Chapter 130: Interlude. ȣ
Chapter 130: Interlude. ȣ
Boom!
An overwhelming impact slammed into us.
"Kyaa!"
The shock was so unexpected that a small scream escaped my lips.
By the time I managed to recover and lift my head, Senior was already gone.
"...."
"...What's with that guy?"
"Master! You have to take me with you!"
Left behind were the bewildered children, myself, and Baek Si-hyun, who was still full of energy even in this situation.
"You said the Black Marauder was here! Then I should be the one to handle it!"
While everyone else was at a loss for words, the frantic Baek Si-hyun shouted toward the now-absent Senior.
He can't hear you, Si-hyun....
"Sigh. Si-hyun, calm down."
Feeling a headache coming on, I let out a sigh and reached out to steady the hopping Baek Si-hyun.
Fortunately, she wasn't so angry that she'd lost control of her strength; she quietly accepted my hand and stopped her rampage.
"Why are you stopping me? Master went off on his own again! Isn't that unfair?"
She never changes.
Then again, she’d been saying how much she looked forward to fighting alongside Senior since we arrived, yet she hasn't had a single chance to do so.
How should I soothe her?
Having spent so much time with this chaotic partner, I’d learned a lot about her. Countless ways to calm her down came to mind.
I picked the most appropriate one and spoke.
"Si-hyun, Senior has his reasons for acting like that. Or do you not trust him?"
I started by using Senior as the hook.
"Ugh, but still..."
As soon as she heard my words, Si-hyun’s face fell, and her body went limp as if she had no rebuttal.
As expected, mentioning Senior works wonders on her.
"I know how much you were looking forward to it. You're always 'Master this, Master that.' But we have something more important to do right now, don't we?"
Now it was time to use Senior’s name to lift her spirits.
I shifted my body slightly so the children were clearly in Si-hyun’s line of sight.
"Knowing your Master, would he just leave these children behind? Would he tell them to just run away on their own?"
Well, he did technically leave them behind... but I believe Senior did as much as he could before going.
Probably.
"...He wouldn't do that."
Now completely deflated, Baek Si-hyun replied in a voice as tiny as a mosquito's buzz.
Perhaps thinking I was right, she slumped her shoulders and walked slowly toward the children.
So far, so good.
Now Si-hyun would let go of her lingering attachment to the Black Marauder and Senior, and focus on protecting the kids.
However, if I left her like that, she’d stay depressed, so I needed to cheer her up.
"Si-hyun. Let's cheer up and get these kids to a safe place. Senior entrusted you with such an important task because he trusts you. If he didn't, he would've done it himself, right?"
"...Really?"
Just imagining that seemed to make Si-hyun feel better, as her voice brightened instantly.
To be honest, I suspect it was half because he trusted us and half because it was a lower priority... but there was no need to say that out loud, right?
"Yeah, Senior left it to you because he trusts you. He probably figured that even if the Black Marauder showed up, you'd be able to get the kids to safety."
Though, considering that black-clad woman's personality, I didn't think she'd lay a hand on the children anyway...
I pushed aside the countless counterarguments rising in my mind and chose the words Si-hyun wanted to hear.
It worked.
"Right! There's no way Master would act without a plan! Let's go, kids! This big sister will take you somewhere safe!"
Suddenly revitalized, Baek Si-hyun began to run.
Not a full sprint, but at a pace the children could follow.
"Follow me!"
Of course, the children were just staring at her sudden outburst with bewildered expressions.
"...I've been thinking this for a while, but is that lady mentally ill?"
"That unnie. Her head is weird."
"Dam, Yeon. You shouldn't say things like that."
They're still just kids; what would happen if they got used to saying such mean things?
I scolded them for now, but in my mind, I couldn't deny their words.
"She's just... a bit pure."
That was the excuse I managed to squeeze out.
Based on her actions and speech, she definitely wasn't stupid, though.
"By the way, are you going to be okay?"
"About what?"
Dam asked me an incomprehensible question as I held my throbbing head.
"Does that lady even know the way?"
Huh? The way?
For a moment, I didn't understand, so I looked up and let my brain process the situation.
Baek Si-hyun had already disappeared somewhere.
And we were left behind.
"...Let's go after her."
"Unnie. She went that way."
"Thanks, Yeon..."
My head... it really hurts.
* * *
"It's pretty far..."
How long had we been walking?
Even though we’d been walking for hours, the exit was still nowhere in sight.
When was the bombardment supposed to start?
The entire building had been thumping and shaking for a while now, so it seemed like something was beginning...
But I lacked the information to analyze it properly.
Si-hyun had beaten up a passing thug and asked if he knew anything, but they seemed just as clueless about the situation.
As time passed, my anxiety grew, and the repetitive nature of our surroundings made me feel even more rushed.
I had to ask.
"...Yeon? I have something to ask."
"...I think I know what it is."
You too, huh?
I directed the question I’d been hiding for fear of hurting his feelings toward Dam, who was walking ahead.
"Are you sure this is the right way?"
The most important question.
In this concrete labyrinth, he was our only guide.
Did he actually know the way?
Was he truly a reliable presence?
"It should... definitely be this way."
A question...?
For a moment, I wondered if Dam had lied, but seeing him fidget and his hands tremble, it didn't seem like it.
Then I had to change the question.
"Is it possible the path changed...?"
Or...
"Have you ever actually been outside Nanjido?"
Had he only known the way through theory from the start?
"...Actually, I've never been outside Nanjido."
So that was it.
Dam flinched as he spoke.
Like a child who had done something wrong.
"But... um... well..."
He began to stammer, trying to say something.
