The Assassin and the Wolf
The Hero's attacks, bereft of the holy sword, were even sloppier than a child's half-hearted imitation of swordplay.
He was copying the same trajectories, sure, but the speed and the amount of mana channeled into each swing belonged to a different dimension entirely.
"Die."
"Ghk—wait, Arte. It's me. The Hero!"
"Shut up. I don't want to hear it."
It was unlikely the imperial family had broken their promise at this late stage. Far more reasonable to assume the dynasty had collapsed—or that some outside power had punched through their sealing spell and made off with the bodies.
First things first: find them, somehow.
Find them, kill them, and take back the Hero's body.
"Move. You're wasting my time."
Channeling the mana pooled in my heart, I carved a slash through the empty air.
"Guh—what power!"
I'd fired that sword strike intending only to force him back a step, but I suppose a fake is a fake, after all. The arm he'd desperately raised to block the blow had gotten a fresh gash carved into it.
Heal. He needs to be healed, right away—
No. Wait. Why should I? If he needs treating, the ones who brought that impostor back to life can handle it themselves.
"Keep that body in good condition. I'll be back for it later."
Best to calm my emotions first.
They claimed they could stitch him back up and fill him in, but even so, I didn't want to shred that man's body to ribbons.
"Wait, don't go! Let's talk about this!"
"I don't negotiate with you."
Under the midday sun, I melted into a small shadow and scaled the side of a building.
The crowd surrounding the scene kept chattering on about something or other, but for now I needed time to cool my head and gather information.
...My head hurts.
As the barrier of black mana dissolved and the true face of the "boss" finally stood revealed, Baek Siwoo drew in a sharp breath.
Streaks of pure white ran sparsely through her jet-black twintails, tied high above her head.
The face revealed beneath that long hair still carried traces of youth, but her blood-red eyes were sunk into a chill so cold and dry it was almost desiccated.
A jet-black killing doll, with every last trace of emotion withdrawn.
She radiated a presence so oppressive and a lethal intent so razor-sharp that merely facing her raised the hair on his arms—she was, unmistakably—
[Wh-what's happening here?! They exchanged a single round of blows, and now the boss has vanished! Does this mean the subjugation was a success?]
[...It pains me to say this, but it appears the boss has fled.]
[Fled? No, that doesn't make any—ah, my apologies.]
Leaving the anchors' inane chatter behind him, the Hero, Baek Siwoo, sank into memories of the girl who had departed.
The sight of her was familiar. No—familiar didn't begin to cover it. She was the girl everyone who had returned to the modern era had been searching for, all this time.
Years had passed, and her appearance had changed considerably, but given her reaction to the name Arte, there was no doubt in his mind. She was the girl who had once been the youngest member of the Hero Party.
But that wasn't like a Returnee gate.
In truth, even he had assumed she was a boss monster to be exterminated—right up until the shroud of mana enveloping her had cleared away.
"Um... Lord Baek Siwoo. May I ask you to explain what just happened?"
He had no idea why she had only now been summoned into this world. But having confirmed that she was alive—that alone was enough.
If she's alive, then I can see her again.
For some reason she was hostile toward him, but knowing the Arte he remembered, he believed that could change.
She had always been a child riddled with suspicion and wariness, after all.
And so, it was time to placate the bewildered faces in the crowd.
Donning the false smile he had long since grown accustomed to, Baek Siwoo turned to the extended microphone and declared with confidence:
"Please, do not worry. She is not our enemy. She is—"
Our final comrade of the Hero Party.
"...So hot."
I'd planned to slip into a nearby forest and sort out my thoughts, but no matter how far I ran, no shade appeared that could cool my body down.
And when I tried ducking into a random building—why were there so many people?
Every time I emerged from the seal, decades to centuries had slipped by, so adapting to things had always been a struggle.
"So hot. I'm going to roast to death before I even get my revenge."
Revenge could wait; first, cool down the body.
