༺ Crazed Swordsman (2) ༻
The plan was perfect.
No matter how much Elfante decked out their security, the Supply Room was pretty much the early game’s backyard for Sera players.
Stealing too much would eventually get you caught and penalized, but taking out one or two necessary items was practically an essential part of the operation.
Knowing how to break through with a route was something I could grasp even with my eyes closed.
And if one can use the Point Shop like me and have plenty of points to spend, this was the easiest way to break through.
◎ Haste Potion
[ Item: Consumable ]
[ Price: 100 pts ]
[ Speeds up the user’s movements within a certain amount of time. ]
◎ Shadow Mask
[ Equipment: Accessory ]
[ Price: 100 pts ]
[ Hides the wearer’s face and modulates the voice. ]
◎ Catwalk Shoes
[ Equipment: Shoes ]
[ Price: 200 pts ]
[ Muffles the sound of your steps! ]
Taking the potion allowed me to quickly weave through the various security nets, while the mask hid my identity from the video recording magic set up everywhere. Finally, the Catwalk Shoes blocked any signs of my infiltration.
It was a cost-effective combination of stealth and speed. With this, I was able to evade many of the security facilities in the Academy.
‘…Having points is nice.’
Just by using only a few hundred points, I quickly infiltrated the supply room which normally took days of preparation. In terms of performance, it could compare to an Assassin’s C Grade Stealth skill.
The only flaw it had was that it was only a one-time use item. Still, it was a big advantage to be able to access all kinds of items.
Items that cost more than a few thousand points could even turn a disaster around.
“Whew…”
Exhaling, I climbed out of a window and jumped down in a half-exhausted state.
The Haste Potion temporarily gave me some speed. However, my stamina is still hot F trash. Even a simple exercise like this was tough.
‘I’m dying…’
Thinking so, I rummaged through my pockets.
I happen to have the right thing for a situation like this.
◎ Rejuvenating Biscuits x2
[ Item: Consumable ]
[ Price: 50 pts ] x2
[ Is your body tired? Recover your stamina with these biscuits! Peanut flavor, 10 pieces per bag! ]
[ Remaining Points: 2,000 pts ]
“…”
It might sound like an overly advertised product, but its effects were genuinely useful.
I had been taking advantage of its effects.
I felt my body get energized as I munched down on the biscuits. At the same time, I scanned the piled-up things around.
I quickly found what I was looking for.
‘Right.’
I could see a palm-sized incense burner, which was small for a ceremonial item. However, that was why it stood out.
“Eum.”
The supply room had a bunch of items that were often not properly organized.
With a huff, I pulled out the incense burner embedded in the bottom of the pile that had almost reached the ceiling.
Divine’s Ultima, a thousand-year-old incense burner said to contain ancient power.
However, compared to its grandiose description, it only had one simple function.
It was, so to speak, a phone.
Specifically, the receiver was quite… formidable.
‘Secured the most important thing…’
I turned my gaze to look for something extra to take.
Originally, all kinds of rare items were needed to activate this, but where was I?
This was the players’ official(?) Item Farm. It wasn’t that difficult to obtain them here.
I grabbed the necessary items one by one and put them in my arms.
Powder made by grinding the horn of a unicorn for fuel, a phoenix feather to ignite it, and a coral fan to control the flames…
I might get into trouble later if I steal too much, but taking the items I’ve selected should be fine.
“Oops.”
Engrossed in my selection, the things piled up on top collapsed. But it didn’t really matter since it wasn’t loud.
“…?”
At least, that’s what I thought.
Until a person buried among the collapsing items appeared.
“…!”
I unwittingly caught the person who was descending directly toward me.
I did so because I had a hunch that there would be a bigger commotion if I let them hit the floor.
However, as soon as I saw the person’s face, I immediately regretted everything.
“…”
A small girl was soundly sleeping while clutching a chained sword.
She looked like a kitten.
But from my point of view, goosebumps immediately ran through my body.
Seriously, who could imagine that this peacefully sleeping little girl was a human butcher that had reaped lives numbering triple digits?
