Tatakau Shisho

Chapter 5

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A HUSK, AN ENEMY, AND THE G.o.d OF DEATH’S DISEASE – PART 1

February 10, 2016Tgurneu

Colio was wandering around town. He kept walking throughout the entire night.

Where was he walking to up to now? Where was he heading to? His feet were tired and he had nothing. Colio sat down by the roadside.

As he did, a lone man came from the other side of the road and talked to him.

“Good morning, boy. Would you like a Book?”

It was the illegal Book seller.

“…Huh?”

“You want some Books, don’t you? Got some money?”

The man pulled out a Book from inside his clothes. It seemed like he had it in a hidden pocket.

“This one belongs to that lady with the strange hair. Do you want it? I set it aside for you.”

“For me?”

“Yesterday, some really scary lady with sandals came to me. She asked if I had Books.”

That was probably Hamyuts.

“But, I told her I don’t have any as far as I know. She was pretty insistent, but she ended up losing herself to my enthusiasm and backed off. That’s how I protected this Book. So how about it? It’s cheap.”

“I’ll buy it! Right now!”

Colio pa.s.sed his wallet. The man took some money out of it and returned it to him.

Without even waiting for the man to leave, Colio opened the Book.

Her form immediately appeared before his eyes. That moment was utter bliss for him.

She appeared to be younger than he ever saw her before. Her body was delicate and she was shorter. She looked to be around Colio’s age right now.

She was sitting on the floor.

Wearing a red dress, she hugged her knees on the carpet while looking ahead.

A wide bed that looked like ten people could sleep in it inside a wide room. A soft carpet decorated by fruits that looked like one could sink into it.

“…”

Shiron took a rough breath. Her forehead was sweating and her makeup was running.

“…”

She was looking at a gla.s.s shard placed on the carpet.

She grabbed it and brought it straight to her throat,

“Ahh… Uu…”

It was stopped on the verge of hurting her. The trembling edge of the gla.s.s touched her windpipe.

Shiron took another breath. She stared at the ceiling while starting to bleed from the small wound on her throat. She moved the gla.s.s blade to her carotid artery, stroked her windpipe, and then poked the opposite side of her artery.

She stopped cutting, and after she did, she once again brought it to her throat.

“…ah, ah, aah…”

The gla.s.s knife fell on the carpet. Shiron’s red-gloved hands held her throat, and she kept taking heavy breaths while stunned like this.

“…I can’t do it.”

She said.

“I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t I can’t…”

She kept muttering this while turning her empty stare to the ceiling.

At that moment a man opened the door without knocking, and entered. It was Wyzaf. He also looked considerably younger than in the Book Colio read before. But his arrogant face and the feigned politeness of his tone haven’t changed at all.

“I have good news, Shiron-sama.”

Shiron raised her sweaty and tired face.

“…”

“Is something the matter? Your face makes it look like another good thing happened.”

Shiron shook her head. Her face had dried up tears on it.

“I’ve seen the future again. It’s Dragon Pneumonia. Caused by your relic.”

Shiron said in a terribly despairing voice.

“Oho.”

Wyzaf stroked his chin in interest.

“Those are good news. It seems that fortune awaits for the both of us.”

Shiron shook her head.

“…Let’s leave the formula for the future. If we don’t, it’s going to be bad. It’s going to be really bad.”

“That is splendid.”

“It’s not splendid at all. Even Big Sister is in danger. My Big Sister…”

“Ho.”

“Please, did I do something wrong? Isn’t it fine? Please.”

Shiron prostrated on the floor, holding her head. While looking down at her, Wyzaf said,

“Oh, right. We have found the Memorial Weapon at the place you told us of. As you said, it was a thin sword shaped like a spider.”

Wyzaf opened the bundle he was holding. Inside it was what Colio had already seen countless times, the Ever-Laughing Magic Blade Shlam.u.f.fen.

“Wait, Shiron-sama. You said that it was called Ever-Laughing Magic Blade Shlam.u.f.fen, right? It is a splendid name.”

He placed it in front of Shiron, but she didn’t look at it.

“I can’t do it anymore.”

“…Oh my, what’s wrong?”

Wyzaf placed his hand around his ear and drew closer to Shiron.

“I can’t do it anymore, it’s too much for me.”

“Do what exactly?”

“I don’t want to see it anymore. People dying. Lots of them. By Dragon Pneumonia. We can actually save them, but they’re dying. Each time I activate my power I see lots of dying faces…”

“Well well.”

