Shattered Illusions
The streets were drenched in blood. Amid the carnage stood a lone man, breathing in ragged gasps.
“Ha, fuck… Did they smear honey on me or something?”
Hurtlocker roughly wiped the blood from his dagger onto his shirt. His fingers, locked around the hilt for far too long, had swollen an angry red at every knuckle. Moments like this made him crave the comfort of a wooden guard. But the blade and hilt had to be forged from a single element for mana decomposition to work, so he had no choice but to endure the discomfort.
“They just keep coming. Ptui.”
Splash. Splash. Hurtlocker’s boots strode through puddles of gore. Nine out of ten had fled; he had only cut down the fearless few who charged him, yet the bodies already littered the ground. To think the client had paid these worthless thugs to interfere with Schluss Heinkel. Whoever it was clearly hated the capital’s lowlife scum as much as they hated Schluss himself. Otherwise they would never have sent men who could be sliced apart by a single flick of his wrist without even teaching them how to fight.
“Hurtlocker. Are you all right?”
A buzzing vibration came from the artifact in his pocket. The voice was slightly distorted, but he recognized it at once as Eric’s.
“Yes. I’ve reached the barrier.”
Hurtlocker looked up at the main gate of the abandoned cathedral. To eyes that could trace the flow of mana, the intricate spell formula engraved above the entrance was clearly visible. Its scale matched the immense power of the mana waves it radiated. Whatever they wanted to hide inside must be important.
…Or it was an ultra-grade trap.
There were no other clues. Trap or not, he had to charge in. He had no idea what might happen to Emilia if he wasted any more time…
“I’ll break through.”
He pressed his palm to the gate. The flow of mana became clearer, yet…
“Tsk.”
That was all. The sheer volume of information made his head feel ready to burst. At this rate, interpreting the barrier—let alone understanding its structure—was impossible.
“Damn it!”
He could not give up. The difficulty was actually a good sign. It meant the odds that Emilia was inside were high.
“Grrrr…!”
He would smash his way through no matter what. Things that looked impossible often yielded when you threw yourself at them. Hurtlocker had learned that lesson countless times. Whether a guardian spirit watched over him or not, he had always managed to overcome even the most overwhelming foes in dramatic fashion.
Recent events had gone badly, but this time would be different. It had to be different. His little sister’s life was on the line. Whenever Emilia was involved, he somehow found superhuman strength.
So this barrier would melt away like magic…
“Huk!”
Or so he thought. A sudden wave of exhaustion buckled his legs and he collapsed.
“Don’t tell me… mana exhaustion?”
Not a trace of mana remained in his body. He had poured everything into deciphering the spell. But that was impossible—he had barely interpreted half the barrier. Was there truly no chance left?
As despair clouded his mind, a voice cut through the haze.
“Hey, you idiot. Trying to do everything alone again?”
“…!”
A large hand settled on his shoulder. He turned to find Eric standing there with a mocking grin. And Eric was not alone. More than a dozen intelligence agency agents had gathered behind him.
“What are you doing?! Moving together like this only raises the chance the empire will notice us!”
“I only planned to help break the barrier, then leave. Rescuing Emilia is your job.”
“Y-you guys…!”
“Save the thanks for later, kid.”
The agents swarmed the gate and pressed against it. A barrier that absorbed both physical impact and mana. Destroying it by force would require astronomical power, leaving spell-breaking as the only real option.
“I’ve interpreted just under half. The core’s location is…”
With Hurtlocker’s information, coordinated command began. The agents split the tasks—disrupting the mana flow, analyzing the core, and dismantling the spell—each focusing with total concentration. These were comrades who had fought together for years. Not a single drop of mana was wasted; every ounce was used with maximum speed and efficiency.
Just a little more. Just a little more…
“Urgh!”
“Mana depleted!”
The agents collapsed to the ground in unison. Hurtlocker, who had recovered slightly, shot to his feet. The gate remained firmly shut. Recovering a meaningful amount of mana would take at least an hour…
Despair was etching itself across his face when Eric, arms trembling, gave the door a weak push.
Creeeeak…
“Go, Hurtlocker.”
