The Ambush
I let out a groan. “Ugh… Family head…? Who are you talking about?”
“If you don’t know, then it doesn’t matter.”
I had asked just in case, but I couldn’t dig up any information about the family head. Thanks to the Soul Oath, she couldn’t lie to me. That meant her words were the truth. Even if she was the first boss who got her tail cut off, the way they treated her was still too harsh.
Jeron Flame, the current head of the family. He was the reason the original Vern had acted like a scoundrel, Vern Flame’s enemy, and the wall I had to overcome.
In the game, Jeron never showed his true face properly, but I knew his strength all too well. According to the information I’d gathered while playing, Jeron was a war hero and possessed overwhelming martial prowess.
Anyway, if I wanted to leave the family, I couldn’t avoid meeting him. That’s why I needed more accurate information. When facing an enemy, information was essential.
The game I used to play was notorious for the developers refusing to hand out much information, forcing players to find it themselves. It had been incredibly annoying, and opinions about it had been sharply divided. Well, I still found it fun, though.
The conclusion was that there wasn’t much information available about Jeron. Since they hadn’t even properly revealed details about Vern himself, it was only natural there wouldn’t be any about his father.
Still, from what I had learned while playing before, I at least knew that the current family head, Jeron Flame, had committed a taboo.
It was disappointing that I couldn’t obtain more information about him… but for now, I had overcome the immediate crisis. I had defeated the Act 1 boss and extracted information about the remaining remnants here.
“Not bad.”
But why weren’t people coming? It felt like more than ten minutes had passed since the situation ended.
“I should take Elisha back first.”
Ha, did I have to take Shady with me too?
Shady had exhausted herself to the point where her shadow form couldn’t maintain its proper shape and was exposing bare skin. In her current state, she couldn’t move. Leaving her here didn’t sit right with me either.
She was a little older than us, but she was still young. What she had done until now was clearly wrong. But she was just a child who had been led down the wrong path because of what she experienced when she was young.
That didn’t mean I had forgiven her. But I also couldn’t say I didn’t understand her at all. If I had been in her position, I probably would have acted similarly.
If my family had been massacred by humans when I was very young, I would have become twisted too.
Still, she had to pay for her sins properly. She needed to apologize sincerely to the people whose shadows she had stolen and to Elisha, who had been injured.
She probably hadn’t expected herself to go berserk, but the fact remained that her rampage had hurt Elisha. So I had to make sure she corrected herself so this kind of mistake would never happen again.
Hmm, I’d think about that tomorrow. For now, getting back was the priority. It was already very late, and I needed to rest and recover too.
Vern’s current body was extremely frail. Even though I had protected it with mana, the aftershock from the explosion still lingered. I still had the recovery skill, but it didn’t heal injuries. That method had only worked last time because of the special circumstances; it wouldn’t work now.
I had used up all the potions on Elisha, so I had nothing left for myself. Well, at least my injuries weren’t that severe. Just some bruises on my arms and legs, and a small tear on my cheek. Still, it didn’t hinder me from walking.
Since falling into this world, I had been through so much that I had grown quite used to enduring injuries like this.
…It did hurt a bit, but I just had to bear it. Yelling in pain wouldn’t make the wounds heal anyway.
Then… since I had to take Shady with me too, did that mean I had to carry both Elisha and Shady on my back?
Elisha had passed out, and Shady had consumed so much mana that she couldn’t even maintain her shadow form properly. Both of them were unable to move. The academy should have sent people by now, but they still hadn’t arrived. I couldn’t just stay here waiting for them.
Should I head back to the dormitory first? Since Shady, our core combat force, had become incapacitated, tomorrow’s plan was probably ruined anyway. There probably wouldn’t be any major events for a while. So let’s just go back and rest today.
“By the way, Shady. Are you properly wearing clothes under that shadow?”
“…Don’t ask me that.”
“This is troublesome.”
Then I’d have to take out some clothes first. I pulled a shirt and robe I had been wearing from my Inventory and placed them beside Shady.
“The size should fit.”
“…”
“Even if it’s hard to move, you have no choice. Put them on.”
If I dragged her back in that state, passersby would definitely treat me like a madman. Her shadow, which was clinging to her body, might disappear at any moment too. So taking some precautions wasn’t a bad idea.
Yes, this was insurance. I had no choice if I wanted to avoid social ruin.
While I was thinking that, she suddenly stood up and began putting on the clothes I had given her.
