Episode 174 – City Hunter (1)

City Hunter (1)

I grabbed the spirit’s hand. At that moment, a large vibration emanated from it. The entire space resonated.

A tiny barrier enveloped us both.

“There’s no need to be scared.”

The spirit that had taken over my body.

I pulled it towards me and spoke.

“Let’s have a conversation.”

A crimson aura emanated from the spirit. It was transferred to me. It was quite hot.

A struggle for survival, perhaps.

I gave a small smile.

“Listen. You’ve come to know all about me. I’ve never met such a being, you know?”

Regression is not a secret that can be easily shared with anyone.

Neither is the incurable disease called cancer.

The spirit knows both of these things. It believes in them more certainly than anyone else.

I said to it.

“How about it. Aren’t I just as pitiful as you?”

─…….

The spirit had now lost its voice.

I was reclaiming my body, and the spirit was moving away from it.

However, I had no intention of letting it go.

“So… let’s go together.”

The spirit is literally a ‘soul condensed with resentment’.

A soul wandering the heavens, having forgotten who it was in its lifetime, with only resentment remaining.

A wandering entity that was once ‘human’.

“I’ll help you find who you were.”

I’m curious.

Just what kind of resentment it holds, the origins of its desires, and how unjustly it had to die to take this form.

“I’m serious, you know.”

I felt a certain kinship with it.

Perhaps, if I had died without regression.

I would have become a spirit too.

─…….

“It’s better than disappearing like this. No matter how I think about it, it seems like I survived because of you.”

The Severing Sword that had cut through the spirit’s body.

It had far surpassed my limits. My body should have broken because of it, but I survived thanks to it continuing life activities in my stead.

“…Of course, the original culprit is you.”

A small smile slipped out.

“Let’s go together. It might be fate that you sought me out.”

I can understand the spirit.

As a regressor, and as a ‘prospective spirit’ who once lived in Planarium for a long time.

─…….

The spirit quietly nodded its head.

That settled it.

* * *

I opened my eyes.

“Yaaawn……”

I slowly sat up, yawning.

It was the inside of a dorm room.

I was lying on the bed, and Elise and Akane were sitting across from each other at the tea table.

“Are you awake?”

Elise asked, sipping her tea.

“…Yeah.”

My neck, shoulders, arms, and legs, my whole body felt stiff. I started with stretching.

Creak- Creak-

I feel like my bones are going to snap.

“Ugh. My stride is off.”

I tried to walk a bit, but my balance was off. It felt like I was moving for the first time in a long time.

“You. Are you pretending to be the spirit?”

It was Akane. I turned to look at her.

“Did you return to your original body?”

“…….”

Akane raised an eyebrow. Then she took out a cigarette from her pocket and lit it.

Phew…… She exhaled a puff of smoke, a satisfied expression on her face.

“Indeed. A good cigarette should be smoked in the original body.”

“Original body? What does that mean?”

Elise looked back and forth between Akane and me with a puzzled face. Akane ignored her.

“Shion Ascal. Do you remember what happened? When the spirit was pretending to be you.”

“A bit. It feels like I dreamed it.”

“Did you dispose of the spirit?”

“No. It’s still with me. We made a deal.”

“What kind of deal?”

“Are you crazy?”

Akane asked about the details of the deal, and Elise narrowed her eyes.

“Do you know how hard it was to get you out? Are you joking?”

She shook the crumpled papers she had taken out of her bag. It was a script titled [How to Deal with Spirits].

“I wrote hundreds of pages of scripts. But you didn’t even get rid of the spirit?”

“…It’s okay. It’s not a threat anymore.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because we talked.”

“Talked?”

“Anyway, thank you. I’ll pay you back later.”

“…You don’t have to. You don’t seem to value others’ favors anyway.”

“…What do you want me to do?”

Elise turned her gaze.

She sighed softly and waved her hand as if shooing away a fly.

“Ugh. Just go. I have something to talk about with Akane.”

“…….”

I looked at Akane. Akane nodded her head.

“Alright. I’ll go down first.”

* * *

After Shion left.

Elise and Akane had a conversation. It was a discourse on magic, the Magic Tower, and mages.

“So. You want to be a mage?”

“Of course.”

Akane is a legend of the Magic Tower. For better or worse.

The opportunity to learn something from her is rare.

“I won’t stop you. But be careful with the Magic Tower.”

Thud-! Thud-!

Akane put her various equipment into a suitcase. Elise quietly watched her.

“I’ve heard the rumors. The Magic Tower is an extremely rational group.”

“Extremely rational? No. They only have ‘rationality’. Humans who only have rationality are monsters. If the Magic Tower offers to do something for you, doubt it. If the Magic Tower offers to give you something, doubt it. If you enter the Magic Tower, always live doubting what their true intentions are.”

