First Encounter of Terror (3)
Was it a coincidence? Or did she follow us here?
Rosaria was not a woman who regarded human lives as worth more than insects. In other words, she was hardly the type to chase someone down over a single bug slipping through her fingers. A coincidence was by far the most likely explanation — but the possibility that she had tracked us couldn't be ruled out entirely.
Which meant the best course of action was clear.
"We're in the middle of an important conversation right now. My apologies, but I'd suggest you look for another table."
Refuse her as naturally and politely as possible. Whatever the reason, avoiding entanglement with this woman was the best play.
"Every other table is full, I'm afraid. Would that be so terribly rude of me?"
Rosaria said it with a troubled look on her face.
Normally she'd slaughter a human without a second thought — and yet she could put on such a shamelessly convincing act. I clicked my tongue inwardly.
"A seat, then..."
I sprang up and scanned the room. It had been practically empty not five minutes ago.
"...So there is."
She was right. Every single table except ours was packed.
Of all the places to pick...
Just as Seina had said, we'd chosen the place that looked most likely to serve good food — and that had been our fatal mistake. Nothing for it, then. Moving on to Plan B.
"Well, we're just about finished with our meal, so if you'd be willing to wait a little. After all, wouldn't it be more pleasant to eat on your own?"
I delivered it with a gentle smile, every inch the gentleman. Surely even seeing my face would be enough to send her on her way.
"Oh dear, what am I to do? I have a full schedule after this, you see. And of course, I wouldn't want to trouble you two."
Rosaria spoke firmly, making it clear she had no intention of backing down.
"Gerard, come now — let's just share a table with her. She seems like a very busy lady."
Beside me, Maria was looking at Rosaria with sympathetic eyes. She had fallen for it completely.
Damn it...
I sighed inwardly. Once it had come to this, there was no way out. If I kept stubbornly refusing, Rosaria might catch wind that something was off. Besides, sharing a table at an inn was simply considered common courtesy unless there was a reason not to.
No helping it, then.
She was wearing a human guise right now, so she wouldn't cause a major scene. This was a woman who committed fully to whatever role she played.
"...If you insist that strongly, I can hardly refuse. Please, have a seat."
There was only one way out of this: leave the table as fast as humanly possible.
"Thank you both for your kindness. Pardon the intrusion."
She lowered herself into the chair with an elegant sweep of motion. Disguised as a human she might be, but the innate refinement that radiated from her could not be hidden.
"My, my..."
Maria, apparently just as taken, let out a soft gasp of admiration.
"Forgive me for the late introduction. My name is Christina Cambel."
Yeah, sure it is.
"A pleasure to meet you. I'm Maria Brihilton."
"And your name, sir?"
Rosaria's gaze and Maria's both turned to me.
"Gerard Constantine. Please, just call me Gerard."
I replied with a forced smile.
"Gerard, is it... a fine name."
The corners of Rosaria's mouth curled upward.
Something about hearing my name on that woman's lips made my skin crawl.
"Are the two of you acquainted, then?"
"No — he saved my life."
"Saved your life?"
"Yes. I was on my way back to my family's territory when bandits ambushed my carriage."
"Oh dear. Were you hurt?"
"Fortunately, Gerard rescued me like a true hero. If it weren't for him... I wouldn't be sitting here right now."
"My, my. So you rescued her, did you..."
It was only for an instant, but the corner of one of Rosaria's eyebrows twitched upward. I didn't miss that fleeting moment.
...Don't tell me.
A bad feeling was beginning to take root. Even for a woman as flawless an actress as she was, the small involuntary shifts in expression were the hardest things to suppress.
"Tell me, Mr. Gerard — do you normally go out of your way to help anyone in trouble?"
Her face had shifted into a look of barely concealed wounded pride.
I grasped the meaning of the question at once. She was asking why I'd saved this woman's carriage when I hadn't lifted a finger to save her.
And with that, I was certain.
...We've already been marked.
She had tracked us here. Worse, she now suspected I knew her true identity. If I'd saved Maria while deliberately ignoring her, it could only mean I'd sensed something about her — and chosen not to get involved.
Damn it... her instincts are too sharp for her own good.
In the worst case, she could drop the act right here and turn the whole place upside down. I'd have to focus on giving vague, evasive answers and putting her suspicion to rest.
"Hard to say. Depends on my mood, I suppose."
"It isn't that you know who I am... is it?"
"!"
My body flinched before I could stop it.
When someone puts it that bluntly, who on earth could keep a straight face?
"So I was right."
Rosaria smiled — an unpleasant, knowing smile.
"A mere human. Did you really think I wouldn't notice?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about. What are you, some kind of royalty?"
I was doing my level best to play the fool when—
"...Huh? Why am I suddenly so sleepy..."
"Gerard, I'm not finished with my food yet..."
Thud. Seina and Maria slumped face-first onto the table. Everyone around us followed suit.
"Haaahm—! So tired..."
"Hurry up, let's go to our rooms..."
"Damn it... sleep..."
Thump.
One by one, they collapsed as though a mass spell had been cast over the entire room.
"Hahahaha—!"
And then Rosaria began to laugh like a madwoman.
...Why am I still awake?
But nothing had happened to me at all. That had to be sleep magic — the kind that could put even a fifth-circle mage under without effort.
The answer came to me quickly enough.
...Could it be the reward I got when I first faced Rosaria?
