TL/ED – Miso
“…”
Lump, who had been looking at in disbelief, soon let out a smirk.
“Kill , huh… You say it so easily. Even I can’t do that, you know.”
“What?”
“Before we talk about killing or not, don’t you realize it’s not over yet?”
Lump blinked. And the deep sea trembled slightly.
It wasn’t much, but it was certain that this bastard had done sothing.
“What did you do?”
“Who knows.”
As I watched him sneer slyly, a sudden realization struck .
If he could control Elysia while asleep, and if he could use Wihwa’s abilities.
“This fucking son of a bitch…”
I imdiately stood up from my seat.
There were more than a few who had fallen victim to that ability. Perhaps everyone near Elysia had been affected.
“Ohh, figured it out? But it’s too late. You won’t be able to find all the nobles I’ve tampered with in the ti left.”
He started mocking , but I didn’t even have ti to get angry. I took out the orb and gave him a final warning.
“Do you really think it’s impossible?”
“Yeah.”
“Then watch from there.”
Whether he’s a Crimson Circle executive, or just a janitor.
“I’ll co find you soon to grant your wish.”
Before the door closed, the bastard wearing Elysia’s face smiled as if intrigued.
-Bang!
Outside the room, Brimdal stood with an expression of disbelief.
“Please keep an eye on that thing.”
“Hmm, are you sure you don’t need my help?”
He seed to have inferred the situation from the conversation. But I shook my head.
“It’s okay. I have soone else to ask for help.”
Brimdal would be a great help, but what was more important right now was making sure that bastard couldn’t do anything strange with Elysia’s body.
I tapped the orb as I headed toward the stable. I wondered what I’d do if she was asleep at this hour of the night, but…
[What’s going on?]
Fortunately, she was awake.
Did she foresee it?
…No, she said she couldn’t see the outco, so probably not. I made my request while riding.
“I’ve resolved the issue.”
[…Huh?]
“But I need to clean things up. I’d like to borrow a knight. The strongest and most exceptional one you know.”
[I see. Alright.]
The Princess answered in a lively voice.
[I’ll send the most exceptional knight I know. Where shall I send them?]
“To the spire located in the very center of the Capital, please. And provide them with clearance as well.”
It would take too long if I went via the main roads.
As soon as the conversation ended, I drove my horse into the forest path.
-Neigh! The horse resisted, but with so whipping, I managed to control it. I cleared trees and rocks using the current and forced a path through.
“…Guh.”
Naturally, I had to exert that much, so the burden was a bit severe.
It couldn’t be helped. Though it was a much longer route, I arrived in an instant and leapt past the guards while still on horseback.
“Uh, hey!”
“Stop!”
I didn’t stop despite their earnest pleas. I reached the Capital in less than half the usual ti.
I let the horse go as I arrived at the spire and looked around, and there stood a slightly smaller knight clad in black armor.
They were clearly suspicious, so I asked imdiately.
“Did the Princess send you?”
“I am Karos of the Imperial Guard Knights, Heaven’s Judgent Knight.”
“…?”
The voice sohow resembled the Princess.
Their face was hidden behind a helt.
No way it’s her in person, right? Judging by the sharp tone, it probably wasn’t…
Karos didn’t seem very pleased and asked with an irritated gaze behind the helt.
“What do you need to do?”
“Yes. First, carry up to the top of the spire.”
“How far up?”
“To the very top.”
“Understood.”
Karos grabbed the back of my neck, and climbed up the outer wall of the spire instead of using the stairs.
At an incredible speed, the ground quickly grew distant.
As if it were her own room, she ran with ease… It really felt like the Princess had sent the strongest knight she knew.
“Ugh.”
Because she was holding by the back of my neck while climbing, my neck was a little choked, but since I used a different thod to breathe, it wasn’t that painful.
When we reached the top of the spire, from where the entire Capital could be seen, Karos asked again.
“What now?”
“Just a mont.”
I looked around near the spire and found a small door leading downward. I opened the workshop and brought out a bunch of bandages and dicine.
The pearl dicine, I brought it and put it in my mouth, but didn’t swallow it.
