Chapter 293: Breaking News (4) |
In Trick City, a place brimming with novel and mysterious things, I am here with soliette.
“lt seems to be somewhere around here…”
Sheron had given us these coordinates.
“But, Candy, if it’s a person, wouldn’t it be difficult with just coordinates? People move, don’t they?”
We were here to find a subject for human experimentation.
“Exactly. Hold on, Jelly.”
“…Can I just be Candy instead?”
“Shh.”
I pulled out my phone and dialed someone.
—Who is this?
“Ah, yes. Sheron, it’s me, Shion.”
It was Sheron.
…What now? What is it?
“What do you mean what is it? Didn’t you get what you wanted?”
…
No response.
That probably means she did.
“lf you got what you wanted, we’re currently at these coordinates.”
I texted our current location to Sheron.
“ls the person matching the frequency around here by any chance?”
…Huh?
“Could you check it for us?”
—Are you insane?
Sheron let out a baffled chuckle.
“Come on. You arranged everything, just help us out a bit. We’ll just see them once, okay?”
…
Again, no response.
Maybe she doesn’t want it to end with just one meeting, maybe she wants to meet two or three more times.
—Wait a sec.
I waited briefly.
Soon, Sheron spoke.
—Eh? There. You guys are standing right next to them?
“…Right next to us?”
“Wha?”
Soliette and I quickly looked around.
There was a street vendor right beside the road where we stood. A middle-aged man with bushy hair had piled up fruits on his stall.
—Hey. But you, can you arrange another meeting later? That fortune-teller seems really powerful.
“…Just a moment.”
—It's not just a moment, that fortune-teller was right. He knew who my internal spy was. That person is really incredible—
I hung up the phone and slowly approached the vendor.
“…”
The middle-aged man just looked at us without saying a word.
“Um…”
He immediately pointed at the fruits.
“Three for 3 Ren.”
“No, we're not interested. Ah, I do have cash here though.”
I pulled out a wad of cash from my wallet.
“lf you answer some questions honestly, I’ll give it all to you.”
“…Questions?”
“Yes. It’ll be about 5000 Ren.”
5000 Ren. The middle-aged man’s expression showed a flicker of interest.
“What do you want to ask?”
“…Well, about that…”
It’s an awkward question to ask someone for the first time, but there’s no time to beat around the bush.
“Have you ever participated in human experimentation?”
…
“I don’t know what you’re after, but this isn’t something to discuss on the street.”
I was formally invited to a cabin in the forest outside Trick City. The middle-aged man—Jekyll—was telling us as I listened with soliette.
“I don’t know where it was exactly. I was blindfolded and taken there.”
He showed his palm with each statement, signaling he wanted money.
I handed him a 1,000 Ren bill.
Soliette asked, “ls there anything else you can remember?”
“I was injected with a syringe full of some unknown drugs. But they didn’t explain what it was.”
Jekyll reached out his hand again.
I handed him another 1,000 Ren bill.
“Can you describe what happened there, maybe a detailed schedule?”
“There wasn’t much of a schedule. I was just locked in a room and injected with the drug three times a week. After each injection, they took my blood. That’s all I know. I don’t know about the others.”
Jekyll reached out his hand again.
I handed him another 1,000 Ren bill.
“So, how did the experiment end?”
“There was an accident.”
“…An accident?”
“Yeah. One day, there was a huge noise. Screams and something tearing apart. It was chilling, like something being ground up in a blender. I hid under the bed, and right after that, the lab was almost split in half.”
I handed him 3,000 Ren.
“HOW did it split?”
“I don't know. I was hiding under the bed. But, clearly, a guy who was normal until the night before suddenly went crazy… and when he swung his hand, walls were sliced through?”
I looked at soliette, and she nodded.
Knightmare.
“Anyway, I ran away from there. That's the end of it.”
“…Then. This is the last question.”
I pulled up a face on my smartphone.
“Was this person there?”
Dr. Vito. The mad scientist with striking grassy hair.
The middle-aged man, Jekyll, squinted his eyes as if recalling something, then snapped his fingers.
“…Ah? Oh! I think I’ve seen him! He was the one sticking needles in my arm… His head was so noticeable, it sticks in my memory.”
Libra.
The Knightmare incident was definitely related to Libra.
Soliette abruptly stood up. I handed Jekyll the remaining bills and posed my final question.
