Chapter 6. Friendship and Relationships (7)

From a reader's perspective, descriptions aren't really a problem.

Even when something is described, everyone imagines it differently, so no matter how detailed a novel's descriptions are, unless there's an illustration, it's hard to picture exactly what the author intended.

Naturally, that applies not only to descriptions of characters but equally to descriptions of buildings. Even if an author spells out specific measurements in the text, unless you actually draw it out yourself, an intuitive understanding is nearly impossible.

And there are hardly any authors who go that far in the first place. Probably the only ones who explain things in that much detail are mystery novelists, where the layout plays a crucial role in the story.

The novel I read was like that too. The author wrote down what would happen, and roughly when it would happen, but didn't precisely describe things like the building's layout.

"The layout—can you remember it to that extent?"

"Well, it's a building made by people. And it wasn't deliberately designed to make you get lost. The real issue is the security level."

Right, as Ria said, if there was a problem, the building's own security was the biggest one.

This was an era where people's combat abilities defied common sense. A ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world where moderate injuries could be treated on the spot and the wounded thrown right back into battle, where thick iron could be split with a sword. There were more people ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠than you'd think capable of demolishing a building wall without guns or cannons.

Since it would be troublesome if people with those abilities committed crimes, the government tried to spend as much money as possible to employ them stably—but even so, they could never be completely at ease. You never know what people will do.

Naturally, such places were built on the assumption that ability users like that would come to raid them. Nearly all major government facilities were.

Because the Gate Disaster hadn't been a problem of the Gate 'alone.'

"......Do you have some kind of plan?"

Ria asked, looking at my expression.

"Yes. Of course I have a plan."

I had some confidence, in my own way.

But that didn't mean I was completely certain.

In the original, by the time the protagonist arrived there, the situation was already almost over. The crucial Mana Stone had already fallen into the intruder's hands, and the intruder had used the Mana Stone's power to blast the protagonists away and make an unhurried escape.

As for why Lee Si-yoon, the protagonist of The Weakest Hunter, was in such a dangerous place in that situation—well, what else could it be?

......It wasn't an academy story, but it was a novel that followed the academy-story format to some degree.

Naturally, the early-academy-story cliché of 'letting your guard down at an academy-hosted event and getting attacked' appeared in the original as well, intact.

Well, here it wasn't an academy, and the host was the Hunter Association, but let's just call it roughly the same.

So the issue of the timing, which had been somewhat vague in the original, was also resolved.

But even so, I couldn't be certain about everything.

Because already, from that opening point, parts of the story had gone off course.

And on top of that, what I was about to do was an act that would twist the story even further. How far would the ripple effects reach?

"Nervous?"

"Mm, a little?"

I let out a long breath and lay down on the bed.

"But even so, I can't just do nothing and let it pass."

That was my answer.

"Well, I'll be sticking right next to you while things go down anyway."

Ria said.

"......."

Honestly.

How could she make a declaration like that so casually?

Hmm, well, thinking about it, I guess that's how it is? She's the one who trained me. And we'd already been in combat together a few times.

Something I'd felt in the military: a month is enough for people to get close. Even more so when you're suffering together. Though once you part ways, you barely remember each other's faces.

Somehow, I felt like I would remember Ria's face, though—

"I'll be counting on you."

Still, I felt like I had to answer something, so that was what I said. For some reason, I felt a little embarrassed after saying it, so I turned over to face the wall.

......I don't really know whether the friendliness I feel when I look at Ria is the same kind of friendliness she feels toward me—whether she really considers this a friendship.

Am I just remembering it that way because I read the novel?

That, too, was something only time would tell.

*

As I expected, around the end of May, we got a call from the Association.

In the meantime, I checked and rechecked what I'd written in my notebook. If I made even one mistake, there was no telling how much worse things could get.

The Saintess, in fact, hadn't had a very cooperative relationship with the Association from the start.

Because in the novel, she wasn't a Saintess "Candidate" or anything like that—she was literally the real Saintess. Long before I acknowledged being a Saintess Candidate, Anna had already been the Saintess.

A Saintess, treated almost on the same level as the Pope, was far more complicated to move around than a "Candidate." Think of the difference in weight between a presidential candidate traveling somewhere and the president personally doing so.

Even at that point, the Saintess already had feelings for Lee Si-yoon, so she hadn't been able to participate—and only after seeing Lee Si-yoon fall into danger did she rush to the research institute, overriding everyone else's objections.

In that respect, I was at a much greater advantage.

Whenever Ria and I moved, we took the church minibus to the Association and picked up the Association Hunters. Most of them were kids still in a learning position.

The lowest-ranked among them was Lee Si-yoon.

"Hi!"

Han Yu-ri waved energetically at us.

Until recently she'd used formal speech, but I remembered that in the original they'd dropped the formalities with each other, so I told Han Yu-ri she could speak casually to me. And, as a bonus, to the Hunters around us too.

They were all adults, but their ages weren't all that different. Most of them had graduated high school and joined the Association early to become Hunters, so nearly all of them were the same age as Ria and me. There were a few a year younger or a few years older, but we didn't bother putting up walls.

As we exchanged light greetings, I saw Han Yu-ri and Glaria locking eyes and having a silent standoff, which made me smile a little bitterly.

I sat with Ria in the very back seat. There was no particular reason. I just wanted to sit a little apart from the young Hunters. It wasn't that they made me uncomfortable, but I didn't feel like actively mingling either.

I had no intention of getting in the way.

In that sense, Ria was the same, but she didn't particularly try to go near Lee Si-yoon, who was sitting in the front.

On the way to the research institute, I was staring blankly out the window when my body shivered.

I shivered at the subtle sensation crawling up the back of my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠left hand and glared at Ria, who smiled at me with a playful expression.

Seriously, don't you feel any tension—

.......

No.

Ria had always been the type to ease the tension of the kids around her like this. By chattering, joking, or telling funny stories that made you forget how exhausted you were.

She acted this way toward me because, in her own way, she considered someone like me a comrade.

"......."

Had I twisted Ria's path in a strange direction?

I did hope the protagonist and his childhood friend would end up together, but I didn't want Ria's future to go off course in a strange direction because of me.

But I couldn't exactly spill all of that right now.

I gave Ria one sullen look, then turned back to the window.

Ria giggled quietly.

*

What would be the best way to infiltrate a research institute boasting ironclad security?

If opening a Gate were something an individual human could do, they'd do it right away and steal the thing before fleeing, but in the story, that was probably nearly impossible.

In that case, the best method was to take on a little risk.

When outsiders entered the research institute.

And when those outsiders went into the deepest part of the research institute.

That would be the moment when the institute's security was at its weakest.

The professor I'd met once before came out personally to welcome us, and we greeted him in return.

The professor looked my way for no particular reason, smiled brightly once more, and gave a slight bow. It seemed he really had liked that Sacred Object.

The schedule started with a simple lecture.

And the next item was a tour inside the vault.

Of course, we wouldn't go all the way to the deepest part.

The important thing was how an outsider could get ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in that far—

"Blasting through a single door is simple enough."

"How?"

Ria tilted her head as she spoke.

"Magic. Ah, of course, when entering, they'd have to pour out all the powerful Mana they have just to open one door."

But once inside, everything would be solved. The Mana Stone inside held an incredibly, incredibly powerful amount of Mana.

Causing a massive explosion inside to blow the door off—well, that much was nothing.

"......."

Ria tilted her head slightly at what I said, but she still believed me.

Even if she hadn't, things were going to blow up in the end anyway.