Chapter 179: I’m the Normal One
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 179: I’m the Normal One
The dwarf graduate student agonized for a long while before finally reaching a conclusion.
‘I want to live! No, I really want to live! I’ll sign the contract. I’ll betray the Empire, so please, just save me.’
-A very wise choice. Your name?
‘Jack. Jack Hemil.’
I cast a chain onto the soul of the dwarven engineer, Jack.
-Endure it, even if it hurts.
‘....!’
Casting a chain directly onto the soul of a living being caused a backlash, but since Jack’s soul was so weak, I was able to suppress it and complete the contract.
The terms were simple. Jack would betray the Empire and serve as my subordinate, offering all his knowledge and absolute loyalty.
In exchange, I would guarantee his basic needs—food, clothing, and shelter—and help him get out of here alive.
-Now, to get out of here properly, there’s somewhere I need to go first. Can you wait about twenty minutes?
‘Twenty minutes? No, my legs are falling asleep! I’ll be caught before then!’
-Endure. I’ll be back as fast as I can. If you want to live, hold on.
‘Oh, for the love of...!’
I slipped out of Jack’s body.
Rather than controlling his body to navigate out of the Serpent’s den, it seemed more reliable to quickly return to my own body and grab the Ring of Intangibility I was wearing.
‘I know the way thanks to the mapping, anyway...’
If I flew in a straight line through the walls, I could reach the place where my party and my physical body were resting within ten minutes.
Once there, I’d cancel the astral projection, put the Ring of Intangibility into my inventory, and fly back to Jack.
This was the fastest way to get Jack out of the Serpent’s nest.
‘Let’s go.’
I flew forward, passing through walls.
Moving as fast as if I were using a cheat code, I arrived at the room where my body lay. I immediately deactivated the astral projection and opened my eyes.
“Kairan.”
“What is it?”
“There’s an Imperial engineer inside the Serpent’s nest.”
“...Huh?”
“I’m going to go rescue him. I’m telling you so you don’t panic.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about. Rescuing someone all of a sudden?”
“Just know that’s what’s happening. I’m letting you know so you don’t accidentally shoot him. I’m in a hurry, so I’m heading back out.”
“Wait. Where exactly are you going?”
I didn’t have time to answer Kairan.
I had to return to Jack as quickly as possible.
‘At least Kairan was awake. That’s a relief.’
It was better to tell someone so there wouldn’t be any misunderstandings. I was glad she was up.
*
-I’m back.
‘Gah! You scared me.’
-Calm down. If you react that loudly, you’ll be caught instantly.
‘Well, you should make some noise so I know you’re there...!’
Asking a soul to make noise. That would defeat the whole purpose of astral projection.
-Forget that. Hold out your hand.
‘My hand?’
-Yeah. I’m giving you a ring. Put it on and channel your magical power into it.
‘What kind of ring is this? Does it teleport me or something?’
-It won’t teleport you, but it’ll let you pass through walls.
‘Through walls?’
-Yes. But the duration will be very short. With your current mana capacity, one minute is probably the limit.
‘So, you’re saying I have to pass through the walls and get as far away as possible within one minute.’
-Exactly. Just get far enough so the Serpent can’t follow. That snake can’t pass through walls anyway, so just fly straight in the direction that puts the most distance between you.
‘But what happens if I get stuck in a wall?’
-If you’re stronger than the wall, the wall will break. If your body is weaker than the wall, your body will burst.
‘Are you insane...?’
-I know the layout, so just go where I tell you. When I say stop, stop immediately.
‘Fine...’
Jack put on the ring I handed him.
Soon, the small amount of magical power in his body seeped into the ring, and Jack’s body gradually became translucent.
The biggest difference between astral projection and intangibility is whether the physical body transforms with you.
With astral projection, you leave your body in a safe place and wander around. With intangibility, your body moves with you.
For escaping a location, intangibility is superior to astral projection.
-No time! Go through the right wall! Hurry!
‘Yes, sir!’
We had to get as far from the Serpent’s nest as possible within one minute.
I guided Jack on which direction to take, and he moved his body like a madman, flying through the walls.
He wasn’t nearly as fast as I was during astral projection.
-Start stopping! You’re going to get stuck!
‘Waaaaah!’
We didn’t get as far as I’d hoped. Intangibility really is slow.
Still, at this distance, the Serpent wouldn’t be able to catch up unless it smashed through the walls. Since the path was twisted like a maze, it would take a considerable amount of time to get here without phasing through obstacles.
“Uh... the intangibility is...”
-It wore off. You must be out of mana.
“What do we do now...?”
-Do you know how to fight?
“Not at all.”
-For now, we have to move while avoiding monsters as much as possible. If you get into a fight in your current state, you’re dead meat.
“Ah...”
-I’ll provide weapons, so take them. I’ll give you armor, so put it on. There are no monsters nearby for the moment. Hurry.
“Yes...!”
I pulled weapons and armor out of my inventory.
He needed to wear something to minimize injuries. With Abram around, most wounds could be healed, and the warlock Ulysses could clear status ailments like poison. I just needed to get him to where the rest of the party was.
