Chapter 163
Chapter 163
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 163
Chapter Title: A Late Lunch (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
“Haa, haa.”
Amy, who had been watching for some time, finally shouted as if she couldn't stand it anymore.
“Hey! Can you get off him already? You’ve got some nerve! Anyone watching would think we’re the bullies and you’re the victim.”
Marsha turned her gaze to Amy, pouted as if to fan the flames of her anger, and burrowed even deeper into Shirone’s chest.
Amy felt the last thread of her patience snap.
“I’ve had it with you, you witch!”
Freeman stepped in front of Marsha and pleaded.
“Leave her be. She must be exhausted from crying.”
Amy stared at Freeman in disbelief and pointed a finger at him.
“Are you delusional too? Do you have any idea how much trouble we went through because of you people? We were lucky to win. Shirone’s life could have been over!”
That was what truly angered Amy. Did a good outcome make everything okay? If Shirone hadn't overcome today's crisis, the aftermath was too horrible to even imagine.
Not only Shirone, who had his magic stolen, but also Amy, who had to watch it happen, felt as though she had returned from hell.
“I’m sorry. All the crimes committed while we were the Parrot Gang were under my orders. Marsha only ever fought with the Association’s trackers. But if even that is a sin…”
Amy crossed her arms and shot back.
“Then what?”
“I will take responsibility for her life as well.”
Marsha, who had been clinging to Shirone, shot to her feet. She stomped over, fuming, and kicked Freeman in the rear.
“Don’t make me laugh! Who asked you to ruin my life? I don’t need a guy like you!”
Freeman staggered, but he still stood his ground like an old tree. He had been hardened to Marsha’s tantrums since they were children.
“Marsha.”
At the sound of Shirone's voice, Marsha’s shoulders flinched. She couldn't bring herself to turn around. The reason she had taken her anger out on Freeman was because she feared this very situation. In the end, she spoke without turning back.
“Look… I’m sorry about what happened. I know that’s not enough for you to forgive me, but…”
“You’re right. I can’t forgive you.”
Marsha spun around, a look of shock on her face. Shirone’s eyes were cold. The person who had just been tending to her wounds was gone without a trace.
“No matter the reason, you kidnapped and used a young girl. That’s something you should never have done.”
Marsha couldn't argue and lowered her head. She had never preyed on the weak in her life. But she didn't want to make excuses. Shirone was the one who had suffered the most from Yuna’s kidnapping.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Come to think of it, I was a terrible villain.”
“You were. You were a terrible villain.”
Shirone said it without hesitation. That was his nature. He treated everyone with sincerity, and his lack of conflict came from his inherently good disposition, not from a tendency to obscure the truth or lie.
“I’ll be going now. I hope you overcome this. And… I hope we never see each other again.”
Shirone turned without a second thought and walked away. Sympathizing with and understanding Marsha was all he could do.
“I was wrong!”
In that moment, Marsha mustered her courage and cried out. Shirone hadn’t passed any judgment on the matter.
It was just like when she had stolen the pottery from the market. That was why she had no choice but to be the one to approach him.
“How can you just leave like that? I’m just getting started. At least promise we’ll meet again!”
After standing there for a long moment, Shirone turned around. His gaze was still sharp, and Marsha waited anxiously, like a prisoner awaiting their sentence.
“If you’re truly sorry, then apologize to Yuna. Apologize to her brother, Jis, too. You have to compensate them for everything they went through.”
“Of course! The truth is, I hate this kind of thing. I won’t make excuses, but I’ll ask for their forgiveness separately.”
“Even so, it doesn’t erase what you did. I can never forgive what you’ve done up to now.”
Marsha’s shoulders slumped. Tears welled in her eyes, threatening to fall at any moment.
“But if you’ve truly decided to live a new life, I can forget your past.”
Marsha quickly looked up. Then, crying like a child, she threw herself into Shirone’s arms.
“Waaaaah! I was wrong!”
Shirone couldn’t bring himself to comfort Marsha as she cried in his arms. In truth, this was a choice he was making for the first time in his life.
Some people live harder lives than others. Not everyone in the world could fight for their convictions.
That was why Shirone decided to try to forgive her.
If he was the starting point of her change, he felt he had a responsibility to at least watch over her.
‘Clay Marsha…’
Was that why? Shirone suddenly realized something.
That Marsha, who had always seemed so strong and scary, was actually a woman small enough to be held in his arms.
* * *
Marsha led Shirone’s group into the building. As it was the place where the two mages had dueled, not a single piece of furniture was left intact.
His friends could guess what a desperate struggle Shirone must have fought.
“Let’s go to the second floor. I’m hungry after all that fighting. I’ll make us some food. I’m not much of a cook, though.”
The second floor was at least in a habitable state, with only a few broken flowerpots on the floor.
Shirone and his friends waited for the food to be served.
Yuna was also seated with them. Her tension seemed to have eased, and her complexion looked much better than before.
They had set out at dawn and hadn't eaten a single meal all day. They were too hungry to wait for a proper meal, so Marsha served them soup and bread that they could eat right away.
As soon as the food came out, they frantically filled their stomachs. Rian was in no condition to eat, but he seemed to devour more than anyone else.
“So, can you not use your Rule-Breaking anymore?”