“…Umm.”
And unfortunately for me, it seemed that I woke her up.
The little girl stretched in my arms.
“Haaa…ah…?”
And as she stretched out her arms, her yawns gradually subsided, sensing something strange.
Her yellow eyes stared blankly at the surroundings. And soon, our eyes meet.
“…”
“…”
Let’s put her down…
I held the girl with both hands and made her stand.
For a few seconds, we were just silently staring into each other’s eyes.
Then finally.
The girl realized that she had been held by a man she had never seen before.
Her immediate lightning-like reaction was to grab the handle of the sword she was clutching.
[ A moment of danger has been detected. ]
[ Determined the situation as life-threatening. ]
[ Skill: Desperation raised to EX Class. ]
Yep.
I’m fucked.
●
There are many reasons why a character was classified as evil in Sera, but one of the criteria for classification was Karma.
To put it simply, it was their kill count.
Depending on how many people one had killed, their affinity would lean more towards the evil side.
In that context, one’s Karma could easily get corrupted.
Hence the Devils, key villains throughout the entire scenario, usually approached people with high karma first.
And a person who was at the extreme of such a system was currently right in front of me.
She was normally not harmful.
Unless you get close.
“…”
What happens when you get close? Well…
Let’s just say that this person’s Karma absolutely dunks on Eleanor, who was known to kill people, by an overwhelming number.
The one who killed the most people in this Academy right now was this little girl.
“…!”
And looking at the sword flying towards me, I can fully understand how that was possible.
The main character Iliya couldn’t even react to the EX Grade Desperation and was blown away in a single punch.
And yet, now, I could only react to the trajectory of Yuria’s sword.
“-…!”
Realizing that it was a true life-or-death situation, my concentration heightened to the point where the world seemed to have slowed down.
Unlike the spar with Iliya, this attack had the intention to kill.
I parried the first blow to my neck using the incense burner I was holding in my hand. It was a relic and wouldn’t be easily destroyed just from a few attacks, making it a good substitute for a shield.
Zeng—!
Sparks flew with a sound.
‘What a monster…!’
Despite having enhanced strength with enough power to blow away a human like a feather, my body felt numb.
It was absurdly powerful for an attack done without proper stance and right after waking up.
Fortunately, I knew how to avoid being beaten.
I threw my body backwards and rolled.
This was a stupid move if you’re in combat.
It held no meaning other than keeping a distance from the opponent.
However, against this girl, this was a good move.
As soon as my body touched the floor, I instinctively measured the distance between us.
‘Three and a half steps.’
It was a distance where I could reach her without the risk of getting sliced.
Meanwhile, Yuria remained rooted in her spot.
She exhibited near-invincible combat power against opponents who entered within a three steps range from her. Inversely, she couldn’t invade within three steps of the opponent.
A human being forced to distance herself from everyone.
The curse on this person was designed that way.
[Can you please stay still?]
Of course, it was clear from the teary-eyed way she uttered that sentence that she wasn’t too pleased to be in the arms of a strange man.
“…So it’s easier to slice?”
[Yes.]
I expected that much.
Though I was stuck in quite a bit of a dilemma.
A wall at the back and Yuria’s sword in front of me.
While keeping a distance of more than three strides would keep me safe, I also had no means of escape.
I could risk it for the biscuit and pass through her, but with such intense hostility, that’s the last thing I want to do. I’d rather try negotiating first…
“…?”
Wait a minute.
Negotiate.
I could negotiate.
Some ideas started to come to mind.
As someone who was forced to keep a distance from everyone, Yuria’s life was solitary.
Meeting suddenly in the equipment room was unexpected, but considering her preference for environments characterized by few people and that ‘it better stay that way’, it wasn’t entirely improbable.
Even the faculty members rarely come here when they have no business to attend to.
And people in such an environment always suffer chronically from that.
“…”
I slowly put my hand in my pocket, making it very clear that I had no malicious intentions.
Then, with a solemn gesture, I take out the biscuits I was eating earlier.
