EP.119 Rescue (3)
"Thanks, Ariane. You saved me from getting hurt."
"That was so scary. Whew...! Vine, you were amazing too. If you hadn't bound him with those shackles, I would've been killed by a fist bigger than my face."
"I should be thanking you. I survived because you drew his attention."
All three of them could sense it.
The man's breathing was getting weaker.
If they left him like this, it would become Ariane's first kill.
"Ahem, what happened to the child?"
Shine spoke up, trying to redirect Ariane's attention.
"...They should be hiding alone."
"Really? Then let's go find them. They must be scared all alone."
"Okay."
When Ariane tried to look at the man who was weighing on her conscience, Vine subtly blocked her view.
After a moment's hesitation, Ariane accepted her friend's consideration.
"Huh? Where did they go?"
"Are they here?"
When they arrived at the hiding spot, they were shocked to find it empty.
"Yeah, I told them to wait here but they're gone. Must have left already."
"Let's head outside too. Let the others handle this place."
"So they disappeared that way? Hm, good. It's not too late."
"!!!"
Just as they were about to use the corridor to get outside.
A man appeared, looking exhausted as if he'd been fighting elsewhere.
The large man naturally exuded an intimidating presence.
Somehow, it felt uncomfortable just making eye contact with him.
'Something feels off. We should run away.'
'You feel uneasy?'
'Yeah! We definitely shouldn't fight here. As you can see, this corridor means neither of us can use our abilities. We're at a disadvantage here.'
'Alright, let's move somewhere more open.'
After quickly agreeing on a plan, the children started running.
Tap tap tap-!
"Stop right there!!!"
Not just Vine and Shine, but Ariane too had abilities that would be disadvantaged in tight spaces.
Especially Vine, who couldn't use her finishing move at all in this situation.
Fortunately, despite giving off such an intense sense of danger, the man couldn't keep up with their pace.
'Maybe he's not physically enhanced?'
Then what makes him so confident about catching us?
Why were their instincts telling them to avoid this man at all costs?
Ariane didn't understand but decided to trust her intuition.
⁂ ⁂ ⁂
After everyone had entered enemy territory.
Left behind with just Fran.
We were gathering supplies for when Nairel would be safely rescued.
"Think they'll be hungry?"
"After staying in a place like that, they probably haven't eaten well, right?"
"Then this amount should be okay to feed them?"
"Where did that suddenly come from?!"
"I brought it in advance."
Actually, I got it from drawing items.
All sorts of miscellaneous items come from the draws.
For instance, let's say there's a flashback scene in the scenario.
When a character is starving, their growth can differ depending on whether you give them a regular lunch box or a premium one.
I could use items like these myself, which came in handy during my mercenary days.
"Wait, someone's coming out."
"Is it Ariane?"
When we heard someone was coming out from enemy territory, we hid, but seeing their small stature, we suspected it might be Ariane.
But the person who came out was even smaller than Ariane.
"It's Nairel."
I quickly got up from hiding and ran toward the child.
"Nairel!"
"Ah, mister!!!"
Upon seeing me, Nairel came running with tears streaming down their face.
"Thank goodness, are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?"
It seemed the kids had successfully rescued Nairel.
"Mister....sob...sob...!"
Nairel clutched my collar tightly while crying.
"Could you let me see them for a moment? I'll start with treatment."
"Ah, sure."
I tried to show Nairel to Fran, but the child wouldn't let go of my collar.
Having just escaped from a frightening place, it seemed they didn't want to let go of the only person they could rely on.
"It's okay, they're just going to heal you."
"Would it be alright if I just get my hands close?"
Understanding the frightened child's feelings, Fran asked in a gentle voice.
Nod-!
Thankfully, Nairel allowed Fran to approach.
Whoosh-!
A warm white light enveloped the child's body.
The light's effect reached me too as I held the child, restoring my condition.
"Huh?"
Nairel felt the change too.
"How is it? Any other uncomfortable spots?"
"...I feel better."
"That's good. If anything hurts, just let me know anytime. I'll make sure it doesn't hurt anymore."
"You've been through a lot. You were already thin, but now you're even thinner."
The already timid child looked even more withdrawn.
Thanks to Fran, their condition seemed better, but this was just a temporary fix.
Nairel's wounds were more emotional and mental than physical.
True healing would come from spending time with loved ones.
"Why did you come out alone? Where are the others?"
"They told me to hide and wait, but I was so scared being alone... And I heard you were outside..."
Nairel answered hesitantly.
So they were told to hide and wait, but got scared and ran out here alone.
"You did well. That's understandable."
Having finally escaped from a scary place, being told to hide alone again must have been distressing.
Since they managed to escape safely, comforting them seemed better than scolding.
'Are the kids still fighting inside then?'
Using abilities against people isn't something you can do with a normal mindset.
Moreover, the kids are still minors.
They probably haven't prepared themselves for the possibility of killing someone.
Though I couldn't help but worry, I decided to trust them and focus on taking care of Nairel for now.
