Episode 195 – First Encounter (1)

First Encounter (1)

The castle’s corridor endlessly extended. No matter how much I walked, the distance seemed to increase, a result of error occurring in various functions of the 「Barrier」, such as expansion, security, tracking, and auto attack.

It was a much more dramatic phenomenon than what the news anchor in my memory had described. There’s a big difference between simply receiving information and actually seeing it with your own eyes.

Anyway.

I found Zia wandering in the corridor. Surprisingly, I found her quickly, thanks to my careful consideration of the reason why Zia would have come to the social circle.

She had made an effort to attend the party, but she was not actually there. If she were shy, she could have just watched from the balcony.

Therefore, her purpose was not the social circle but behind the charity party. She was trying to do some sort of arrangement while going back and forth in the rooms where the upper class stayed……

“……Are you okay?”

I am standing behind her now, covering her eyes.

Her frail body, about to break, is touching my chest, and her swan-like white and thin neck seems like it would break easily if I squeezed it hard.

“…….”

Zia looked up at me. I met her blue eyes inside the rabbit mask.

I hesitated for a moment.

Should I pretend not to know who she is?

However, Zia’s blue hair.

Blue eyes.

The radiance, brighter than crystal, is the bloodline color of Libra, recognizable to anyone. Pretending not to know would be more suspicious.

“Miss Zia.”

“…….”

Her pupils dilated vertically like a cat’s.

“How did you know……?”

I silently looked into her eyes. Slowly, I lowered my hands.

“Those eyes.”

I stepped back from her.

“Just by looking at a strand of that hair, I can tell.”

“…….”

Zia brushed a strand of hair next to her shoulder and nodded. She seemed convinced.

“Right now…… the space is tangled…….”

“Yes. I know.”

The duty of a bodyguard is to protect the VIP.

It would have been Jade’s role originally.

“Let’s walk for now. I will protect you.”

I walked down the corridor with my sword drawn. Zia followed me with her peculiar gait.

* * *

Boom──! Boom──! Boom──!

At the same time, in the main hall of the castle.

Elise and Layla used the Flexible formula to build walls and a roof. It was a task to create a closed space.

A privacy room to calm people down and a temporary solution against the Boundary Error. In the infinitely expanding Barrier, a closed space is essential.

“……Everyone, please go in one by one and rest.”

Elise looked at their faces.

CEO, researcher, pop star, movie actor, judge, etc. Most of them have some knowledge of magic, but that’s it. They can’t be like them, who specialize in learning and handling magic.

“If anyone is injured, please let me know at any time.”

“Thank you for your help, Miss Elise.”

Senator Amota came up to Elise. She put her hand on her shoulder with a proud smile.

“Mr. Ken must be very proud too.”

Elise shrugged her shoulders, feeling awkward.

“What do you mean? More importantly, what about the outside situation?”

“Connection is impossible. But the situation will be resolved soon.”

─…It’s too early to be confident.

A mechanical sound flowed in. Elise turned to look. There was a man with a rather sharp appearance.

He was a person, but he wore a mechanical mask on his mouth, making him look like a monster to anyone who saw him.

─Lato. I’m a mage from Trick City B-Section.

He introduced himself.

“A mage?”

─Yes.

Elise scanned him with a strange look. The mages of Trick City are definitely different from those of the Magic Tower.

“Then can you help with the Flexible? The mana consumption is quite large.”

The Flexible formula is a laborious task. Therefore, it’s a field that most mages avoid.

─I can’t. I don’t have a hobby with Flexible.

“……”

This guy is also unpleasant. Are all mages like this?

Senator Amota spoke with a small smile.

“But there are many bodyguards, so the space itself will be safe.”

“……But.”

Layla, who had approached unnoticed, mumbled in a low voice.

“Who on earth… would have done this?”

The Barrier of the castle was clearly hacked. It’s not a situation that could occur simply due to operational errors or Barrier aging.

“Let’s think about that later. For now-”

─One person. It does come to mind.

Lato interrupted. Layla, Elise, and Senator Amota all turned to look at him at the same time.

“Who?!”

“Huh?”

Lato scanned the three people with his dry eyes.

─A mage who has exceptional skills to cause errors in the Barrier of this massive castle, and above all, targets the upper class.

His words continued in a low voice.

─A mutant that the mages of both Trick City and the Magic Tower call a ‘new seed’.

Layla seemed to realize then, and she took a sharp breath.

