Episode 86
Translator: RaidenTL
Episode 86
Just before entering, Evan pulled out the medicine he had hastily shoved into his coat pocket. As he applied it to the scratches covering Elysia’s body, she winced, her face scrunching up from the sting.
He gently cradled her swollen left ankle and calmly answered her sudden question.
“How… did you get… here…”
“I’ve learned a thing or two from being by your side. I just followed you.”
“Why? Why did you come…”
“I told you I’d always be by your side. Did you think I was lying?”
As he took out a bandage and wrapped her ankle, Elysia let out a low groan, followed by a weak, airy laugh.
As the treatment progressed, her HP gauge, which had only been decreasing, began to slowly fill up. The continuous damage effect didn't disappear, however, so it started to drop again. Still, he had bought them some time.
Elysia bent and straightened an arm, which now moved a little better than before the treatment, and rummaged through her inventory.
<Click-Clack Door opener>
Item Description: Unlocks all locks with a <Durability> value of less than 100.
“Let’s get out.”
“…I suppose we have to.”
His ambiguous reply made her pause with suspicion. There’s something he’s not telling me.
But there was no time to press him for it. Leaning against him with an arm wrapped around his waist, Elysia said, “Get me… to the door… please.”
“You need to rest first—”
“Senior, we don’t have, time… In 20 minutes, maybe 40 at most… I’m going to pass out. I’m sure, of it.”
“What? But I treated all your…”
Evan cut himself off and began examining her body. He then froze, finally noticing that the back of her head was soaked with thick blood.
How could he have forgotten? Elysia had been bleeding the entire time she was being dragged here. It was a miracle she was even conscious.
She fumbled through her inventory, pulling out an automatic pistol with a pained groan. Evan naturally reached to take the gun, but he paused, puzzled when she shook her head.
“I’ll shoot.”
“…What?”
“Senior, this is your first time… with a gun like this.”
Evan couldn’t deny it and bit his lip. The firearm Elysia held was far too sophisticated for him to handle easily, having only ever touched an old-fashioned rifle. Its structure was completely different. Still, he tried to insist.
“If you teach me, I can shoot.”
“No, no… It’s not that you’re the problem, ugh… It’s that I’m not in any state to teach you.”
She was running on pure willpower. In her judgment, it was better for her to shoot than to risk leaving something out while trying to explain the pistol’s mechanisms. Evan sighed, gazing down at her.
“Thanks to you, Senior, I’ve got most of the feeling back in my arms. My head’s clearer, too. So, let’s get out while I’m still somewhat functional.”
“Even so…”
“I know you don’t trust me, but still—”
“It’s not that I don’t trust you, I’m worried about you.”
“Same difference…”
“It’s different.”
Carrying Elysia, Evan walked to the door and slumped down in front of it. As Elysia dug at the keyhole with the door opener, her eyes were lucid.
It was astonishing how she could be so focused while blood was pouring from the back of her head, especially given that her stamina was far lower than an average person’s.
“…El, you’re going to pass out in twenty minutes?”
“Yes. Probably.”
He sighed and ran a hand over his face. Is he thinking this is reckless, that we’ll just get caught even if we get out? Reading the question implicit in his sigh, Elysia answered.
“When we get out, whatever happens, don’t be surprised. Just run.”
“What do you mean, ‘whatever happens’?”
“I’m going to… call for backup. It’s my ultimate skill, you could say.”
“…What?”
His voice was not only questioning what on earth she meant, but also flustered, as if he’d been caught.
Sensing once again that something was off, she was about to press him when the door clicked open. The timing was truly impeccable.
Elysia quickly shoved the door opener into her inventory and pulled the door just enough to create a small crack.
Then, taking a deep breath, she took out ‘something.’
“What is that…”
“Um, this is… a walkie-talkie.”
It was a black cube, about 20 centimeters tall, with a few buttons on top that seemed to be for activation. An antenna-like object protruded from it, making Evan frown.
Elysia let out a heavy sigh and forced a smile to hide her troubled expression as she muttered, “To be honest, I could be totally screwed for using this here…”
“What?”
“Senior, if I suddenly turn into a monster, or just… poof, disappear, you run away on your own without a second thought. Got it?”
Just as he was about to grab her shoulder and demand what she meant, Elysia squeezed her eyes shut, pressed a button on the side of the device, and spoke in a low voice.
“This is Inspector Elysia Hemming of the Nightmare City Criminal Investigation Bureau. Requesting backup.”
System: Ultimate Skill ‘Requesting Support’ has been activated.
Reinforcements matching the scale of the enemy will be summoned for 10 minutes.
‘Requesting Support’ was an active skill that summoned reinforcements appropriate to the enemy's numbers. It was a kind of ultimate skill that could only be used once per battle.
The problem was, this wasn’t <Panic in the City>. Could she really summon friendly NPCs from <Panic in the City> here?
And even if she could, should she? Would the summoned NPCs maintain their form, and would they even obey her commands?
