278

Chapter 278: Tell Me (8)

I made my decision as the encirclement grew tighter and tighter.

At this rate, my only choices were to keep the disguise skill turned off until the very end or turn back.

“This is bad…….”

Of course, if you asked whether the tightening encirclement itself posed any threat to me, obviously it didn't.

No matter how many trash mobs gathered, they were still only trash mobs.

If I fired a horizontal slash, they'd all be annihilated together with the forest.

There was absolutely no way I could consider them a threat.

“Haa…….”

But… but still.

Add one prerequisite to the objective of crossing the forest and reaching Münmund—

I cannot let anyone discover my Demonic Energy.

—and the entire situation changed.

If I didn't want the people of Münmund to discover my Demonic Energy, or at the very least didn't want them to learn that the Demonic Energy belonged to me, I had to activate the disguise skill once I was within thirty minutes of the city at the absolute latest.

But activate the disguise skill in the middle of an encirclement like this?

Mr. Richa's life wouldn't be the only thing in danger then.

These creatures weren't a threat under normal circumstances.

But with the disguise skill active, there were enough of them now to cause even me serious trouble.

“…What the hell do I do?”

But turn back from here?

When I could already see the city?

When there was only another hour, or maybe thirty minutes, left?

I bit my lip and cautiously looked back at Mr. Richa.

He'd passed out thanks to my rough driving… transportation… delivery, and still showed no sign of waking.

If anything, he looked even paler.

Well, anyone's condition would worsen after being slung over another person's shoulder and carried like that for an hour.

Hehehe.

Which meant turning back probably wasn't a good choice either.

It would take half a day of running to return to that village.

I couldn't imagine Mr. Richa enduring that.

The sudden thirst and Demonic Contamination were the same.

I didn't know the cause, but if they were left untreated, there was no way anything good would come of it.

How does it feel, brat, to have what you turned your back on return twice over?

And there was another reason besides Mr. Richa that I couldn't leave.

My gaze turned toward the Demonic Energy I could sense beyond the demonic territory.

How does it feel to have what you wanted most to protect on the verge of destruction?

Could Münmund withstand that Demonic Energy?

After that disaster passed through Münmund, would anything I wanted to find there still remain?

The moment I thought about that, only one choice remained.

I rubbed my cheek as my body continued burning.

The time has come to make the choice you can no longer avoid.

Drip.

Cold sweat that had spilled out involuntarily fell from the bridge of my nose.

“Ah.”

No.

That was a nosebleed.

I hurriedly took out a handkerchief and covered my nose.

Haa.

My entire body ached, and for no reason my eyes grew hot.

It felt like I'd entered the body of someone who was crying.

“Ugh.”

“…You're awake?”

Amid all that, Mr. Richa finally regained consciousness.

His body twitched, and his eyelids lifted along with a faint sound.

The way his breathing immediately quieted upon waking spoke volumes about how deeply he'd been trained throughout his life.

“…Where are we?”

The question came almost soundlessly, more a movement of his lips than an actual voice.

So I merely gestured with my head.

I figured that if I simply let him look around without answering, he would understand.

“…Did we fail?”

As expected, Mr. Richa grasped the situation almost immediately.

My brows drew together awkwardly.

“The castle is close enough to see now… but there are too many demons. I don't think we can get through that, so I stopped for a moment.”

“I see…….”

Mr. Richa made a complicated expression.

Disappointment that we hadn't reached Münmund.

Relief that, at least for now, we seemed safe.

Those emotions crossed through his eyes.

“…Are you still thirsty?”

“…Yes. Unfortunately, it still seems that—wait. Are you injured?”

His gaze dropped toward my nose.

The nosebleed.

Ah.

Right.

“…A demon didn't do this.”

Hmm.

How was I supposed to explain a spontaneous nosebleed?

My body was weak?

I was exhausted?

Those excuses were too obvious and offered no real benefit.

“It's simply a side effect from using magic beyond my current level.”

After thinking for a moment, I found a more useful answer.

