six strands. Three strands per arm.
They are now fighting close combat. I can’t describe what’s going on, but Gondarr and Sofia are able to make a good fight for the enemy itself. The enemy still has the upper hand though, obviously.
(I know you read a lot Eula.)
[Yes, so?]
(Those two might be able to pull this off. We don’t know what happened prior this, but it might be what incited for those two to be this desperate in defeating them. In other words, they might be performing way better than earlier this time.)
[I can see that. Why are you telling me this?]
(Just saying that sometimes fiction can show something that might happen in real life.)
The enemy seems to be surprised and feel pressured by their attacks. Combine their fierce attacks together with their perfect synchronization, even I feel how terrifying it is to be in the enemy’s position.
After a while, I can see that Sofia and Gondarr is getting the upper hand.
The enemy may have noticed it since he tries to back up, he seems to want some room to breathe. But those two seem to notice that and easily stopped his plan.
The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.
[While I believe that they will be able to pull this off…]
The enemy’s move is actually a feint in order to separate the two, he is now targeting Gondarr.
Both of them aren’t surprised, as if the enemy already did this feint to them. Gondarr used ‘pneumatic shot pierce’ against the enemy. The enemy is about to cast… No, he will moment cast his ‘bound reinforced piercing blast’.
“YAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
[…The thing that they will be pulling off…]
Moment cast huh. Who is that person?
Suddenly something starts appearing underground at the enemy’s position. It is a whole variety of ‘pierce’. It distracted the enemy that he isn’t able to pull off the moment cast. His face is then hit by the ‘pneumatic shot pierce’, destroying his mask on the process. He is also hit by several other pierces, leaving him with more cuts.
‘Pneumatic’ is just like ‘pneumatic disposition’, it involves air. Basically, ‘pneumatic shot pierce’ is a ‘shot pierce’ but with heightened power that involves the air.
Those two seems delighted that they are able to do that to him. But I know that they are actually having a tunnel vision.
I can now see the enemy’s face. I sense no disguise there. So, that might be his true face then.
[…is making that guy serious.]
(Yeah, I bet that there will be a rematch in the future. If we didn’t kill him of course.)
[You’re suggesting that we won’t be able to catch him or he will escape from prison.]
(Yeah, those are the most likely scenario.)
I consider that we will help him escape the prison. If an incredible plot twist happened of course.
[You’re really infecting me with that reader’s perspective.]
(Oooohh, ‘reader’s persective’, so that’s what you call to my habit now.)
[Not habit, it’s more like a disease.]
(Come on, you know it may help you.)
[Okay, it MAY help me.]
Looking back at the three person on the battlefield. They are having another conversation, and we can’t hear anything as usual.
(Don’t do this Eula.)
[What are you talking about?]
(Letting a conversation happen while the battle is in your favor.)
Another one of his story clichés maybe.
The enemy suddenly began charging his mana. Gondarr and Sofia tries to repeat what they are doing to the enemy earlier but the enemy goes away and gains a huge distance between them.
(Told ya.)
He is trying to summon a familiar. I need to stop him from doing that.
(This is a good time to join the battle.)
We are on the same page then.
First, I need to destroy the magic circle that he created.
I want to try doing something. I hope this works.
I am going to detonate ‘blast’ to push other ‘blast’ in order to give it an acceleration instead of travelling at constant speed. So I need to apply a ‘remote’ variant, otherwise it will only explode on impact.
There’s also the case of drag coefficient which is basically the resistance of air which makes the ‘blast’ travel slower. So based on a chart I previously see, I need the ‘blast’ to have a teardrop or airfoil shape.
The problem with this method is I lose accuracy. Luckily, the magic circle is a huge target.
I focused in mana utilization and I casted 4 ‘remote blast’ and ‘reinforced blast’. I try to line them up as straight as possible. I launched those at the magic circle and the three of them are surprised from my appearance. Great! I managed to buy more time by surprising the enemy.
I detonated the nearest ‘remote blast’, the other ‘blast’ gains speed. I detonated the next nearest ‘remote blast’. Again, the other ‘blast’ gains speed, but the furthest ‘blast’ began to noticeably deviate from my intended course.
I detonated the third ‘remote blast’, both ‘blast’ gains more speed and deviated from its course. I detonated the fourth ‘remote blast’ and the ‘reinforced blast’ is now travelling more than five times its normal speed.