His body was trembling as if he were afraid of something.
It couldn't be helped.
I knelt down and met Dam's eyes.
"Dam."
"...Yes."
"You trust me, right?"
Dam nodded.
I stroked his head and continued.
"Then tell me. I'll listen to everything."
"...Even if it's something that makes no sense?"
"Yes."
"......"
Dam looked at me in silence.
By the time the pulse I felt from the hand on his head reached double digits.
"Wait a second."
Dam brushed my hand away, ran somewhere to pick up a stick, poked the end into some nearby filth, and began scratching at the ground.
"Uh... Dam, what are you doing?"
"Shh. Si-hyun. Be quiet."
He needs to concentrate.
Something was being drawn on the ground.
Small circles and various lines connecting them. There were incomprehensible symbols here and there, and the scale was off, but...
"This is..."
"It's a map!"
Si-hyun chimed in.
...How did Si-hyun know?
"Yes. It's still unfinished, though."
Dam didn't look up even at our words, continuing to draw with the stick while staring at the floor.
A few golden minutes passed. The bombardment could start at any moment, but we sat around quietly and watched him.
Scritch.
Dam threw the stick behind him as he finished scratching a line into the concrete.
"This is a map of this entire area. It's a combination of what I remembered while moving around and what I pieced together from other organizations..."
"Wait a minute."
I focused my mind.
The alleys we’d run through so far, the pieced-together map.
...Something was wrong.
Up to a certain point, it was correct. But from a specific spot, something was decisively distorted.
"Where are we right now?"
"...Here."
At my question, Dam slowly pointed his finger. A location not far from a star drawn on the map.
And it was the exact spot where the map began to deviate.
"What's that star?"
"...The exit."
That's strange.
I didn't know the exact time, but if my memory was correct, the place Dam was pointing to was a location we’d already reached hours ago.
The fragments of information I’d gathered so far began to stack up in my head.
The Fork in the Road we took hours ago, the strangely long straight passage. The collapsed wastewater pipe, the stick he just threw behind him.
The object I saw... hours ago.
"...We've been going in circles, haven't we? That's what you wanted to say?"
"...Yes."
Dam hung his head.
His actions were full of guilt.
He must have thought we wouldn't believe him.
Or perhaps he was anxious.
Anxious that we wouldn't trust him.
Anxious that the map might be wrong.
Anxious that he had taken the wrong path.
Keeping that in mind, I looked down at the map a bit longer.
My thoughts accelerated so fast it made my head throb.
I kept combining all my memories with the crude map before me, but only one answer emerged.
Despite having traveled through almost every location on the map, there were almost no errors in it.
The only error was the passage from here to the star.
Then was that information wrong?
No.
I considered the possibility for a moment, but my intuition told me this map was correct.
It was hard to say why, but since this intuition had saved me many times before, I decided to trust it.
Hadn't Oxymoron Senior told me to cherish it?
The moment I looked up to organize my thoughts, I saw it.
The mouse tail ornament hanging from Si-hyun’s waist.
Spatial distortion.
What about the nausea?
When did the headache start?
This headache piercing my brain right now?
Was it like this when we first arrived?
"...Si-hyun?"
"Yeah?"
"Does your head hurt right now?"
"My head...? Now that you mention it, it does hurt a little!"
...It hurt once I mentioned it. Well, I hadn't been able to perceive it either until I thought of the possibility.
"Si-hyun, you said this was a map earlier, right?"
"I did!"
"How did you know?"
"...I just knew as soon as I saw it?"
This is why geniuses are...
"Then you can remember all of this, right?"
"I already memorized it!"
...This is why geniuses are...
"Then from here, run to the star and come back. As fast as you can."
"Got it!"
Without a single question, Baek Si-hyun began to sprint as soon as I finished speaking.
"...Won't it be pointless?"
Dam, exhausted from the continuous march, sat on a pipe and spoke.
Yeon and the other two children were also huddled around him, looking drained.
Before answering his question, I watched the receding Si-hyun until she was out of sight, then turned my head.
"No. This will gather information."
I had to get these children out somehow. Before time ran out.
Having finished that thought, I turned and moved toward The Wall.
I should rest for a moment too. No matter how fast Si-hyun is, it'll take at least five min—
The moment I thought that and tried to sit down.
"Shaaaaaaa!"
"Yeon?!"
Yeon used her whole body to spring up from her spot, leaping into the air.
Then, she landed.
She bared all the claws on her front paws, her pupils narrowing as she stared into the empty air.
Above. Something was...
Thump. Thump. Thump.
Suddenly, the building began to shake.
There had been slight vibrations before, but this was incomparable.
What is it? What's happening?
I don't have enough information.
I can't predict what's next.
Even the intuition I trust is useless when there's no information...
The brief moment of confusion was soon settled.
Crash!
By her sudden appearance.
The ceiling collapsed.
Concrete dust flew everywhere, and large chunks of stone rained down toward the children.
I have to block it.
The children couldn't even react.
So, I poured all my strength into my body and struck the stones away.
My frail body screamed in pain despite being reinforced with mana, but I didn't stop, swinging my entire arm.
If these stones hit the children, the result would be irreversible.
As those two seconds of intense focus ended, her voice drifted through the dust.
"...Han A-bin? If you're here..."
The dust cleared, revealing the identity of the one who had appeared from above.
Pitch black and murky, there she was.
Standing among the pile of concrete, she crushed something that looked like a machine under her foot.
Holding a Red Pry Bar and scattering Black Particles, she spoke.
"Where is that noisy Baek Si-hyun?"
The Black Marauder....