“Have you heard any other stories from the researchers there?”
“Stories… yes, I’ve heard something.”
“What did you hear?”
Jekyll stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“lf someone comes asking about the events of that day or about what happened then,” he paused, a bright smile spreading across his face, “call us and buy some time. That’s the reason we’re keeping you alive instead of killing you.”
A chill ran down my spine.
Almost simultaneously, a surge of energy rushed through the cabin, attempting to split us at the waist, but I quickly drew my sword to block it.
The cabin exploded into pieces. Wood splinters and planks were hurled into the air as if caught in a typhoon.
Soliette and I turned to face the source.
A swordsman stood there.
A familiar face.
It was 'Phine,' known as the Balancer of Sherlock, famous for his brute strength. An odd fellow who wore a cap even in his old age.
But he was formidable.
Too strong for me to handle now.
“Candy,” Soliette called out to me.
“What, Jelly?”
“He’s a formidable opponent. Let’s attack together.”
“Okay.”
I glanced behind us.
Jekyll, the damned man, had already fled.
Phine swung his longsword in an arc. Soliette and I stepped back, drawing our swords.
His longsword struck ours, pushing back two blades with one. He was solid, and our stance was greatly shaken. The impact reverberated through our spines.
Just one clash was enough to understand.
He was not someone we could contend with.
The gap in skill was too vast.
I summoned all the Perion energy within me.
“Ha!”
Time seemed to slow down. Phine targeted us with the longsword gripped in his hand, and I moved swiftly, trying to outmaneuver him.
But the pressure created by his sword pushed me back. A light swing from Phine had sent me soaring.
He tried to thrust his longsword at me, but soliette blocked it.
Their broadsword and longsword clashed. Soliette held on, but blood spurted from her grip. Her knee ominously buckled.
I seized the moment to deploy my Severing Sword at Phine.
A simultaneous pull and push, an impossible maneuver.
The sword that defies the laws of physics.
“!”
Rhine’s eyes widened. He tried to block the drawing sword but was cut by the thrusting sword.
S platter !
Blood sprayed from his side.
That was it.
He immediately thrust his sword, deeply slicing into soliette’s shoulder. Then, he struck her face with the flat of the blade.
“Argh!”
Whoosh— Thud!
Soliette was flung through the air, crashing into a tree stump. Phine was about to finish her off, and I stood protectively in front of her.
I faced Phine head-on.
Boom-
Our swords met. The oppressive feeling of a great force was immense.
Growl—!
Phine relentlessly pressed on. I had no chance to deploy my Severing Sword.
If I didn’t defend, my body would shatter.
Crack-
Indeed, was this the power of a Balancer?
Each of his strikes was like artillery magic, heavy and powerful. Every hit felt like it was crushing my bones and bursting my organs.
The thumb gripping my sword had already snapped backwards.
It seemed, there was no way out.
This bastard didn’t come here alone for no reason.
Once again, it’s clear, the world is vast and there are many masters…
It’s absurd.
“ Step aside.”
From behind.
A solemn voice permeated my ears.
Instinctively, I ducked my head. Beyond that, a sword strike soared. It converged into a single point, a line gathering at one vanishing point.
Faster than lightning, without any waste, focused solely on one point.
Phine raised his sword to block it, but the point penetrated. The same hole appeared in his neck.
It was a piercing.
“……Gah.”
Even in that state, the monstrous man still gripped his sword.
Now it was my turn.
Ascal style, First Sword Draw
I unleashed my sword. A circular arc extended from the sheath, slicing through Rhine’s waist. He fell in two pieces, like a tree chopped down.
“……”
“……”
After the battle, the mountains fell silent.
Somehow, my mind felt numb.
Step— Step—
Meanwhile, Soliette walked forward. I watched her back with a dazed look.
“Soliette.”
The sword technique soliette had just displayed.
It was…… not an ordinary sword.
It wasn’t just any Arkne style.
Severing Sword.
Certainly, it was a part of the Severing Sword.
“Soliette.”
I called out to soliette. Soliette, without responding, looked at Rhine’s corpse.
“…Soliette.”
I called out to her again. Soliette still said nothing—
“Ah. Yes.”
She turned to look at me.
“Are you alright, Shion?”
She was still soliette.
Still, the soliette of now.
“You. Just now… what did you do?”
“Ah, that? I tried to imitate what Shion did.”