“What happened to your promise? You said that if I told you about the cure we would save them.”

“We will save them. That’s obvious.”

“Please make the cure. We only have one year.”

“We can’t do that right now. It’s not profitable enough.”

“That’s not the problem…”

“But it is.”

Shiron shook her head. Wyzaf talked while grinning.

“You seem to not understand why you are living like this right now. Everything is thanks to Dragon Pneumonia.”

“No, I don’t want that.”

“So do you hate it? Do you wish to return collecting straws to use against the cold during the winter? Do you want to return eating maggot-ridden dog corpses?”

“…”

“You may return if you’d like. We already have plenty of money.”

“I can’t do it. I want to die. I want to die. I want to die…”

“Why is that?”

“This is all wrong. I’m not happy at all!”

Wyzaf shook his head as if saying ‘oh dear’.

“Young lady, listen well. This is happiness. You are simply confused because you did not adapt to it yet. Come on now, let us play together. Today I will give you some extraordinary medicine and prepare some entertainment. With this rarity that we acquired in southern countries, just one sniff will make you feel like you ascended to heaven.”

“…”

Wyzaf grabbed Shiron’s hand and helped her get up.

“Here, come with me. You will soon forget everything and feel much better.”

Shiron already lost all of her will for resisting and allowed herself to be led away by Wyzaf.

Don’t take her, don’t take Shiron – Colio thought to himself.

But he couldn’t do anything.

The Book ended there.

At the moment the Book ended and he got pulled back into reality…

“You really are a bad boy.”

In front of his eyes was Hamyuts. The same instant he opened his eyes, the Book was s.n.a.t.c.hed from him.

“I’m confiscating it.”

Of course, he didn’t want to give it up. But he knew he couldn’t do anything against this kind of opponent. Compared to Hamyuts, he was as weak as a flea or a fly.

Colio thought he would rather die while resisting. It seemed like a good idea. He didn’t care about living anyway.

It would be far easier than staying alive like this.

She will surely squash him like a bug.

“No. If you want to die do it by yourself.”

Hamyuts said, seeing through him.

“Why didn’t you kill me?”

Colio asked.

“Who knows?”

Hamyuts lightly answered.

“Did you want to save me?”

“Do you think I’ve saved you?”

“…”

“I didn’t think about saving you or about hurting you. I’m no angel or devil.”

Hamyuts stood up.

“Well, see ya.”

Hamyuts walked away in a fast pace. Colio remained alone again.

Colio wondered why he couldn’t enter the Book. He wanted to become a resident of that Book so he could meet her. He wanted to talk with her. He wanted to save her.

Thinking this, Colio kept sitting by the roadside.

There was nothing he could do.

He didn’t even have the energy to stand up.

“Hmm, so she also had some difficulties.”

Hamyuts said while walking, and put Shiron’s Book that she just finished reading inside her pocket.

Hamyuts already stopped thinking about Colio. For her it was simply one insignificant incident during the midst of battle. If Colio had the will and power to live, it would be fine with her if he lived. And if he didn’t, he would just die. It was as simple as that.

More important than that was the upcoming battle.

No matter where she was, it was a battlefield. It might have been peaceful without anything happening yet, but it was already a battlefield.

All the adults were busy with their work. There were the many working miners; mine carts that went to and fro the tracks; whistling steam locomotives; housewives who were washing clothes and attending to their houses; and children who were playing around all of those.

Even while there was some fear due to the recent bombing incidents, life continued on as usual.

Next to Hamyuts, children were playing with a tortoisesh.e.l.l-colored cat using a stick with a caterpillar on it. Hamyuts carefully pa.s.sed by them, prepared for any attack. However, for other people she looked like she was walking normally.

Hamyuts let out a single Sensory Thread from her fingertip. It was connected to a woman who stood further ahead in a nearby road.

That woman stopped and looked around her at pa.s.sersby countless of times. As she pa.s.sed the same road twice and then thrice, she seemed to be wary of someone tailing her.

If someone was tailing her in a normal way, it would have been enough to shake them off. Unfortunately, it couldn’t help her against Hamyuts.

Hamyuts estimated her destination and went there in a fast pace.

It was an abandoned house in the outskirts of town, after pa.s.sing through the alleys.

On the roof of that house were four holes that indicated something had fallen through it.

Hamyuts entered that abandoned house and waited for the arrival of the woman.