The thing that had impressed Shirone the most in this battle was undoubtedly her Rule-Breaking. While perhaps not as rare as an Unlocker, it was clearly an uncommon trait in the magical society.
“No, that’s not it. Of course, Deprivation will be impossible now, but a scar etched on the heart doesn’t heal that easily. It will be transformed in some way.”
“I see. Hmm.”
As Shirone trailed off, the quick-witted Marsha said with a bright smile.
“Don’t worry. I won’t create such a malicious spell again. The rules can be changed to some extent.”
Shirone nodded with a look of surprise. This, too, was practical knowledge he couldn't have learned at the academy.
“Do you have any new rules in mind, then?”
“Not really. Let’s see… Maybe I’ll develop a spell to charm a handsome, blond-haired man who goes to a magic academy?”
Shirone gave an uneasy smile. Having experienced the eccentricity of a Rule-Breaker, he couldn't dismiss it as a mere joke.
Receiving a sharp glare from Amy, Marsha waved her hands reassuringly.
“Hehe, don’t worry. It’s not Shirone.”
“Oh? Really? Then who is it?”
“There is one. A handsome, blond-haired man who goes to a magic academy.”
Amy decided to drop it. Arguing with a Rule-Breaker who saw the world through her own skewed lens was a pointless endeavor.
Freeman put down his spoon and spoke seriously.
“How about a spell to seduce a man with no eyebrows?”
“Pfft!”
Marsha spat the soup in her mouth back onto her plate. She never would have expected him to say something so shameless at a time like this. The nerve of him!
“What nonsense is this? Have you lost your mind?”
“What’s wrong? I didn’t say it was me.”
“Who else in the world has no eyebrows besides you and a monkey?”
“A monkey isn’t human.”
“No! I’m saying you’re the monkey! Speaking of which, you lost, didn’t you? You pathetic coward. How many times have I told you not to use the Reverse Technique Tree? Huh? Huh?”
Marsha jabbed Freeman’s temple repeatedly with her fork.
Watching them, something suddenly occurred to Amy. It was certainly strange that Freeman had been perfectly fine after taking a direct hit from her Flame Strike.
‘Reverse Technique Tree?’
Those who trained with Schema would build up their power by layering multiple Schemas. The most basic build was laid at the bottom, with optional builds stacked on top.
Reversing that in an instant was a Reverse Build.
Schema users called this a ‘Reversal,’ a defensive build chosen only in life-threatening situations.
Gunners, for whom mobility and accuracy were paramount, usually based their builds on enhancing their sensory or nervous systems.
Therefore, defensive builds related to regeneration or cellular activation were relegated to optional slots.
As a Gunner himself, Freeman should have been no different.
But from what Marsha said, it seemed he had fought from the very beginning with a defensive build—a Reversal build.
That would explain why he was unscathed even after his face was burned by Flame Strike.
‘Come to think of it… his speed when he saved Marsha at the end was incredible.’
That must have been his movement as a Gunner without the Reversal. The thought made her blood boil.
As if sensing Amy’s mood, Freeman spoke.
“If it hadn’t been a Reversal, my opponent would have used a different strategy. There is no strong or weak. You just do what the situation calls for, and courage is part of one’s skill. Amy was stronger than me. That’s all.”
Marsha propped her chin on her hand and let out a chuckle. Freeman, the coward with the droopy eyebrows, was now capable of saying something quite manly.
Being praised by her enemy, Amy felt inexplicably awkward.
“No, well… you were amazing too, mister.”
“Thanks. But I’m not a mister. I’m the same age as Marsha.”
“So? Even if you’re the same age, you’re still a mister to me.”
Freeman lowered his head sullenly and focused on tearing his bread again. The question of why Shirone addressed Marsha so familiarly rose to the tip of his tongue, but his timid nature kept him from letting it out.
After the lighthearted banter faded, Marsha’s expression turned serious again.
“Anyway, Shirone, if you’re aiming to be a mage, you should be wary of Rule-Breakers. I know it’s funny hearing this from me, but still.”
“Not at all. I want to know. Please tell me more.”
“Hmm, well, the Deprivation I used isn’t a very efficient spell. Stealing an opponent’s magic is overpowered in itself, but it’s more of a challenge of possibilities than an effective method for combat.”
Shirone thought so too. If he were to gain an ability at the cost of his life, he wouldn’t have chosen Deprivation.
There were simply too many restrictions involved in stealing another person’s abilities.
“I’m a bit of a special case. Of course, most Rule-Breakers are special, but my magic wasn’t created with combat in mind from the start. Other Rule-Breakers probably use much more effective and versatile forms of Rule-Breaking than I do.”
“I see. I can say this now, but fighting you was truly terrifying. I never knew there was a way to seal the Immortal Function.”
“Hehe, sorry about that. But you’re right. In the world of magic, nothing is impossible. And nothing is absolute. You were able to beat me because you saw through my weakness, right?”
“Yes. I figured that if the activation of your Rule-Breaking was based on trauma, then relentlessly attacking that trauma might create a variable.”
“Exactly. In other words, it’s a battle of logic between constraints and costs. When facing a Rule-Breaker, it’s more important to quickly grasp the mechanism of their magic than to focus on combat power. Of course, I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“Not at all. I’ve learned a lot from this.”
Shirone answered sincerely. It was a battle that had taught him just how wide the world was, and how many exceptional people were in it.