EP.117 Rescue (1)
"I was a bit worried when you said you'd come along. May I ask what kind of work you do?"
Perhaps because I was keeping up with the group better than expected?
As soon as we reached our destination, the knight expressed his curiosity about me.
He must have been wondering who this guy was to follow them all the way here.
"I'm retired now, but I used to work as a mercenary."
While mercenaries generally don't have a good reputation, I think it's a useful background to have in this situation.
Sure enough, the knight accepted my answer about being a mercenary.
"I thought as much. I could tell from how well-trained your body is that you might be from that line of work."
"It's nothing special."
While I was satisfying the knight's curiosity.
"Confirmed. It's them."
"They haven't fled yet. That's fortunate, at least."
The knights and teachers were exchanging words, having apparently confirmed the criminals' location.
Fortunately, it seemed the testimony from the captured ones had proven true.
"The descriptions match as well."
"Have you secured the hostage's location?"
"Not visible. We'll probably need to go in and search."
"I'll do it!"
Ariane stepped forward in front of the group planning the operation.
"I have stealth, don't I?"
She meant she could go in and locate where the child was.
"No. It's too dangerous."
Rebecca immediately cut her off with a refusal, but Ariane kept insisting that she was the most qualified person for this task.
"You've already seen me do well once. Trust in my abilities. If I just need to check and come back out, isn't it safe as long as I don't get caught?"
Unlike the teachers who opposed sending a student first into enemy territory, the knights were hesitating because they knew Ariane's capabilities.
"It's true that without Miss Ariane, we have no way to check the child's location without being detected."
"See! I told you I'm the only one who can do this!"
"Is it something to be proud of, relying on a child?"
The teachers naturally gave disapproving looks at the knights' behavior.
"A child's life is at stake here."
Though flustered by the teacher's sharp glare, the knight firmly maintained that they should entrust this to Ariane.
"Haa~"
With the knights taking Ariane's side, the teachers couldn't keep opposing.
After all, anyone could see that sending Ariane in was the right choice.
And so, Ariane's infiltration was decided.
"If anything seems off, run away immediately. Don't try to engage them unnecessarily."
"Yes!"
"Both you and that child are equally precious to us. Don't risk your life trying to save theirs."
"I value my life too. I'll keep that in mind!"
Before Ariane went in, I cast weight adjustment on her body.
"Be careful."
"Yes!"
Ariane thanked me with her eyes before using stealth to enter enemy territory.
The infiltration point was through a ventilation duct, chosen by the teachers and knights as the safest route after careful consideration.
After 20 anxious minutes waiting for news from inside.
Ariane returned safely after scouting the interior.
"Ta-da~! I'm back!"
"Are you alright?"
"Didn't get caught?"
"Nope! Didn't get caught. See? I told you I could do it!"
Ariane said cutely while puffing out her chest.
"But there are so many plants inside."
"Plants?"
"Yeah, they're farming in there! I was so dumbfounded when I saw that. I can't understand what they're thinking."
The knight asked with a serious expression after hearing Ariane's words.
"...Were the fruits of these plants red?"
"Huh? Yes, they were."
"Of course! Now I understand why they kidnapped Nairel."
"What are those fruits?"
"You don't need to know. Just understand that they're bad."
"Is it like some awakened person's drug?"
"How did you...? So you knew."
The knight was surprised to see that all the students seemed to know about it.
The teacher sighed softly and said.
"We teach about it in classes nowadays. Because there have been cases of people getting hurt from not knowing."
"Oh my... Those are the worst cases."
What they're talking about is a drug that only works on awakened ones.
Regular people die if they take it.
But awakened ones could handle it because they had physical abilities far superior to commoners.
No, they don't just handle it - they get high.
The powerful effect of the substance made from these fruits is that it stimulates dopamine secretion.
The reason I know this isn't because it appeared in the game scenario.
'I saw it during my mercenary days.'
Awakened ones who ruined their lives getting high on 'that.'
How could there not be any?
Of course there were.
When this fact comes to light, they get expelled from noble society, and the only job an awakened person with nowhere to go could do was become a mercenary.
So they end up hunting monsters again.
Looking at their lives, it's both tragic and absurdly unfair.
It proved that even when awakened ones hit rock bottom, they still lived better than commoners.
'A cycle of life: hunt some small monsters, make good money, use it to get high, then when money runs out, hunt small monsters again to make more money to spend.'
Normally, living like that should make you worse off than commoners, but an awakened one's cheat-like physical abilities create an abnormal situation.
'Their bodies don't even break down easily. They manage to live just fine even while taking such harsh drugs.'
When I asked if they might die to monsters while high and mentally checked out, they smiled brightly and said that's their goal, that's why they live like this.
In the end, that guy died to a monster after living however he wanted and enjoying himself.
This is how discriminatory the lives of nobles and commoners are.