“Um, excuse me...”
-What?
“My, my body is getting really hot...”
-Ah. That’s probably a side effect of the ring.
“Excuse me...?”
-It has a side effect. You have to strip in front of others and feel shame for it to pass.
“What kind of crazy side effect is that?!”
-It can’t be helped. Just strip and get it over with. We’re both men, aren’t we?
“This is madness.”
Jack began to strip in a panic.
If Jack had been a ‘she’ instead of a ‘he,’ it might have been a sight worth seeing.
But Jack was a man, and I had absolutely no interest in a man’s body.
-It’s small.
“Urgh...! It’s a racial trait! We aren’t built to be big!”
-Why are you embarrassed? I was just making an observation.
“Damn it...”
Jack hurriedly scrambled back into his clothes.
Then he began to put on the armor I gave him. Seeing a dwarf decked out in heavy armor made him look a bit ridiculous.
-And since things might get dangerous, I’ll be controlling your left arm.
“My left arm?”
-Yeah. You have to fight if we run into monsters, don’t you?
“Right... I understand.”
I gained control over Jack’s left arm.
With this, we could at least put up a minimum defense.
-Now, I’m going to summon a Hypercube. Just follow it.
“A Hypercube?”
-There is such a thing.
I summoned Cuby in front of Jack.
The Hypercube spun around, circling Jack.
“What on earth... such a summon exists? This feels more like a construct than a summon. It looks like a product of magic engineering...”
-I don’t know its true identity either. I just know it incorporates ancient technology.
“My god...”
-Stop being amazed and close your eyes for a second. It’s going to be bright.
“Bright?”
-This little guy is going to provide light.
“It glows too? Incredible. Okay, eyes closed.”
-Good. Cuby, give us some light.
The cube began to emit a soft glow. I directed it to stay at a moderate brightness, as being too bright would increase the chance of being discovered.
-You probably won’t be able to avoid combat entirely. Just hang in there.
“I’ll try...”
To reach the place where my party was, we had to walk without rest for at least three hours.
If we used the Ring of Intangibility every time Jack’s mana recharged, we could move faster.
-Monsters ahead. We need to detour.
“Got it.”
-Fortunately, those snakes don’t have very good eyesight. Let’s move quickly before they catch our scent.
“Understood.”
Because the monsters’ vision wasn’t great, I was able to spot and detect enemies much faster than they could find us.
Thanks to that, we were progressing without much trouble so far, but...
‘It’s about time.’
We had definitely left the Serpent’s territory.
That meant we were likely entering the Gorgon’s domain.
This was where it got dangerous. From what I’d seen, the Gorgon seemed capable of monitoring its entire territory.
It would likely notice our presence.
By the time we felt the Gorgon’s gaze, monsters would probably start swarming us, and the fighting would begin.
‘Jack’s combat ability is close to zero. If even two Lamias jump out, he’ll be torn apart instantly.’
It was time to call my companions.
I felt bad for waking them in the middle of their sleep, but I needed their help.
-Hold on a second.
“Right here?”
-Yeah. It’s impossible for just the two of us to get out from this point on. I’m going to go get my comrades, so stay put.
“Understood...”
-I’ll leave the Hypercube with you. Even if you run into monsters, do your best to hold out. If you get bitten, drink this. For gashes, spray this on, then wrap it with bandages. I’ll give you a waist pouch, so keep the things you’ll need to use quickly in there.
“I will.”
I handed over relief supplies so he could survive until I returned with the party.
He would have to hold out as long as possible.
-It’ll probably take at least two hours to get back here. Maybe longer. The cube is here, so I’ll be able to track your location. Just survive.
“I’ll do my best to hold on.”
-Good. I’m off.
I slipped out of Jack’s body.
I had ordered the Hypercube to protect Jack, so it should be able to keep him alive even without me.
‘I have to hurry.’
I immediately flew toward the location where my party was.
The more time I wasted, the lower Jack’s chances of survival became.
*
“Phew... Kairan. Are you awake?”
“I’m awake. But what are you exactly? Are you sleeping or not?”
“I was doing a bit of astral projection.”
“What?”
“I mentioned earlier that there was a survivor.”
“Right. Did you have a dream or something?”
“No, he’s real. And I’m thinking of rescuing him now.”
“What?”
“He’s about two hours away. It would be good if we could go and rescue him quickly.”
“...Wouldn’t it be easier to just let him die and carry him in a subspace pocket? If he’s a civilian and not an adventurer, that seems better.”
“...Ah. You have a point.”
For a moment, I found myself agreeing with Kairan’s logic.
I could just resurrect him. There was no need to go through the trouble of a rescue mission when I could just kill him and carry the corpse in a subspace pocket.
Why hadn’t I thought of that?
Had I gone soft because things had been going well lately?
Back when I was hunting heretics, I treated human lives no differently than ants...
Wait, no. Come to think of it, that was when I was abnormal, and this is how a normal person thinks, right?
I am perfectly normal. It’s just that the world is harsh.
“Let’s just wake the others for now.”
“Fine.”
Kairan and I began to wake the rest of the party.