“Now, please prepare to treat . Oh, and from now on, if I write sothing on this paper with this pen, please follow it.”
“…What?”
“Prepare to treat . I’m about to get hurt.”
“Are you planning to jump? No matter what, I can’t treat that.”
“No. It’s not such a light injury.”
“…?”
Leaving the puzzled Karos alone, I looked down at the Capital.
As expected of the Empire’s Capital. The night streets were covered in all the colors of the spectrum, a grand sight that didn’t lose even when compared to a modern city.
“Hoo….”
I had to find them.
Right now, most people would be asleep, or perhaps Lump had used Wihwa’s ability to do sothing, so I might be able to sense it.
However, searching one by one would be too slow.
I had to find them all at once.
For that, I’d have to scan the entire Capital.
…It was ti to gamble.
0.2 seconds. No matter how I thought about it, using more than that would an instant death. Hoping I wouldn’t explode and die, I looked down over the city and murmured.
“…Spread.”
I covered the Capital with current sense.
And the world disappeared.
All the lights spread out below vanished in an instant, and a silent world where it felt like only I remained unfolded.
Nothing could be seen. Nothing could be heard.
-The suspension created by ignorance ended.
[…]
[…..?]
[……….!]
Current sense no longer swept through the city.
Instead, I felt the inhabitants of the world.
Then, ‘everything’ in this world noticed .
Beings whose eyes, arms, legs, and internal organs were not within the bounds of human understanding expressed excitent through their respective organs.
Sothing with a thousand eyes inside its mouth sensed .
Sothing that had wrapped its shell with its own tongue sensed .
Sothing with eyeballs on the tip of each tentacle saw .
“…Hah.”
I let out a laugh in disbelief. Because I could feel the sensation of their perception licking over .
Wasn’t this supposed to be my privilege? A power naturally possessed by all those born and survived in this place.
That was current sense.
It was proof that I too was a proper part of them.
Still, I couldn’t see anything with my eyes. I couldn’t hear or feel anything either.
But I could tell that those beings were rejoicing.
[————–!]
Perhaps those things, having spread their Current sense far wider and broader than the likes of , began swimming toward .
Those that had been eating, and those that were being eaten.
Only for . Just for .
…Why?
Even in this situation, doubt ca before fear.
Beings who would consider soone like more trivial than a bug caught in their teeth, why did they hate this much, resent like this?
I understood that this world hated .
But was that truly the only reason?
While I was pondering, sothing finally reached out from the darkness.
A yellow tentacle.
It wrapped around my leg.
“…”
Is this the end?
That thought briefly passed through my mind, and the 0.1 seconds that felt like an hour went by.
“…………..Kh, ku, keuaaaaak…!”
Again, the city lights returned.
The human world. Atop the spire.
My ho from 0.1 seconds ago.
I collapsed and vomited everything in my stomach.
The acceleration of thought was beyond belief. So this is the limit of the burden.
“J-Jern?”
Karos approached in surprise and placed her hand on .
“This is… sweat? No. What is this?”
“S-seawater, kuh, I think.”
In the anti, my clothes had gotten completely soaked.
This had never happened before. It ant I had actually interfered with the real, material world.
As I kept retching, Karos quickly took out so dicine and stripped off my clothes.
“Th-the Imperial law…”
“What in the world is this…? You look no different from the corpse of soone crushed to death.”
“…Huh?”
I weakly raised my arm.
My skin color had changed. It was purple.
My entire body was bruised. Every ti I rubbed my eyes, the hot liquid that ca out probably wasn’t tears but blood.
So.
“…I was incredibly lucky.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Honestly, I was prepared to go blind and deaf.”
Still bewildered, Karos flinched and looked at the paper and pen.
“Don’t tell that’s why you prepared that.”
“Yes. I needed a way to communicate.”
“…Why did you do sothing so dangerous?”
“Because I don’t really need those things anymore.”
“-You’re insane.”
Rather, I was perfectly sane.
With the current sense spread this wide, eyes and ears had lost their aning.
Current sense sees and hears faster and more precisely.