“Director!”
The door swung open easily. The barrier that had been radiating dizzying waves of mana had vanished.
They had done it.
“Hurry!”
“Yes!”
At Eric’s urging, Hurtlocker stepped inside. He had to find Emilia. His beloved little sister.
“Emilia! Emilia!!”
Sunlight poured through the stained glass, illuminating the vast interior. Hurtlocker’s hollow cries echoed off the walls. Inside the gloomy cathedral, there was no sign of any living creature.
“Ha…”
It was too early to assume the worst. Hurtlocker lifted every chair, checking beneath them. He searched behind the altar, climbed to the ceiling, even tore up sections of the floor. Yet nowhere could he find the slightest trace of Emilia or any other person.
“Don’t fuck with me. Please…”
A cross lay on the ground, snapped in two. Staring at it, Hurtlocker felt dread creeping over him—an unease he desperately wanted to deny.
The adventurers were already closing in. Damn it. He would have to jump from the roof.
Thud!
“Eh?”
Landing right in front of the old woman, she widened her eyes in convincing surprise.
“Jean. Urgent request. Hide me and lose those guys.”
“Young man, what are you—”
“Here’s a gold coin.”
Clink. The moment the coin dropped into her hand, the old woman’s expression changed. She whipped off her cloak and swung it wide.
“Seriously. Now you’re treating me like an errand runner?”
In an instant, Jean had transformed back into the sharp-eared elf she had shown him before.
Her appearance wasn’t the problem right now—it was urgent.
“Hurry. The adventurers are after me.”
“Why are they chasing you? I might refuse depending on the reason.”
“I killed someone.”
“What? No deal. I don’t want to ruin my career.”
“Jean!”
Boom! Thud!
The ground shook with heavy footsteps from behind. Turning, he saw the adventurers swarming in. This was a market full of civilians; he couldn’t use wide-area magic.
Fuck. Then how was he supposed to handle them?
Still, he refused to be taken quietly. Preparing to draw Bappe, I met the eyes of the man who looked like their leader.
‘Huh?’
But his gaze slid past me as if I weren’t there.
“The scent ends here. Tsk…”
“What?”
Only then did I realize it. A barrier had been cast around me. It was so masterfully concealed that even knowing it was there, you would barely notice it unless you looked carefully.
“Sniff. The body odor is pretty strong, though.”
“What the…”
A voice came from right behind my neck, sending chills down my spine. I shoved Jean away to create distance. The thought that she could trap me inside a barrier if she wanted was genuinely frightening.
“Still, it’s not an unpleasant smell.”
“Stop joking.”
“Hehe. I’m serious.”
She used to bare her teeth every time she saw me. After rescuing me from a crisis, she seemed to have regained her usual composure.
Jean flipped the gold coin with casual ease. She really was an eyesore.
“Do not worry, citizens! We are adventurers!”
“We will begin a search to ensure your safety!”
“Anything else you want to discuss? In that case, shall we move somewhere quieter?”
Jean gestured at the market crawling with adventurers. Even if her barrier was unlikely to be detected, changing locations felt safer.
After walking some distance, we reached a plaza. Normally bustling with people, it was now deserted because of the earlier commotion. The barrier soon dissolved completely.
“There’s no way a man capable of killing dozens of adventurers would spend a gold coin just to escape one little crisis. So what other business do you have, I wonder?”
“…”
Jean crunched the gold coin between her teeth as she spoke. In truth, it really had been to escape the crisis. I simply hadn’t carried any silver or copper coins. Still, if she thought a single gold coin was too much for one barrier… I could always make her work a little harder.
“Do you know who’s behind this riot?”
“Hmm? Riot? Something like that happened in the imperial capital?”
“Stop pretending.”
There was no way Jean, who doubled as an information broker, didn’t know the full story. She had probably known since the planning stage. Which Crow accepted which request—nearly all such information flowed to her.
“Well. That kind of information seems worth more than one gold coin.”
“Three.”
“Five.”
“…”
This crazy woman. Still, the situation was too urgent for prolonged negotiation.
“Fine. Five.”
“Oh, right! I don’t haggle with you. I should have asked for ten!”