Mental Fortitude. The one and only means of resisting illusion-type magic. And to make matters better, when I'd applied my cheat, Mental Fortitude had been included by mistake. Which meant mine was also maxed out at 999,999,999.
"Ugh, I'm so sleepy too, somehow..."
Still, I stole a careful glance around and slumped forward onto the table like everyone else. Whatever her purpose, Rosaria was after me and Seina. I couldn't drag the rest of these people into it.
What's her objective? Is she planning to kill everyone in here? Should I move now?
Just as I was turning these thoughts over—
"Why are you pretending to sleep?"
A woman's soft voice sounded right beside my ear.
"!"
Every hair on my body stood on end.
"How could a mere human withstand my magic? I'm honestly impressed."
At her words, I slowly raised my head.
"So you've gone and done it."
I clicked my tongue and looked up at her. Rosaria was watching me with keen interest.
"Just where have you been rolling around, human?"
"Rosaria, the Blood Lord. Did you honestly think such a cheap trick would work on me? You've committed quite the grave insult."
Her pupils narrowed to slits.
"You shouldn't even know my face, and yet you know my name. Why, I ought to compliment you. Who are you?"
"Rosaria. Do you really believe you're in any position to ask me questions?"
Composed, I took a leisurely sip of the water sitting on the table.
"My, aren't you the cheeky one?"
From Rosaria's hand, crimson blood surged up in a swirling vortex. A sphere slightly smaller than a soccer ball — but I knew better. That single orb carried enough power to swallow an entire town whole.
"You've lost sight of where you stand."
I activated Maximization and closed the distance to her in an instant.
"My, my."
Startled by the unexpected speed, Rosaria flinched back.
"Try attacking me."
"You'll regret that."
"Don't make me say things twice. Next time, I might actually feel like killing you."
"Fine. Have it your way."
Rosaria extended her hand, and the crimson sphere slammed directly into my body.
The orb of blood began to corrode my flesh, gnawing at it as if to devour me alive. And yet—
Fsshh...
Like a ball losing its air, the sphere slowly shrank, and before I knew it, it had dissolved into nothing.
"...!"
Her face flooded with bewilderment.
I reached out, slowly, and closed my hand around Rosaria's throat.
Had my grip posed even the slightest threat, her blood would have thrown up a defensive barrier — one my hand could never have breached. But since my touch couldn't so much as leave a scratch on her, the defense mechanism never triggered at all.
"My... so you can touch my body, too?"
Her eyes brimmed with shock. Small wonder. Who in the world had ever laid a hand on her before?
"Rosaria. Do you know what happens if I close this hand?"
"Hmm. What does happen?"
Blood began gathering behind her back, condensing until it took the shape of razor-sharp spikes. A heartbeat later, they came hurtling toward me.
Tat-tat-tat-tat!
But the moment they touched my body, they vanished, just as everything else had.
"Like mosquitoes swarming around."
"Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent."
At the same instant, her figure vanished. Even with Maximization active, my eyes couldn't keep up with her speed.
"Look up."
Rosaria's voice rang out above me. I raised my head to find a pool of crimson floating in the air.
Blood Volcano.
From the pool, a waterfall of blood came pouring down at ferocious speed. Her blood was like a school of piranhas, stripping everything around it to the bone. Ordinarily, anything caught beneath it would have been wiped from existence entirely.
But there was no world in which it worked on me.
"Feels like taking a shower. Did you really think something like that would work on me?"
"Quite the composed one, aren't you."
A moment later, Rosaria's figure materialized right beside me.
Clang!
She swung a crimson blade down at me. The entire inn building shuddered. Glancing back, I saw a single enormous gouge carved into the wall behind us.
...What kind of force is that?
If it hadn't struck my body, it would have caused a catastrophe.
"...Something is seriously wrong here."
Bewilderment was steadily spreading across Rosaria's face.
"This shouldn't be possible."
Behind her, thousands of blades forged of blood rose into the air. Then, in a flash, they all came hurtling toward me.
KWAGAGAGAGA!
With every blade that struck my body, another snapped and shattered.
"Ah. Now I understand. I know exactly who you are."
At her words, I opened my ears.
She'd figured out who I was? What on earth was she talking about?
"You're the one who killed the 7th Legion Commander, aren't you?"
...So it goes that far, huh?
"To deduce even that — you truly live up to your name as the Blood Lord, Rosaria."
I snatched her words out of the air and ran with them. Whatever the reason, if this offered a way out, I'd take any out there was.
"...Why did you kill him?"
"He came charging at me, just like you — utterly oblivious to how high the heavens were."
"..."
Slowly, fear began to bloom across her face. It was no unreasonable reaction — to have killed the 7th Legion Commander meant wielding strength on the level of an Archlord or beyond.
"He was an amusing fellow, I'll grant him that. Right up to the end, he never gave up fighting me. For sheer will alone, I could respect him — but his skill was hopeless."
"You... is that really true?"
"Find it hard to believe? Then shall we put it to the test?"
I raised my hand in full view and extended it toward her. No one could have done anything about it either way — but it seemed I was expected to make some kind of gesture.
Rosaria swallowed hard. So even a woman like her knew how to feel tension.
I let out a small chuckle and lowered my hand.
"Don't be so frightened. It was a joke."
"A... joke?"
"I have no intention of killing any of you. Quite the opposite — I intend to help you."
"...Just who are you?"
Rosaria's voice trembled as she asked.
"I am the one who will become the 7th Legion Commander."
At my words, her face drained into sheer disbelief.