The Ice Queen's Pursuit
Before heading out to the mission site, Astra called out to me.
“Maker, wait a moment.”
“Miss Astra? Is there something else you wanted to say?”
Astra nodded at my question.
“You understand the level of heroes we’ll be facing at the laboratory this time, correct?”
“Yes. Weren’t they sending rookie heroes to let them gain some experience?”
I had been a little tense at first when I heard heroes were being drawn in, but after looking into the situation properly, it turned out the Association had judged this a relatively light mission and tossed in some rookies to let them rack up a bit of field time.
“Even so, I don’t want you to take them too lightly. There’s a high chance they’ll have sent at least a B+-class hero along to supervise the rookies and protect them if things go wrong.”
“I suppose they wouldn’t send a bunch of rookies completely on their own.”
Honestly, I wasn’t all that worried. At most it would be a B+-class hero. Would the busy, high-value A-class heroes really show up at a time like this?
According to the original story, contact with the Korean Association would gradually increase, but that was still a long way off. I had already been lucky enough to run into Ice Queen once. There was no way I would meet her again, right?
I told myself it couldn’t possibly happen.
But I never imagined they would actually send an A-class hero.
And I certainly never imagined I would end up facing her alone like this.
“..? Excuse me? Are you not listening to me?”
Ice Queen raised her voice slightly, apparently puzzled by my silence.
What do I do..
Honestly, if it were the current her, I could probably kill her somehow. Since we were still in the early stages of the original story, she was immature both mentally and in terms of experience.
I even knew all about her trauma, so it was possible. But.
The problem is… I can’t kill her.
She and the other heroines needed to become stronger for my sake in the future. Even if they weren’t heroines, I had to make them grow stronger and stronger until they could finally defeat the final boss.
“Huu…”
It was unpleasant that I had to fill the empty spot that guy left behind, but I had no choice if I wanted to survive.
Let’s put those thoughts aside for now and focus on how to escape.
“You’re curious who I am? Haha, I’m…”
“......”
“An investor in this laboratory. Yes, an investor.”
“......”
“I stopped by today to see the results of my investment, but then this raid happened and…”
..? What the hell? Why isn’t she saying anything?
I had opened my mouth just to buy time, but the way she simply stared at me without responding felt off. Her expression was strange too.
It was as if her entire body was screaming why the hell are you here?
“...Maker?”
Shit.
I quickly turned my head toward the window. The clouds that had been covering it earlier were completely gone.
And the bright moonlight was shining directly on me.
“..Ugh.”
Thud. Clatter… Pssshhh—
I frantically threw a smoke grenade and ran.
“Stop right there, Maker!!”
“..Haha, well this is…”
What now.
And so an unexpected nighttime chase began.
This is awkward.
Things had gone completely off-script.
I thought it would be easy since it wasn’t in the original story, but what the hell is this..
“Stop, Maker.”
Ice Queen overtook me, then turned to face me directly. Should I at least greet her?
“It’s been a while. Have you been well, Ice Queen..?”
Ping—
The moment I smiled and greeted her, sharp ice spikes flew toward my limbs. I instantly created a large shield and blocked them.
“What kind of rudeness is this toward someone who’s greeting you?”
“I don’t believe you’re someone who deserves that level of courtesy, do you?”
Ice Queen glared at me with eyes that burned with clear anger.
“Why did you attack the laboratory?”
“It’s an internal matter for our organization, so I’m afraid I can’t tell you.”
“Then shut up and stay quiet.”
Ice Queen froze the entire floor around her and slid toward me like she was skating.
“I’ll make you confess after I catch you!”
“I’ll have to decline.”
If you can catch me, go ahead and try.
Having said that, I threw another smoke grenade and ran.
“The same trick won’t wo—!!”
Kwaang!
This time I mixed in a grenade as well.
I kept running.
Kwaaaang!
Whenever she caught up, I used another trick to escape.
This was already the umpteenth time I had fled like this.
I turned a corner and urgently tapped my communicator.
“This is Maker! Do you copy?”
They were carrying out their missions properly. I wanted to tell them they were doing a good job, but something more urgent had come up.
“Encountered A-class hero Ice Queen. Currently being pursued.”
Unlike the Training Officer, 42 asked me calmly without panicking. I was right to bring her along.