Bang! Bang!! Crash! Boom!!
Intense fighting was still going on inside the building.
"We should probably move away from here. It's too dangerous nearby."
What if someone who'd rather run than fight after being attacked comes out?
We'd be the first thing they'd see when leaving the building.
'They wouldn't just pass us by while we're with Nairel.'
To avoid trouble, it seemed best to get away from here.
"Ahhh!! Is he following?"
"No, he's slow!"
"If it's not physical abilities, then what kind of power does he have? What makes him so confident? His confidence makes him scarier!"
Just then, we heard commotion from inside the building.
"I think it's the kids!"
"Mwaaah!!"
Ariane was the first one to burst out of the building.
When he spotted us, he made a strange sound.
Then Shine saw me and shouted too.
"Ahhh! Why is that kid here?!"
"Boss, run!!!"
Shine, Ariane, and finally Vine.
They all came rushing out of the passage and when they saw us, they were startled and shouted urgently.
Anyone could see they were running away.
"What are you all doing, rushing over here like this?"
How could there be an opponent that would make an SSR-ranked party run away in such panic?
'With their level of abilities, why are they running?'
Vine alone could level this entire building, so what could be so scary that they needed to run?
Still, seeing the kids making such a fuss, I couldn't just ignore it, so I handed the child over to Fran.
"Fran, please take care of the kid. Take them and hide somewhere."
Nairel seemed to sense the situation and obediently let Fran carry them.
"Will you be alright?"
"I may not have exceptional skills, but I'll be more help than no help at all."
"Agh, what are you doing?! We said run!"
I asked the kids who were stamping their feet anxiously.
"Explain what's going on. Why are you acting like this?"
"There's a super weird guy chasing us! He gives off this strangely dangerous feeling!"
"I just followed when they said we should run."
In an emergency situation, it's the right thing for party members to follow their leader's orders without question.
"He's huge, has scars on his face!! And there was this tingling sensation, I'm telling you!"
Ariane alone was emphasizing how scary the man was.
"His face did look pretty fierce. It was scary when he was chasing us saying he'd kill us."
"He was looking for that child, so we should hide them quickly. He'll be out here soon."
The kids were talking so fast I could barely keep up.
From what I could understand, there was a man giving off an eerily threatening aura chasing them...
"I know that person."
Just then, Nairel spoke in a small voice while being held by Fran.
"Huh?"
"We need to be careful. He's dangerous."
"Dangerous, you say?"
"See! My instincts were right."
"He's the leader. And his ability is really dangerous."
"The leader on top of everything?! Do you know what his ability is?"
"He seals abilities."
"What?!"
"!!!!"
Everyone was shocked by what Nairel said.
Ability sealing.
Nothing was more frightening to an awakened one than having their abilities sealed.
"So that's why you can't use your ability right now?"
"Yes. That was true before, but I've been able to use my ability again since earlier."
Nairel spread their palm toward the ground and used their ability.
A green light flowed out like mist, and the grass on the ground grew rapidly until it reached my waist.
Normally, grass that tall would bend downward, but the grass Nairel grew was writhing and moving strangely in mid-air.
"Looks like he can't seal abilities permanently."
"But it's still troublesome once you're caught. How can we win? It's a fight between ability users and someone who negates abilities."
If we hadn't known about his ability beforehand, it could have been really dangerous.
"Fran, you should escape with Nairel. Right now."
"Okay. Let's go."
As Fran ran away with Nairel, the kids checked their weapons.
"We can't let the leader escape."
"Right! We have to catch him no matter what."
If we let the leader escape now, the results of this operation would be severely diminished.
Now that we knew what his ability was, we could figure out a way to deal with him if we thought it through.
"For now, Ariane should hide, and the two of us will try to draw his attention as much as possible."
Whoosh!!! Boom!!!!!!!!!!!
Just then, flames erupted from the building's ceiling.
"The teachers seem really busy."
"...I guess asking for help is out of the question?"
"Yeah, we have to handle this ourselves."
"You kids stay put."
"What?"
"If sealing is his ability, it's better if I handle this than you guys."
Right on cue, the man came down through the ventilation duct.
"Hmm? Well, what's this, another man added to the mix. After all that running, I didn't expect you'd just be waiting here."
The man noticed me but maintained an indifferent expression.
He seemed confident that he would win regardless of how many people he faced.
'I can understand his composure if he has the ability to seal powers.'
But that composed expression wouldn't last long.
He was underestimating our kids too much.
"We lured you here on purpose, and I can't tell you how grateful we are that you followed so well."
Shine spoke with feigned composure.
She aimed her bow at the man.
"You'd better not think you can escape my arrows. Terrible criminals like you need to be caught and locked up for me to feel satisfied."
"Awakened ones can't catch me."
The man, still apparently confident in his ability, didn't flinch at Shine's provocation.
His eyes flashed blue.
And at that moment, the magical energy gathering in the bow was suddenly cut off.