Please hit the circle.
…
It missed.
(Oooohhh… So close. Thanks for the idea though.)
He must have figured something out. Well, I need to get rid of the circle fast.
Luckily, I am on my period. I sacrificed my blood, created a ‘blood bar’, and a ‘bar’ then converted it and casted the magic, ‘burst blast’. It managed to hit the magic circle.
‘Burst blast’, basically a blast with more speed. The power of an explosion of a ‘blast’ doesn’t rely on its speed so it’s not more powerful. Now that I discovered that method, I found ‘burst’ variant to be less useful.
I am about to face a battle. I checked my magic arsenal.
I have 2 ‘bar’, ’reinforced bar’, ‘shot piercing blast’, and ‘bound remote empowered shot blast’. I am also passively casting ‘thermal disposition’ and ‘remote nerves’.
The enemy speaks,
“You two are lucky, don’t disappoint me next time.”
The enemy tries to escape.
(Give me 5 minutes. I will help you catch him.)
[Right!]
Sofia shouted,
“Eunice, stop! He is very powerful.”
I sacrificed more blood and casted ‘devil’s advocate’. I am now able to use ‘blood’ magic variant.
The enemy, who looked back while running away, said to me,
“’Devil’s advocate’, interesting.”
He augmented ‘mini pierce’ to a huge pile of sand and threw it at me. Basically, touching a single grain of sand is extremely dangerous.
Everyone normally tries to face this attack by using ‘armor’ or ‘pneumatic armor’, but it is not an option for me.
I used ‘pneumatic remote blast’, a ‘blast’ that explodes with a powerful gust of air instead of a powerful impact. I detonated it mid-air in order to blow the dangerous sand away.
This situation is very dangerous, I am having trouble trying to do mana utilization and making decision at the same time. I really need Nathan’s help that’s coming in less than 5 minutes.
I converted 1 ‘bar’ to 1 ‘touch blast’ and launched myself to the escaping enemy.
I know how to run away. I escape so fast that Captain Ignis can’t even catch me. I may be able to keep up with the pace of the escaping enemy, but this is the first time that I am chasing someone. Although I am good at escaping, it don’t know how to chase someone, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know what the escapee is thinking.
I keep track of the enemy using ‘heat map’. I just hope that he will not notice that.
But the enemy is good that he noticed it. I don’t know what he casted but he is beginning to fade away from the map. Maybe he hides under the ground or he used ‘thermal disposition’ to decrease his own temperature.
Either way, I casted ‘blood seeker’. I am able to seek the blood of a specific person I know. I’ve known the blood of Gondarr and Sofia since I saw them injured earlier. I also know that some of their blood lingers on the enemy’s body.
When I try to seek the enemy’s blood, his blood is located everywhere. As expected, he knows the capabilities of a user of ‘devil’s advocate’. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t notice that the blood of Gondarr and Sofia is on him.
Hmm… Actually, it’s either he didn’t notice the blood, or he doesn’t know that I can seek blood this way.
I added ‘blood’ variant and combined ‘pierce’ to ‘bound remote empowered shot blast’ turning it into ‘blood bound empowered shot piercing blast’. ‘Blood’ variant automatically overrides ‘remote’ variant. I casted that magic.
The magic follows the blood that I am tracking with the ‘blood seeker’. The magic doesn’t target specific person but the specific blood that is targeted. So, he can easily avoid it if he noticed that Gondarr’s or Sofia’s blood is on his body.
I don’t know if I managed to hit him with the magic, but he is slowing down thanks to it. The magic is returning to me due to the ‘bound’ variant. I continued to attack him using this magic.
He is not doing anything to stop me this time. Looks like he doesn’t know how I am able to keep track of him. Suddenly he seemed to stop. Maybe he wants to confront me this time.
As I keep running, I see that he is really waiting for me. What should I do now?
“Welcome, mademoiselle. May I know the name of my chaser?”
“Ytor.”
“Ytor, I never heard that name before.”
Me neither, until I met Nathan. I want to finish this so that I can read, so I will get straight to the point.
“Let me–”
I interrupted him,
“You are the one who kills several people in the caravan right? Then, let’s get this over with.”
I’m being disrespectful again. Anyway, I am risking the fact that I might actually be misunderstand something.