Maybe it was thanks to my training with Brimdal, but I felt it even before I beca conscious of it.
It was to the point that I didn’t even have the ti to feel disgust towards that world’s residents. After receiving ergency treatnt and taking painkillers, I held onto the railing and stood up.
“Anyway, I’ve confird everything.”
“What do you an?”
“The people Elysia ca into contact with. Since they were asleep, I could see them.”
“You used that… consciousness to scan the entire Capital?”
“Yes.”
In 0.1 seconds, or even less, I spread current sense across the whole city and located the ones who had been tainted.
And at the sa ti, I confird the limits of my burden.
“That’s a bit… dangerous.”
Karos’s gaze toward had changed.
It felt like she was looking at a bomb that could explode at any mont. When she started fiddling with the hilt of her sword, I glared at her in disbelief.
“Is this really the ti?”
“…No, I apologize.”
“I completely understand that I’m seen as a threat. But for now, there are more imdiate issues than , so let’s talk after everything’s over.”
“Yes. Understood.”
After regaining my composure, I wrote down the locations of those I sensed as Fallen on the list.
As Karos read it, her eyes widened.
“This has beco a bit troubleso.”
“What is?”
“There are nobles among them. What do you intend to do?”
“Go and put them to sleep in a slightly different way.”
If they can move while sleeping, then I just need to make sure they don’t sleep. And sleep and unconsciousness are two entirely different states.
Hearing my words, Karos frowned.
“That’s absurd. The Princess has already sacrificed much of her political standing to prevent this situation. If you use violence, she’ll have to give up even more.”
“Tell her to sacrifice so more. Look at the situation we’re in.”
“…You too must know from what she told you. How the giant called the Empire walks without problems.”
Karos suddenly started talking strangely.
“From the year Her Highness turned ten until now, not a single day, not a taphor, literally not a single day, has she rested while looking into the future to protect the Empire. Why do you think she did that?”
“Because she couldn’t bear to see people dying?”
“No. It was because only she could do it. She accepted being born a Princess and receiving such powers as divine will. She’s soone who could enjoy everything the world has to offer, and yet she gave it all up for us.”
“For us?”
“Don’t forget that you, too, exist under Her Highness’s grace.”
Well, I suppose that’s true. Like the Orphanage welfare and all.
Karos seed to harbor a feeling of respect toward the Princess, not just a simple superior-subordinate relationship.
“She will continue to be that way. To you, this might be a crisis that must be stopped no matter what, even at the cost of sacrifice, but to Her Highness, it’s just one of the many disasters yet to co. You mustn’t give up everything.”
Annoying. I rolled my eyes and offered an alternative.
“Then let’s do it this way.”
“…?”
When I explained the outline to Karos, her expression hardened in disbelief.
“Are you insane?”
“It’s an efficient thod.”
“…”
She didn’t hesitate for long. It definitely wasn’t a sane thod, but considering she was ready to kill a boy as young as , Karos could also be classified as a lunatic.
“Understood.”
“Then just wrap these bandages and let’s go. Doesn’t seem like we’ve got much ti.”
“Yes, then… hmm?”
As she wrapped the bandages around my body, Karos tilted her head.
“Is sothing wrong?”
“No, it’s just that there’s one part that’s uninjured.”
“…?”
That couldn’t be.
My entire body should’ve been under pressure.
“Strangely enough, this part alone doesn’t have any bruising.”
I looked at the spot Karos pointed to.
Among the rest of my body, which had turned a deep, dark purple, there was one place that still had my original skin tone.
“…Hmm.”
It was the ankle that had been wrapped by the yellow jellyfish.
*
The mansion of the targeted noble.
Hiding in the nearby bushes wearing a mask, I heard Karos mutter with a displeased expression.
“I gave my approval, but I’m not sure about this. Isn’t this the way of the Undercurrent?”
“Enough talk. We’re starting.”
I put on the mask I was given.
It was different from the one Sharmia had given . Much darker, more ominous.
But at night like this, it would be hard to tell the difference.
I stepped out from the bushes and approached the guard standing at the door.
“Halt! Identify yourself.”
