Chapter 44
The next day came. I couldn’t sleep, my mind swirling with the conversation with Nerjin.
“I don’t get it.”
Even at school, I couldn’t focus, fixated on the Peacemaker.
“Peacemaker. Peacemaker…”
“Hey! Cadet Martin! I have something to say about the search…”
Gilbert called, but I ignored him.
This time, I headed to the dorms and waited all day. But the culprit didn’t appear until late at night.
‘Is there some secret passage I don’t know?’
If not the main gate or dorms, the answer was the sewers.
‘Hah, the original is useless.’
By now, the protagonist party was probably scouring the capital’s back alleys. While they floundered, victims piled up, and the case resolved only after two weeks.
‘That’s too late.’
Thinking of my alliance with Nerjin, I had to prevent the death awaiting his granddaughter, Bianca.
I’d warned Lilac to be careful of the dangerous criminal roaming the capital and to stick with Sebastian.
“Look at this. They found a headless corpse yesterday.”
“Ugh, what? The body was dried up like a mummy?”
Cadets chatted excitedly as they moved in and out of the dorms.
“Ugh, really? Please, stop talking about it. Disgusting criminals.”
The media was picking up the story. It was a sign I needed to hurry.
But cruelly, days passed with no progress.
‘…Time to head back.’
Instead of going straight home, I went to Lilac, who was pushing her coffee cart. To minimize risks, we’d agreed to return together.
[Woof!]
From afar, Sebastian saw me, wagged his tail, and ran over. I heard the disappointed voices of regular schoolgirls who’d been petting him.
Sebastian started licking my hand.
“Jealous. I wish Sebastian would lick my hand.”
“Wow, he’s so aloof with us but a total sweetheart with his owner. Cool.”
Sebastian’s charm, I guess. I wouldn’t know.
***
The next day, I planned to explore the sewers. But with their vast area and many paths, I revised my plan to search over several days.
‘The schedule’s getting longer.’
In the original, the case took two weeks to resolve.
It was only the third day, so not urgent, but I wanted to solve it quickly. Luck wasn’t on my side.
‘Time to call it a day. Another bust.’
Wild Instinct (Lv 2) detects an ambush!
‘An ambush? The culprit?!’
Just then, a diagonal slash cut through, and an arrow embedded itself in front of me. A familiar red arrow fletching.
‘No way.’
It exploded, blocking my escape. At the same time, a sword-wielding duo and a hulking man with a shield emerged from where the arrow was shot.
‘Deadweights.’
I crouched and charged forward.
‘Useless idiots.’
I stepped on the shield of the first man rushing me, vaulted over, and deftly dodged the duo’s swords.
‘If this weren’t such a stupid world…’
Only then did I draw my rifle and shoot at the sword-wielding man. Gilbert, deflecting the close-range bullet with his sword, shouted—
“Whoa?! Guys, hold on!”
The charge toward me stopped.
I threw off my hood and glared at the pathetic group. Gilbert and Bord looked sheepish.
“Stop mistaking me. It’s annoying. Unless you’re doing this on purpose.”
“M-Martin, Cadet Martin.”
“Oh, uh… It was Cadet Martin.”
Elisha and Mary ran up from around the corner. Elisha gave me a sullen look.
“Why wear a robe that causes confusion?”
“You’re the ones boldly strolling through a restricted area. Shouldn’t an apology come first?”
“…Sorry.”
Elisha apologized, looking embarrassed.
Gilbert scratched his head and said—
“I’m sorry too, Cadet Martin. Seems we had the same idea.”
“Any results?”
“No. Seems the same here. How about we put our heads together instead…”
I admitted my solo efforts were lackluster, but I refused. The whole reason I acted alone was because I hated being with them.
As I turned to leave—
[■■!]
“…!”
“What was that!”
“Stay alert!”
Each of us drew weapons, listening to the monstrous roar echoing through the sewers. I felt a chill run through me, unable to reload my rifle.