I launched another ‘blood bound empowered shot piercing blast’.
“A hasty one, I see. But yes, ‘twas I.”
“Thank you for giving me assurance.”
I have less things to worry about.
He casted ‘ray’ and hit my magic.
(So Coool! I bet it’s called ‘laser’.)
[No, it’s called ‘ray’. It is a combination of ‘blast’, ‘pierce’, and ‘force’. You could also say that it is a combination of ‘piercing blast’ and ‘force’.]
He used the ‘ray’ like a sword and tries to hit me with it. Several trees has been cut clean and fell because of the ‘ray’ that he casted.
I said,
“You’re really underestimating those two huh.”
“Ahahaha! Why do you care? Be glad, I am taking you seriously.”
I converted another ‘bar’ to ‘blood touch blast’ and used it to launch myself upwards and towards him, avoiding the ray in the process. I corrupt casted ‘blood shot piercing blast’.
“Corrupt casting, ehh… What a fascinating technique!”
He withdrew his ‘ray’ and is obviously preparing to moment cast a magic.
I messed up the timing to his moment cast by detonating the magic way too early than normal. He is injured by it.
“I see… You know a lot of things that you are able to identify things pretty fast. Even I couldn’t do that. Entertain me will you. Ahahaha!”
The enemy just won’t shut his mouth. It is very annoying. I don’t understand what he meant though.
I always prepare a ‘reinforced bar’ whenever I know that I can use a ‘Devil’s advocate’ in order to cast a powerful magic. Just like this day. I converted ‘reinforced bar’ to ‘blood hole’.
I made a shape of triangle using my two index fingers and two thumbs. I casted the ‘blood hole’.
‘Blood hole’ is a magic where a sphere is formed in front of the triangle I made using my fingers. That sphere will suck everything in front of the triangle I created and it will continuously grow. Unlike the normal ‘hole’ magic where it only traps the enemy within the sphere. ‘Blood hole’ can manipulate every blood within the sphere.
The enemy is very afraid at this point. Well, he should be. He is hit by a corrupt cast without anti-corruption and I saw his ability in mana utilization earlier, which is not good enough to negate the effects of the corruption.
“You!”
He is trying to do something, but he was previously hit by my corrupt cast. Being hit by a corrupt cast will make you corrupted or it confuses your mana flow making it hard to do a good mana utilization. So, casting any magic while corrupted is very hard but not impossible.
He get sucked by the hole and by stopping his blood circulation, he fainted. I casted five ‘blood bind’ to bind him and casted ‘blood siphon’ to weaken him. I only have to bring him to Loncross now.
It is very lucky that I have my period this time, or else he could have shown his true potential. I don’t get it why most of the people prefer to prolong the battle by not going all out at the start of the battle. If he goes all out a little earlier, then I might be facing trouble.
(Eula! Come on!)
[What are you so angry about?]
(…)
[I’m sure it’s because you didn’t get to fight?]
(Yeah, I’m just being ridiculous, please forget it.)
[Is there any problem?]
(What do you mean?)
I peeked at Nathan’s side. He is inside a bathroom. That makes sense since we want to focus on the battle.
[Nothing.]
I am pretty sure something happened on his side. Nathan’s normal response should be about the fact that I should be struggling to fight against the enemy then he will suddenly help me.
Actually, that is not a normal response. Nathan’s character is really getting into me.
I continued to go towards Loncross carefully while carrying the criminal using ‘touch shot force’.
…
There’s Sofia and Gondarr running to me. When they saw the person I am carrying in my back, they are surprised.
“Eunice! You defeated him?!”
They are both surprised. That’s natural, I guess.
“Uhh…”
What should I say? Uhhh… maybe ‘I’m only lucky though’? No, that’s arrogant. Maybe ‘Well, I did my best’? No, I should not say anything about myself. Maybe ‘He is a great enemy’? No, that is too vague. Maybe…
“Tsk… Let me carry him for you.”
Gondarr is offering to carry him. He is still annoyed to me huh.
“Okay.”
I accepted of course. Looks like they searched for us when they recovered.
“Eula, Are you fine?”
“Yes, just a little exhausted.”
No! I messed up, I already decided to not say anything about myself earlier. I hope they don’t see me as arrogant.
“Let me check up on you, okay.”
