Chapter 14: Rain Aldar

“…Now.”

The work was over. Having Forest Wolf consumed one of my “stocks” was an unexpected turn of events, but overall it was a satisfactory outcome. Carrying Harley to the school and having Envy transcribe her were the last remaining tasks.

Envy was a humanoid slime that I employed as a “Guardian”. Like its name suggested, its ability to impersonate the voice and appearance of a human or similar organism was extremely helpful, but its two shortcomings were its low intelligence, rendering it incapable of conversation, along with being worthless in combat, given that its magical power was one of the lowest of all demons. The former can be overcome by directly maneuvering Envy, like I did earlier, but the latter would be difficult to work around. Well, it was still ideal for assassination nonetheless, and everything will depend on how it was operated…

―All of a sudden, as if a nerve had been compulsively ripped out, a pain shot through my temple.

“―!?”

Suppressing the groan that escaped from my throat, I pressed my temples with a hand.

It looks like someone has forcefully violated the barrier I had set up surrounding this space and has invaded.

Even though the barrier was a work of haste, it was nevertheless an elaborate preliminary setup, something I was well-versed in. Breaking the barrier would no doubt be time-consuming, especially since the barrier itself was made in a rather inconspicuous manner. Above all, should anyone be in a position to remove the barrier, the signal would be immediately transmitted to me, allowing me to escape within a short period of time. Yet, as though a needle had been poked into a balloon, the barrier was instantaneously breached, and whoever had wrecked it was probably in the immediate vicinity. This may be the most treacherous situation I have faced in a long time.

…Was it inevitable―

Using “Soul Eater” technique on Harley was no longer an opportunity for me. Shoving the feeling of regret into my heart, I put my hand on Harley’s neck as she slumbered.

With a burst of magical power, I exerted all my strength into my hand, crushing Harley’s thin neck unimpeded.

My appearance was then obscured with a cloak of mist over my body after “Mist Veil” was in effect. This was the only advanced magic among the “proper” magic that I, who could not be regarded as an exceptional magician, strained to attain because when confronted with “See-through” magic against simple magic such as “Nameless,” my true identity was often exposed.

“Keep transcribing Ms. Harley’s and the Forest Wolf’s carcass.”

Envy, which had been like a puddle of water, slowly enveloped Harley’s body after receiving my instruction. Transcription was an act of predation by Envy, so to speak, and it was incredibly practical to be able to dispose of the corpse without leaving a speck of dust behind, yet the process was painfully tedious. As a rule of thumb, devouring these two corpses would likely cost about five minutes. The intruder would have to be attended to by me in the meantime.

What a hassle.

While maintaining an upright position in the midst of the main street after leaving the side street with such sentiments, the intruder’s form eventually appeared in my line of sight, which I felt like looking up to the heavens.

This was beyond a hassle… this was quite a pinch.

“―This is the City Security Forces ‘Kaguya’. Setting up an unauthorized barrier for clearing away people in the city is prohibited for crime prevention. Please disengage your magical power and come with me.”

Appearing on the scene was Rain Aldar, a prodigy from the Selbeth Academy.

Having recently defeated Ortesia, a semi-first-class magician, in a mock battle a few days ago, he was the last person I wanted to encounter at the moment. Aldar himself was a second-class magician, but in terms of combat power alone, he should be reckoned second only to a semi-first-class magician. How could I, a mere third-class magician, possibly contend against such a monster?

To stall for time, I changed my voice and started talking to him for now.

“…You are Rain Aldar, aren’t you? You are well-known in our world. The commander of the abominable ‘Kaguya’ and a licensed second-class magician.”

“Ten seconds have passed. You have disregarded my warning, and I will resort to force.”

“Wait, I haven’t finished speaking yet―”

My right leg was blasted off at the knee at that instant.

“～～～～～～!?”

What transpired was a total loss of my comprehension. My vision shifted after a brief interval, and the rough texture of dirt could be felt on my cheek. I belatedly realized that my posture had been disoriented and that I had fallen.

Ahead of me was Aldar, expressionlessly watching me with a strange-shaped magical tool clutched in his hand.

Greasy sweat swept over my whole body in a flash. After all, this man was the real deal. His ability was also solid, yet the fact that hesitation was not present on his part for blowing off my right leg without a second thought, demonstrated that he had no qualms about taking the lives of others. Even if he was a student, getting trapped in senseless activities may actually result in my death.

Moaning in pain, my eyes drifted up to Aldar overhead. Aldar was holding a communication device to his ear and was seemingly communicating with someone or something.

Now was the only time to make a move.

“This is Aldar. I have found the target that appears to be ‘Eraser’. I am going to carry him out now, but he is wounded, so have a medic on standby―”

“I wonder how you would dodge this!”

After quelling my bloodlust, I pulled out a―pistol from my waist and held it at the ready.

It was a weapon that should be foreign to this country, nevertheless, the very second it was fired at Aldar, his feet were infused with magical power and he leaped as if to disappear.

“Damn, I was hoping to end with this…!”

I thrust my hands on the ground and let my body slowly rise. At the bottom of my field of vision, a black purple electric (an unorthodox color each time I look at it) made a decrepitation noise.

