Chapter 59
Chapter 59
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 59
>Chapter Title: Not a Thug?
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The area around the abandoned warehouse was instantly filled with dust.
A single gust of wind swept through the hazy space, where visibility had dropped to zero.
Whiiiiiing...
"This... what the hell! You planning to wreck the hideout I just built?!"
The senior shouted with a troubled expression.
By now, a vast barrier had spread across the surroundings, and here I caught a glimpse of the true prowess of this old war mage.
Three barriers in total.
One enveloping the hideout, one protecting the senior, and another to keep the shockwave from spreading outward.
Deploying multiple barriers wasn't all that difficult, but doing it with such solidity and speed was another matter entirely.
Anyway.
'Hmm, not quite cutting it in terms of power.'
I eyed the senior's steadfast barrier.
Its surface gleamed smooth, without a single crack.
Even if it wasn't at max output, it was still a disappointing result.
But the senior seemed to think otherwise.
"Whew, anyway. Be honest with me. Just where the hell did you crawl out from? What, you steal some ancient grimoire and learn from that?"
"What're you talking about?"
"I'm asking how you picked up a technique like this. That level of explosive force with mana reserves like yours? Beyond my understanding."
Of course it was.
Whether magic or mana-based techniques, two factors determined their power.
One was sheer quantity, the other quality.
But the mana in those Crimson Jades earlier had been woefully insufficient in quantity.
'In the end, it's all about quality.'
Even accounting for that, it had to be baffling.
"I've known for a while your mana is purer than your age—or anyone else's—would suggest. But this? This is beyond comprehension."
Just boosting quality doesn't make power skyrocket endlessly, nor does piling on quantity alone.
That must be why.
I gave the suspicious senior a straightforward answer.
"It's simple: collide the mana particles."
"Mana particles?"
"You don't know?"
The senior tilted his head like it was the first he'd heard of it.
But I was the more surprised one.
"How'd you make your Magic Prison then?"
"Who said I made it? Learned it from an old comrade. Took a ton of effort."
"An old comrade... the one in the Great Forest?"
At my question, the senior gave a wistful smile.
"He's gone even farther away."
Not explicit, but his expression and tone said it all.
The old war.
In that turbulent era, the dead numbered more than a few.
Strong and weak. Good and evil. Men and women, young and old. Even children.
War, that monster, devoured everything.
"Whatever. Mana particles, whatever. Skip the explanation. I doubt I'd get it anyway."
"Ah, sure."
Fair enough.
Explaining light to the blind was tricky.
To someone who couldn't sense it, there was no way to describe mana particles.
I only grasped their existence through pure intuition myself.
"But technique aside. Where'd those red orbs go?"
"Oh, that?"
The senior looked at me with anxious eyes, clearly mistaking the Crimson Jades for artifacts.
With so many, he was probably hoping to borrow one or two.
No need to worry, though.
I grinned and raised a finger.
"Middle finger? You wanna die?"
"Ah, sorry."
Who knew the senior knew Black-White Slums slang.
I quickly switched to my index finger and drew out a blood droplet—Crimson Jade—like before.
But for some reason.
His face flushed as red as the Crimson Jade.
"Y-you... you tricked me?!"
"Senior, misunderstanding. I only said I'd tell you the origin. Never anything else."
In times like this, a look of pure innocence was best.
Though it could backfire spectacularly.
"You little shit! You!"
Thwack! Thwack!
"Urk!"
He lunged and hammered my skull.
Coo-roo-rook! Peck-peck!
Breakfast No. 1 swooped in from somewhere, circling above my head like it was mocking me.
That damn thing.
It'd straighten out once I ate it someday.
* * *
The commotion didn't last long.
The senior was a pretty decent guy at heart.
He'd raised a few lumps on my head, sure, but he graciously allowed me to test the Crimson Jades.
Thanks to that, I could experiment freely and spotted a few areas for improvement.
'The multiplication formula still needs work.'
A single droplet could multiply to 1,024, but larger sizes meant fewer divisions.
Double the size halved the divisions exactly.
"So output's capped there, huh."
"For now, yeah."
But that'd resolve as my multiplication formula improved.
Plenty of other tweaks needed, but nothing major.
Or rather...
'Its immediate utility is pretty insane.'
Thanks to the senior's generosity, I recalled the Crimson Jade applications I'd tested.
Endless uses beyond just triggering Collision Formulas manually.
Lost track of time tinkering with the new technique, and soon it was midnight.
Breakfast No. 1 had dozed off on the sofa inside the warehouse.
"But, senior."
"Yeah?"
I sank into the sofa and looked at him.
Not physically tired, but chaining unfamiliar formulas had worn me mentally.
"Why'd you call me today?"
After squeezing various rewards out of him last time as "compensation."
We'd had no contact for a while.
I'd been busy with <Demoph> this and that, and he seemed occupied too.
Didn't think he'd sulk forever, but curiosity got the better of me.
But why.
The senior's face hardened as he spoke.
"Hmm, well. Got something to say about the Great Forest matter. That's why I called."
His expression was gravely serious.
"No idea what you're gonna say, but go ahead. Listening's easy enough."
"...Right. Talking ain't hard either."
He pulled out a cigarette and lit up—a rare sight for me.
Had he always smoked?
I hadn't seen it before.