“Give me the information. Who is the mastermind?”
“Hmm… No matter what, I cannot reveal details about a client. Even if it’s someone else’s client.”
Her security was annoyingly tight. She was definitely a better Crow than Henderson.
“Then tell me which Crow carried out the request.”
“It’s someone you know well.”
“What?”
“Who else would bear a grudge against you and kidnap your attendant? Besides King Hart, is there anyone?”
“…”
What nonsense was she spouting?
“I don’t know what you two talked about, but he must have been furious. To think he would outright kidnap your attendant. From what I hear, the request was posted as an auction. King Hart accepted it, saying he would take the lowest reward. So probably…”
“…”
“Hmm. You’ve caught on?”
Jean, who had been watching my face closely, smiled as she sensed something. It had been her gamble. Convinced that my relationship with Hurtlocker was hostile, she had thrown the line out. But there was one thing she did not know.
The kidnapped attendant was Hurtlocker’s little sister.
“You know a lot.”
“…”
I had been suspicious since earlier. But the moment she tried to deceive me, it became certain.
Jean was the one who had kidnapped Emilia.
“Was killing me also part of the request?”
“Ahaha… I’m not allowed to disclose that!”
“…!”
In that instant, Jean was sucked into the air and vanished. It was not teleportation magic. Such advanced magic did not exist in this world. I was simply being fooled.
Selection and Concentration
Mana Sensitivity +99 (1 second)
Without realizing it, I had been trapped inside a barrier. The moment I activated the skill, my vision cleared and the surrounding flows of mana became visible. Detecting it had been difficult, but the barrier itself was simple; I dismantled it instantly.
“Eh?!”
In the distance, I spotted the real Jean fleeing. I almost ran after her…
“You’ve played quite a few tricks.”
I had nearly fallen for it again. Even Inquiry returned no information from that figure’s back. It was nothing more than a magical projection. I realized at once that even this place was inside a barrier. A barrier within a barrier. I had no idea how many layers I was trapped in.
But my task was clear. Break them. Break them all.
Selection and Concentration
Mana Sensitivity +99 (1 second)
I tore through barrier after barrier. Each time, Jean tried every trick to convince me the illusion was real, but it was useless. To my eyes, the mana flows were now crystal clear.
“H-how…!”
This refreshing air. The endlessly open sky. Not a single thread of mana flow could be felt. This was reality.
“How did you break through all of them?!”
Jean had not gotten far before she stumbled and fell. Her setting of abysmal physical ability must have caught up with her. Her calves trembled violently, and it looked as though mana exhaustion had struck her as well.
Until now, there had probably been no one Jean could not trap even after exhausting all her mana.
Name: Jean
Real Name: Jane Watson
Gender: Female
Details: A member of the Crows. Skilled in disguise. Inside that…
“Crow Jean. If you don’t want to die, reveal the client.”
“…!”
Circulating my internal circuit, I drew Bappe and thrust its crackling blade at her face. Even with death inches from her nose, Jean trembled for a moment before—
“Hehe. Are you stupid? If I reveal the client, the Crows will hunt me down and kill me anyway. Why would I tell you?”
She was laughing at me. To remain so composed even with death before her. Or perhaps she was certain I would not kill her.
“This stays between us. I’ll keep quiet, so speak.”
“No matter what, I cannot reveal the client.”
“…”
“If you insist, I can at least tell you what happened to your attendant.”
“Speak! Now!”
“I’ll show you. Just a moment…”
Jean reached out and began weaving a spell. It was a formula to summon an image from elsewhere. I could have destroyed it but left it alone. Soon a small hologram floated in the air.
“This is your attendant.”
“…!”
It was Emilia. The image quality was poor, but it was unmistakably her—arms bound, mouth sealed with tape. Her hair was a mess, her face covered in bruises, yet the first thing I felt was relief.
That relief turned to despair the moment the view began to zoom out.
“Huh?”
Below Emilia’s waist, there was nothing. Nothing that should have continued downward. Instead, the space was filled with crimson blood… and a chaotic tangle of fluttering intestines.
Thud. Jean’s mana ran dry and the image cut off.