Episode 201 – Encounters (2)

Encounters (2)

It’s 13 years ago, according to my perception.

In actuality, it’s 11 years in the future.

Now, it’s no longer ‘actual’.

13 years ago and 11 years later.

The day that was real, and the time that vanished with my regression.

Facing the paradox that words can’t express, is my murderer.

“……”

I stared at him. His face, deeply arched, was covered in fur, only his eyes and nose barely visible.

I know his name.

‘Webler’.

I don’t know if it’s his real name. It’s the name Zia will bestow upon him later.

I gnashed my teeth.

The resentment is still there. There’s no way I could harbor friendly feelings towards the man who killed me.

However, the description ‘the man who killed me’ feels a bit awkward.

I’m here, breathing and alive, and above all,

If I blame that death solely on him, then this regression is also thanks to him.

In reality, I don’t despise ‘Webler’ as much as I do Libra. Because he’s just a werewolf. Because I know the sorrow of the werewolf tribe well.

…It’s complicated.

In fact, my instinct, deep in my heart, is screaming to cut his throat right now.

But, reason says otherwise.

My life before regression was only two months. Even if I hadn’t been killed by him, I wouldn’t have lived long.

“You’ve grown a lot of fur.”

I said to him. He was still silent.

“Like some kind of werewolf.”

At that moment, there was a very faint reaction. Some of the many hairs stood on end.

“How old are you?”

Werewolves are a significant force. The strength of the race itself is excellent.

Without any training, just growing to adulthood gives them combat power on par with a 2nd or 3rd rank knight.

That strength is the reason they are ostracized by society, and the reason why Zia will accept them in the not too distant future.

“Can’t you answer?”

However, I didn’t know how Zia came to have a werewolf as a subordinate.

Could it have been from this point?

No, Webler had never met Zia. He said so himself.

“……”

I looked at Webler. The silent man was disgusting.

I want to kill him.

I want to cut his throat without thinking.

I kept having such thoughts.

I looked at the clock.

Only 5 minutes had passed. It felt like I had faced him for 50 minutes.

I looked beyond the glass. From inside, you can’t see outside, but from outside, Bell Moore would be watching me.

I said to him.

“……Let’s stop the recording for a bit.”

* * *

Meanwhile, Bell Moore was observing the situation from outside the interrogation room.

“……Look at that bastard, so fucking serious.”

The way Shion Ascal faced his opponent was brutal. Especially those eyes, they were the eyes of a psycho, as if he could decapitate the other at any moment.

“He’s really a madman, a madman……”

Such immense loyalty is dangerous.

Of course, Libra expects loyalty from all its members, but a fiery heart is rather a demerit.

Because they are ‘Scale’.

Always maintaining calm and composure, not mixing emotions with right and wrong, and only doing what is beneficial for Libra.

That is the ideal talent for Libra.

For Bell Moore, it’s rather a good thing. It’s proof that he is superior to that rookie.

“……Hmm?”

However, Shion Ascal gradually calmed down. The murderous intent and anger had somehow been reined in.

─How old are you?

Shion asked him.

There was no answer.

The conversation did not continue.

─Can’t you answer?

Perhaps because it’s a mission where he can’t decapitate, the guy is not very cooperative.

Well, this is the limit of a rookie.

He has successfully completed a few missions by luck, but in the end, it was ‘luck’, wasn’t it?

“You’ve been lucky so far, haven’t you? You psychopath.”

Then Shion looked this way. Precisely where he was sitting.

“What’s up. Hey, can you hear me?”

─……Let’s stop the recording for a bit.

“Can you hear me?”

Fortunately, it seems he can’t hear.

─Let’s turn off the recording and filming for a bit.

Bell Moore shook his head. He turned on the microphone connected to the interrogation room and spoke.

“……Come out for a bit.”

Then Shion came out. Bell Moore frowned and said.

“Hey. You can’t kill this time.”

The request to stop the recording and filming means, at the very least, he’s thinking of beating him up or, worse, killing him.

Shion nodded his head.

“I won’t kill.”

“I can’t trust that. Do you know who the kidnapped person is?”

“Who is it?”

“A branch of the Libra family.”

“……”

Shion’s eyebrows narrowed into a figure eight. Bell Moore chuckled.

“Branch family, damn it. Branch family. It’s not as important as a direct line.”

There’s a significant difference between the direct and branch families. Simply put, the branch family doesn’t even share the Libra ‘surname’.

“But they’re more important than us. You have to save them no matter what.”

“I’ll try, so let’s stop the recording and filming.”

