Chapter 425
Chapter 425
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Hide-and-Seek (6)
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****
Whirrr— whirrr—
『Don’t skimp on the alarms in every alley! It’s the bastard who shook off Sir Tachellm!』
『Two riflemen, one flamethrower! Block the passage—the rest of you, follow! He couldn’t have gotten far!』
The alleys grew noisy with the clamor of the Wigen guards and the detection gear they’d scattered everywhere.
The great city of Wigen lived up to its name, equipping its guards with expensive gear and consumables. Thanks to that, the guards—who’d received word from Tachellm—were narrowing their net, sprinkling magitech devices through the labyrinthine passages.
“Thanks to them, escaping’s a breeze. Right, old timer?”
“Guh! Kkhheee....”
Thud!
Sadly, they wouldn’t see returns on the money they’d thrown around.
“Hmm-hmm-hmm~”
Clack clack, rummage rummage—
“Let’s see.... Two throwable echo-detectors, two canisters of flamethrower mix. Hey, they’ve got some cash to burn.”
“Hyde! W-We’re in the middle of escaping the guards, and you’re looting their pockets? We gotta run now!”
“Hold your horses. I blew up something way too big today for no good reason, so I gotta recoup somehow. Gear from a major city’s regular guards? Can’t ignore this stuff. Sidearm’s a standard pike.... Oh! A dagger with a mana stone tip? Look at this beauty. This alone’s gotta be worth 20,000 sil.”
“What if you trip an alarm fiddling around like that? And how’d we even slip out without getting caught? The whole passage was blanketed in detectors!”
“That’s ’cause I’ve got this.”
To the fidgety Pablo, Hyde held up a rod that looked just like the ones dangling from the guards’ belts.
A sort of ID tag for magitech detectors.
“Th-That from your magic pouch too? Like before?”
“Nah. City guard detectors need periodic updates, so anything scavenged from outside’s useless. It’d just flag as an unregistered signal and paint a target on you.”
“Then....?”
“Stole it. Back when I closed the distance on that stone knight. Those guards heading that way? They’re probably charging straight at the stone knight right now, strolling around without his tag. Shard knights only care about their own duties—they won’t bat an eye if his detector’s out and about separately.”
Pablo stared in awe at Hyde, who was rifling through the unconscious guard’s underwear with a cackle.
He’d thought to swipe that amid the ambush in the noble’s trap?
Scratch scratch—
“....Should I write it off as ‘compulsive kleptomania’?”
“This is my pathfinding philosophy. When scouting an exit, you stuff every possible grab into your pockets first. You never know when you’ll need that key item.”
Having stripped the guard naked and tossed him into a corner, Hyde finished by tying the man’s ID tag around a passing rat’s neck.
“Anyone with a brain’ll figure we slipped out somehow, and the stone knight’ll be next on their list—after that little guy over there. These detectors usually ping friendlies too, right? A lone friendly moving weird? Super suspicious.”
“Ah, so you hit that guard on purpose to....!” “Eh, as a bonus. By now, the outer guards have probably joined the net, so let’s head out. Hustle just right, and we’ll slip Wigen without a hitch. This way?”
“Yeah. It’ll come out opposite the station fence....”
“Perfect. Using a newsboy really was the best call.”
Hyde flashed a bright smile at the suddenly brighter alley and the familiar fence ahead.
****
The boy, Pablo, was struggling to keep up with the whirlwind of events.
At dawn, he’d paced the station in fine clothes he’d never worn before.
By morning, he’d scarfed cheap soup with the man called “Hyde” and been asked to guide him.
At lunch, he’d survived a refugee’s gun barrel; by dinner, a guard’s.
Clang!
“What’re you waiting for? I’ll boost you—hurry up and climb!”
And now, as night began to fall, he stared at the hand Hyde extended from atop the station’s barbed wire.
Of course, sneaking into the station was a serious crime. On par with hopping a noble’s wall.
Clang!
Thud!
“Ughhh....”
“You’re nimble enough running, but your strength’s lacking. Build it up ahead of time. Your body’s the most reliable tool you’ve got—especially in a pinch like this.”
“Normal people don’t end up in spots like this much?”
“That’s for folks who live and die normally. I’m not normal.”
While Pablo rubbed his bruised butt, Hyde—already plastered to a corner window of the station—fiddled for a moment before ripping off the welded security bars in a flash and beckoning him.
“No reward? We’re late, so the ‘Dynamite Lady’s’ engineers are probably already boozing. Drop me in their midst, and they can swap stories of today over drinks without getting too smashed. Snagging useful intel from there? That’s on you.”
“R-Reward.... Right! Coming!”
Reward. Yeah, reward. In exchange for guiding, he’d get to join the engineers’ drinking party. Tales overflowing with premium intel. That was the deal.
As Pablo straightened his torn, filthy new clothes, Hyde descended toward the station’s underground, continuing.