I let her check me for injuries. I need to not make them worry about me.
“Okay, but first.”
I looked to Gondarr. Sofia shouted at him,
“Gondarr! Turn around!”
“Do you really want to see a beautiful maiden bare?”
“Eunice!”
“I’m just teasing him, don’t worry.”
He turned around and he is pretty red. Hmm…
I remember the time when Nathan first saw me naked. He is delicate enough to actually ask for my permission. But when he is taking a bath, he seems uninterested. I never really thought of that since I am also taking a bath in Nathan’s body. But I would really appreciate it if he just showed me some interest. He is lucky enough that I only want him to see me…Well, that came out wrong.
“You’re really fine! Who are you really?”
“Well…”
I really don’t know what to say. I should just say my Alias.
“I’m Ytor. Eunice Ytor.”
“*sigh* let’s just go back.”
I am happy that they didn’t press that matter to me. Otherwise, I would be really flustered.
On the way back, we talked about what happened after I started chasing the enemy. They asked how I am able to enter the barrier which supposedly keeps intruders away. They also asked the ‘devil’s advocate’ but I didn’t answer that. They are both surprised that I am observing them from the point where the two of them started fighting more fiercely.
(Eula, taste from my mouth for a second.)
I did that and suddenly I tasted a very tasty food.
(What do you think about the lobster ceviche?)
I peeked from his eyes and…
[Where’s that ceviche?]
He looked at the ceviche and I see the ceviche. I found it not pretty, but it might be because Nathan had already eaten from it.
[I’m impressed that you can do this without magic. Its taste is comparable to my personal chef’s dishes.]
(You have a personal chef? Lucky you. Anyway, the person who cooked this is the former sous chef of a 6 Michelin star chef.)
“Heeeeeey!”
Aa…I forgot that I was talking to them. We are talking about… yes, I remember. I said,
“You are focused on the fight, so I think that’s why you didn’t notice me.”
Gondarr said,
“For us assassins, that is disgraceful. We should be aware of everything in the area. I am more surprised that even Drevo didn’t notice you until you showed up.”
Sofia agreed,
“Now that you mention it. Even a great assassin like him didn’t notice Eunice.”
She clapped her hand and excitingly said,
“As expected from Eunice!”
Drevo?
“Is Drevo the name of that person?”
Sofia answered me,
“I guess we didn’t actually tell you. He is Drevo Arinola, he also came from ‘Fly Die High’.”
This might be the best time to ask that organization.
“Uhh…”
I can’t ask that.
Sofia continued,
“You must be wondering what ‘Fly Die High’ really is.”
“Sofia!”
“Gondarr, I think it’s fine if it’s her. I already considered her a while ago.”
They took the initiative in telling me. Thank you Sofia. I’m just curious as to what is going on.
“Fine. Eunice, make sure that you won’t tell anything that Sofia will tell you now.”
“I can’t guarantee that.”
“Sofia, please not her.”
“It’s fine. I can trust you Eunice right?”
“Yes.”
“You heard her.”
“Unbelievable, this is why you’re so easy.”
Is she though?
“Anyway, ‘Fly Die High’ is an organization of assassins. It aims to raise potential assassins. Its goal is to support the mass from the shadows. The organization isn’t affiliated with any country at all, so we can be an ally or an enemy to everyone. Even the organization allows assassinations inside the organization, so they would not care even if I tried to kill Gondarr here for his attitude. “
“Hey! That was uncalled for. ”
Basically, this organization has too much freedom on doing whatever they want. No wonder these two assassins seemed to be pretty laid back.
Still, this is only the basic information.
“’Fly Die High’ is only known by high-ranking people or those who are very powerful, they know that messing with the organization means digging their own grave.”
Not only is this organization huge and hidden. It is also acknowledged to be very powerful. Well, you need someone who is extremely good in order to manage this very huge organization.
“The organization is very well until the event 5 years ago, which is the biggest secret of the organization that only selected people knows, including us three.”
Should she really be saying this? Yes, I want some information but not as overwhelming as ‘biggest secret’, I hope she’s only exaggerating.
Just to be safe, I raised my hand to interrupt her.
“Uhh… Please tell me why you’re telling me the secret first?”
It might be unnecessary for her to tell it in the first place. I am afraid that she doesn’t have a good reason why she is telling me that secret.
