First Encounter (2)
The mana leaked by the Boundary Error was seeping into the castle, causing all sorts of curses to occur.
Pictures in frames were crawling out like humans, candles and knives were flying around attacking, and strange laughter kept echoing – it was like a house of horror.
I was moving through the corridor with Zia in this environment, but the biggest problem was ‘oxygen’.
The barrier completely blocked the inside from the outside.
Therefore, the oxygen supply was limited, but because the interior was infinitely expanding, the available oxygen was decreasing.
“......Huuu.”
Zia couldn’t last long in this environment. I could hear her struggling to breathe from behind me.
The ‘nameless bodyguard’ I saved in Zia’s name, who is now on my shoulder, is in the same situation, but Zia herself is likely much worse.
As far as I know, she has a genetic disease similar to pneumonia.
“Miss.”
I called out to her.
“......”
Zia stopped. But she didn’t say anything. She probably realized the lack of oxygen herself.
“Please wait.”
“......”
Zia looked at me. There was nothing in her gaze. Still, the rabbit mask covered her bare face.
“I will try to sever the space.”
“......The space?”Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.
“Yes.”
I raised my sword.
I feel like I’m using the Severing Sword too much today, but I can’t help it. If I can gain even a little more of Zia’s trust, the side effects are a small price to pay.
“......Haa.”
One deep breath.
Immediately after, I twisted the sword. A dark diagonal line drew across the void.
Wobble──!
The space unnaturally shook. The flow of air awkwardly changed.
The reaction caused pain to surge throughout my body, but anyway, it was successful.
“......Cough.”
At some point, Soliette before the regression showed me a sword that severed space itself.
The principle is simple. It temporarily ‘cuts off the continuity of space’ to shorten the distance. Like a wormhole.
“I will go first. Please follow.”
I hoisted the bodyguard back onto my shoulder. I entered the passage I had cut open.
Step-
One step.
Fortunately, there was no anomaly. It was just walking through the same space.
“......Hua.”
Then Zia crossed over.
“This is the passage.”
I pointed to a corner where Senator Amota’s room used to be. Now it was completely kidnapped and empty, but the Magic Spell of ‘Spatial Transfer’ was still there.
“Two people are enough.”
There was just enough mana left in the magic spell for two people. If the switch is activated, it will activate on its own.
“Together......”
“No. This person needs immediate treatment.”
I pointed to the bodyguard.
Late 30s, or early 40s. This man must have children. A son, or a daughter, or both.
“I can survive on my own.”
“......”
Zia still had no expression.
Suddenly, I was curious.
What was she thinking right now?
She was extremely calculating and seemed devoid of emotion, yet she cared even for the life of a mere bodyguard.
I wondered how she was assessing me.
“......Yes.”
Zia entered the range of the magic spell with the bodyguard.
“I will send you right away.”
I immediately infused mana into the formula.
「Spatial Transfer」.
Then Zia and the bodyguard’s bodies floated up and disappeared somewhere.
It happened in an instant.
“Phew......”
I had completed my mission.
With all this done, Zia should remember me.
─What just happened?!
A voice flowed in.
I turned to look in that direction.
“......Oh?!”
It was Layla, holding a torch. Beside her were Elise and Senator Amota.
“Shion!”
“Why are you here?”
Dudududu- Elise and Layla hurriedly ran over.
I shrugged my shoulders.
“I’m a party bodyguard. An intern. But, don’t you know it’s dangerous to come out in the corridor?”
“We’ve got a device. We’re on an expedition to see what’s happening outside.”
Layla pointed to her waist. There was a thick belt with a button on it.
“If something happens, we can run away with this. I invented it in an hour. Hehe.”
She looked quite proud.
“How does it work?”
“You just have to press this button.”
Click-
I pressed the button. Layla’s eyes widened.
“No!!!!”
Whirrrrrrr───! The line attached to the belt contracted in an instant, and Layla was pulled to the other end of the corridor.
Aaaaaaah......
“Really.”
“Hey. You. Do you know what’s happening right now?”
Elise asked.
“Yeah. It’s a Boundary Error.”
“Have you been outside all this time, Mr. Bodyguard?”
This time it was Senator Amota.
“Yes. I was in the corridor.”
“Have you seen any suspicious people?”
“What would a suspicious person be......”
“......The culprit!!”
Layla flew back in no time. Her hair disheveled, and she glared at me.
“We were searching in case there might be some evidence!”
I pretended to reach for the belt.
“Don’t touch it!!”
Layla quickly lay down like a shrimp. I asked Elise.
“So, did you find any evidence?”