She had no certainty, which was why she had hesitated to use it, taking a beating all this time.
But with Evan dragged into this, certainty didn't matter anymore. She had to bet everything on this gamble. Elysia mumbled, not even aware of what she was saying.
“I guess… you’re more important to me than I am.”
She looked up, meeting the green eyes staring down at her. Unlike her, who had been dodging and weaving, the man who had accepted his feelings long ago was gazing at her with a feverish intensity.
Finally, a low, restrained voice muttered, “I’m losing my mind.”
Evan deliberately exhaled slowly, trying to hide his quickening breath, and gently stroked the top of her head. His eyes darkened as he touched his forehead to hers and asked, “What did you mean by that just now?”
“I don’t know, I don’t know either… Why did I… say that…”
The true feelings that had slipped out of her mouth were strange even to her. Of course, it’s natural. We rely on each other. Of course he’s important.
So why did I say something so obvious, at a time like this…?
He smiled faintly as he looked down at Elysia, who was blinking in confusion. He kept their foreheads together for a moment, then closed his eyes. After a count of three, he pulled away cleanly and said, “Keep thinking about it.”
“Why? Why… should I think about it?”
“If you keep thinking about it, you’ll eventually come to me.”
“…”
“Just like I came to you.”
Elysia did her best to ignore his heated gaze and quickly looked down at the walkie-talkie, which had stopped its crackling static and suddenly gone cold.
All the light from the device flickered out, and a complete silence fell.
Damn it, did it fail? Elysia stared down at the device in her hand, her face crestfallen.
[error;null]
Just then, the walkie-talkie, which had been crackling nonstop, let out a sharp beep. I’ve never heard a sound like that before. Elysia stiffly lowered her head and froze when she saw something like smoke seeping out from the device.
It was a strange form, almost like a ghost, and something she had never seen before. What is this…?
[error;no summonable NPCs nearby;converting to area-of-effect damage]
“Wh-what is this…”
Just as she was about to scream, the slithering smoke slipped through the crack in the door. Frozen, Elysia stared after it, then froze a second time when she heard an enemy soldier choke and collapse the moment the smoke touched him.
“What the fuck?”
So, did I just change classes from detective to something like a warlock?
The curse slipped out unconsciously. Startled as her body was suddenly lifted, Elysia threw her arms around Evan’s neck. She decided to make an excuse first.
“Senior, this isn’t, normally so, uh, sinister—”
“I don’t care what it is.”
The man kicked the door open and burst outside. The enemy soldiers, thrown into a panic by the black smoke that was spreading and causing harm, spotted the two escaped prisoners and charged toward them, shouting.
While Evan calmly assessed the direction of the exit, Elysia fired the gun over his shoulder.
With a bang, blood splattered. Instincts don’t die easily; it was a direct hit. But her weakened body struggled to withstand the recoil.
Elysia lightly rotated her stinging wrist and gritted her teeth as she checked her remaining stamina.
If I’m going to pass out anyway, I might as well take down as many of them as I can.
Bang. She pulled the trigger again. At that moment, Elysia heard the distant clash of sword against sword.
“Suspicious intruders have broken in!!!”
More reinforcements? While Elysia’s expression was one of bewilderment, Evan looked relieved, as if what he’d been waiting for had finally arrived.
Amid the chaos, Elysia spotted Alma standing with a noble posture, a hand on a railing not too far away. Elysia’s face went pale. That thing in her hand… is that…
An explosion erupted from a gun that wasn’t hers. Instinctively sensing that the bullet was flying toward Evan, Elysia quickly twisted her body.
System: HP has reached 0. You will now enter the ‘Faint’ state.
If not treated within 30 minutes, you will enter the ‘Dead’ state.
“Ah, shit… Hah, old habits.”
Feeling a sharp pain in her shoulder, she lost consciousness.
*
Elysia, having suddenly changed her position, lost consciousness and slumped over. Blood burst from her shoulder, spattering across Evan’s face.
For a moment, Evan almost froze in shock, but his expression turned icy as he properly secured the limp woman in his arms.
His head grew cold. He deliberately suppressed his boiling rage. There was no time to examine the wound. A gunshot to the shoulder on top of the head trauma. Her life was in danger if she wasn't treated quickly. She had already lost too much blood.
He gritted his teeth and forced his legs to move, muttering to himself.
Faster, move with more urgency. Those trained in the sword by House Sylvester should be able to crush this number of enemies in an instant.
The moment he felt the clash of swords was within range, he clenched his jaw and ran even faster. The sound grew closer. Without hesitation, he shouted.
“Over here!!!”
“Reinforcements, this way!”
A woman’s urgent voice called out, followed by the sound of people rushing in. The continuous noise of things breaking and shattering suggested the fight had just begun.
A woman wiping splattered blood from her cheek with the back of her hand asked, “Young Master, are you unharmed?”
“Let’s get out of here first.”
He had no intention of explaining his condition or what was happening. He considered it a fair trade, since they had been secretly guarding him all this time without any explanation either.
