Episode 5: We Are Protagonists (6)
“Huff…!”
The man wielding a strangely shaped spear was closing in on the boy at high speed. Normally, he would have noticed someone like that approaching long before they got close—no, the moment they opened the door to enter the building. But he hadn't. It was all because that woman, Sephirah or whatever her name was, had pulled all sorts of weird stunts!
Damn it.
The spear tip was drawing ever closer. But his body wouldn't move. It was too late now. The boy, Loqi Mendacium, squeezed his eyes shut, not wanting to see the horrific, inevitable scene about to unfold.
Surviving even up to this point was nothing short of a miracle.
“Gahk…!”
And as always, the miracle arrived in a form that defied understanding.
The spear in the man's hand couldn't advance any further toward the boy. More precisely, it had been made impossible. The attack had been taken instead by the very man who, just moments ago, had been kneeling motionless on the ground.
Following that, the other four people began moving again, assessing the situation.
“Tch.”
Aiden let go of the spear entirely and clicked his tongue. There had only been that one boy moving about, so who the hell was this guy who suddenly popped up, stood, and took the hit for him?
“Hah…!”
Meanwhile, Loqi, facing Aiden, fought to keep his legs from giving out. He had no idea why the guys around him had suddenly frozen, or why Sephirah had acted like she knew him, or how any of this was happening—but this was his chance. Regardless, that man and the woman who had followed him must have come here because of what had just gone down. To escape this mess, he needed to bolt before they focused solely on him.
“Out of my way!!”
Loqi seized the opening created by Aiden stabbing the wrong target and bolted for the exit. The only way out of the basement was the stairs they had come down. But the woman who followed was blocking the path. Prepared for that, Loqi drew a dagger in poor condition. He believed it would force her to move, one way or another.
Standing before him was Claire, holding an open book.
“Not moving?!”
“...Ah.”
All Claire held was a somewhat thick book. She hadn't brought her cane, and she rarely used her holy spirit anyway, so she hadn't even considered packing it. That's why he was charging at her like this. She must have looked like easy prey.
—But if you run around mindlessly like that, you'll get your ankle snagged...
One of the countless sentences written in the book ignited like fire, turning a deep crimson.
Since she hadn't recited the exact sentence, the effect might be weakened, but there was no need to go all out just to catch one boy.
Whoosh...
Soon, the crimson sentence slipped out from the book's pages. Claire's eyes remained fixed on the charging thief's body, and the sentence reacted in kind. It stretched into an impossibly thin curve before forming into red iron chains.
“Urk!”
It started with his scarred ankle. Deeming one insufficient, the chains seized both ankles at once, trying to topple the boy. Then his emaciated arms from hunger, and finally his neck. The five segments of chain bound his limbs, throttling his neck to prevent any resistance.
—That way, you can't move anymore.
Today's sentence had literally grabbed the fleeing boy by the ankles—though with his limbs bound and neck gripped, it was more than just his ankles.
“Mister's... a bit busy.”
Having stopped the boy's escape, Claire glanced sideways to see a sight too gruesome to watch with eyes open.
It wasn't that horrifying, but Claire didn't like seeing limbs severed often, so she averted her gaze.
“You don't want to end up like that, right? I don't want to see anyone else go that way either.”
Loqui nodded repeatedly in response, saying nothing. The chains coiled around his neck also covered his mouth, rendering speech impossible.
“So you'll come along, then?”
Loqi had no choice. If only he'd followed Sephirah one more time, none of this would have happened.
* * *
“Child, what's your name?”
The boy, bound hand and foot and kneeling, answered.
“Loqi Mendacium.”
It was a sincere reply, but the listener seemed far from satisfied.
“I've never even heard a name like that before. Don't you have a proper one?”
“Aigoo, what can I do? This is the only name I've ever used. Maybe 'cause I'm an orphan.”
“Oh dear, sorry about that.”
Since Aiden and Claire had brought only the boy alive, Satyr nodded silently in approval. Even she, who loved when her collectibles were appreciated, had no intention of letting thieves off easy. The exception was this young-looking Loqi.
“Child, Aiden. I'm grateful, but couldn't you find any other kids?”
“If you mean the redhead, she wasn't there. Maybe she conveniently stepped out...”
