Blood, School, and Regional Ties (2)
Clank— clank—
Thunk—
The headquarters of Pandemic.
Iron chains treated with specialized mana and layer upon layer of magic circles had been laid in place, and at their center, Centaur was bound. He hadn't particularly resisted — but his power was so overwhelming that anything less would have been far too dangerous.
Maestro stood before Centaur with his hands folded, offering up a prayer.
"You can't reason with these stupid humans... They can't even recognize an F-class mercenary badge."
Behind him, Rebecca quietly closed her eyes.
A bunch of lunatics.
Whether it was Centaur, forcibly suppressing his mana and playing at weakness, or Maestro, who knew the truth and was still putting on a performance — they were both unmistakably insane.
"Human slaughter, or human slaves. I can assist you with either."
"Not interested. Get lost."
"O Apostle, if you answered the summoning contract, that means there is something you desire in the human world, does it not? It's all right. Please, tell me."
"Haa. I never made any contract. I don't even know why I'm here."
But no matter how persistently Maestro courted him, Centaur would not change his mind. In the end, Maestro had no choice but to switch tactics. Persuasion would have been ideal — but now he would have to spend precious mana.
"...Rebecca. This isn't working."
"Yes, Maestro."
The instant Maestro spoke her name, Rebecca drew up her mana.
A deep, resonant hum filled the chamber — and a Rune Barrier unfolded around Centaur.
"Haa. Beasts that can't understand words are beasts, after all."
"Say whatever you want. I'm going to... Khuh?!"
The Rune Barrier. The reason it was called the greatest, the worst, and the most dreadful of all barriers was not simply that it was hard to break.
The Rune Clan spent their entire lives honing the Rune Barrier and nothing else. And when the power of the bloodline flowing through that clan was added to the craft, the result was a magic entirely different from any ordinary barrier. That was why theirs stood apart.
The ability to control everything inside the barrier. And that ability grew stronger the narrower the barrier became.
"Khuh. Khhuhh...."
"O Apostle. Look into my eyes."
The air inside the barrier had vanished completely. On top of that she was applying crushing pressure and shock — and still Centaur was perfectly fine.
"Hmm. Rebecca. Keep the barrier as it is. It seems persuading the Apostle will take quite some time."
"Yes, Maestro. I'll be going, then."
"Khhuhh...."
"Now then, Apostle. Allow me to say this once more...."
Click—
Watching Maestro cling to Centaur, Rebecca shut the door and left the headquarters behind.
"Haa, haa... Blocking Maestro's brainwashing takes way too much mana. What a psycho."
Rebecca could keep Maestro's brainwashing at bay by wrapping herself in a Rune Barrier — but even she risked having her act exposed if she held his gaze for too long. That was how dangerous that bastard's ability was.
Centaur was resisting for now, but he'd fall soon enough, just like the other executives.
"You've worked hard, Lady Rebecca."
Her subordinate, who had been waiting outside, stepped forward.
"Yeah. What's Lee Ho-yeon's situation?"
"Based on the hospital records we checked, it appears he'll be discharged soon."
"Oho... Got it."
A smile of genuine joy slipped across Rebecca's face at the thought of soon meeting a survivor of her clan.
Nam Daehee was goofing around without paying this side the slightest attention, and Nam Da-eun was still playing along with her, her face faintly flushed.
"What's this about being from Hell? You're saying that's a monster from Hell?"
"I don't know about that. But you see that mercenary badge hanging around its neck?"
"Mercenary badge?"
I stared at the TV screen like my eyes were about to fall out. The footage had been paused while the experts yammered through their explanations, so I could get a proper look.
"It looks like it says F..."
"That necklace? What's that got to do with Hell?"
The design was a little strange, but it wasn't anything particularly unusual. Monsters always did have a taste for bizarre aesthetics.
"It's not a necklace. It's a mercenary badge they use in Hell."
"Hold on. It says F on it. Why would they use that in Hell?"
English was a language of the human world. Why would they be using English in Hell?
"What are you talking about? Of course mercenary badges are written in English."
"...."
There were a lot of things I wanted to point out, but I let it go. I was talking to a succubus in the first place. Was English being used in Hell really that big a deal?
"So who is that Centaur? Is he someone famous?"
I didn't know why he was here — but if he was a famous named entity from Hell, wasn't that dangerous?
"No. F is the lowest rank. He's the bottom of the barrel among mercenaries. They're the ones who clean up trash in the dungeons."
"Did you not watch the video? People were getting sent flying like garbage."
If a janitor was that strong, the day a grunt showed up was the day Earth got wiped off the map.
"Huum... You've got a point. There's no way that kind of power is F-class."
Thankfully, even by Hell's standards, that level of strength seemed considerable.
"Anyway, that's not what's important. So do you have any idea why that Centaur is doing all this in this world?"
"Dunno. He probably came here on some kind of contract, like I did."
Liliana kept her eyes locked on the TV, as if she were happy to see a fellow Hell-dweller after so long. She was completely useless when it actually mattered.