“Yes. It looks like we’ll need to make some adjustments.”
Ting— clatter..
Kwaaaang!!
I created a grenade and hurled it far down the corridor at the wall beside me. The corridor collapsed instantly, blocking the path.
I took a moment to catch my breath and pressed the communicator again.
“For now, let’s switch roles between me and 42. 42, you head to the control room.”
Right now, her aggro was completely fixed on me. Rather than letting that aggro accidentally jump to someone else and ruin the mission, it was better for me to act as bait and keep her chasing me.
If I can tie her down somewhere appropriate, that would be even better.
“I’ll handle Ice Queen. Taking control of the room should be possible with your skills, right, 42?”
Good. Now the problem is the Training Officer..
Originally, I had chosen 42 to guard her while she cracked the password. But now I suddenly had to focus on Ice Queen, and 42 had to fill my spot, which created a gap in the Training Officer’s protection.
I can’t let her lose her combat strength meaninglessly to a sudden ambush..
“Training Officer.”
“How did the earlier battle go? Did you escape safely?”
I asked her about the previous situation both to check how many enemies remained and to get a grasp on the flow.
Her voice sounded slightly excited at my question, like a child hoping for praise.
An Yeri spoke to me, her voice now carrying a hint of laughter.
...What?
What kind of massacre had she carried out in my absence? The way she spoke as if she wanted praise sent a chill down my spine for a moment.
She couldn’t have killed the heroes too, could she? I hadn’t even picked out the useful gems yet..
“..You mean the heroes?”
“Phew..”
It seemed the situation I had imagined wasn’t the case.
“......”
It really wasn’t the situation I had imagined.
The heroes ran away?
I felt a little dizzy. After thinking for a moment, I asked.
“Then the ones you killed were..”
It seemed the rookie heroes had fled, leaving only the villains disguised as security to try to stop the Training Officer.
“...You did well.”
Yes. In the long run, it would be more helpful for the final boss fight if the heroes survived rather than those villains who never listened and only looked after their own interests.
...Right?
“In that case, do you know roughly how many enemies remain, excluding those who fled?”
Squelch.
The moment she finished speaking, a horrifying cutting sound came through the communicator.
“......”
That was a very villain-like thing to say.
“Then, Training Officer, you can proceed to the location where the research data is stored as planned.”
There was no longer any need to protect her. She had slaughtered them all by herself—what was there left to guard against?
Even if one or two attacked her, she would be able to handle that much on her own.
“By the way, during the battle, were there only the rookie heroes? I doubt Ice Queen handled all the rookies by herself.”
“I see.”
I feel like there should have been at least one more hero leading them..
Well, that wasn’t important right now, so I let it slide.
Crack. Craaack.
“Then I should get back to my own work. See you both later.”
Click.
The communication cut off. I looked at the barricade created by the collapsed wall.
Crack.. Kwaang!
“I finally found you, Maker.”
The barricade was easily destroyed. Ice Queen, having blown the entire thing away, stared at me.
“Being pursued so obsessively by a beautiful woman is normally flattering, but right now it’s a bit burdensome.”
“..What are you even saying!”
When I spoke with a sly grin, she exploded in genuine anger. Ice Queen created a chunk of ice and hurled it at me.
Angry? Then try to catch me.
I gave her a crooked smile and ran without looking back.
“I told you to stop!”
Ice Queen chased after me with even more fire in her eyes than before.
You two, please finish up quickly.
Otherwise I was going to end up trapped in a block of ice.
..Alright! I’ll do my part properly without causing trouble for anyone!
Meanwhile, after the communication ended, the Training Officer headed toward the database containing the target research data to carry out her assigned role.
Turn the corner… and left!
The Training Officer followed the location Maker had given her and finally arrived near the storage area.
I’m finally here… huh..?
“H-hero..?”
What appeared before her eyes was a man. A very sleazy-looking man was smiling as if he thought he was handsome.
“Hello there, beautiful?”
“...Ugh.”
The Training Officer felt a strange stickiness in the gaze directed at her. Goosebumps rose all over her body, and before she realized it, her hand moved to rest on her sword.
“...If you don’t move aside, I’ll cut you down..”
“Haha, how feisty~”
Smack.
The man, Iron, licked his lips and fiddled with the potion in his pocket.