Chapter 103: The Script Part 6

A suffocating moment.

Loki finally raised both hands and released the girl from her suffering.

The girl, who had been writhing in pain and coughing up black blood, soon exhaled evenly with a peaceful expression.

“Let’s do this. Just give the antidote to the girl.”

At the same time, Loki made us a new proposal.

Administer the antidote. It was a condition that contradicted everything he had done up to this point.

However, I could see what Loki truly wanted.

“Very well. Sir Theseus, would that be acceptable to you as well?”

He wanted to turn the existence of the antidote into an eternal mystery.

That was Loki’s aim.

Now that the symptoms of the poison that had been corroding the girl’s body had disappeared, even if we gave her the antidote now, there would be no way to prove its effect.

The antidote would simply vanish.

At least, on the surface.

“…Alright. That works for me too.”

Now, only Loki would know whether the antidote was real or not.

If he were to reactivate the poison after the antidote had been administered, only the one who reactivated it would know whether it was genuine.

If the antidote was real, even reactivating the poison wouldn’t kill the girl.

But if it was fake, she would die the moment it was reactivated.

Alternatively, by choosing not to reactivate the poison, he could keep the truth ambiguous.

With this one move, Loki gained three possible outcomes. So this wasn’t a bad result for him.

Of course…

“You will pay the price for this. Clowns.”

Compared to the reward he originally intended to obtain, this outcome was utterly meager.

“Well then, it’s settled. Everyone got a little of what they wanted. Isn’t that what living together in harmony looks like?”

A small success and a small failure.

Having created a situation where both sides were simultaneously victors and losers, I clapped my hands to bring the scene to a close.

What a pain, you bastards.

Who fights a family feud on a city-wide scale…?

***

We fled immediately.

Loki was glaring at us like he might kill us any second, but thanks to Theseus holding him in check, getting out of the city was surprisingly easy.

Still, if we didn’t want to be tracked, we’d have to move faster…

Even after crossing the city limits and stepping outside, I could still feel Loki’s gaze.

Damn imperial family. Every last one of them is beyond human.

How far do we have to run to shake off that stare?

“Johan, should we pick up the pace a bit?”

Apparently I wasn’t the only one feeling it. Jeff muttered quietly beside me.

I decided to explain why that wouldn’t work.

“This is my full speed.”

“…What have you been doing all this time?”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

I’ve been trying too, you know!

And I’m just an ordinary guy, okay? Unlike you monsters!

“You guys don’t understa—”

Booom!

Suddenly, a deafening roar engulfed us in a red light.

My ears rang in the aftermath. When the colorless world within the light finally regained its form—

“Suspicious individuals over there. Would you mind a brief stop-and-search?”

I saw a face far too familiar.

“Oh… right.”

This was exactly why I had rushed back up here after going home, wasn’t it?

This all started with Loki dropping by to say hello to Lobelia, who’d been enjoying her rest.

Then came Emily’s stalking machine, the scriptwriter’s script, and all the chaos that followed…I’d gotten so caught up, I completely forgot.

“But you… your voice sounds familiar. Mind taking off that mask for a second?”

Despite her dramatic entrance, Lobelia spoke in a relatively calm tone.

Given the circumstances, it wouldn’t have been surprising if she had attacked us on the spot. But apparently, she was suspicious of my identity.

And the fact that she made such a measured request made it clear. She had already half-figured out who I was.

“Yuna.”

“Hmm?”

This was dangerous.

We still hadn’t shaken Loki’s gaze.

If he started suspecting a connection between me and Lobelia, things would go south and fast.

If he learned that I was even remotely acquainted with her, he’d narrow down the list of suspects in no time.

Even if he didn’t uncover our full identities, someone like Loki would no doubt respond by killing everyone around Lobelia.

So under no circumstances could we let him realize we had any ties to her.

In a fleeting moment, countless calculations ran through my mind.

And then, a clear path through this situation emerged.

“Attack.”

“Sure thing.”

We had to push past Lobelia.

Not with a polite request, but by overwhelming force.

Of course, winning in a head-on fight against Lobelia’s group was impossible.

Even with Yuna on our side, we were still a ragtag bunch at best.

One-on-one with Lobelia might be feasible. But not against Ariel, who moved like her shadow.

Especially not while I was dead weight.

“Jeff, Melana. You too.”

“What the hell are we doing…?”

“We are criminals anyway, so I guess it doesn’t matter.”

Jeff scratched his head while Melana let out a sigh.

For some reason, Yuna was already rushing in and not toward Lobelia, but straight at Ariel behind her.

Was she trying to take on the strongest opponent? Or was this personal?