‘This is…’
The sound was faint, reverberating off the sewer walls.
[Woof! Woof woof!]
It was definitely Sebastian. I hadn’t recognized it immediately because it was a ferocious bark I’d never heard before.
Wild Instinct (Lv 2) senses something horrific has happened.
“No.”
Muttering softly, I sprinted forward.
“Cadet Martin!”
“It’s dangerous alone!”
The protagonist party followed. I tore through the sewers, running, running, running, until—
“What are these things?!”
“The sewers are restricted! How dare you barge in!”
The shouts of the sewer guards.
[Woof!]
Beneath them, Sebastian struggled, pinned down. And—
“Please, let me through! I have to go! Please!”
On her knees beside him, tears streaming, was her voice.
‘Why…?’
It was Bianca’s voice, Nerjin’s granddaughter, heard every time I visited for artifact restoration.
Sebastian and Bianca.
‘Where’s Lilac?’
She wasn’t there.
‘Why?’
Why? Why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why, why.
“Bianca.”
“Oh! President!”
Bianca’s purple hair swayed. Her twin-tails were disheveled, showing how desperately she’d run to get here.
“What happened?”
“President! My grandfather and Lilac…!”
Several guards grabbed Bianca, blocking my way.
“Who are you? Why are there so many intruders today?”
A sewer guard approached, reaching to grab me.
“Looks like an academy cadet. Wait, isn’t this the infamous trash Martin? Doing this here…”
“Shut up.”
I reversed my grip on the rifle and smashed the guard’s head with the butt. I charged at the guards.
“Whoa! He’s attacking!”
“This criminal bastard!”
I dodged the guards’ spears and swords, swinging my rifle to beat them down one by one.
“Argh!”
“Ugh! Help!”
“An academy cadet is attacking the guards!”
Half the guards fell, and the rest fled.
“Cadet Martin!”
“Martin!”
The protagonist party caught up, but I had no time to care.
Bianca’s desperate eyes, Sebastian’s gaze filled with rage.
“Bianca, what happened?”
I grabbed her trembling hands. Calm down.
I lowered myself to meet her eyes.
She explained, trembling but coherent.
She seemed a bit scared.
In her violet eyes, my reflection looked somewhat ferocious.
“G-Grandfather and I went to the coffee cart to buy coffee, but s-suddenly monsters…! G-Grandfather tried to get me and Lilac out, but L-Lilac told me to go first…! Sebastian would lead me to President Martin! I-I, I…”
I placed my hand over her mouth. Her trembling stopped, like magic.
“…Alright. I understand. I’ll handle it. Rest well.”
I stood and looked outside the sewers.
“….”
A burning rage, the most intense I’d felt since coming to this world, consumed me.
Not the disciplinary committee, not the protagonist party’s misunderstandings, not Dr. Keren’s lab—nothing compared.
“Lilac…!”
Not Recola’s creation, but an extra. My sanctuary. My home. The only one who looked at me.
My…
Most…
Precious…
…Treasure.
I turned to Sebastian. He looked back at me. I felt his rage. He must feel mine too.
The Ulvhadin marksman and his hound—our souls were connected.
Know-It-All (Lv 2) observes the bond between marksman and hound, analyzing that a storm of intense emotions is triggering an awakening.
I’d never surrendered to such fierce emotions.
Rage at those who attacked Lilac, rage at myself for failing to protect her.
“Sebastian.”
I felt it. I understood. What Sebastian could do. What I could demand.
“Let’s go.”
I reached out to Sebastian. His body instantly doubled, tripled, quadrupled, quintupled in size, and I climbed atop him.
Sebastian leaped toward the surface. In one bound, he reached a rooftop, then raced across roofs in a straight line.
Sebastian tore through the city at a speed surpassing horses.
‘Lilac…!’
My hand, gripping the Diamond Bullet, tightened with bursting strength.