─Coincidentally, there was a person who recently assassinated a tycoon in Trick City B-Section.

Crack- Layla clenched her fists.

“Layla. What’s wrong? Do you know who it is?”

Then Layla, staring at the ground, murmured in a low voice.

“……Raquel Dra.”

“……What?”

Elise asked back, frowning. Senator Amota’s expression hardened seriously, and Lato nodded mechanically.

─The avenger. Raquel Dra.

* * *

Corridor of the castle.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump───!

“What… what is that…?”

“That’s right.

We discovered a strange creature. It was a person entangled in space. Part of it was human, and part of it was space.

Save meeeee───!

He was banging on the wall like a madman. He was screaming for help with a ghastly voice.

“It seems… he got caught in a Boundary Error while trying to escape….”

Zia explained. As she said, it must have been a bodyguard swept away by the infinitely expanding Barrier.

I drew my sword.

“Are you going to… kill him…?”

I hesitated as I was about to swing.

Again, I looked back at Zia and asked.

“Give me the order.”

“Is there… no other way…?”

Zia pointed to the man’s tie.

“He’s from Libra….”

A blue tie.

The color of my tie is also blue now.

Well, Zia’s principle would be the same as always.

‘Don’t take your allies lightly, and don’t let your enemies off easily.’

She takes care of her people better than anyone else. It’s the reason she eventually gained a faith close to a religion.

“Let’s try.”

I raised my sword. I held it in a different posture than before.

This time, the 「Severing Sword」.

I don’t know if it will work or not.

Even I can’t control this sword as I wish.

“……”

However, there’s no rule that it absolutely won’t work.

“Haah….”

I took a deep breath. I raised my sword over my shoulder.

Kraaaaaaaaaa────!

The man, entangled with space, was screaming. If left like this, he would slowly mutate into something between an object and a being.

However, the 「Severing Sword」 is a ‘severing sword’.

A man mixed up in space.

The space between him and the man, the knot where the two are entangled, should be able to be cut off….

───!

One sword strike. A flash crossing the diagonal line.

Swish──!

At that moment, the man was separated from the space. He fell to the ground as if spat out from the mouth of a beast.

“……”

So this can be done too.

I was slightly surprised, but I didn’t show it. After all, Zia prefers calm and composed individuals.

Someone who doesn’t get surprised or lose their sanity in any situation, whose judgment doesn’t get clouded, and who carries out their duty faithfully.

The second-in-command before her regression was such a person.

Zia first knelt down and checked the man’s pulse.

“He’s alive….”

“That’s fortunate.”

Shing-

I sheath my sword.

“……”

Zia looked up at me like a rabbit from her kneeling position. Her eyes were curious.

“It’s a ‘severing’ sword.”

“Severing….”

“Yes.”

Soliette said so.

The act of ‘severing’ was developed to the extreme, eventually even severing ‘concepts’ and ‘notions’.

“Who… taught you?”

I pondered for a moment at that question.

This is not my sword.

It’s not my father’s, nor is it our family’s.

…However.

“It’s Ascal swordsmanship.”

Zia is interested in me.

I need to fuel that interest as much as possible.

Occasionally, no, several times a day, I need to make her think about me.

I have to become an ‘irreplaceable person’.

Right now, she is a meaningless existence to Libra, but soon she will become Libra itself.

“From your father…?”

“I inherited it, but I am the one who developed it this way.”

“……”

Zia looked forward again.

Suddenly, I became curious.

“By any chance.”

She, of course, dislikes pointless questions. Despite her languid and lazy demeanor, she is a person with a sharp edge.

“Do you know my father?”

However, I wanted to ask this.

Do you know my father?

Perhaps, do you remember that foolish man who was like a speck of dust to Libra?

“……”

Zia was silent.

Perhaps she is pondering for a long time. Or maybe she’s rummaging through her mind for a possible memory.

“……I’m sorry.”

Eventually, Zia’s voice, calm and composed.

It probably meant she didn’t know.

“He’s a low-ranking knight. It would be strange if you knew him. I’m satisfied just being able to carry on my father’s legacy. Let’s think about a way to escape.”

I focused again on the present.

A way to escape from this Barrier.

Before the regression, Jade definitely escaped with Zia.

Did he break the Barrier?

No.

Of course, it would have been possible. One punch would have shattered the entire Barrier.

However, blowing up the Barrier from the inside would not only cause casualties, but it’s also something Jade himself would hate the most.

So…

“……I think I know.”

“You know……?”