She arrived outside after about five minutes, looked around her many times, and then entered inside.

“Hamyuts Meseta, I must kill Hamyuts Meseta…”

The woman was muttering this while walking.

And as she opened the rotting door,

“Uh-”

She raised such a small cry and covered her mouth.

She stood trembling in the deserted house due to the smell of blood.

The woman took a few steps back while holding her mouth. When she opened the central door leading to the living room, the woman screamed once again.

Inside the room were four corpses of women.

They were the corpses of the bombs Hamyuts shot down from the mountains when she first came to Toatt Mining Town.

The woman collapsed when she saw those corpses.

Hamyuts could even feel her teeth violently clattering from the back of the room.

After waiting in the back of the room, she opened the door and called towards the collapsed and trembling woman.

“I’ve waited for you.”

The woman’s eyes opened wide in astonishment due to Hamyuts’s calm appearance.

“As I thought, you were the one behind this.”

Hamyuts said. That woman was the innkeeper of the place where Colio and the rest lodged.

Ever since she arrived at the inn, Hamyuts had been keeping tabs on her.

That woman, Cigal Crukessa’s subordinate who watched over the bombs, spoke in a trembling voice.

“Why me…”

“That’s simple. You see, after I entered Colio’s room, you ran away at full speed.

Well, even without that I would have found out soon. When I came to visit it was like the place practically begged me to find it.”

After Hamyuts’s explanation, the woman resigned. Her trembling stopped.

And she took out a kitchen knife from her chest. Hamyuts didn’t react even though she saw it. An amateur handling cutlery didn’t scare her at all.

The innkeeper didn’t head for Hamyuts with that kitchen knife. She instead led it to the nape of her neck.

At that moment, Hamyuts’ finger moved. There was a dull sound as if she flicked the string of a cello. The woman held her wrist and the kitchen knife fell. It was a pebble Hamyuts flicked with her finger. Even without the sling, she could shoot with a force comparable to an ordinary handgun.

“You can’t selfishly die like that. You will only die after I make you talk about various things.”

“…to Heaven…”

The innkeeper muttered.

“I am going to Heaven. I will not go to that cold Library.

I didn’t manage to kill you, but the cult always held some compa.s.sion for me.

My Book will be by the side of G.o.d, so it serves you right!”

Saying this, the innkeeper bit her tongue.

Hamyuts didn’t try to help her as she convulsed with blood dripped from her mouth. She didn’t even finish her off. She just looked down at her in silence.

Hamyuts muttered,

“There’s no such thing as Heaven.”

That voice held no anger, sadness, contempt or pity.

It just had a slight emptiness to it.

Hamyuts pa.s.sed by the still convulsing body of the innkeeper and left the abandoned house.

After that, Hamyuts headed again for the inn Colio was in. He wasn’t there anymore. Since that place had no other customers other than Colio, it felt as if it turned into ruins in the matter of hours.

She opened a file cabinet inside this now ownerless inn. She only found guest books and accounting books inside, but without getting discouraged she checked them page by page.

While turning the pages of the guestbook and looking at the names inside, Hamyuts’s hand suddenly stopped. And she flipped to the previous page to confirm the facts. She noticed the same person had been staying inside the same room three times within two months. The room was next to the room Colio occupied. The name of the man was Fiboro.

Hamyuts headed for that room.

Using her Sensory Threads to poke around, she soon found what she was looking for.

One tile of the floor could be removed. A single piece of paper was hidden inside. Hamyuts took it.

“The death of Relia who was missing had been confirmed

Nothing abnormal with the others

Severance of contact with the Bohilin Company

Had been confirmed”

The handwriting definitely belonged to the innkeeper. It was probably a letter addressed to the man known as Fiboro.

She quickly found two clues.

That Cigal Crukessa guy didn’t seem too much of a problem – was what Hamyuts thought.

And at that moment, Hamyuts heard a voice inside her head.

‘Director, I have some messages.’

The voice she heard in her head was due to Mirepoc’s special skill, the ability of Thought Sharing. It was a Magic that allowed her freely sending her thoughts to other people while transcending the concept of s.p.a.ce.

‘First, from me.

I have briefly explored the area around Toatt Mountains, but I can’t see any traces of people from around town having been here. If the enemies have some hideouts, I believe there’s a high chance they are inside the town.’

That’s true, Hamyuts thought. She already found out one such hideout.

‘From Mattalast-san.