'How did I end up remembering that guy, tsk.'
Anyway, it was unbelievable that they made a child grow something that would ruin other people's lives.
"Those pieces of trash...! Making a child grow that stuff?!"
Something that should never happen to young Nairel had occurred.
"Well, I was worried it'd be hard to find, but fortunately I was able to locate the child."
"That's a relief. Is the child safe?"
"Seems like they've been through a lot. The child's expression looked really bad."
Being captured by criminals and forced to grow drugs in such a place - there's no way they'd have a good expression.
"I wanted to rescue them quickly."
"That's exactly what we'll do. Don't worry."
The knight comforted the worried Ariane.
"How many people were guarding?"
"Uh... surprisingly, there was only one person watching the child. I think they might be getting careless. So I was wondering, what do you think about me rescuing the child first?"
"Obviously not."
Rebecca cut in and immediately shot down Ariane's rash suggestion.
"That's right. It's impossible for Miss Ariane to handle this alone. It's too dangerous."
"Then we'll help support Ariane."
"You students? That's even more out of the question."
The knight still showed reluctance, clearly not convinced.
Shine spoke with confidence.
"You don't seem to trust us because you haven't seen our skills, but we've been called prodigies since we were young. Don't think of us as ordinary students."
After quite a long time planning the rescue operation...
It was decided that the students would rescue Nairel while the knights and teachers would handle the kidnappers.
The plan was for them to go in first and create a distraction while the students would secretly infiltrate and extract the child.
"The fact that Nairel hasn't escaped using their abilities despite being conscious means there must be a strong awakened one on their side. Everyone, please stay alert and don't let your guard down."
"We'll now begin the rescue operation."
So the rescue is finally starting.
I stepped forward before the others could start moving.
"Ah, wait a moment."
Doing nothing didn't sit right with my personality.
"What is it?"
I couldn't just follow them right now, but what I could do here was...
"Everyone take these. Here, you kids too. And teachers."
"Huh...?"
The kids who first recognized the items said:
"Isn't this what they sell at your shop?"
"This is even better than that. So use them all. Please use them all. They're buff scrolls."
All sorts of buff scrolls that help in combat.
Providing these was the only thing I could do for them right now.
Though they seemed uncertain about what I gave them, they started using them without hesitation.
"Amazing, my body... feels incredibly light."
"It reminds me of fighting back when I was in the military."
"So this is what they call throwing money at something? Must be really expensive."
"Even in the military, only elite units got stuff of this caliber."
The knights and teachers exclaimed in amazement at their enhanced physical abilities from using the scrolls.
Most were recalling their time serving in the military.
When you enlist and fight in the military, you'd receive these kinds of buff scrolls - it was basically like applying money directly to your body for combat.
It's difficult to obtain these items privately in the first place.
That's why after discharge, there's rarely any chance to use such scrolls.
Especially for knights who deal with people rather than monsters.
"With this physical condition, it feels like nothing's impossible."
"I know, right? It feels like I'm almost twice as strong."
"Thank you so much for your help."
"You must have spent a fortune on these... thank you."
The knights and teachers expressed their gratitude once again for the scrolls I distributed.
"Now shall we get moving?"
"Let's do it."
The knights and teachers surrounded the criminals' hideout, each taking position to prevent any escape routes.
A few minutes after they disappeared, the students carefully followed and vanished into the hideout.
Looking blankly at the suddenly empty space, I thought:
'Would it have been less frustrating if I went with them?'
Ever since becoming an awakened one, it seems I've done nothing but complain.
Now of all times?
What difference would it make if I awakened now?
It's not like I could hunt monsters anyway.
My position would end up being similar to what it is now.
Providing items that help in combat, and normally strengthening equipment - a supporting role.
"......"
I'm clearly doing well, so why am I so irritated?
"It'll be okay."
Did she know what I was thinking?
Fran quietly came to my side and held my hand.
I could feel the warm touch from our interlocked fingers.
"After I enhanced your sacred artifact, you're just wasting your power everywhere?"
"It's not waste, I'm using it effectively."
"Instead of using it on perfectly fine people, you should save it for the knights and teachers who'll be fighting soon."
"Thanks to you, my abilities have grown tremendously. I can use them privately to this extent without any problems."
Fran pressed herself more tightly against my arm.
"Still, don't waste too much power on someone who's just sitting around doing nothing. It's a waste."
"It's not a waste at all."
Fran was being oddly stubborn.
Well... I guess she's acting this way because she's worried about me in her own way.
"Did I look strange?"
"Just... you seemed to think you were left alone. I thought I should make sure you don't feel lonely since I'm here beside you."
"Being able to rest comfortably and safely is good enough, who said anything about being lonely?"
Somehow, I felt regret that I'd been thinking too carelessly all this time.
My chest felt tight, like indigestion.
For the first time, I felt I needed to change my plans.