༺ S2. Resentment Wished Upon The Stars – 7 ༻
People saved people. That was, truly, a difficult task.
Reaching out to others at one’s own expense was, from the perspective of a single organism, almost akin to madness. Life is, after all, purposed and obliged to pass on its own genes to the next generation.
Somewhere in the vast emptiness of space, a star was born by chance. This star found its place in the very narrow gap between celestial bodies where life could emerge and had sufficient time to thrive. On such a star, you were born.
The probability was incalculably slim. What was taken for granted was the result of an immense coincidence. A life born as a human and dying as a human after overcoming all sorts of destined hardships.
To throw away the luck that broke through that slim chance, for the sake of someone else’s genes… would be a mistake and a flaw.
Every time she faced this irony, Niolle repeated what she always said.
Right, where else could her parent’s blood possibly go? She would obviously live as she was born. As her parent’s daughter.
The father who always preached the teaching of loving others. The grandfather who prioritized the people over the household. Even the distant ancestor who dedicated their life to saving the world. They must have jumped into danger, unable to overcome the voice in their hearts.
Just as Niolle always had.
And so, she followed the voice of her heart this time as well.
===============================================================
[I saw them turn the corner three blocks ahead, on the right, and disappear.]
“Can you track them?”
Niolle nodded. Compared to Bennett’s traces from before, it was so sloppy that she even wondered if they left them on purpose for her to find. The joke that she could find it with her eyes closed was── omitted. After all, there was no time.
The little detective jumped, grabbed the top of a wall, and climbed over. Then she ran down a narrow path barely wide enough for her feet.
While running after Niolle, Tara jokingly spoke to Bennett, who was running alongside her.
“…….What’s the occasion? Bennett. Have you fallen for Niolle or something?”
“Don’t make me laugh.”
“You hate this kind of thing, though.”
“I just thought of it as an opportunity to interrogate those from the Order of Silver Twilight.”
Bennett turned his head quickly, avoiding her gaze. Tara snickered, then drew a symbol in the air and constructed a magic.
The mana bestowed by the Goddess had advantages in buffs and was highly stable. The concentration needed for magic activation was low, so it was relatively easy to cast while running or fighting.
A burst of light erupted.
“『Blessing of the Savage Beast』!”
This made it the second time. Unlike when chasing the Crazy Wizard, the feeling of divine power seeping in wasn’t all that bad. Bennett felt the magic push at his back, similar to Tara’s personality, and dashed like a wolf.
[⋯⋯⋯⋯!]
Thump thump thump!
Niolle pointed in front of the corner and tapped the whiteboard. Did that mean there were enemies ahead? Bennett prepared to draw his longsword. He gripped the handle tightly and regulated his breathing. He judged that the likelihood of resolving this through conversation was extremely low.
[⋯⋯!!]
As soon as they turned the corner, they saw five members of the Order with white cowls. One of them was carrying a heavy, large sack, as if it contained a person.
And a skinny member of the Order was cutting his wrist with a curved dagger, letting blood flow. Judging by the ominous bubbles rising from the puddle of blood on the floor, he had already completed casting the magic.
“O one who lies dormant at the boundary. O one who is evanescent yet great. Grant me the wisdom to burst and kill that small and insignificant creature. The wisdom, thewisdomthewisdomthewisdom──.”
Crack, Crunchh.
With the sound of twisting bones and flesh, a terrible scream rang out.
The skinny member of the Order was crushed to death as if squeezed by some gigantic hand. And, in front of him, the space rippled.
As if looking through a convex mirror, the space seemed to bulge. A bubbling tinnitus was heard and a creepy gaze seemed to be felt.
Bennett barely managed to infer. It seemed to be a projectile attack. An invisible force distorting space was shot towards Bennett.
“Did you mean to say that they were about to attack……?!”
A communication problem. Communication with someone who could not speak created gaps in information.
A strength and power he had never faced before. It was hard to judge the distance because it approached while twisting the space itself. Could it be cut through? No, if he couldn’t be sure…….
As Bennett prepared to defend with all his might, Tara threw the holy emblem of the Goddess in front of Bennett.