He conducted the investigation at the station, but for now hadn’t found any suspicious persons. Since the investigation is still underway, I will contact you as soon as something is found.

From the Headquarters.

They are checking the archives for Books that belong to people from around Toatt Mining Town, but there are no results right now. Over.’

Hearing this much, Hamyuts took out a small disk-shaped stone bullet from the bag at her waist. She scribbled something on paper she found inside the inn and then folded it. The stone bullet had a lid and was hollow inside. It was a bullet meant for conveying messages.

Hamyuts got on the roof, and shot it towards Mirepoc with her sling. The bullet flew high towards the summit of the mountain.

On the paper she had written the following:

“1) Investigate Bohilin Company. It’s connected to Cigal Crukessa. Try using the name of The Weasel’s Den Inn.

2) Find a man called Fiboro.

3) There is nothing out of the ordinary here. I don’t require any help.

4) If a boy named Colio Tonies leaves the town, restrain him just in case. He belonged to the enemy forces, but he holds no value for them anymore. He’s just a boy so there’s no need to worry about him.”

Taking out the bullet from the ground, Mirepoc read the message. She sent her thoughts forward.

‘Bohilin Company… They are an organization smuggling the Books from around here. I will talk to Mattalast-san and also ask him about Fiboro.’

Hamyuts nodded. Mirepoc’s decisions were fine.

The contact was severed and Hamyuts returned to look for doc.u.ments inside the inn.

A HUSK, AN ENEMY, AND THE G.o.d OF DEATH’S DISEASE – PART 2

February 11, 2016Tgurneu

‘Mattalast-san, this is from the Director.’

Mattalast was on standby at a distance of about six hours by train from Toatt Mining Town – in the commercial city of Bujui. It was there that he conducted his mission to monitor those who entered and left Toatt Mining Town.

He received Mirepoc’s thoughts while he was smoking his pipe inside a small coffeehouse found in some corner of the city.

‘Please contact Bohilin Company. We don’t know what kind of opponents they are, so be careful not to recklessly attack them.’

‘Bohilin Company? Never heard of them.’

Mattalast sent his thoughts back. If a person was trained to some extent with this sort of special Magic, it was possible to send the thoughts back in this manner and establish a two-way communication.

Hamyuts, who was strangely clumsy despite her high combat capabilities, couldn’t do this.

‘There’s something I heard from Luimon since he was in charge of Toatt Mining Town. This town has several criminal organizations involved in things like trafficking Books and commercial trade in the downtown. That isn’t much, but…’

‘That’s good enough.’

Mattalast slowly brought the slightly cold coffee to his mouth.

‘How is the monitoring of the station going along?’

‘I’m cooperating with the sheriff. Should I leave it to them and head over?’

‘No. Please devote yourself to the work there.’

‘Understood.’

‘Also, did you perhaps find someone named Fiboro?’

‘No. I checked the records going back and forth to Toatt Mining Town many times. I’ve never seen that name.’

‘If you do, please let me know. It seemed like he’s related to Cigal.’

‘Fiboro, huh.’

While making rings of smoke with his pipe, Mattalast sent his thoughts back.

‘By the way, are you slacking off?’

Slight anger was mixed with Mirepoc’s thoughts. She probably felt some laziness from his thoughts.

‘I’m not slacking off. I’m taking a break.’

Mattalast answered shamelessly.

‘…Is that so?’

He could suddenly imagine Mirepoc’s disappointed face on the other side of the mountain.

‘Mirepoc, I can’t exert myself. I must preserve my stamina for the crucial moments.’

‘I’m simply asking.’

This seemed to be common with novice Armed Librarians, but Mirepoc was too serious. Mattalast thought being like that had some drawbacks, but he didn’t realize she also thought the opposite way about him.

‘How’s the Director?’

‘Seems like nothing happened.’

‘Really?’

‘Yes.’

‘Nothing, huh.’

Mattalast seemed bothered by these words.

There were three possibilities to the meaning of those words. Something that was supposed to happen was prevented, nothing happened yet, or she didn’t notice anything happening.

Mattalast thought that saying “nothing happened” wasn’t the same as saying they can relax.

Mirepoc didn’t seem to notice that.

Besides, he was thinking about Hamyuts since yesterday and had a bad feeling. Even Mattalast himself didn’t understand why. He couldn’t calm down at all.

‘What’s wrong, Mattalast-san?’

Mirepoc asked, perhaps having received those feelings.

‘It’s nothing. But even though it’s nothing, I can’t seem to calm down.’