A flicker of surprise crossed the woman’s impassive face as she noticed Elysia in Evan’s arms.
“She needs treatment.”
“A doctor is on standby outside.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
“We will escort you to the mansion.”
Evan shot a disbelieving look at the woman, who simply accepted his orders bluntly without raising any questions.
“There was a mansion?”
“Yes.”
“Since when?”
“It has been here since the moment you arrived in Minerva, Young Master.”
“That’s absurd.”
The uniformed woman aimed the long rifle she was holding at someone running toward them from a distance. A bang echoed, and her target fell. She said, “Please head outside. We will handle things here.”
“Capture as many as you can alive.”
“I was taught never to let anyone who touches a member of the Sylvester family live.”
“I have things to interrogate them about, so keep them alive.”
Her calm gaze seemed to say, ‘I don’t like it, but it’s an order, so I’ll do it.’ She finally looked away from Evan and aimed her rifle, muttering, “Ha, so he knew all along. The Young Master.”
Ah, right, I forgot to tell him. She was supposed to mention that someone was waiting for him at the mansion.
Rian, belatedly remembering that she had failed to relay what might have been an important piece of information, just shrugged and moved on. Well, I wasn't ordered to tell him, so I suppose I've done my part.
*
Within ten minutes, Evan arrived at the Sylvester mansion—a place he never knew existed, which the Sylvester family had apparently purchased and maintained since the moment he set foot in Minerva.
Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, he leaped out with Elysia in his arms, burst into the mansion, threw open the door to a random room, and laid her on the bed to begin treatment.
Inside the carriage, he had constantly checked the pulse of the deathly still Elysia. He had also snatched a doctor’s bag from the physician Rian had on standby and had been applying pressure to her wounds.
As he prepared to suture the wound on the back of her head, he snapped at the doctor, who was standing by his side, unsure of what to do.
“She has a gunshot wound in her shoulder. Remove the bullet first. I’ll handle the rest of the surgery.”
“Yes. And for anything else—”
“Her ankle is severely sprained. Get ice or cold water and apply a compress.”
“Ah…!”
Elysia had said she was drugged with an unknown substance. Given the nature of the people they were chasing, it was likely a narcotic. Therefore, he had to choose a treatment that wasn't too potent but had a generally stable compatibility with other drugs.
He thought of the figures he had seen fleeing like lightning as he escaped the basement and ground his teeth.
Until now, he had pursued them without personal feelings, but now that things had come to this, he felt he had to exterminate them, no matter what.
The doctor, looking half out of his mind, handed him various materials according to his orders before collapsing onto the floor in exhaustion, but Evan’s posture remained unchanged.
He stayed by Elysia’s side, constantly checking her progress, comparing various medicines, and seeking the opinion of the doctor who was about to collapse from fatigue. He finally succeeded in creating the most stable yet effective prescription.
“…Let’s see how she does after this last dose.”
After injecting the final medicine into her arm, he noticed light seeping through the curtains and frowned.
He had been so engrossed in her treatment that it was already morning. Only then did he feel the fatigue, leaning back in the chair beside the bed. It was less a physical exhaustion and more a mental one.
The fear that the woman before him might stop breathing, or that she might never open her eyes again…
He reached out and checked Elysia’s pulse. It was normal, neither too fast nor too slow.
Maybe I can close my eyes for just ten minutes. As he thought this and was about to drift off, his eyes shot open at a voice from the doorway.
“Quite the devoted one, aren’t you.”
His face went blank, and he scrambled to his feet in surprise. A man stood leaning against the doorframe, giving a slight nod as a greeting.
Evan was speechless for a long moment before he called out to the man, his voice thick with disbelief.
“Brother…?”
Ian, seven years his senior, looked older than the last time he’d seen him, with all traces of youth completely gone.
The man, who resembled Evan but had a completely different, colder aura, sighed and walked into the room. His neatly combed-back hair was flawless.
Evan looked up at his brother’s face and froze when he saw that one of his eyes was covered with an eyepatch.
Hastily averting his gaze from the injury, Evan asked, “When… did you get here? What about your position as Commander-in-Chief…?”
“I was seriously injured in the war, so I’ve stepped down for a while. It was also a good chance to finalize a treaty with Alea.”
Ian nonchalantly tapped his covered left eye with a finger and continued with a smirk, “Since I was in Alea, I thought I’d drop by to see you, and I find you’ve been up to some interesting things.”
Ian sat on a sofa not far from the bed and glanced toward Elysia.
Although the woman was the one being looked at, he noticed Evan’s uncomfortable expression, as if he were the one being scrutinized, and chuckled in amusement.
“You knew you had an escort. When did you find out?”
“I knew the moment they were assigned.”
“You didn’t let on for two years, so I naturally assumed you didn’t know.”
“With all I’ve learned, how could I not notice I was being tailed?”
Ian shot his audacious younger brother a look of disbelief and asked, “So, you used them?”