Chapter 45
Chapter 45
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Pink-Haired Girl (2)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
As Jamie increased his speed, the stalkers matched their pace accordingly.
After turning several corners and reaching the outskirts of the city...
"This should be far enough."
The distance to the stalkers was closing rapidly.
From what he could see, both were sorcerers. The flow of mana told him as much.
He wasn't sure of their skill level, but their target was undoubtedly this Perfect Cell.
'How do bugs like these show up the moment I drop the invisibility spell.'
He had kept the invisibility spell up to hide it from his group, only dispelling it during this walk, and now stalkers had latched on.
It was one of the three divine artifacts he had painstakingly crafted in his past life, after all. Any sorcerer would lose their mind over it.
'Better not drop it again.'
Jamie began casting. He planned to ambush the stalkers and uncover who they were.
The stalkers drew near.
Jamie counted down silently in his head.
'Three. Two.'
Just one left.
"Mmph-!"
Something soft slammed into his back.
Something like a hand clamped over his mouth, while another arm wrapped tightly around his body.
Instinctively, mana surged to protect him, but then pink hair fluttered into view.
"Sorry."
The voice whispered right in his ear.
With that, Jamie vanished into the darkness.
Moments later—
"What?"
"Where'd he go?"
Tum and Peace looked at each other and tilted their heads.
Bang—
Mana exploded, sending out a shockwave.
"Kyaa!"
A short woman's scream.
Jamie glared with his purple eyes, feeling the swollen mana around him.
Though caught off guard by the sudden situation, he wasn't clumsy enough to fall for such an ambush.
"I don't know who you are..."
Jamie strode toward the woman sprawled on the ground.
"...but you're dead."
"Gah!"
His eyes filled with killing intent, he seized her throat.
He didn't know what trick she'd used to get close, but daring to target his back was unforgivable.
If she were a skilled assassin, he might have taken serious damage even if he survived.
"P-Please... spare..."
The woman whose throat was gripped thrashed in agony.
Her feet scraped desperately against the ground. Her hands clawed at Jamie's arm to pry it off.
But Jamie didn't let go. No matter the reason, he had no intention of sparing someone who struck from behind.
Realizing this wouldn't work, the woman reached out with her tear- and snot-streaked face.
Black mana rippled from her hand.
'Black magic!'
A foreboding power, just from looking.
It was definitely black mana. He had no idea how this woman could wield it, but it was his first encounter with another black sorcerer since reincarnating.
The woman thrust her hand toward Jamie's face.
Jamie easily snatched her wrist and subdued her.
"You."
His coldly gleaming purple eyes fixed on her pained face. But something felt familiar.
'That girl I passed when I first arrived in Nesman?'
His head clearing a bit, he got a proper look at her face.
She was the pink-haired woman he'd brushed past upon arriving in Nesman.
That odd feeling made sense now—she was a black sorcerer.
Jamie released her throat and bound her body with telekinesis.
"Kahk— cough, cough!"
Her airway clearing, the pink-haired black sorcerer girl Vena coughed painfully.
Jamie levitated her into the air.
Vena, drooling and struggling, looked at him with weary eyes. Then she whimpered, opening her mouth.
"...You're so mean."
"Mean?"
Jamie furrowed one brow at her unexpected words.
"I-I just didn't want to get caught. So I was trying to help you. You're really mean..."
Vena sniffled and burst into tears.
Jamie frowned at her sudden change.
As he opened his mouth to speak, Vena continued.
"Those two were black sorcerers... I was helping you, and you do this to your benefactor. Sniff."
"Hey."
"And now you're tying me up like this... What did I do wrong? Why does everyone pick on me? I didn't do anything. I just don't want to be hated, so why does everyone hate me? Why...?"
Jamie scratched his head vigorously.
He wasn't sure where to start with her.
"First off. Wait. Stop talking for a sec."
"A filthy world that doesn't even appreciate good intentions..."
"I get it, so shut up."
At Jamie's irritated command, Vena sullenly closed her mouth.