“『Three Dogs Guarding the Goddess』!”
Wooooong-!
A large shield, scattering golden light, appeared and intercepted an invisible projectile. Among the three dog heads embossed on the shield, two were shattered. It seemed to be a magic that took considerable effort from Tara, as she gritted her teeth and screamed.
“It can’t withstand two hits!”
“I shall kill them before that occurs!”
They had already approached; the assailants did not hesitate to attack first. Clearly harboring killing intent, it was only right to return the favor. After all, this was the grim way of life Bennett had lived up to now.
Bennett kicked off the ground and shot to the side. And then, he leaped again using the alley’s wall as a floor. He moved in a zigzag fashion to scatter his aim and rapidly approached.
A precise body enhancement that evenly amplified strength, speed, and balance. And the mana light spreading from Bennett’s longsword. The sense to perceive mana.
He was one who had reached the realm of 3 Stars, rare even within the Academy. The gaze of such a man glinted dangerously.
Slash.
Bennett, moving fast enough to blur, swung his sword left and right upon reaching an Order member. After a flash of light, two heads flew through the air. Two remained.
One bastard, throwing down the sack he was carrying, exclaimed.
“I-If you come any c-closer, I’ll kill this wom── Ugh!”
Thwack!
Niolle, approaching from behind, delivered a spinning high kick to the temple. The Order member’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
One left.
“C-Consume m-me! I offer all my flesh to y-!!”
Slash.
Bennett cut the throat, preventing him from chanting any further spells. However, the will to offer oneself as a sacrifice seemed to complete the spell. With a loud Bang, the Order member’s head shriveled up instantly like a dried apple.
The shriveled, wrinkled head seemed as if centuries had passed for it in a moment.
An ominous light began leaking from the corpse. A color that, though undoubtedly present, was imperceptible to humans, spread along with an indescribably inauspicious wavelength.
As the light enveloped the Order member Niolle had knocked unconscious, he started shriveling up like a mummy.
Bennett jumped back significantly.
“……This is a spell I have never seen before. It seems to have been cast already. Is it a summoning?”
“I hate to say it, but the mana is unbelievably refined. It’s like it’s being received from a divine……. existence. It sort of seems like another God’s divine power…..?”
As Bennett and Tara pondered over the magic manifesting despite the caster’s death, Niolle urgently scribbled on a whiteboard.
[It’s a time bomb. It ages those caught in its color instantly.]
“Uegh, age?!”
“……Wait, Niolle. How do you know this spell?”
Niolle, as if to imply that explanations could wait, pointed to the sack containing the kidnapped person. And then, she waved her hand.
[Take the sack and step back, I’ll try to solve this.]
“How do you expect to possibly stop a spell from an otherworld?! Moreover, it’s divine power! It is almost impossible to block the cas……!”
“⋯ir, ⋯⋯ c’th, Ar’kla⋯⋯.”
Niolle opened a sinister book and began chanting a spell. The chant, mostly hisses mixed with metallic sounds, was reminiscent of a bird’s cry. Though it was almost unintelligible, it was as if it constituted a spell nonetheless.
Above the corpse, which started to crack apart, a massive presence loomed.
Booom!
A column made of thousands of mouths and red flesh slammed into the ground and vanished instantly. The corpse, which had burst to the extent of it being unrecognizable, no longer emitted an ominous light.
Tara, startled, grabbed Niolle’s hand.
“……What is that? This power? Niolle, have you been hiding your strength?! And didn’t you just spe……”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Hehe. Niolle smiled like a puppy. However, her eyes were slightly unfocused.
On the other hand, Bennett hardened his expression. If Niolle was indeed a genius wizard, that would have been enough of an explanation, but considering the horrific visual of the spell and how the Order of the Silver Twilight members died each time they cast it……
Niolle’s spell might not be normal. It was uncertain how she came to learn it, but it likely involved some risk.
“Niolle, you…….”
[How was I? I managed to help! Nobody got hurt and we also saved a person.]
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Bennett examined Niolle calmly and carefully. She showed no apparent injuries or fatigue. If it was an unfounded worry, that was a relief, but……
[Let’s hurry and get the kidnapped person out! They must be trembling in fear.]