Somewhere here, there is a passage that allows us to escape.

“Yes. Follow me.”

The ‘Spatial Transfer’ Magic Spell.

Originally, it was intended to kidnap the Amota Senator, and now it has kidnapped Jade.

It’s not a one-time use.

* * *

Outside the Castle’s Barrier. Trick City C-01 Section.

The Edsilla Police Department was dispatched as soon as they received the report of the incident. They quickly recognized the error in the Barrier and soon discovered the epicenter of the abnormal magical explosion.

It was a rapid initial response, but what they encountered was…

“What is this?”

Only a massive crater.

“It seems something serious has happened.”

“Indeed.”

For now, they are standing on a mountain ridge. It’s a point where they can see the entire city at a glance.

“What the hell happened?”

But everything around them is devastated. It seems like every destructible part has been destroyed.

“Hmm…”

A vast crater was formed in the mountains, and its edges seemed scorched as if swept by a magical nuclear bomb. Therefore, there was no evidence or traces. Well, if you insist, there ‘were’ traces.

One trace was so massive that it annihilated the entire area.

“What happened here?”

…Thud!

“Huh.”

Just then, an investigator raised a measuring device and chuckled. Everyone turned to look at him.

“What?”

“The meter’s glowing. The shock amount is really like a magical bomb exploded.”

“Really?”

“Well, the machine says so.”

“Did the one who hacked the Barrier do this?”

“Probably?”

“…”

At that moment, the agents on the scene thought to themselves that it was fortunate. If they had arrived a little earlier, they would have been swept up by this monstrosity.

“Well… let’s focus on the Barrier for now. When is the dismantling team coming?”

“We requested the Magic Tower, but you know. Those mage guys will probably crawl here like worms.”

“…Ah. Here come the Enforcers.”

The team leader squinted his eyes, glancing at the mountain path behind.

Trick City Enforcers. From the police department’s perspective, they are troublesome guys.

“Guys. Get up.”

“Yes.”

The Edsilla Police Department straightened their backs. They each made their faces stern. They confronted them with as high-pressure an attitude as possible.

“You’re late? Not living up to the Enforcers’ reputation.”

The Enforcer members said as soon as they arrived.

“This place is under Trick City’s jurisdiction.”

“Trick City is also Edsilla, and don’t you know who’s inside there? The social elites of Edsilla are in there.”

“…”

The Enforcers quietly searched the scene. The team leader sighed and said,

“Ah, there’s nothing to find here.”

They kept digging the ground as if they didn’t believe it, fiddling with the burnt soil and tree roots, measuring the magic with a counter…

“Hey, guys. It’s not that I don’t want to share evidence or anything, but there’s really nothing left.”

“…”

Then the Enforcers stepped back. They had some serious conversation among themselves.

From the police’s perspective, it looked suspicious. They seemed to know something.

“Excuse me.”

The team leader took the first step forward.

“Seems like you have some evidence. How about sharing it?”

“…There is no evidence.”

“Then why are you whispering?”

“We’re simply suspecting a person.”

“You suspect someone without evidence?”

“…”

The Enforcers fell silent.

“Ah…”

The police department’s team leader placed a hand on the shoulder of the Enforcer in charge.

“Let’s not do this. We need to cooperate on this case.”

“Please step aside.”

The person in charge brushed off his hand and made a phone call somewhere.

“…Yes. The Edsilla Police Department is here.”

The police department quietly watched.

“Should we share the information?”

Information sharing. The team leader swallowed those words.

“Yes. Understood.”

The person in charge looked back at the police department.

“If the perpetrator of this Barrier hacking incident turns out to be the suspect we’re considering, Trick City will request a joint investigation with the Edsilla Police Department.”

“…A joint investigation?”

“Yes. Recently, there was an assassination in the B-Section. An outsider infiltrated the B-Section and killed a businessman, the first such incident in 7 years and 33 days.”

The police department’s officers slowly gathered around. They quietly listened to his words.

“Not only that, the mages of the Magic Tower are currently considering this person a key figure. A red assignment could be made soon.”

Red assignment. It’s a warning level system from the Magic Tower.

The order is black-purple-[red]-yellow-green-blue-colorless, and the meaning of ‘red’ is ‘a mage that is difficult to handle even for the Magic Tower, so be careful’.

“Ah, so who is it?”

The police department’s team leader asked in a frustrated tone. The person in charge of the Enforcer simply answered.

“‘Raquel Dra’. The villain of Trick City.”