Still, I never expected it to develop this fast. Just until recently, magecraft engineering hadn't progressed anywhere near this far.
This place was eerily similar to where I'd lived in my past life.
An endless sprawl of gray buildings, electronic billboards glittering even in broad daylight, advertisement slogans plastered in letters the size of doors.
...Hold on. Hangul?
"...What."
Letting out a deep breath to steady myself, I took a slow look around.
Asphalt underfoot, concrete and glass packed dense into the sky, an abysmally low concentration of mana in the air.
I ran up the side of a suitable building and made for the rooftop.
[Waaah!]
[What the—whoa, is that a hunter?!]
I ignored the screams drifting up from inside the building, vaulted the gap between rooftops, and surveyed the cityscape below.
It looked like the familiar modern world—but where I came from, no one could stroll down the street carrying a greatsword the size of their own torso.
Like I thought. I need information.
On a stretch of street without crowds, I spotted a woman chattering away at empty air as if she'd lost her mind.
It felt a bit grimy, but I only needed the bare minimum of common sense from her.
All right then—non-lethal takedown first.
"Anyway, I failed to meet the Hero in person, but since I've come all this way, I might as well stop by the Hero Memorial Hall. Gotta get my money's worth out of that train ticket, you know?"
"Don't move."
"Huh—?!"
Muscles contracted. Movement halted. Pupils dilated. For someone who'd been talking to thin air, she was quick to grasp the situation.
She must not have cared for the sensation of metal against her throat, because she stopped obediently.
No blood needs to be shed right now, at least.
"The Antares Empire. You know it?"
"Wh-what about it?"
No one from Arcadia could be ignorant of the Antares Empire. Which meant that, as I suspected, this place—
"Where is this?"
"H-huh? What do you mean—"
"I said, where is this?"
"U-uh, Seoul Special City, Cheongram-gu, Saebit-dong... Is that, um, is that what you're asking?"
Seoul Special City I could believe, but the names after it were places I'd never heard of.
As I thought. It's different.
"Give me that thing."
"Huh? Sh-should I give you money? I have a card too..."
"Don't need it."
"Th-then what do you..."
"Left pocket."
"Y-you mean my phone?"
"Yeah. Hand it over."
Trembling like a leaf, the woman still obediently fished the smartphone out of her pants pocket and offered it up.
The shape of it was familiar, at least.
Now then, let's see...
"It won't open."
"Huh?"
"It wants a fingerprint. Unlock it."
"Y-yes! I'll unlock it right now!"
Even I wouldn't go so far as to slice off the fingers of a civilian who wasn't resisting, but I wasn't in the habit of refusing this kind of courtesy either.
Now—I've received something, so I should pay a price for it. I have no money, and I have no intention of taking requests.
So payment in kind, then.
"You. Do you like gold?"
"Gold? What do you mean..."
"Gold. You don't know it? The yellow mineral. The shiny stuff."
"O-of course I know it! We love that stuff!"
"Good."
Pulling a gold bar of modest size out of my subspace pocket, I pressed it into her hand.
"That's for the information."
Ignoring her bug-eyed reaction, I produced another one and slipped it into her bag.
"That's for the goods."
"Wh-what is this..."
"Ten times the value. Not enough?"
"N-no! Not at all! Is there anything else you need? H-hehehe..."
"No. I'm leaving."
The sunlight was getting brutal, so I'd better head down to the water, soak my feet, and search for information there.
Even if this wasn't the Seoul I remembered, there had to be a river somewhere.
I opened the map app on my newly acquired smartphone and studied the surrounding terrain.
The holes punched through the map here and there bothered me, but that could wait.
Water first.
"Um... excuse me."
"What."
"C-can I... move now?"
"...?"
"I can! Thank you so much!"
For a moment I wondered why she was asking something so obvious, but then, what civilian would have experience dealing with an assassin?