It wasn't so much that I wanted to make Mr. Richa feel guilty.

It was more like laying groundwork so nobody would later ask, Show us that spell again.

“Such a thing……!”

Phew.

After going this far, at least nobody would tell me to do it again.

And even if someone did, Mr. Richa would probably defend me.

I smiled faintly as I imagined that future.

Cold sweat rolled down my entire body.

“Mr. Richa.”

Even then, the nosebleed stopped.

Realizing it, I removed the handkerchief.

The cloth, half-soaked in blood after only a short while, crumpled in my hand.

“You can move, right?”

“Of course.”

“And you can go on alone?”

“…I can.”

“Good.”

This is useless now anyway.

Thinking I'd throw away the handkerchief without hesitation, I pulled the corners of my mouth a little higher.

Mr. Richa's eyes wavered.

“I'm going to use a spell now.”

“…All right.”

“But this spell has rather… severe recoil. Once I use it, I won't be able to move from this spot.”

“Wait… Mage, you mean…….”

“So while that's happening, I need you to run to Münmund.”

“Mage……!”

“It's all right.”

Hmm.

I had a pretty good idea what misunderstanding he was having, which made this both funny and sad.

I wasn't preparing to sacrifice myself at all.

I simply didn't want him watching me summon dozens of Mana spears and slaughter demons with them.

“The demons will never be able to harm you.”

“That's not the issue…….”

“Ah, um. If you're worried about me… once the recoil wears off and my Mana recovers, I'll follow you. It's all right. Just keep looking forward and run. Fulfill your duty. That's all you need to do.”

But from his perspective, without knowing any of that, his conscience must have hurt terribly.

I understood.

Looking at Mr. Richa's face, which seemed ready to cry, I let my eyebrows droop loosely.

“I'll begin preparing now.”

“…I will make certain your devotion is reported to the Lord.”

“Ahaha… that really isn't necessary. In fact, that would make things more troublesome for me…….”

What?

Report it to the Lord?

That's a little…….

Unless I ended up needing information from the Lord, that would be more poison than benefit.

Attention from someone powerful always brought consequences.

“…I went through enough trouble getting out of that house. Being dragged back would be a little……”

But ordinary people probably liked being looked upon favorably by a Lord, right?

Taking that into account, I decided to plant yet another lie.

It felt like my lies were steadily multiplying, so I was slightly worried about what came later.

But my life had already been driven to the edge of a cliff.

So it was fine.

I smiled like someone with nothing left behind him.

“Wait…….”

“Then I'll begin.”

“Wait, Mage—”

I grabbed Mr. Richa's hand and helped him to his feet, then gave his back a light push.

Despite having just regained consciousness and only just stood up, his body merely swayed slightly rather than collapsing.

He should be able to run well enough.

“Don't worry about what happens behind you.”

Now all I had to do was cover him until he reached Münmund alive.

I smiled as brightly as possible so he could feel reassured.

After hesitating, he seemed to steel himself and began turning away.

“But… please take this. It's nothing more than superstition, but it's supposed to bring good fortune.”

“…All right.”

Even before leaving, however, he handed me something.

A tiny fortune-pouch necklace.

I watched him move away and placed it in my inventory.

“Haa…….”

Then, with a groan, I leaned against a tree.

Keeping strength in legs that felt as though they'd been trampled by horses was becoming pretty damn difficult.

Still, having something to support me made enduring it much easier.

I closed my eyes to concentrate and breathed heavily.

With the visual information gone, my other senses gradually sharpened.

Ssssh.

Rustle.

Srrrrr.

The smell of grass and soil in the forest where dawn was only beginning.

The feel of my clothes rustling.

The sound of the wind gnawing at blades of grass in place of the vanished insects.

Sound.

Read only on MUGEX

Every nerve in my body focused on that final sense.

Echoes coming from every direction interfered with me, but I forced myself to ignore them by letting them flow past.

There was only one direction I needed to pay attention to.

The direction Mr. Richa had gone.

I focused my senses there and gathered Mana.

