Chapter 39
“Don’t make me laugh!”
Sharp daggers and gleaming blades sliced through the air, flying toward us.
“Capture the intruders at once!”
Ian deflected a sword with ease and caught it in his hand. An invisible current of wind rippled outward from the tip of his blade.
“You know how to use a sword?”
“I may not look it, but I was once a knight trainee.”
Ian swung his sword without the slightest falter. Good. Then I’ll leave the aerial battle to him.
“Die!”
I turned my head and thrust my hand toward the ground.
A blue light gathered at my fingertips. The tranquil aura of water sharpened in an instant.
Swoooosh—
A fierce jet of pressurized water split the earth. The water pillar surged up like a wave and slammed into the ground. The moment it struck, traps hidden beneath the soil activated and the earth began to quake.
“They really planted a lot of these.”
Explosives buried underground went off one after another. Tremors rumbled continuously through the ground, while mist-like steam blurred our vision.
“Now, now’s our chance!”
“Fall back while they’re distracted!”
Through the veil of dust and steam, some of the hunters stumbled back in a panic.
“…Switching to Plan B!”
One of them shouted into a communication stone.
Ian, who was wiping blood from his sword hilt, quietly stepped up beside me. I glanced at him and asked,
“What do you think they’ll try now?”
“A typical stalling tactic.”
I agreed. Their display was sloppy at best, yet these were the same people who had subdued pirates. That couldn’t have been an empty rumor.
Which meant the pathetic lackeys we were seeing weren’t all there was. For them to maintain a group like this, their higher-ups couldn’t be ordinary.
So without a doubt, somewhere in this zone, a key figure was hiding.
Who could it be?
The one targeting my life. The one who kidnapped someone connected to me, drawing me into this place.
Leaving the explosive-ridden perimeter behind, we pushed further inward. The area looked as though it had once been the temple’s garden.
“This looks like another trap.”
Clang!
From a crack in the ground, a massive metal snare sprang upward. Its spikes gleamed like sharpened awls, each dripping with a dark, poisonous sheen.
I was just considering whether to smash it aside when something bulged out of my pocket—Jelly puffed up proudly.
“It’s my turn now!”
With that, it opened its mouth wide and chomped down on the trap, crushing it whole. I recoiled in shock.
“Jelly, you can really eat just anything…?”
“Master has grown, so I’ve grown too.”
Not long ago, it swore it wouldn’t eat everything.
Now doubled in size, Jelly munched away happily, its belly giving off hollow thumps as it patted itself.
“This much is no problem!”
I laughed and patted Jelly’s head.
“Hey, Jelly. Remember when I told you things could get dangerous?”
“Of course, Master. A clever jellyfish remembers everything Master says.”
“…But how do you plan to get back in my pocket when you’re this big?”
Jelly tried to squeeze its head into my pouch but failed, then looked up at me.
“Eeeeng.”
That silly attempt at cuteness was a bonus. Ian gave a dry cough beside us.
“Well, watching a fight is always the most fun. Back home at sea, it was normal to see blowfish and snakeheads fighting…”
So that’s what he meant.
Tucking the oversized Jelly under my arm, I kept moving.
Soon, a suspicious fog enveloped us, but that was all. Ian stepped forward, flicking his fingers.
The wind shifted at his command. A strong current swirled through the fog, scattering it away.
“Code Seven! Intruders entering!”
“The Lovers of the Storm have passed the second gate!”
“Reform the lines! The main hall is Smile’s responsibility!”
With that loud shout, the hunters vanished like fleeting gusts.
No one stood in our way now. We reached the temple’s front gate with little trouble. Though old and dilapidated, the massive structure radiated pressure.
As if something might leap out at any moment.
“The air current’s strange.”
Ian slowly raised his hand. The air at his fingertip trembled like a thin thread. From his touch, invisible strands of wind began to stir.
“The wind is being twisted from inside.”
“…What does that mean? Is something there?”
“Of course. The kidnapper and the hostages.”
His gentle tone didn’t match the grim content of his words. Did he really have the leisure to joke right now?
“That’s not what I was asking.”
I frowned slightly and looked up at him. He only smiled faintly and replied,
“It means the interior is complicated. I won’t be able to navigate with wind currents alone.”
Not something to be said with a smile.
I let out a hollow laugh and signaled with my eyes: let’s go in.
“…So this is the temple?”
Inside, there was hardly such a thing as a corridor. Twisted passageways and walls placed in irrational ways. An open door led only to a closed wall beyond it.
Saying the space was distorted wasn’t an exaggeration. The ceiling dropped low, then suddenly rose; the floor tilted or jutted unevenly.
“This must be someone’s ability.”
“If they can manipulate space… that would explain it.”
Though we’d walked straight ahead, the same doorway reappeared behind us.
Stairs and passages cut off abruptly. The dizziness felt like motion sickness, my senses steadily unraveling.
It didn’t take long to realize we were trapped in a labyrinth.
“Hey, Ian.”
“Yes, Kanoe?”
As we wandered the maze, I spoke up.
“I was thinking… what if we just blast a straight path?”
I mimed shooting a gun with my hand. If I fired a water jet and smashed through every wall, we could follow the tunnel.
“A hole would lead somewhere, right?”
The air felt oddly heavy. Damp moldy odor clung to the walls, moss creeping across stone. Our footsteps echoed faintly over the ancient floor.
“But the hostages might be at the other end of that wall.”
“…That’s true.”
I’d thought it was a good plan, but Ian was right. If this was a spatial manipulator, they could shuffle people around at will.
Time passed—who knew how much—until Jelly, tucked against my side, pointed ahead.
“Master, isn’t that blood?”
On the dark floor, fresh blood trailed in a line.
“….”
Holding our breath, we followed it.
Soon, we found someone collapsed on the ground.
A man slumped against the wall, his skin pale. Even from a distance, his shallow breaths looked like they might cease at any moment.
“…Doesn’t seem like he’s one of the kidnapped.”
Just as I stepped closer to check—
“…Ah, hahh.”
A faint sound escaped him—half-breath, half-speech. I moved in again, straining to hear.
“…Ahahaha…”
The man was laughing. He tilted his head, and our eyes met. A shiver crawled down my spine.
His smile creaked like that of a broken doll. His empty gaze was devoid of feeling, yet fixed on me.
“What the…?”
Before I could finish the thought, his hand moved.
Clink, clink.
A long, sharp metal tool—like a syringe needle—rattled in his grip. Without hesitation, he stabbed it into his own arm.
Blood spattered.
“Ahh… good boy… Were you worried about me?”
It happened in the blink of an eye.
“Kanoe!”
Even before my mind caught up, his hand lunged at me, the metal spike flashing before my eyes.
“Yes, yes, Kanoe. You’re so kind, truly!”
A flood of red, sticky liquid filled my vision.