Bell Moore sighed.

“Fine. But remember this. If you kill again this time, you’re out.”

Then he turned off the Artifact switch that was recording the inside of the interrogation room.

“Yes.”

Shion Ascal immediately went inside and closed the door.

Bang─!

“……He’s really a Lunatic, a Lunatic.”

How did such a guy end up here?

Bell Moore shook his head.

* * *

Knock─ Knock─

I tapped the desk with my finger.

Checking for resonance.

If there’s a recording or filming Artifact, the magic seeping into the space alters the way the resonance spreads.

Knock─ Knock─

It’s the same.

This means Bell Moore has turned off the recording Artifact. Now, even Bell Moore doesn’t know what’s happening in here.

“……I don’t really need to interrogate you.”

I told him. He still didn’t respond.

Perhaps he’s dismissing my words as nonsense.

“I know who you are.”

Still, he kept his head down, like someone who hears nothing.

I leaned forward, whispering softly to him, his shaggy hair covering his ears.

“You’re a werewolf.”

“……!”

Finally, he lifted his head. He looked at me with wide, startled eyes.

“I also know where your ‘tribe’ is hiding.”

“……”

He still looked skeptical.

Perhaps he thinks there’s a slim chance that I could’ve ‘guessed’ this much.

He’s mistaken.

“It’s to the east.”

His breath hitched for a moment.

“A dense forest. A cliff cut in the shape of a half-moon.”

As I continued, shock and despair filled his large eyes.

“Where the waterfall flows.”

This information is too obvious in the future. In the future, when the werewolves submit to Zia, their cave itself becomes public as they legally gain human rights.

“There must be your cave.”

I looked at him closely. His breathing had become ragged.

Just 5 minutes ago, he was dismissing me as if I were a barking dog.

“Now. With one word from me, Libra’s forces will head there.”

“H, how-”

Finally, he opened his mouth, but it wasn’t a proper response.

“‘How’ is not the word you should be saying right now. You have no right to question.”

The gap in information ultimately stems from its ‘source’.

When he doesn’t know where the truth I know comes from, he has no choice but to fear me.

And he should be afraid.

Because my source is ‘the future’.

“Negotiate-”

“No need for negotiations. I’m going to annihilate the entire species of werewolves.”

Suddenly, his canine teeth sharpened. A natural smile flowed from my lips.

“One by one, I’ll rip off their heads with care, cut their waists, and bury them underground.”

He trembled, his hands tied in handcuffs. His bristling fur was already sharp as if struck by lightning.

“Oh, I can stuff one or two. As evidence that you existed.”

I stood up.

“Good work.”

Just as I turned around and gripped the doorknob.

“W, wait!”

He called me. I slowly turned to look at him. He cried out with a desperate face like a rain-soaked dog.

“My tribe is innocent! It’s my doing, I took the bribe. The… the person I kidnapped isn’t in the cave, but somewhere else.”

“Where?”

“If you promise not to touch my tribe, I’ll tell you.”

“Why should I?”

I asked with a smirk.

“Why should I?”

There was a lump in my chest. It was pure white rage, and at the same time, a heart that purely despised someone.

“…In, instead, you can kill me.”

He said that.

“…What?”

“Kill me! Kill me!”

His eyes, pleading for his own death instead of his tribe’s, were strangely clear.

I found it strange.

Back when he was filled with faith in Libra, there was only the madness of a fanatic.

Now, he even briefly showed the maturity of a martyr.

I looked at him, my hand on the hilt of my sword at my waist.

“What… do you want?”

I’ve been curious about that. Not just today.

From the time he was religiously loyal to Zia, to today, which has continued from my regression.

I’m curious about his principles of action.

“Just….”

He smiled faintly, his face somewhat relieved.

“I just want a space where ‘we’ can live.”

I picked up the sword.

I swung it at his head.

……

I came out of the interrogation room. Bell Moore was asleep in his chair.

Snore───

It was a bit absurd, but rather fortunate.

“…Wake up.”

I shook his chair.

“Huh, what?”

“I’ve located it.”

“…The location?”

Bell Moore, who was yawning, quickly got up. He hurriedly looked into the glass window.

“Damn it!”

The interrogation room was bloody. Blood was flowing from the werewolf lying on the table.

Bell Moore turned to me with a distorted face.

“Hey, you crazy-”

“I didn’t kill him. Just beat him up a bit.”

“…You didn’t kill him?”

“Yes.”

Only then did Bell Moore take a closer look at him. His breath, flowing from his lips, was splattering blood.