Either way, with Yuna tying up Ariel, Jeff and Melana’s target naturally became Lobelia.

“……”

Ah, crap.

This could end very badly.

Can those two really take down Lobelia?

Honestly, it’d be enough just to break through this encirclement. But even that looked too much to hope for.

And worse, it wasn’t just Lobelia and Ariel we were up against.

Sure, we kept our numbers low to avoid interfering with Loki’s plan, but Lobelia’s party normally has four members.

Now that Dietrich has wandered off on some journey to find himself, that leaves…

“Ghk!”

Whoosh!

I rolled to the side instantly.

Something sliced through the air right where I’d been standing.

An arrow. I couldn’t even tell where it came from.

Yeah, there’s only one sniper in the Cradle with skills like that.

“Wait, I’m supposed to deal with Stan? Me? That guy? How?!”

Sure, Stan usually acted like a complete idiot, but he was still part of the main character’s party.

Even if Jeff threw away his weapon and fought barehanded, he’d still beat me.

I mean, come on…whether it’s Jeff or Melana, shouldn’t one of them be sticking with me?

“C-Cover!”

I dove behind a rock, hiding as pathetically as possible.

Should I just stay hidden like this?

“……”

But even now, I could still feel Loki’s eyes on me while he was somewhere in the city.

If I didn’t show anything here, what’s he going to think?

He won’t be able to do anything to us right now, not with Theseus around, but still…

“…Should I at least do something?”

Something about this just felt off.

I knew Loki’s side was in the clear, but the thought of him getting any kind of information made me uneasy.

Not that I think I’ll survive a face-off with Stan, either…

“Okay, for now…”

I pulled a few of Emily’s mechanical devices from my coat and started fiddling with them.

Loki won’t have a clue what these things do anyway.

I just need him to see me doing something.

If I keep dodging arrows like this, pretending I’m building something, and wait for a chance to slip away with the others—

“Huh?”

Crunch!

One of the mechanical devices I had laid out was shattered. It got impaled and destroyed by an arrow that came down vertically from the sky.

It was Stan’s arrow.

“Tch!”

I immediately rolled out of the way, escaping the spot I had just been in. Forget putting on a show. I was about to die.

“Haa…”

I stepped out from behind the rock and took in the battlefield once more.

To my surprise, Yuna was actually pushing Ariel back.

That was completely unexpected.

I’d thought they’d be evenly matched, or that Yuna would be at a disadvantage…

Hadn’t she been captured without putting up a fight by Olga Hermod not long ago?

Since Yuna was an assassin, I figured she’d struggle in a direct confrontation. Ariel was close to being an archmage, after all, so I assumed the outcome would be more or less the same.

“I really didn’t know anything!”

Just how strong was Yuna?

I knew the name “Safe Clown” wasn’t just for show, but I must have let my bias toward assassins blind me into thinking she was much weaker than she really was.

Fine. I’d need to correct that misconception over time.

Right now, though, something else made even less sense.

“Why are you two winning…?”

The most baffling sight was Jeff and Melana gaining the upper hand against Lobelia. The synergy between the two was far better than expected.

Both were originally from the Cradle.

And Melana had once possessed a chain so powerful that even she couldn’t fully control it.

Now, Jeff’s holy power was holding her body together, keeping it from collapsing under the strain.

Seriously, who could’ve imagined a dark mage and a paladin would make the perfect team?

“Why the hell did this guy get caught last time?”

I recalled the time Jeff had been captured by Viscount Alec.

What had he even been doing to get caught?

Did he fall asleep in the middle of a fight or something?

Anyway, whether it was Yuna’s side or the Jeff and Melana side,

The situation overall wasn’t bad.

“Gah!”

The only bad part… was me.

Another arrow barely missed me.

This time, I was genuinely lucky.

Maybe it was because Stan had been overestimating me from the beginning…his arrows kept landing just a step farther than the direction I was running.

You thought I’d speed up, huh? Sorry, but this is the best I can do.

Still, I wouldn’t be able to hold out much longer.

“Please, anyone! If you’ve got any breathing room, hurry up and help me already!”

At this rate, I was going to die!

Had my desperate plea actually reached someone?

Yuna, who had been clashing back and forth with Ariel, landed softly near me.

Even though she was dressed as a clown, seeing her like this, she might as well have been a goddess.

“Ha! Don’t tell me that was all you had? That’s it? Seriously disappointing. Lady Ariel, you’ve been acting all prickly with me this whole time with just that level of skill? Arrogant, aren’t you?”

“……Even if I killed you here, no one would blame me.”

I was about to ask Yuna for help but quickly shut my mouth.

There was no way I was getting between those two.