‘Why?’

‘I don’t know, I’m just uneasy.’

She probably felt that. Mirepoc transmitted her puzzlement.

‘Did you have some bad premonition?’

Mattalast’s Predictive ability was exceedingly precise. Mirepoc knew this.

‘Yes.’

‘It can’t be that the Director is going to be defeated?’

‘That’s not it.’

He thought, but then reconsidered.

‘…No, that might be it.’

‘Can’t be.’

‘I think so as well, but…’

Mattalast left a bill of ten kirue on the table and rose up. He didn’t receive any change. He placed his black bowler hat on his head and left the place.

‘But, how will the Director lose?’

‘Even the Director’s not invincible.’

‘She seems practically invincible.’

Mirepoc, who has seen Hamyuts in action several times, came to believe in her combat capabilities almost as if worshipping her.

‘If someone around my level were to fight her within a distance of 100 meters they have a chance of winning.’

Mattalast replied.

It was just as he said. If a warrior of a similar caliber to him engaged Hamyuts within that range, it was dangerous even for her. She, who specialized in ultra-long range attacks, was not very good in close combat. Well, even then she would be about evenly matched against a strong warrior like Mattalast.

‘But how will they get near her?’

‘…’

Mattalast didn’t think about that. If one could only have a chance for victory within the distance of 100 meters, it meant they couldn’t if it was more than that. And Hamyuts’s range was more than 200 times of that. If it was only 100 meters, it would be like fighting unarmed against a gun. No, it would be worse. Normally there would be no chance for victory.

On top of that, Hamyuts had her Sensory Threads. It was nearly impossible approaching her while deceiving her eyes.

‘A typhoon is coming.’

Mattalast thought.

The weakness of Hamyuts who boasted being the strongest was the wind. She would not be able to control her Sensory Threads, and her deadly sniping would have its. .h.i.t rate plummet.

‘Mattalast-san. Wasn’t it you who said the typhoon wouldn’t come here?’

‘We’re talking about a hypothetical situation. Sometimes even predictions deviate.

Especially during unusual situations like the one right now, someone with a low Predictive caliber like me can easily be fooled. Don’t compare me to the Ever-Laughing Witch.’

‘But, even if the typhoon does come, it’s unlikely the enemy will know to take advantage of it.’

Mirepoc was right.

If the typhoon came by chance, there was a possibility Hamyuts would be in danger. However, it was impossible for the enemy to use that chance deliberately.

‘A typhoon might come, the Director might come to Toatt Mining Town at that time, and thus the enemy might have a chance to win… I would have never bet my life on something so uncertain like this.’

‘…Me neither.’

‘It will be fine. Everything is going well. There will be no problems.’

‘Might be so.’

As expected he was just overthinking this, Mattalast thought to himself.

But, even if he reached that conclusion, he still couldn’t calm down.

He felt as if there was something they were overlooking.

A wind blew, and some leaves were caught in the brim of Mattalast’s bowler hat.

The wind started getting stronger, he thought.

“Hmm, I don’t like this at all.”

Hamyuts murmured while walking through the main street in Toatt Mining Town.

After having mostly finished searching inside the inn, she began moving towards the station Luimon used before to look for more clues.

Everything indeed seemed to go well as Mirepoc thought. But perhaps it went too well.

It wasn’t as if the enemy couldn’t attack. And it probably wasn’t that he didn’t arrive yet.

Possibly, the attack had already begun.

Just the fact that the enemy didn’t attack wasn’t dangerous by itself.

But she could feel danger in that lack of danger. Hamyuts thought this contradiction was the essence of this battle.

Suddenly, she found the figure of Colio. He was still crouching down on the roadside. He appeared to not be doing anything, just sitting still.

Hamyuts glanced at him only once and pa.s.sed to the next street. After she did, she quickly forgot about him.

Mattalast was thinking the same as Hamyuts.

It was possible the enemy had already escaped, but he didn’t think an opponent that went to such lengths by preparing bombs to challenge the Armed Librarians would be one to flee so readily.

If he really was so stupid to think he could kill Hamyuts using bombs, it was truly regrettable that someone like Luimon died in this affair.

Mattalast was in front of the headquarters of Bohilin Company. It wasn’t a hideout, but a very normal three-story stone building. It looked a bit like a bank or a trading company.

Mattalast took the gun from his waist and rang the doorbell while pushing his body against the wall.

There was no answer.