Looks like there is a reason, considering that Gondarr isn’t trying retort.
“Yes. Well, I think you could help us.”
“In what way?”
“You see, that event separates the old generation to the new generation of assassins. We are the test batch of the new generation of assassins.”
She just told me something significant. I need to stop her before she makes things worse.
“Just tell me what you want me to do.”
“We want you to get involved in-”
“STOP!”
Please take the hint that I am trying to make you not say anything about the secret.
“Just tell me exactly what will I do, when I get involved in whatever that was.”
“Yes, uh so, in our genera-”
This girl is not listening at all.
“STOP! Gondarr, you tell me.”
“Yeah… It’s her responsibility, so no way.”
“How about Iris?”
“She said that she would love to, but she also agreed that it’s Sofia’s responsibility.”
These two wants me to have a head ache don’t they.
“Okay Sofia, I want you to tell me what you want me to do. That and that only. Don’t tell me anything else.”
“So you don’t want me to tell you the fact that the reason why I want you to teach me is…”
Finally, she said it. I need to stop her before she continues.
“STOP! So you want me to teach you?”
“Yes, because us new gen-”
I should just keep interrupting her.
“AND what do you mean by teach exactly?”
“Well, because new gen-”
“I MEAN what do you want me teach you in the first place?”
“The outside world.”
“THANK YOU! You could’ve just said, ‘I want you to teach us the outside world’.”
I feel terrible. I’ve been so disrespectful this day.
(Hahaha… This is probably the first time I heard you so annoyed to other people.)
[I can’t stand that you know. Also, it’s not funny. I have you know that you already heard me being annoyed… And I’m referring to you.]
(Come on, that’s cruel.)
[Deal with it.]
Still, teaching the outside world.
“First of all, Sofia just because you are entrusting me an important secret in order to ask some favor doesn’t mean that I’ll do that favor. Imagine if you told me that secret and I disagreed being your teacher, what does that mean?”
“Well, Eunice will keep that a secret, yes?”
“Okay, but what if it’s any other people?”
“I wouldn’t tell them anything, so I can’t see any problems.”
“Fair point.”
(So, what’s the status of your own grave?)
[With the help of Sofia, my grave is dug very deep in a matter of minutes.]
(Nice, just don’t suffocate in there.)
[Thank you, Nathan.]
He helped me calm down.
“Look, you are missing the point. The point is whether you trust or person or not, you need to be careful in what you want to say. Just because you trust me doesn’t mean that I wanted to be involved in your problems.”
“But… what should I say then? If I don’t speak to them, then I would not get the help that I wanted.”
Hmm… I thought about the times I, or at least Eunice, is with Sofia.
“That is true.”
I may have an idea on what’s going on. I think I am smiling a little bit.
Gondarr… is smiling. I’m sure that they really wanted me to listen to Sofia. While the ‘responsibility’ might be true, it’s only an excuse.
“Then tell me, what do you want from me?”
(Come on! I thought you like to go straight to the point.)
[Because that won’t work this time.]
(So, there are things that you want to do that is not related to books.)
[Of course I have. Also, what does it have to do with what I’m doing right now?]
(I’m slightly sure that you want to help this person.)
[No, this is for assurance in the future. I hope that she will not accidentally blurt out something to me which will make me somehow involved involuntarily.]
(To be honest, I found that as an excuse.)
[Of course it’s an excuse. I’m thinking mutually here. I hope that this talk will benefit both of us in a way. Besides, I also felt that I need to do this.]
(I agree, I felt that too.)
“We want you to teach us the outside world because…”
“Have you noticed? You tried to explain it to me, you could’ve asked for my help and that’s it. You only wanted my help. Why do you want to explain things to me?”
“Well, I want you to understand the situation so you could help me better.”
“How does explaining the situation improve the situation?”
“Uhh… Umm… Look, I can’t explain it but I’m sure it will improve.”
“I agree. It opens for more opinion and provides more flexibility about how the person handles the situation.”
I’m about to get harsh.
*inhale*
*exhale*
(I bet that you will be too afraid to say anything at this point.)
[Just stop it. I know what to say at this point.]
(Yeah, you’re very bad at casual conversation.)
He is not helping at all.
“But you can’t do that, you are forcing them to your situation.”
(I knew you’d pick the wrong words.)