Thud.

A demon that had spotted Mr. Richa and started turning toward him fell silent.

Boom.

Now two.

Thump.

No.

Three.

Of course, I wasn't dreaming that this alone would guide him all the way.

My senses might be sharper than an ordinary person's, but there was no way I could cover an entire route spanning five kilometers in a straight line.

The maximum distance at which I could hear enough to understand what was happening was only around fifty meters.

And even that was possible only when I concentrated this intensely.

“Haa.”

Despite that, when I'd assured Mr. Richa that everything would be fine, I'd essentially been thinking like a gambler.

“Hope this works…….”

More precisely, a gambler with a safety net.

My Mana began swelling like the frill of a threatened lizard.

I wasn't really trying to do anything with it.

It was more a display.

Like what somebody way over there beyond the demonic territory was doing, it was an act meant to announce:

I'm here.

…And that's what you choose to do with it?

Then I released the Mana all at once.

Not as an explosion.

More like gently dispersing gas through the air.

I did think you had some talent…….

But what came next was the problem.

Sensing the demons within my perception radius flinch in surprise, I moved my fingers.

Tap, tap.

My fingertips drummed against the surface of the tree supporting me.

How could I turn this into a threat?

How could I make the demons flee this entire area with their tails between their legs?

What would make those things understand my intent?

It's impressive that you grasped the trick after seeing it only once.

…Could I do something more with the Mana I'd already spread?

I put my will into the Mana dispersed mostly toward the front.

When projecting Mana outside the body, concentrating it is important. Mana has a tendency to disperse into the atmosphere.

Advice I'd once received helped me.

The Mana I'd spread through the air couldn't simply dissipate.

It needed to become sharper.

To press upon the world while carrying murderous intent.

“Please take the hint. You things are supposed to have the instinct to flee when a high-ranking demon starts hunting you…….”

I rubbed my head, which was growing hot from separately controlling all the Mana spread around me.

Had it worked?

I hoped it had.

“…At least the ones nearby are leaving.”

But even if it hadn't worked perfectly, that was fine.

I'd prepared a backup plan because I'd expected as much.

I pushed away from the tree that had been supporting me.

Stagger.

My body wobbled a little in the process…

but I endured it.

The combination of a body suffering what felt like severe muscle pain and a head gone numb from overwork was already doing plenty simply by keeping me upright.

“Hoo.”

The problem was that I needed to add the disguise skill on top of all this.

Looking at my completely full HP bar, I scratched my head.

I feel like I'm dying, but I'm at full health, so it'll probably be fine.

I knew that wasn't actually true.

It was just something I told myself to feel better.

A rationalization I could make because I had no other option.

What, was I supposed to just let Mr. Richa go because I hurt?

When I didn't even know whether what I'd just done had truly worked?

Absolutely not.

No way.

I'd feel far more comfortable if I followed thirty or forty meters behind him and provided covering fire at the very least.

Mr. Richa was someone who, if at all possible, could not be allowed to die.

Tap, tap!

“……?”

But just as I activated the disguise skill and was about to follow Mr. Richa—

footsteps, reduced as much as possible, came back toward me.

They were Mr. Richa's footsteps.

He should've been roughly thirty meters ahead by now.

Why is he……?

There shouldn't even be a demon in front of him.

Why is he coming back?

Puzzled, I frowned slightly.

Sunlight squeezing through the trees had stabbed into my eyes.

Right.

My eyebrows.

At the same moment, I remembered something I'd forgotten.

Until now it had been night, so I hadn't needed to worry about the color of my eyebrows.

But from this point onward, things were different.

Hair dye and a brush instantly appeared in my hands through the spatial-storage bracelet.

Calling upon old memories, I quickly colored only my eyebrows and eyelashes before putting everything away again.

I had no idea whether I'd done a decent job.

“Mage.”

But by a hair's breadth, I finished before Mr. Richa stood in front of me.

“I'll carry you. Let's just go together.”

My expression became complicated.

I'm…

pretty heavy, though?