“You still had that much strength left to move.”
She buttoned up the white shirt with stiff movements and answered in a rigid tone.
“I have no obligation to tell you.”
“Tell me.”
“…I’ve always had unusually good recovery ability compared to others…! That’s why…!!” she said.
“Then why didn’t you attack? During the oath, or even before that. You could have easily dealt with me.”
“…..”
“If you don’t want to say it, you don’t have to.”
Shady was an enemy who had hurt Elisha. But her expression looked so sad that I didn’t press the question any further.
Anyway, let’s head back for today. I approached Elisha and carefully lifted her onto my back. She must have been deeply asleep because she didn’t wake up. Would she really not notice if someone carried her off while she was sleeping?
I turned my gaze back to Shady and added,
“Then Shady, you can walk on your own, right? Follow me.”
“…”
And so, I was about to head to the dormitory with Elisha when someone appeared in front of us.
“My, my, Shady. What on earth happened to you? You didn’t return, so I came to check, but I seem to have witnessed a rather strange scene?”
“You.”
A man with deep purple hair and red eyes. He had a pair of horns on his head, just like Shady. That’s right. He was the same demon race as Shady and a member of Requiem.
Why was he here? He possessed martial prowess on a similar level to Shady, but he rarely showed himself. Since he was the brain of the operational team that commanded and directed personnel, he would have always stayed hidden.
Because of that, protecting both of them and escaping in my current condition was impossible.
‘As expected, things were going too smoothly.’
While I was racking my brain, he opened his mouth again from a short distance away.
“Haa~. This situation is really bad, isn’t it? I was planning to eliminate everyone here before leaving.”
“To think the young master of that person would be here. The situation has become complicated,” he muttered quietly.
“That person? Are you talking about the family head?”
“You heard that? Oh dear, this is what happens when you pick up a bad habit…”
“Stop talking nonsense and answer me. So you came here to kill all the witnesses?”
“Hmm…… I’ve lost interest. Let’s go back.”
He was leaving. That was fortunate. In my current physical state, facing him would have been too much.
“But before I go, I’ll leave a small gift,” he said, throwing a small dagger before vanishing into the shadows.
The mana-infused dagger flew straight toward Shady’s head, who was standing beside me.
“…!!”
“Shady!”
No matter how good her recovery was, dodging a dagger thrown by someone with specs similar to the first boss was impossible. Should I use magic? No, it was too late. What about the inventory? No, that wouldn’t help either. Drawing a sword would be too slow, and there was no way to reverse summon it.
Damn it, Shady’s assassination event was triggering right away. Nothing ever went my way.
-Thud!
Shady has been struck by a lethal blow.
“Mmm… Where am I…?”
A warm blanket and a pillow with a pleasant scent. Was everything that happened yesterday just a dream? It had been a truly terrifying dream. I thought I had been attacked by a demon, had my shadow stolen, and was going to die…
But at the end, Vern had appeared and the dream seemed to end there. What kind of ridiculous dream was that… Haha.
I didn’t feel any pain in my shoulder or legs, and my shadow was perfectly intact.
“It really was just a crazy dream.”
The idea of Vern coming to save me when I was in danger… For some reason, I felt my face burning up.
Anyway, rubbing my eyes with that feeling and sitting up, what I saw was—
“You’re awake.”
A man with black hair and black eyes. It was Vern Flame.
“Uh, ehh? V-Vern? Why are you here?”
“Why? This is my dormitory room. Don’t you remember what happened yesterday?”
“Wait, you’re saying it wasn’t a dream?”
“Yes. It all really happened.”
Besides Vern and me, another voice began to speak. It was a voice I could never forget even if I tried. Because it belonged to the demon who had attacked me in the nightmare—no, who had attacked me yesterday.
“Vern? What the hell is going on? Why is the demon who attacked me here?”
“Well… there were circumstances.”
“C-circumstances?!”
“Yes, there were circumstances.”
“Then what about that hand? Why is there a bandage on your hand…?”
“There are circumstances for that too.”
“What the hell are you saying! You crazy bastard!!”
“Crazy bastard? That’s a bit harsh.”
Hearing his words made my face feel like it was burning up. The black-haired man must have noticed my face actually turning red because he placed his hand on my forehead and added,
“Hmm, maybe you have a slight fever. Wait a moment. I’ll bring some warm water.”
‘Why is he suddenly acting like this?’
It was scary because he was doing things he had never done before!!