“We’ll probably part ways here. I bought us time in that alley, but once they realize we’re fully out, they’ll try something else. Wouldn’t go that far, but if luck’s really sour, they might seal the city. That’d mean ten times the hassle today, so better bolt while we can.”
Rustle rustle—
“Oh, this is for your clothes. You splurged on ’em, and I feel bad turning ’em to rags on day one.”
“Ah, thanks.”
Pablo clocked the familiar coin pouch—from the guard’s pocket. Heavy enough for double the clothes’ cost.
The station’s underground garage was vast, befitting a great city. A dim expanse with trains parked, and in the far corner, a few folks huddled around a bonfire, tilting leather flasks.
“So, Hyde, what’s your next move?”
“Timetable.... Hm? Me? What’s a shard hunter gonna do? Go hunting. Got some unexpectedly juicy intel—time to check it out.”
“Warlord.... That what you mean?”
“Yep. Hm.... No trains leaving this hour. Prepped ones.... Ah, this? Wigen family direct. Cargo’s mana stones, mana stones.... Pure fuel and mana stones. Nothing else on the Lordric line—2-2 track, that way.”
Confirming the train’s spot, Hyde shoved his arm elbow-deep into his cloak’s lining. With the characteristic chill of a subspace pouch came a glass bottle sloshing thick brown liquid to the brim.
“Pablo, take this and go collect your reward.”
“This is....?”
“Insanely strong booze. Looks like I might have to hijack this train. If you’re just watching, they’ll nab you as an accomplice—so pass it to my engineer pals over there. Tell ’em to drink up and pass out. You join ’em.”
“You know how to drive a train?”
“You’ve been freeloading as a grunt for years. Ain’t nobody knows as many train types inside out as me. Satisfied?”
Hyde boarded the gleaming train—clearly a noble family’s—and waved him off.
For some reason, Pablo hesitated, clutching the rotgut.
Hyde could only sigh deep in his chest at the sight.
‘....Just go already.’
He’d held the stone knight at face-obscuring distance on purpose. He’d seen Pablo’s face in the refugee camp, but no risk of a report from there....
He’d even handed over booze for an alibi with his engineer buddies.
Come on, Pablo.
“Uh.... Can I watch you start the train at least? Never seen inside a big magitrain like this.”
Sigh.
“....Fine. If you must.”
Hyde clicked his tongue inwardly and cleared a path for the boy trailing behind.
****
Screech, clunk!
Whack! Whack! Pop!
Rumble rumble! Boom!
As Hyde shoveled coal and poured mana stones to rouse the engine, Pablo watched quietly from behind.
“About that Warlord talk earlier....”
Screeech—
Gurgle gurgle!
“Old Lordric’s probably half out of noble control by now—maybe more.”
“....”
“That’s right. Rumors only leaking out lately after years of silence? Means they can’t shut people up anymore. Unlike here in tight-lipped Wigen.”
“....”
—Whoosh!
Whummm—
Igniting the fuel and flooding the steam engine, the mechanism stirred as power slowly built.
“You’re really sharp, Hyde.”“Nah, just observant. People forget over 90% of what they see and hear. You pass dozens a day but don’t remember all their faces. I make a habit of noting and sorting the little things.”
....Click.
“Like what?”
“Like? Hmm~ Say, the alley we first met wasn’t a busy route.”
Step.
“Newsboys know the city—they stick to shortest paths, so they’d never wander into a spot like that.”
Step.
“You said you got the old Lordric refugee camp spot from a newsboy pal, but no sane resident’d blab that around—”
Click!
“When we first hit the camp, their eyes went to you before me. Furtive glances, pinpointing the filthy maze in a crisis like it was nothing—newsboy steps edging ahead like he knew the way.”
“....I hid it as best I could.”
“What you focus on changes what you see. Like the pistol stuffed in a scrawny kid’s thick fancy vest. Or this.”
Flip!
Hyde glanced at the gun Pablo aimed at his head, pulling a slim paper notebook from his sleeve.
Packed with tiny script in thin charcoal.
“....When’d you swipe that?”
“Slipping the alley. Wood slate scratches different from paper. Poor newsboy buying pricey paper? Had to peek what you were scribbling so hard.”
“....You’re too nice, Hyde. Spelling it all out like this.”
“Eh, habit—feels good laying it all bare.”
At his leisurely vibe, the boy jammed the barrel to his temple. In the engine’s flickering glow, the kid’s face blazed with aimless rage.
“Nergy? Pregnant woman from the old man’s tale, came to the city with Warlord’s promise. One guardian, one kid.”
....Crunch.
“Warlord rumors? You brought ’em up first. ‘Cleared a dungeon solo,’ ‘Didn’t sell a single shard.’ Hooks any shard hunter. Especially with sightings near Lordric—makes you wanna know his story there.”