"You were trying to save me?"
Vena nodded.
"Because the guys chasing me were black sorcerers?"
She nodded again.
"But how'd you know they were black sorcerers?"
Black sorcerers don't spot each other just by looking—unless they're highly advanced. It was impossible for her level after a brief glance.
"Same school..."
Vena answered weakly.
Jamie's face twisted at the response.
"Same school, and you saved me? Why?"
"If Tum and Peace catch you, it's not just death. They'd subject you to horrific experiments. That'd be pitiful. You're just a kid... though now I'm doubting if you even are one."
So Vena was from the same school as the black sorcerers chasing Jamie, but saved the obviously childlike Jamie from her comrades.
That left Jamie with one question.
"Why?"
"...?"
"You're a black sorcerer."
Modern black sorcerers were enemies of humanity, abandoning ethics for twisted paths.
Most were madmen who didn't care how many lives they crushed for their goals.
Jamie and Ganon were the exceptions.
"Yeah."
Vena looked even more sullen.
"But I never wanted to be a black sorcerer."
"What nonsense is that..."
"No. I don't want to torment lives."
Jamie didn't know how to deal with this girl who was a black sorcerer yet didn't act like one.
Vena didn't know it, but her emotions were being intuitively conveyed to Jamie.
He was using 'Mind Check' alongside telekinesis to read her feelings.
'Meant it as an interrogation lie detector...'
He'd initially considered pickling her brain to make her a puppet. But he wanted to talk first.
Now he was glad he did.
'If I'd puppetized her right away, I'd have killed an innocent black sorcerer by mistake.'
Black flapped his hair in agreement.
Puppetizing was easy, but even Jamie didn't commit wanton atrocities.
Anyway, everything Vena said was sincere.
It wasn't a deep truth serum, so if she were a master liar, he might be fooled—but she didn't seem the type.
Jamie asked the dejected Vena her name.
"Name."
"...?"
"Gotta know what to call you."
"Vena."
"Right. Vena. Let me tell you a few mistakes you made."
At 'mistakes,' Vena blinked.
"First. I didn't need saving. I was luring those guys in from the start."
"Ah."
Vena had thought it odd. He'd been evading well, then suddenly slowed as if asking to be caught. Now it made sense.
"Second. You ambushed me from behind."
Regardless of reason, appearing from behind and dragging him off like a kidnapping.
From Jamie's view, she had to be an enemy. Teaming up with pursuers would've been a nightmare.
"That's reason enough for my reaction."
"But you look like such a little kid to me."
His childlike appearance always caused issues.
It was a situation ripe for misunderstanding.
Jamie still didn't think he'd been wrong. He'd nearly killed her, but the circumstances justified it.
"Well—no need to kill you now."
"Eek!"
Releasing telekinesis, Vena flopped to the ground from midair.
"Let's call it even for earlier."
Vena looked up at him, lips pursed. The guy who'd tried to kill her was brazenly saying this, making her angry.
But timid as she was, she just pouted.
'And ridiculously strong.'
Was he really a kid?
To her, he seemed like a master sorcerer in child form.
"Anyway, I've got a question."
"Question?"
"How'd you sneak up behind me?"
Jamie still couldn't figure it.
At her level, warp or even teleport would be impossible.
Yet she'd fooled his senses, popped up behind, and pulled him here.
"Oh. There's a warp network across the city just for our school's black sorcerers. I secretly linked part of it here."
"Secretly?"
"Yeah... I just wanted my own secret space."
"So that's how you popped out behind me..."
"This is like my secret base."
Pure coincidence.
Jamie felt deflated. He'd hoped for some special ability.
'Of course. Doesn't add up.'
Vena seemed at best 3rd class.
As Jamie stewed in disappointment, Vena asked his name.
"...So what's your name?"
"You don't need to know."
"You're so mean! You asked mine."
Jamie stared, expression saying what do you expect?
"I'm leaving."
Vena trudged off, covered in dust.
But Jamie had no intention of letting her go.
Thud—!
"Ow!"