“This is for the use of The Weasel’s Den Inn. Open up.”

He tried using the name of the inn Mirepoc pa.s.sed on to him. He waited for a while. Nothing happened.

“Excuse me, I lied before, I am the Armed Librarian Mattalast. Open up.”

He tried saying. Once again, there was no answer.

“Are they on break?”

Mattalast shot the hinge of the door. He quickly reloaded another bullet and pulled the broken door, going inside.

As he stepped inside, Mattalast understood why n.o.body answered. There was the smell of rotten meat and garbage, similar to that of spoilt vinegar. It was a smell even an Armed Librarian would not like despite their job.

‘What’s wrong?’

He received Mirepoc’s thoughts.

‘Mirepoc. It’s too late. It seems the Bohilin Company people were taken care of.’

‘Taken care of… were they all killed?’

‘…From what I see, probably.’

Mattalast answered while looking around.

He didn’t know the number of corpses. Without the spurts of blood and the putrid smell, it might have looked like an abandoned doll factory. But even if it were, it wouldn’t calm him.

Mattalast saw one corpse. The Rigor Mortis had already pa.s.sed, so it was cold and soft. A missing section of the body that was cut off already became dark red and was swarming with flies. The blood splattered on the floor was already dry and hard.

It was probably more than a week since their deaths. It was from even before Luimon’s death.

Looking at the office’s desk, he could see a map spread out. It was a map of Toatt Mining Town. Several places were marked by circles. In every circle something like ‘three people’ or ‘four people’ had been written.

One of the circles designated The Weasel’s Den Inn, and it was also marked with an X of a different color.

Mattalast understood that was the place they deployed the bombs from.

They were used by the enemy, Cigal Crukessa, and probably forced to keep those bombs. No, maybe this was managed by Cigal himself.

After he had no use for them, they were all killed. Mattalast thought he was a terrible guy.

But why did he leave the corpses in this place?

It’s as if he was asking to be discovered.

And…

Mattalast looked at the corpses lying here and there. Each and every one of them had been torn apart with no exceptions. There were those that, after their wrists have been carefully cut, were slashed over their elbows, and even those who were cut from the shoulders down. It was too excessive for just killing them. Furthermore, they were all horribly clean cuts.

He wondered what kind of weapon was used.

From then on, the investigation continued without any significant progress for two days. They have found some small clues and unimportant details, but that was it.

Hamyuts left the town and went to the secluded mountain again.

Once again, she searched the entire town. Last time, she only searched for those that could be confirmed as enemies. But now, she looked for all points of interest or suspicious people.

Before looking for Cigal Crukessa, she wanted to find the source of the enemy’s attack.

She emitted about a billion Sensory Threads. A significant amount of them were floating in the corner of the town – the slums area – and sent information from there to Hamyuts. There were ill-bred men, vagrants and escort ladies walking around. She searched among those.

At that time, a Sensory Thread touched a single woman.

The feel of her skin made Hamyuts shudder. It was enough to make all billion Sensory Threads disappear without her meaning to.

It was a strange coldness.

Once again, she extended her Sensory Threads to that woman. She patted the body of the woman… or perhaps she was only a bit above the age of what would be called a girl.

And then, Hamyuts rose up and started running with her full speed.

She knew the girl’s name by touching the nameplate outside her apartment.

She was called Ia Mira.

That’s strange, Ia thought to herself.

She thought that if she slept a little, her cold would be gone.

Because she had no fever, she thought she would be fine.

But, instead of a fever, Ia could feel her body temperature rapidly dropping.

Touching her forehead with her hands, it was cold enough to think that she already died, and yet she felt unbearably hot for some reason.

Her throat was sore. But even though she coughed, she had no phlegm.

When Ia drank water she felt better, but then her cough would become worse.

A while ago, she saw in the mirror that there were strange bruises on her throat.

Ah, I feel like I’ve heard about this illness before, Ia thought.

“Ia Mira-chan?”

There was a sudden voice outside the door.

She thought it was one of her colleagues that came for a visit.

As she tried to answer, she held her sore throat and tried standing up.

But the person who was outside the house entered on her own.

It was a woman she didn’t know.

“I know it’s sudden, but I’m Hamyuts Meseta.”

“…Hamyuts?”

Ia thought it was the same as the name of the famous Armed Librarian.

“Because you don’t have time to mentally prepare, please listen calmly.”

The woman, Hamyuts, briskly walked towards Ia’s bed.