Leaving the crazy woman to giggle and resume whispering to the air, I fumbled with the screen until I finally managed to pinpoint my own location.
The water was... eleven kilometers southeast.
Sprinting under the blazing sun was a chore—I'd travel through the shadows instead.
"Wolf. Open up."
[Grrr.]
"Swallow."
The black wolf lurking in my shadow opened its jaws and engulfed me whole.
A dark but not clammy space, snug and warm.
It had been a while, but it wasn't bad.
"Move out. That way."
[Prrr.]
"Hungry? Deal with it. We're going to a river—you can catch some fish."
For a mere beast, it was pointlessly picky about its food; it wouldn't touch anything that had been dead for more than an hour.
Come to think of it, maybe I should do a bit of fishing while we're at the river.
The banks of the Han River. The heart of a park where the laughter of citizens enjoying their precious leisure time never seemed to stop.
A giant shadow wolf spat out a person.
That person, of course, being me.
"KYAAAAAH!"
"A m-monster?! There was no alarm!"
"The Management Bureau! Call the Management Bureau!"
Watching the crowd scatter screaming in utter chaos, I did briefly wonder if I'd done something wrong—but I did appreciate how quiet the area became.
"Good work."
[Grrr.]
The sixth emperor once said: 'Well... it's about that much, isn't it? As long as nobody dies, what's the harm?'
Kicking off my boots, I sat down at the water's edge and dipped my feet into the cool current.
Splash. Splash.
[Prrr.]
"Swim somewhere further off. You're making waves in the river."
[Whiiine...]
"...Then at least shrink down a little."
[Woof!]
Before I knew it, the wolf had shrunk itself to the size of a small dog and started splashing around, while I took hold of the smartphone I'd acquired earlier and began combing through it for information.
"Hello there! I'm Mayday, your friend! Ask me anything! 😊"
I must have pressed some strange button, because a voice suddenly burst out of the device and startled me—but operating it wasn't all that different from what I remembered.
...It did say to ask it anything.
"The Antares Empire. You know it?"
"Yes, I know it! 😎 The Antares Empire is a fictional nation from the JRPG Braver Saga, and—"
"No. The Antares Empire is on the continent of Arcadia."
"I apologize. It seems I was mistaken. 😔 Could you tell me more about the Antares Empire as you know it?"
"I know it as it was about a thousand years ago. No idea what it's like these days. The emperor didn't summon me very often."
"I see. 😯 Are you currently away from the Antares Empire?"
"Seems like it. I don't know why, either."
"What a shame, to be forced from your home without ever knowing why. 😢 Would you like to look for a way to return?"
"...I don't know."
It was a feature I'd never seen before, but it was surprisingly obliging and quick to obey. I liked it.
[Woof woof! Grrr...]
"You're a pet. Act like it."
[Sniff sniff. Grrr.]
"At least you're quick to accept your place."
The world I'd learned about, together with the voice calling itself "Mayday," was... how should I put it.
Strange.
A world with almost no mana. A tower and hunters that had appeared out of nowhere over a thousand years ago. Returnees. The gates and boss monsters the tower spat out.
Wait. Then am I a boss monster too?
"...My head hurts."
To think just absorbing basic common sense would take this much out of me.
I still had to look into that fake I ran into earlier, too.
My head was already starting to throb.
"Wolf. Come up here and make some shade."
[Grrr.]
Settling onto my back in the shade cast by the wolf, water dripping off its whole body, I wriggled my legs in the water and let out a sigh.
What if this place really isn't the Empire?
What if that thing I saw earlier is the real Hero?
No. A weakling like that couldn't possibly be the Hero.
Once I recover the body, I'll need to hide it somewhere deeper this time.
Craft a new coffin, carve a fresh preservation ward into it...
But of course, before all that—
"Wolf."
[Grrr.]
"Bite. Don't kill."
[Woof!]
Time to deal with the creep who's been lurking around watching me this whole time.