[Shut up Nathan.]
“I am not forcing them. I am only asking.”
“You ARE forcing them!”
“Eunice, you’re going over the line. What do you know about me?”
What should I say now? If only I bring that other point first.
(You’re lucky that you’re arguing with Sofia you know. Any other person and you’d be shut down. I’ll have you know that I rarely get shut down.)
[Aren’t you being too over confident of yourself?]
(Of course, actually if I am in your case, no arguments will begin in the first place.)
Now that I think about it, I am the one who started the argument. I am in no position to stop her from forcing someone because… Nathan, he…
[You could’ve just say it directly to me.]
(Using your words earlier, ‘Because it won’t work this time.’)
[The ‘it’ is actually ‘that’ you know.]
(My bad.)
“We just met yesterday, so I don’t know much about you. But the same goes for you, you don’t know much about me too. So, why do you want my help and even going as far as telling me a secret?”
“Uhh…I trust you.”
“Are you sure about that? From everything that I’ve seen so far, you didn’t trust me.”
I might ask her about why she trusts me, but that might complicate things.
“I am sure, yes. Which is why I wanted your help.”
“Aside from that-”
(Eula, just tell your point to her. This is a good time to say that.)
He does make a good point.
“Ehmm…”
Here goes nothing.
“Then ask for my help, you don’t need to explain me the details, just ask.”
“No way, I need to say the details, how are they able to help me?”
“Just tell them what help do you need?”
“But what if they helped me but they are actually against the idea if they know the details. That would mean that I am lying to them.”
“But you know to yourself that you are not lying, correct? You need to wait for them to ask you for the details don’t force them the details, just be patient. Let them control their involvement.”
“But what if they really didn’t ask me in the first place? I really need to tell them the details.”
“Let them be ignorant then. There’s nothing wrong with knowing nothing and asking something.”
I’ll get nowhere at this point. I followed up,
“Look, I know that you are a very kind person. But you are afraid that it looks like you didn’t really trust us. Trust the fact that the person you asked for help knows what they're doing, they know whether they need to ask or not.”
(That compliment is totally unnecessary.)
[Let me do it my way please.]
“I trust you!”
“No! That’s what you think so, but you’re not!”
“Why won’t you believe me?”
“Believe what? That you trust me? I do believe that, but that’s what you think you are doing. Let me tell you that you’re not.”
I can’t stop now.
“Stop it Eunice. Did you forget that I trusted you when you said that we were able to deal with the Caravan yesterday?”
“Yes, but-”
“See. I didn’t doubt that you’ll trick me. I didn’t argue with you. I may be nervous at the thought of stopping it with the two of us, but I can’t help that you know. But I trusted you.”
“But that is different-”
“No, it’s not different. You even confessed to me that you think that I am the culprit of this massacre! Do you think you have the right to talk to me about that?”
“Don’t interrupt me, and let me talk! Okay.”
“Go ahead.”
For the first time since I saw her, this might be the first time that she is showing her maturity as a twenty years old. Not exactly her maturity but more like her dominance or superiority as a twenty years old. I hope my adjectives are right.
“Like I’m trying to say, this and that is different. That time you want my help and this time you want my help-”
She interrupted me,
“We are not talking-”
“Let me fini-”
Another interruption,
“Wait, listen first. Our roles might be-”
“Let me-”
Interrupted me again,
“Don’t interrupt me Eunice and let me talk.”
She is just annoying at this point.
“YOU INTERRUPTED ME EVEN THOUGH YOU SAID YOU WON’T! So, LET ME FINISH TALKING!!”
I am rudely speaking to someone older than me, again. At least she is younger than most of them, so I am feeling less guilty.
(As expected from Eula. Your angry voice just sounds more natural and beautiful compared to when I tried to be angry with your voice.)
[Shut up Nathan!]
“Okay, okay. You said it.”
“Thank you. As I was saying, yes, I may have doubted you when we asked for your help but remember that we both agree that I truly felt that way. In this case, we didn’t agree about one thing, and that’s what you think you are doing…”
She seems to have no interest in interrupting me this time. I continued,
“…Listen, everything we know and everything we think we know aren’t always correct. I am saying that I can be wrong in what I am saying to you, I might be misunderstanding something about you. Unfortunately, the way I see things right now, I see that you can’t really trust anyone, you are afraid that someone might stab you in the back. You might say that you trust me, but you’re not.”