"Contract, Hell, monster, city raid...."
I slowly retraced the original story, wondering what I could infer from that Centaur. It was a monster I'd never seen before, but there might be some hint in the original — however small.
"If an intelligent monster hits and runs like that while committing acts of terror, it would certainly be difficult to respond to."
"Right.... Wait. Terror?"
"Yes. Is something wrong?"
A single word Scarlet had tossed out in passing.
Terror.
There was a group that came to mind the moment you said that word. The Demon organization, Pandemic. And one by one, the original story's arcs of fighting Pandemic surfaced in my head.
"...Apostle."
Pandemic had a concept called Apostles. The idea was that they were servants of the Demon King, and from that point on Pandemic's attacks intensified and powerful monsters that had never originally existed in this world started appearing. People had complained a lot that it was a forced setting just to patch the broken power balance... but anyway.
I'd never seen a Centaur like that among the Apostles. The first Apostle in the original wasn't a monster like this — it was a round, gooey slime.
I don't know from what point, but... something's been twisted.
An intelligent Centaur. Meaning you could talk to him.
"I'd like to try talking to that Centaur at least once. Is there any way?"
I looked at Scarlet, the brains of our group, as I spoke. Since he could communicate, he might know things about Hell, the Demon King, or even Liliana that we didn't.
"Well, as it happens, our Iris Guild is also looking for a way to subdue that Centaur. He vanished without a trace from the middle of the city, but he still appears to be somewhere in France."
"Right. The Iris Guild is in France, too."
Elise must have been having a hard time. Should I dig into that angle as well? Joining forces with the Iris Guild to catch Centaur, or something like that...
Come to think of it, how am I supposed to subdue that thing?
Just looking at it, it was ridiculously strong. Even with Combat Sense, going up against a completely different weight class was tough. Unless there was some other method.
"Yes. It may become difficult for me to be here every day from now on."
"Okay. Got it."
Honestly, her being here every day until now had been the abnormal part. Scarlet had her own job, after all.
"Hell... Hell...."
Liliana wasn't paying our conversation the slightest attention, gazing at the TV with distant, wistful eyes.
Affection:97(+1.6)
Libido:76
Appetite:42
Fatigue:30
"Liliana."
"Huh, huh?"
"Do you want to talk to that Centaur?"
"...It's not really that. It's just, every time I look at that horse-man, I get this weird feeling."
Why was she acting so unlike herself?
"Just be like usual. Whining suits you better."
"What are you talking about, are you crazy? Where would you find a demure succubus like me?"
Hell. A place I hadn't given much thought to — and yet it kept surfacing in the story. Pandemic, and Liliana. Maybe it was actually important.
"...Darling, what is this?"
"Huh? What's wrong all of a sudden?"
I'd come back to the hospital for my usual checkup, and Baek A-young's voice trembled strangely as she rested her hands on my body.
"Your circuits... no, your entire body has gotten healthier. Rather than has gotten healthier... it's getting healthier...?"
"Ah...."
I'd received a massive boost to my natural healing as a reward, and she must have picked up on that. But was it really something to be that shocked about?
"I did pick up a skill recently. But is it that significant?"
"The natural healing is too clean and perfect. At this rate, your mana circuit efficiency will be even better than it was before you were injured."
Oh. Judging by how stunned she was, the efficiency must have been incredible.
"Then will my discharge get moved up a bit, too?"
I asked her, holding onto hope for an early release.
"Tomorrow... no, the day after tomorrow, you should be able to leave."
Wasn't that too good to be true? I'd already been thinking that with so much to do, staying in the hospital any longer was a waste of time.
But Baek A-young's expression wasn't good. She was probably like that because we'd have less time together once I was discharged. Now I felt guilty for no reason.
"Still... I should come in for checkups often, right?"
Baek A-young heard me and met my eyes.
"Hm? Ah... yeah. That would be nice."
"I'll keep coming. Don't worry."
"...You have to come every day, darling."
"All right."
I pulled her into a tight hug, and the downcast Baek A-young in my arms began to speak in a serious voice.
"...Since it's time for you to be discharged, there's something I need to tell you."
"Mm. What is it?"
What was she trying to say, setting the mood like this? I waited for her next words, a little tense.
"I didn't say anything because I was worried about your condition, but... during the terror attack, after you passed out, someone approached me."
"...Okay."
This was the first I was hearing of it. If Baek A-young hadn't said anything out of concern for my condition, something shocking might have happened.
"That person asked me to pass this message on to you."
She let out a breath, then slowly opened her mouth as if recalling that moment.
"...My former clan?"
"You don't have to tell me right now. You must have things you want to keep hidden, too. But... someday, please tell me. I want to be of help to you as well."
Baek A-young gripped my hand tightly, sending me an earnest look. It was the look of someone ready to carry every secret her beloved had, no matter what it was.
Of course, the one receiving that look — me — was just bewildered.
No, what the hell is a former clan supposed to be.
This was giving me a real headache.