“Me?”
“Yes. Remember the sword technique you showed before? I tried to adapt that… Shion. You really wield an incredible technique. It’s extremely powerful.”
Is it really something you can just imitate?
Well, it’s originally soliette’s, so I guess she could imitate it.
“Are you hurt?”
“Yes. I got a deep cut on my shoulder, but thanks to Shion, I survived.”
She smiled at me.
“Shion. That sword was more destructive than Arkne’s techniques. Won’t you teach me?”
“…NO.”
“Why not?”
“lf I say no, then it’s a no. Don’t try to imitate it either.”
“Hmm. Why?”
Soliette crossed her arms. I sheath my sword and retorted bluntly.
“ITI sue you for copyright infringement. Imitate it if you have the money.”
“What… No, more importantly. What do we do about this person?”
She pointed at Phine. I let out a light sigh.
“lndeed. We’ve killed a Balancer.”
Fortunately, our identities haven’t been exposed.
I'm Candy, and soliette is Jelly.
“Let’s get out of here. We’ll ditch these identities.”
“Yes.”
Soliette immediately turned around. I quietly followed her as she skillfully surveyed the surroundings and made her escape.
The next day, I went to work as Killian.
Due to the fierce battle the night before, my whole body felt as if it had been hammered by a hammer, but well, today was an important day nonetheless.
“l’m at work.”
There was no response.
Dr. Vito was deep in thought, something placed on the table in front of him.
“…Dr. Vito. What are you doing?”
“Ah, Dr. Killian.”
Vito pointed at the object with a twitch of his eyebrow. It was a human arm.
“Is that a human arm?”
“No. It’s a doll.”
“…A doll?”
“Yes. A doll. Have you ever heard of Akane from Selfless Coffin ?”
I was taken aback.
Akane, of course, I knew very well.
“Uh… not really sure.”
“She’s the greatest doll maker of our era. I once commissioned her… It’s truly fascinating. How can she make dolls that seem just like real people?”
“Ah… It does indeed look quite human.”
I casually played along. Vito chuckled and pushed up his glasses.
“Well, that's that.”
Then he lifted a lever in the corner of the laboratory.
Thud—! Thud—! Thud—!
A loud noise echoed as the Bottles of souls were revealed. Now there were no bodies, just overwritten souls, sparkling as they were trapped inside the bottles.
“Let’s get ready for commercialization.”
“Yes.”
I carefully recorded the scene on video.
The time for me to act as a whistleblower was drawing near.
[The streets are getting cleaner… The serial disappearance of the homeless]
Riley was reading the news while communicating with Vancheon.
“…These incidents, they’re linked to Libra’s AI7”
—Yes. Evidence has been captured.
Riley scanned through the evidence they had sent.
Scenes of Libra’s agents kidnapping sleeping homeless people or luring them under the guise of free meals… It all looked suspiciously foul.
Riley bit her lip slightly.
“…lt’s a dangerous mission. Derek’s future is at stake.”
But the risk of approaching was too great.
Since this was the mission Derek was most focused on, just getting close would attract suspicion from all sorts of Chasers.
—It’s also a perfect opportunity to bring Derek down.
“What about me?”
…
Riley bit her lip again.
“lf we bring Derek down, am I expendable?”
—Owl. That’s not what I mean.
“…”
Riley quietly closed her eyes, sinking into her chair and taking a deep breath.
—What happened to the researcher you were close with?
Dr. Killian suddenly came to mind.
Dr. Killian’s words echoed in her ears.
—Artificial intelligence… It’s going to be a whole new technology. But you'd better stay away from it if you can.
He had warned her to stay away.
Dr. Killian definitely knew something. There was clearly a deeply inhumane conspiracy involved with this Al.
“…ITI provide more details later.”
Riley ended the communication.
Then, she picked up her smartphone.
There were quite a few messages exchanged with Dr. Killian.
As a member of [VancheonJ , she had a role to fulfill. To do that, she needed to deal with this man first.
“…A lot of homeless people have disappeared, you know? Isn’t that a good thing?”
Riley practiced her lines.
Since Derek’s Al was surely related to the serial disappearance of the homeless, she had to pretend to be just like them to extract information.
“The homeless who are of no help to the continent might as well disappear sooner rather than later…”
Lines to share with Dr. Killian. Riley nodded as she typed the dialogue into her laptop.
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