If they could cause an error in the solid barrier and kidnap and kill Senator Amota, they should be at least between A~S rank.
“I’ll step out.”
Suddenly, the driver vacated his seat.
I felt slightly uneasy.
Being alone with Jade in a confined space is bound to be nerve-wracking. Any human, in front of Jade, would become a rabbit before a tiger.
“Shion Ascal.”
“...Yes.”
Moreover, he called my name.
It’s unusual.
No, it’s a crisis.
“You know about me.”
“....”
What does he mean? I quickly racked my brain.
“You cleaned up nicely that time. Thanks to that, I didn’t have to deal with annoying matters.”
Berhalsi.
The lion monster that dared to kidnap Jade and demand money, only to explode with one punch.
“Probably, you’re the only one. The only living creature that knows that side of me.”
Jade looked down at his palm.
If he just flicks his finger, I’m a goner.
I was tense but didn’t show it, and Jade didn’t seem to have any intention of attacking, he just clenched his fist.
“Shion Ascal.”
He called my name again.
“Yes.”
“Have you ever thought about how vast this world is?”
“...Yes.”
The world is vast, and there are many talents.
It’s a thought everyone on the continent has.
There’s always someone better than me, somewhere.
“Not for me.”
Jade leaned back against the seat.
At first glance, it’s an arrogant and haughty statement. But for Jade, it’s an undeniable fact.
Because he stands at the ‘end’.
“Rather, it’s incredibly narrow. This continent, this world... it’s like a mere well.”
His eyes looked out the window. A somewhat sad and lonely fog seemed to envelop him.
Is this the image of an absolute being who unknowingly reached the peak?
“Have you ever heard? The story of how I tore off one arm of a certain painter.”
“....”
I tried to stay as calm as possible, but this was Jade’s atrocity.
“You must have heard. That’s why you were so nervous when you painted my portrait. I tore off her arm because I didn’t like the painting she drew.”
He widened his eyes.
“It’s true, but it’s not.”
He stared at the empty air.
“I didn’t mean to harm her.”
As if trying to grasp the scattered days, nostalgia bloomed in his blue eyes.
“I was just trying to hold on.”
It was such a vivid memory that it felt like I could see his past.
“To her, who was trying to get away from me....”
Jade.
The him of long ago reaches out to someone.
He grabs the hand of a woman trying to escape from him, a painter he once loved, or perhaps still loves.
But......
Crack───!
With a simple squeeze, her arm is torn off.
The shoulder joint is dislocated, and the flesh and bone fall away from the body.
Aaaah───!
The woman screams in pain, bleeding like a fountain, sobbing until she faints.
Jade stares at her hand, dazed.
The only hand she has left.
He still holds her hand, but it’s no longer her hand.
It’s a lifeless arm.
“I... I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
Jade said. His voice was colorless, mixed with regret. I calmed down.
“Hah.”
He chuckled, a self-mocking smile on his face as he lowered his head.
“Shion Ascal. You’re trustworthy. At least to me.”
“....”
He looked at the rearview mirror of the empty driver’s seat. He looked into my eyes in the mirror.
“I want to entrust Zia to you.”
It was a heart-pounding statement, but it was still burdensome.
“Zia has many lieutenants. But none of them are trustworthy in my eyes. They’re all just looking for their own gain.”
There must be subordinates far more competent and excellent than me around Zia now. Jade just doesn’t know about them.
“I... I can’t follow in Jade’s footsteps no matter how hard I try.”
“Shion Ascal. I’ve told you my burden.”
Jade’s eyes sharpened like a wolf’s.
“You should understand what that means.”
He turned his head to look at me. He looked straight into my eyes.
Then, I realized why he had to use the rearview mirror.
It was a consideration.
“The people I care about....”
Jade, who is emotionally unstable now, is unknowingly releasing his mana.
Therefore, just looking directly into his eyes puts a strain on the whole body.
“They can’t even withstand a tiny... tiny part of me.”
“....”
I didn’t avoid his gaze. I looked deeply into his face, a piece of art, yet filled with deep wounds and loneliness.
“Now give me the right answer, Shion Ascal.”
The strongest man in the world.
The strongest man in the world is also the loneliest being.
A man who created an artificial ‘end’ in an endless world, isolated in his helplessness.
“Yes.”
I gave him the right answer.
Because what he wants is the correct answer.
“I will approach Miss Zia. Slowly, but surely.”
“....”
Jade shifted his gaze again. Looking at the rearview mirror, he handed me a small box.
“Open it.”
Thud-
A luxurious box opens.
Inside was a blue necktie.
“From now on, I’ll support your back.”
...It was a very reassuring gift.