“…Even if I become a magic professor?”

“Professors are a bit less so. They conduct independent research and manage independent personnel. You can put your own color into your workshop. But until then, it will be very harsh.”

Harsh.

That’s enough to endure.

Honestly, every time she sees Shion now, every time she thinks about her family Petra, and every time the two collide, the storm that arises in her heart is not just harsh, but brutal.

“But.”

Akane picked up the suitcase and asked.

“Why did you lie?”

“…….”

Elise tilted her head slightly, asking in a low voice.

“What lie are you talking about?”

“You mentioned a different witness.”

Elise had said the witness was ‘Kielli’.

That was a lie.

The real witness was…

Soliette.

Even as Soliette’s body was burning, she saw Shion. She detected the spirit flowing into his body.

She was the only one who tried to protect him.

The others had just run away and then returned.

“…I wonder.”

It was Soliette who first proposed the hypothesis that Shion was a spirit, and it was Soliette who found the painting where Shion’s soul was trapped.

She was not familiar with acting—it was truly terrible acting—so she was excluded from the operation.

“I don’t know.”

That was all Elise replied.

“I guess I’ve become narrow-minded.”

Akane twisted her lips.

“Not knowing oneself is also a privilege of youth.”

“…Aren’t you still in your youth, Akane? You’re only ten years older than us.”

“Why do you keep bringing up the ten years? It’s uncomfortable.”

Click. Akane raised her middle finger.

“I mean it. At twenty-five, you’re a professor at the Magic Tower. It’s unbelievably young. You’re already a legend, Akane.”

“You can surpass that.”

It was a sudden statement from Akane. Elise was taken aback.

“…Really?”

She didn’t seem like the type to pay lip service.

“Physical power, psychic power, and ‘magnetism’ that encompasses both.”

Akane recited Elise’s 「Spectrum」.

“‘Magnetism’ is one of the principles that govern the origin of this world. All matter, large or small, possesses ‘magnetism’. In that sense, your 「Spectrum」 is much larger than you think.”

Elise looked at her. Her lips quivered like a caterpillar.

She was happy.

“So be careful.”

“Of what?”

“Of yourself.”

Akane picked up her suitcase. She slung it over her shoulder.

“The more magnificent a mage becomes, the more they pursue miracles outside of themselves. As a result, they are more likely to lose themselves.”

The dilemma of a mage.

In this world, there are monsters who have become so engrossed in the magic that they pursue, that they become the magic itself.

“Create your own center… Some call it a ‘totem’, others a ‘anchor’. It’s the most important thing for a mage.”

“….”

Elise nodded after a moment of thought.

She felt like she already had such an ‘anchor’.

* * *

At the same time.

Layla was coming down the mountain path with a bouncy stride.

The third test, ‘Escape’.

She had been trapped in some kind of maze alone. The other seniors were probably trapped in various other places, right?

But Layla escaped very quickly.

“Oh!”

Suddenly, Layla’s eyes widened. She saw a ‘stone statue’ at the bottom of the mountain path. There was no one around it.

“Yay! I must be the first one!”

She quickly moved her legs, running with her hands waving cheerfully.

“Statue!! Statue!!”

The cycle of conflict, reconciliation, and understanding—repeated by Layla alone—with the statue, they could now be considered somewhat close.

It was bittersweet to part ways.

“Statue!! Am I the first?!”

Layla asked right in front of the statue’s nose.

The statue turned its head to look at her.

──You’re 99th.

“Yay…… huh?! What?!”

Crash—! A bolt of lightning struck Layla’s mind. She froze as if she had been shocked.

The statue spoke dryly.

──Go down.

“……Crazy statue.”

──Why are you venting at me for being late?

“Shut up, fucking statue.”

──stupid bastard.

“You stone-headed statue! You’re being a prick!”

Layla pointed a finger at the statue. The statue ignored her.

She felt like pulling her hair out.

“99th place…….”

She had secretly hoped.

She pouted her lips and went down the mountain path.

Staggering-

There were already quite a few seniors gathered on the ground.

“Oh~ Here she comes.”

Kain and Asher looked this way and laughed. Layla squinted her eyes for no reason.

“What are you laughing at? What place did you guys get?”

“I’m 13th.”

“I’m 15th.”

Kain 13th, Asher 15th, Layla 99th.

“Wow. Really.”

This doesn’t make sense.

“I can’t believe it.”

It must be the statue’s scheme. She should have really hit that stone statue.

Layla was sulking when she saw the smartphone in Asher’s hand and her eyes widened.

“Huh? Your phones, oh right! We can use our phones now!!!”