***
If asked to define the slums in one word, ‘I don’t know’ would be the answer. No single word could describe it.
A beggar’s den, a criminal hideout, an empty house, a home for a poor mother and daughter, a stash for stolen goods, a hub for drugs and arms trafficking, human trafficking, brothels, a settlement for refugees.
Entering an empty house among them, Nerjin closed the door and turned.
“We can catch our breath here. Are you alright, Miss Lilac?”
“I’m more worried about your wound, Manager Nerjin. Are you okay?”
Lilac looked with concern at the bite wound on the old man’s side.
“I’m fine. It’s an honorable injury.”
They decided to rest briefly.
On a peaceful afternoon, the shopping district was struck by an attack that could only be described as ‘sudden.’ A black wave of Malice Wraiths swept through, and Lilac’s coffee cart was among the targets.
If Nerjin hadn’t been there with his granddaughter Bianca to buy coffee, Lilac would’ve been swept away, her brain, heart, and blood extracted, leaving a mummified corpse.
“My greetings are late. Thank you for saving me.”
“I’m more grateful for you saving my granddaughter.”
While Nerjin bought time, Lilac escaped with Bianca and Sebastian but was surrounded by Malice Wraiths.
In that dire moment, Lilac ordered Sebastian to take Bianca to Martin.
The hound couldn’t disobey.
Acting as bait, Lilac encountered Nerjin during her escape, and they fled to the deserted slums.
“…Manager Nerjin, they’re definitely chasing us, right?”
“Based on the situation, yes.”
“When will this end?”
“Well…”
No sense of how much time remained. Happening in the capital’s heart, the guards would’ve been alerted, but they’d likely be annihilated. Only knights could fight back.
[Creak…]
[Crick! Creak!]
Their bodies froze. The sound of Malice Wraiths came from outside.
Nerjin pointed upward. They began climbing to the second floor.
Sharpening their senses, they focused on nearby sounds when a brash voice came from outside.
“What are these tiny things? Goblin cousins?”
“Fearless monsters. Hey, think we run the capital’s slums for nothing?”
“Must’ve escaped the black market. Wipe them out. How dare they enter our turf.”
The loud voices pierced the house without effort.
‘So many empty houses—this must be gang territory.’
The sound of numerous footsteps quickly turned to screams and carnage.
[Creakkkkk!]
“Argh! Save me! Monsters! Don’t eat me! Don’t eat me!”
[Crick! Creakkkkk!]
“Eek! Save me! Save me! It hurts! Hurts, hurts, hurts, hurts! Hurts!”
A scene from hell unfolded beyond the thin wooden wall. The unbearable sounds slithered into their ears like insects. The noise of dozens dying instantly wasn’t something a normal mind could endure.
Nerjin glanced at Lilac, worried, but her eyes didn’t waver.
‘So this is her outside her master’s view. I wonder if President Martin knows her duality.’
A good thing, regardless. If she were timid, escaping would’ve been much harder.
Then, with a creak, the door opened, and a woman with pink twin-tails rushed in, slamming it shut.
“Huff! Huff! What are those…!”
Her Imperium Academy uniform caught the eye.
Seeing a young cadet with the same hairstyle as his granddaughter, Nerjin’s heart softened.
“….”
As he debated speaking, Lilac raised her hand to stop him. Her eyes, filled with suspicion like she was eyeing a shady package, were striking.
‘…Right. Suspicious.’
Surviving the Malice Wraiths was one thing, but why was an Imperium Academy cadet in the slums? Moreover, the loud door closing didn’t trigger the Wraiths.
‘In other words.’
A trap.
The chilling deduction became reality. The woman blocking the door opened it with an expressionless face and stepped out.
“….”
“….”
If not for Martin’s cool-headed maid, they’d have been done for.
“Hello.”
Nerjin and Lilac spun around, startled. The same cadet’s face hung upside-down at the second-floor window, smiling.