I might seem to see only negative things, but I can’t let her think about that. I continued speaking,
“On the other hand, you know yourself that you are trustworthy, all you have to think about is the task at hand and you are happy about that. You’ve already helped someone yes?”
“Yes.”
“Then whatever you are trying to do, I believe you are trying to do your best in helping that person. Like I said, you are doubting people, if not unconsciously. You have to stop that. You don’t need to explain things just to make them trust you, unless they asked you of course. Just do what you’ve seen from the people you’ve helped to the person you wanted to help you. With your charisma, you’ll make the right decisions most of the time.”
She is speechless at this point.
“One more thing, be more open to criticism. You are slightly in denial.”
(Your speech… 4 out of 10.)
[Better than your introduction at least.]
(Probably.)
“…Im...n…lik..th..”
Sofia said something, didn’t she?
(I hope you know that you’re being inconsiderate.)
[Yes.]
(Then let me correct your score, it’s actually 5 out of 10.)
Setting that ridiculousness aside, I’d better listen to her.
“You’re saying that all I’ve done this time is wrong! I’m not like that!”
Here she goes…
“I’ve helped countless people in need for the past year. I’ve done many sorts of things just to help them. I know that when I finished helping them, I could see their smile, their happiness spilling. Then you say that I’m wrong in what I am doing, that the feelings that I’ve seen and felt is only a lie!”
I didn’t say that though.
“You might say that I am in denial. But, I know and felt that they’ve been grateful for the things I’ve done for them.”
What is the connection between being denial and the thing that she said next? That doesn’t make sense at all. The right word is delusional and not denial. Well, she’s not delusional and I didn’t say that.
I'm not mocking her inside my brain. I just think that she is misunderstanding the things that I've said, well I hope she realizes that sooner. Otherwise, I'll be speechless at this point. All I can do is deny the things that she thinks that I said. Which will not help at this point.
(Hahaha…Good luck, Eula.)
[This isn’t something to laugh about Nathan. Although it hurts that she misunderstood the point. She is way off topic.]
(Yeah, although you know that she likes to help someone. You shouldn’t use that to show your point. You must use something with more specific details. Meaning you should’ve seen her helping someone first before bringing that up, otherwise don’t bring that up. In other words, you should’ve done this later.)
[Fair point.]
“Sorry, but I’ve got to go.”
Sofia ran away. She is on the verge of crying before she turned her back on us. Those tears might be flowing by now.
“Eunice, here.”
I casted the ‘touch shot force’ and Gondarr passed me the unconscious criminal, Drevo.
“Please wait for us in Loncross, we still need to hear your answer.”
The request for teaching the outside world. Wait, she helped a lot of people yet she doesn’t know the outside world. What kind of people is she helping?
“Okay. I’ll wait for you.”
Gondarr goes after Sofia.
“Sofia! Wait!”
And they are now far in the distance.
Speaking of something in the distance, the rain is about to come.
I casted ‘mana tool’ and formed a large umbrella to cover us both.
(Anyway, I am curious as to why you tried to help her.)
[Nathan, you want another mystery?]
(Yeah, you want me to not ask you why so it remains a mystery. Even if I ask, you will still avoid the question or at least not tell me anything, still making it a mystery. Yeah, I don’t plan to ask you that anyway. I know it will uncover as the time comes, you might even try to tell me about it.)
[At least you understand.]
He might be right about me having the initiative to tell about it. I decided to stay silent about it.
I should stop Drevo now for pretending to be asleep.
“Please stop that already. I know you’re awake.”
“Aha! I’ve been discovered. As expected from the person that defeated me. What gave me away?”
“What do you think? Here’s a hint, it’s very obvious.”
“Not willing to share the info eh.”
“You’re planning to escape?”
“Indeed. I never thought I’ve been put in this situation.”
“Well, good luck. Anyway, follow me. I don’t want to carry you to jail.”
“Of course. It hurts that a gentleman like me is carried like a princess.”
We keep walking.
“Young lady, no need to keep your guard up for yours truly. I believe you know the consequences of that magic.”
He is talking about the ‘Devil’s advocate’.
“I know, but it’s my decision.”
“It’s yours indeed. I’m just reminding you how unnecessary it is.”