He took a deep drag, exhaled smoke, and his mouth opened.
"This morning, I got a letter from a friend."
"What'd it say?"
"Something's gone wrong. Asked if I could come as soon as possible."
"Hmm."
I crossed my arms and eyed him.
"Gone wrong how?"
What I'd heard wasn't detailed.
Just: help my friend tidy up so he can pull out of the Great Forest.
That's it.
Smelled like trouble, so I'd extracted hefty rewards, but details were scarce.
At my question, he handed me a crystal orb.
"This is..."
"Video record orb he sent with the letter. Said to watch it first before coming. Let's talk after."
"..."
I stared at the orb he offered.
What the hell was going on?
A veteran war mage like him would shrug off even the undead rising: "Kill 'em again."
But that grave look.
"Hmm."
No more wondering.
I looked away from him and placed my hand on the orb.
Such doubts would clear up with the recording inside anyway.
And so.
Zzzzt...
The orb rippled as it absorbed mana.
Flash—!
An image materialized in the air.
'The Great Forest.'
Towering trees blotting the sky, dense foliage encircling everything.
The forest in the video asserted its presence like it screamed, "This is the Great Forest."
But the real show came right after.
[Kreeeeaaak...!]
A shrill scream echoed through the woods.
The view shook as it pushed through the underbrush.
And there...
"What the..."
"...You see it?"
Hell had unfolded.
* * *
A chill silence settled in the warehouse.
The video was barely five minutes long.
Short, but the silence between us stretched longer.
"What... was that?"
The scenes replayed in my mind.
Mercenaries screaming, fighting something, faces twisted in terror.
Terror from Great Forest mercenaries?!
To operate there meant battle-hardened elites.
Humans feel fear, sure, but their threshold far exceeded normals'.
'No, maybe it's inevitable.'
Yeah, inevitable.
Even I doubted my eyes watching it.
[Kiee...!]
[Kyaak...!]
The things charging the mercenaries. No, not things—lifeforms? No.
They resembled common Great Forest monsters in form, but clearly...
"Undead."
"Not your garden-variety undead, I assume you know."
I nodded at his words.
Regular undead?
Big deal.
I'd seen plenty in my past life.
But.
'These are different.'
Yeah, different.
Goblin-variant undead in the video.
Trails apart from normals—their eyes proved it.
Pupils gleaming with razor-sharp malice.
[Slash.]
[Kieeeek...!]
As its head flew, a hazy afterimage shot up like heat haze.
Regular undead moved on muscle memory.
These had...
'Souls. Clear souls.'
What did that mean?
"Naturally occurring undead."
"Right. Natural undead. So you know what's in the Great Forest too?"
I nodded.
"Ancient ruins, right? With... an abomination sealed inside."
He nodded back.
"Yeah..."
"That's why... I couldn't bring myself to tell you."
Made sense now.
Ancient ruins.
What were they?
To archaeologists, the sole clue to lost antiquity.
To mages, a treasure trove of forgotten spells.
But.
Destro.
Destro—abominations. The foulest of the foul, sealed in ancient ruins that were empty tombs.
Only death, despair, and incomprehensible phenomena inside.
"Didn't know. He probably didn't either. If he had, he wouldn't be waiting in the Great Forest..."
"Better to bail. Alert the imperial family? Nah, Great Forest's no-man's-land."
"Yeah, just a free zone."
No imperial meddling if abominations or legendary dragons emerged—as long as they stayed inside.
I stroked my chin slowly.
"So, what're you saying?"
"Urgent situation. But my disciples can't move right now."
Figures.
His students were prime-age actives.
No matter their positions, not free agents.
"Choose."
Sizzle.
He stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray—don't remember him pulling it out.
"Must leave within two days at latest. No pressure, though. Going? Or staying?"
I met his gaze steadily.
"Won't take back rewards even if you stay. Call it a gift to a junior. If you go..."
"Nothing more coming, right."
"Yeah. Up to you. Not something to lure with material gain."
His solemn tone made me cross my arms, sorting my thoughts.
Gurgle, glurk.
In the quiet warehouse, Breakfast No. 1—night creature—snored softly in deep sleep.
My voice echoed.
"I'll go."
"Right, knew you'd... What?"
"I'm going."
My answer caught him off guard.
"Why? Even with nothing extra?"
"Who you calling a thug."
"If you're not the thug, who... Ahem."
He blurted his true thoughts, then clamped his mouth realizing the slip.
I watched with deadpan eyes.
But I wasn't one to sulk over words.
Why? I'm a righteous Troubleshooter. Heart big enough for any slight.
Anyway.
Why'd I accept the Great Forest trip so readily?
Simple reason.
"You're worried about your friend, right? Looks like he'd stick it out even in death."
"...Yeah."
"I'm not the type to haggle over lives like some trash."
"...Hmph!"
Touched, maybe?
He stared with deep-set eyes. Intense, burdensome gaze.
"Can I poke you to check?"
"Once is fine."
Tossed it out casually, but he took it dead serious.
Seeing that, some long-lost conscience from my past life ached.
Why?
Truth was, even if he told me not to go, I had to.
Because.
Zing—
Faint tremor in my chest.
The Fire Mark reacted.
From the moment the undead appeared in the video, right up to now.
The vibration seemed to whisper directly to me.
— Go. What you seek is there.
...
So how could I not?