Chapter 193: Say You Want To Live - 9
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 193: Say You Want To Live - 9
To deceive Wolfen, I had to face him until the very end. The only problem was that this was the kind of light that seeped in even with your eyes closed.
Thanks to that, my overstimulated eyes declared a strike. Afterimages flickered as my vision washed out in gray. Just like Wolfen, I couldn't see a thing and stumbled about uselessly.
I can steal another's sight, but if there's no sight to steal, I'm as good as blind. As it happened, no one nearby was looking this way, so I had no idea where I was either.
Right, it's fine. I can just use my wand.
Using the magic wand I’d made beforehand to tap the ground, I somehow managed to make my way into the building I’d spotted earlier.
Phew. It was a good thing I made this wand. If I hadn't experienced what it was like to be visually impaired, I might have gotten lost myself.
In any case, having fled into the residential building without being seen by anyone, I carefully climbed the stairs. On the way up, I heard a cacophony of thuds, crunches, and crashes from outside, but that wasn't my problem right now.
I was glad the stairs were all of a uniform size. Once I got the first step right, I could just repeat the same motion to reach the top. Even without sight, it was manageable…
“Whoa!”
Ah, I missed the last step, thinking I was at the top! I almost fell!
Anyway, by the time I reached the roof, half-blind, my vision had slowly started to recover. Grateful for the ability to see, I stepped through the rooftop door.
The roof came into view. A concrete expanse, it greeted me with a narrow, angular horizon. Water tanks and pipes were tangled together like complex vines, and cleaning equipment waited under a thick tarp for a day it would be used. I crossed the ordinary residential rooftop and reached the edge.
Looking down, I saw Wolfen lying on the ground, subdued by Historia.
Against the moonlit night, I offered my final farewell to the fallen Wolfen.
Farewell, Wolfen. You may have regrets about the process, but you can accept the outcome. After all, you’re dying at the hands of someone stronger than you.
As someone who lived by the sword, Wolfen wasn't afraid of death. He was, however, afraid of powerlessness.
He hated being so futilely crushed by an opponent beyond his league, and he was furious that he could not grow any stronger. Already twisted, he had planned to reign over the weak.
Hmph. You see, it's not the strong who survive, but the survivors who are strong. Why do you have to go around stirring up trouble like a thug? You should just live a quiet, slow life like me.
“Well. In any case. The question now is how to escape.”
Could I get away from here? Should I just pick a random room and hide inside?
Hmm. I didn't think that would work. It wouldn't be strange for the Military State to search every single room.
What should I do?
Captain Abbey might not reveal my identity. But… the problem was that she also knew who I was.
And she had both the will and the ability to chase me to the ends of the earth.
“Checkmate.”
Phew. Could I get out of here alive? I didn't know if I could escape the Military State while evading a signaller's surveillance. My mana was already depleted, and my body was a wreck.
Even if Captain Abbey didn't know, other signallers wouldn't, and they might start tracking me the moment they found me.
The magician, in a desperate crisis.
Did I have to stage the great escape of the century with no preparation at all? This was too difficult.
It was then.
From beneath my shadow, a dark knight appeared.
It was a familiar form. A knight in pitch-black armor, as if molded from shadows, watched me in silence.
What are you doing here? The appearance was so sudden that I was at a loss for words, and could only ask dumbly.
“What’s this dirt pawn?”
The dirt pawn seemed to have been hiding in my shadow from the start. It had been concealed by the darkness cast across the streets, but now that I was on the roof, the only prominent shadow was my own, which made it stand out.
“Oh. Excuse me? Are you perhaps Tyr?”
I waved, but the dark knight gave no response. It either wasn't focused on me, or the distance between us had grown quite large.
Then why would she deploy these dark knights… As I pondered this, a conversation was in full swing below.
“If you didn't call me, then who did?”
“The magician… Ugh. So the Umbra was played by you until the very end…”
It wasn't an answer to the Gunmaster's question, but Wolfen's mumble was answer enough for her.
“The magician?”
Deep in thought, the Gunmaster suddenly spotted something and walked toward it. Lying face down on the edge of the main street was a single card. With a deft flick of her toe, she flipped the card into the air and snatched it.
The Ace of Clubs, the medium for my magic, still faintly suffused with light.
“Ha.”
The Gunmaster scoffed loud enough for me to hear on the rooftop.
“Right. It could only be you. You’re the only one who would do something like this.”
Ah, that.
With Medium Magic, the medium bears the cost of the spell. That was why the card that had just produced that immense flash of light still held an afterglow like a firefly.
Should I have picked it up? But it was a single-use item, and carrying a card that was leaking light and mana in the middle of the night was the same as screaming ‘come and get me.’ That’s why I’d deliberately flipped it over and shoved it into a corner.
I’d been found out.
“This was always your style, Huey. I knew it. You didn't die back then.”
As if she’d expected it all along, the Gunmaster let out a loud, hollow laugh and immediately drew her gun, aiming it at the sky.
CRACK.
This gunshot was different from the last. It was a blank, firing nothing but air, merely scattering energy from the muzzle.
