Volume 2 Chapter 7.2
Fugitive in the Blue Night, Hope is
Fleetingly Plucked Away Part 2
Translator : PolterGlast
＊10 Minutes Later＊
When Karen arrived at
the old school building where the <duel> would take place, she stepped
through the door with all the glass collapsed and entered the entrance.
She walked down the
hallway and headed for the corner room at the east end of the first floor.
According to the rules
agreed upon with Nina, they would enter the building with an interval of three
minutes between each other. In other words, the location of the enemy would not
be known at the time the <duel> began.
It is the same as the
<Practical Exam> held recently. Despite the name of the game,
<Hide-and-Seek>, for Karen, it was nothing more than a demolition job.
Her opponents at that
time surrendered before being crushed to death, however, this time would be
different.
After all, her
opponent is Nina Stingray.
"Now, what will
you do?"
For Karen, who was
capable of tearing apart and crushing her opponents with crystals that multiplied
at a tremendous rate, indoors was an overwhelmingly advantageous battleground,
where escape routes were restricted.
It is doubtful whether
Nina and the others were aware of this when they designated this location.
But, undoubtedly, Nina
and the others have some kind of plan in place.
However, Karen has
nothing to worry about. Her psychic ability has a hidden ability that is
unknown to most of the students.
Each of the crystals
that Karen creates is merely an inorganic object. They are like harmless pebbles
that can only be displayed in a room and admired.
However, when they
grow to a certain size, they take on certain properties.
It is a powerful
insulator.
It is not merely
immune to electricity. It completely blocks heat, vibrations, and even the
invisible energy generated during the activation of psychic abilities ─ in other words, it can even block psychokinesis. Of
course, she has never fought a user as powerful as Nina, but it is unlikely
that it would be completely ineffective.
In short, she is Nina's
natural enemy.
No matter how powerful
her opponent was, she would not fall behind in a head-on battle. If there is a
chance for the other side to win, it would only be through the pre-arranged
trap strategy.
─And I have already anticipated the strategies that
they would try to pull off.
[Fellas, are you in
position?]
A mechanically
synthesized voice of a young boy could be heard coming from outside the window.
It was the tin cat
doll, brought to life by the psychic abilities of the school's headmaster, Jill
Will Weiser. He will be the witness at the duel.
Jake, the witness, was
suspended in mid-air as if there was an invisible floor.
[Let me check just to
make sure. You know the rules that are written in the pledge are absolute,
right? After the Bennett Lohr incident, most people seem to be adding a
prohibition against murder to the rules, but I assume you guys are fine with
this. ...... Ah, I see, you can't reply to me because you're hiding. I'll take
that as a yes.]
Karen listened to the
tin doll's nonsense and sorted out the overall structure of the old school
building.
The building is
probably more than 100 years old. Brick construction. Four stories high.
Although it has been repaired many times by the instructor's psychic ability,
the materials of the building itself are badly dilapidated. Although she does
not know the exact square meters of the building, it is a little larger than
the first-year classroom building, which has four classrooms on each floor.
─Well, it doesn't matter where Nina is hiding.
What she had to do had
already been decided.
[Alright, let the
<duel> begin!]
At the same time as
Jake's signal, Karen activated her psychic ability.
The crystal shards
generated at the tip of her outstretched palm began to multiply exponentially.
Karen inhaled deeply,
focusing on gathering power in the center of her body. She learned this
breathing technique from a bogus instructor to augment her abilities.
The breathing
technique itself does not need any scientific basis. Through <conditioning>,
which she had repeated many times, she converted the series of movements
themselves into triggers to enhance her concentration.
With this, the cluster
of crystals, which had been running out of control unnecessarily, could be
controlled.
Karen first decided to
manipulate the direction in which the crystals were multiplying.
Since she was
currently in a first-floor corner room, there was no need to be aware of what
was behind her and what might be beneath her. The crystals gushed out in a
reverse conical direction toward the diagonal front, where the target to be
destroyed should be located.
No.1 Against a student
of the Heiberg School.
No.2 If he or Satya is
harmed.
Through these two
levels of conditioning, the output limit of the <Jolly Undertaker> was
lifted. The crystals were growing faster and faster, and it was only a matter
of time before they reached their maximum output.
No matter where Nina
and her allies were hiding, the crystals would destroy the entire building in
less than ten minutes. Reflecting the blue light cast by the moon outside the
window, the surging waves of crystals shone with an ominous glow.
From above, the sound
of something exploding resounded.
Mixed in with the
thunderous sound that shook the entire building was the high-pitched noise of
the crystals shattering.
─What was that? Was that Stingray's psychic ability?
The crystals were
supposed to be immune to any kind of psychokinesis, but Nina's <Queen of
Calamity> is different, huh?
"Good, very
interesting."
She found herself
enjoying this battle in a way that had nothing to do with her cause.
She had sent many
students to the depths of despair through <duels> since enrolling at the
Heiberg School, but this was the first time she fought an opponent whom she
could not grasp.
"...... I'll
grind you down until there is nothing remains."
With a fierce smile on
the edge of her mouth, Karen increased the output of her psychic ability even
further.