“You caught Dragon Pneumonia.”

“Dragon…?”

“I was infected now as well. Potentially a lot of other people in this town were, too.

Listen to what I have to say if you don’t want to die.”

Ia hurriedly nodded.

Just how long was Colio sitting there? Even his stomach, which didn’t receive anything to eat for a long time, didn’t growl.

People who looked at him with curious or pitying eyes pa.s.sed by in front.

There were also people who exclaimed things like “So poor at such a young age…” but Colio didn’t even raise his head towards them.

“You’re not a bomb anymore.”

Thus said Hamyuts. Was he a human now?

Hamyuts told him to “carefully think about humans”.

But, Colio couldn’t understand what a human was.

Are those that miserably sit down like this human? Are humans so worthless? He couldn’t understand anymore.

He just kept earnestly worrying.

Gradually, the wind around him became stronger and moist.

Colio thought that perhaps a storm was brewing.

Suddenly, he could see Hamyuts Meseta walking in a fast pace past him.

She should have seen him, but didn’t even give him one glance.

He was already an insignificant existence for her, Colio thought to himself.

Since then, Mattalast kept searching inside that building that stank of death.

He had probably checked each and every doc.u.ment by now. Over the course of several days, he methodically searched for clues.

Apparently, Bohilin Company was joining a cult. But he found one letter addressed to Cigal Crukessa rather than to that cult.

If he could find more details here, they would probably come close to Cigal Crukessa’s ident.i.ty. Combined with the clues found by Hamyuts, they might be able to find him.

But as expected, he just couldn’t understand why the corpses were left like this.

Also, he had no idea why, but every door and window was sealed by plaster from the inside.

It was as if they tried sealing the building itself.

But for what purpose?

While pondering about this, Mattalast continued his search in the putrid building.

At that time, he received Mirepoc’s thoughts.

‘Mattalast-san.’

‘What is it?’

‘A little while ago, I received a message from Director Hamyuts, though I haven’t been able to confirm it yet.’

‘Tell me the gist of it.’

‘Umm… the enemy spread Dragon Pneumonia around the town.’

As soon as she said those words, all of his questions were answered. At the same time, he understood what kind of trouble he got himself into.

‘I see, so that’s it…’

Mattalast thought.

Corpses were scattered in the building. They were carriers of Dragon Pneumonia. The pathogens were multiplied in the corpses and thus spread into the air.

Any person who would come to search inside Bohilin Company would be infected in the blink of an eye.

The corpses were a trap. Mattalast was tricked by the enemy.

The effects of the disease were already just a matter of time. It won’t be too long until he could no longer move.

‘…What about the Director?’

‘It seems like she was already infected. I’m still fine.’

‘I’m already done for, too. The symptoms will probably start manifesting soon.’

Mirepoc’s gasp was transmitted through the thought sharing.

‘Don’t be so distressed. Immediately return to the headquarters and get some reinforcements. We can prevent the spread of the disease in this town with a barrier.’

‘But Mattalast-san, you and the Director…’

‘We won’t die that easily.’

‘But…’

‘Don’t waste time. Go, quickly.’

‘…’

For a while, it seemed like Mirepoc hesitated. But she understood that rather than the safety of the Director and Mattalast-san, she should prioritize the safety of the townspeople and prevent the spread of the disease.

‘I will return as soon as possible. Please survive until then.’

Saying this, Mirepoc severed the connection.

Mattalast took a breath and tried to calm himself.

It certainly seemed like the enemy’s plan fell into place. But, this didn’t mean they lost yet.

Before he and Hamyuts would die, they would have to capture Cigal Crukessa.

Their forces exceeded his. He was just as cornered as they were.

And as he thought this, he remembered.

He felt like he was overlooking something.

Our forces?

Mattalast activated his Predictive ability.

He used it to predict the weather from now on.

Mattalast paled at the result of this prediction.

‘Mirepoc, answer. Answer! Answer!’

He tried sharing his thoughts to call Mirepoc. However, while he could receive communication from Mirepoc and reply to it, it didn’t work the other way around.

Mirepoc already ceased the Thought Sharing. Mattalast’s thoughts couldn’t reach her.

Nevertheless, Mattalast kept trying as it was his final ray of hope.

‘Mirepoc, answer! The Director’s going to get killed! The enemy’s aim isn’t Dragon Pneumonia!’

He received no response from Mirepoc.

Mattalast started running. He had to go and save the Director.