A blue aura shattered from the muzzle like glass. The deafening report tore through the dark night streets, echoing far and wide.
Through my ringing ears, I heard the Gunmaster’s ecstatic scream.
“Get out here right now! Huey, you goddamn bastard---!!!”
My plan had succeeded.
I had leaked information to Black Cat, the exposé magazine—a gossip rag that even the Military State kept an eye on.
Huey, who never lost his spot as the top student. I had dangled a name as bait, one that those who still remembered would never ignore. Thanks to that, the Military State scrambled their forces in a knee-jerk reaction.
But they had arrived a little later than expected, and I’d almost died for it. Why were they so slow?
I was the one in danger…
Not from the Umbra, but from one of the Six Generals.
Tch. If I were strong enough to take down the Shadow all by myself, I wouldn't have needed to use my friend card.
As I muttered to myself, the Gunmaster shouted at the golem.
“Signaller! Begin surveillance!”
『Signaller, Captain Abbey. Awaiting orders.』
The effects of the alcohol, the languor—it was all gone. Her eyes filled with passion and fury, the Gunmaster issued her orders rapidly.
“We’re capturing the Pied Piper of Hamelin! Lock down the entire district and deploy supplies along the routes! Send me the personal details of everyone in the vicinity! And tell the Military Police to head my way as soon as they’re done with their business!”
『The Pied Piper of Hamelin…』
The captain paused for a moment before composing herself and speaking.
『Understood. Major General, will you be equipping your general’s combat arm?』
“Too slow! Instead, round up every last golem! There’s no telling what that bastard will pull!”
An order from one of the Six Generals. As the Gunmaster spoke to the golem, the Military State began to move. Though it was night and I couldn't see far, it felt as if the dark city was stirring like a crouching monster.
From the perspective of the prey, the hunter's command was terror itself. I muttered blankly.
“Haa. I guess it's time to pay for my karma. I really did get away with too much.”
The moment I fought Wolfen, my identity being exposed was a given. I just didn't think she'd figure it out this quickly. She has a damn good nose.
This was all because of Wolfen and the Military State. If Wolfen hadn't shown up out of the blue, and if the Military State had just mobilized on time, I wouldn't have had to get involved.
What now? Against Historia, I had a way to shake her off, but only once. The problem was, I couldn't shake off the other pursuers.
Was this the end?
At that moment, near the rooftop railing, something turned its head. Startled, I quietly observed what it was.
It was a golem. Just a head, purely for surveillance.
There’s one here too? Wow. Just how many of these did the Military State hide?
I had to run, now…
『You. It is I.』
“Captain Abbey?”
『Affirmative. While I am synchronized with this golem, no other signaller can connect. Please halt your escape for a moment.』
I stopped in my tracks. The golem, having explained concisely, fixed its gaze on me and spoke.
『Sir. The situation is urgent, so I will ask only one thing. Are you the Huey that Major General Historia is looking for?』
“Ah. Yes.”
『In that case, are you the Pied Piper of Hamelin?』
“Haha. Uh, affirmative. Though technically I blew a whistle, not a pipe.”
Well, I did blow it… As I readily admitted it, the golem hesitated as if pondering what to do.
All the while, chaos was erupting below. Pressed for time, the captain spoke urgently.
『…I may… fail to witness you. However, even taking that into account, I judge the probability of you successfully evading the Major General's pursuit to be extremely low.』
“Unless something falls out of the sky, I think so too.”
『Therefore, I request it. Sir, will you not surrender?』
Asking me to surrender? A captain of the Military State, asking the worst thought-criminal in history?
I could feel the captain's concern even through the golem. Good grief, I was only a little nice to her, and now she’s worrying about a criminal. How pure can a person be?
But, I appreciate the sentiment.
“The Military State won't let me be. I'm the Pied Piper, after all.”
It was unfair. I took all the blame just for blowing a whistle at the front. That’s why I had to fake my death, give up my record as the top student in secondary school, and move to the capital under the new identity of Hughes.
If I surrendered now, they wouldn't just say, ‘Alright, let’s do better from now on.’ The loss of 161 students was, on a national scale, a trivial loss… but at the same time, it was an incredibly shocking incident.
『…In that case. I will.』
“Haha. So live well, Captain Abbey. I think it's time for me to bow out. He who knows when to leave must only show his back.”
Squeezing out my last dregs of mana, I transformed the 2 of Diamonds card.
A multipurpose hook. I attached it to a rope and began to swing it. My target was the building opposite this one. I’d attach the rope there, then throw myself over and climb down.
『…Understood. If it is you, I am sure you will find a way to escape.』
“I’m not so sure. But, I have to struggle to survive, one way or another.”
『I wish you luck.』
“I had quite a bit of fun, too. I’ll leave the rest to you. Captain Abbey, give my regards to Sephi.”
I threw the hook I’d been swinging. Clang. With a cold, metallic sound, the hook caught firmly on the opposite railing.
As it did, I heard the captain’s soft voice.
『…If you are going to flee, head east. There may be someone there who can help you.』
With those words, the light in the golem's eyes faded. Immediately after.
“Found you.”
Historia muttered, like a hunter who had found her prey.