◇
─Oh my gosh! This is bad, very bad!
While holding her
mouth with both hands, Nina held back the scream that welled up inside her.
The underground floor
began to vibrate with a terrifying rumbling sound, and the next moment a
cluster of pale, glowing crystals erupted from the first floor like a geyser.
The crystals were clad in sharp blades like the fangs of a giant creature, and
if someone were even slightly delayed in their evasion, they would surely have
been dismembered.
Nina's hope was being
chipped away with each passing second, and she felt as if her head were about
to spin out of control.
"Stay still, do
you want to die that badly?"
Emma, who was carrying
Nina in her arms, said calmly.
Wearing a mask, she
flew three-dimensionally around the corridor, leaving behind the proliferating
torrent of crystals at a tremendous speed.
Flipping her body in
mid-air, Emma threw a general-purpose hand grenade - one that the Ashby family
mass-produces at their factory and that Emma has kept in her room - toward the
crystals. The pieces of iron scattered by the explosion shattered the
approaching crystals, but this did not buy them much time.
After all, the
crystals began to multiply again once they were destroyed.
It was like throwing a
pebble into an onrushing stormy sea, and any resistance she put up seemed
utterly futile in the face of such great power.
"Is it really
enough to just run around throwing grenades!?"
"...... Yeah, Jin
should be able to do the rest."
"I don't trust
that guy as much as you do!"
While clinging
desperately to Emma, who kept running while swearing, Nina thought back to a
line her accomplice had said before the operation began.
─There is a limit to one's brain's processing capacity.
The more elements one has to be wary of, the more sluggish one's judgment
becomes.
Nina and Emma's role
was to keep running away while pretending to counterattack with their psychic
abilities, and to put a load on the enemy's thought process.
They knew from prior
research that the crystals generated by Karen were immune to psychokinesis.
That's why, the mere sound of the crystals being destroyed would at least upset
Karen a little.
Of course, this is
only a minor harassment.
All of this is just a
stepping stone to ensure that the trump card prepared by Jin can be played.
"I mean, how
could such an obvious violation go unnoticed by the witness?"
"Jin once told me
that Jake is just a sophisticated radio. It doesn't have a video recording
function, and with all these noises, it's impossible to hear our
conversation."
"Damn it, he
could even find information that even I couldn't......" Emma swore even
more while dodging the crystals that were coming at her through the wall. "You
guys are insane. Have you always been fighting heretics like this?"
"Unlike you, I
can't even use doping."
"...... What a
madness."
She had gotten used to
it, but surely it was reckless for ordinary people who were only good at lying
and acting to take on those monsters. Even Emma, who has better fighting skills
than them, stood her ground carefully so as not to get caught up in a needless
battle.
─However, we had a solid chance of winning the battle.
Although there was a
limitation that the candy had to be completely absorbed, Emma's enhanced
physical ability would never let the crystals catch up to her. Just as she
easily avoided the trap set by Nina and Jin in the past, she could also detect
a surprise attack through the walls and floor in advance.
Of course, there were
physical limitations to this plan as well, but Nina was not worried.
Because they have a
reliable accomplice.
Nina recalled the
whole plan that Jin had told her just a few minutes before in the hidden room
in the attic.
◇ 30 Minutes Ago ◇
""[Forced
Deactivation]?""
In the hidden room in
the attic, Nina and Emma spoke in unison.
Unable to comprehend
the meaning of the words that Jin dropped, Nina couldn't help but ask in
return.
"Umm, what does
that mean......?"
"I've been
observing Karen's movements when she was doing the breathing technique training
at Nathan's dojo. Then I noticed that there was one gesture that Karen did
frequently whenever she deactivated her psychic abilities."
"...... Ah, now
that you mention it!"
Jin's mouth curled
into a smile.
"Did you notice
it? Karen always wipes her mouth with the back of her hand whenever she
deactivates her psychic abilities. Perhaps that's the gesture she uses to
forcefully deactivate the <Jolly Undertaker>."
"Wait a
minute," Emma interjected. "Wiping your mouth with the back of your
hand is a very common practice. It could just be a habit. Are you really going
to put your faith in that kind of uncertainty?"
"It's
<conditioning>, Emma. Since you're an intelligence agent, you probably
know what it is, don't you?"
Karen used
psychological <conditioning> to control her overly powerful psychic
abilities. That's the information she revealed herself back at the dojo.
She has carefully
trained herself to automatically enter a deep state of concentration by
performing certain routines.
"To control her
psychic abilities, Karen has to trigger the <Eastern Breathing Technique>
to enter a state of concentration. If the psychic ability is so troublesome
that it can't be controlled without going that far, it's not strange to think
that a specific routine is required to disarm it, right?"
"......I think I
have a pretty good grasp of what you're trying to do. You're going to force
Karen to perform the routine that will force her to deactivate her psychic
ability, correct?"
"Yet your face
still looks dissatisfied."
"Of course I am.
...... How can you force her to wipe her mouth with the back of her hand in the
middle of a battle?"
Emma's doubts were
understandable.
It would be reckless
to aim to trigger a forced deactivation in the face of an opponent who has a
tremendous gap in fighting ability.