……For now, he decided to just let it be.
===============================================================
Upon opening the sack, a woman, her face covered in tears and snot, crawled out. She wore a camera around her neck and shouldered a messenger bag.
“W-What happened…….?”
“Ah, do not fret. After all, we have killed all the kidnappers.”
“You killed…… them?!”
The woman looked around in shock.
A corpse turned into a mummy. A beheaded corpse. A flattened corpse, as if crushed by heavy machinery. The woman, witnessing a scene as if from a nightmare, rolled her eyes wildly before clutching a nearby lamppost and vomiting.
“UWEGHHHH……!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
“…….I see. Is that the case? People from this world do not seem to be accustomed to blood.”
While watching the trio of murderers who had effortlessly killed five people and stood so nonchalantly, the woman trembled. Then, she seemed to have somewhat grasped the situation, as she looked up with a nervous expression and asked.
“F-For now, y-you did save me, right? You’re not going to Swish Swoosh……. Or something to eliminate a witness, right?”
[Yes, don’t worry! We helped you out of good will.]
“P-Phew……”
The woman sniffled and, after taking out a tissue from her bag to wipe her eyes, introduced herself without looking towards the corpses.
“I’m Sally, a reporter for New Life Newspaper.”
“I’m Ta……..”
“There is no need for you to know our names. How did you end up being kidnapped?”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
Reporter Sally, noticing Bennett cutting off Tara sharply, thought better of hiding any details, fearing she might end up as the sixth body. She candidly and obediently explained.
“I was looking for a……. scoop since I haven’t produced many actual results lately. So, I decided to investigate the Order of the Silver Twilight, the well-known pseudoreligion. I thought the worst I’d get was a threatening letter, but I never expected them to be so aggressive as to kidnap me.”
Tara practically displayed a question mark above her head.
“…….Reporter?”
“It is something similar to an investigator for an information guild.”
“I’ll compensate……. you. Our office is on Carter Street, you see? If you come by later, although I can’t offer much due to my meager salary……. Ah, I can show you some interesting items or documents that couldn’t be published due to cens…….!”
“It is fine. Forget it. You should go about your business now.”
“……Yes sir!”
Reporter Sally saluted quickly and hurriedly gathered her things to leave. Then, stopping midway, she turned back and spoke while waving her arms.
“……I’m a bit late in saying this, but thank you! For saving me!”
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
[How was it?]
Niolle held the whiteboard with a slightly proud expression. It was because she had seen the corners of Bennett’s mouth slightly rise. Bennett touched his mouth for a moment, before changing the subject.
“Abraham is waiting for us. Let us go back.”
“Yeah, if we’re late, that……..bitch Isaac might eat all our sausages!”
[It doesn’t seem like Isaac would do that, though……?]
How long had it been since he received thanks? Bennett felt a peculiar sensation. The magic of the Order of the Silver Twilight was bizarre and their numbers meant they would only be an increasing threat. Yet, despite today’s events seemingly being a loss when thinking of it objectively……
He kept thinking that this kind of result wasn’t all that bad.
Right, considering their actions, a confrontation was highly likely. So, it was probably better to learn their attack methods beforehand. So, it wasn’t that much of a loss…….
After all, a Black Wizard must react to gain and loss with cool detachment.
“Why do you keep smiling?”
“I was not smiling.”
There would be plenty to discuss once home. He had to ask when Niolle learned such spells and since they had already clashed once, they also had to think of how the Order of the Silver Twilight would act and how the three of them would respond to their next move.
They might need to leave Abraham’s house to avoid causing him trouble.
But still, for now… because he wanted to indulge in this subtle feeling… Bennett walked with relaxed shoulders.
After all, there was plenty of time left. That was what he thought.
===============================================================
“………….Huh?”
His mistakened delusion shattered when they neared the hill.
At twilight, when the sun dipped and bathed the sky in blood-red hues… Underneath the stars that had just started to emerge, Abraham’s mansion was burning.
It was a sinister yet snow-white blaze, flickering as if to rip apart and devour all it touched.