“Well, we can make this Loqi spill it while we scold him.”
The old woman's wrinkled eyes fixed on Loqi. Her expression didn't change in that brief moment, but her gaze carried an inexplicable weight.
“Child, do you know where that girl you were with might be? You must know who she is, at least.”
Fear flickered briefly across Loqi's face. But he bit his lip and quickly reverted to his previous expression.
“Aigoo, did my voice come out too soft? I asked where the girl you were with is.”
“Dunno.”
“Hm, then surely you have some idea?”
“Nope.”
“Hmmm...”
In truth, Loqi had no idea where Sephirah was. They'd parted just before this mess, so how could he? Still, she probably wasn't far. She seemed reluctant to let go of something. But Loqi had no intention of voicing even that thought, continuing to avoid Satyr's eyes.
“You're not a very good liar, child. You don't know exactly where, but it looks like there's more you're not saying.”
“...”
“Sorry, child, but I won't wait around knowing you're hiding something.”
Satyr clucked her tongue regretfully and pulled a small crossbow from her desk drawer. From the next drawer came bolts for it, and from the one after, thin gloves. Weapons weren't among her collectibles, but she had plenty on hand.
“Aiden, can I leave this to you? Holding this nasty thing at my age makes me uneasy.”
“Sure. I have some questions anyway.”
“Just don't hurt him too badly.”
Aiden donned the gloves, loaded a bolt into the small crossbow, and aimed at Loqi. It was unusually tiny, raising doubts about its practicality, but it surely wasn't so weak as to fail at this range.
“No stalling. Just answer.”
“Player's changed.”
“What's that woman's name?”
“...Heard it was Sephirah. So don't aim at my head.”
Sephirah. A name Aiden had never heard. Probably an alias, but was Loqi lying outright? Or had the player who approached him really called herself that? Either way, it hardly mattered.
“How'd you meet her, and what did she want with you?”
“Ha, crossbow... She came looking for me. Knew my name even though I'd never blabbed it, then tried dragging me around.”
“But you're separated now.”
“Ah, guess I'm spilling it all.”
Loqi weighed his two options. He'd held back so far hoping Sephirah might rescue him. But staring down a headshot, cold logic won out—no need to agonize. Better to spill everything and prove he knew nothing useful. Waiting for help would just mean getting dragged around again anyway.
“Right before you barged in, she warned me—somehow knowing—danger was coming soon.”
“And?”
“So I—”
“Hold on.”
As Loqi opened his mouth, Satyr reached out, halting the pair.
“What's wrong?”
“Records just came in. That redheaded girl is outside that door right now.”
“...What?”
Everyone in the room turned wary eyes to the front door.
Loqi, naturally, was the most emotionally shaken.
Already?
He'd figured Sephirah would come back. For some reason, she delusionally saw him as super capable, so if she learned he'd been nabbed, she'd show once. That's what he'd thought.
But this fast?
“Um... Mister, seems like she's alone. No crowd vibe.”
She'd even come solo to the place they'd just raided with backup. Maybe she wasn't here to rescue anyone—just passing by. Otherwise, imagining her reaching the front door alone was impossible.
“Why would that child come straight back here? To rescue him?”
“Probably. She said she trusted Loqi here a ton.”
“Aigoo, what are these kids doing when they should be playing carefree far away?”
“Neither's that young.”
Aiden reached for his sword as Claire opened her book in the corner. Having missed her before due to timing, now that she'd walked into the trap, was the perfect moment to capture her.
But Satyr gestured again, stopping them.
“Child, Aiden. Guard your friend. Anyone else standing there would just get in the way.”
Satyr stood in the living room, facing the front door. The mage called Sephirah was doubtless preparing to burst through from the other side. And if they wanted time to scold her soundly then chat with Aiden, they needed a method safe enough not to kill her.
“...Non-lethal.”
Right after, the ordinary front door flew open with a loud bang, as if kicked hard.
The one who entered matched everyone's expectations perfectly. Red hair, ragged clothes, bizarre star-shaped pupils. The abandoned protagonist, temporary boss of alley thugs, and player.
“Here to save ya, you damn NPC.”
Sephirah had revealed herself to rescue Loqi.