It would be like
praying for snow to accumulate in the desert. That kind of thing cannot be
called a strategy.
"What if there is
another real gesture?" Jin said so with a look of conviction. "Well,
it's kind of hard to understand, huh? I guess it would be more appropriate to
say that wiping her mouth with the back of her hand is just a part of the
process of fulfilling the conditions."
"What do you
mean?"
"It's about
smell, Emma."
Emma still did not
seem to understand what he meant, but Jin explained in a straightforward
manner.
"The first time I
felt something strange was about two weeks ago. I had a detective friend of
mine look around Karen's parents' house. It turned out that about once every
two weeks, a package from her parents' house was delivered to Karen's room in
the first girls' dormitory."
"Probably Satya,
her maid, is the one who orders them. There were a lot of tea leaves and sweets
for the visitors in that room."
"As Nina said, I
think it's just a consideration to make Karen's life at the school more
comfortable. There is nothing strange about that in itself. ...... But just to
be sure, I bribed the shipping company a bit to let me inspect the contents of
the package. I think it was about a week ago."
"...... What a
scoundrel."
"Nothing like
that, I just had them show me the contents of the package. It contained tea
leaves, sweets, daily necessities like toothbrushes ─ and a bottle of perfume."
"Perfume."
Nina unintentionally
repeated it.
It was nothing strange
that a female student would wear perfume. Even Nina sometimes secretly wore the
one that Jin had given her before.
What was wrong then?
"Nina, from your
point of view as a woman, ...... does Karen seem like the type of person who
would wear perfume?"
"......
Certainly, it's a little unexpected."
It might be easy to
overlook her well-groomed appearance, but come to think of it, Karen hardly
even wears any makeup.
It is certainly
strange to find someone who is more devoted to the school's competition than to
beauty and fashion, wearing only perfume.
"There are still
some strange points. On the bottle of perfume, there was a product labeled
<Aeris No. 6> but if I remember correctly, such a product doesn't exist.
After all, Aeris has only released perfumes up to No. 5. ......I'm guessing
it's a custom-made product that the Ashby family commissioned the manufacturer
to make."
"C-Custom-made?"
"In short, Karen
has an unusual preference for perfume, but Nina, how was it when you were
actually meeting her in person? Did you smell anything at all?"
"...... No, not
at all."
"If so, I have a
few guesses."
Jin said so while
tapping Karen's photo on the schematic diagram.
"The only place
Karen puts on perfume is on the backs of her hands. And she uses such a small
amount that she can't smell it unless you put the back of her hand close to her
mouth. Why is that?"
"...... To
prevent her from accidentally sniffing it during battle."
Emma's mutterings
seemed to be correct, and Jin pointed at her while snapping his fingers.
"If we assume so,
it explains why Karen, who is so indifferent to fashion, went to the trouble of
ordering a custom-made one. If there is
only one scent in the world, it would avoid silly situations where her opponent
happens to be wearing the same type of perfume and she can't activate her
psychic ability, wouldn't it?"
"In other words,
if we can get her to smell the perfume, we can force her to deactivate her
psychic ability, huh. ...... Don't tell me, you did something like this with
Bennett as well? So your nullification ability is a scam which exploits the
weakness of your opponent's psychic ability?"
"Well, that's how
it is. You learned something new, right?"
With a sarcastic smile
on his face, Jin took out a wooden box from a hidden compartment in the floorboards.
Inside the box were
three cylinders the size of an index finger. Looking at the nozzles attached to
the tips of the cylinders, Nina and Emma understood what he was after.
"And that perfume
is in this spray. Our ultimate goal is to spray it at close range so Karen can
smell it. It's only a single shot, so handle it with care. The moment you miss,
it's game over."
"Jin, you said
the perfume is custom-made, right? How did you get this stuff?"
"It's a technique
called <hollowing-out>, whereby the liquid is extracted from an unopened
bottle. This is more the realm of a thief than a fraudster."
"How many more
sins do you have to commit ......?"
"No, no, it's
just a few drops, you know? Something like this couldn't be counted as
theft."
Emma was struck with a
strange feeling as she listened to the conversation among the criminals
unfolding in front of her. In all the years she had devoted herself to the
benefit of the Republic, this might be the first time in her life that she had
ever felt such an emotion.
─She is certainly feeling excited right now.
Not only do these two
have no psychic abilities, but they have never even had proper combat training.
No matter how one looks at them, they do not possess the combat skills to
challenge these heretics head-on.
However, if Jin, who
possesses extraordinary insight, writes a detailed script, and Nina and Emma
enact it, they may be able to defeat these monsters with only the body of a
human being.
What's most
interesting for Emma is that they both seriously believe so.
"......Well, now
we have our cards in hand. Are you both ready?"
＊
-----
Thank you for my Patrons !!
[Platinum]
Aiden Elliott
Elite
Matthew Shuler
Swagaraga
[Gold]
-
[Silver]
Adrian Betancourt
CoolmanMTD
Creris
Glasses Kun
Pristia
Anton Lim
Ctdela
Curious Panda
Faiz Haziq
Hikigaya Hachiman
Read Advanced Chapters only on my Patreon
-----