Vena, walking head-down, screamed and clutched her forehead.
"Invisible Wall."
[Invisible Wall]
Jamie crouched by Vena, who was rubbing her forehead.
"I've still got questions. Where do you think you're going?"
His first black sorcerer encounter.
And from the same school as his pursuers. That meant a black sorcerer school existed in Nesman.
"Answer well. Please."
Vena paled at Jamie's grinning face.
"Damn it. Where the hell did he vanish to? It's like a ghost story."
"Should we summon a ghost to hear some real wailing?"
"..."
Tum gave Peace a pathetic look and shook his head.
"That bracelet. It was something insane. If we'd gotten it, our lives would've opened up!"
"Opened up? Maybe not that much."
"No. You know my eye for artifacts. That was the real deal. No clue why a brat like that had it."
Peace nodded.
Tum's eyes were special—literally modified. He had an uncanny knack for spotting artifacts.
"Anyway, watch your mouth from now on. Don't wanna create rivals."
"Got it. But why'd you mimic me earlier?"
"Shut up!"
Bickering, they entered a dark alley.
The space warped instantly, revealing a stark white corridor. A hollow-eyed man standing there asked them.
"Where've you been?"
"Just a walk."
"Yeah. A walk."
"Right."
Uninterested, the man opened a random door and left.
"That bastard Aris. Lost his mind again."
"He's into new addiction magic research lately."
"Figures."
Tum shook his head.
Everyone here was unhinged.
Frustrating, but unavoidable.
This was the lab of the Gav School, one of Nesman's many black sorcerer factions.
"You're no saint either, so quit complaining."
Peace whispered in his ear.
Tum shot him a pathetic glance.
"Me being crazy and this being annoying are separate!"
"Fair enough."
Exchanging nonsense, they headed to the lab.
An old man appeared before them.
"Tum. And Peace."
They froze like frogs before a snake.
The old man smiled kindly at them.
"Haven't seen Vena, have you?"
"Uh... no, we haven't."
"M-Me neither."
They sweated bullets, forcing smiles.
The old man nodded regretfully.
"I see. Where could she be?"
He strolled off, hands behind his back.
Tum and Peace gulped, eyes tracking him. Then they frowned at his path.
'Years here, and still creepy as hell.'
The white floor was rotting away.
Bubbles burst, releasing foul stench.
Strong acid corroded everything nearby.
The old man glanced back.
"See you later."
"Y-Yes, sir. We'll bring something good next time, School Master."
Gav Helphis, head of Gav School, smiled and nodded at Tum's words.
They stood rigid until his presence fully vanished, then exhaled.
"Phew! Can't breathe around the School Master."
"He's badass, though."
"If we reach that level someday."
"Wouldn't that require wiping out a big city and sacrificing all its lives?"
"Just thinking about it thrills me."
"Why's he so fixated on Vena, anyway?"
"Who knows."
They eyed the direction Gav left, puzzled.
At the same time.
"I-I absolutely won't tell!"
Vena, limbs bound in midair, shouted defiantly.
Jamie had asked the school's location, but betraying comrades was impossible.
No matter how much she disliked them, ten years together meant something.
"Loyalty to those things?"
Jamie said irritably.
"If you won't talk, no choice."
He didn't want to erase her mind, given her kind heart.
Black mana gathered at Jamie's fingertips.
Vena, thrashing, widened her eyes.
"B-Black... mana?"
But it differed vastly from typical black mana.
No inherent disgust or life-corrupting evil.
As she hesitated, Jamie answered casually.
"Yeah. I'm a black sorcerer too."
"Eek?!"
"Different from trash like you, fundamentally."
As Jamie smiled and reached for her head, she shrieked.
"W-Wait!!"
He paused just above her head.
"Last words?"
"H-How'd you make that black mana...?"
"Not worth hearing."
As he lowered his hand for real—
Vena squeezed her eyes shut and yelled.
"Take me as your disciple!"
"Huh?"
Jamie's face twisted at Vena's out-of-nowhere proposal.