No…More than that, if they’d already confirmed each other’s identities, shouldn’t they have calmed down? Why were they getting even more worked up and fighting for real?

Come on, just make up already!

“Ungh… Johan, how long are we supposed to keep this up?”

That was when Jeff who was forced closer to my side thanks to Lobelia’s interference asked the question.

Thud!

He blocked an arrow flying at me with a holy barrier.

Look at this guy, all calm and composed.

Ugh, I couldn’t stand the sight of him.

“Who said we were fighting to the death? We should be breaking through and running! Why’s everyone so serious about this?”

“You told us to attack.”

“Yeah, but you should’ve picked up on what I meant!”

“How were we supposed to pick up on something you didn’t say? Johan, I hate to say this, but… are we even close?”

“……”

Come to think of it… yeah, we weren’t.

My bad!

“Anyway, I get the plan now. I think we can break through somehow, but… what about them?”

“……Leave them.”

I shook my head as I watched Yuna and Ariel still hurling killing intent at each other.

That wasn’t going to work. Even if someone tried to stop them, it didn’t look like they’d listen.

“Well then, shall we get moving? I was starting to get nervous anyway. Her Highness seems to be getting more and more used to our abilities.”

“Yeah, the sooner the better.”

Right away, I was hoisted onto Jeff’s shoulder and launched toward the front line.

This guy was carrying a whole person and yet didn’t lose any speed.

“Melana, time to run!”

“…Well, I doubt it’s going to be as easy as you make it sound. But I’ll give it a shot.”

Melana clicked her tongue at Jeff’s words and gripped her scythe. A sinister aura rippled along its length.

Just watching it gave me chills.

But Lobelia, whether she had adapted in that short span or had actually grown stronger, seemed far more composed than when I’d glanced at her earlier.

“In that case, I’ll give you a little help.”

“You? If it’s some useless trick, maybe just don’t bother.”

“You don’t know until you try.”

I spoke firmly to Melana, who didn’t bother to hide her suspicious glare.

Either way, at this rate, we could end up getting pinned down by Lobelia.

Yuna would be fine, probably. Honestly, unless she was up against someone on the level of Olga Helmod or Tillis, she’d be able to get herself out of trouble.

We just had to do our part.

More specifically… I had to do mine.

“Then go ahead and try.”

Swish!

The moment Melana swung her scythe wide—

—I threw one of Emily’s mechanical devices that I’d fiddled with earlier, more for show than anything.

Honestly, the time had been too short for me to modify anything.

Even if I had been given more time, it’s not like I could’ve made real use of something built with Emily’s level of technology.

But there was something I could do.

“Blow up!”

Boooom!!

That was to break it.

It was the same principle as the battery bomb I had used against Charybdis before.

Magic engineering batteries that held mana imbued with a person’s temperament were more delicate than they appeared.

Holding onto mana infused with someone else’s traits was a difficult task to begin with. So even a slight disruption could be enough to trigger an explosion.

“Nice. Flashy and distracting, Johan. You really do pull through when it counts!”

“You think I survived the Cradle by pure luck? I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve too.”

“…Can you two shut up and just run? Keep this up and we’ll be caught any second now.”

Melana grumbled. Her face looked noticeably pale.

Even with Jeff’s support, it seemed she couldn’t fully handle the power of the chain.

Maybe deciding to flee really had been the best option after all.

But then—

“Yes, not a single word of that was wrong. But shouting like that only gives away your position.”

Fzzzzzzzzt!!

With a clap of thunder, the smoke cleared, and a crimson light surged forward from within.

Melana’s attack and my distraction—

—all of it was effortlessly brushed aside as she tracked our movements.

“You’re practically announcing where you are.”

Yeah, this was exactly what a main character should be like.

So then…

“What if I told you I had accounted for even that?”

“What…?”

Advanced illusion magic: Sensory Disruption.

I hadn’t used any magic until this exact moment, all for this one instant.

Not even when Loki’s eyes swept over me or when Stan’s arrows grazed past.

To catch an opponent off guard, you had to put in that much preparation.

Sensory Disruption, an advanced illusion spell.

I had once tested it on Yuna.

At the time, she had staggered the moment I cast it, but quickly regained her balance and knocked me down.

That moment had taught me something.

This spell should only be used once and at the perfect moment.

That was the only way to land a hit against monsters like Lobelia.

“Ugh?!”

In a single instant, twisted senses disrupted Lobelia’s movements.

The hand that looked like it would seize us any second now swiped through empty air, and her body that was charging forward at a terrifying speed was launched in the wrong direction.

“Run!!”

And just like that, we managed to escape Lobelia’s grasp.