Tremble, tremble tremble—
“Weird, right? Warlord killed the old man’s neighbors, but his rage was aimed at me? Hiding it all calm-like. Mom.... Died in this city, huh? Dad, who came and went from the city? Probably croaked by a shard hunter. Warlord’s thoughtful—kept your grandpa alive, shoved a ticket to Wigen in his hand for one kid, one adult. Right? For a Lordric refugee camp kid—”
“Shut up like you know it all!!!”
“—Pablo.”
Flip.
Under the quivering gun, the engine’s hot wind flipped the boy’s notebook.
=========
[Shard Hunter Jade]
- Round tattoo on arm
- Taller than Dad
- Dagger and arcane shooter
- Active southwest Teldrat region, manhunter.
- Likes booze and women, never beds one after a kill.
- Gonna kill him.
- Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.Gonna kill him.
- Mag said he’d hit Wigen for the auction.
- Sold his stuff for meds and whore errands. Easy.
- Killed. Dumped shards.
[Shard Hunter Phil Norai]
- Uses strongbow with mana stone tip
- Famous for assassinating trainee shard knights
- High chance if offering colorless shard tied to reflexes.
- Intel lacking
[Shard Hunter Idaub Gel]
- Orc warrior.
- Racist who hunts humans under shard-hunting pretense.
- Wigen in summer. Alone in dark alley—might jump me?
- Killed.
.
.
.
.
=========
“Nice kill list. Promising future, Pablo.”
Every entry: shard hunter intel, routes, weaknesses. And scant but clear marks of elimination,
=========
.
.
.
.
[Shard Hunter Hyde]
- Wealthy. Wanderer
- Sword and armor? Knight believer? Owns rifle-type gun
- Interested in Warlord intel. Willing to hunt humans for shards
- Very smart.
- Can borrow stone knight’s hand.
=========
Top page: Hyde himself.
“Newspaper gig. Solid job. Especially if you hate a scattered profession and wanna dig their weaknesses.”
“Filthy human-hunting shard scum.... Warlord or you bastards—what’s the difference? All murderers who see people as shard vaults!”
“....”
“Dad died right in front of Mom! Day he went to market for my fifth birthday gift! They sliced him open in front of us! Ripped him! Yanked shards from blood-and-oil guts! Left his rag corpse dumped before us!”
Common tale. Digging mutant or human corpses for shards? Inefficient. Better bag a shard knight with four or five low-grade colorless absorbed—more profit.
First entry in the notebook? Probably the culprit. Chaotic, emotional unlike the rest.
Pablo seemed satisfied with revenge, but dead parents don’t revive. So his lost rage turned to man-hunting shard hunters.
Thoroughly, as an orphan newsboy—city info and geography at his fingertips—to kill shard hunters.
“Hey. Pablo.”
“Shut up.”
“Gonna shoot?”
“Shut up!”
“Really? Pull that trigger, and ‘Hyde’s’ head explodes right in front of you?”
“Shut up! Shut up! Shuuut uuuup!”
Pablo tensed his finger but couldn’t pull. Hyde’s notebook felt like a gun aimed at his own head.
“Drop the gun.”
“Ughhh....”
“Do it, and I toss this. Simple trade.”
Pablo watched the notebook—built on hate, his kill list—turn toward the engine flames.
Desperately gathered as a newsboy: enemy intel.
Fragmentary data on every shard hunter in vast old Teldrat.
Sole drive hauling his shattered life this far.
“No....”
Hyde was a good guy.
Cheerful, sly, shockingly witty yet oddly naive.
Weirdly happy just having someone around.
“Those guys.... gotta die....”
Dad, torn alive before his eyes? Good guy.
Mom, catatonic from shock? Good guy.
Grandpa, dragged from peaceful outskirts to this hell-city beside Pablo? Good guy.
Good people.
Always dying horribly by bad people’s hands.
Pablo couldn’t bear seeing more.
Not Grandpa. If even Grandpa goes that way—if this bad world rips the kind old man apart before his eyes, so cruelly....?
“Can’t go back.”
He knew it these past years—obsessed with killing, he wasn’t different from those ‘bad people.’
Sometimes dreamed of jamming the gun to his temple and pulling. Aiming at loathsome bad guys. Just like he’d dreamed.
So, one more before that.
“No way back.”
Click—
Thus, the boy pulled the trigger on the kind man.
Bang—
The boy thought, watching the shock climb his young arm and Hyde’s head snap back,
as if the gun had fused to his hand.
****
.
.
.
.
Swoosh—
“That means you wanna go back? Just don’t know the way.”
“Y-You’re ali—”
Crack!
“Aaaagh!”
Dodging the shot that grazed his forehead long, the pathfinder twisted the gun-hand boy’s wrist to breaking and laughed.
“Guess that makes you my guest?”
Beaming, like celebrating finding the exit to a path as tangled as this city.
****