“Don’t you know ? I’m here for inspection.”
“…?”
The guard looked at with a confused expression, tilting his head.
“No, sothing’s a bit off… your voice, too.”
I guess he rembered the mask well, typical of a guard.
Exactly what I was hoping for. I lifted the guard with a current.
“W-what…?”
I tapped his neck lightly so he wouldn’t get hurt.
“Kh-”
Unconscious.
Only then did I call out to Karos and tied the rope to my body.
“Please start the fire.”
“…We might be the disaster the Princess foresaw.”
“You said we couldn’t knock people out in Her Highness’s na.”
Then we’ll borrow the na of Crimson Circle.
A terror act by Crimson Circle, stealing the face of an inspector.
That’s how this incident will be defined.
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
“Haa… Where?”
“Fourth floor, third window.”
Hearing the answer, Karos grabbed one end of the rope tied to my body, and with the other hand, she gripped the back of my neck.
“You better not die.”
“I’m not soone who can die just from falling.”
Karos shot a sharp look, then bent her waist while holding , and hurled toward the mansion.
-Crash!
Like a stone shot from a slingshot, I slamd into the window and rolled across the floor several tis.
I tried to fall as cleanly as possible using the current, but maybe because I was already covered in bruises, it still hurt.
The place I landed was a bedroom. I had confird it with current sense, and the noble who needed to be knocked out was here.
He was already awake.
“Good evening.”
“…”
But he wasn’t in a normal state.
Sitting on the bed, mouth agape, staring blankly this way, he was the very picture of a sleepwalker.
Definitely different from Lump, who had possessed Elysia’s body. It felt like he was just waiting for orders.
And he probably was. But I couldn’t leave him like that.
“Good night.”
Crack- I used current to strangle his neck and knock him out.
As I signaled with the rope, the door burst open and soldiers poured in.
“I-it’s an intruder!! It’s the lord’s bedroom!”
The rushing guards pointed their spears at and slowly approached.
It was ti to do a little cosplay for the Princess. I began explaining a bit awkwardly.
“Well now, the plan’s been disrupted. What a sha. But by the end of tonight, your lord will be under our control. Good luck with that.”
“W-what did you say?!”
“I possess the power of brainwashing, but only for tonight. Since you can’t disobey your lord’s orders, you won’t be able to win against us. I couldn’t fully act because of the Princess’s plans, but I couldn’t let this chance slip by, so I forcibly began tonight. If you understand, answer .”
“You crazy bastard… who the hell are you!”
“I’m a mber of Crimson Circle’s… uh, um…”
I needed to say Crimson Circle, but I hadn’t co up with a na beforehand. After hesitating, I just said sothing random that I’d heard earlier.
“Undercurrent.”
-Ping!
The mont I finished speaking, the rope was yanked with trendous force.
Before I could crash into a tree, Karos caught with both hands, preventing a critical injury.
I grimaced as the rope tied around my stomach was painfully tugged, then imdiately mounted the horse that had been waiting nearby.
“It’s done. Next is that Horne noble. I think Elysia ca into contact with him during a flower viewing… Anyway, let’s go.”
“Understood. But… do we really have to set fires?”
“Just light it sowhere it won’t spread too much. If we commit arson on top of everything, this incident will escalate nicely.”
“What I an is, why do we even have to do that?”
I explained to the confused Karos.
“Because we might be able to use it later.”
“…What?”
“A Crimson Circle executive with brainwashing abilities. If word of that spreads, we can use the re appearance of that figure to pressure nobles under the pretense that they might be brainwashed. We can fra them and beat the hell out of them if we want.”
“…Ah.”
“If I have to beco a thief despite not wanting to, at least there should be sothing to steal. If I could, I’d like to actually steal sothing while wearing the Crimson Circle mask, but we don’t have ti.”
“Jern. I have a favor to ask.”
Karos looked at with eyes full of serious concern.
“Please don’t talk to Her Highness the Princess for too long.”
“It’s probably already too late, but why?”
“I’m afraid she’ll pick up so bad habits.”
“…”
What an absurd accusation.
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