“Yeah.”

Layla quickly took out her smartphone from her bag.

Ding-

Ding-

Ding-

“Oh, I’m getting a signal. Oh.”

Like a primitive man discovering fire, she opened her messenger. With almost miraculous typing, she sent replies, and then opened the internet.

She quickly checked various issues she hadn’t been able to check for the second quarter—.

Suddenly.

“……?”

Her fingers froze.

Her eyes cooled down.

Right now, it was because of an article on the main page of Trick City.

[Orphanage Director Berrieda Len Casano Dead.]

[The fencing mask that extinguished the light of C-Section… Trick City, covered in waves of mourning and anger…]

“…….”

Berrieda Len Casano.

He was the founder of Len Orphanage. A famous philanthropist.

He often wrote columns advocating for [Mila], and was a good person who transparently operated various volunteer activities.

As Mila, she had visited his orphanage and played with the children.

[Burnt Frame: Outlaw ‘Mila’ and the children of the Orphanage.]

[The death of a philanthropist… Is ‘Mila’ really an vigilante? What does Trick City need?]

The photo taken back then was in the online article, its edges burnt red.

“Uh…….”

A strange emotion welled up in Layla’s heart. It boiled within her, threatening to consume her.

It was hard to describe clearly, but it was swirling between anger and sadness…

“What’s up. Hey Layla. Are you crying?”

Kain blinked at Layla.

Layla hastily lifted her head.

“What! I, I’ll go first! Something urgent came up!”

She put her smartphone away and ran towards the train station.

* * *

The next day. Trick City’s [Selfless Coffin].

By the way, the second quarter of the college board is still in progress. There are still about 300 guys who haven’t escaped.

Thanks to the ghost who made me number one, I’m enjoying some downtime.

“……Hmm.”

Rustle-

I’m reading a file.

[Rexton Welton]

: 222 cm. Male

: Numerous crimes including murder, armed robbery, arson.

: Currently appears to be working as a mercenary for the Master Cartel.

“222 cm? That’s huge.”

It’s a list of murder requests from Kanya. It’s a sort of side job, like ‘bounty hunting’.

“That’s enough.”

Just then, Akane in the workshop spoke. I turned to look at her.

“Is it done?”

“Yes.”

She had created a fish tank with Planarium’s stuff. It was an Artifact to contain the ghost, no, the ‘soul’ that had been wriggling in my body.

Souls cannot exist outside of Planarium. So she created an environment for it.

“Right. Now, as you say, it’s not a spirit, but a soul.”

I looked at the fish tank. There was a clear soul inside.

“Can this guy talk?”

“Not yet. It will be possible as it grows slowly. But, what’s that file?”

Akane gestured towards the file. I waved it and said,

“It’s a guy I have to deal with.”

“Hmm. To deal with.”

Akane turned on the TV with a remote control.

──……Twenty lower Senators from Trick City’s D-Section and C-Section have submitted a ‘Hero-related law’ to the upper council. This bill, triggered by the ‘Berrieda Len Casano murder case’ by the villain ‘Raquel Dra’, is expected to take at least 2-3 years to enact even if it passes in the upper council.

“You want to be on the news again, it seems.”

“……Anyway, it’s not as Shion Ascal.”

But the avenger, Raquel Dra.

“Raquel Dra… a villain name that’s now officially settled.”

──The most active outlaw to date, who claimed to be a ‘hero’, ‘Mila’, is currently showing no reaction. However, public opinion about her is not as cold as in previous years.

“Mila. Is that woman becoming your enemy?”

Akane asked in an indifferent tone.

“No.”

I shook my head.

“I’m Mila’s enemy. Not the other way around. I respect Mila.”

In fact, it’s closer to admiration.

Her unyielding spirit has always given me hope and reminded me of the old man.

“I could easily become a villain for her sake.”

I knew her before my regression, when she was pointed at and called an ‘vigilante’ for years, and suffered quite a few wounds and injuries.

So now, Mila might really need an enemy. A perfect villain to highlight Mila as the perfect good.

“Raquel Dra… should be enough of an enemy.”

I looked back at Akane. She calmly pointed to the counter of [Selfless Coffin].

“Then have a look around. Equipment is essential for your activities.”

“…Can you give me a discount?”

Akane raised her middle finger.

“The bounty on your file is 150,000 Ren. Installments are possible.”

“…When did you see it?”

Well, regardless of the price, Akane’s Artifacts are all top-notch. Luxury items that can’t be bought even with money. Moreover, they’re not properly ‘registered’, so they can’t be traced.

“I’ll just look around for now. That’s okay, right?”

“Feel free.”

Akane quickly assumed the posture of serving a customer.