I decided to only relieve this much of my personal grudge.

To become a ‘Balancer’, I have to maintain extreme calmness.

No matter how I think about it, I don’t have the motive or justification to kill him right now.

“Do we go with the two of us? Or should we call more people?”

“What?”

“I’ve found the location.”

“…Really?”

“Yes.”

Bell Moore looked into the glass window again.

“…So beating him up was the answer. But the others must have beaten him up a lot too?”

“Are you going to call for support?”

“No.”

Bell Moore shook his head.

“Let’s go with the two of us. Why share the honor? I’ll show you, my senior qualifications.”

* * *

Edsilla shares borders with three countries, and one of them is the kingdom of ‘Bellaros’, a border area.

The place Webler confessed to.

“Here?”

Bell Moore asked.

“Yes.”

I nodded and pointed in the distance with my finger.

“It’s a cave in that forest.”

The entrance of the cave that can be seen at a glance. Inside, there will probably be a barrier, trapping someone unknown.

“What the hell did you say to that mute?”

“I threatened him a bit.”

“Threat… Well, we’ll deal with that later. Let’s go in first.”

We quietly entered the cave.

……

At first, we advanced quite tensely. We were on guard even at the sound of the wind, and in anticipation of any possible magic traps, we were on high alert.

However, the expected attack did not come.

It was rather quiet.

“Hey. I don’t think this is the place, no matter how I think about it. It’s a trap.”

Bell Moore folded his arms. He looked at me with a suspicious face.

“Did you just come here because you were happy with any information that bastard gave you?”

“No. Can’t you see it?”

I can see it.

SZX-9500, switched to infrared detection. At the end of this cave, the heat of one person is being transmitted.

“……Is it real?”

“Yes.”

Fssst-

At that moment, there was a sign of someone behind us. It was the detection formula that Bell Moore had set up when he entered the cave.

─Shh. One guy came.

Bell Moore bent over.

─……You’re sure he’s here.

I nodded.

─Then you go and rescue him. I’ll take care of that guy.

─Okay.

We split up like that. I moved forward, and Bell Moore hid in the darkness of the cave.

After following the body heat captured by the SZX-9500 for about 5 minutes.

I found one person.

It was a woman with a haggard face.

Her hair was a slightly murky blue. Probably a navy blue. Definitely not the color of a pure blood. Her mouth was taped shut, and her whole body was bound.

A familiar face. There’s no way I wouldn’t know, she’s a key figure in Libra.

Kwaaaa───!

Suddenly, a large explosion occurred. It must have been a battle between Bell Moore and the kidnapper.

The woman opened her eyes amidst the commotion.

“Ugh!”

She reacted loudly as soon as she saw me. I put a finger to my lips.

“Shh.”

Then I raised my sword.

There is no path behind this. It’s clearly a dead end, but not to me.

Just like before, all I need to do is cut through space for a moment.

The side effects will be a bit severe though…

“…Huff!”

I deployed the 「Severing Sword」. The trajectory of the diagonal line pierced the void. A new space shimmered in the gap of that sword stroke.

“Let’s go.”

I hoisted her onto my shoulder.

Kwaaaa───!

But the back is quite intense. Seeing that Bell Moore can’t finish it off easily, he seems to be a pretty strong guy.

“Warning, you might get woozy.”

I took a step forward.

In an instant, the darkness of the cave scattered. The space flipped to the outdoors in a flash.

“…”

I endured the pain that felt like I was about to vomit blood.

“Ugh!”

The woman on my shoulder flailed violently. I put her down and ripped off the tape.

“Uweeeek──-!”

She immediately vomited.

“Are you okay?”

“Uweeeek……. Ah, fuck. Are you from Libra?”

“Yes.”

The woman who had mostly thrown up glanced at me and nodded.

“Ah……. Ah. Okay. You found me somehow?”

“Yes. Please stay here.”

“…What. Why. We should run.”

I pointed to the cave.

“My partner is in there.”

Kwaaaa──!

“…Is he fighting while making a fuss in the surronding? Those bastards will be back soon.”

She seemed displeased with that.

“We should return safely if possible.”

I drew my sword.

“I’ll be back soon. Please stay quiet.”

“…I can’t even move because of my legs anyway.”

She touched her knee. I looked at it and raised an eyebrow.

Is she limping?

She is Zia’s second in command.

“Fuck. I’ll kill them when I get back.”

Why this woman was kidnapped, and what her relationship with the werewolf is, are stuff I’ll have to figure out from now on…