As he thought of this, an explosion resounded from his immediate vicinity. From a hole made in the wall, dozens of people came pouring in.

They all carried bombs.

“Kill Mattalast.”

“I’ll kill Mattalast!”

Shouting so, they kept running one after the other towards him.

“Some p.a.w.ns still remained?!”

Mattalast took his handgun and started shooting the enemies. He shot six times in an instant. Six enemies who got their brains blown out collapsed.

He couldn’t let them draw near. Mattalast started retreating.

However, there were too many enemies.

They were not opponents he would lose to easily, but he wondered if he could do it with his sick body.

Please bear with it, my body– thus Mattalast prayed.

But, he had a hunch his wish was not going to be granted.

Mirepoc rushed to the airplane and turned on the engine. She had to return to the Library as quickly as possible and call reinforcements.

If, at that time, Mirepoc refused the pair’s instructions, the worst case scenario could have been avoided.

However, she flew away on the airplane.

If Mirepoc reinstated the Thought Sharing with Mattalast, the worst case scenario could have been avoided.

However, she didn’t.

If she turned on the radio at that time, the worst case scenario could have been avoided.

However, as she revved up the engine, she didn’t even think of the radio.

If Mirepoc was headed to the west rather than the east, the worst case scenario could have been avoided.

However, the airplane headed straight to east.

When Mirepoc noticed that worst case scenario, it was already too late to turn back because she wouldn’t have made it.

It was inside an Armed Librarian office that was used by Luimon at Toatt Mining Town.

There, when Hamyuts turned the k.n.o.b of the radio, she began doubting her ears.

The radio’s special news reported the course of the typhoon.

“The large typhoon ‘Captain Choke’, which we reported earlier as heading to the northeast, suddenly changed its direction to the southeast, approaching a direct hit in the Toatt region. A typhoon usually can’t come near the Toatt region, so a great deal of damage is expected to occur due to the delay of the anti-measures. The Science Agency and the Magic Agency a.s.sembled a special task force together due to this. They are investigating the sudden change in the course of the typhoon. The typhoon approaching the Toatt region is the first case of such an abnormal weather since 1809.”

A typhoon, Hamyuts’s mightiest enemy, was coming.

Hamyuts knew that she had been completely cornered now.

The enemy was yet to be found.

She also had not much time until the disease surfaces.

Furthermore, the two people who came along would not be able to come to her rescue.

And even her combat ability, which was the most dependable thing she had, was about to be sealed by the incoming typhoon.

Why?

Why had everything gone so smoothly?

It felt as if the enemy predicted both Hamyuts and the typhoon coming here in the first place.

But there shouldn’t be any way for that.

Such a powerful Oracular Magician shouldn’t exist. Not even the highest level modern Prediction users should have been able to predict the typhoon that was not supposed to come.

And yet, the enemy still did…

At that moment, everything clicked into place.

The enemy foresaw this day.

It was the history’s strongest Prediction user, Shiron Booyacornish, who had foreseen this day.

The real enemy wasn’t Cigal.

It was the Ever-Laughing Witch, Shiron Booyacornish.

At that time, Colio Tonies was still sitting at the roadside.

He neither knew nor wanted to know about Hamyuts’s predicament or Cigal’s plot.

He didn’t care about anything anymore.

There was a knife in a hidden pocket inside his pants. It never was of any use.

But now, Colio took it out and stared at the blade.

He thought about dying.

“…”

Colio was tired of searching for any hope to live.

In spite of him having no hopes, why was he scared? He was afraid of dying.

“Kill Hamyuts Meseta” was engraved on that knife. Just a while ago, those words were everything for him. But now they meant nothing to him.

Thinking about it, only a few days have pa.s.sed. He came here with Hyoue and Relia to kill Hamyuts Meseta. Relia probably died. Was he killed by Hamyuts? Or did he die in a different way? He couldn’t know.

Colio didn’t think of those two as friends or allies, but he still felt somewhat nostalgic.

At that time, he didn’t think of dying as scary at all. He only thought of his life as a tool to kill Hamyuts and nothing else.

Why was he afraid now?

Did he change? No, that wasn’t it.

He had tried to escape from the fear and pain. By thinking he was a bomb, he subdued his fears.

In fact, Colio couldn’t kill Hamyuts. He couldn’t use the bomb in his chest. He could only tremble.

Living was painful, but dying was scary.

Colio was simply sitting without being able to live or die.

The wind grew stronger. Clouds came out.

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