Rising to my feet, I took a firm stance on “two feet,” and turned to face the house’s roof.

Aldar was still standing there, staring down at me with a blank expression.

“…You don’t seem too shocked huh.”

“Just recently, I was astounded by a first-year student who was haphazard.”

“Heh, I would love to meet that one, too.”

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“You’re being so brazen. In any case, you probably know them.”

His words startled me momentarily, but he was apparently not aware of my true identity.

“There was a lot of commotion in the city. How could you not have overheard this?”

“…So I have been exposed.”

This time I could only faintly register it.

The magical tool that resembled a gun was then suddenly held in quick-release as Aldar aimed it toward me and drew the trigger twice.

I twisted around in a hurry but my left shoulder was filled with a sensation of loss. When viewed, a gaping hole the size of a child’s fist developed in my left shoulder, which was immediately closed after a blink of an eye.

“What a nuisance, that ability of yours―”

“As if you’re the right person to say it, though.”

Aldar, whose physical prowess had been boosted by magic, approached the house, running along the walls. Even as I cast magic on my physical abilities, Aldar was already right under my nose by that time. When Aldar’s hand vanished and I reflexively racked my brain, what greeted me was a magical tool protruding from the skin of my neck, ripping it open shallowly. Having been resembling a gun until a moment ago, it has mysteriously taken the form of a small sword.

“Ugh!”

“!”

Earlier than Aldar moved, I seized the outstretched arm and sent magical power to the bangle in my right hand, activating “Chakrameth” that was installed in it. From the tip of my right hand, a colorless, transparent magical sword extended, which I swung down at Aldar’s grasped arm. Even I had a knack for melee combat; in fact, I was more proficient than the average magician. The current sequence of actions was also a split second before his arm was brought down, but right before that happened, I was stopped by a knifehand strike to my wrist.

“Agh.”

My head had been severed clean and even before I could even utter the line “This must be a joke”. His knifehand strike seemed to have been used as a “Chakrameth,” and he used it to cut off my head, but this was too swift. This may indeed not be the time to afford to keep my moves hidden.

“…So you can regenerate this part too? It’s a real nuisance, isn’t it?”

“～～～～Like I said, you don’t have the right to say that!”

Before the blood could gush out, the sight of my own body dropping from my own neck released a flash of night-black purple lightning, and by the time my head reached the ground, my eyesight had reverted to the earlier scenario.

Forcing myself to yell at him while my vocal cords have not regenerated, I aimed at Aldar’s neck with my free right hand as if to return the favor, but he easily evaded me and distanced himself from me. In response to the attack by the (which has returned to the shape of a gun again) magical tool, I quickly deployed “Mana Wall”, but it was all effortlessly penetrated and turned my body into an airy one again.

My body’s wounds can be healed, but my sense of pain cannot be shut off. For the first time today, the excruciating agony has disfigured my face.

“No matter how many times I do it, you regenerate, don’t you? Are you really immortal?”

Aldar’s poker face revealed a trace of dismay, and I mixed in a little bluff.

“Even if I am immortal, the pain still exists. You’ll have to be a little gentler in capturing me.”

“That is not possible. If you don’t like it, then please let yourself be arrested docilely.”

Aldar assumed his stance a second time. The initial objective of buying five minutes of time has been achieved, and I would like to leave now. However, I have already experienced firsthand the extraordinary challenge of eluding him. Reinforcements would threaten to arrive should there be any more procrastination, and I would be forced to use that which I had been reluctant to deploy.

From the top of my trouser pockets, I confirmed the presence of it. I had four of them on hand. My mind was focused solely on getting away with it, but―

[…!?]

It was right when Aldar stepped forward, that an enormous amount of magical power abruptly surged up from nearby. Both Aldar and I turned our heads in that direction at once.

Several hundred meters away, a pillar of wisteria-colored light loomed ahead of us. Following its disappearance, myriad footsteps were audible as they made their way toward us. At this timing, and this magic… When all of these were eventually bound together as one answer, I thanked her from the bottom of my heart for once in a long time.

“This is…!”

“Ah!”

While Aldar was distracted over there, I retrieved from my pocket the original magic crystal stone that I had just created from the girl. Grasping it in one breath, I released the spirit―the vast amount of magical power that was contained within.

All the magical power that streamed into my body was directed toward strengthening my physical body. Aldar’s expression collapsed for the very first time and he pulled the trigger three times, but his attack was all perfectly clear to me now.

Oh, so “Magic Bullet” was what was fired at me.

With a sense of incredulity at the true nature of the bullets that flew in, I knocked them all away with my bare hands. My fist was nearly blown off, but it regenerated within a second.

And by the time a second had passed, Aldar was no longer in sight.

A breath of relief escaped me to which I called out to the person who had been waiting for me here once I realized there were no signs of pursuers.

“Thank you, Ms. Xenia. For once, I really appreciate your help.”

“You don’t have to treat me like a stranger, you know. In times of trouble, we are all in each other’s shoes, right?”

The practitioner of magic―Xenia, curved her lips into her signature bewitching smile.

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