(Tell him, ‘Unnecessary to remind me that.’)
[That is a good one.]
“Unnecessary to remind me that.”
I said it awkwardly.
(Hahaha… Saying that does not suit you at all.)
[SHUT UP!]
“Well said.”
I’m not taking his complement seriously.
“Anyway, go find some way to cover yourself from the rain.”
“I can’t cast magic because of this ‘blood bind’.”
“You’re supposed to be an assassin. You shouldn’t be that dependent to magic. ”
“I’m afraid you have to bear covering us both. There’s nothing that I can do.”
…
I see the gates. The same guard the other day is approaching me.
“Eunice! Who’s that binded fellow?”
“The criminal of the ‘Death Caravan’”
“WHAT?! You’re not pulling a prank on me, are you?”
“I’m serious. Just let me in.”
“Right. Good work.”
We head straight to the guild and let them arrest him. They didn’t believe me at first but they were shocked when they verified that it’s true. He is the person who does the killing every year. Although he is silent about his motives, one thing is clear. He is now in prison.
On the guild’s reception, I am talking to Jane,
“Thank you for your hard work.”
“Save that thanks for my two companions. The criminal would not even consider stopping to fight if it weren’t for them.”
“I am. But, the criminal is caught because you were also there.”
“I know, I’m jus—OW!”
Someone behind me patted me really hard on my left shoulder and it hurts.
That person is Banba.
“My bad. Anyway, Banba is impressed that Eunice pulled that off.”
“Thank you.”
“Before you two talk, Eunice, give me your guild badge and Identification papers.”
[Nathan, do you want to put this achievement to our identification paper?]
(No. You know why.)
“Can you just process my badge? I don’t want to put this achievement to my papers.”
“Of course, if that’s what you want. ”
I searched my inventory for my badge.
“Here you go.”
“I’ll come back in around 30 minutes.”
Jane left the reception.
“Banba, let’s sit first.”
“Alright.”
…
When I peeked at Nathan’s side. He is carrying a drunk Richard on his side.
[You didn’t drink, did you?]
(Nah, my sister will kill me.)
[You’re safe then.]
I know that Nathan and Richard goes in a party in another country. But, I don’t know the specifics.
…
“Eunice, tell me the story on how you were able to catch him.”
“Well…”
I told him several things: I’m waiting for the criminal. The criminal didn’t enter my radar on his first attack of the day, but he did on his second attack. My companions managed to delay him, I joined on the middle of their battle. He ran away but we ended up fighting each other which I eventually won.
Several person joined the conversation so I became more silent in the conversation. They are saying their personal opinion on the quest itself; they are also telling their past experiences on tackling the quest. I found all of these information unimportant, but I was intrigued to know their unique reasons why they take the quest in the first place. Like Banba wanting to avenge his friend who was killed by the criminal.
Overall, we are basically talking about our thoughts about the quest itself.
Meanwhile, Nathan is in a room I don’t recognize with Richard.
[For future reference, I hate the smell of alcohol, so I’m not going to switch with you.]
(Okay, but I’m curious about one thing. If I drink alcohol, then how will that affect you?)
[It depends on you. If you drank a lot of alcohol and you still can’t get drunk, then I’ll not be drunk still. Basically, I’ll experience what you experience, just like…well dying.]
(…)
…
“Eunice, here’s your badge.”
BB rank badge huh.
“Thank you for processing my badge. I’m exhausted so I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Thank you for your hard word, please come again.”
“Wait!”
Banba stopped me.
“Banba?”
“Banba and the party wants to celebrate the success of the quest. Banba and the party wants to do it tomorrow. Banba is inviting you to attend to this celebration in Onair at the Living district.”
“I am very sorry to disappoint you that I can’t go there. I need to wait for my companions.”
“No need to sorry. Banba understands the situation. Take care.”
“Thank you. Take care too Banba.”
After checking the state of the rubbers. I proceeded to go to sleep.
…
“WAKE UP!”
I am awaken by Nathan shouting. I peeked on his eyes. Looks like he is trying to wake up Richard.
(Sorry that I wake you up. This guy will totally overslept because of the hangover that he needs someone to wake him up.)
It’s too early in the morning. I wonder why he needs to wake up this early.
[Well, good luck.]
I should just continue making the bike.