“…”
[…]
I could feel Yuria’s gaze locking on to the biscuits I was holding.
Her gaze moved along the direction of the food.
I think I heard a dry swallow and something like a grumbling stomach.
“Psspsspss.”
I began tossing the biscuits one by one as if I was feeding a cat.
I used it to lure her away from my escape path, just like in the story of Hansel and Gretel.
[Are you trying to entice a human with food?]
The advantage of communicating with levitating text was that you could clearly distinguish between speaking and what their mouth is doing.
She may have asked that question, but she was currently catching and eating a biscuit with great vigor.
[I’m not an animal. How can anyone fall for something like this?!]
Her words may not be honest, but her actions were.
Every time she ate one, she noticeably became happier.
If she was a puppy, her tail would’ve been wagging furiously by now as she munched on.
Then, she seemed to belatedly realize that I was watching and heavily denied it.
[I won’t fall for these primitive tricks! I am human!]
Is that so?
“I got some more. Do you want them?”
[…]
After a while.
Yuria was munching on a whole bag of biscuits with glee.
She looked like a cute animal.
[By the way, who are you? Why are you here?]
“…”
It seemed that people could communicate more civilly once they were satiated and warmed up.
I was finally getting this question.
‘…But I can’t tell her the truth.’
I can’t just say that I was here to steal something, can I?
Regardless of how much Yuria was leading a half-wild beast-like solitary life, she wasn’t incapable of communication.
It would be difficult if the faculty members found out about this.
Now, what’s a good excuse…?
Ah, right.
I glanced at the incense burner lying on the floor.
If I took it with me as it is, it would surely attract attention. So, I should divert her attention a bit.
“I came to give you food because of someone.”
Such a topic naturally grabbed Yuria’s attention.
[…Yes?]
Yuria asked blankly.
Seeing dozens of floating question marks on the air, she must have been quite taken aback.
“Someone I know asked me to take care of you.”
[Someone you know…?]
Actually, that person didn’t exist. However, saying this BS will help later.
It would’ve been impossible to create a variable like this in the original game. But at the same time, if it was the original game, I wouldn’t have encountered Yuria in the supply room.
With that said, shouldn’t I take advantage of the opportunity of meeting her here? This would make things run more smoothly for me in the future.
“Don’t worry, your sister is doing well in the Holy Land.”
The key was to deliver this information in advance.
Yuria’s body visibly stiffened upon hearing this.
“The Pope won’t pay you or your sister any attention for the time being. He still has to deal with those hidden at the Academy.”
The girl tightly embraced her chain-wrapped sword that never once left her side.
Although it was a small action, the swirl of emotions it brought was terrifyingly intense.
It was all because of that person that Yuria had come to Elfante Academy, far away from her hometown in Holy Land, and lived a life like this.
Originally, this would be covered in detail in Chapter 2.
But she at least deserved to know some general information about her one and only family.
“…”
My eyes couldn’t help but linger on the sword that Yuria was holding.
It didn’t look like it had any special features on the outside, but it was actually a terrifying high-rank item in Sera.
Yuria actually played the role of a kind of seal that suppressed its fangs. The curse associated with the three steps also came from that thing.
She was probably under constant threat of corruption, even worse compared to Eleanor.
Shouldn’t we give her some hopeful news to ease her suffering?
[You, who are you? Where did you come from…?]
“I’ll get going now.”
Of course, I couldn’t possibly tell her that in detail.
‘Because there is no such thing in the first place.’
Ugh.
Lies tend to get exposed when they become too elaborate.
It would be better to mysteriously exit while I still could.
On the way, I made sure to pick up the incense burner that was on the floor due to the aftermath of the previous collision.
Someone from the Holy Land would know the value of this item, but Yuria seemed too shocked by what I said and didn’t pay any attention to it.
Thank god…!
It was worth telling that lie…!
“…I’ll come again.”
Still, I left her with a farewell message.
Even if I could no longer go to the supply room and steal in the future, I’m sure we would meet one more time.
Be kind to me, then. Deal?
